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Repair information, troubleshooting tips, and guides for the sixth iteration of Apple iPhone, announced on September 12, 2012. Model: A1428, A1429

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iPhone 5 stuck on searching

Any suggestions for repairing the antenna- I believe I damaged it when plugging in headphones. Although my headphones still work. I have tried resetting the phone but am at the end of options. I bought the phone off eBay so it is not under warranty . Thanks

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Apple that the wifi antenna not the cellular anntena which he is looking.

There is no possible way you could have damaged the antenna by plugging in the headphones..

Just check you have the correct sim network and that the sim is activated then make sure the time and date is correct or you won't get service.. Once you have the correct SIM card preform a full restore report back here if you still have a problem then we can help you further with instructions on what you can replace..

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On the Verizon 5, the cellular antenna is located at the bottom near the charging port and headphone jack, I did replace that ribbon and have noticed that when I have a case on my phone, it says searching at the top- indicating it is searching for the Verizon network. So I can only assume that the case adds heat and a barrier to the cellular signal. My Wifi works fine. Luckily my fix was cheap and easy.

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Hi.

I tried many things from this post

Go to airplane mode for some minutes

Fix the date and time

Reboot

Nothing fixed the problem I had.

But I managed to fix the problem with this:

One thing I noticed when I went to Settings is that I didn't have the Carrier option. I didn't either have the IMEI info in the About section. I thought this had something to do with my SIM card.

So, I turned off my iPhone, took out the SIM card and put it in an old iPhone that I was not using. I turned on the old iPhone with the SIM card inside and the old iPhone asked me to unlock my SIM, asking for its password (something that didn't happen in my current iPhone even if I rebooted the phone). So, I put the SIM password and the old iPhone did get a cellphone signal, 3G signal and started working fine. At this point I had probably "re-unlocked" the SIM card, I guess.

After this, I turned off the old iPhone, took out the SIM card and put it on my current iPhone. Then turned on the current phone. The phone said "SIM locked" but didn't ask me for its password. I waited a few seconds and the phone was displaying "No service" (which was different from the previous "Searching" message). I went to Settings and I noticed that the Carrier option was now there, so I selected the Carrier option and then the phone let me choose the carrier for my SIM card .

I hope this helps someone out there with the "Searching" problem.

Long story short: take out your SIM card, put it in another iPhone, unlock the SIM card and then put it back to your iPhone. Go to settings and select your carrier.

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Hey Cathy,

If you're looking to replace your iPhone 5 antenna, you should buy one here

iPhone 5 Wi-Fi Antenna

Then follow this tutorial to fix it in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmYyvABdR...

*For a cheaper antenna go here:

www.fixez.com/iphone-5-wifi-antenna-flex-cable-replacement?gclid=CPGw_LGw870CFcg7OgodcmcAnA

-Hope this helps. Have a nice day!

iPhone 5 Wi-Fi Antenna Image

Product

iPhone 5 Wi-Fi Antenna

$19.99

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Sorry but what has Wifi got to do with iPhone 5 Cellular Antenna for signal ??? nothing that is for the Wifi wrong info buddy.

They need to change the iPhone 5 Cellular Antenna for the signal.

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Thanks Andrew, I lost track of this thread- but luckily I still have a working phone. You are correct- it was my cellular antenna not the Wifi antenna, that I replaced. I also discovered that when I use a case (any case) my phone is searching for the network, the wifi works fine. Weird ... I think the 5 had a lot of problems, looking forward to taking my sons upgrade in the Fall.

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My phone 5 was stuck on searching .. Apple store said antenna and sim reader were broken ?? despite the phone not being dropped or used much.

I tried network reset .. no good

i tried software update and it wouldnt do it thru itunes even.. gave the 4005 error message.

I resorted to a factory reset , even this crashed continually in itunes , after hours of retrying it eventually worked and the phone is working fine .

Apple are a disgrace and wanted £200 to replace the phone as it was 3 months out of warranty .. hope this helps someone .

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My iphone 5s was stuck on searching.. I couldn't even activate the phone because it needed to recognise the SIM card in order to activate. The only thing that fixed it was running it in DFU mode (not recovery mode) through iTunes :)

Now it works perfectly

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Cathy F will be eternally grateful.
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