How To Fix FaceTime ‘Waiting For Activation’

One of the major new features in the iPhone 4 was FaceTime. FaceTime, for those not in the know, is Apple’s video calling service between iPhone 4 devices.

On launch weekend, millions of Canadians picked up an iPhone 4 and when attempting to FaceTime, the call wouldn’t connect. Jumping into the settings menu for FaceTime revealed that FaceTime was “waiting for activation”. Activation, in this case, seemed to take hours. So, how do we fix this?

To fix the FaceTime activation message, follow the steps below:

1.) Turn on WiFi by going to Settings > WiFi and connect to your local WiFi network.

2.) Go to Settings > General > About and wait here (about a minute) until you receive a carrier update prompt. After the update, the carrier field should say “xxxx 7.2″, where “xxxx” is your carrier name. If the carrier says “xxx 8.0″ or later, continue to step 3.

3.) Now go to Settings > Phone. Turn off FaceTime and turn off “Show My Caller ID”. Then, turn iPhone 4 off (slide to power off method).

4.) Turn iPhone 4 back on. Go to Settings > Phone. Turn “Show My Caller ID” back on and turn FaceTime back on. Make a call to another iPhone 4.

5.) If you are running iOS 4.1 or later, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings.

About firewalls
Frequently used by corporations and educational institutions for increased security, firewalls work by blocking certain Internet traffic from entering or leaving a network.

Internet traffic moves through a firewall based on service-identification numbers that are referred to as ports. Certain ports must be open for FaceTime to work. Network administrators typically open a minimal set of network ports, allowing the traffic for approved applications to enter and leave the network while blocking other network traffic.

Ports to open
If the Wi-Fi network router that you are connected to uses a firewall or security software to restrict Internet access, contact the network administrator and reference this technical article. To use FaceTime on a restricted Wi-Fi network, port forwarding must be enabled for ports 443 (TCP), 3478–3497 (UDP), 16384–16386 (UDP), and 16393–16402 (UDP).

Depending on the NAT configuration for the router and network, additional ports may be used to send and receive video. Some router-specific features or configurations may interfere with FaceTime. This includes port mapping on either end, SIP dropping, or dynamic opening of media ports.

The Wi-Fi network administrator can refer to their router, firewall, or security software documentation for information on configuring port forwarding.

If you encounter issues using a Wi-Fi network, use standard Wi-Fi network troubleshooting to resolve interference and other issues.

Give the above steps a try and comment below on your success (or failures!).