iPhone: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition

Phone and Internet Problems

What can go wrong with the phone part of the iPhone? Let us count the ways.

• Can't make calls. First off, do you have enough AT&T cellular signal to make a call? Check your signal-strength bars. Even if you have one or two, flakiness is par for the course, although one bar in a 3G area is much better than one bar in a non-3G area. Try going outside, standing near a window, or moving to a major city (kidding).

  Also, make sure Airplane mode isn't turned on (Airplane Mode). Try calling somebody else, to make sure the problem isn't with the number you're dialing.

  If nothing else works, try the resetting techniques described at the beginning of this chapter.

• Can't get on the Internet. Remember, the iPhone can get online in three ways: via a Wi-Fi hot spot, via AT&T's 3G network, and via AT&T's much slower EDGE network. If you're not in a hot spot and you don't have an AT&T signal—that is, if there's no ,, or icon at the top of the screen—then you can't get online at all.

• Can't send text messages. Make sure the recipient's phone number in Contacts has an area code—and, of course, that you've signed up for a texting plan.