Waiting for activation have not found a way to fix this

Question

Ok so I'm overseas and I cannot use cellular data because I don't want to get billed a crazy amount however when using wifi the first week I was here I was able to text and face time with no problem. Then we went for a week to the country with no solid internet connection however we set up a very weak hotspot using a tablet, that's when I noticed I wasn't able to text and I saw the message waiting for activation since it took around 5 mins to load a web page I figured it was just a problem with the internet and I ignored it. Now we are back in the city (where we were when it worked fine the first week) and I still have the same problem, I have read countless articles about how to fix this and nothing seems to work the only option I haven't tried is to wipe the phone and restore it with a backup however i can't do that since I am no where near my computer. So is there any one else having the same waiting for activation problem as me? Is there anything I can do, any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

Hello there, Captnpnut.
The following Knowledge Base article offers up some great, in-depth and practical steps for troubleshooting the "Waiting for Activation" message:
iOS: Troubleshooting FaceTime and iMessage activation
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts4268
Particularly relevant for your issue:
If you see "Waiting for Activation", "Activation unsuccessful", or "An error occurred during activation"
These messages occur when your iPhone is trying to activate your phone number with iMessage or FaceTime.
To resolve these status messages, follow these steps. After each step, turn FaceTime and iMessage off and on again in Settings > Messages and Settings > FaceTime.
Update to the latest version of iOS.
Make sure that you have a cellular network connection with your cellular provider. You need a cellular network connection to activate iMessage and FaceTime with your iPhone phone number.
Go to www.apple.com in Safari to make sure that you have a data connection. You need a data connection to activate iMessage and FaceTime with your iPhone phone number.
Make sure that you can send and receive SMS. You need a valid SMS messaging plan to activate FaceTime and iMessage.
Make sure that FaceTime hasn't been restricted: tap Settings > General > Restrictions > FaceTime.
Set iPhone to the correct time zone: tap Settings > General > Date & Time.
Note: If Set Automatically is on but the incorrect time zone appears, turn Set Automatically off and choose the correct time zone, date, and time.
Contact your carrier to verify that there are no restrictions, blocks, or filters on text messages. Restrictions, blocks, or filters on text messaging will prevent iMessage and FaceTime registration from completing.
If "Waiting for Activation" still appears after you perform these steps, turn FaceTime and iMessage off and on in Settings > Messages and Settings > FaceTime. You may need to wait up to 24 hours to complete activation. Most attempts will take less than an hour, but some attempts may take up to 24 hours. If your issue isn't resolved after 24 hours, please contact Apple for assistance. If you've recently performed a remote wipe on your iPhone, wait 24 hours from the time you performed the remote wipe, and then turn iMessage off then back on.You can still activate iMessage and FaceTime with your Apple ID when these status messages appear. You can see that you've activated FaceTime and iMessage with your Apple ID by tapping:
Settings > FaceTime > You can be reached by FaceTime at:
Settings > Messages > Send & Receive > You can be reached by iMessage at:
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.