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Sprint iPhone 5s continuously searching...

Tthomas612

Tthomas612

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 24, 2013
1,309
285
First off I apologize for the long post

Here it goes...

My iPhone was fine today all the way up until 3:00 pm at that time I noticed that it started going through the cycle as if I was updating the PRL. It went to 1x then to just say Sprint then it said no sim installed before going back to LTE. At first I was thinking maybe Sprint's actually doing some network upgrades in my area. So I didn't think anything of it again until I got my first phone call after this had happened. When I received the call it rang through like normal, but then when I tried to answer it said "call failed." After the call had failed the phone went back to searching and going through it's cycle as if I was trying to update the PRL.

So I tried to call the person back and when I did it let me talk for about 30 seconds before this buzzing sound happened and the call failed again. After the call failed the phone went through the same cycle as before. Now everytime I try to make a call or receive a call the same thing happens over and over. I honestly don't understand what's going on.

With all that said... I can send and receive text messages and iMessage. I can use Safari with no issues and I can use all of my apps that would use cellular data. However after trying to make or receive a call it still goes through the system update each time and at that time I can't do anything on the phone.

I am on an iPhone 5s after having many many issues with an iPhone 5c over the first 5 months after it was released. I have spent numerous hours at my local Apple store all related to these iPhone issues. It seems as though every since I have upgraded to this "5" series I've had nothing but bad luck as I had no issues out of my 4S the entire time I owned it. Honestly right now I am fed up with Apple and I am a huge Apple fan.

I stopped at my Sprint Store and them being so great at customer service rudely told me that this is an Apple issue not there's and that I would have to go to the Apple Store because of that. Even though I walked in while my phone said ...SEARCHING .... And had been for 10 minutes at that time.

I'm sorry for the long post. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
Tthomas612 said:
First off I apologize for the long post

Here it goes...

My iPhone was fine today all the way up until 3:00 pm at that time I noticed that it started going through the cycle as if I was updating the PRL. It went to 1x then to just say Sprint then it said no sim installed before going back to LTE. At first I was thinking maybe Sprint's actually doing some network upgrades in my area. So I didn't think anything of it again until I got my first phone call after this had happened. When I received the call it rang through like normal, but then when I tried to answer it said "call failed." After the call had failed the phone went back to searching and going through it's cycle as if I was trying to update the PRL.

So I tried to call the person back and when I did it let me talk for about 30 seconds before this buzzing sound happened and the call failed again. After the call failed the phone went through the same cycle as before. Now everytime I try to make a call or receive a call the same thing happens over and over. I honestly don't understand what's going on.

With all that said... I can send and receive text messages and iMessage. I can use Safari with no issues and I can use all of my apps that would use cellular data. However after trying to make or receive a call it still goes through the system update each time and at that time I can't do anything on the phone.

I am on an iPhone 5s after having many many issues with an iPhone 5c over the first 5 months after it was released. I have spent numerous hours at my local Apple store all related to these iPhone issues. It seems as though every since I have upgraded to this "5" series I've had nothing but bad luck as I had no issues out of my 4S the entire time I owned it. Honestly right now I am fed up with Apple and I am a huge Apple fan.

I stopped at my Sprint Store and them being so great at customer service rudely told me that this is an Apple issue not there's and that I would have to go to the Apple Store because of that. Even though I walked in while my phone said ...SEARCHING .... And had been for 10 minutes at that time.

I'm sorry for the long post. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
halcyoncmdr hints at a known technical issue with the iPhone 5, PRL and "o" roaming. I'm extrapolating, but I assume it could also apply to the 5s, although I do not know. Maybe the cellular radio went bad and this has nothing to do with it.

See post #15 as well, also by halcyoncmdr.

I know this does not help much and I also know you dread going back to Apple, but you might have to.
 
eyoungren said:
halcyoncmdr hints at a known technical issue with the iPhone 5, PRL and "o" roaming. I'm extrapolating, but I assume it could also apply to the 5s, although I do not know. Maybe the cellular radio went bad and this has nothing to do with it.

See post #15 as well, also by halcyoncmdr.

I know this does not help much and I also know you dread going back to Apple, but you might have to.
Click to expand...

I know I'm sadly coming to the conclusion that I may have to go back to that darn store. I thought about the cellular radio and it is what it seems to be. After so many problems with the 5c I had it truly is disheartening to now be having trouble out of this.
 
Tthomas612 said:
I know I'm sadly coming to the conclusion that I may have to go back to that darn store. I thought about the cellular radio and it is what it seems to be. After so many problems with the 5c I had it truly is disheartening to now be having trouble out of this.
Click to expand...
That sucks man. Totally get it and I feel for you. Really bad string of luck here.

It's a hail mary, but have you tried just letting the phone sit off for at least 30 minutes?

I've also heard that a full restore, then shutdown for no less than 30 minutes will force a complete network reactivation instead of an abbreviated one that can occur after a simply restart after restoring. No idea if any of that would help, but who knows.
 
Just curious, is this more of a Sprint or Apple problem!?

These issues seem so foreign to me, as I've been with AT&T the last 10 years.
 
Wide opeN said:
Just curious, is this more of a Sprint or Apple problem!?

These issues seem so foreign to me, as I've been with AT&T the last 10 years.
Click to expand...

A lot of the issues I have had have been software related and some hardware.

This is a hardware issue which would be an Apple issue. However some of the issues that have occured have been Sprint related. This is just one time that I believe I can't blame it on Sprint.
 
I work in a Sprint retail store as a tech and highly recommend going down to a store that has service and repair in it. Calling customer service will be a waste of time and usually will get you no where.

What I normally do in these situations is:
- Replace the sim card and then usually do a ##update or ##clear while connected to wifi

-If that fails, generally a full hard reset is needed to bring the phone back to the initial activation screen. Best is to set the phone up as new and not restore from a backup as I have seen in the past when restoring the customers backup actually brought the problem back

-Finally, if all of that fails, we usually determine it to be a hardware issue and have to order the customer a replacement. If they are still within apples warranty or have Sprint's TEP protection there would be no charge. No coverage, would trigger Apple's out of warranty charge.

Hope this is of some help
 
Wow, I hope you get this worked out...

Must admit, I never dealt with anything remotely difficult with all my AT&T iPhones.
 
Wide opeN said:
Wow, I hope you get this worked out...

Must admit, I never dealt with anything remotely difficult with all my AT&T iPhones.
Click to expand...
Sprint has had a real bad experience integrating the iPhone into their system. I think a large part of it is due to their unlock policy which forces the iPhone to pair to a SIM, thus locking it to Sprint's network.

Other carriers have their phones locked to their network, that is true, with no issues. But Sprint SIMs are a bit different in that again, they are paired to the device.

I think if Sprint were to repeal this draconian policy or take a more standard route for locking things might clear up on this issue.
 
titans1127 said:
I work in a Sprint retail store as a tech and highly recommend going down to a store that has service and repair in it. Calling customer service will be a waste of time and usually will get you no where.

What I normally do in these situations is:
- Replace the sim card and then usually do a ##update or ##clear while connected to wifi

-If that fails, generally a full hard reset is needed to bring the phone back to the initial activation screen. Best is to set the phone up as new and not restore from a backup as I have seen in the past when restoring the customers backup actually brought the problem back

-Finally, if all of that fails, we usually determine it to be a hardware issue and have to order the customer a replacement. If they are still within apples warranty or have Sprint's TEP protection there would be no charge. No coverage, would trigger Apple's out of warranty charge.

Hope this is of some help
Click to expand...

I did try to take it to Sprint yesterday, but I was told it was an Apple issue so I need to take it to the Apple Store. So I've gotten a Genius Bar appointment for tonight at 6:20. I will be one pissed off person if Apple tells me the opposite...

----------
eyoungren said:
Sprint has had a real bad experience integrating the iPhone into their system. I think a large part of it is due to their unlock policy which forces the iPhone to pair to a SIM, thus locking it to Sprint's network.

Other carriers have their phones locked to their network, that is true, with no issues. But Sprint SIMs are a bit different in that again, they are paired to the device.

I think if Sprint were to repeal this draconian policy or take a more standard route for locking things might clear up on this issue.
Click to expand...

This is one MAJOR issue with Sprint. First off the network is HORRIBLE. Then they have a crappy unlock policy. That equals one crappy carrier and to imagine I have stuck with the since '04... Wow!!
 
Tthomas612 said:
I did try to take it to Sprint yesterday, but I was told it was an Apple issue so I need to take it to the Apple Store. So I've gotten a Genius Bar appointment for tonight at 6:20. I will be one pissed off person if Apple tells me the opposite...
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that Apple may tell you the opposite and to go back to the store, especially if you have TEP. At least around here the Apple stores seem to send customers to my store to replace a customers phone under TEP even if it falls under a warranty issue. We tend to always offer the customer the option to go to an Apple location if they can for warranty issues due the ability to get the phone replaced on the spot rather than through us forcing the customer to wait 2-3 business days for a replacement to be shipped to the store.
 
Last edited:
titans1127 said:
Tthomas612 said:
I did try to take it to Sprint yesterday, but I was told it was an Apple issue so I need to take it to the Apple Store. So I've gotten a Genius Bar appointment for tonight at 6:20. I will be one pissed off person if Apple tells me the opposite...

I have a feeling that Apple may tell you the opposite and to go back to the store, especially if you have TEP. At least around here the Apple stores seem to send customers to my store to replace a customers phone under TEP even if it falls under a warranty issue. We tend to always offer the customer the option to go to an Apple location if they can for warranty issues due the ability to get the phone replaced on the spot rather than through us forcing the customer to wait 2-3 business days for a replacement to be shipped to the store.
Click to expand...

This kind of problem right here is exactly why I purchased directly through Apple and got AppleCare+ with them.

The only involvement I have with Sprint is that my iPhone is on their network. Since I bought with Apple, it's been Apple that either replaces (once) or fixes anything wrong.

TEP covers theft and AC+ does not, but dealing with TEP, Sprint and Asurion is not my idea of a good time. No offense to you, but cutting Sprint out of the warranty loop has so far been a good thing for me.

Tthomas612's original purchase (an iPhone 5c, for which the 5s was a replacement for all his trouble) was at an Apple store. I believe he has AC+ and it was Apple that gave him the 5s as a replacement so he's likely to be ok at the Apple store.
Click to expand...
 
eyoungren said:
titans1127 said:
This kind of problem right here is exactly why I purchased directly through Apple and got AppleCare+ with them.

The only involvement I have with Sprint is that my iPhone is on their network. Since I bought with Apple, it's been Apple that either replaces (once) or fixes anything wrong.

TEP covers theft and AC+ does not, but dealing with TEP, Sprint and Asurion is not my idea of a good time. No offense to you, but cutting Sprint out of the warranty loop has so far been a good thing for me.

Tthomas612's original purchase (an iPhone 5c, for which the 5s was a replacement for all his trouble) was at an Apple store. I believe he has AC+ and it was Apple that gave him the 5s as a replacement so he's likely to be ok at the Apple store.
Click to expand...

You are correct! My original purchase in September was at Apple. Apple was also the ones who decided it would be best to upgrade me to the 5s because of all the issues with the 5c.

With all that said I do have AC+ on all of the phones as I HATE dealing with TEP.

I tried at first today to take my phone to Sprint
Where I was once again turned away and told to go to Apple. At Apple it was a very simple process. They made some test calls which failed of course and ran diagnostics to see where all my dropped calls had happened. Between yesterday and today I had one successful call and the rest was dropped.

Apple replaced without an issue and now
I can make calls again
Click to expand...
 
Yeah that's why I love Apple so much, in most instances they take ownership, a dying trait in today's business world.
 
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