There has been so much interest recently in my post on the No Service error message that appears to be plaguing particularly 3G iPhones, that it seemed appropriate to put up a more detailed summary of possible fixes for the "No Service" message on the iPhone.
Below is a summary of all the suggestions from the many comments on the original post (thanks to all the commenters!) and from several sites around the web.
- First, try a complete reboot of the iPhone. Hold down the Sleep/wake button at the top right of the phone and the round Home button below the screen on the front of the phone at the same time, until the screen goes black and an Apple logo appears. At this point you can release the buttons and wait for it to finish rebooting.
- Try switching Airplane mode on and off.
- Disable 3G. Sometimes the iPhone is not fast enough in switching between 3G and 2G. [LINK]
- Dock the phone or attach a USB cable (attached to nothing on the other side)
- Charge the phone fully, using the wall adapter.
- Reset Network Settings.
- Important: The following fix will lose any wifi settings and passwords you have set up. You may want to note them before going forward.
- Go to Settings: General: Reset
- Click Reset Network Settings
- Enter your passcode if you have created one
- Click the red button: Reset Network Settings
- The iPhone will take a minute to shut down then it will reboot.
- Re-seat your SIM card.
- Insert the end of a paperclip into the hole on the SIM tray (look for a tiny hole in the long, narrow rectangular metal shield in the center of the top edge of your iphone. NOT the headphone jack - it is a much smaller hole.)
- Press it in until the SIM tray pops out. This is sort of the way we used to eject jammed CD trays - push a paper clip into the eject hole.
- Remove and replace the SIM back into the tray.
- Push the tray back in.
- Attach a small piece of Scotch tape to the outer side of the SIM card (the side withoug contacts). This put just enough pressure on the contacts to increase signal strength for some people. LINK
- Restore your iPhone using the latest version of iTunes.
Other possible fixes (untested, try these at your own risk!):
. NOTE: I have no idea if any of these signal booster devices work - buyer beware.
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thank you soooo much angel.
Rebooting worked. Thank you very much!
Reboot was all it took
thanks!!
Thank you! Taking out and replacing the sim card worked! Thanks so much.
"Steve Jobs, expresses annoyance with the critical coverage of the phone's reception problems" Maybe if the Apple company fessed up sooner the media storm wouldn't have gotten so terrible. I think they thought if they avoided the problem it would go away. Its obvious that Apple is well on its way to become the company they once said they would never become.
Airplane mode did the trick for me. Thanks!
Thanks - rebooting worked!
Thanks so much Ellen. Yay for people who provide solutions on the net.
none of these worked for me, everytime i try one of them i just get a message saying waiting for activation can anyone help ? :(
none worked for me
dodgy SIM card seems to be my problem - as diagnosed by swapping with another phone (the problem stayed with the SIM card rather than the phone).
hey had the same, update new software so far so good
Hi
I have a iphone 3G .I have the" No Service" messageor loss of signal messages .I've reset the network settings, restored to original phone settings , switched off airplane mode and wifi, powered off and on. Finally, I think ejecting the SIM card did the trick. Fingers crossed
Thanks so much!
Taleb Malaeb
Had no service msg...did everything. Put sticky tape on back of SIM card and eventually it is working again....message board helped lots!!!
THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH
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