'Invalid SIM' in second-hand iPhone 4

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, I've just been given an iPhone 4 to replace my iPhone 3 (I know, I'm very behind the times). The iPhone 4 came from my mother, i.e. a trustworthy source, so there's nothing dodgy about the handset.

Of course I needed a new SIM, as the iPhone 4 takes the micro SIM. I received this from O2 and instigated the SIM swap, which went through several hours later. Once my old SIM went dead, the message at the top left of the screen on the iPhone 4 changed from 'No Service' to 'Invalid SIM'. However, putting the new SIM into my iPhone 3 (with the help of the larger SIM frame supplied with the new SIM - thank goodness for that) allows me to use the iPhone 3 with the new SIM. So the SIM itself appears not to be faulty and to be properly activated.

My first thought was that the phone was locked by my mother's network, but she assures me that she paid to get the phone unlocked some time ago when she moved from one supplier (Carphone Warehouse) to another (Utilities Warehouse). Now these don't look like networks/carriers to me, but she tells me it's unlocked. I've just tried another full software/firmware restore through iTunes, this time with the SIM installed, in case the problem was that I set up the phone without it. Halfway through the process, iTunes gave me this message:

The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported.

The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.

Can anyone tell me definitively what this means? It says to request that my carrier unlock the phone, but does that mean the new carrier (i.e. O2) or the old - i.e. does it mean the phone has been locked by the previous carrier, or that the new carrier needs to authorise/activate it in some way. As I say, the new SIM is working in my old phone (and thank goodness for that), so it doesn't seem to be the SIM itself that is the problem.

Ideally I'd have spoken to O2 customer services, but they are impossible to get through to at the moment, and the 'live chat' help isn't available, so I've come here to ask you good folks for help. Hope you can help me!

otter

[Bambino]

@Anonymous is pretty good with iPhones. Perhaps he can help. @MI5 also knows his way around them. I've tagged them both in the hope they can offer you some advice.

[Cleoriff]

It sounds as if this phone is locked to the network used by the previous owner.....

You need to ask your Mum what network she was on with CPW.....

[jonsie · Accepted solution]

The phone is locked to another network. It has nothing to do with changing suppliers such as CPW. The network it is locked to need to unlock it for you. I believe there are places such as Game who can unlock if you have problems with the network.

[MI5]

Put the sim back in the 4 and sync it to your iTunes account.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like it hasn't gone through completely, follow @MI5 advice then you should be fine

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for all your replies. I really appreciate the help.

I've just tried (several times) to sync the phone to iTunes, but it won't give me the option to do this - I just get the same 'SIM card not supported' message as I pasted above. If I remove the SIM and try to sync, I get a 'insert SIM' message. There's not even an option to restore the OS (again) and start from scratch. It does connect to Apple's iTunes servers before giving me this message, which suggests the locking is an Apple issue rather than a network issue.

If you've got any suggestions how I can get around this, I'd be really grateful.

[jonsie]

What network was it used on previously?

[Cleoriff]

I go back to what I said in my first post @Anonymous This phone is locked to the network your Mum was on. You need to get it unlocked from them...

[jonsie]

My initial thoughts too....