Looking for Help with Missing Wifi on IPhone 3GS

[MDominic]

I have an iPhone 3Gs bought from a yard sale, original owner unknown. While I have no interest in using it as a phone, I do want to use it as a portable wifi device. However, in Settings, wifi is missing. Not greyed out, but completely missing. In the section where it should be, I have just Airplane Mode and Bluetooth, and nothing else.
I have tried resetting all network settings. I have tried jailbreaking and unlocking the phone. I have tried it with a sim card from another carrier. Nothing seems to make a difference to the device; the option is still missing.
I have searched a host of sites for info related to this, but have not been able to find that anyone else has had the same problem, let alone having a solution.
Can anyone provide assistance or insight into this problem?

For technical reference, it is a 16 GB 3GS running IOS 6.1.3 with Modem Firmware 05.13.04. It is not currently jailbroken, as I reset it to update the OS. For all the good that did.

 

[Xenomorph]

DFU Restore to 6.1.6

 

[MDominic]

Thanks for the reply. Previous OS upgrades have not fixed the problem. Is this a known issue that was fixed in 6.1.6?

 

[Winona Northdakota]

Looking for Help with Missing Wifi on IPhone 3GS

If the iPhone 3GS was originally destined for the Chinese market, it may not even have Wi-Fi.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3893

iPhone 3GS model A1325 does not support Wi-Fi.

 

[braddick]

That is odd.
I think I could guess why, but anyone know the reason behind this?

 

[aPple nErd]

messed up baseband.

 

[MDominic]

If the iPhone 3GS was originally destined for the Chinese market, it may not even have Wi-Fi.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3893

iPhone 3GS model A1325 does not support Wi-Fi.

Thanks....turns out that was the right answer.

Oh well, I suppose it will still make a decent ereader.

 

[Winona Northdakota]

Thanks....turns out that was the right answer.



Oh well, I suppose it will still make a decent ereader.

Glad you found the answer. Welcome to the crazy of the oppressive Chinese government that wouldn't allow an iPhone that had a Wi-Fi chip. They allowed Wi-Fi starting with the release of the iPhone 4, so iPhone 3gs's sold after the iPhone 4 also had Wi-Fi.

 

[Quantum2]

Glad you found the answer. Welcome to the crazy of the oppressive Chinese government that wouldn't allow an iPhone that had a Wi-Fi chip. They allowed Wi-Fi starting with the release of the iPhone 4, so iPhone 3gs's sold after the iPhone 4 also had Wi-Fi.

So odd for a smarthphone to be sold without Wi-Fi...

 

[Winona Northdakota]

Looking for Help with Missing Wifi on IPhone 3GS

I am sure that was Apple's response also.

Though, remember that going back a few years prior, smartphones such as the Palm Treo didn't have Wi-Fi. Even if it did have a Wi-Fi radio, we could only use one radio at a time, cell radio or Wi-Fi radio. Palm OS Garnet wasn't capable of using both at the same time, so Palm never included a Wi-Fi radio.

Of course, that's not the same reason for the iPhone 3GS model released for China. Blame China's restrictive government.