Fix for iPhone 5 Signal Loss When Stuck On “No Service”

A peculiar bug that’s impacting some iPhone 5 users leaves the iPhone unable to find a signal and rejoin a 3G/4G network after leaving an area with EDGE or no service. Despite being in a location with adequate cell coverage, the iPhone will just report “No Service”. This is most likely a software issue with iOS 6, and for the time being the two possible solutions are fairly lame but do work:

• Reboot the iPhone by powering off and on again
• Turn Airplane Mode ON and OFF

Unfortunately, the AirPlane Mode trick works only sometimes when going from EDGE, and the only guaranteed way to get reception again after losing it completely seems to be turning the iPhone on and off again. Strangely, toggling the “Cellular Data” switch does absolutely nothing to resolve the problem and is still unable to join a network. Some users have also reported success with the age-old trick of resetting Network Settings.
It’s hard to say how widespread this problem is, but it seems limited to iPhone 5 users who are in areas with weaker cell signals or a large amount of obstructions to signals, like mountains, heavy trees, and hills. For example, I live in an area with notoriously bad cell coverage and encounter the problem on a daily basis anytime I leave a 3G/4G coverage area. Hopefully an update to iOS will resolve the issue.