Our iPhones are essential tiny pocket computers, but they’ve become so convenient we almost can’t live without them anymore. An internet connection is the backbone of the smartphone experience, so whenever iPhone 11 Pro Max cellular data stops working, the world seems to come to a halt. What do you do to get back in the grid? In this article, I’ll explain what to do when iPhone 11 Pro Max Cellular Data is not working so you can fix the problem for good!
During those moments in everyday life where we are without Wi-Fi, and where we need access to the Internet at all costs to simply use our favorite apps, it is essential that mobile data (or cellular data) works properly. If not, it’s a tragedy! Sometimes, you might see Could Not Activate Cellular Data Network as an alert. Other times, the top status bar may only show No Service or Searching. In all these situations, iPhone 11 Pro Max cellular data won’t work.
If internet via 3G, 4G, or LTE, is not working on your iPhone 11 Pro Max, follow these solutions to fix the issue.
Editor’s note: Some of the instructions in this article were generated using iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 15.
Ways to fix cellular data not working on iPhone 11 Pro Max
Make sure cellular data is enabled
The first troubleshooting step if cellular data is not working on iPhone 11 Pro Max is to make sure cellular data is switched on. For that, open the Control Center and ensure the cellular button is green. If it isn’t, tap it to enable cellular data. You can also do the same from iPhone Settings app.
Cellular button grayed out
The cellular option will be blurred if you have enabled content and privacy restrictions, which disables changes to cellular data. Here’s how to fix that:
- Go to iPhone Settings and tap Screen Time. If it says Turn on Screen Time, skip all the steps below as you haven’t set any restrictions.
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions. If it’s turned off on the next screen, skip the step below.
- Scroll down and tap Cellular Data Changes and make sure Allow is checked.
See if Airplane mode is on
Airplane mode turns off all wireless antennas, including mobile data, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. It’s common to turn it on by accident (or at least it happens to me all the time!). Go ahead and check if this happened to you. There’s often a toggle in the control center, but you can also do it in the settings.
- Open the Settings app.
- Look for Airplane mode. There will be a toggle next to it. Tap on it to turn it on or off.
Furthermore, turning airplane mode on and off can reset settings and bring everything back to normal. If your iPhone wasn’t on Airplane mode, then go ahead and turn the feature on and off and see if that gets your data working again.
Open Control Center and tap the airplane icon. After waiting for about 10 seconds, tap the same button once again to disable it.
Doing this disconnects and reconnects the wireless options, which generally improves cellular connectivity.
Ensure your iPhone has cellular coverage
Are you out in the middle of nature? Maybe you’re in a concrete building. Or you’re simply going through an area with spotty reception. There is always a chance you’re unreachable to the network, which will cause problems with your mobile data.
Open the Control Center and see how many bars are there for your cellular network. If it’s one or zero, cellular data may work poorly or not work at all.
In this situation, try moving to an area of your house or even room (like near the door or window) with better coverage. You may not get cellular coverage if you’re traveling in a remote area.
Do a manual network search
Go to iPhone Settings > Cellular > Network Selection and turn off Automatic. Now, your iPhone will search for available networks. When the search completes, tap the name of your carrier provider if it comes up.
Note: Sometimes, your carrier may have a tie-up with another carrier to use their services or it may be a smaller local carrier owned by a big carrier. So, if you know that your carrier has such partnerships, tap their name from the network search result and see if you get coverage or not.
Turn on data roaming
If you’re traveling internationally (or even a different state/telecom circle in some countries), make sure to enable data roaming by going to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Data Roaming.
Set the correct date and time
iPhone cellular data may not work if the time and date settings are incorrect. The easiest way to fix that is from Settings > General > Date & Time and enable Set Automatically. Now, restart your iPhone, and cellular data should work fine.
Restart your iPhone
It may seem silly to remind you of this basic rule, but most problems encountered on an iPhone can be solved this way. It is therefore important to specify that the first reflex to have when a bug occurs, whatever it is, since it does not only concern the problem related to mobile data, is to turn your iPhone off and on again.
Check if you have data allowance
Before moving to the remaining solutions, make sure you have data allowance for the day, month, or billing cycle. You can use your carrier’s official app or call customer support to know your data balance. In case you have some pending bills, clear that, and your internet should be restored soon.
Turn off VPN
Are you using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) app on your iPhone? If yes, open it and turn off VPN. Once you do that, cellular data should work fine.
Try turning off Wi-Fi Calling
In rare cases, Wi-Fi Calling may interfere with standard calls and cellular data. So, you can give this one a shot if cellular connection isn’t working on your iPhone 11 Pro Max. Go to Settings > Cellular > Wi-Fi Calling and turn off Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone.
Note: Not all carriers offer Wi-Fi Calling, so you may or may not see this toggle in your iPhone Settings.
Get the latest carrier settings
Carriers push settings update to fix issues and even introduce new features, Wi-Fi Calling, etc. Some carrier updates aren’t mandatory and show you two options – Update or Not Now. If you choose Not Now, go ahead and install the carrier update manually.
For mandatory carrier updates, you see OK instead of Update or Not Now.
Update your iPhone
Are you using an outdated version of iOS on your iPhone? If yes, cellular data may not work due to a bug. So, it’s important that you go to Settings > General > Software Update and download & install the latest version of iOS.
Take out the SIM card and reinsert it
Use the SIM ejector tool or an alternative to take out the physical SIM card from your iPhone carefully. After that, wipe it with a soft, dry cloth and insert it safely. Once that’s done, cellular data should work fine.
Note: Skip this if you use an eSIM.
Check the news for temporary local shutdown of the internet
Is there some unrest like a protest or violent demonstration in your area? If yes, local authorities may have temporarily shut down cellular services in your area. In these situations, you can’t do anything except wait for things to cool down and the service to be restored. Also, note that during these times, your carrier’s customer care may already be swamped with many calls. So, it would be better not to call them and be updated via local news instead.
Reset network settings
If none of the options above work, it may mean some extraneous setting was changed along the way. It is likely related to the network, so resetting your network settings to factory defaults might fix cellular data not working on iPhone 11 Pro Max issue. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Once this completes, cellular data should work like a charm.
Reset all settings
If the problem is still not solved, we advise you to opt for a more radical solution by resetting all the settings on your iPhone. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset all Settings.
Contact your carrier
Sometimes, there may be a problem or error on the part of your carrier in billing or information related to your account. The only way to fix this is by contacting them via call, chat, or going to their official store.
Restore your iPhone
At last, if nothing works, erase your iPhone and set it up again. You can also use a Mac or PC to restore your iPhone using recovery mode.
3G not working on iPhone 11 Pro Max?
Carriers worldwide (like AT&T) are phasing out their old 3G service for the next generation 4G, LTE, or 5G. If you’re using iPhone 5s, 5c, or earlier, you can’t use these old iPhones with AT&T any more (for calls and data on 3G). In this case, you can switch to a different carrier that still offers 3G service. Or, a better solution is to upgrade to a new iPhone.
Chat with Apple
Now, if none of these tips do the trick, you probably need to have a professional personally inspect the device. It could be a hardware problem at this point. Reach out to Apple support. It might also be time to contact your insurance provider if you have it.
There is a chance your iPhone has hardware problems, in which case the problem is more severe, and there isn’t much we can do to help you. Check if your iPhone is still under warranty.
Solved: iPhone 11 Pro Max Cellular Data not working!
Cellular Data is working again and you can continue to surf the web and send iMessages using wireless data! Next time iPhone 11 Pro Max Cellular Data is not working, you’ll know exactly where to come for the solution. If you know of any other tips to solve the problem of iPhone 11 Pro Max cellular data not working feel free to share them in the comments!
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