iphone 5 wont activate

[Anon]

i was abroad in the last few days and my phone was working up untill the last day and i got an error saying to activate my phone.

i tryed putting in the email and password and it doesant work error comes back saying activation server is temporarily unavailable.

i tryed connecting to itunes but still doesant work.

i need my phone for work so i need help asap

[dalyer]

Do you have any cash credit on your account?

If not then try putting a small amount (e.g. €1) on as the Apple/iPhone activation process can require a UK SMS to be sent automatically and this costs 25c and if you don't have cash credit then it won't get sent.

After topping up your credit balance switch the phone off and then on again and wait a while or else try another sync with iTunes.

Unfortunately Apple seem to require this stupidly complicated approach to getting iPhones up and running on certain networks in spite of the confusion that it causes many many people.

I never understood why they require this - no other phone that I know of requires it (e.g. Android, Windows, Blackberry etc.)... 

Hope this helps.

Edit: this link might also be of use?

https://support.apple.com/en-ie/HT201407

Unfortunately as far as I can see Apple never mention anywhere that activation on some networks (e.g. some or all virtual networks such as 48 or perhaps specific carriers that iOS doesn't "know" about?) may (will?) require an international SMS to be sent and that this may require cash credit on some carriers/tariffs...

Edit 2: as you can see this UK SMS thing causes lots of others confusion too and in some cases Apple support staff themselves don't seem to have a clue...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3411773?tstart=0

[dalyer]

Did that help at all?

[collettec7]

Does anyone know if it works??? Mine won't activate!!!

[dalyer]

What exactly is your problem?

Please describe it in as much detail as possible including any error messages that crop up.

If you're abroad and it won't work or have come back from abroad and it won't work then you may need to follow this procedure (possibly several times before it works):

iPhone abroad issue

Or are you new to 48 and trying to get things working?

If so you may need to put some cash credit on your account to allow it to activate/register.

This process involves the phone unilaterally sending a UK SMS message which costs 25c charged from your cash credit balance.

Unfortunately all of these issues are due to the stupid way that Apple does things and are not the fault of 48.

Hope this helps.

[collettec7]

I do know that it's on iOS 7 but when I plug it into the laptop is won't update the software. It's says error (and some number). The phone itself had a bit of water in it but it was only in the bottom part and I got it fix and dried and cleaned... when the person fixing it checked it he said everything is running on it it's just that the activation is busy and usually is over the weekend. The message on the phone after I connect it to Wi-Fi is "sorry the activation server is temporarily unavailable. Please contact your carrier, or try again later. If the problem persists contact Apple Support (which look for €29 to even answer your phone call!) . It's an iPhone 5. 👍

[dalyer]

If you are trying to update iOS via iTunes and you get errors then that's a problem with the phone or iTunes or Apple stuff - nothing to do with 48.

If you are trying to activate and it's not happening then you will definitely need cash credit on your account to cover the cost (25c) of the UK SMS that gets sent by this process.

Without cash credit this SMS will never get sent and activation will never happen.

Some versions of iOS can activate over wifi and don't need iTunes but I don't know what versions.

Did this phone ever work on 48?

Your original post seems to be asking of iPhone activation ever works on 48 and the answer to this is a definite "yes" because lots of people have done this and got iPhones up and running.

However Apple don't give a lot of information about this process or things that can go wrong.

To be honest, in this and many other situations they seem to make things as difficult as possible for end users to get things working! 

Hope this helps.

[dalyer]

Did that help at all?

[collettec7]

I have cash credit in it a still nothing. I'll just bring it back to the shop. But thank you for your help. Oh and that phonr did work with my 48 sim before. 😖 thanks for all your help! 😁