Can't connect to cellular network

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Level 1

16 points

Can't connect to cellular network

So, I have an unlocked iPhone X that I use in America with AT&T (iPhone upgrade program) and I am currently traveling in India. When I arrived in India I picked up a SIM card from Airtel and everything was great for 6 days. Today, I got a push notification from iOS which was something around the lines of 'Looks like you are using a new number, want to add it as a new trusted number?' I clicked yes because I do have a new number while I am traveling. Then I got an SMS with a 6 digit code and entered it in and I even got a few emails from Apple saying that my old phone number had been removed as a trusted number and this new one has been added. A little bit after that my phone went into permanent 'searching...' mode and won't connect back to the cellular network. Even if you take the SIM card out it still says 'searching...'

So far the things I have tried: reboot, soft reset, reset network settings, removal of the SIM, and a new activated SIM card, but nothing is working.

I have even tried to apply the latest version of iOS but it fails in many ways - from the computer it fails with a 4000 error and on the iPhone it fails saying it can't connect to the internet but it is on WiFi which was good enough to download the update.

I have made a most recent backup but I am worried that it won't come up correct after a hard reset.

Any advice or info would be awesome!

Thanks,

Ryan

iPhone X, iOS 11.2.5

Posted on Feb 23, 2018 4:39 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,389 points

Feb 23, 2018 6:14 PM in response to venkman1080

This support document deals with update errors. Get help with iOS update and restore errors - Apple Support It sounds almost like the phone is trying to load, or already loaded the carrier file for Airtel. If you go to Settings>General>About>Carrier, what do you see there? I would make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes on the computer and attempt the update again.

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Answer 2

venkman1080 Author

Level 1

16 points

Feb 23, 2018 5:30 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

From the about page it is reporting the carrier as 'AirTel 31.0', and network as 'Not Available'.

I just downloaded the latest version of iTunes (12.7.3.46) and tried again but that fails the same way as before.

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Answer 3

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,389 points

Feb 23, 2018 5:44 PM in response to venkman1080

I would try resetting network settings. It would seem to me there are some issues between your usage in AT&T and your changing to Airtel. Go to Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings. Then power the phone off and back on again and see if it will connect. Otherwise, see if any of the troubleshooting in this support document helps.

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Answer 4

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,389 points

Feb 23, 2018 5:59 PM in response to venkman1080

Well, it seems that you are going to have to resolve that update error, and since I've not seen that before, and it is not listed in the support document that I provided, you will probably need to contact Apple support direct.

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Answer 5

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,389 points

Feb 23, 2018 6:16 PM in response to venkman1080

You're welcome. Good luck. Unfortunately, I've read where many people that travel internationally find that a lot of times when they use a foreign SIM, it will really mess things up on their devices. Some foreign SIMs also download profiles on the iPhone that creates an issue for the user to go back to their regular network. I hope it works for you.

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Answer 6

venkman1080 Author

Level 1

16 points

Feb 23, 2018 7:20 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

So, it restored from the backup correctly and everything can connect via cellular. If I have to reset it again when I make it to the next country that will be fine with me, just as long as it can connect. Thanks again!

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Answer 7

venkman1080 Author

Level 1

16 points

Feb 23, 2018 6:14 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Thanks Chis for all your help! I ended up doing a hard reset and the phone came up and was able to connect to cellular. Right now it is restoring for a backup so I hope that works. Thanks again!

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