iPhone 4 Unlocked by Vodafone saying restricted network

[NicolaArthur]

Hoping someone can help here,

I upgraded my iphone 4 to the 5 & requested the iphone be unlocked by vodafone (via apple), had the email to say it has been unlocked today but the person i sold it to has put their 3 sim card in it & connected it to itunes & it is saying 'network restricted' still has restored it as well & its still saying the same! anyone have a clue what's going on?

[drey_p]

Hi there NicolaArthur

It sounds like Vodafone have accepted the unlock request and sent it off to Apple but Apple haven't actioned it yet.  It can take 7 - 10 working days for this to be completed. At this stage it is a waiting game for Apple to complete the unlocking so I would suggest trying to connect the iPhone (with another network's SIM card in) to iTunes daily to confirm that is has gone through.

[NicolaArthur]

I had the email to say it has been unlocked & to connect the phone to itunes with the new sim 

she's done that but it's still saying network restricted? I feel so bad because she's without a phone due to this so i'm trying to get it sorted as quickly as possible for her

[drey_p]

Hi again - sometimes that email is sent out before Apple have actually actioned the unlocking. At this stage all you will be able to do is continue waiting as it can take 7 - 10 working days to do but is often done in less time than that.

[NicolaArthur]

its been 10 working days & the phone is still saying resricted! 

[kids]

A mod will be able to check the status for you as it is now more than 10 working days.

To save a bit of time it will help if you posted the reference number on the email you received from Vodafone so the mod can take a look at it for you.

[NicolaArthur]

the reference number for the unlock is 623926 I got the email on the 19th October & I made the request on the 9th October

[Ben_H]

Hi NicolaArthur,

Thanks for getting in touch. Looking at the reference you've supplied, this was sent off successfully to Apple. If you've had an email to say it's been unlocked, you should be able to follow these instructions to get the new carrier settings to migrate over:

Reference Number: 623926 : The iPhone has now been unlocked – Please replace the SIM (use a SIM which has never been used with this iPhone) and connect to iTunes or perform a software restore via iTunes. 

All that we can do is raise a new request with Apple as we don't physically deal with the NUC directly here for iPhones. This can be done via the NUC form here. I'd check though that your friend who has the phone is following the correct unlocking procedure above to get the iTunes account to recognise they're needed.

Cheers, Ben

[Geochamol1]

Hi, I am pretty hopeless when it comes to phones but I hope someone can help me! My sister-in-law has given me her old iPhone 4… she has had it unlocked by Vodafone and she has received the email from them advising her it’s done.

On putting my 3G sim card in, I keep getting a message saying “restricted network – your selected mobile network is restricted. You can choose a different network in Settings”……

Is this because the “apple” part of the unlocking process is not yet completed?

Unfortunately I cannot link up to iTunes from work, so will have to wait until I get home, but when I do this from home will I get a message on iTunes to say it’s not unlocked yet or anything??

As you can see I’m very confused as thought once that Vodafone had unlocked it, I didn’t realise Apple are involved/iTunes etc!

If anyone can help I would be so grateful!

[jeffkinn]

Yes Apple is the company that controls the unlock. Vodafone requests Apple to unlock the phone and the process has to be completed by syncing the phone to iTunes.

Also you need to be aware that it can take Apple a long time to unlock a phone - 21 days is not unusual. When it is successful you'll get a one time message in iTunes and the phone will work with a new sim card.