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After briefly losing service, iPhone will fail to reconnect to cellular network until restarted

When my iPhone loses service for any amount of time, like when driving through an area that isn't covered or going inside of a building, the device will not reconnect to the cellular network once it is back in range. I have tried toggling airplane made to make it search again; this does not work. I have tried resetting network settings; this also did not work and now I have to re-enter the password for every wifi network (bummer).


The issues DOES resolve, however, if I completely power off the device and power it back on. Only to again reappear the next time I lose service.


What in the world is causing this and what can I do to fix it?


Things to note: MRI comes back fine. Issue JUST started this week. Device was restored about 3 weeks ago from backup because it is a replacement for one that I destroyed.


Message was edited by: Hydrochlorick

iPhone SE, iOS 10, null

Posted on Sep 14, 2016 1:31 PM

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Posted on Mar 8, 2017 11:21 PM

You have either to turn off WiFi or disable LTE in Cellular->Cellular Data Options. Must reboot after that.
It is a firmware bug which will never be confessed by Apple and fixed. Same as compass bug in 6s which is not fixed for 2 years now.

44 replies

Sep 14, 2016 9:48 PM in response to Hydrochlorick

I can confirm the exact behavior you are experiencing.


My brand new T-Mobile iPhone SE (1 week old) did not have this problem on iOS 9.3.5. It regained its connection to my mobile carrier with no problems before the iOS 10 update.


I too tried all the things (airplane mode, network reset, etc) that you tried. Will not fix it. The only thing that will get my cell phone service back is to power cycle the phone.


This is a real problem for me as I work in a 72 story building (no service in the elevator) and I unfortunately have to enter & exit the building quite a number of times per day.


You did not specify which iPhone model, and which OS version. Can you specify?


Thanks,

-RMT

Sep 14, 2016 4:36 PM in response to Mike.Levine

I have the exact same issue, too.


It's an iPhone 6 that was running fine with 9.3.5 on t-mobile. After the update to iOS 10 the phone now no longer finds a network after the connection is lost (e.g. going into an underground parking garage I have a strong signal, in the garage no signal, but he signal never get's restored when getting out of the garage again). Carrier details are: T-Mobile 25.1, but I also experienced this right after the iOS upgrade to 10 without the carrier settings being applied (yet).


It's super annoying and any ideas to get it fixed are welcome. I already performed a Network Reset which did not cure the issue.

Sep 14, 2016 7:20 PM in response to Hydrochlorick

I called T-Mobile's technical support and they did acknowledge that they had multiple customers reporting this issue and others already. What they asked me to do is to essentially re-load iOS on the device using iTunes. I did just that and will see if this resolves the issue. Their rational was that some of the earlier iOS upgrades OTA had issue with not upgrading all of the OS. Not sure about that, but we will see.

So far so good, but I also have a really hard time to make my phone disconnect from the network at home (already put it into the microwave.. while it was off for sure. 😁 Thinking that this would block enough of the cell signal, but no luck).

Sep 15, 2016 5:59 AM in response to Hydrochlorick

Same problem here,


The “airplane mode” trick used to work to regain signal, in fact the phone regained signal by itself after a very long wait, but after updating to iOS 10 nothing seems work, and the only thing that can re-connect to the network is to reboot the phone.


Resetting network settings did not work.


iOS 10.0.1 (14A403)

Carrier: T-Mobile, 25.1

Model: iPhone 6 MG562LL/A

Modem Firmware: 5.24.00

After briefly losing service, iPhone will fail to reconnect to cellular network until restarted

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