wifi greyed out iphone 4s

same issue with me, heating worked but afer 2 week my wifi greyed out , so again i used hair dryer... its china phone 😠

How many times did you use this approach and how long it worked for you for the second time ? It is interesting that yesterday I had lot of wifi disconnections and today, it works again. But I think this will screw again once phone heats up. But for how long can we apply this method until the phone breaks up completelly?? What do you think about battery, I'm bit concerned to heat it up, do you think it can blow up? I really don't know what issue is this and what to think about it. I never saw behavior like this. Either the device work or not... But this is really strange. I thought Apple is no. 1 in quality, but my previous chinesse mi one phone for 100$ worked better than this! What a shame. I really would like to know the real reason for this...

IF YOU'RE NEEDING A FIX THAT IS AS PERMENENT AS THEY GET THIS IS HOW:

The Wifi chip hardware will need re-flowing. This is a moderate to difficult job, depending on your skill with iPhones.

Things you'll need:

Heat gun or blow drier

Pentalobe T5 screwdriver

small philips/standad screwdriver

heat resistant foil/plastic (optional)

Remove motherboard. (DONT do this if you have zero experience or you will lose parts to your phone!)

(Youtube has some DIYs on this)

Locate the WiFi chip. (search that too)

Cover everything except the chip with heat resistant shields plastics. (so nothing gets ruined)

Get a blow drier and blow directly at that chip for 10 MINUTES. (Heat gun will be less time), causing it to reflow and "reset" completely. (Instead of having the EMI shield and glass door in the way)

Put everything back and enjoy the wifi for a lot longer time! Maybe even permenently!

(Thanks to Leon Stacey at the Computer room nottingham)

Thanks for sharing this tutorial. Yes, it could be that reflowing over EMI shield and glass door is not sufficient as this distributes heat over the whole phone and reflowing of wifi chip is not sufficient. I've used halogen lamp (50W) without dismantling appx. 5 minutes and it lasted for two weeks. Then I've got it another shoot for only few seconds beacuse of a smell and smoke comming from phone and then I've realized I've already put screen protector on the back side of phone Nevertheless, it works again even without reseting or restarting the phone. So now I'm pretty sure it is crappy solder and heat which makes our wifi malfunctioned. Btw, do you know the safe temperature to use with heat gun ? But I don't know if it is permament because someone in other forum said that he got his wifi chip replaced in repair shop 4 times and always it worked only for a month or so. This is really weird...

vaportrails2002 wrote: Where are you getting your retail prices from for the 4s's? How many GB are you referencing? My wife has a 64 GB 4s and it retails for $799...not everyone with the problem is eligible for the "2 year" price. You must know the "retail" prices because you work there.

Um, I know the 'retail price' because I can read: store.apple.com/us/iphone. The iPhone 4S 64GB is not available for retail from Apple anymore. But if it was, it would follow the same progression as iPhones have for a long time; each 'doubling' of memory capacity adds $100 to the price.

The 32GB iPhone 5C costs $100 more than the 16GB iPhone 5C. The 64GB iPhone 5S costs $100 more than the 32GB iPhone 5S, which costs $100 more than the 16GB iPhone 5S.

iPhone 4S 8GB: $450

iPhone 5C 16GB: $549

iPhone 5C 32GB: $649

iPhone 5S 16GB: $649

iPhone 5S 32GB: $749

iPhone 5S 64GB: $849

An iPhone 4S 64GB would currently retail, if available from Apple, for $749, not $799. Currently, an iPhone 5S 64GB retails for $849.

And such an iPhone 4S would still be replaced by Apple for $199. $550 less than 'retail'. Or, hey, lets go with your claim, that it retails for $799. On out-of-warranty iPhone 4S 64 GB ($799), is replaceable by Apple for $199. 75% off the retail price. So, you're making my point even STRONGER. Thanks.

Notice that I only posted the retail prices that are currently available from Apple. Other retailers may have other prices, but that's not the point at all.

And if I bought an $800 phone, I'd spend $69-99 to have its coverage extended past the one year. Or, even use the other third-party options for equipment coverage that are out there.

Hi, i'm boyet from the philippines. I have just recently experienced from my Iphone 4s, the wifi could not be activated (greyed).

However, after reading from some internet sources looking for the solution, one of the effective solution, and it worked for my unit just right now, is let the temperature rises until it is not operable, by lettting it exposed to sunlight...and cooled it down by wrapping it in kraft paper...and putting it inside the ref freezer for about 5 - 10 min and viola after restarting the iphone...the wifi works fine...

TJBUSMC1973 wrote:

vaportrails2002 wrote: Where are you getting your retail prices from for the 4s's? How many GB are you referencing? My wife has a 64 GB 4s and it retails for $799...not everyone with the problem is eligible for the "2 year" price. You must know the "retail" prices because you work there.

Um, I know the 'retail price' because I can read: store.apple.com/us/iphone. The iPhone 4S 64GB is not available for retail from Apple anymore. But if it was, it would follow the same progression as iPhones have for a long time; each 'doubling' of memory capacity adds $100 to the price.

The 32GB iPhone 5C costs $100 more than the 16GB iPhone 5C. The 64GB iPhone 5S costs $100 more than the 32GB iPhone 5S, which costs $100 more than the 16GB iPhone 5S.

iPhone 4S 8GB: $450

iPhone 5C 16GB: $549

iPhone 5C 32GB: $649

iPhone 5S 16GB: $649

iPhone 5S 32GB: $749

iPhone 5S 64GB: $849

An iPhone 4S 64GB would currently retail, if available from Apple, for $749, not $799. Currently, an iPhone 5S 64GB retails for $849.

Sorry, but you just had to come back..didn't you? When we bought the phone it retailed for $799. If you can't get it from Apple's store, where are you getting your price from? Um, you can read can't you? What's the price again for it on Apple store you refrenced above again? Oh it's not there, so no, you can't read! Best Buy has them on their site "Replacement (Phone only) $799.99". We aren't going on "current" phone prices, we are going on replacement for a 4s...not a 5,5s,5c or whatever they are selling currently online in their store. So don't come on here just to proove a point you can't!

And why would anyone want to spend $100 to double your memory (x2) for 64G when every other phone manufacturer has a SD slot where you can add 64G for like $50!?

And such an iPhone 4S would still be replaced by Apple for $199. $550 less than 'retail'. Or, hey, lets go with your claim, that it retails for $799. On out-of-warranty iPhone 4S 64 GB ($799), is replaceable by Apple for $199. 75% off the retail price. So, you're making my point even STRONGER. Thanks.

Notice that I only posted the retail prices that are currently available from Apple. Other retailers may have other prices, but that's not the point at all.

Yeah, go with my claim because I am correct! Your claim of the 75% off retail price is for a refurb phone...not new, so the retail cost % off is irrelevant for the replacement phone! So now your point is even WEAKER!

The point that other retailers have it for "other" prices is the point because Apple doesn't carry it anymore!

And if I bought an $800 phone, I'd spend $69-99 to have its coverage extended past the one year. Or, even use the other third-party options for equipment coverage that are out there.

I thought they weren't $800? I thought you said $749, $849, $2.99? I'm not sure, you are throwing numbers all over the place! Wasn't that your whole point? Why pay Apple Care $100, when it is covered under your credit card benifits with a double manufacturer warranty 🙂

Thanks for stopping by though. Have a nice day

and how much are they at Radio Shack?

Yes, heating the phone up until overheat meassage is displayed and then cooling it down really works.... Unfortuntalelly, it is not permanent fix and you will need to repeat this process again. If you are lucky enough, this can hold for few weeks or months. I would recommend to not use very cpu demanding games as this can speed up the process of failure. And we can hope that 7.1 will not be producing so much heat and our pohones can last much longer.

Yes, I agree to your observation...the problem came back after a while...hope Apple could find a permanent fix to this problem.. Thanks

I just wanna share, this might help...

After jailbreaking my iphone, I enabled data and 3G on the phone...

Then after some time the bluetooth and wifi came back without reheating the device..

*I've been heating my phone over and over and i grew tired of it...

Don't know if the jailbreaking is related, but enabling the data and 3g might be...

I'm using ios704... It's been working for 3 days now...

One thing, though my data and 3g is enabled, i'm using prepaid sim without any load.

So you are saying that jailbreaking and enabling data and 3G would bring the wifi back permanently ?? Looks strange to me but one never knows 🙂

Might be... The reason why I did jailbreak my phone is because apple is ignoring us, and my phone is beyond warranty now so I won't loss anything... I immediately did after the release of jb software... Don't know how long will it last, but it's still working... I usually heat it for the wifi to work... I enabled the data and 3g to activate and download apps from cydia... Then suddenly the wifi came back... Weird, but that's what happend... I thought I'd observe it and post it here if it last a day or two... I hope it last, reheating the phone over and over is annoying...

Please observe and let us know... Btw, how often do you need to reheat the phone until the wifi is gone again? Last time it happened to me that my wifi started mulfunctioning again but constantly connecting and disconnecting but was not greyed out. I took my halogen lamp and started to heat only for few seconds and since than it works again... Let's see for how long but I didn't have to wait until the phone shows warning overheating message. Veeery strange....

vaportrails2002 wrote:

TJBUSMC1973 wrote:

vaportrails2002 wrote: Where are you getting your retail prices from for the 4s's? How many GB are you referencing? My wife has a 64 GB 4s and it retails for $799...not everyone with the problem is eligible for the "2 year" price. You must know the "retail" prices because you work there.

Um, I know the 'retail price' because I can read: store.apple.com/us/iphone. The iPhone 4S 64GB is not available for retail from Apple anymore. But if it was, it would follow the same progression as iPhones have for a long time; each 'doubling' of memory capacity adds $100 to the price.

The 32GB iPhone 5C costs $100 more than the 16GB iPhone 5C. The 64GB iPhone 5S costs $100 more than the 32GB iPhone 5S, which costs $100 more than the 16GB iPhone 5S.

iPhone 4S 8GB: $450

iPhone 5C 16GB: $549

iPhone 5C 32GB: $649

iPhone 5S 16GB: $649

iPhone 5S 32GB: $749

iPhone 5S 64GB: $849

An iPhone 4S 64GB would currently retail, if available from Apple, for $749, not $799. Currently, an iPhone 5S 64GB retails for $849.

Sorry, but you just had to come back..didn't you? When we bought the phone it retailed for $799. If you can't get it from Apple's store, where are you getting your price from? Um, you can read can't you? What's the price again for it on Apple store you refrenced above again? Oh it's not there, so no, you can't read! Best Buy has them on their site "Replacement (Phone only) $799.99". We aren't going on "current" phone prices, we are going on replacement for a 4s...not a 5,5s,5c or whatever they are selling currently online in their store. So don't come on here just to proove a point you can't!

And why would anyone want to spend $100 to double your memory (x2) for 64G when every other phone manufacturer has a SD slot where you can add 64G for like $50!?

And such an iPhone 4S would still be replaced by Apple for $199. $550 less than 'retail'. Or, hey, lets go with your claim, that it retails for $799. On out-of-warranty iPhone 4S 64 GB ($799), is replaceable by Apple for $199. 75% off the retail price. So, you're making my point even STRONGER. Thanks.

Notice that I only posted the retail prices that are currently available from Apple. Other retailers may have other prices, but that's not the point at all.

Yeah, go with my claim because I am correct! Your claim of the 75% off retail price is for a refurb phone...not new, so the retail cost % off is irrelevant for the replacement phone! So now your point is even WEAKER!

The point that other retailers have it for "other" prices is the point because Apple doesn't carry it anymore!

And if I bought an $800 phone, I'd spend $69-99 to have its coverage extended past the one year. Or, even use the other third-party options for equipment coverage that are out there.

I thought they weren't $800? I thought you said $749, $849, $2.99? I'm not sure, you are throwing numbers all over the place! Wasn't that your whole point? Why pay Apple Care $100, when it is covered under your credit card benifits with a double manufacturer warranty 🙂

Thanks for stopping by though. Have a nice day

vaportrails2002 wrote:

and how much are they at Radio Shack?

Yes, I did come back. I enjoy our discussions, vapor.

Where did I get the numbers for the iPhone 4S? Why, the Apple Online Store. And since the Apple Online Store only sells the 8GB iPhone 4S for $450, that was the reference I used. I never quoted a direct price for the 64GB. I explained the 'extrapolation' that I used.

Allow me to do the math for you.

New iPhone 4S 8GB from Apple: $450

Replacement iPhone 4S 8GB from Apple: $199

$199 is 44.2% of $450. Therefore, that is a 55.8% discount. (Rounded to the nearest 0.1%, I hope you don't mind.)

What I quoted on my post that you took such offense to was:

For iPhone 4s = $199 (which is $250 less than a new iPhone 4s, i.e. 55% less than new retail)

So, I actually rounded DOWN the discount percentage.

But you claim that your wife has a 64GB iPhone 4S, which retailed for $799. Perhaps it did at the time of sale. And that's fine. Doesn't mean that would be the current price from Apple. And that's really beside the point, as I'll show later. (Remember to look for the 1.6% difference!)

$199 is 24.9% of $799. Therefore, in YOUR situation, it is a 75.1% discount. And that's a much larger discount than what I originally quoted, for any iPhone replacement, in my original post.

Additionally, Apple provides a new or like-new replacement, depending on stock availability. If the only available replacement iPhone 4S 64GB units are new in the box, then that's what you would get. And a replacement unit has either the remaining warranty of the original, or 90-days, whichever is greater.

Now, as far as my 'extrapolation' of what the best estimate would be for an iPhone 4S 64GB direct from Apple? I simply used logic and common sense, combined with observation of past pricing structure of Apple. Traditionally, each 'doubling' of memory capacity of an iPhone increases the retail price by $100. And that pricing structure remains true, for the iPhone 5C & 5S, as I demonstrated. Therefore, the best estimate, in the absence of a posted price by Apple, is $750.

You say $799. I say $750. In the end, that's a 1.6% difference in the discount. I find it amusing that you're quibbling over such a small percentage difference.

Now, as far as why anyone would want to spend $100 to double the memory? Um... you did. When the iPhone 4S 64GB was available, so were the 32GB & 16 GB versions. So, you didn't just pay $100 to double your memory. You paid $200 to quadruple your memory. If you wanted a phone with an SD card slot, then why did you not purchase one?

And my reference to a '$800 phone' was in response to your direct statement

"I would expect a $800 phone to last over a year"

That was a reference to the purchase price when you bought the device, not a reference to any current prices.

As far as why to get AppleCare Plus? That's a personal decision. Not everyone uses a credit card that provides that kind of protection. And no credit card company provides technical troubleshooting and how-to assistance by phone for an iPhone. That's why I said, either get AppleCare Plus or a third-party option.

In the end, if you chose NO protection, then that's on you.

I do not see that Radio Shack offers the iPhone 4S 64GB. I see 8GB and 16GB, but no 64GB. That's probably because they 32GB & 64GB were discontinued third-quarter 2012, and most retailers will not have them.

And I do see that Best Buy offers an iPhone 4S 64GB for $799. That's great! So, you can either get that from Best Buy, and have a fresh new one-year warranty, eligible for extended hardware coverage through Apple or Best Buy (I think Best Buy offers some form of protection, you might want to look into that), or get a replacement from Apple for $199 that has a 90-day, non extendable warranty.

Your choice.

Finally, let's get back to the beginning. My original post was in reply to jschuler, who stated that all Apple would do is offer to sell a customer a NEW iPhone. And that's not true at all.

Notice how I didn't make the percentage comparisons to the iPhone 4 or older, or the iPhone 5? That's because Apple doesn't sell those anymore. And since jschuler was talking about what APPLE would do, I limited my response to the APPLE prices for available equipment.

It's amusing how you try to dismantle my responses, yet fail each time.

So, to sum up:

A) I never quoted a specific Apple retail price for the iPhone 4S 64GB. I provided an estimate, based upon previous and current Apple pricing structure.

B) Your criticism of anyone that would want to double memory for $100 on an iPhone instead of purchasing a smartphone with an SD slot is humorously ironic, since you state that your wife bought an iPhone 4S 64GB, when the 32GB & 16GB were available.

C) Replacements from Apple are always new or like-new (i.e. remanufactured). A remanufactured iPhone has all new parts, except for the camera & processor, which are reclaimed units that must pass a more rigorous inspection by an individual Apple Technician, instead of an assembly line inspection process. This is different than refurbished, which uses far more 'used' parts, and a refurbished iPhone that is not provided by Apple (i.e., a wireless carrier providing a refurbished device) is NOT covered at all under Apple's warranty.

D) My final comment regarding getting coverage for an $800 phone was in direct reply to your original purchase price, which may or may not have been $799/$800.

If you decide to purchase that Best Buy iPhone 4S 64GB, I strongly suggest learning from your previous mistake, and obtain SOME form of coverage for the device.

Best of luck! And switch to decaf.