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Apple says: Dropped 3G phone calls AT&T's fault!

I

ikarus79m

macrumors member
Original poster
When I returned my 3G iphone for the 4th time due to the dropped calls that occur when the iPhone try's to hand off a call from 3G to EDGE, the Genius told me that this is to be expected.

She said that AT&T's network does not support a seamless hand off between 3G and EDGE. "The network is not currently equipped for that" she said.

Is this statement accurate? Really?

Anyone has some real knowledge about this?
 
you can always turn off the 3g to avoid it from dropping your calls. Ain't no difference really when chatting.
 
ikarus79m said:
When I returned my 3G iphone for the 4th time due to the dropped calls that occur when the iPhone try's to hand off a call from 3G to EDGE, the Genius told me that this is to be expected.

She said that AT&T's network does not support a seamless hand off between 3G and EDGE. "The network is not currently equipped for that" she said.

Is this statement accurate? Really?

Anyone has some real knowledge about this?
Click to expand...
Yep, you can't switch from one network to the other in a call. Sucks.
 
Why would this be Apples fault? They only supply the harware and it relies on AT&T's signals, and gathering you don't live in a great 3G area, dropped calls are to be expected. I would advise to turn 3G off and make calls of EDGE if you have higher reception with EDGE
 
It is a lousy relationship to say the least. One points a finger at the other. How anyone can deal with the horrible ATT service is beyond me. Drop call after drop call.....not worth the hassle.
 
It has nothing to do with the "relationship," fact is, Apple makes the device, not the network.

We all know AT&T would be a very different company if Steve & Co. were running the show.

I don't even know why this thread exists, or has an exclamation mark at the end of the title. Should it surprise anyone that what happens on the AT&T network is AT&T's fault? Of course not.

Let both Apple and AT&T know you are not pleased, perhaps all AT&T customers will benefit from AT&T getting off their rumps and fixing issues. The only conceivable way to fix the hand off issue is simply putting up more towers.
 
nikhsub1 said:
Yep, you can't switch from one network to the other in a call. Sucks.
Click to expand...

No, you can, and it does sometimes work. I've had it work in some situations but not at all in others. It's not very reliable at all. I can make an abrupt change in my environment like walking into an underground parking deck and it'll make the switch from UMTS to GSM just fine, and then another time I can simply walk down the sidewalk out of 3G range and it'll drop hard.

If reliable calling is a top priority, I'd switch off 3G before starting a call.
 
Stratus Fear said:
If reliable calling is a top priority, I'd switch off 3G before starting a call.
Click to expand...

Does anyone else have a problem with this statement? This isn't directed at Stratus Fear in any way obviously, but how can we be expected to switch off 3G before making a call? You should be able to just take out your phone and place a call without having to worry about 3G, Edge or whatever (I understand that if you're in an area with no coverage whatsoever you won't be able to make or receive calls). The iphone should be able to switch between 3G and Edge (and whatever is "below" Edge) without dropping a call. The phone is called the iphone 3G - turning off the 3G to make a call is not an acceptable "workaround". I've never had to turn off EVDO to make a call on Sprint's network so why should I have to turn off my 3G with At&T? That's ridiculous.
 
I think it's more that you should turn off the 3G and turn it on when you want to web surf, not leave it on and turn it off to make a call. Make sense?
 
alphajerk said:
I think it's more that you should turn off the 3G and turn it on when you want to web surf, not leave it on and turn it off to make a call. Make sense?
Click to expand...
I see what you are saying but meh, if I need to dick around with the settings for every task I want to perform, I'll not use the phone. It is a 3G phone, not an 'only use 3G for data and not calls' phone. The Genius at the apple store specifically told me that it is not possible to have the phone switch networks while in a call. I have never seen it happen but maybe he was wrong?
 
alphajerk said:
I think it's more that you should turn off the 3G and turn it on when you want to web surf, not leave it on and turn it off to make a call. Make sense?
Click to expand...

I totally understand what you're saying but I don't think it's right that we should have to do that. If you know you're in an area with no 3G coverage, it makes perfect sense to turn 3G off since you're not going to be able to take advantage of it anyway; however, if you're in area that has mixed coverage you should be able to leave it on so that you can take advantage of the higher speeds when they are available. We should expect better from Apple and AT&T.
 
alphajerk said:
I think it's more that you should turn off the 3G and turn it on when you want to web surf, not leave it on and turn it off to make a call. Make sense?
Click to expand...

Ummm...NOPE. I'm in total agreement with psywzrd on this one. If it's being marketed as heavily as it is for the addition of 3G, the thing should WORK. 3G is a perfectly viable calling network - or it should be. I'm planning on picking one up in the next couple of weeks, but I'm not thrilled about the problems that it looks like I'll be dealing with.
 
When 3G first came to the UK, I went with '3' and constantly had this problem, and in the end turned 3G off on the phone (until they disabled that ability with a firmware update because non-3G calls went to O2's network and cost them money).
O2's network seems more robust than that and manages to hold onto calls when switching between 3G and 2G - I've never a call drop out with my iPhone 3G. This gives some credence to Apple's claim that it's AT&T's network, not their device, that's at fault.
 
alphajerk said:
I think it's more that you should turn off the 3G and turn it on when you want to web surf, not leave it on and turn it off to make a call. Make sense?
Click to expand...

If you do that though and your phone starts using data (e.g. getting mail, etc), any calls coming in will be routed to voicemail.
 
I'd like to point out that my phone has never dropped any calls, and surfs and receives incoming everything just fine. I use 3G all the time, unless I switch it over specifically to save battery power.

On Fido, in Canada.
 
psywzrd said:
Does anyone else have a problem with this statement? This isn't directed at Stratus Fear in any way obviously, but how can we be expected to switch off 3G before making a call? You should be able to just take out your phone and place a call without having to worry about 3G, Edge or whatever (I understand that if you're in an area with no coverage whatsoever you won't be able to make or receive calls). The iphone should be able to switch between 3G and Edge (and whatever is "below" Edge) without dropping a call. The phone is called the iphone 3G - turning off the 3G to make a call is not an acceptable "workaround". I've never had to turn off EVDO to make a call on Sprint's network so why should I have to turn off my 3G with At&T? That's ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I think AT&T and Apple need to drop the finger pointing and fix whatever the problem is. Although, even if there shouldn't be a workaround, it's good for people to know whatever options are available to them at the moment (retarded as those options may be).
 
How is the iPhone different from the other 3G phones out there? Do those other phones also drop calls when going from 3G to Edge (or vice-versa)?
 
Does anyone know the technical reason why calls get dropped when you switch from 3G to Edge (or vice-versa)? With Sprint and VZW calls seem to switch between EVDO and 1x without a problem. Is this a GSM thing since 3G is WCDMA?
 
psywzrd said:
Does anyone know the technical reason why calls get dropped when you switch from 3G to Edge (or vice-versa)? With Sprint and VZW calls seem to switch between EVDO and 1x without a problem. Is this a GSM thing since 3G is WCDMA?
Click to expand...

Because they are two separate networks on two separate frequency's (usually). Hardware wise it's as alien from switching from AT&T to Sprint and back. Granted AT&T should have it's act together and solve the problem but it doesn't always seem to be the case. In more mature areas I have little problems which means AT&T is doing something right. Just need to have them work on it in all areas.

I doubt the 3G network will be mature enough for another year or so.
 
psywzrd said:
Does anyone know the technical reason why calls get dropped when you switch from 3G to Edge (or vice-versa)? With Sprint and VZW calls seem to switch between EVDO and 1x without a problem. Is this a GSM thing since 3G is WCDMA?
Click to expand...

That's because people here are confusing and mixing technology terms. EVDO and 1xRTT are strictly for data. Verizon and Sprint use CDMA across their entire networks for voice. There is no handoff from one technology to another.

3G is a very generic term being thrown around and used to refer to several different technologies.

If I understand the problem correctly, the issue isn't GSM, it's the handoff between the TDMA and WCDMA air interface. AT&T currently has a mix of TDMA and WCDMA in their network. Somewhere the term 3G got thrown in to refer to the WCDMA air interface, but I think this is misleading.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong....my days of working in wireless were many moons ago.
 
psywzrd said:
Does anyone know the technical reason why calls get dropped when you switch from 3G to Edge (or vice-versa)? With Sprint and VZW calls seem to switch between EVDO and 1x without a problem. Is this a GSM thing since 3G is WCDMA?
Click to expand...

EVDO doesn't handle voice data. Even if your phone shows "EVDO", your call is still being sent out over the CDMA2000 protocol. 3G UMTS, on the other hand, handles voice and data both just like GSM does. UMTS isn't just a high-speed data-only extension to GSM like EVDO is to CDMA2000.

Edit: rats, beat me to it. 😀
 
Stratus Fear said:
EVDO doesn't handle voice data. Even if your phone shows "EVDO", your call is still being sent out over the CDMA2000 protocol. 3G UMTS, on the other hand, handles voice and data both just like GSM does. UMTS isn't just a high-speed data-only extension to GSM like EVDO is to CDMA2000.

Edit: rats, beat me to it. 😀
Click to expand...

Thanks, my understanding of UMTS is much weaker than my knowledge of CDMA and EVDO technologies.
 
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