Could not activate cellular data network

When I try to use my iPhone 4 on the internet w/ 3G not WiFi I regularly (but not 100% of the time) get the error message "Could not activate cellular data network: You are not subscribed to a cellular data service". The problem is that I AM subrscribed to a cellular data service (Nationwide Family 700 with Unlimited Data/Text/Pictures) and my wife's iPhone 4 works fine. Any suggestions?

Accepted answers

GRWolverineFan

They are sending me a new phone. We tried everything listed above and none of it worked. Must've gotten one of the few faulty Apple products....

All comments

nanna24

A phone call to Verizon customer service should take care of it.

xenon19

My Wife's iPhone 4 had the same problem - we purchased it yesterday.

After talking with support for a while they transferred me to the "next level of support". That person had me do the following steps which worked for me. I am not sure if the same steps will work for you - but it may be worth a try:

Note: you will need to have a computer ready with the latest Version of iTunes software installed.

First do a reset of network settings: Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

After the iPhone restarted we did: Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings - NOTE: THIS WILL ERASE YOUR CONTACTS AND APPS you downloaded since you got the iPhone. If you are not comfortable with this then please contact VZW Tech Support.

After the reset - iPhone Restarted, an icon came on the iPhone screen to plug it into the computer.

After we did that we set it up as a New iPhone. NOTE: This part is important. Make sure to choose to setup as a new iPhone and not restore the settings from a backup.

Click Continue to finish these steps and then iTunes will perform a Sync and there will be a message that its OK to remove the iPhone.

Now remove the iPhone, disable Wifi and do a test call to #832. If that verifies ok, then go ahead and try to access the web. At this point I was able to go online. Good luck.

BTW I first went to the Verizon store and the guy couldn't figure it out. They told me to call Apple Care for $30. After trying everything i could find by searching Google - I called phone technical support - they were much better.

tmcclainmyers

I too had the same issue. I tried doing the resets, no success. Called CS...they did not have a clue. I spent a half hour on the phone, finally they tried some "switch" on their network... IT WORKED! I asked what the issue was and she said, "it was a switch on our network." So, if you have the same issue, I would immediately say something about the switch, maybe it will save you time as some of their reps are CLUELESS!

GRWolverineFan

They are sending me a new phone. We tried everything listed above and none of it worked. Must've gotten one of the few faulty Apple products....

budone

GRWolverineFan wrote:
They are sending me a new phone. We tried everything listed above and none of it worked. Must've gotten one of the few faulty Apple products....

Being you are in W. MI, do you have an Alltel plan by chance????

vtaznboylei

Hi,

Just wondering, when you had this issue. Could you still connect to 3G? The issue I am having is that when I turn on the 3G and try to use any app that needs the internet, I get the following error msg: http://yfrog.com/h430gexj. But after I click OK, the 3G will work and I can get on fine.

Thanks

Chris

CoastalJL

I had the same problem when I first got my iphone on the 10th. A couple days later I found out what the problem was. It was NOT the phone itself, what happened was when you got your new phone and you were using data on your old phone while they were activating the iphone it left the data plan on the old one and giving the iphone a phone only plan. Sounds weird, but all they had to do was switch it over and reset it. Basically re-activate the iphone. I found the info on this forum, took a screen shot and showed the tech guy at the verizon store, he made a phone call to verizon and within 15 minutes I was out of there.

vtaznboylei

SGBEATZ wrote:
I had the same problem when I first got my iphone on the 10th. A couple days later I found out what the problem was. It was NOT the phone itself, what happened was when you got your new phone and you were using data on your old phone while they were activating the iphone it left the data plan on the old one and giving the iphone a phone only plan. Sounds weird, but all they had to do was switch it over and reset it. Basically re-activate the iphone. I found the info on this forum, took a screen shot and showed the tech guy at the verizon store, he made a phone call to verizon and within 15 minutes I was out of there.

Was your 3G not working at all though? For me, once I enable 3G I get this error msg. Once I hit OK and wait a couple minutes my 3G will start working.

Thanks

kandyk

I know this is an older post but it helped me. After 8 months of the iPhone 4 working witht he internet I suddenly got the message 'could not activate cellular data netwrk.' Went to the Verizon store and man there said I needed to contact apple support. Apple support wanted money so I said No Thanks. Pulled up this thread - reset netwrok settings only, did not erase anything - and the phone is working fine. Thanks so much.

VolpeArgento

Customer Service hung up on me.

VolpeArgento

I just updated my phone, set the time to automatic. Still not working. On hold with customer service 20 minutes, then they hung up on me.

vzw_customer_support

VolpeArgento, we're truly sorry to learn that you wre hung up on this way. Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused by this, Please share more details on your phone concerns so we can help. What make and model phone do you have? What type of update did you recently complete on your phone? TanishaS_VZW