No Signal for China Telecom 4G with iPhone7 Plus A1661

Question

No Signal for China Telecom 4G with iPhone7 Plus A1661

Production Name:

iPhone 7 Plus 256GB A1661 Sim-free version

Date:

Bought from USA late this October

OS Version:

iOS 10.1.1

Problem:

After bought from USA, I installed an 3G card from China Telecom in China, And at first iPhone can recognize the cellular service from China Telecom, but after a sudden reboot without any operation when charging, it can't recognize the cellular any longer, "No Service" showed at the left top of the screen. I've tried to reset the network configuration but it didn't work.

So I think it might be all right after changing to 4G network, after I requested and got a 4G sim card from cellular provider, installed it, I found it still didn't work. The iPhone 7 Plus could recognize the cellular provider: CHN-CT which stands for China Telecome, but the cellular signal was dead, the signal bar was ZERO of five dots. I can't dial, nor access 4G network even after resetting the network configuration again.

Any idea? Since the iPhone 7 Plus I bought from USA is sim-free version with A1661 model, which should support all celluar providers in China, is there any possibility of hardware failure?

Thanks a lot. It bother me a lot right now.

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 10.1.1, no cellular signal

Posted on Nov 1, 2016 6:25 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Dec 10, 2017 5:57 PM in response to shangwubadian

Hi ShangWuBaDian,

Were you ever able to get this resolved?

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Answer 2

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,375 points

May 26, 2017 8:18 AM in response to StefanMry

StefanMry wrote:

What did they say? I'm in the same shoes.

To my knowledge, the phones for China differ somewhat from phones purchased in other countries. The OP had purchased a phone in the US and tried to use it in China. The best indicator of whether a device will work with a particular carrier in China is to contact that carrier. If they support the iPhone, they will know exactly what device you should have. Given many of the communications restrictions in China, I still believe it requires a device engineered for China carriers.

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Answer 3

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,375 points

Nov 1, 2016 6:28 PM in response to shangwubadian

What is really a shame here is that if there is something wrong with the device, you will have to bring it back to the US for service. The warranty is only valid in the US on a device purchased in the US. What makes you believe the device will work in China? If you are in China and look at purchasing a phone on the Apple website, is that the model you would buy to work on China Telecom?

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Answer 4

deggie

Level 10

167,549 points

Nov 1, 2016 6:30 PM in response to shangwubadian

Have you checked with China Telecom to confirm that this model will work with their network? If they are not an official network you will need to put together a custom APN to work with the phone and this network.

If they are a supported network you may have a hardware problem with this phone. You will need to return to the US and get it serviced.

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Answer 5

Nov 1, 2016 11:57 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Chris, I know the warranty issue in China for an iPhone purchased in USA. 🙂

and I am pretty sure the A1661 model itself supports China Telecom. But it just doesn't work for China Telecom.

After I installed an 3G sim card, it worked for a while till rebooting suddenly by itself when charging. After the reboot, it didn't work any longer. 😟

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Answer 6

Nov 1, 2016 11:59 PM in response to deggie

Agree with your analysis, Deggie.

I think it is more like a hardware problem.

Shame, I just bought it less than half a month. T_T

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Answer 7

Nov 2, 2016 12:02 AM in response to shangwubadian

!!!!!Status Update!!!!

==========================

I've tested once again, and found a strange status:

I can use cellular network, it works as well as it does,

but I can't use it to dial or send any message, the signal bar top left still showed ZERO out of five dots.

Any idea, everyone?

Is it a hardware problem?😢

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Answer 8

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,375 points

Nov 2, 2016 6:05 AM in response to shangwubadian

What do you mean you can use the cellular network but you cannot use it to dial or send a message? I believe you need to contact China Telecom and ask them as deggie recommended earlier.

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Answer 9

Nov 2, 2016 8:03 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Hey, Chris, I mean I can use the 4G network to access internet, but I can't dial or send messages. Strange.

I'll call China Telecom and Apple support to see if there is any solution provided by them.

Thanks for your advice.

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Answer 10

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,375 points

Nov 3, 2016 7:56 AM in response to shangwubadian

If you can access the internet but not make calls, there is something wrong with your account provisioning with the carrier. The phone is working, but again, it may not access the required bands for the carrier. You need to contact them and speak to them directly about that model working on their network.

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Answer 11

May 26, 2017 4:27 AM in response to shangwubadian

What did they say? I'm in the same shoes.

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