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Level 1

8 points

Iphone carrier data issues after switching cellular phone providers

I found that some phone service provider (H2O wireless in this case) who require installation of a configuration file that installs an APN profile, makes it impossible to get data when switching to a new phone service provider.

I did the following on switching to new provider, text and voice already working:

- Installed new phone providers sim card

- Deleted previous providers configuration in Settings> General . Confirmed no profiles listed

- Settings > general > reset Network settings. Then reboot. Still no success getting data with new provider

- Only get data when I wipe out iphone and setup as new. But lose data when I restore my backup (backup made after previous profile was deleted)

- Last desperate resort: tried the unlockit.co.nz website, but receive an error "Only one APN configuration can be installed at a time". I see this eror even after removing the new providers sim card, reseting Network again and rebooting, then rerunning unlockit with no sim card installed

My conclusion: some phone service providers that require installation of a configuration profile leave a hidden profile even when their configuration is deleted, and it appears the only way to get rid of it is to wipe out the phone and start as new. (Very undesirable and cumbersome option, I have so much stuff in my phone and this will be a major pain)

Anybody see a better way to deal with this problem?

iPhone 6s, iOS 11.1

Posted on Nov 18, 2017 10:02 AM

Best reply

madra31

Level 6

9,940 points

Posted on Nov 19, 2017 3:22 AM

If you talk to AT&T you will need to escalate to advanced support as this is not the type of issue tier1 customer support is able to deal with.

It is likely you will get a solution in this way. If not, depending on the history of the phone, AT&T might be willing to have the activation policy modified for you which would solve the problem if that is necessary to provide a permanent solution.

From what you are saying the issue is not related to having the latest software version but rather having the APN reset with the old values which you need changed.

What I was suggesting is instead of using the restore option in iTunes do go with the Update option which will have the effect of doing a device firmware update (DFU). That will allow you to set the phone up as "New" and once your carrier profile is set the chances are the correct APN configuration will be pushed to the phone. Of course, you would have to manually restore data which is a chore.

That is item 4 in the link.

If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won't turn on or is frozen - Apple Support

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Iphone carrier data issues after switching cellular phone providers