Chosen Solution

I replaced the volume/vibrate/lock flex on my iPhone 5 and once I got it back together the phone is constantly “Searching” for the cellular network. Everything else works on the phone. I also noticed that when I eject the SIM card the phone does not display “No Sim” as it would normally. It is an AT&T iPhone 5. Does anyone have any idea what could have caused this? The cell antenna in the bottom right corner is not compromised and the interconnect cables are attached correctly. What else could cause this problem?

Hello Everyone. I work at a IT Repair shop in Portugal and have a lot of experience repairing iPhones. This started happening to me when iOS 6 came out and I had no idea what was causing this, since the hardware was all ok. Turns out that because the iPhone communicates with security certificates, you have to set the time and date right. Best way to do so is just connecting to a WiFi network and wait arround 5 seconds, then restart the phone. Otherwise, jsut set it manually (the year will be 1970, I think). Once again, this is the solution for many network issues after unplugging the battery. Hope it helps :)

I also run it the same problem and did all of tricks in the book… from taking apart the complete phone to checking all of the connectors under microscope and reseting the network settings too… nothing helped… However the solution was much simpler in the end… If you disconnected the battery while you were doing any repairs (as you should!) the date on the iPhone should change to the year 1970 or something like that and the connection with the cell tower is not possible… do not ask me why… After I changed the date I got full reception right away… I guess it would work if you reset the phone completely since the iPhone would sync with the iTunes on the computer so it should pick up the date too… Also the connection to the wireless network could also help however at the time I was not connected to the wireless internet at all so I am not able to verify that… So before you do anything else and have similar “searching” issue check the date first….

This happenes to me almost every time i fix a iphone 5/ 5s I always check with soft reset, and reseting network settings. Somtimes i need to start the phone without the sim inside the phone. I have gotten it right in the end every time, but i still get nervous :)

Cycle airplane mode and try again

Turn off your phone & put it in a plastic bag and close it and then put it in the fridgerator for like an hour or an hour and a half this might seem weird but i swear worked for me

having the same issue, replaced the volume power flex with no luck getting the service back, even cycling airplane mode wont work it will stuck on searching, even i tried to look for carriers manual but still can not see any other network.. any advice

I tried to cycle many times with no luck. Even took apart the phone a couple if times but that Did not help eaither. Waited for a couple of hours and the phone tried do connect to wifi. After that it changed from searching to no connection. Then i cycled airplane mode or power. I do not remember which.

I was replacing a back camera on an iPhone 5 and after putting it together the device was searching for service all the time even after the basic troubleshooting tips. I even put the entire logic board in another iPhone 5 that had been working and it is still happening. Is it possible that their sim card needs to be replaced or the phone needs to be restored?

Had the same issue here. Solution:

  • Recheck the connection of cellular data antenna (Step 15)
  • Recheck the connections (Step 18) Those connectors are tricky (IMHO). Check for damage.- I destroyed one in my old 3GS (pushed to hard) - had to have it resoldered - Be patient and carefull !!! - They have to “snap” in.
  • Start the Phone - get your Sim-Card out - plug it in again. Hope this helps.

Can you connect to wifi?

I can but I can not connect to any cellular network, there is another thing I notice is that when start the phone for the first time, the automatic date and time zone it keep searching for time and always select the wrong time zone such as Singapore , while I am placed in Yemen,

Anyone got an answer for this? have you all tried reseting your network? go to settings -> General -> Reset -> Network Reset and let me know if it works

I need your help.i have the same problem with searching network .First I put my iphone on dfp mode with the wrong data and time for restoring with iTunes. But in iTunes when the process is around 70% I have the 47 error- Why??? Thank you for the future answers.

Sale here. After replace the power /sound flex cable i have a searching network problem. I try everything mentionned here but no way. So i try an iTune restore and got error 47. I wait the interconnect cable to see if it could the cause. If someone has an idea :)? Thanks CcHuMi.

Iam getting frustrated. My iphone 5S cannot seem to detect a network. I have tried hard reset, airplane mode, resetting the network, inserting & removing the sim – Iam trying to restore it through itunes and it comes up with an error. Help someone please!.

I have this same problem with my 5c. I recently repaired a phone that is locked to ee. Me being on ee thought I could use this phone but I kept getting searching and occasional signal. I rung up ee and they to me that because I have a T-Mobile SIM card I have to get the phone unlocked which they won’t do as its a second hand phone. Does anyone know if getting it unlocked will fix this searching problem as I am unsure?

My problem was similar. “Searching” was on top left corner. ATT store switched sim cards with no luck. So I turned phone off. Removed Sim card. Started phone w/ Sim card out. Put SIm card in when phone comes back on and it worked!! Hope this helps.

I have the same problem after replace the batrry

I have similar problem for andoid, the cellular networks is searching and accidentally turned off how do I turn the cellular networks back to the automatic can someone help me please.

Why Apple didn’t give us the solution? All we have same problem my phone from 3 days searching cellular

Iphone 6 - Removing the sim card, powering off and back on, and reinserting the sim card resolved this issue for me. I have had the same issue sevral times before and had to call my carrier to resolve. They did not give specifics but they stated this was a known issue with Iphones. Twice they had me restore my phone and then said they reset something on their end as well.

Only way mine stopped searching and connected is if I slam it into my open hand real hard a couple times and it will work for a day or 2 then back to searching so slam it again, something is loose or?

I put mine in the road, went upstairs to my bedroom window and sat with a bowl of crisps and a bottle of cola. It wasn’t long before a good sized car came along and obliterated the cunting thing. Problem solved.