Unlocked iPhone 4S

[ekk30003]

So I have an old Apple iPhone 4s that I paid Rogers to unlock (50$).  I am now living abroad and ran into some issues with the phone which required a factory restore.  Now, when I try to activate the phone I get the dreaded:

SIM Not 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.

This happened last time and I knew the phone was locked so begrudgingly agreed to pay Rogers to unlock.  However, I was under the impression that this would permanently unlock and not just unlock it one time and if I happened to factory restore it would think it was back to Rogers.  I have now tried two SIM cards and both give the same message.  One from O2 and the original one from abroad which used to work.  Is there someway that this can be resolved?  Or do I have to wait till I am back in Canada and then argue with Rogers in person about the apparent shadiness of their tactics?  As it stands now I did back up the phone on my iTunes but cannot restore to those settings since I need a valid SIM card, which now seems to me that I require a Rogers one.

Any help would be much appreciated.  Thank you!

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[Meowmix]

Hello @ekk30003

Do you currently have a Rogers wireless account active? If you do they should be able to pull it up for you.

If you do not, I do not believe they can do anything unless you have a receipt that shows you did the unlocking with them.

Going back to the store won't do much as the store reps can't do much and their systems won't be able to recover anything.

Are you able to Private Message @CommunityHelps and see what they can do?

[ekk30003]

Thank you for your prompt response!

I do not have a Rogers account anymore.  But I do have the credit card reciept that I paid around this time last year.

So I guess this will require me to go in person.  I guess I will be back in Canada in 3 weeks time so I can argue this in person.

So it is possible that resetting the phone back to the factory setting has caused it to become locked again to Rogers?

[Meowmix]

Hello @ekk30003

It shouldn't go back to locked status after a factory reset. When Rogers or anyone unlocks a iPhone they Whitelist the IMEI number with Apple's systems and the phone because factory unlocked. Now it could be that their systems didn't fully recognize it. Have you spoken to Apple and see?. Maybe that could help.

[ekk30003]

Interesting.

I have not spoken to Apple.  I suppose I could try and email them and ask about the issue.  But would Apple have a record of my IMEI being whitelisted?

Thanks again for all your help!

[ekk30003]

Do you have any idea why restoring or updating from recovery mode does absolutely nothing?  I thought if I restored it to what I had it backed up as it would go back to the settings (firmware etc) I previously had it as.

[Meowmix]

Hello @ekk30003

I would ask them that and see what they say about that. It should work

[ekk30003]

Hello @Meowmix,

But what exactly am I supposed to ask them? You seem to be much more proficient at this care to offer a few helping words?

And thank you again for your help.

[Meowmix · Accepted solution]

Hello @ekk30003

Let them know that you got the unlocking code via Rogers and unlocked the device. Then when you had to do a factory reset, the device locked back to Rogers and now is not unlocked. I am sure with the IMEI number they can check it out as their servers would show it was unlocked at one point. See what the tech will tell you. If that doesn't work then once you return back to Canada, go to a Rogers store and explain the situation. See what they say. They will lost likely tell you to contact Apple. That's why do that first

[ekk30003]

Hello @Meowmix,

Great thanks for your help!

[Meowmix]

Hello @ekk30003

You are welcome!:)

[ekk30003]

@Meowmix

I just hope that that is the problem.  I cannot really think of why they would just both stop working all of a sudden even though I had it unlocked.

So now I am basically stuck with this "phone" for 3 more weeks if Apple will not resolve this issue.  Plus, it is so difficult to actually get a hold of Apple.  I wish they had an email address or live chat option!

[Meowmix]

Hello @ekk30003

I agree with you. They need a better option other then calling or going into the location

[ekk30003]

Hi @Meowmix,

Especially now considering that I cannot call at all! Their system of requiring an active SIM card also defeats the purpose of restoring to the back up copy I made since apparently wiping back to factory settings more or less bricks the phone.

[ekk30003]

Hi @meowmix 

Do you know how accurate some of the IMEI online checkers are?  For example, I checked one:

http://www.iphoneox.com/

And it said my iPhone SIM Lock Status is locked.  So perhaps the factory reset did something?  

I guess I will have to argue this with Rogers when I get back to Canada.  Thankfully, I paid by credit card!