Weird APN problem, old international settings keep coming back

[Anonymous]

This is on behalf of my Mum, who is slowly going mad with this. Sequence of events is as follows...

2011 Mum (who was living in Italy at the time) wins an iPhone 4S in a competion

2011 Mum goes to vodafone.it who give her a contract sim, this works fine.

2012 Mum returns to the UK, but can't get a contract for three months so doesnt use phone for a while.

2013 (Feb or thereabouts), Mum gets an O2 contract Sim to go in her iPhone 4S, all works ok (its possible she had problems during this time but didnt notice)

2013 (Dec) Mum gets a new iPhone 5s on contract with O2, restores backup from the 4S

Dec - Today: iPhone 5S, which was bought from O2 in the UK and has always had an O2 sim in it, keeps reverting it's APN settings to Vodafone.it ?!?

Presumably something, somewhere in the backup file still has some sort of registration to Vodafone Italy, but how do I get rid of it? The only answer I've seen proposed is to wipe the phone and start again without a backup, but that's loads of work to then re-load all her apps, media, settings, etc. Surely there must be some way to stop it doing this when it's an O2 locked phone with an O2 sim on an O2 contract?

[adamtemp64]

see what you can find on pc using this http://beaugil.es/2012/10/ios-carrier-bundles-demystified/ article if one listed for voda it you can deleteit and see if that helps

Itunes on pc backs up a lot more info than icloud http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4946

[Anonymous]

I'm wondering if it may be worth booking an appointment with your local apple store genius bar or give them a bell on the support line found on their website. They also have a live chat facility.

http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/geniusbar/

[Anonymous]

I've been thinking of doing the Genius bar route, but trying to coordinate my time with my Mums time, and the problem being visible is prooving a challenge!

Given what's been said about PC backups, I think I'll try a wipe and restore from iCloud and see if that strips out whatever it is. If not, a genius bar is probably the best way forwards.

Thanks for the pointers, I'll be sure to update with further info.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I've been thinking of doing the Genius bar route, but trying to coordinate my time with my Mums time, and the problem being visible is prooving a challenge!

Given what's been said about PC backups, I think I'll try a wipe and restore from iCloud and see if that strips out whatever it is. If not, a genius bar is probably the best way forwards.

Thanks for the pointers, I'll be sure to update with further info.

---

You're very welcome.

I look forward to your update.

Luck.

[Anonymous]

Just by the by, texting ACTIVE to 2020 doesnt seem to do anything.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Just by the by, texting ACTIVE to 2020 doesnt seem to do anything.

---

Ive just tried and get a return message with set up info.

[MMMxxx]

I have found the solution!

[MMMxxx]

I recently switched from Vodafone to O2 in the UK. My mobile data worked fine in the UK. But it wasn’t working at all when I went to a Europe Zone country (even though data roaming is included in my Pay As You Go plan).

I went into the Mobile Data Network menu in Settings and noticed that my Mobile Data APN, Username and Password were from Vodafone. I tried inputting O2’s APN details manually based on what I found online (tried O2’s idata, payandgo and mobile usernames) but it didn’t work. I then tried tapping Reset Settings on this menu but it resets to Vodafone’s details.

I then remembered that Vodafone sent me a network configuration profile when I was with them. So I went into Settings > General > VPN & Device Management and deleted the Vodafone profile. After this, tapping on Reset Settings in the Settings > Mobile Data > Mobile Data Network menu resets to O2’s details! Then I restarted my phone and data roaming worked!

[pgn]

---

@MMMxxx wrote:

I recently switched from Vodafone to O2 in the UK. My mobile data worked fine in the UK. But it wasn’t working at all when I went to a Europe Zone country (even though data roaming is included in my Pay As You Go plan).

I went into the Mobile Data Network menu in Settings and noticed that my Mobile Data APN, Username and Password were from Vodafone. I tried inputting O2’s APN details manually based on what I found online (tried O2’s idata, payandgo and mobile usernames) but it didn’t work. I then tried tapping Reset Settings on this menu but it resets to Vodafone’s details.

I then remembered that Vodafone sent me a network configuration profile when I was with them. So I went into Settings > General > VPN & Device Management and deleted the Vodafone profile. After this, tapping on Reset Settings in the Settings > Mobile Data > Mobile Data Network menu resets to O2’s details! Then I restarted my phone and data roaming worked!

---

Superb info, @MMMxxx - worthy of being added into this troubleshooting guide, as so many are having issue with what should happen automatically once they touchdown in one of the O2 Europe Zone countries! Manually-deleting the previous provider's network settings profile on the phone, thus allowing O2's settings to be activated - brilliant!