Why can I not see/update the carrier settings in iOS7?

Question

Why can I not see/update the carrier settings in iOS7?

I recently had my iPhone carrier unlocked by AT&T. I performed the full restore and updated to iOS7 at the same time and during the update process I also restored my backup; when I tried to access the internet however my data was not working. I tried to find the carrier settings in the cellular section of the settings but nothing was there. Undeterred, I thought maybe the restore process had been flawed as I had set my phone up from backup during the update. At that point I went ahead and did a full restore again without restoring from the backup this time but the carrier settings stil did not show. At this point I'm stuck with an iPhone that has no access to data even though I should be able to update the carrier settings on my phone - for the record my new carrier is Straight Talk. I did contact their customer service and they advised me to visit a website that would update my settings but that's not what my goal here is. What do I need to do to get the data service on my iPhone working properly?

iPhone 4, iOS 7

Posted on Sep 23, 2013 12:28 AM

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Answer 1

brankitt

Level 2

240 points

Sep 23, 2013 12:33 AM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

I have heard that Straight talk is not really compatiable with iphones. so that maybe the reason you dont have carrier settings

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Answer 2

Sep 23, 2013 12:36 AM in response to brankitt

If that were true then they wouldn't have their own line of iPhones.

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?Find=Find&_refineresult=true&ic=16_0& search_constraint=0&search_query=iphone&cat_id=3944_542371_1072335_1056206&povid =cat1090104-env430704-moduleS012313-lLinkSI1FeaturedCategoriesStraightTalk&_mm=

Message was edited by: xx_pyr0_storm

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Answer 3

brankitt

Level 2

240 points

Sep 23, 2013 1:03 AM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

Says the iphone came from AT&T there for it was not locked to straight talk in the first place. If you do a restore on iTunes and IF there is a carrier update then it will prompt to update the settings. Sometimes the carriers push updates to the iphone without you knowing it or having to accept them.

Try restoring the device as new without the backup and see if the issue is fixed with getting carrier data

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Answer 4

Sep 23, 2013 1:07 AM in response to brankitt

Not trying to be overly blunt, but I did state in the original post that I have already done that. Twice I might add.

"At that point I went ahead and did a full restore again without restoring from the backup this time but the carrier settings stil did not show."

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Answer 5

brankitt

Level 2

240 points

Sep 23, 2013 1:21 AM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

SO there for if itunes does NOT prompt then there are no carrier updates.

Ios 7 looks will differ on carrier settings. some come with it and some dont.. it all depends on what the activation profile is on the iphone. And itunes detects the activation profile on apples servers.

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Answer 6

Sep 23, 2013 1:34 AM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

My parents took their iPhone3GS from AT&T and use them on Straight Talk. Voice will work but their data will not. To achieve this they had to do a method that will void your warranty and is against Apple policy.... If you catch my drift. I don't know the process but it works after doing this. I'm not sure if the same rule applies to the iPhone 4. It should but electronic gizmos can be finicky. I hope this leads you in the right path.

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Answer 7

Sep 23, 2013 2:02 AM in response to brankitt

Okay, whether or not there are push carrier updates - which I don't believe Straight Talk has - I should STILL be able to access the cell data network settings, correct? Otherwise what would the point of unlocking the iPhone be if I was unable to update the settings if the carrier didn't support push updates for the settings?

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Answer 8

Sep 23, 2013 2:09 AM in response to BassGodCliff

I'm familiar bassgod. The whole point of me getting the phone unlocked though and doing the clean installs of ios7 was so I wouldn't have to continue to do that to make the data work. As you put quite well, electronic gizmos are finicky.

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Answer 9

Sep 23, 2013 7:00 AM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

I'm not sure if they have push updates. I would think you should be able to access the settings. I apologize for misinterpreting your question. My knowledge about all this is limited. I just jumped to Apple at the end of July. Hopefully you get this issue resolved. Best of luck.

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Answer 10

Sep 25, 2013 12:23 PM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

Update: I have now tried about a dozen clean restore processes altogether including restores on a different computer and several restores in a row. Still nothing. Cell data network settings are still unavailable.

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Answer 11

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,299 points

Sep 25, 2013 12:27 PM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

Because you had an AT&T phone, when you installed iOS 7, it installed an AT&T profile back. That profile hides the ability to change the APN settings. To be honest, I do not know of a method to change that. You can see if anything in this support document helps you. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4839

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Answer 12

Sep 25, 2013 1:14 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

I had already considered that but the fact remains I had the device unlocked by AT&T and with that I should be able to manually adjust the settings regardless of previous profiles installed. Or so goes my understanding..

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Answer 13

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,299 points

Sep 25, 2013 1:21 PM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

Yes, that is your understanding. However a number of other posters have made similar posts regarding Straight Talk. If you go into Settings>General>About>Carrier, I would be willing to bet that it now reads AT&T 15.0. That is the latest AT&T carrier setting that came with iOS 7. The ability to change that should come with a profile from Straight Talk. You could check over on the right side of the thread where it says More Like This to see if there is a fix for this, but I suggest contacting Straight Talk to see what they say.

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Answer 14

Sep 25, 2013 4:08 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

You're absolutely right Chris, it does say AT&T 15.0. I had an...extensive...chat earlier with Apple tech support and they kept glossing over the idea that my phone was unlocked by ATT (so I should have the cell data settings option available) and suggesting it was an issue with straight talk. Either way I suppose it's irrelevant since I found a pretty decent setup available with tmobile - I have a SIM on the way already and they verified for me that everything would be fine once I got set up on their network. Still wish I knew why I wasn't able to manually adjust the cell data settings tho...unless the option to do so is at the discretion of the carrier...?? The 'advisor' I spoke to earlier could not or would not explain to me why I was unable to adjust the APN settings on my unlocked iPhone

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Answer 15

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,299 points

Sep 25, 2013 4:20 PM in response to xx_pyr0_storm

If you read back my responses, you will find out why. It is at the descretion of the carrier and it is set by the carrier file. While your phone was unlocked by AT&T, once you got the new carrier file, it carries the AT&T profile that does not allow for adjustments of APN. This is one of the issues that can crop up with phones that have been unlocked from a carrier rather than being an unlocked phone purchased that way. The Straight Talk SIM should have carried a profile when you access their network, but I guess it doesn't. I've also read some information about being able to delete profiles so I'm not sure if you could delete that profile on the phone if you can see more than one of them. The discussion with the advisor just may have been them being uninformed about carrier files.

Glad you got it sorted out by looking at another carrier. Good luck.

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