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Can't find VPN for "iPhone 3G"

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

My iPhone 3G is compatible with the  system, but I am unable to find VPN information. I assume this is why my iPhone is still not connected, even though my account is active?

32 REPLIES 32

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I don't know if anyone will see this, but a thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I was able to follow the advice about setting up an itunes account, to fix the issue, through that.

 

 

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@CalgaryBen wrote:

I'm pretty confident that your device is compatible with the Public Mobile network, but it's very likely that it's locked (unless you had it unlocked by Rogers).  They will unlock it for you for free, so you can contact Rogers with your IMEI to have it unlocked.  But because of the age/vintage (actually, it old iOS that supports the iPhone 3G), the unlocking process requires that you connect it to iTunes running on a PC or Mac, and through that, iTunes will obtain the unlock status from the Apple servers and transfer it to the iPhone.

Thanks. That's probably what I'm going to have to do.

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Anonymous wrote:

It shows the last 4 digits of the number. See if those last 4 digits match. You don't need to change anything to have a look.

 

Just checked and the digits are correct to the new SIM in the phone. Thanks for the ideas. At least I can rule certain things out.

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@suz-uzi wrote:

@CalgaryBen wrote:

then it's likely it was locked to another carrier way back when

Does it matter that, during set up, the IMEI was cleared as not locked?


The IMEI check you did was just a validation that the device is compatible with the Public Mobile network and is not blacklisted, but it does not confirm that it is unlocked.  The "free" way to check if the phone is unlocked or not is to put in a Rogers SIM card and observe that it works, while any other SIM (other than Rogers, Fido, Chatr, Speakout, or Petro-Can) does not work.  Most online checks cost a fee, since they need to query Apple's activation servers, which has an associated fee.

Based on symptoms described, I'm pretty confident that your device is compatible with the Public Mobile network, but it's very likely that it's locked (unless you had it unlocked by Rogers).  They will unlock it for you for free, so you can contact Rogers with your IMEI to have it unlocked.  But because of the age/vintage (actually, it old iOS that supports the iPhone 3G), the unlocking process requires that you connect it to iTunes running on a PC or Mac, and through that, iTunes will obtain the unlock status from the Apple servers and transfer it to the iPhone.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi wrote:

It is 3G and it shows that 3G is enabled. This specific device is listed as working with the network.

 

It's not locked and it's not blacklisted. I double-checked with your link, but they also checked as part of setting up the Public Mobile account.

 

I'm not entirely sure what is meant by my "self-serve", wherein I can check stuff. Sorry if this was explained and I lost it, but this is all pretty new and I'm trying to keep up.


The remains of your SIM card or the SIM packaging will have your full SIM #. The self-serve or My Account has a Change SIM function. It shows the last 4 digits of the number. See if those last 4 digits match. You don't need to change anything to have a look.

I'm just pitching in with other ideas twigged by CalgaryBen. Please do follow any instructions from him. Mine are more a by the way, more info, what if it's this kinda thing.

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

It is 3G and it shows that 3G is enabled. This specific device is listed as working with the network.

 

It's not locked and it's not blacklisted. I double-checked with your link, but they also checked as part of setting up the Public Mobile account.

 

I'm not entirely sure what is meant by my "self-serve", wherein I can check stuff. Sorry if this was explained and I lost it, but this is all pretty new and I'm trying to keep up.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi wrote:

@CalgaryBen wrote:

then it's likely it was locked to another carrier way back when

Does it matter that, during set up, the IMEI was cleared as not locked?


So you have the attention of our resident Apple guru 🙂

 

Have a look at devicecheck to see if the phone is blacklisted.

This is different from being locked by a provider.

 

So you were with Rogers...does the phone have a way to select which networks to use? That old phone might be on 2G GSM. This place wants 3G UMTS/WCDMA/HSDPA.

 

With that 89 #, Telus and related SIM's should start with that and then in your self-serve you can verify the last 4 digits in the Change SIM function. This is to see if the SIM card #'s match as far as you can reasonably tell. If someone switched things in the card when you got it then that would be harder to prove. But not impossible.

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@CalgaryBen wrote:

then it's likely it was locked to another carrier way back when

Does it matter that, during set up, the IMEI was cleared as not locked?

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

And yes, the SIM shows up in the ICCID field.

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

It says Rogers, which was what it was on, with the previous SIM.

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@suz-uzi wrote:

No actual phone service.  No connection.

If someone calls the number, they go directly to voicemail. 




Do you know the history of the phone?  Like what previous provider it was on?  Are you sure it's unlocked?

What do you see in the top left corner?  No Service?  No SIM?  Something else?

I no longer have a 3G/3Gs, so things have likely changed greatly since iOS 4... I have a device with iOS 7, so hopefully some options are similar.  Are you able to go to Settings --> General --> About, and scroll down to find ICCID?  Is there a number there that starts with 89....?  That should be the ID printed on your SIM card.  Also what do you see under the Carrier field?  If it's not TELUS something, then it's likely it was locked to another carrier way back when.  It's almost not worth getting unlocked because that vintage of phone would require the unlock to be carried out through iTunes (connection to your computer), as it cannot be locked over-the-air.

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Thanks for you help.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@suz-uzi wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Are you able to try another SIM in the phone? Preferably one related to Telus/Bell.

Are you able to try your SIM in another phone?

What's the exact model # of your phone?


No other SIM, no other phone, available.

Model#? Literally "iPhone 3G" (it's not "an iPhone with 3G", it's "the iPhone 3G")


Like these A1324, A1241. But it looks like there really shouldn't be a problem with it.

No family, friends co-workers with cell phones that would let you try? Or theirs in yours?


Sorry. The model # is A1241


I edited my prior post. I'm not an iphone guy. I'll step back. I have a mental block with Apple anyway 🙂

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Anonymous wrote:
No family, friends co-workers with cell phones that would let you try? 

I am currently in the country outside Kingston and have no contacts, within reach.

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Anonymous wrote:

@suz-uzi wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Are you able to try another SIM in the phone? Preferably one related to Telus/Bell.

Are you able to try your SIM in another phone?

What's the exact model # of your phone?


No other SIM, no other phone, available.

Model#? Literally "iPhone 3G" (it's not "an iPhone with 3G", it's "the iPhone 3G")


Like these A1324, A1241. But it looks like there really shouldn't be a problem with it.

No family, friends co-workers with cell phones that would let you try? Or theirs in yours?


Sorry. The model # is A1241

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Are you able to try another SIM in the phone? Preferably one related to Telus/Bell.

Are you able to try your SIM in another phone?

What's the exact model # of your phone?


No other SIM, no other phone, available.

Model#? Literally "iPhone 3G" (it's not "an iPhone with 3G", it's "the iPhone 3G")


Like these A1324, A1241. But it looks like there really shouldn't be a problem with it.

No family, friends co-workers with cell phones that would let you try? Or theirs in yours?

 

I'll put out the bat-signal for @CalgaryBen.

Can you wifi connect to itunes to see if anything changes?


@suz-uzi wrote:

No actual phone service.  No connection.

 

If someone calls the number, they go directly to voicemail. 



 


You need to turn off going directly  to voicemail function on your phone. But I'm sorry I can't tell you how to do it since I don't use iPhone. 

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Anonymous wrote:
Are you able to try another SIM in the phone? Preferably one related to Telus/Bell.

Are you able to try your SIM in another phone?

What's the exact model # of your phone?


No other SIM, no other phone, available.

Model#? Literally "iPhone 3G" (it's not "an iPhone with 3G", it's "the iPhone 3G")

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi wrote:

No actual phone service.  No connection.

 

If someone calls the number, they go directly to voicemail. 



 


Are you able to try another SIM in the phone? Preferably one related to Telus/Bell.

Are you able to try your SIM in another phone?

What's the exact model # of your phone?

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

No actual phone service.  No connection.

 

If someone calls the number, they go directly to voicemail. 



 

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Thanks.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

It seems to say that you're not going to get MMS (short of deeper technical work) but it should be able to do "3G" data.

It's not just that I'm not getting data, I have no connection to the network, as if I don't have an active account/SIM.

 

I've got nothing, even though I'm paying.

 

Is that standard, just because you don't have APN settings?


No. You should be able to get voice of that thing. APN is all about data. Your thread title seemed to be asking about data.

Is anything working? Call in/out? Texts in/out? Internet we know 🙂 .

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Anonymous wrote:

It seems to say that you're not going to get MMS (short of deeper technical work) but it should be able to do "3G" data.

It's not just that I'm not getting data, I have no connection to the network, as if I don't have an active account/SIM.

 

I've got nothing, even though I'm paying.

 

Is that standard, just because you don't have APN settings?


@suz-uzi wrote:

Hopefully there is something within the carrier to resolve this and I don't have to be attempting to fix things on my own. 

 

As it said, 'beware' and I'm not an experienced user.


@suz-uzi  Click here and follow Configuring APN on iOS 7 or earlier (e.g. iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4) section.

 

Edit: Too slow same link as above.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi wrote:

Hopefully there is something within the carrier to resolve this and I don't have to be attempting to fix things on my own. 

 

As it said, 'beware' and I'm not an experienced user.


Well you've come to a more DIY hands-on self-serve kinda place so you gotta be willing to get your hands dirty as the saying goes.

This is a go-to reference for all things Apple. Similar to what was linked to earlier. It seems to say that you're not going to get MMS (short of deeper technical work) but it should be able to do "3G" data.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi  - There are some very knowledgeable iphone users in the community.  Hopefully one of them will be able to give you additional help to get you going.

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Hopefully there is something within the carrier to resolve this and I don't have to be attempting to fix things on my own. 

 

As it said, 'beware' and I'm not an experienced user.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@suz-uzi  You might want to take a look at the following thread from a while back.  It might have some useful information https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Phones-Hardware/iPhone-4-3GS-3G/m-p/13467/highlight/t... 

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I definitely checked there and the iPhone 3G isn't listed, even though it is compatible with the Public Mobile system 

Opera Snapshot_2019-06-19_170609_apn-canada.gishan.net.png

suz-uzi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

This may all be over my head, if it's that simple.

It seems that every type of iPhone has specific APN needs, and when I check, they start at iPhone 4 and there is no listing for "iPhone 3G".

 

Am I missing something? Am I supposed to use the iPhone 4, even though that's not what I have?

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