3G Internet suddenly stops working and then works for a bit again after reboot

[ajs317]

I have a 1-year old unlocked, jailbroken iphone 3G running OS 3.1.2. Recently, I have had this problem where the 3G data connection will suddently stop working. In Safari I get a “Cannot open page because Safari is not connected to the internet”, in mail.app I get a “Cannot get mail” server connection failure, and then in other applications that require the internet, nothing loads. If I reboot my iphone or turn on airplane mode and then turn it off again, the connection works for a few page loads or email fetch cycles, and then the problem comes back again. Everything works fine over wifi, and at all times I can make calls and send and receive SMS. This problem occurs anywhere I have been in the city (NYC) since the problem started.

I’ve made done a number of things with the iphone over the past week before the problem started happening. I installed the app Byline, and I was playing with the SIM card and took it out and switched it with the SIM on my AT&T blackberry to see if the BB SIM would work in the iphone out of curiosity (it did not and I then put the iphone SIM back in). Right before the problem started, I removed my Gmail push/sync account and replaced it with an IMAP connection to Gmail, because I felt like the push access was taking a toll on my battery. I am not sure if this caused the problem, though, because it happens even after I’ve deleted all email accounts.

I’ve searched a lot over the past day and have tried a number of things, none of which have worked:

-- Deleting and reinstalling my Gmail account in a couple different ways and doing a number of things related to email (unlocking captcha on Gmail’s side, toggling SSH on and off, changing IMAP and SMTP ports, enabling and disabling push, etc.)

-- Rebooting my iphone before and after trying various changes

-- Removing, cleaning and reinstalling the SIM card

-- Turning off 3G and EDGE connectivity, both through the Settings app and through SBSettings

-- Reset network connections through the Settings app

The one thing I have not yet tried is restoring the phone. Does anyone have any other ideas before I do this? Has anyone else experienced this problem?

 

[Sonicjay]

FWIW, this was happening to me yesterday on my non-jailbroken 3gs as well.

 

[-aggie-]

You also haven't tried getting a new sim card. Might help. However, NYC does have issues with connectivity as it is.

 

[ajs317]

You also haven't tried getting a new sim card. Might help. However, NYC does have issues with connectivity as it is.

Yes, I haven't tried that but I think I would try restoring before getting a new SIM. You're right that NYC does have connectivity issues but I'm not aware of anything abnormal. This occurs even when I have full bars. I suppose it's always possible it could go away on its own if it's an AT&T network issue.

 

[-aggie-]

Yes, I haven't tried that but I think I would try restoring before getting a new SIM. You're right that NYC does have connectivity issues but I'm not aware of anything abnormal. This occurs even when I have full bars. I suppose it's always possible it could go away on its own if it's an AT&T network issue.

Why wouldn't you want to get a new sim? They're free, in case you didn't know (since you'd show AT&T there was an issue).

 

[ajs317]

Why wouldn't you want to get a new sim? They're free, in case you didn't know (since you'd show AT&T there was an issue).

Can I take the phone in even if it's jailbroken and get one no questions asked (i.e., without having to repeat a bunch of things that I've already done to convince some technician that it might be a SIM problem)?

 

[-aggie-]

Can I take the phone in even if it's jailbroken and get one no questions asked (i.e., without having to repeat a bunch of things that I've already done to convince some technician that it might be a SIM problem)?

I doubt it, since they'd want to make sure it's not software-related. But, I'm not sure how an AT&T store would handle things (I don't think they're capable of doing any diagnostic checks).

 

[Yrjan]

I am having the same issue, however it has since escaladed to my 3g being completly inop. I have noticed that if I turn off 3g in settings>general>network settings I can still use all the functions of my phone via Edge network. This is a temporary fix however, and I have tried everything besides restoring my phone. This post is an old thread, I was wondering if you found a fix for your problem?

 

[Yrjan]

FIXED!

Called AT&T right after posting previous post and told them that I was having trouble connecting to 3g network and that I needed them to "reprovision" my phone. AT&T rep said no problem, turn off phone, I turned off, about 10 seconds later I was told to turn on again and toggle 3g on. Works like a charm. Evidently there is sometimes a glitch with-in the phone itself that she could not explain to me that causes connectivity issues. I dont care, my iPhone is back to its ugly self again and I am going to go barf in a bowl and eat it. Good luck everyone!