Why does my iPhone 4S say it is "waiting for activation?"

[mjhinman]

Received new iPhone 4S yesterday. Backed up old iPhone 4 and then synced new 4s. I received a message on phone "Waiting for activation. This may take some time."  Been waiting almost 24 hours.  Instructions that came with the phone said it would only take minutes.  What's going on?  I don't have a home line, so I can't call customer support and I can't find any information online.  Very frustrating being without a phone.

[ponyruns]

Turn off the phone, power it back on.  Then Dial *228 and select option 1 - Activate this device.

hope this helps

[mjhinman]

No luck.  It will not make any calls at all.  "No service" or constantly "searching" in the corner.

[ponyruns]

That is not cool.  Can you connect to iTunes and do a full reset of the phone.  Then you can start the activation fresh from step one.

[mjhinman]

Trying this now.  Will let you know if it works.

[mjhinman]

Reset the phone and started the activation process over.  Turned phone on, followed the set up assistant onscreen instructions, connected to my WiFi, then to iTunes as prompted.  iTunes started the backup/sync process, but message on phone still reads "Waiting for Activation: This may take some time."

[ponyruns]

Ok I had a similar issue with one of the iphones on our account and we were able to dial *228 and initiate over the air activation.  is the phone just locked on the screen that says "Waiting for Activation: This may take some time."???  If not then without turning off the phone see if you can dial *228 and initiate over the air activation of the new phone.  Otherwise try logging on to you my verizon account online. Under the My Devices section click the link "activate or switch devices" on the next page you should see your old iphone 4 there and hopefully your new iphone 4s.  Select the new iphone 4s and then click next.....  If that doesn't work then you should swing by your local Verizon dealer and they should be able to get you going.   Sorry nothing else

[ponyruns]

Sorry nothing else i have suggested worked thus far

[ponyruns · Accepted solution]

Perhaps the hang up is in the

Select the Set Up option then select Next.

• Set Up as New iPhone
• Restore from iCloud Backup
• Restore from iTunes Backup.

I think you need to skip this option at first then you can restore your new 4S from your last saved iphone 4 setting.

see this link http://support.verizonwireless.com/support/devices/knowledge_base.html/49074/

if this does not help then I am all out of ideas

[Ann154]

Did you verify that the old phone (iPhone 4) was turned off before starting the activation of the new phone?