Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Another Iphone 5 Problem signal loss Hugh Bug will not relock on

M

meridiusuk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 25, 2010
123
35
Hi all

i hope forums will post this in the news section as this seems to be a hugh fault with the iphone 5 with its signal locking and a major one at that, I have this issue and so do all my other 10 friends who own an iphone 5 on different providers.

We are having a problem where when you lose signal for a lengthy period time such as on the train the phone doesnt find signal again when you are clearly in a area that would have signal. Only way around this for it to stop saying "No service" is

1. power off phone then back on again
2. turn airplane mode on then off
3. make a call to someone

the above 3 options forces the iphone 5 to relock onto the signal.

I hope this is a software bug as if its a hardware fault this is going to cost apple alot as everyone i know with a iphone 5 has this problem more so on uks three network becasue they have no other service to fall back on after 3g as with other netowrks it would drop down to edge and still have a locked on signal. Its only when you go into an area where there is no signal and then you walk into a place with one that the phone just will not lock back onto it.

apple should try and fix this serious bug and release it now as this is a major problem.

I have also tried the network reset option and it did not work

Here are some links to the problem

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4356115?start=0&tstart=0

http://www.avforums.com/forums/iphone-5/1684831-failure-find-signal-automatically-after-loss.html

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4372350



there are other reports to on the net and i hope macrumors will post this news on there main site as it needs to be reported more..



cheers all
 
dasx

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
meridiusuk said:
know one had this problem to ?
Click to expand...



I have it. Pretty annoying. Also, only solution 1 works for me. Airplane mode or trying to call doesn't work, I need to reboot the phone.

Gotta say this happened to me once with my 4S as well, although that time was more difficult to get signal back. (Don't really know what happened, as I didn't get into any places with no signal. It just went off).
The iPhone 5 seems more prone to this though. Got it since the 28th and it has already happened to me twice.
 
P

PM-Performance

macrumors 6502
Feb 12, 2012
320
47
I had it and was going to deal with it thinking it was a software issue.
I talked to Apple on some other things and mentioned it and they suggested taking the phone back and getting a replacement.

I did not want to think it was a hardware issue, but so far on my new one, it appears that it may have indeed been a hardware issue.
If you are seeing this frequent enough that you can duplicate it in no signal areas, take it back and get another.
In my case, I had my 4 and 4S right next to my 5 and could not duplicate the same thing on either of them and both on IOS 6 and same network.
 
dasx

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
PM-Performance said:
I had it and was going to deal with it thinking it was a software issue.
I talked to Apple on some other things and mentioned it and they suggested taking the phone back and getting a replacement.

I did not want to think it was a hardware issue, but so far on my new one, it appears that it may have indeed been a hardware issue.
If you are seeing this frequent enough that you can duplicate it in no signal areas, take it back and get another.
In my case, I had my 4 and 4S right next to my 5 and could not duplicate the same thing on either of them and both on IOS 6 and same network.
Click to expand...

Mmm... interesting. So the replacement doesn't do it?
Problem here is I don't want a replacement phone as:
1. It's a refub.
2. Its serial number isn't the same in the box and in the invoice so would probably lose some future buyers.

Only option I'd consider is getting refund and buying a new one, which is impossible as they're out of stock atm. And the return policy is just 14 days in my country and I'm on the 9th.

Read the links the OP posted and some people claim resetting network settings solved the problem for them and weren't unable to duplicate the problem.

Will give it a try next time.
 
K

kingdLo

macrumors 6502
Mar 20, 2009
273
2
This happened to me first time I tried activating the phone. Last night I cycled in airplane mode and have been totally unable to regain signal. I even tried a restore and nothing. Got my appt for a replacement in 2 hours, I want a white swap if possible.
 
P

PM-Performance

macrumors 6502
Feb 12, 2012
320
47
dasx said:
Mmm... interesting. So the replacement doesn't do it?
Problem here is I don't want a replacement phone as:
1. It's a refub.
2. Its serial number isn't the same in the box and in the invoice so would probably lose some future buyers.

Only option I'd consider is getting refund and buying a new one, which is impossible as they're out of stock atm. And the return policy is just 14 days in my country and I'm on the 9th.

Read the links the OP posted and some people claim resetting network settings solved the problem for them and weren't unable to duplicate the problem.

Will give it a try next time.
Click to expand...

I tried the network settings thing and screwing with ATT a few times and was only a temp fix.

I dont care about the resale value that much. Its not like these things are old cars where the serial numbers need to match to get $75k for it instead of $20k if it wasnt an original restore.
Its a phone. The difference between the $25-$50 if the person even cares if you have the box and matching numbers is rediculous IMHO. I wouldnt deal with a damaged phone just for sake of having matching serial numbers on the box.
Another thing is, there are no refurbs a week after go live. They cannot even satisfy demand for new phones, let alone have the time to repair damaged ones within a week and get them back out to Apple stores.

That being said, yes so far my phone has not had the signal drop problem, as well as WIFI is working as it should now unlike the prior one I had
 
dasx

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
PM-Performance said:
I tried the network settings thing and screwing with ATT a few times and was only a temp fix.

I dont care about the resale value that much. Its not like these things are old cars where the serial numbers need to match to get $75k for it instead of $20k if it wasnt an original restore.
Its a phone. The difference between the $25-$50 if the person even cares if you have the box and matching numbers is rediculous IMHO. I wouldnt deal with a damaged phone just for sake of having matching serial numbers on the box.
Another thing is, there are no refurbs a week after go live. They cannot even satisfy demand for new phones, let alone have the time to repair damaged ones within a week and get them back out to Apple stores.

That being said, yes so far my phone has not had the signal drop problem, as well as WIFI is working as it should now unlike the prior one I had
Click to expand...

I don't know. I got a flawless phone but this signal issue that has happened twice. I'm afraid I go to get a replacement and the new one is scuffed, has wifi issues, upside down volume buttons (lol) or any other flaw...

Aarrrggg... I think I'll hold to this one. I hope it doesn't bother me anymore and I don't regret this decision. Maybe it can be easily fixed in 6.0.1. Who knows.

Also, I don't know how I would replicate the problem in the Apple Store or convince the guy to give me a replacement when the phone shows no problems at all.
 
P

PM-Performance

macrumors 6502
Feb 12, 2012
320
47
I didnt have to replicate anything.
I told the person very precisely the issue and how to duplicate it if he wanted to. No questions asked.
I guess it helps that I am a tech. I could tell him clearly enough what the problem was and actually told him I did not want a new one for the very reason of getting a worse one.

There was a dude in front of me that went through 6 right in front of me with blems on all of them.
He got me a new one and asked me to check it out and first one out of the batch was just as perfect cosmetically wise as my other one.

Just dont take a new one until you confirm it is to your standards.

To each his own though. I didnt want to swap either as I wanted to really believe it was software, but at this point, it is proving to not be.
You wont get good resale on a phone that has damaged antennas so take that food for thought.
 
H

highlightshadow

macrumors regular
Oct 11, 2012
182
0
I'm having same issue.... like clockwork on the train when i come out of a long tunnel i have 'No Service' and it remains like that until i switch airplane on and off and then get full signal again.
 
M

meridiusuk

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 25, 2010
123
35
Hi all

I don't think this is a phone fault as all my friends have this problem. I think it's software.

I talked to an apple store worker which I am good friends with and all there staff who own a iPhone 5 have the same problem and had a few people complain about it.

But if this is not fixed In the next version it could be a hardware fault and could be a Hugh problem for apple as it sounds like a lot of phones have this problem.

I would contact apple by this link and report it.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
 
F

Freelance1

macrumors newbie
Oct 17, 2012
1
0
meridiusuk said:
Hi all

i hope forums will post this in the news section as this seems to be a hugh fault with the iphone 5 with its signal locking and a major one at that, I have this issue and so do all my other 10 friends who own an iphone 5 on different providers.

We are having a problem where when you lose signal for a lengthy period time such as on the train the phone doesnt find signal again when you are clearly in a area that would have signal. Only way around this for it to stop saying "No service" is

1. power off phone then back on again
2. turn airplane mode on then off
3. make a call to someone

the above 3 options forces the iphone 5 to relock onto the signal.

I hope this is a software bug as if its a hardware fault this is going to cost apple alot as everyone i know with a iphone 5 has this problem more so on uks three network becasue they have no other service to fall back on after 3g as with other netowrks it would drop down to edge and still have a locked on signal. Its only when you go into an area where there is no signal and then you walk into a place with one that the phone just will not lock back onto it.

apple should try and fix this serious bug and release it now as this is a major problem.

I have also tried the network reset option and it did not work

Here are some links to the problem

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4356115?start=0&tstart=0

http://www.avforums.com/forums/iphone-5/1684831-failure-find-signal-automatically-after-loss.html

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4372350



there are other reports to on the net and i hope macrumors will post this news on there main site as it needs to be reported more..



cheers all
Click to expand...

I have this problem as well, every morning whilst commuting by train. I use the "switch to flight mode" method to restore signal.
 
I

inselstudent

macrumors 6502a
Jul 27, 2012
617
4
I know that issue from my old iPhone 4. When moving quickly - by car or train - and if the phone lost signal once, then it would remain at zero reception until I'd turn airplane on and off, sometimes it'd even need a restart. Apple switched my device for a new one then (I did the exchange in July 2011 and the replacement device was built in June 2011 so I suppose I really got a new one) and I felt it was better. But actually I can't imagine it to be a hardware bug... I'm not a technician but yeah. To me it just doesn't sound like something that could not be solved with a software fix. It's not like the antenna is actually broken.
 
R

russgold

macrumors newbie
Jun 11, 2012
26
0
I had a similar issue with my VerizoniPhone 4S I would drop 3G but still would have the ° Aka 1x and it wouldn't reacquire 3G till I did one of those.
 
G

gtmac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2010
676
116
I have this issue just coming out of big office buildings. Very annoying.
 
O

onne2slick

macrumors regular
Jun 9, 2010
138
0
I have a similar problem too. It doesn't connect back.

Have you guys taken your iPhones to the Genius Bar? I've taken my other iPhone before and they did some fancy test with it. They connect you to a website and then they analyze it through their phone or something. I had a problem with my software and they determined that it was the issue for my battery. Anyway, that was a different problem. But have you guys taken it to the Apple store? Have they run tests on you? Because I really don't know how to mimic losing signal at an Apple store...
 
big samm

big samm

macrumors 68000
Oct 27, 2008
1,508
341
Im in Canada on Rogers network, when the iphone 5 came out on the 21 i had similar problems my phone wouldn't connect after losing signal... Now that activations have slowed down things are back to normal and i don't need to toggle the airplane mode to get a signal back anymore...
 
palmerc2

palmerc2

macrumors 68000
Feb 29, 2008
1,623
683
Los Angeles
Yep same thing here. I'm actually getting weak / no signal or in and out of signals on everything: wifi, cellular and even Bluetooth.
 
O

onne2slick

macrumors regular
Jun 9, 2010
138
0
Have you guys talked to the Genius bar yet? I called Apple and the rep said she hasn't heard any issue like this yet for the iPhone 5.

She gave me a case number to bring to the Apple store. I don't know what good that would do though..
 
B

burtonfamily101

macrumors newbie
Oct 12, 2012
5
0
What network is everyone on? Im on AT&T. I spoke with for 1.5hours and basicly all they said was I can get a new nano sim card from a local ATT store. Or take it the apple store. Only problem is..its only when LTE isnt aviable when this happends to me. And LTE is at the apple store..I dont want to look like a fool when I get there and everything is working fine.

Any ideas what I should do? Im going to try a new sim today and see. but has anyone auctally fixed the issue?

Thanks for any input. The place it stops working at is at my work so haveing to reset settings just to check emails is not cool.
 
C

calvingsc

macrumors newbie
Mar 20, 2010
15
0
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Same issue over here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The iPhone 5 was just launched over a week ago.

I am also facing this issue when the coverage is extremely weak at one specific mall here. I just lose 3g or Edge signal completely. Only way to resolve is to reboot phone. But surprisingly other areas is able to switch between 3g and Edge.
 
K

kutu

macrumors newbie
Jul 7, 2011
2
0
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
My i4 had similar problem, but Airplane mode can resolve it.

My New iPad had this a few times months back, but after a while, it never happen again, no more rebooting.

My i5, 16GB white, 3G / E, once lost, won't return without a reboot. Airplane mode doesn't do the trick anymore. Never try Network reset though.

From all the threads in so many forums I read, I gather this is either a Software issue OR a hardware issue that ALL i5 has it. I hope Apple will resolve it in next iOS update, at the very least, make it possible for Airplane mode toggle to resolve it :mad:

Anyone of you has updates, do share it here ;)
 
D

darster

Suspended
Aug 25, 2011
1,703
1
I had that problem but was resolved whe I went into settings, privacy, location services, system services, and made sure Cell Network Search was on. I had listened to "other" posters who said to turn that all off. Well, they are wrong. Leave it on, and it will connect right away when you get signal back. At least it does for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom