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

2 things I can' t get rid off (3gs)

S

Sanjanov

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2010
25
0
Hello iPhone users!

I've been struggling with 2 things that I don't even remember switching on, but for some reason they cannot be switched off anymore. Things I' m talking about are:
1) Settings- General- Network- Internet Tethering (the on-off wheel is spinning all the time)
2) "Could not activate cellular data network"- have no idea what that is, but this small window pops up on every application (messages, photos, safari, mail etc.) I assume this might be affected by the first thing. If you wonder wether I have any GPRS/EDGE/3G subscription, then the answer is No, I'm using only wifi to access the internet.

Hoping for some tips if you know any way out of these 2 most annoying things I've ever experienced on my phone.
Thanks
 
Go to Settings, General, Network, if "Cellular Data' is on, and you don't have Edge, or 3g (Cellular Data), then turn it off.
 
That' s not the case. Everything in the network section is off (Enable 3G, Cellular Data, Cellular data network (no info there) VPN, Wi-Fi) and Internet tethering wheel keeps spinning.
Any other suggestions?
 
If that setting is off, then one or more of your apps is trying to access the internet, and that message pops up to let you know that it is unable to use the cellular data network.
 
Tried disabling every internet requiring application, but that damn wheel doesn't stop spinning. Hope this screenshot helps.

img1368.png
http://img200.imageshack.us/f/img1368.png/
Thats how the situation looks right now and there is nothing I can do about it to disable that tethering. Searched for it on various topics around the web and still nothing.
 
Sanjanov said:
Tried disabling every internet requiring application, but that damn wheel doesn't stop spinning. Hope this screenshot helps.

img1368.png
http://img200.imageshack.us/f/img1368.png/
Thats how the situation looks right now and there is nothing I can do about it to disable that tethering. Searched for it on various topics around the web and still nothing.
Click to expand...
You have an extra tab, that I don't have. What do you have when you tap that "cellular data network" tab?
I only get the tethering wheel when I have cellular data on.
 
JamesMB said:
You have an extra tab, that I don't have. What do you have when you tap that "cellular data network" tab?
Click to expand...

I have 2 sections:
1) Cellular data with APN, Usarname and Pasword
2) MMS- a bunch of other data to type in.

The thing is that if i screw all the data in this tab, tethering switches off, but then I can't use GPRS (now that I think about it, I'm not really interested in using it anyway)

The second main problem still is that "Could not activate cellular data network" window that pops up in the middle of my screen. :/
 
Sanjanov said:
I have 2 sections:
1) Cellular data with APN, Usarname and Pasword
2) MMS- a bunch of other data to type in.

The thing is that if i screw all the data in this tab, tethering switches off, but then I can't use GPRS (now that I think about it, I'm not really interested in using it anyway)

:/
Click to expand...
You said that you didn't have cellular data, GPRS IS cellular data.
 
Sanjanov said:
The second main problem still is that "Could not activate cellular data network" window that pops up in the middle of my screen. :/
Click to expand...
That wouldn't pop up if something (an app) wasn't trying to access the Cellular Data network.
 
Just looking at the pic that you sent, you have wifi turned off, cellular data off, so anything that is trying to access the internet is gonna cause that pop up. Do you have a mail account set up in your phone? If you do chances are very good that it is set to fetch mail automatically, and it has to access the internet to do that.
 
JamesMB said:
You said that you didn't have cellular data, GPRS IS cellular data.
Click to expand...

I didn't say I don't have it, I said that it's off, but what I meant by this:
"I have 2 sections:
1) Cellular data with APN, Usarname and Pasword
2) MMS- a bunch of other data to type in."
is that I have these 2 sections in the tab named Cellular Data network. Here is how it looks like: http://img411.imageshack.us/f/img1369.png/ (I've deleted everything but the last two lines to switch the tethering off)

As to mail fetching- it has always been off. About multitasking, all the apps are always running in the background, is there any way to turn them off at all? :D Anyway, this case is by far the most illogical thing I've seen on a phone. I mean, why would it even try to connect to any kind of a cellular network if all the data is erased and the fields are empty as you can see on the screenshot?! Ridiculous if not so say more..
 
Sanjanov said:
I didn't say I don't have it, I said that it's off, .
Click to expand...

Sanjanov said:
Hello iPhone users!

If you wonder wether I have any GPRS/EDGE/3G subscription, then the answer is No, I'm using only wifi to access the internet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
This is a quote from your first post. As you can see, you can plainly see, you state that you do not have a subscription to GPRS/EDGE/3G.

There is nothing illogical, about it, there is an app running that is trying to access the internet and it is informing you that it can't because it doesn't have access. Deleting all the cellular access data is certainly not going to stop your phone from trying to access the internet, when you ask it to, ie open an app that needs the internet, and in fact, just made matters considerably worse. If you want to clear the multitask bar, press your home button twice to open multitasking, tap one of the apps until they start to jiggle, press the X to clear the app from the multitask bar. Rinse and repeat..:D
May I suggest a review of the iPhone user guide.. You can get to it very easily by opening Safari and clicking on the bookmark tab at the bottom and the click on "iPhone User Guide"., but of course when you do this, you are going to get the popup that says that you can't access the internet, since you just deleted all the information under cellular data access.
 
Last edited:
JamesMB said:
If you want to clear the multitask bar, press your home button twice to open multitasking, tap one of the apps until they start to jiggle, press the X to clear the app from the multitask bar. Rinse and repeat..:D
Click to expand...

Thanks for this tip, though I deleted every app running in the background, the window still pops up. >.<

JamesMB said:
but of course when you do this, you are going to get the popup that says that you can't access the internet, since you just deleted all the information under cellular data access.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I not getting your point here. What your talking about is this: http://img51.imageshack.us/f/img1370.png/
While I'm getting this: http://img251.imageshack.us/f/img1371.png/
 
Sanjanov said:
While I'm getting this: http://img251.imageshack.us/f/img1371.png/
Click to expand...

And you will keep getting that until you get a data plan, or turn on airplane mode.

EDIT: There are also fake apn settings files around, I used to use one to disable all cellular data.

Also, have you tried turning it off and on again? That may set the tethering back to off, since it's searching for a data connection if the spinning icon is there.
 
Last edited:
JamesMB said:
That last picture is your messaging app. Thats right, you cant send a text Message unless you have CELLULAR DATA ACCESS. As soon as you open messaging, you are gonna get that popup, because you HAVE TO HAVE CELLULAR DATA ACCESS FOR IT TO WORK,
Click to expand...

What' s your point here? I can send messages by simply pressing ok on that window.. Also that window pops up when I switch mail, calendar or other default apps on.

@theLimit Yes I have tried to switch it off, nothing happened.
 
Try this maybe:
Re-insert SIM card & reset network settings:
settings>general>reset>network settings
 
Carlanga said:
Try this maybe:
Re-insert SIM card & reset network settings:
settings>general>reset>network settings
Click to expand...
He has Cellular Data turned off in settings, and has deleted all of his apn settings, sooo, he is gonna continue to get that popup.
 
JamesMB said:
He has Cellular Data turned off in settings, and has deleted all of his apn settings, sooo, he is gonna continue to get that popup.
Click to expand...

This window has been popping up for a month now while I bought the phone 7 month ago. Yes, everything from the first start-up of the phone was off and that message never appeared. I'm sorry for being confused of what your saying, but damn, wether I delete it or reset the settings to have all those configurations back again doesn't solve the problem. So yeah, it didn't pop when I had Cellular data turned off and now it does even though I haven't changed a thing.

@Carlanga Thank you for your tip, I've tried that and even swaped a new SIM card, but still nothing works. I assume I'll just have to reset everything and reupload all my apps from itunes again.
 
JamesMB said:
He has Cellular Data turned off in settings, and has deleted all of his apn settings, sooo, he is gonna continue to get that popup.
Click to expand...

I see, then yeah TS every time you open some app that needs internet access you will get that pop up unless you buy a data plan of some sort. If you are not using it as a phone then just turn airplane mode on.
 
Carlanga said:
I see, then yeah TS every time you open some app that needs internet access you will get that pop up unless you buy a data plan of some sort. If you are not using it as a phone then just turn airplane mode on.
Click to expand...
He has a data plan, he just turned it off and then deleted all the apn settings.:confused:
 
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
Back