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Iphone 4 says searging...3G or no service...3G please help

mowglibarnsley93

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Hey folks. As you probably realised I'm new to this forum but not new to idevices. I have been repairing them since I was in high school. But recently an iphone 4 I purchased has completely lost me! So I was wondering if anybody on her could help. This might be a lengthy post but please read. Apologies if it is in the wrong section.
Okay. So I bought this iphone 4 16gb on vodafone uk off a friend who thought it was blocked. Initially I was going to give it to my nephew as a iPod or use for parts but I thought if call vodafone to see if there was a way to unblock it. BUT, it turns out its not actually blocked, but what the problem is, it says either "no service...3G or "searching...3G" I have tried restoring through iTunes, restoring from the phone. Putting it on and put of recovery and dfu mode with no joy, also toggled airplane mode. I have a pay as you go sim in it ATM and have tried that in my unlocked 3G as well as my unlocked 3GS and it gets full signal and 3G. I've read on line, looked on numerous forums and looked on YouTube for a potential answer with no luck. I've checked to see if the antenna cable was undone, it is intact, tried the tape method, no joy, checked the status of the imei on many sites and all say its unblocked. I know a lot of people say that the blue resistor type thing is normally at fault but it doesn't seem loose or burnt out. I've also tried manually selecting the network and it says network restricted. It just confuses me as to why it has solid 3G but no service or searching? Wifi and Bluetooth work fine as well as everything else. The only other thing I can think of is to go to apple store but I don't think they will do anything as its out if warranty etc. does anybody on her have a fix or solution? Or had the problem but had it sorted? If so could you please guide me in the right direction, a friend of mine suggested changing the imei but I don't want to as it will be highly illegal and its not even barred so will be pointless. And more to the point it isn't possible to do on an iphone 4 (correct me if I'm wrong)
Thank you in advance for any answers,help or solutions. Regards Mark.
 
Try going under SETTINGS>GENERAL>RESTRICTIONS and she if there is any on?
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I tried that and they are all disabled. Thanks
Matk
 
Just thought I'd update. Called vodafone again today and the d*ck I bought it off has pulled a fast one on me and reported it lost. I'm not overly fussed about changing the imei number either so might just use as an iPod or do a motherboard change or even sell or swap with a barred phone overseas.
 
Swapping the baseband chipset is expensive and is illegal in most places. The process of buying, and installing it costs more than buying another one from a certified seller. This is why I never buy phones over the net unless it's guaranteed by a certified reseller and not just some guy online
 
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