Some Customers with iPhone 3G Connection Issues

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

There are a number of reports (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10012420-37.html) of iPhone 3G users having problems with inconsistent cellular connections with their new phones. CNet points to a growing discussion thread (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1632695&tstart=0) at Apple's forums detailing the problems.

Specifically, some users have having problems with frequent dropped calls on 3G networks. One customer describes (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/374528_iphone12.html) his experience:"I was driving down Folsom Street in San Francisco, and I got a dropped call 10 times. I get dropped calls just standing in one place," said Yarbrough, a 34-year-old accountant. "I'm extremely annoyed, but I'm hopeful a software update will fix it."Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T, has said that they are looking into individual cases, but claims that the iPhone 3G has not generated an unusual number of complaints:"How a device performs in individual situations depends on circumstances like where you are in the 3G coverage, how close you are to a cell site. Things like terrain and buildings all come into play," Siegel said. "I'm not denying that people are having a less than satisfactory experience, but overall, the phone is doing great."CNet points out that it can be difficult to determine the scope of a problem based on online complaints alone. Some reports have claimed simply replacing the SIM card has corrected the problems, while one analyst (http://gigaom.com/2008/08/12/3g-iphone-connection-problems-chip-related/) has claimed that the problems could be related to the 3G chipset that Apple used.

Article Link (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/08/12/some-customers-with-iphone-3g-connection-issues/)

[Trajectory]

Dang, glad my iPhone isn't one of them. I seem to get pretty good reception and no dropped calls so far. But, this is in Canada with Rogers, not AT&T.

[longofest]

I'd just use EDGE unless have a need to use 3G (i.e. web browsing). 2.5G call quality isn't that much worse than 3G and is in general much more reliable. Plus, you don't drain your battery nearly as much.

[Small White Car]

I'm sure these complaints are all true, but I'm willing to bet they're the same percentage as any other cell phone.

It's just that people don't blog about their other phones. I know I never made a pos on the Internet about my old phone.

[pacohaas]

My friend's 3G iPhone has very sporadic # of reception bars, almost never more than 4, usually only 1 in his chicago apartment while my trusty ROKR gets 4-5 everywhere in his apartment. His phone drops out when talking to me. I will probably get the 3G iPhone soon so I hope I don't get one of the crappy ones. I'll tell him to get his checked out at the apple or AT&T store.

[relimw]

My wife has had this problem, including the total lack of any cell service. She took it back to AT&T and they "did something" to it, and it's worked better, but she still gets only 1-2 bars even in town.

[pounce]

i'm finding the reception issue somewhat annoying. i've been switching to edge and it does much better, at least i get the reception in places where 3g craps out or drops calls. it's embarassing and odd for such an otherwise nice piece of technology to work so much less well as a phone than i expected.

[Small White Car]

here's an idea. Use EDGE unless have a need to use 3G (i.e. web browsing). 2.5G call quality isn't that much worse than 3G and is in general much more reliable. Plus, you don't drain your battery nearly as much.

My G4 Powermac was pretty good too.

But if something goes wrong with my new iMac I'd consider "just use the G4" to be some really poor advice.

[trunksu]

here's an idea. Use EDGE unless have a need to use 3G (i.e. web browsing). 2.5G call quality isn't that much worse than 3G and is in general much more reliable. Plus, you don't drain your battery nearly as much.

that doesn't matter though. i use EDGE too for most of my calls but the point is, if you're in a 3G area you shouldn't have a ton of dropped calls especially if you're not roaming between EDGE and 3G.

i agree with SmallWhiteCar in that the % of users having problems is prob the same for all service providers. it will be interesting to see if it is a truly a faulty hardware though.

[elgruga]

Also on Rogers in Vancouver Canada - have had a few issues, about the same as any cell phone.
3G seems pretty fast, and the dropped call areas are the same as they always were, and thats going back 3 or more years.

For those in Vancouver I find that these are bad spots:

Traffic lights at Terminal and Main
Corner where McGill turns left and becomes Nanaimo

Cant think of any other obvious ones.

I do however, find that the speaker volume seems quieter, not louder than the old iPhone (I had it unlocked on Rogers from September last year) and the ring tones are no louder.

Other than that, all pretty good, but then I am not a new user, so the honeymoon period is over a long time ago.

Its not perfect, just WAY better than ALL the other phones out there!

[solitarycow]

I live in LA, specifically Studio City, but I'm always in Hollywood and the Downtown area. I notice my 3G signal continuously goes in and out and it's frustrating! Is anyone else having the same problem? I mean this is LA! We should have pretty good 3G signals everywhere right?

[shadowmoses]

here's an idea. Use EDGE unless have a need to use 3G (i.e. web browsing). 2.5G call quality isn't that much worse than 3G and is in general much more reliable. Plus, you don't drain your battery nearly as much.

This is the truth and at least what I have found. In spite of living in central London where 3G is generally very strong I keep it off unless I need to browse the web, otherwise I get too many dropped calls.

[daveschroeder]

For what it's worth, my wife and I have had our iPhone 3Gs since launch day, and neither of us have had any problems with dropped calls on 3G, with the exception of one issue where my wife couldn't make or receive calls longer than a few seconds. Power cycling the phone fixed it, and it hasn't happened before or since.

(Madison, WI)

[davethecrave]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

haha, I'm glad I stuck with the first gen iPhone. Only one year left on the contract, not made out of plastic, therefore no chipping, and no dropped calls. I also like the look of it better. Seems like the new one is bringing more problems then solutions. Hard to improve on the first iPhone. Why fix something that ain't broke?

[branjosef]

My 3g reception is horrible in chicago. i just use Edge all the time. I think that certain regions have horrible 3G distribution despite what ATT says on their website.

[longofest]

My G4 Powermac was pretty good too.

But if something goes wrong with my new iMac I'd consider "just use the G4" to be some really poor advice.

I'm not saying use the old phone. I'm just saying that 3G in general doesn't necessarily need to be enabled unless you need it.

[dexthageek]

When i am at home I get terrible 3G signal, at work I get great 3G and it never drops out, not a big deal since I have wi-fi at both locations. 90% of the time I run the phone with 3G disabled, because if I leave it on at home, the call connects but immediately drops. This is due the poor 3G coverage surrounding my house. However with EDGE i always have a full signal. Hopefully AT&T will get their 3G network running the way it should be.

Oh yeah 3G also drains the battery alot faster.

[Loge]

Isn't it supposed to fall back onto Edge automatically if the 3G signal isn't strong enough? This doesn't seem to happen very well. Using 3G has not been great, particularly if calling from a train where the signal strength is constantly shifting.

[mr.fancypants]

My guess is AT&T just needs to work out some bumps in their new 3G network.

[michaelsaxon]

Mine is awful. I want to have 3G enabled at times for the fast browsing and if I get a call while I have it enabled instead of EDGE I can almost guarantee it'll drop.

Then I race to try to disable 3G before they call me back, which of course I can almost never do on time.

Given the fact that 3G is so unreliable and also doesn't hand off well to EDGE, Apple needs to put a 3G on/off icon on the main screen instead of burying it inside the setup menu 2 x deep.

[theheadguy]

People can defend this phone to their deaths, but it's true. The 3G's dropped calls (and service when not on the phone) for me and my girlfriend constantly (in large metropolitan areas)... Two days ago, I had finally had enough. I took them back to the Apple store and they looked at us in disgust (there was still a line to get the new phone). But, whatever. For the $400+ that we paid and a new phone contract, the most advanced phone call in the world should be able to keep a damn call going for a few minutes at a time. Additionally, for those who proclaim that restoring it several times is just swell, I think I shouldn't have to troubleshoot it for hours or use 2.5G (still unreliable) because iPhone's inherent 3G design failure. Oh, but wait, for those who blame AT&T, then Apple should get the phone on a reliable network!!! Apple: Deliver a phone that works, or hold off until it's designed correctly.

[kskill]

My 3G [16gb white] is AWFUL with call quality and dropped calls. I live in NYC with 4 bars of 3G most of the time. I've yet to report it, but I'll have to take it in soon. Very frustrating.

[mdntcallr]

I use edge because coverage on 3g is kinda crappy and 3G uses up the battery crazy fast.

i am very disappointed in the ATT 3G network which is spotty coverage at best.

[L3X]

Verizon coverage > AT&T

plain and simple.

I love my iPhone 3G but the coverage is just not as good, at least in Hampton Roads, VA.

[FuuFuu]

seriously i don't think this topic is worth to be in the front page. like no other phones don't get dropped calls every so often, dropped internet connections? its only something to blab about.

[pounce]

My 3g reception is horrible in chicago. i just use Edge all the time. I think that certain regions have horrible 3G distribution despite what ATT says on their website.

i was going to add that i'm in chicago currently as well. i would have thought a major city like this would be set for 3g coverage. i thought wrong. edge seems ok.

[zingboy]

I've had two dropped calls since launch. About the same as my Verizon experience. They both happened when I walked underground in Midtown.

[branjosef]

i was going to add that i'm in chicago currently as well. i would have thought a major city like this would be set for 3g coverage. i thought wrong. edge seems ok.

Yep. My edge is fine. I get bars everywhere, but when I turn on 3g- I get 1 bar here and there or even worse- I'll have 2-3 bars and then when I try to use the phone- it goes to 0-1 bars. That is almost like a bait and switch :rolleyes: . I went to ATTs website and they show that the whole area is blanketed with 3g but somewhere it mentioned that its because there are too many people using the towers so it drained the network and they are working on deploying more cell towers. Either way- 3G sucks in chicago unless you go to the apple store where they use something to boost the 3G signal.

[gearkraft]

Ive had this dropping problem several times... Ive had to have whole conversations with people by calling saying two words and expecting the call to drop, then call back, another two words, call drops and repeat. It gets really old when youre trying to do something time/location important like giving somebody directions to your house. Its very inconsistent... wish I knew how to fix it.

[Zombie Flanders]

I've had my iPhone drop many a 3G call in and around Chicago. I have to turn off 3G in my apartment otherwise I won't be able to complete a single call. It's beyond annoying. Further, I went to the AT&T store on Monroe Ave in the Loop, where I bought the phone, to complain and the guy said something to the effect of "well it's a toy that plays music and movies and it's not really a phone" and told me to take it up with Apple. Beyond BS!


I'm adding that I live in Wicker Park. Calls drop mostly in the apartment (before I turned off 3G all the time in here) and when driving. A few times at work--where I get a consistent 3 bars of 3G at my desk and listen to Pandora or AOL radio with headphones--it's happened too. But then again Pandora and AOL will stutter at least a few times a day and require restarts of the program or waiting for the signal to come back. Boo to 3G coverage, reception, and functionality.

[OhEsTen]

seriously i don't think this topic is worth to be in the front page. like no other phones don't get dropped calls every so often, dropped internet connections? its only something to blab about.

Well it is CNet. They will go to any lengths to dig dirt on any Apple product - even if it means trolling Apple's support forum.

I'm not saying that the iPhone is perfect, but it does beat out every phone I've ever bought. I'm also not having the extent of the problems that others are, but I wonder how much of it could be related to AT&T overselling their network? When I bought my 2.5g iPhone about 9 months ago - I never had any problems with dropped calls. Once the new iPhone came out I have one every couple of weeks. I don't know if it's related to the iPhone 2.0 software, but since AT&T is reporting a lot of new subscribers I'm curious if they're keeping up on their infrastructure to support it.

[iJon]

I've had way more dropped calls and signal problems with my new 3G iPhone. Switching back to Edge seems to help but that shouldn't be necessary.

[stockcerts]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

haha, I'm glad I stuck with the first gen iPhone. Only one year left on the contract, not made out of plastic, therefore no chipping, and no dropped calls. I also like the look of it better. Seems like the new one is bringing more problems then solutions. Hard to improve on the first iPhone. Why fix something that ain't broke?

I don't need a calculator, my abacus works just fine. :)

[branjosef]

I've had my iPhone drop many a 3G call in and around Chicago. I have to turn off 3G in my apartment otherwise I won't be able to complete a single call. It's beyond annoying. Further, I went to the AT&T store on Monroe Ave in the Loop, where I bought the phone, to complain and the guy said something to the effect of "well it's a toy that plays music and movies and it's not really a phone" and told me to take it up with Apple. Beyond BS!

Mine does the same thing in my apartment.

[vilasgn]

How come my iPhone never has any of the problems reported everywhere!

:p

[jbellanca]

I have two different AirCards, used two different notebooks, and an iPhone 3G. I can unequivocally say that there is a major AT&T 3G network issue in Manhattan (NYC); it's not the iPhone.

Prior to the iPhone 3G launch, I was usually getting about 80-190 KB/sec on both AirCards. Never slower than that. I was very happy.

After the iPhone 3G launch, I'm LUCKY to get over 10 KB/sec. ONCE yesterday - first time in a month - I actually got 80 KB/sec - for about 60 seconds, then dropped back down to 1-2 KB/sec. Completely unacceptable to get bandwidth on my 3G service that's significantly slower than EDGE. (In fact, I'm typing this on EDGE now since it's about 10 KB/sec and on 3G I was getting 1.5 KB/sec.) I've been getting 5 bars of signal strength on all three devices, and even got new SIM cards from AT&T just in case. AT&T should stop blaming Apple and fix their network, and allocate more bandwidth to 3G users.

Note that I have not had this issue in other cities I've been in this last month - Atlanta or Buffalo. I've gotten great bandwidth in both those cities. I'm about to call 611 to complain that my both my AirCard service and iPhone 3G service has been unusable and demand a refund on this month's bill. They can check my usage history over the last year to see that my usage this month has been next to zero - because their network is too slow to use!

[sdwill1978]

I've never really cared for AT&T. I really wish Verizon had jumped at the opportunity to have the phone. If they did, I'd have one... I think AT&T's service is much to blame not the phone itself. Sorry to disappoint...

[OnTheBandwagon]

I live in LA, specifically Studio City, but I'm always in Hollywood and the Downtown area. I notice my 3G signal continuously goes in and out and it's frustrating! Is anyone else having the same problem? I mean this is LA! We should have pretty good 3G signals everywhere right?

I live in Valley Village and most of my time is spent in this general part of the Valley (VV, SC and Sherman Oaks), Hollywood and the West Side.

I have exactly the same problem except in parts of the West Side. I'm pretty much always set to edge unless I want to surf.

[zwiggles1]

Also on Rogers in Vancouver Canada - have had a few issues, about the same as any cell phone.
3G seems pretty fast, and the dropped call areas are the same as they always were, and thats going back 3 or more years.

For those in Vancouver I find that these are bad spots:

Traffic lights at Terminal and Main
Corner where McGill turns left and becomes Nanaimo...



I also had the old iPhone in Vancouver with no problems, but my 3G phone has been brutal. I drop more calls than I used to, but the real problem is with the reception. 15% of the time, the audio from my phone is all garbled, not static, but like a electronic pixilation of the audio. I can't seem recreate it at the apple store, so no solution has been provided for me.

[tbone7467]

I dont think it is a 3G specific issue. I have had a number of dropped calls in areas AT&T states are the best signal areas. I dont think that they are keeping up the the infrastructure --- OhEsTen. Since they released the 3G i have had more no service reports then anyother time with my Iphone. Still being in areas where AT&T states the best coverage is. Come on Ma Bell its time to upgrade the phone network. Stop sulking you got broken up from the juggernaut you were. Time to Move on.

[branjosef]

I dont think it is a 3G specific issue. I have had a number of dropped calls in areas AT&T states are the best signal areas. I dont think that they are keeping up the the infrastructure --- OhEsTen. Since they released the 3G i have had more no service reports then anyother time with my Iphone. Still being in areas where AT&T states the best coverage is. Come on Ma Bell its time to upgrade the phone network. Stop sulking you got broken up from the juggernaut you were. Time to Move on.

ATT is the Walmart of telecommunications. They are everywhere whether you like it or not and provide a substandard product.

[endoscient]

It has happened it someone in my family where for a period of time none of the calls to their phone would last longer then a few seconds. They called ATT and they said if they rebooted their iPhone it would work again. The said it was something with the phone not using the right tower settings or something, and that reloaded that data. Which totally fixed the problem.

[rctshack]

wow... my boyfriend and I both have the phone and live on folsom street here in san francisco and can barely get reception ever. I usually have to walk to the opposite side of my bedroom to get a clear call. And while I would say it's just bad reception in general... I had another phone with ATT before this and it was full bars all the time.

At times we will put our phones beside each other and his phone will have 4 bars while mine has 1... it makes no sense at all... especially because we live in the center of a major city... a major city that is iphone heavy... and a block from the ATT headquarters here in SF... just slightly ironic that random people in iowa gets much better reception...

or all the phones have something messed up with them... god i hope it's software related so it can be fixed...

[papiti]

:mad:Yep, its kind of anoying to be getting low bars and dropped calls. ever since the 2.0.2 upgrade it has been bad. Apple needs to get quick with the next upgrade and fix this problem. Whithe 2.0 I always had a full set of reception bars in the phone and 3G was always working, now, maaaaan its bad. But, I have faith, Apple, Please Fix This Already!!!!!!!!:eek:

[danielwsmithee]

From my experience. I live in a city of about 100K in Colorado and the reception is great 4 bars everywhere. I drive 15 minutes to work in Boulder CO (a much larger city) and my reception sucks.

[Napsju]

Same here. (The Netherlands)

T-Mobile NL has added a new post to their iPhone blog about the signal problems: Click! (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fiphoneblog.t-mobile.nl%2F2008%2F08%2Fiphone-en-3g%2F&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=nl&sl=es&tl=en&tl=en)

[bacaramac]

I am having huge issues more recently with my 3g iPhone. At work there is a tower south of me and north of me. If I am in the north building I get great service and no dropped calls (even with 1-2 bars). If I am in the south building connected to the south tower, I have to switch to edge to make calls. If I am on 3G I can hear people great, but they say I cut out the whole time and get dropped calls all the time on the south tower.

I thought I read that it has to do with the band the 3G is transmitting on, but this is crap. Edge works a lot better and never have the dropped call issue. I am going to try the swap sim card trick and see if that fixes it.

As a note, this didn't happen for the first few weeks I had the 3G iPhone which leads me to belive it is related to network stress or hardware issue (SIM card or phone).

[Stella]

This isn't just an AT&T issue, other subscribers are having the same problem with 3G. Some people have compared their iPhone with other 3G phones in the same spot - the other phones don't have a problem.

This has been an ongoing problem since the iPhone 3G launch.

[gibbz]

While the "wonderful" coverage map AT&T provides indicates that I should be well covered for 3G (Norman, OK), I get 1-3 bars routinely, with the signal strength around -90 to -100. Strength can fluctuate drastically within a range of a few feet. My calls will drop when the phone is trying to hand off to Edge. I have no issues with Edge only. The main thing annoying me is that I am paying a $10 premium a month compared with my first gen iPhone for the 3G service. The only thing lacking is the reliable 3G service.

[branjosef]

wow... my boyfriend and I both have the phone and live on folsom street here in san francisco and can barely get reception ever. I usually have to walk to the opposite side of my bedroom to get a clear call. And while I would say it's just bad reception in general... I had another phone with ATT before this and it was full bars all the time.

At times we will put our phones beside each other and his phone will have 4 bars while mine has 1... it makes no sense at all... especially because we live in the center of a major city... a major city that is iphone heavy... and a block from the ATT headquarters here in SF... just slightly ironic that random people in iowa gets much better reception...

or all the phones have something messed up with them... god i hope it's software related so it can be fixed...

I bet Steve Jobs has a big a_s cell tower outside his office. ATT knows who their important clients are. i highly doubt he has 1-2 bars in his office unless they serve alcohol.

[newyorksole]

AT&T website claims my area is COVERED in 3G, but why is it that I get zero to 2 bars of 3G service over here?

I bought the phone because my area is covered and I would love to use 3G, it sucks that I have to turn off 3G not only because the coverage isn't good, but because it drains battery too.

Even in NYC, my phone gets 5 bars and web pages and data still don't load quick.

I love this phone, but it is a shame that I can't even use it's features properly, I hope all that needs to happen is AT&T updates their network and Apple releases a firmware update.

Ofeten times EDGE loads just as fast as 3G and my calls never get dropped on EDGE.

[theBB]

When I first got a CDMA cell phone from Sprint, I used have a lot of dropped calls. As 3G also uses a type of CDMA technology, which is quite different than regular GSM, it may be taking the telecom companies a while to implement the whole system properly.

[bacaramac]

wow... my boyfriend and I both have the phone and live on folsom street here in san francisco and can barely get reception ever. I usually have to walk to the opposite side of my bedroom to get a clear call. And while I would say it's just bad reception in general... I had another phone with ATT before this and it was full bars all the time.

At times we will put our phones beside each other and his phone will have 4 bars while mine has 1... it makes no sense at all... especially because we live in the center of a major city... a major city that is iphone heavy... and a block from the ATT headquarters here in SF... just slightly ironic that random people in iowa gets much better reception...

or all the phones have something messed up with them... god i hope it's software related so it can be fixed...

Yes, but Iowa (my home state:D) is still on edge. It appears these issues are related to 3G only and not edge service. Apple/AT&T better step up soon.

[xyian]

This isn't just an iPhone thing. I am having the same issue lately. I have next to no coverage and can rarely access the 3g network. I believe AT&T doesn't have enough pipeline to deal with the amount of people trying to access the network. Something tells me they weren't prepared for the onslaught of iPhones that were going to sell.
I also called and complained today about the lack of being able to hold on to calls and obtain good service and they credited me $25 for the inconvenience. I think I'll switch elsewhere in November when my contract is up.

[mkrishnan]

seriously i don't think this topic is worth to be in the front page. like no other phones don't get dropped calls every so often, dropped internet connections? its only something to blab about.

In slight defense of this particular issue, however, is the fact that many of the people reporting call drop issues are people who had EDGE iPhones on the same carrier immediately before their 3G iPhones, and used them in the same places. So on the always relative scale of reliability, if those people are saying their calls are dropping more on the 3G iPhone than they were on the EDGE iPhone, that to me is relatively reliable testimony that something is going on.

Pair that with the fact, AFAIK, that as AT&T rolled out 3G services some time before they rolled out the iPhone 3G, and in general those upgrading to 3G phones on AT&T haven't been up in arms over this issue in the way that iPhone users have, it seems to me that there's more than just hype associated with this.

Sure, the iPhone gets more attention than every other handset put together. But I think, based on these two relatively unique aspects of this situation, there probably is also something going on. Hopefully something that can be fixed in firmware.

Longofest or anyone else who knows... are other HSPA phones able to do anything like observe and detect 3G network quality and automatically make calls on the 2G network when the 3G network is available but patchy? It seems like these phones ought to be using the 2G network for voice much more often than they actually are....

[macaddiict]

Downtown Oklahoma City: 3G is much better - same bars as EDGE (1-2 usually), but calls don't break up and get garbled on 3G

[blueflame]

I also in valley village/studio city. and get almost no 3g reception. 1-2 bars at the most. when i go into hollywood, i get full reception, but when changing towers, i do get dropped calls
I live in Valley Village and most of my time is spent in this general part of the Valley (VV, SC and Sherman Oaks), Hollywood and the West Side.

I have exactly the same problem except in parts of the West Side. I'm pretty much always set to edge unless I want to surf.

[/dev/toaster]

This weekend I was in Vegas for Defcon and let me just tell you, that I was not ammused on the stablity of the 3G iPhone.

First off, GPS worked less then 10% of the time. Most of the time it would hang for long periods of time doing nothing. Even standing outside if completly clear skies with no major building blockage. It didn't even do basic triangulation based on towers.

The 3G speeds were terrible. In the Bay area they are super fast for me. In Vegas it was a nightmare, far worse then dial up. Now, I am not sure if it was due to the heavly increased number of techies in the area or what not. However, my Verizon EVDO card was ultra fast. Inside the buildings I wouldn't be able to use the phone at all. Even though I had 2 bars, I wouldn't be able to connect to anything data or make calls.

The other major issue I had was dropped calls. Once I got the call going it was ok, however incoming calls would only cause my phone to ring 50% of the time. But even then, when I would answer you couldn't hear the other person. I had a similar issue with my girlfriends iPhone when we first got it. We could talk to anyone we wanted, but couldn't talk to each other on the phone. Yes, no joke ... the 2 iPhones couldn't talk with each other.

2.0.0 had more stable phone service for me, but 2.0.1 has more stable applications.

[DPinTX]

I glad to see that we were not the only ones with this issue. At first we just switched them to the edge network. still had some issues.

We took our phones back to the apple store because of bad reception and too many dropped calls we were told by the tech at Apple that there is an issue with some of the antennas on the phones being TOO SHORT and this is causing the problem they swapped out the phones in the store and now no more dropped calls. The two phones were purchased at the same time so maybe the same batch.

we have a total of about 9 new (3G) and 12 old iphones. so we have enough in the office to test and see a difference.

DP

[dupdup]

I'm also in an area that AT&T's 3G map shows to have solid coverage. When I use 3G it seems to connect then drop, it is pretty much always switching between Edge and 3G, so I just leave it in Edge. What a waste. My area is Reston, Virginia just 30 minutes away from Washington, DC. Just wanted to add to this survey.

[keyrock]

I live in LA, specifically Studio City, but I'm always in Hollywood and the Downtown area. I notice my 3G signal continuously goes in and out and it's frustrating! Is anyone else having the same problem? I mean this is LA! We should have pretty good 3G signals everywhere right?

My phone has been terrible in terms of reception. I will drop a call 4 or 5 times in a row when I start with 3 bars. I think it tries to switch to 3G and then drops the call when there is no 3G signal. Even my Edge coverage is much worse than my girlfriend's AT&T non-iphone. It's driving me crazy because I love the device, but above and beyond any feature-set, I need a working telephone.

I still have another 15 days to return it, and am seriously considering doing so.

[earnjam]

I've got an original iPhone and I've seen so many damn problems since the 2.0 software update.

1) (similar to the 3G issues people have mentioned) I've had numerous occasions of the signal arbitrarily going from 5 blocks to zero and saying "no service". Even when I'm doing nothing but sitting on the couch. Then it will magically find the signal again and back up to 5.

2) Opening my contacts is now slow as balls. By slow I mean it takes a minimum 7-10 seconds for the iPhone to switch to the contact list and then even longer before it starts responding to touches again. This was fine before the update.

3) Half the programs crash for no apparent reason (not just app store apps...I'm talking original pre-installed apps too). I understand that this will happen, but it happens WAAAAAY more than before the 2.0 update.

4) I've had numerous occasions where the phone has rebooted on me out of nowhere. Very frustrating.

5) Safari is really slow when trying to type in an address or even get to the address bar editor. (Feels like when I used to use AOL and a 28.8 modem to get online on my old Performa. I'd type a sentence, then watch it fill out on the screen a few seconds later)

6) One time my phone bricked itself and then un-bricked itself (after hard reset). I was looking at the home screen (not pressing anything) and it just rebooted itself and then said "connect to itunes" and said it wasn't activated. I did a hard reset and the home screen came back up, but no 3rd party apps would work. Every single one crashed on launch. I had to resync and reinstall every single app.

7) App store apps bought on the phone haven't been syncing back to my computer. I have to manually search for them and download them on the computer or they won't sync the next time.

8) Apps that have updates are not installing properly when attempted on the phone and when I download the update on the computer and sync to the phone, the app store on the phone still thinks I need to update...wtf?

9) This is DEFINITELY not a new issue, but sometimes mail decides to stop checking for new mail. I have a gmail account set up on my phone to check every 15 min and sometimes I'll decide to randomly open Mail and it won't have looked for new mail for hours (one time it was over 48 hours!!).

10) Syncing is no longer convenient. You need a good hour to make sure it finishes everything. The stupid backup process takes half an hour minimum. All I have is an 8GB and it's only 65% full.

This is just to name a few off the top of my head, but it's extremely frustrating. I love my iPhone even with these flaws, but it's definitely made me not want to spend anymore money each month to get the new one if they can't even fix simple problems like the damn email not checking properly (been happening since day 1).

But some of these games sure are addicting...

[TheNorthWaves]

seriously i don't think this topic is worth to be in the front page. like no other phones don't get dropped calls every so often, dropped internet connections? its only something to blab about.

With all due respect, as a potential iphone buyer who is already frustrated with at&t coverage on a samsung phone, I am glad this is being talked about. It is valid to me, even if not to you.

[KIDLARK]

I live in NYC, and I had a first-gen iphone, and rarely had any coverage problems. With my new 3G version, the phone often does not ring, and a voicemail will just show up when someone has tried to call. This happens several times a week (the no-ringing business). It's very frustrating. I reset my phone and it sometimes fixes it, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

[crowdedstr]

I had horrible issues with dropped calls on the iPhone 3G. It was probably the poorest service I'd ever had from a cell phone before...

Then I finally convinced Apple on Michigan Ave to swap it out (after they'd made countless lame suggestions that both they and I knew damn well weren't gonna work)... I've not dropped a call yet with this new one, after dropping 29% of my calls on my original iPhone 3G... and my call reception in my home and office are night and day better. I was literally unable to take a call in my office with my first iPhone 3G cause I'd be breaking up non-stop and eventually just drop the call. Today with the new phone I had a 10-minute conversation with my sister from my desk and everything was crystal clear on my side and hers.

Bottom line is if you're having issues like this, just keep harping on the Apple employees until they budge and give you a new phone. There are plenty of them out there that are not working like they should be.

Now if ATT could just fix the 3G network here in Chicago, I'd be good to go.

[JoeDRC]

Funny, I couldn't get an edge or 3G signal at all today, sat dumbfounded for a whole hour then turned my iphone of and on again, did the trick :]

[Cabrewolf]

I went to the SF Apple store yesterday and NO iphone there had 3G availability. The workers said the reception was not goo at the store, but was fine right outside. I assumed the metal store acted like a ferraday (no clue re spelling) cage and bought one. Now, I've got a new iphone that is EDGE just like my old one. I'm hoping they update the firmware and fix this, they have 14 days.

[amac4me]

We took our phones back to the apple store because of bad reception and too many dropped calls we were told by the tech at Apple that there is an issue with some of the antennas on the phones being TOO SHORT and this is causing the problem they swapped out the phones in the store and now no more dropped calls. The two phones were purchased at the same time so maybe the same batch.


If this is true, it sounds that it could be a quality control problem during manufacturing.

[portishead]

My phone has been terrible in terms of reception. I will drop a call 4 or 5 times in a row when I start with 3 bars. I think it tries to switch to 3G and then drops the call when there is no 3G signal. Even my Edge coverage is much worse than my girlfriend's AT&T non-iphone. It's driving me crazy because I love the device, but above and beyond any feature-set, I need a working telephone.

I still have another 15 days to return it, and am seriously considering doing so.

My wife has also been having problems in the LA area. After browsing the Apple forums, I told her to disable 3G unless she wants to do browsing. She said reception has been much better with 3G disabled.

[Juggler9000]

I live in DC, and have had nothing but great reception with my 3G. It is much better than my original iPhone. With the 3G, I've had no dropped calls, reception in locations where my wife's original iPhone gets none, and generally a wonderful experience.

[bdkennedy1]

Count me in with this problem. I'm in the DFW area near the airport and I haven't had all my bars since I've gotten the phone. The latest update didn't help.

I can barely use the phone at work and it's constantly dropping back down to EDGE. If I wanted to use EDGE all the time I would have just kept my old iPhone.

[natasha69]

i think this is an ATT issue.

symptoms
=========
1) 3G bar and signal strength vary and fluctuate standing in the same spot.
2) my wife's phone and my phone, sitting on a table 1 foot away from each other differ in signal strength (3G). i swap places and they swap signal strength. wait a couple minutes and now the signal strengths are drastically different again.
3) when i get 5 bars on 3G, the most i've seen it last is 2 seconds. then it drops all the way to 1.
4) latest update has thrown me into Edge most of the time which leads to better overall service.

i wonder why ATT & Apple won't address the issue publicly?

try getting 3G in the silicon valley, travelling up and down 280.....i wish you the best of luck.

[thestaton]

I still have the Gen 1 iPhone, however my friend did upgrade to the 3G. On his daily commute if he calls me there is a 100% chance we will have at LEAST TWO dropped calls.

I'm really wanting to upgrade, but not a chance before they get this fixed.

[MidiMonk]

Sounds like Apple is gonna due what they did with the MBP's and airport dropouts ignore the customer.Post in the forums, watch your threads get locked or deleted.But, in the end the Ipud is their big $$$ maker so it will get acknowledged

[MikeMckenzy]

I was on T-Mobile with iPhone 2G (best coverage I've ever had!)

...Switched to AT&T with that iPhone, not too bad.

Switched to 3G, BIG difference.

Dropping calls in areas I didn't on the old network, and when I turn 3G off, the reception is always a lot stronger. This is NOT what I expected. :(

[8CoreWhore]

One of the huge advantages of 3G is that you can talk and access data at the same time. You can't do that with EDGE. My data usage is dropping in and out, if I get a call at this time, I'm screwed - that shouldn't happen. If I leave it on EDGE because I need my calls, I can't just fire it up for data, I need to switch back to 3G and then worry about my calls. I like to go for a walk while listening to music or NPR over 3G through the Tuner.app (great!) but I keep getting disconnected. I'm in a big city with full 3G coverage. I have a sneaky feeling Apple throttled the 3G radio down to save battery. But of course they're more secretive than the Pentagon.

[nakile]

It makes you wonder if Apple knew that 3G was a bunch of marketing garbage the whole time and that's why they didn't want to put it into the first iPhone.

They had no choice with the iPhone 3G because if they ignored it again, there probably would have been riots. I think Apple decided to give into what the public wanted and look what happened.

I might be giving them too much credit here, but it seems more plausible every day as I see more and more people complain about 3G issues.

[macaron1]

Am afraid we are early adopters and will continue to be frustrated about this or that issue for some more time to come.

I'm in London, on O2. Haven't really experienced dropped calls, but then again, I don't talk a lot on the phone.

3G reception is spotty, though, which is really surprising given that I am in the largest metropolis of Europe. And then there are these odd cases where the 3G sign just disappears and will not come back until I reboot the phone.

My favorite pet peeve: Syncing is a mess. The frequent backup takes ages. Application updates spew out cryptic, Windows-like error messages. Then, there are those puzzling moments where an already-installed application is installed again or will try to copy itself repeatedly back to iTunes.

Also, have had several occasions where iTunes became unresponsive and had to force-quit.

Today, ran into a new problem: iPhoto kept insisting there were no pictures on the phone although I had bunch of newly-taken photos. Ended up emailing the pictures back to myself!

Last but not least, the Appstore will suck some more time until the offers mature and become more diverse.

Frustrating. Whatever.

Just hang on tight. :)

[midwstguy69]

Funny I came across this post this AM. This past weekend I was visiting Chicago and had the same issues with my iPhone 3G. Calls dropped, text messaging wouldn't send or receive (some messages took over three hours to deliver) and no internet connection at all. At first I thought it was my iPhone but after meeting up with friends later Saturday afternoon I find EVERYONE, regardless of the phone model, had the same problems of dropped calls, bad text messaging and no internet. The one thing we did have in-common? 3G!!!

[mBox]

seriously i don't think this topic is worth to be in the front page. like no other phones don't get dropped calls every so often, dropped internet connections? its only something to blab about.so true specially where I am in Canada. Ive always had spotty cel service in the mid-west. now that Im using the iPhone, its just more things to consider e.g. wifi, 3G and apps. almost forgetting about the phone all together.
we have one of the worse coverages in Canada and we cant do anything about it other than not go with the phone :(

[mavis]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G (white): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5B108 Safari/525.20)

It makes you wonder if Apple knew that 3G was a bunch of marketing garbage the whole time and that's why they didn't want to put it into the first iPhone.

They had no choice with the iPhone 3G because if they ignored it again, there probably would have been riots. I think Apple decided to give into what the public wanted and look what happened.

I might be giving them too much credit here, but it seems more plausible every day as I see more and more people complain about 3G issues.

Umm, ok. Nevermind the fact that in order to do a true global launch, the iPhone HAD to be 3G, as many countries do not operate GPRS/EDGE networks. ;)

My 3G reception is fine here in Tokyo - comparable to other phones I've owned. No dropped calls so far, either. Of course I suffer from the ALoD (Apple Logo of Death) on a regular basis, but that's a different software bug altogether.

[iOrlando]

haha...this isnt an apple issue...its AT&T. Every phone i ever had with AT&T has dropped my calls.

Not much help going to apple help page.

Oh..by the way...AT&T wont help either. You just gotta live with it.

I got use to having my calls hang up after 7:10 minutes into the call. I kid you not. Every call in my house 7:10 minutes into it.

[Toadjeep]

This has been an ongoing problem with my phone since day one. I went from a razor with full signal in my house to the Iphone 3G with one, maybe if I am lucky, two bars. I have been sitting on my porch, not moving and the phone just drops the call. Then it takes several redial attempts to get the call back. If I do switch 3G off I have three to four bars. This is very annoying when I have to change settings just to talk on my phone in my house (no quick setting on the front page). There should be a smooth transition between the 3G and Edge. After buying two Iphones (one for me and the wife) and paying over $100 in monthly service for both this is poor service. ATT is charging a premium of $30 a month per phone for 3G which doesn't operate properly. They need to take care of their customers. :mad::mad::mad:

[MoparShaha]

I'm glad this is finally getting some mainstream attention. I ended up returning my iPhone 3G because of the poor reception and dropped calls. Like the quote from the article, my experience in San Francisco has been "less than satisfactory".

[BaronVonFlapJac]

Funny that this article just came up. I just got off the phone with AT&T and after a 5 week investigation into my complaints of zero to low service with the 3G in Los Angeles, no matter where I am, on both my wifes phone and my own, they basically told me I was **** out of luck.

They said that they investigated this and that basically their towers currently in the area that I live and work, are not up to par. Ok, this is in the middle of Burbank. Both my home and work show "BEST COVERAGE" on ATT's 3G coverage map, but that is not the case according to the people at ATT that I spoke with. The coverage map does not really show true 3G coverage.

I complained that I am paying a premium now, on 2 phones, for the 3G service that I cannot use. I was told, that I was incorrect, the $10 add on for the 3G plan is for the data package, which is for both 2G and 3G. I called ******** on her and that line of reasoning, saying the $10 upgrade in price was for the 3G network, and it doesnt work, at least for me, in most of Los Angeles. I get zero to low bars (2 at the most) and could never make or receive calls most of the time, the rest of the time the calls were dropped. I called in about it right away, but I am screwed. I should have stayed with the original iphone. Slow edge, but at least it worked and I got what I was paying for.

[haunebu]

I'm having the same poor reception issues that others are experiencing. I get decent 2G reception, but awful 3G reception in the exact same place. The iPhone often switches over to EDGE (3-5 bars) after struggling with getting maybe 1 bar of 3G.

The iPhone's 3G reception is really unacceptable.

[twoodcc]

well, it sounds to me like it's just something that happens with every phone model. you have some bad apples in the bunch

[Silentwave]

I get good reception and great 3G signal most of the time. But even with lots of bars, I'll have extremely long wait times after hitting 'call' or tapping the number before it starts actually ringing...sometimes 15 seconds plus. Often I'll get 'call failed' right off the bat several times in a row, or drop calls with perfect signal before during and after the drop. Switching to EDGE fixes it... but very disappointing. The other night I couldn't get a call out for 30 minutes without switching to EDGE.

[mfronmark]

The same thing has been reported in Sweden. People have to turn 3G off and use Edge for data. It was said somewhere that the antenna is too small and reception is therefore too weak.

[eastcoastsurfer]

I have an original iPhone and it's the worst cell phone I've ever owned. It drops more calls and has terrible reception than any Nokia or Sony phone I owned in the past. What's really frustrating is when I drop a call and I won't let me redial for minutes. I can still have full bars while the iPhone just hangs.

I had hoped the plastic back on the iPhone 3G would fix things, but from sounds of these articles it hasn't.

[Boomhowler]

in sweden we have more or less narrowed the bad phones down to a "batch problem". That is, only phones created between a 2-3 week period seem to be affected, and not even all those...

I have no problem at all with mine, even better reception than my measurement phone at work.

I must also add that the bars on the iPhone are totally misleading, they are a bit too harsh. With barely one bar i still managed to get a download rate of 690 kbps...

[mellojosh]

After having some reception issues today, I did a search to see if anyone else has come across this issue and was pretty surprised to find how widespread this was. I drove from a suburb of Atlanta in to Downtown and NEVER got more than two bars. While waiting for my food during lunch, I decided to browse the internet some on my phone and was extremely surprised to find I had the NO SERVICE icon. IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA!!!! I pulled up the coverage map from AT&T's website ( http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/ ) and typed in the zip for where I was (30307) and found there was supposed to be coverage in almost ALL of Atlanta, not to mention inside all of the perimeter. I even went to the middle of a huge parking lot in the middle of the city to see what my reception was...I got half a bar, sometimes 2. I have no idea what the problem is, but I switched out my SIM to an old free Sony Ericsson phone with 3g and never had less than 4 bars inside and nothing less than full outside. I also spent a few days in an area of GA that does not have 3G yet, so while I was there, I went to turn it off in an attempt to save battery power. When entering my 3G area again, I turned on the feature and had "NO SERVICE" icon again for about 15 minutes, in an area where I know there is service and at the very least edge. I hope there is a firmware fix for this coming soon.

[crees!]

I had a similar situation the other day. I'm in a fully covered 3G area and while at home I placed my phone on a table and noticed it cycling between bars/service. It would start at 4 bars (Edge), 10 seconds later go to 1 bar, then about 10 more seconds later go to NO SERVICE. About 3 or 4 minutes would pass service would restore then it would start all over again. Then the next day I realized it would happen in certain areas while driving through my neighborhood.

I noticed this after the recent 2.0.1 update. So I called Apple and they eventually connected to an AT&T tech. The tech said it definitely sounded like an issue with sim and to get it replaced.

That said, it doesn't seem to be cycling between service any more. I haven't replaced the sim. And now when I'm at home I switch it over to EDGE and then get constant 4 to 5 bars. This is definitely attributed to 3G, possibly that the phone detects a faint 3G signal and attempts to establish a connection, then drops it.

[shoobe01]

ATT 3G is suprisingly good. Been running it on several devices (RAZR, N75) for a year now. Works fine, everywhere.

Phone models do vary in reception. iPhone is sounding like one with issues.

People DO talk about phones other than iPhone. I have run across maybe 3-dozen S60 websites (smartphone software, mostly for Nokia). There are several competing forums for Sprint, the number 3 U.S. carrier. They all talk about signal a lot. This, while being unscientific, sounds like something notable, not just C|net looking for a story.

[taltal]

it's definitely not ATT. It's the iPhone.

I'm from Germany - we simply don't have ATT, but a very mature 3G network. I have the very same issues here with the iPhone 3G - it's incredibly frustrating.

And, other than stated in the opening article: the thread on apple discussions is already the second one. the first one was actually closed because so many people had posted it became too long to load!!

This is an issue, it's real, and apple better tackle this. the iPhone's got a lovely browser, the display is incredible, it's just an incredible joy to use it - as long as you don't touch the phone. for me, this is a beta version of a future iPod touch (with basic phone capabilities).

[ekfaith]

My phone is having this issue and I'm finding that the drop calls occur when the 3g signal is week and switches to Edge. I'm not sure if this is specific to the iphone or not but the "fewest dropped calls" is a bunch of BS....:eek:

[tfulmino]

Just thought I would share the same frustration as the others. I too have the worst reception on this phone. I switched from Verizon (not sure why) to have an iphone and at this point all I did add frustration.

Phone has been exchanged, sim card replace - same ol' story.

The worst part is my wife keeps laughing at me cause she had a POS phone on Verizon and ALWAYS has coverage.

BTW - Tampa, Florida.

[ratbatblue]

While the "wonderful" coverage map AT&T provides indicates that I should be well covered for 3G (Norman, OK), I get 1-3 bars routinely, with the signal strength around -90 to -100. Strength can fluctuate drastically within a range of a few feet. My calls will drop when the phone is trying to hand off to Edge. I have no issues with Edge only. The main thing annoying me is that I am paying a $10 premium a month compared with my first gen iPhone for the 3G service. The only thing lacking is the reliable 3G service.

What he said! Same problems here in Austin, TX. It's getting old fast. I really miss my 2.5G iPhone, which I could've kept for all the good the "added bennies" of the new one is doing me.

[DaviCon]

My 3G reception is spotty and inconsistent at best most places I go in Chicago (live in Lincoln Square, work in River North). I keep it on EDGE most of the time, and still don't seem to have good reception compared to friends with other AT&T phones. Bah

[riversky]

True that it might be the AT&T network in the US.

The only problem with that theory is there are a number of people in Canada, and Europe having the same issues. Those areas are not AT&T. That would point to the iPhone hardware itself.

Wait until a class action suit happens and then Apple will respond.

[LaMerVipere]

I too have been having connection issues with my iPhone 3G when it is connected to the 3G network. Not only does the signal seem dismal when compared to that of my old iPhone but I often have call failures for extended periods of time and cannot receive or dial-out.

That being said, if I turn off 3G in settings I have no issues at all, and so now I usually keep 3G turned off if I am just at home, and will only turn it on if i am doing something that requires 3G speed like using Maps or extensive internet browsing.

I'm not sure what the problem is, but here's hoping that it can be resolved.

My 3G reception is spotty and inconsistent at best most places I go in Chicago (live in Lincoln Square, work in River North). I keep it on EDGE most of the time, and still don't seem to have good reception compared to friends with other AT&T phones. Bah

Agreed, live in Wicker Park, same deal.

[137489]

Mobile me outages and issues
iphone 3g outages.

it's the iphone screwing up mobile me :p

Sorry, for the sarcasm, but the new iphone and Mobile me were launched the same day. and this is the most furoms on the same subject (my mobile me sucks, my iphone sucks) we have seen.....

Has anyone looked into the connection between the two as a cause? Probably shouldn't link the two problems together - but the number of posts, the number of days are starting to become a way to coincidental......

[jdee2wheels]

That being said, if I turn off 3G in settings I have no issues at all, and so now I usually keep 3G turned off if I am just at home, and will only turn it on if i am doing something that requires 3G speed like using Maps or extensive internet browsing.

I'm not sure what the problem is, but here's hoping that it can be resolved.


I can't believe how many people are just resorting to turning 3g off and living with it. If a product is not working the way it should, why are you keeping it? If Apple was getting all these phones returned...maybe they would act a little more quickly.

I've had the 2g Iphone for a year now and think it's great overall...ok as a phone. I really want to upgrade to the 3G, but there is no way I'm going to until this problem is fixed. It's really unacceptable.

[lorkp]

We also have to keep in mind that people generally post about their problems and not how they're so great. Especially with a device like the iPhone. People that get these phones, especially when they're first out, tend to be pretty technically savy and expect much of the device and will be very vocal when something goes wrong.

That said... I'm in Chicago and I'm also having reception issues. I've just switched to edge for the time being. I'm going to have my phone replaced (they didn't have any) in a few days and so hopefully my phone just had a short antenna or something.

But I definitely think this is an Apple issue. While AT&T's coverage is not nearly as good as let's say Verizon, the service can be so atrocious with the iPhone that I can't imagine how AT&T could get away with it if phones from any brand also had trouble connecting to the network.

I'm glad that this is starting to get more and more attention. Hopefully it will mean that Apple gets their **** together. It's obvious that they didn't quite think the whole launch day/mobileme thing through thoroughly with all the problems people were having activating and such. I think this is all an extension of the 3G iPhone being rushed to production too soon.

[iOrlando]

I have a iPod Touch. Works fine. No problems. No monthly fees.

:p

[riversky]

T-Mobile in Europe is reporting it is the device!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10015661-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

If it was AT&T you would not have the large numbers in Europe/Canada/Australia with this issue as well!!!

Come on Apple step up and quit with the silence on this issue!

[g.c.]

No problems on Rogers in Canada.

[Reiger]

On Dutch forums a lot of people are complaining. Although T-Mobile doesn't have the best 3G network in the Netherlands. It certainly isn't bad. But the iPhone reception is making it worse. Compared to similar 3G phones from HTC and Nokia, the reception of the iPhone is really bad.

Let's hope Apple can fix this :(

[gcmexico]

I haven't had any issues with drops calls...every other day it's something new

[jsanche6]

This iPhone/At&T is horrible. I've always had Cingular/AT&T and the receptions always been great. I get the iPhone and the reception goes from full bars in 3g to no bars/only like 2 with the 3g iPhone. I also thought that if the 3g reception was bad it drops down to EDGE by itself which it doesn't at all. I live in Elmhurst, Il which is like 20miles from Chicago and that's supposed to be covered by 3g. I get dropped calls everyday and sometimes when I make calls it goes straight to other peoples voice mail because it can't complete a call. I called my brother to test this out and we were outside and he was right next to me and he didn't even get the call. I turned off 3g and used EDGE and still he got no calls even though he had full bars on his Samsung.

[manhattanboy]

T-Mobile in Europe is reporting it is the device!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10015661-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

If it was AT&T you would not have the large numbers in Europe/Canada/Australia with this issue as well!!!

Come on Apple step up and quit with the silence on this issue!

From the site:
Again, it's unclear just how widespread the iPhone 3G reception problems are, but they are being reported all over the globe, and I've never received as much e-mail from Apple customers about a single product issue (even before asking for submissions) as I have over this one.


FINALLY SOME ONE HAS ACKNOWLEDGED WHAT I HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING ABOUT FOR SO D*MN LONG.
The iPhone's 3G reception is seriously F*cked up and it needs to be improved ASAP. :mad:

[johnnyjibbs]

I have absolutely no problems with my 3G coverage here in the UK on O2. I always have full reception and have never had a dropped call. I am in London though.

Battery life is pretty poor with 3G though, although I always keep of ok because EDGE is painfully slow.

[taltal]

I assume you've visited my site at www.fixmy3giphone.com?


sure I did. and posted some comments. thanks for building this site, and for collecting the links!

they are pretty strict over there at apple. they have deleted a couple of angry comments, one of mine, and edited some of them ...

anyway, i hope apple fixes this soon - i honestly want to enjoy this phone asap.

[Philberttheduck]

I have AT&T and have been experiencing some weird reception problems (sometimes its full, and then 1 step later it's dropped to "No Service") with 3G. No dropped calls, but the reception/signal has been fluctuating.

[MacTheSpoon]

Could it be that there's a bad batch of Infineon chips out there? Because it sounds like this is affecting a subset of users, not everyone...

Regardless, whether this is a hardware or software issue, I hope it gets cleared up soon.

[djrobsd]

I'm sure these complaints are all true, but I'm willing to bet they're the same percentage as any other cell phone.

It's just that people don't blog about their other phones. I know I never made a pos on the Internet about my old phone.

You are way off bar here. The people reporting these problems are only having the problems with the 3G reception in their iPhone, which is not just an AT&T problem, but also an Apple problem. Many of these people have tried other 3G phones to compare to the iPhone, and do not have the same issues in the EXACT same spots where they had issues with their iPhones.

[8CoreWhore]

DPinTX mention on this thread that an Apple Tech told him some of the phones' 3G antenna's were too short. They swapped his phone out for a new one and that solved his problem. I was wondering where I'd heard this before: Ding! David Pogue's criticism of the GPS function. He said someone at Apple told him the directions wouldn't work well because the antenna was too short. Many people thought that didn't make sense - unless they were actually talking about the 3G antenna - which is how the google maps would load. I wonder if Pogue thought he meant the GPS antenna when in fact he meant the 3G antenna??

[Flyer0815]

My first 8GB iPhone 3G dropped every single call after about 25 seconds on the 3G network.. edge was fine. I returned it during the 14 day period after a Genius played with it and had the same results. Decided to upgrade to the 16 GB version at that time, and have had better results, but I still drop at least 1 call every day. My girlfriend's 8GB 3G drops calls pretty frequently also. Quite annoying.

[137489]

Wow on these posts. For once I am glad to be locked in with Sprint?

But seriously... the only thing I hate about Apple is Mobile Me and now it looks like I am glad to NOT? :confused: have an iphone :confused:

Other than this iphone and mobile me debacle. I can honestly say I love my macs, and my 5 yr old classic ipod 15 gb, along with my wife's 3 yr old nano (even if it does not play video).

[riversky]

DPinTX mention on this thread that an Apple Tech told him some of the phones' 3G antenna's were too short. They swapped his phone out for a new one and that solved his problem. I was wondering where I'd heard this before: Ding! David Pogue's criticism of the GPS function. He said someone at Apple told him the directions wouldn't work well because the antenna was too short. Many people thought that didn't make sense - unless they were actually talking about the 3G antenna - which is how the google maps would load. I wonder if Pogue thought he meant the GPS antenna when in fact he meant the 3G antenna??

That would make perfect sense....You would get map packet drops with a bad 3G signal in data mode that would screw up the GPS function. Not the GPS triangulation but parsing it with the google maps data.

Brilliant in putting that together!

[mkwilson68]

people, please ignore the rubbish here. The 3g iPhone is flawed. I live in central London, and the 3g reception is disastrous. ANYONE can do this simple test to prove the issue. Get another 3g phone on the same network, wherever you are. Place it side by side with the iPhone. Look at the signal indicator. When the iPhone shows 1 bar or nothing the other phone will show a much stronger signal. For example, here at home in north London, on o2, my new iPhone shows 1 bar and most calls go straight to voicemail. A nokia n95 with the SAME sim card inserted (to rule that out) the n95 shows a full signal and makes and receives calls perfectly. Try it. This is an objective, unarguable test.

The iphone is flawed and Apple should be ashamed at pretending it is not. I am a huge fan, loved the original iPhone, and I just want this one to work properly.

Apple - own up and sort it out.

[lhotka]

True that it might be the AT&T network in the US.

The only problem with that theory is there are a number of people in Canada, and Europe having the same issues. Those areas are not AT&T. That would point to the iPhone hardware itself.

Wait until a class action suit happens and then Apple will respond.

It's GSM - it's not as good in fringe areas (which include inside buildings) as CDMA. That's one of the primary reasons why Verizon's network is consistently ranked as the most reliable.

And AT&T is one of the worst GSM based providers - they turned off the entire network where I live over a weekend in order to 'upgrade it' without prior notice to customers. A few months later, WNP (wireless number portability) came along, and poof - I dumped AT&T for Verizon. Never had a network problem since.

Not that Verizon doesn't suck too - but at least their network works well enough to call and complain! :D

[lhotka]

people, please ignore the rubbish here. The 3g iPhone is flawed. I live in central London, and the 3g reception is disastrous. ANYONE can do this simple test to prove the issue. Get another 3g phone on the same network, wherever you are. Place it side by side with the iPhone. Look at the signal indicator. When the iPhone shows 1 bar or nothing the other phone will show a much stronger signal. For example, here at home in north London, on o2, my new iPhone shows 1 bar and most calls go straight to voicemail. A nokia n95 with the SAME sim card inserted (to rule that out) the n95 shows a full signal and makes and receives calls perfectly. Try it. This is an objective, unarguable test.

The iphone is flawed and Apple should be ashamed at pretending it is not. I am a huge fan, loved the original iPhone, and I just want this one to work properly.

Apple - own up and sort it out.

Except that 'bars' is not an objective test. The bars aren't an indicator of signal strength, rather they show a signal to noise ratio, and the particular calculation can differ from brand to brand and phone to phone.

Your idea of calling both phones while they're next to each other is valid - that's the real-world validation. I suspect that the iPhone is more susceptible to noise (or even may generate it's own because it's not just a phone) than other models.

The best phones in the world are just phones (no other functions) with external antennas. If you want a merged device, you'll have to deal with a sub-optimal phone (and a dead battery when you get off a plane after watching movies on the flight).

[Los Royers]

I have the same issues here with reception, LA area, covina, west covina. I have been in touch with at&t over email and they admit there are some bad areas they are not willing to even lower the service fee. How can you have a product and know it is not ready and yet they still charge full price. I know there will be a class action law suit against at&t very soon if this does not get better fast.

[alexandr]

ok, so a bunch of people have mentioned this..

i also have fewer bars on my 3G than on the original..
but it seems to me that the 3G is just more... honest about the service.

for example i get very poor service at work, but my old iphone would show 4-5 bars. yet, i couldn't talk on it successfully. the 3G shows me 0-1 bars and well, that is about what the service is..

so is it really worse, or just more honest with us? :)

[lhotka]

DPinTX mention on this thread that an Apple Tech told him some of the phones' 3G antenna's were too short. They swapped his phone out for a new one and that solved his problem. I was wondering where I'd heard this before: Ding! David Pogue's criticism of the GPS function. He said someone at Apple told him the directions wouldn't work well because the antenna was too short. Many people thought that didn't make sense - unless they were actually talking about the 3G antenna - which is how the google maps would load. I wonder if Pogue thought he meant the GPS antenna when in fact he meant the 3G antenna??

Since antenna length has to be a specific fraction of wavelength, this is a real possibility for the dropped call issue.

As for GPS, the issue with antenna length might impact the number of satellites you can lock on to at once because the GPS signal is fairly weak and prone to interference.

There's a reason that a good dedicated portable GPS costs more than an iPhone and is often larger (and they all have much larger antennas) and heavier. When you combine devices, you make trade off considerations, and the iPhone probably made too many.

[djinn]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10015301-37.html

making headlines

[vandozza]

http://forums.mactalk.com.au/47/53900-merged-3g-iphone-reception-problems-worldwide.html

happening in Australia too! -

over 120 people have done a survey for us, and about 80+ are having 3G "issues."

seems to be on the 2100 mhz networks only (Optus/Vodafone, not on Telstra 850mhz)

and commonly only noticed by people living in fringe areas/suburbs.

[JonTheRvelator]

I live in Naperville, IL and I have a "good" 3G footprint, but I find my signal jumps very easily, where as when I disable it, and us EDGE the signal is much more consistent. I feel like the phone doesn't jump from 3G to EDGE well at all (when the 3G signal isn't strong).

I've gotta say, I'm very disapointed in its performance on 3G, but to be honest, I use the 3G only when I'm out and need to check something on the web.

I still expected more, I work for AT&T and know how 3G works on other devices, its the phone.

[Diode]

Well lets just hope a fix is issued and it's not considered a feature.

[bradl]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10015301-37.html

making headlines

And it's going to make more.. the CNET article has been /.'ed (http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/12/206250). Someone did have a good question there:


Who the hell is Richard Windsor...



...and what qualifications does he possess to comment on the possible cause of the alleged iPhone reception issues?

Seriously. This story is being widely distributed, but I have yet to see anyone ask about his credentials. Is he an electrical engineer with expertise in the design of cellular technology?

As far as I can tell, he's some financial analyst. So why would anyone consider him a credible source? Since when are the speculations of a financial analyst regarding the rather esoteric realm of RF engineering considered valid.

Am I missing something? Does someone know about his background?


BL.

[R3tard]

I live in Memphis, TN and AT&T claims 3G coverage. I have few bars with 3G than Edge.

Many times during the day while I'm using the iPhone, it will switch from 3G to Edge and it is NOT graceful. Whatever I am doing, call, Pandora, etc is disrupted.

Also, once it is on Edge, it will not automatically switch back to 3G.

[Los Royers]

I saw this on yahoo, maybe we can help this columnist out and he can show that these are really big issues with at&t service

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cnet/20080811/tc_cnet/83011357931001463337;_ylt=AuHK9RGqhpSedwia7QMhs.QxVrIF

[irun5k]

Not saying there isn't a problem, BUT... the 3G was released weeks ago. If the phone is as terrible as everyone is saying, we would have heard about this day one. People buying phones in big cities would have walked outside and tried to make their first phone call and it would have been big news if almost everyone had trouble completing a single call.

The thing I *hate* about cell phones is that reception is always subjective. Unless you have an arsenal of phones at your disposal to test in the same spot, in addition to other test hardware, the comments will always be useless. If you find bad reception, the best thing to do would be to stay put, ask someone with identical iPhone to come over to where you are standing, see what they get, and then find people with the same provider but different phone and see what they get, etc. Make a log and afterwords try to identify the chipsets used in all the phones you tested. At least that is halfway scientific.

[bradl]

I saw this on yahoo, maybe we can help this columnist out and he can show that these are really big issues with at&t service

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cnet/20080811/tc_cnet/83011357931001463337;_ylt=AuHK9RGqhpSedwia7QMhs.QxVrIF

If it turns out to be a chipset issue, there is nothing that ATT can do about it. There would be nothing that firmware could do about it. It may call for a full blown replacement of the chipset, which means recalling every iPhone out there and getting it exchanged.

There's nothing ATT, O2, T-Mobile, Rogers, or any other carrier can do about a hardware issue.

BL.

[lcm123]

I live in LA, specifically Studio City, but I'm always in Hollywood and the Downtown area. I notice my 3G signal continuously goes in and out and it's frustrating! Is anyone else having the same problem? I mean this is LA! We should have pretty good 3G signals everywhere right?

I live/work in Orange county and yes, the 3G signal i've experienced on my iphone 3G is frustrating, it drops on and off. I also have a verizon cell phone from work and i can always do comparison. att signal at home is always 1 bar while verizon signal at 4 bars. att signal in my garage is none, while verizon signal at 2 bars.

by the way, does anybody know how to power off the 3g iphone when it freezes and won't respond to the power off button. i tried holding power off button and home button at same time and it didn't help. The freeze happened to me twice so far (while using Safari) and both times i had to wait until it the freezed screen shut off by default (meaning, until the battery runs out)

[vandozza]

Not saying there isn't a problem, BUT... the 3G was released weeks ago. If the phone is as terrible as everyone is saying, we would have heard about this day one.

try a google search... have a look at the dates on which discussions started on apple.com, mactalk.com.au, and shortly after here.

just cause you didn't happen to read these messages, and the submitted story didn't hit the front page (till today) doesn't mean that heaps of people aren't having this problem! :)

[nick.hill]

I had a 2G iPhone on Orange UK and changed to o2 to be "legit" I must admit it has been horrific.

I work in the city and the amount of dropped calls - calls to voicemail etc (and low bars) is astounding. I thought at first it was o2 but switching to another phone for a day proved otherwise.

Really disappointed - i have a gut feeling the more than a software update is required for this one...

Or have a few of us got duff ones and the rest are fine?

[jlbunting]

I have the same issues that were described in this thread.
My old iPhone worked perfect. My 3G iPhone drops calls and the 3G is crap. :(

I really hope the 2.1 Update fixes all this. Because right now I am considering returning my iphone or exchanging it.

[mac*jedi*g]

It obvious, this is coming down to a network and coverage issue possibly. Base on my experience, and I know I am a "rookie" in the world of iPhone 3G ownership :p, but I have had my phone about 2 weeks now and haven't had one dropped call yet...with the exception of the normal "dead" zones I'd experience with my other AT&T phones, but this is expected. Last weekend, I had driven from Daly City (CA) all the way out to Berkeley while on my iPhone/BT, and did not dropout anytime during the ride. In fact, I never had such clarity on a call in all of my cellphone LIFE driving across this bridge (and that's 19+ years, folks!) I guess I would have to credit my Jawbone HS for some of this...but thats a different story. I would have expected something, especially, across the Bay Bridge... but nothing happened. The phone performed well in other cities I've been in the BayArea. I was even able to get a 3G data connection in the craziest area of all: downtown Oakland. So, barring that I'd JUST lucked up and got the "perfect" one out of the bunch, I think most of blame for this issue lies in AT&T's network. I believe they haven't been up front with Apple that they were/are not ready to rollout a full 3G network adequately. We'll just have to see how this pans out. Hopefully, by the time I get to YOUR town, this matter will be passe.

[moz5835]

Okay - so I have the same stupid 3G range and sustain connectivity problems that others are having here. The range indicator is useless (one bar = great 3G speed... go figure?!).
Just to get the biatch on for a second:
- calls go AWOL >5 mins into a conversation. Doesn't hang up, just goes silent. Doesn't recover.
- simply picking up a phone during a call can screw it up.
- the screen is STILL yellow compared to original iPhone. Bring back the blue.
- I have 9 apps ready to update, but iTunes & iPhone pukes when I update. Can't get rid of it.
- battery life still sucks. No news there.

There are a ton of positives to the new iPhone, but they're heavily outweighed by failure of the most basic items.

I've four more days before I can't return the phone. Geezuz I'm strongly considering throwing it back at Apple.

If I had been Product Manager responsible for these basic failures existing in a 'live' product, I'd have been fired.

Update: just had a thought - calls drop more frequently when the headphones are plugged in. Without it, hardly any (but not no) reception problems.

[angusshangus]

My 3G is good. No dropped calls and I've had it since the release day. I'm in Northern NJ close to NYC.

[jbernie]

Well it is CNet. They will go to any lengths to dig dirt on any Apple product - even if it means trolling Apple's support forum.

And they probably go to the same lengths to do the same for any Microsoft product as well, at lets be honest here, they are more likely to find out about Apple problems through the Apple support forum than going to a local bar and chatting to some non iPhone users.


I'm not saying that the iPhone is perfect, but it does beat out every phone I've ever bought. I'm also not having the extent of the problems that others are, but I wonder how much of it could be related to AT&T overselling their network? When I bought my 2.5g iPhone about 9 months ago - I never had any problems with dropped calls. Once the new iPhone came out I have one every couple of weeks. I don't know if it's related to the iPhone 2.0 software, but since AT&T is reporting a lot of new subscribers I'm curious if they're keeping up on their infrastructure to support it.


When coming to phone calls, you should expect to be able to continue your conversation so long as you can maintain a network connection, you should be able to roam from 3G to Edge service without noticing a difference for phone calls. If the iPhone has an issue passing the calls between the two network types something is flawed, it could be the phone, it could be something with AT&T's network (though it appears to be more global and not just the USA). Either way, both/all parties should be proactive in figuring out the issues as this kind of publicity does nothing to help Apple and its reputation.

The issues are worse for Apple if the customer uses a different 3G phone and does not have an issue, it may not ultimately be Apple's fault, but it is their handset that is not working and the consumer will blame them for it.

[lhotka]

The range indicator is useless (one bar = great 3G speed... go figure?!).

It's not a range or strength indicator, it's a signal to noise indicator. If you have a very strong signal with strong noise, you may have great performance with one bar. Very weak signals with very weak noise may show exactly the same bars, but have terrible performance.

[bijannnnn]

can we all just call this what it is? UMTS is an inferior technology. Hard handoff means a high occurrence of dropped calls, and umts has inferior footprint per btw compared to CDMA. Doesn't matter what the chipset or the operator is (though AT&T is pretty bad). Blame the long history of GSM overselling itself, and nothing else. Suffering iPhone users will just have to wait for LTE.

[bobbleheadbob]

This is just great. Can Apple and/or ATT get any more bad news and publicity over the next month? :(

[vandozza]

can we all just call this what it is? UMTS is an inferior technology.

doesnt explain why i can put 3x3G phones side by side, a moto v3x and nokia 6110 get FULL coverage/bars and perform well, and an iPhone drops back to 2G or has "no service."

i now expect a lecture regarding how "bars" are a bad way to compare, but i havnt found a way to get the moto or nokia to give -db values.

iPhone = iPhail

[danvanman]

I'm afraid I'm a potential switcher waiting here on the sidelines for Apple/AT&T to offer a solution to these reception problems.

We spend a lot of time camping and in the RV world one just expects poor or no reception in some of the beautiful places we go. But that does not mean we don't try. Directional antennas, amplifiers, careful attention to altitude and orientation are all tricks we try to capture some extra bars.

I see that the iPhone lacks an antenna port and that some vendors offer a quasi-external antenna that gets velcroed to the approximate location of the internal antenna.

So I am curious if those of you who report dropped calls typically wrap your hands around the backside of the phone where the antenna lives or do other things that might block off a little more of the signal?

And do any of you have coping techniques like holding the iPhone above your head between two fingers? Does standing on your roof give you fewer dropped calls?

I'd also like to hear what data rates you are measuring at different number of bars. I, too, doubt that there is any consistency in how different phones decide on how many bars to display.

Could be when Jobs hears about the pathetic velcro antennas he'll concede to an antenna port.

[jlanuez]

My (version 1) EDGE iPhone from AT&T was the worst, connection wise, cell phone I've ever had. I account this to it being AT&T and the fact that it is my belief that it was also the iPhone itself (as other people with AT&T, there NON iPhone seamed to work in more places than my iPhone did).

The 3G iPhone I am unsure o,f as I have not used it long enough in the same places to tell.

[junker]

I jsut wanted to point out that some are pointing to Infineon chipset as the issue... sorry for he external link:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10015301-37.html

worth a read.

[Zombie Flanders]

I'm afraid I'm a potential switcher waiting here on the sidelines for Apple/AT&T to offer a solution to these reception problems.

We spend a lot of time camping and in the RV world one just expects poor or no reception in some of the beautiful places we go. But that does not mean we don't try. Directional antennas, amplifiers, careful attention to altitude and orientation are all tricks we try to capture some extra bars.


I don't know about others, but my 1st gen phone worked just fine on EDGE everywhere I took it, and so does the 3G phone using the EDGE antenna. I suspect anywhere you'd be camping/RV'ing wouldn't have 3G coverage anyway, so you'd default to the EDGE antenna, which is fine. ...or at least should be. :eek:

[danvanman]

I don't know about others, but my 1st gen phone worked just fine on EDGE everywhere I took it, and so does the 3G phone using the EDGE antenna. I suspect anywhere you'd be camping/RV'ing wouldn't have 3G coverage anyway, so you'd default to the EDGE antenna, which is fine. ...or at least should be. :eek:

Sorry to not make clear that I have no expectation of 3G service in the boonies.

The point is that we're so used to dealing with minimal signal strength. Perhaps some corresponding strategy for urban 3G reception might exist.

[barefootman]

I use my iPhone 3G with Vodafone in Sydney and I am constantly getting the "No Network" message. It seems to always happen when it switches from 3G to GPRS and then tried to switch back to 3G.
If I'm in an area where there is strong 3G - so the phone doesn't try and switch to GPRS - then it's fine.
I just have 3G turned off now and stay with GPRS. Not so good when you want to use the interenet but at least I don't have to reset the phone twice a day like before!

[snarton]

After I placed my direct fulfillment order on launch day, I nervously read all the threads about dropped calls, debating whether or not to cancel my order. I decided to go through with buying the phone when it arrived. I've been pleased with it overall, and have not yet experienced a dropped call.

I've happened to be traveling a bit since I got the phone and one thing I was surprised about was the locations where it has trouble getting a signal. I had more problems in large metro areas than in small cities. At the Bronx Zoo and National Airport (DCA), I sometimes got the "No Service" message and sometimes could make a call but could not receive data (Edge or 3G). But I've had no problems with the 3G signal in Albany, NY; Wellfleet, MA; or Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

In the brief times when there was no service (in New York and DC), I couldn't transmit data or make a call. But so far whenever I can make a call (all but those rare "no service" moments), I have not experienced a dropped call.

--Jeremy

[riversky]

Apple releases MacBook's tomorrow that can control your mind.....Makes headlines around the world!!

People forget about the iPhone 3G....:D

[Woz Beard]

I've had to replace my phone 7x.

I've noticed each phone had different reception ranges. For example, the first phone had a weak 3g signal (1-2 bars max) and average EDGE signal (2-4 bars max). The few that followed had improved 3G signal (3-4 bars max) and excellent EDGE signal (4-5 bars max). My current phone now has weak 3g/EDGE signals (1-2 bars max) with "NO SERVICE" showing up at least 5x per day.

My old iPhone always had 3-5 bars on EDGE, so I'm starting to wonder if it's the phone since there is a big disparity between the exchanged phones.

I'm getting annoyed and considering getting a regular phone and an iPod touch.

[Zombie Flanders]

Sorry to not make clear that I have no expectation of 3G service in the boonies.

The point is that we're so used to dealing with minimal signal strength. Perhaps some corresponding strategy for urban 3G reception might exist.

Right on.

Hmm. That would be sweet if such a signal boosting device existed, because then it wouldn't take 4 button presses to have a clear signal every time I go into and out of my home!

[edward-k]

My iphone experience has not been positive. I only made a handful of calls on the iphone, all of which were either dropped or had other parties tell me the connection was poor. What frustrated me more than anything was the inconsistent email service and battery life. THe email was a sporadic problem, one day it would be fine, the next day message delivery was painfully slow - sometimes taking several hours to get an email. Finally had enough and took the iphone back and cancelled service with ATT ~ that alone was a frustrating experience but that is for another thread. Ed

[JonKReynolds]

I work in Washington, DC and have been having this issue for a few weeks since I got my phone. Where I live, the only network available is EDGE, but in DC, 3G is constantly dropping calls and making me retry calls several times before finally connecting.
I took it to a MAC Genius, and he ran some behavioral tests on the phone, and said that he definitely saw that it had dropped 25 of the last 70 calls I had made. All he could offer was a new phone, and I may be going in in the next few days to get that taken care of.
I really do believe that this is a problem others are having and that it is being looked into, but I hope it gets taken care of soon.
For those saying to switch 3G off permanently, then what is the use in having bought the new iPhone? I bought it for the speed.

[28monkeys]

Seem like this may be reasons why 3G was not included initially:rolleyes:

[bdorpetzl]

I have had no problems with my 3G iPhone. I have had multiple ranges of bars 2-full on 3G in NYC, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Madison, and Waukesha. I have had no dropped calls at all and data speeds have been easily used. My Edge reception on the 3G iPhone is much better and more consistent than that of my 2.5G iPhone. I have noticed some difficulty once and a while with the phones ability to switch between Edge and 3G, but this is very infrequent.

[optophobia]

A couple of times people have tried to call me and I can't hear them. They can hear me but I hear nothing. I call them back and its fine....

[jayducharme]

Isn't it supposed to fall back onto Edge automatically if the 3G signal isn't strong enough?

This is exactly what seems to be happening with my iPhone. Most of the time I have it on EDGE only and never have a problem. But when I turn on the 3G network, the phone seems to switch back and forth, as if it can't lock onto the 3G signal for any length of time.

I really haven't seen much of a dramatic speed increase with 3G anyway, so EDGE is fine with me. And for those saying that a 3G phone shouldn't be forced to solely use EDGE -- remember that for my 3G iPhone I paid half the price of the original 2G. I can live with it until the software fix comes. :cool:

[manhattanboy]

This is just great. Can Apple and/or ATT get any more bad news and publicity over the next month? :(

They would not get bad publicity if they made the 3G iPhone exactly what it needs to be... 3G!!!

The major issue is that when your 3G coverage drops down to 1 bar (which is pretty frequent for ATT)... the iPhone's reception goes crazy and calls get dropped.

I still believe that the original solution was to give more power to the antenna and prevent low signal in the first place... but everybody whines whines about the battery life. An iPhone without the internet and 3G is no better than an iPod touch... so I could give a rat's *ss about the battery if it means my iPhone becomes crap to me.

[emccus01]

I'm praying this can be fixed with a software update. I have a week 30 phone and it has great 3g reception and great EDGE reception but while on 3g and driving the phone can't switch from 3g to EDGE on the fly. I have done numerous test on my 30 min ride home from work. I have 3-5 bars of EDGE when 3g is off. I have talked the whole way home for 7 days and no problem. I tried it with 3g for 5 days and I dropped 2 calls per each trip home. It would always lose it in a spot that had spotty 3g reception. This ticks me off because I know other people with 3g phones and they have seamless reception. I really don't care if 3g is lower in some areas, it is relatively new, but my phone should be able to switch in call to the better reception signal. I am sick and tired of turning 3g on and off.

[manhattanboy]

T-Mobile in Europe is reporting it is the device!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10015661-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

If it was AT&T you would not have the large numbers in Europe/Canada/Australia with this issue as well!!!

Come on Apple step up and quit with the silence on this issue!

AGREED!!!!!!!

[WindowsGuy]

:cool:I have had no problems with my 3G iPhone. I have had multiple ranges of bars 2-full on 3G in NYC, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Madison, and Waukesha. I have had no dropped calls at all and data speeds have been easily used. My Edge reception on the 3G iPhone is much better and more consistent than that of my 2.5G iPhone. I have noticed some difficulty once and a while with the phones ability to switch between Edge and 3G, but this is very infrequent.

Your bio says you're from Port Washington WI.

I did an ATT Coverage View Map of the area and you're area is outside of the AT&T's 3G coverage Map.

I don't understand how you can have no problems when you live in an area with no 3G coverage?

[jsdoyle]

Since the 2.0 update (including the 2.0.1) WiFi is flaky too.

I have a wireless access point here at home and my 1st Gen iPhone will not connect or will have serious problems connecting or have serious issues staying connected to my access point.

My WAP shows up in the WiFi settings but the phone will not connect.

Right now my phone is sitting next to the router and I've had to put the phone in "airplane" mode and turned WiFi back on to connect to the WAP.

I have iTunes running on the system and my iPhone remote app will not connect to the library via WiFi as it should.

Something is really screwed up with the 2 version of the software.

[WindowsGuy]

Since the 2.0 update (including the 2.0.1) WiFi is flaky too.

I have a wireless access point here at home and my 1st Gen iPhone will not connect or will have serious problems connecting or have serious issues staying connected to my access point.

My WAP shows up in the WiFi settings but the phone will not connect.

Right now my phone is sitting next to the router and I've had to put the phone in "airplane" mode and turned WiFi back on to connect to the WAP.

I have iTunes running on the system and my iPhone remote app will not connect to the library via WiFi as it should.

Something is really screwed up with the 2 version of the software.

Try setting a static IP address for your phone. It solved my problems on both 2g & 3G iPhone. Hope it works for you.

[ScottFitz]

My i3G drops daily no matter whether I'm home or traveling, big city or small town. Just drops out a lot. It's frustrating as my former tmobile account never rarely, if ever, dropped a call.

[manhattanboy]

From another forum... but it seems to explain a little of what is going on... hopefully Apple can fix this issue.

Back in the days when AT&T and Cingular were separate companies, AT&T usually did not limit what users could do with phones on their network (other companies disabled some features). With various phones, one could set the frequency with which they would scan for and switch to the base station with the strongest signal. Increasing the frequency led to a shorter battery life but reduced the amount of dropped calls (especially, when driving). However, continually switching from base station to base staion puts a bit more of a burden on the wireless operator. Similar to establishing a hundred outbound connections to download a web page quickly, this works well when one is the only person doing it but does not work well if everyone is doing it. So, these days, the ability to change the frequency with which a phone will scan for and switch to the base station(s) with the strongest signal can usually not be changed by the user.

With the iPhone 3G, this pre-set frequency for 3G currently appears to be very low and ill suited for driving. When briefly entering an area with low or nonexistant 3G reception (e.g., the core of a large building) and heading back to a window, the phone will start to show 1 bar or "no service" and can take upwards of a minute to show 5 bars of 3G reception. The low pre-set frequency may be Apple's attempt to maximize battery life in areas where all 3G base stations are far away and where the phone might be inclined to keep switching between base stations due to slight fluctuations in reception.

[WindowsGuy]

From another forum... but it seems to explain a little of what is going on... hopefully Apple can fix this issue.

Back in the days when AT&T and Cingular were separate companies, AT&T usually did not limit what users could do with phones on their network (other companies disabled some features). With various phones, one could set the frequency with which they would scan for and switch to the base station with the strongest signal. Increasing the frequency led to a shorter battery life but reduced the amount of dropped calls (especially, when driving). However, continually switching from base station to base staion puts a bit more of a burden on the wireless operator. Similar to establishing a hundred outbound connections to download a web page quickly, this works well when one is the only person doing it but does not work well if everyone is doing it. So, these days, the ability to change the frequency with which a phone will scan for and switch to the base station(s) with the strongest signal can usually not be changed by the user.

With the iPhone 3G, this pre-set frequency for 3G currently appears to be very low and ill suited for driving. When briefly entering an area with low or nonexistant 3G reception (e.g., the core of a large building) and heading back to a window, the phone will start to show 1 bar or "no service" and can take upwards of a minute to show 5 bars of 3G reception. The low pre-set frequency may be Apple's attempt to maximize battery life in areas where all 3G base stations are far away and where the phone might be inclined to keep switching between base stations due to slight fluctuations in reception.

You're accounting for AT&T but 3G iPhone users all over the world are having the problem.

Apple Hardware/Software problem and carrier shouldn't be held responsible.

I see total recall if no software solution comes to light very soon.

[lhotka]

doesnt explain why i can put 3x3G phones side by side, a moto v3x and nokia 6110 get FULL coverage/bars and perform well, and an iPhone drops back to 2G or has "no service."

i now expect a lecture regarding how "bars" are a bad way to compare, but i havnt found a way to get the moto or nokia to give -db values.

iPhone = iPhail

Yep, bars aren't valid.

But the point of the post is that CDMA is far superior to GSM, not focused on differences between GSM providers. Verizon skipped GSM and is adopting LTE specifically because of these issues. I tried a half-dozen GSM phones on multiple networks before settling on Verizon and CDMA - the coverage simply doesn't compare.

As far as the iPhone, if you couple a poor network, a lousy provider and a marginal phone, the call failure rate is much higher than if any one of the three was of decent quality. Apple had to make too many design tradeoffs in the iPhone to get decent performance, and focused on aesthetics at the expense of performance.

[deggs37]

My girlfriend and I are both having dropped call problems. Even problems receiving calls and texts.

[xray]

We were ATT customers pre-iPhone and waited patiently for the 3G version.

We have noticed a significant increase in the number of dropped calls and failed calls. We get them nearly daily from inside the house. We've called ATT to report the issue. We were told that someone would get back to us in 5 days, but no return phone call as of yet. Bummer.

Not sure if its a hardware or software issue, but it is real and very annoying!

[WindowsGuy]

Yep, bars aren't valid.

But the point of the post is that CDMA is far superior to GSM, not focused on differences between GSM providers. Verizon skipped GSM and is adopting LTE specifically because of these issues. I tried a half-dozen GSM phones on multiple networks before settling on Verizon and CDMA - the coverage simply doesn't compare.

As far as the iPhone, if you couple a poor network, a lousy provider and a marginal phone, the call failure rate is much higher than if any one of the three was of decent quality. Apple had to make too many design tradeoffs in the iPhone to get decent performance, and focused on aesthetics at the expense of performance.

That would be a BIG " iOuch" to all the fanboys out there.

Apple better step up to the plate and make a statement because T-Mobile put out a press release saying it's Apple's problem in their area in Europe.

Steve better be ready for an iButt Rippen that he's used to giving and give a statement soon.

I predict total recall for poor choice of unproven chipset and poor design of placement of the 3G antenna.

[brockm]

I would echo the sentiment of other Canadian Rogers users. I have had solid 3G service in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. No dropped calls. Phone has never dropped into EDGE in any of these metro areas.

Despite Rogers being SatanCorp with their billing practices, etc. I must say their 3G network coverage has been nothing short of excellent.

My experience here in Canada, and the experience of other Canadian users makes me think this might be AT&T's problem.

[JDOG_]

I've had a myriad of issues with data and reception dropping out completely--even when I'm just sitting in the same spot: next to a window smack dab in the middle of SOMA in San Francisco where there are apparently more 3G-equipped towers than Starbucks.

When everything is working I get full bars and very speedy 3G and EDGE. What's odd is that it will mysteriously drop coverage every once in a while, from no 3G to full EDGE, down to no EDGE before it gives me a no service message.

Part of me wants to go in for a swap, but from the sound of things it could be software, hardware and AT&T at fault. Hopefully we'll find out the culprit soon. This never ever happened with my first gen iPhone from the same location :confused:

[vandozza]

makes me think this might be AT&T's problem

= fail...


This is happening ALL OVER THE WORLD. USA, UK, Australia, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, etc etc.

And guess what? WE DON'T HAVE AT&T...

Sorry to be a jerk about it, but people keep going back to "this must be AT&T's problem, cause my phone is fine." Can we all recognise that it's not just AT&T and move on? :o

[aristotle]

As reported over and over... all other ATT 3G phones are working fine, including my 2nd line w/ black jack.

I really hope it is software, but it isn't looking like it. Even more I really hope Apple steps up soon, even if they say they don't know.
Uh. You might want to check those other devices with an iPhone 3G sim since there have been reports that some people's issues were solved by replacement. Check your "data" connection on your blackjack. Try it with your iPhone sim.

When I had 3G data problems with Fido here in Canada, I was still able to make phone calls most of the time in 3G mode.

There have been reports from users in New York who had great coverage at home but awful coverage in Manhattan.

@vandozza: You might notice that I'm in Canada and while I did have some problems on the Monday after the launch and two days following, the problems went away. I still have my launch 3G iPhone and sim. Stop generalizing. It could be that your provider was having issue as well. It could be that the 3G iPhone uses data more heavily than other 3G devices or usage patterns create heavier usage because of the better browser and app experience on the iPhone.

PS. Your comment = fail.
PPS. I don't know whether to feel insulted that you did not speculate that Canadians had troubles too. Oh wait, our phones are working. LOL

[aristotle]

Dupe.

[aristotle]

We were ATT customers pre-iPhone and waited patiently for the 3G version.

We have noticed a significant increase in the number of dropped calls and failed calls. We get them nearly daily from inside the house. We've called ATT to report the issue. We were told that someone would get back to us in 5 days, but no return phone call as of yet. Bummer.

Not sure if its a hardware or software issue, but it is real and very annoying!
Interesting. I've never experienced dropped calls on either Rogers or Fido on a myriad of cellphones over the years.

I would not even know what a dropped call is from personal experience. The only time I've had a failed call was when the entire phone network was jammed from a busy time of year.

BTW. I keep on seeing people like windows guy claim that this is happening elsewhere with a well established 3G network.

Somebody please provide reputable links.

[WindowsGuy]

Interesting. I've never experienced dropped calls on either Rogers or Fido on a myriad of cellphones over the years.

I would not even know what a dropped call is from personal experience. The only time I've had a failed call was when the entire phone network was jammed from a busy time of year.

BTW. I keep on seeing people like windows guy claim that this is happening elsewhere with a well established 3G network.

Somebody please provide reputable links.

Is CNet good enough for you. Not going to waste anymore time if it's not.

Here ya go. Worldwide dropped call problem link.

http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/08/12/cnet-seeks-iphone-3g-owners%2526%2523039%3B-feedback-reception-study

[WindowsGuy]

Interesting. I've never experienced dropped calls on either Rogers or Fido on a myriad of cellphones over the years.

I would not even know what a dropped call is from personal experience. The only time I've had a failed call was when the entire phone network was jammed from a busy time of year.

BTW. I keep on seeing people like windows guy claim that this is happening elsewhere with a well established 3G network.

Somebody please provide reputable links.

Here's an article with a quote from T-Mobile from the Netherlands placing the blame on Apple and not their network. Again on CNet.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10015661-37.html

:cool:

[jcdogg]

I bought my iPhone last week and was loving it until today. I tried to make about 20 calls they all ended with "call failed." Most of the time the call dropped after one or two rings. I only got through twice -- one call lasted 5 seconds and the other 45 seconds. I was hoping AT&T was just having problems until I saw this forum.

[WindowsGuy]

quote from CNet

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10015661-37.html


Again, it's unclear just how widespread the iPhone 3G reception problems are, but they are being reported all over the globe, and I've never received as much e-mail from Apple customers about a single product issue (even before asking for submissions) as I have over this one.

[Stratus Fear]

My experience here in Canada, and the experience of other Canadian users makes me think this might be AT&T's problem.

I think it's at least part of the problem. I mean, I have no doubt that some people probably have lemon phones, but AT&T's reliability seems to vary widely from market to market from what I've heard and is as much a possible culprit. Some cities have terrible issues, but here in Atlanta I haven't had any major issues with my 3G yet (bought on launch day). Most places I've been in the city and on the northern edge of the perimeter where I live I've had consistently good service, with only a few holes here and there.

I see a lot of people complaining about indoor reception. I only get 1-2 bars in my apartment, but I think this is because the majority of AT&T's 3G footprint (as I've heard) is in the 1900MHz band; two older GSM phones I had (a Sony Ericsson K800 and an old iPhone) didn't have much better reception on my previous carrier, T-Mobile, whose entire network is 1900MHz. Step outside, and reception is great. Really I think people in the US need to keep this in mind, even when comparing to 2G reception, because the majority of AT&T's 2G GSM network in some markets is in 850MHz spectrum, which would explain better reception indoors and in general upon switching off 3G.

I will say though that iPhone 3G does appear to take too long to handoff to another cell site sometimes. This can be annoying listening to internet radio while driving, but it's not too incredibly frequent for me. AT&T has 3G 50 miles all the way up Georgia State Route 400 from Atlanta, and I've only experienced this maybe once every other drive up or down the highway.

[aristotle]

Is CNet good enough for you. Not going to waste anymore time if it's not.

Here ya go. Worldwide dropped call problem link.

http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/08/12/cnet-seeks-iphone-3g-owners%2526%2523039%3B-feedback-reception-study
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10014633-37.html
So far, I've been through half of the pages of comments on that link and they are all in the US with AT&T.

Here is an interesting one from page one:

by sacsucks August 11, 2008 4:21 PM PDT
Im having the issue with a samsung blackjack, in alpharetta GA. It was fine up to about 4 months back, and now it drops calls like a mother. I even replaced the phone. Same issue happens in Santa Monica CA. In both locations in the past I had solid reception with no dropped calls. Now I have decent signal, at least 3 bars, but the phone switches to edge then back to 3g and drops calls. I dont have the frequency.

:rolleyes: Note that they are using a Black jack.
Another non-iPhone on page 5:

My wife has a Motorola Razar V3 that is a 3G phone and both her and I notice that the phone drops in and out of 3G connectivity. We live in the Northeast Pennsylvania Area ( Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Mt. Pocono, Allentown ). Also my wife works in New York City and she even notice that even there the phone tends to drop in and out of 3G. I do not think it is the iPhone. I believe most of the problem is with AT&T's 3G Network.

Save for one Australian on page 3, all other comments were from AT&T customers. You were saying?

I did mention already that I had problems for a couple of days with Fido here in Canada but Fido was big enough to admit that it was their problem and fixed it rather than blaming the device like T-mobile in the Netherlands is doing. Other countries were probably having similar issues in certain parts of the network which the iPhone probably exposed due to its high data usage.

[vandozza]

Stop generalizing.

I'm not generalising.

Read the discussions at Apple. Plenty of mentions of international iPhone users reporting problems, that have nothing to do with AT&T.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1602608&tstart=0

Hopefully the 1000+ posts will keep you entertained for a while.

Just cause you're not having problems in your location, doesn't mean that other people are all happy.

The 850mhz spectum users are reporting few, if any problems.
People in cities with dense coverage report few problems.

Maybe you're not seeing the problems as you satisfy one of these criteria...?

Your iPhone might be just as broken as the iPhones of people who are reporting problems, it's just that you don't know it yet.

[jsanche6]

Not only have I gotten really bad reception, I've also been experiencing closing of apps like safari. Every time I use safari it just shuts down. Just writing this safari closed 6 times. I already reinstalled the software and it's still happening

[aristotle]

I'm not generalising.

Read the discussions at Apple. Plenty of mentions of international iPhone users reporting problems, that have nothing to do with AT&T.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1602608&tstart=0

Hopefully the 1000+ posts will keep you entertained for a while.

Just cause you're not having problems in your location, doesn't mean that other people are all happy.

The 850mhz spectum users are reporting few, if any problems.
People in cities with dense coverage report few problems.

I use Fido which uses the 1900mhz spectrum.
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/net_cami.shtml
Nice try though.
I'm looking for quality not 1000+ posts by AT&T users posting multiple times.

Maybe you're not seeing the problems as you satisfy one of these criteria...?

Your iPhone might be just as broken as the iPhones of people who are reporting problems, it's just that you don't know it yet.
Maybe you really don't care about international customers but search on this forum is your friend.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=538308&highlight=Fido

The issue went away without requiring a replacement sim or new iPhone.
:rolleyes:
For a couple days, I could not connect to websites with 3G most of the time. I had to switch to 2G Edge during the network outage which I had confirmed did exist by calling customer support at Fido and having them check with their tech support tier. During that time, I also experienced "no service" with 3g but it has been fine since they fixed their network issues.

[guet]

You're accounting for AT&T but 3G iPhone users all over the world are having the problem. I see total recall if no software solution comes to light very soon.

I have seen no such problems in the UK, and it's hard to judge just how widespread they are elsewhere. It's quite possible it's a network problem, and without further investigation it's pointless to speculate.

[winterspan]

I'm sure these complaints are all true, but I'm willing to bet they're the same percentage as any other cell phone.

It's just that people don't blog about their other phones. I know I never made a pos on the Internet about my old phone.

bingo...

[The Tall One]

Doh!:eek:

[vandozza]

I'm looking for quality not 1000+ posts by AT&T users posting multiple times.

that just proves you didn't read any of the Apple discussion posts at all...

if you are going to be arrogant and turn a blind eye to clear evidence of an emerging issue, then i'm hardly going to waste my time trying to convince you.

and as for me "not caring about international customers" -
a- i'm an international customer...
b- plenty of international iphone users have already reported this problem, even within this thread :eek:

and as for the safari issue that you linked to... never seen it. ever.
the issue you were having, and the ones that others are reporting are clearly different problems.

[Celf]

b- plenty of international iphone users have already reported this problem, even within this thread :eek:

T-Mobile Netherlands admits there's a 3G problem and is blaming Apple!!! They have their own blog (http://iphoneblog.t-mobile.nl/2008/08/iphone-en-3g/) They say their 3G coverage is as good as the competition so they suspect a hardware issue with the iPhone. Users are advised to check for softwareupdates on a regular basis

[vandozza]

T-Mobile Netherlands admits there's a 3G problem and is blaming Apple!!! They have their own blog (http://iphoneblog.t-mobile.nl/2008/08/iphone-en-3g/) They say their 3G coverage is as good as the competition so they suspect a hardware issue with the iPhone. Users are advised to check for softwareupdates on a regular basis

Vodafone Australia has also suggested that it's an Apple issue, and not their network.

"Jessica Forrest, Vodafone Australia's spokeswoman, said the iPhone 3G issues were device-specific and nothing to do with the carriers' networks.

"We are aware of the issues on the iPhone 3G and we're working with Apple to provide a solution," she said, declining to elaborate."

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/08/13/1218306957900.html

[GregA]

I have used 3G phones for a few years, and I'm finding the iPhone is having greater 3G reception problems than other phones. I hope that it's something Apple can improve.

However - even if Apple can't fix it (if it's a chipset problem), there are several software changes they could make that would be a great benefit.

Possible Apple software fixes:
1) When talking to someone on 3G, if the network reception is low move to 2G much earlier. ie: take less "risks".

2) For people with regular problems, switch the phone to 2G as standard, and automatically switch to 3G whenever using the internet.

3) Remember locations with bad or good reception, learn from experience. When the phone recognises a wifi access point, it can use this information to favour 2G or 3G. (I'd manually set our office as a 2G zone if possible!!!)

4) When 'waking up' to check email hourly, wait a few seconds to use local wifi rather than connect via the mobile network.

5) If a call drops while on 3G, immediately switch to 2G for 5 minutes.

The above presumes that Apple wants to try to keep the phone on 3G as much as possible - otherwise I'd encourage #2 for EVERYONE. (Apparently 3G is more efficient for the Telcos...)

ps.
I don't know if I've ever successfully handed off from 3G to 2G mid call. Perhaps the low reception issues are tied together with handoff errors.

pps.
Hopefully these are network issues. The iPhones represent a substantial number of phones that are suddenly "always connected", and this may be more of a challenge than AT&T and others had realised.

[phatcat]

Going from the original iPhone to 3G I can also confirm more frequent dropped calls... along with several friends/coworkers.

2.0.1 seems to have helped as I've noticed it switch to edge more frequently than before in weak 3G areas. This at the same time reduces 3G coverage for ATT, but they'll never admit it.

Their customer service dept is also trained to read scripts whenever you call about 3G dropped calls. They'll immediately tell you they never heard of the problem and explain the benefit of the plastic back on the iPhone which improves reception - yada yada yada. But hey, it's their job to tell the consumer they're wrong and their product offering is flawless.

I eventually returned 3G and went back to my trusty 2G iPhone.

-No yellowing of screen.
-More reliable calls
-Better bluetooth quality
-Lower $$ data plan

All the above make the 2G iPHone more valuable than 3G data speeds. I could also care less for GPS.

[bdorpetzl]

:cool:

Your bio says you're from Port Washington WI.

I did an ATT Coverage View Map of the area and you're area is outside of the AT&T's 3G coverage Map.

I don't understand how you can have no problems when you live in an area with no 3G coverage?

So I can't travel cause my bio says I am in Port Washington. Wow, that's reaching. I know I have no 3G in Port, but in Milwaukee and all the places I listed, there is 3G and I am in 3G coverage during the day and I have no problems.

[bpl323]

Hope this gets fixed before I get one.

[orbital]

I dunno I have some issues but not the ones that you guys are having. I sometimes get an issue when it drops, but the drops are not often and happen only when i call my friend on her 2G. Otherwise the service has been great, i wish i was getting bitrates higher than 300kb but hey its better than the 25-50kb i got on my 2G. The issue with it transitioning from 2G to 3G i have not noticed and i have received calls on 3G and ended on edge with no issues. I think there is an issue and apple DOES have a solution, if you take your phone to ATT try swapping the sim with a new one, if that doesn't work take it to apple and as for a new phone, they will replace it if you get more than 10% drops, then can check the phone's logs to see this.

[taltal]

For anyone who's still in doubt that this IS a problem I recommend entering "3G reception" into Google:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=3g+reception&btnG=Search

Most hits are on iPain 3G problems ...

[thestaton]

How does this compare to the iPhone 2G 1.1.3 firmware dropped call issue. I'm sure many of you remember how annoying that firmware was. I'm glad to see the international providers stepping up and blaming Apple.

[Intarweb]

Add me to the list. I thought it was just a poor connection area for me but yesterday, with full bars, I dropped one call three times in a row on 3g. They better fix/address this fast as it seems to be a rapidly growing problem.

[cellocello]

No problems for me!

In fact, my iPhone, on 3G, gets better reception and in more places than my old non-3G Sony Ericsson phone. (Though I did notice a slight drop in bars in certain locations after the 2.0.1 update, but I think it's just more accurately reflecting the reception I'm actually getting)

On Fido, in Toronto Canada.

[bdorpetzl]

For anyone who's still in doubt that this IS a problem I recommend entering "3G reception" into Google:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=3g+reception&btnG=Search

Most hits are on iPain 3G problems ...

I don't doubt that it may be a problem for some, but it is not a problem for everyone. I would venture to say the majority of iPhone 3G users are happy. This reminds of the polka-dot screen issue of the first iPhone. People were complaining about it, trying to swap out phones, deciding which screen model was problematic etc. A software update came along and fixed this issue rather nicely. My 4Gb had the screen and was fixed, but I can't remember the update number off the top of my head.

[ChrisK018]

News Flash:

1) Apple releases newest, coolest gizmo
2) The "it's already been done better by x" posts appear
3) Followed up by the "Apple is still better" replies
3) Glitches for some, no problems for others
4) People with the glitches complain, some sensibly, others as if their very existence depends on the gizmo working properl-- demanding arrests, refunds, and limousine service back to store where the glitchy product was purchased
5) The "it's your fault" the glitch is happening posts
6) The "no it isn't, you dumba*s" replies
7) Apple sends out a fix that usually deals with the problem
8) Repeat infinitely

What did I miss?

[jbernie]

pps.
Hopefully these are network issues. The iPhones represent a substantial number of phones that are suddenly "always connected", and this may be more of a challenge than AT&T and others had realised.

The Sydney Morning Herald article where the Vodaphone Aust person was quoted also mentioned that Apple in its desire to keep everything hush hush didn't provide iPhone 3G samples to the carriers (it would appear at least in Australia) until the day before the launch, which meant the carriers had in effect had not time to test and report findings to Apple until it was too late.

It is quite possible that even if they did get devices tested earlier the problem(s) may not have been found until in the device was in wider use, but at the same time, it certainly would not have harmed them in anyway to get proper testing done, though being Apple, keeping a secret seems to be more important than providing a quality experience to the customer some times.

[julric01]

I don't doubt that it may be a problem for some, but it is not a problem for everyone. I would venture to say the majority of iPhone 3G users are happy. This reminds of the polka-dot screen issue of the first iPhone. People were complaining about it, trying to swap out phones, deciding which screen model was problematic etc. A software update came along and fixed this issue rather nicely. My 4Gb had the screen and was fixed, but I can't remember the update number off the top of my head.

I have to chime in, this really is different from the screen issue - that was somewhat loud, but this is much bigger. I had an original iPhone and had great reception. With the 3G, I get dropped calls consistantly - just now I was on a conference call for 45 mins, dropped it 3 times. The last time it dropped, the phone went to "no service" had to turn it off and back on for it to pick up again.

And by the way, this is my second phone, the first one was the same way (it also had a faulty home button, hence the return).

I can almost guarantee that its how it's switching from 3G to EDGE. Yes, I can turn off 3G and just use EDGE, but why am I paying $10 more a month to have to do that? Also, when I'm on EDGE and on a call, I can't get e-mail updates - so again $10 more a month for no real benefit.

I'm laying blame at Apple, and I don't think it will be fixed until we all start calling in to report it.

[cchrissyy]

I am in the CA bay area which is supposedly covered in "best" 3G service but I've had huge connectivity issues since July 11 and have now had my iphone 3G replaced at the apple store TWICE and been through all the tech support escalation at AT&T and still I have awful voice quality, tons of dropped calls, and many periods of "no service". Sitting in one place, the screens dance from no bars to 3 to 5 to 1 and jump between networks (remember, I've had 3 now just like this!) and then when you attempt to dial out, it takes 2-4 attempts.

My iphone is great, but I can't call people on it and I can't actually get 3G data speeds, not even in downtown Berkeley and SF.

[bradl]

The Age is definitely calling it like it is: a device issue, not a network issue:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/iphone-insider/slow-iphone-3g-glitch-blamed-on-secrecy/2008/08/13/1218306957900.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Vodafone already said it is a device-specific issue, not a network issue.

Telstra refused to comment, saying that if it is a device issue, Apple should be commenting.

T-Mobile Netherlands is blaming Apple.

But here is what gets me.

On a company blog it said the problem was a "hardware/software issue" specific to the iPhone itself.

So blaming GSM for being at fault, ATT for being at fault..? Somehow, I reeeaallllyyy don't think it is a network issue...

BL.

[julric01]

Thought I would update - just got off the phone with AT&T, just dropped a conference call 3 times. Their solution - take it back to Apple for an exchange.

Problem is, that's not really going to fix it now is it - unless they've made changes, which they haven't.

I really like the device, but come on Apple, say something!

I'm starting to think it's going to take the threat of a lawsuit or some consumer group to get them to move.

[bdorpetzl]

I had an original iPhone and had great reception.

I am not arguing that it isn't an issue. I had worse reception with my 2.5G iPhone than I do with my 3G.

I can almost guarantee that its how it's switching from 3G to EDGE.

I would agree that there is a problem with switching between 3G and Edge.

Relating it to the screen issue is somewhat relevant, and this issue is bigger, mainly do to the fact more 3G iPhones were sold initially than the original (roughly 4x as many).

I think that the problem lies in both software and hardware (specifically the build quality). I believe the problem switching between 3G and Edge is a software problem. The fact that this is not a problem on all 3G iPhones would suggest that the build quality of the phone varies, which is not surprising for something that is mass produced.

Just my 2 cents.

[Trajectory]

This story now has legs, and will start spreading to larger and larger news outlets if Apple keeps dragging their feet and staying silent. Their overzealous desire for secrecy is going to bite them in the arse on this issue.

I just hope this can be fixed with a firmware update. Apple will be royally screwed if they have to recall all iPhones due to faulty chips.

[Diode]

Thought I would update - just got off the phone with AT&T, just dropped a conference call 3 times. Their solution - take it back to Apple for an exchange.

Problem is, that's not really going to fix it now is it - unless they've made changes, which they haven't.

I really like the device, but come on Apple, say something!

I'm starting to think it's going to take the threat of a lawsuit or some consumer group to get them to move.

Well if the issue is with a bad chip run then bringing it back could potentially solve the problem.

[bradl]

Well if the issue is with a bad chip run then bringing it back could potentially solve the problem.

If it's a bad chip run, the near million 3G iPhones currently out there would all have to come back, let alone everything software wise and personals swapped off.

Hellish for handling at the Apple store. Worst for handling at ATT/T-Mobile/Vodafone/Telstra/Softbank/Rogers/O2/etc.

BL.

[justiny]

I absolutely regret selling my original iPhone for the 3G.

Weak 3G reception everywhere I go in Washington DC/Northern Virginia. I get a call on a very weak 3G signal, answer it, immediately loses 3G signal, switches to 2G, call drops. Every time.

Now I have to keep 3G off so I don't miss/drop phone calls. Very frustrating.

So, I have an iPhone 3G with no 3G and a more expensive 3G data plan.

[aristotle]

This story now has legs, and will start spreading to larger and larger news outlets if Apple keeps dragging their feet and staying silent. Their overzealous desire for secrecy is going to bite them in the arse on this issue.

I just hope this can be fixed with a firmware update. Apple will be royally screwed if they have to recall all iPhones due to faulty chips.
The story might have legs but it does not mean that it is true.

I'm seeing a lot of AT&T complaints but I've yet to see any UK or Canadian Fido/Rogers complaints after the initial network problem Fido and Rogers had coincidentally around the time the 2.01 firmware update was released. That issue was resolved on the wireless provider end for most people by the end of that week.

I'm also seeing some Australian customer complaining but I hear that phone service in Australia has always been a bit hit and miss.

It is possible that a combination of a firmware update and some reconfiguration of the new 3G AT&T networks might fix the issues for the most part for Americans and other international customers.

What could possibly be happening is that the algorithm for handing off from one tower to another on the iPhone 3G may not be as robust as the one used for 2G and a firmware could potentially help here. It is also possible that it might be caused by how AT&T configured the 3G cell towers in the US.

There is another possibility that the cell towers have to be reconfigured to block access beyond a certain limit to prevent an overload and force the iPhone onto other towers.

My iPhone experience has been great except for that one half of a week where the 3G network in Canada was basically down.

[emccus01]

I drove home from work today and felt like calling ATT about this issue. I wanted to register my complaint. I ended up getting transferred to the Apple support people. I was very nice and told them I am having decent reception with the phone but that while driving the phone can't switch from 3g to edge while in call without dropping me. He asked if I did all of the reboots, hard restarts etc. I did. So I asked if others are having this same issue, as i have seen it online and throughout the media. He wouldn't acknowledge there was a problem until I said I have been reading about it a lot. And even then he didn't come out and say anything dramatic. I asked him if he felt it was a software problem and he said yes it most likely is and to keep my phone up to date with the latest software and all future updates. I said I do. I then asked him if it were a hardware issue would this be covered under my warranty and he said yes.

So take it as you will. Hopefully Apple gets the point. I have a feeling they already have it is just they are weighing all their options before they do something.

[noobus]

I glad to see that we were not the only ones with this issue. At first we just switched them to the edge network. still had some issues.

We took our phones back to the apple store because of bad reception and too many dropped calls we were told by the tech at Apple that there is an issue with some of the antennas on the phones being TOO SHORT and this is causing the problem they swapped out the phones in the store and now no more dropped calls. The two phones were purchased at the same time so maybe the same batch.

we have a total of about 9 new (3G) and 12 old iphones. so we have enough in the office to test and see a difference.

DP

Can you please check which batches are good and which are bad?

You can see the production date in the serial number. It is the 4th and the 5th number. This is a serialnumber (123XX678A9B) where XX is the week. Today is week 33.

Would appreciate an answer.

[GregA]

There is another possibility that the cell towers have to be reconfigured to block access beyond a certain limit to prevent an overload and force the iPhone onto other towers.

3G works very differently to 2G, and perhaps the following is where the issue:

* 2G uses 'time slices' during transmission. A phone uses the frequency required on the closest tower in the time slot given by the tower. The power of transmission isn't important, as long as the tower can make out the digital signal. When the phone needs to switch it makes a leap to another tower on another frequency.

* 3G uses "code division" during transmission. As an analogy - a tower needs all the connected phones to speak at a volume that allows it to hear them equally loudly. For close phones it's easy, they can whisper - but for far away phones they need to yell so that the tower hears them equally loud to the nearby whispers. The neighbouring towers actually transmit on the same frequency so as your phone gets closer to the 2nd tower it starts off with a volume too low to be heard (but perfect for the 1st tower), it's volume gradually increases as it yells louder for the 1st tower until the 2nd tower can hear the phone with equal loudness to its other phones, and then the phone starts obeying the loudness instructions from the 2nd tower and stops using the 1st.

The transmission power of 3G needs to significantly and dynamically vary to achieve a good connection. We've seen 4 bar reception drop to 1 bar and back to 4 - this makes NO DIFFERENCE to 2G as long as there is atleast 1 bar.... but for 3G it needs to change transmission power instantly to maintain a stable connection.

Sound like a viable reason?

ps. On the other side, if the iPhone has a high power transmission and doesn't drop it quickly enough when reception improves, it would drown out all the other 3G phones on the tower temporarily. The whole network would suffer.

[manhattanboy]

I am not arguing that it isn't an issue. I had worse reception with my 2.5G iPhone than I do with my 3G.



I would agree that there is a problem with switching between 3G and Edge.

Relating it to the screen issue is somewhat relevant, and this issue is bigger, mainly do to the fact more 3G iPhones were sold initially than the original (roughly 4x as many).

I think that the problem lies in both software and hardware (specifically the build quality). I believe the problem switching between 3G and Edge is a software problem. The fact that this is not a problem on all 3G iPhones would suggest that the build quality of the phone varies, which is not surprising for something that is mass produced.

Just my 2 cents.

Its not a problem on all phones because not everyone has to deal with a low signal.
The primary problem is the 3G iphone cannot handle a low signal appropriately. And Apple's solution thus far has been to make the phone drop down to EDGE more frequently... thus pissing off all the people paying $10+taxes more a month for absolutely nothing.
Let me say it again now,
we paying $10 more a month for
Absolutely nothing.

[justiny]

Its not a problem on all phones because not everyone has to deal with a low signal.
The primary problem is the 3G iphone cannot handle a low signal appropriately. And Apple's solution thus far has been to make the phone drop down to EDGE more frequently... thus pissing off all the people paying $10+taxes more a month for absolutely nothing.
Let me say it again now,
we paying $10 more a month for
Absolutely nothing.

+1

[bdorpetzl]

Its not a problem on all phones because not everyone has to deal with a low signal.
The primary problem is the 3G iphone cannot handle a low signal appropriately. And Apple's solution thus far has been to make the phone drop down to EDGE more frequently... thus pissing off all the people paying $10+taxes more a month for absolutely nothing.
Let me say it again now,
we paying $10 more a month for
Absolutely nothing.

I have mentioned that I feel that switching between 3G and Edge is not handled properly. I can understand why people would be upset. You are correct that not everyone one has to deal with a low signal, but given AT&T's coverage map, how is one to tell how good the 3G signal is? The break down the give for Edge is a great help.

[DPinTX]

Can you please check which batches are good and which are bad?

You can see the production date in the serial number. It is the 4th and the 5th number. This is a serialnumber (123XX678A9B) where XX is the week. Today is week 33.

Would appreciate an answer.


Since the phones were swapped out I will need to find the original receipt that sold have the serial numbers on them.

DP

[Compile 'em all]

Its not a problem on all phones because not everyone has to deal with a low signal.
The primary problem is the 3G iphone cannot handle a low signal appropriately. And Apple's solution thus far has been to make the phone drop down to EDGE more frequently... thus pissing off all the people paying $10+taxes more a month for absolutely nothing.
Let me say it again now,
we paying $10 more a month for
Absolutely nothing.

it is a problem with the software stack in the baseband. i.e infenion chips QA = zilch

[bdorpetzl]

it is a problem with the software stack in the baseband. i.e infenion chips QA = zilch

That would suggest a firmware update could address this issue, correct?

[GregA]

The 850mhz spectum users are reporting few, if any problems.
People in cities with dense coverage report few problems.


Interesting eh? I'll check my father's reports on Telstra 850Mhz. We've had problems on Optus' 2100Mhz and I've read about problems on Vodafone & Optus (both 2100Mhz).

The hard thing with this is the generic "good vs bad coverage", as some people use it to blame coverage and take pressure off Apple. Perhaps we can say "the iPhone works fine in 3G when there is EXCELLENT 3G coverage".

I predict total recall for poor choice of unproven chipset and poor design of placement of the 3G antenna.

Perhaps that'll be necessary. Hard for apple but may be no other way.. and it'd take time. In the meantime, a software update might help us switch to 2G far more often - either based on a better measurement of "excellent 3G coverage" or just generically using 2G whenever data connection isn't required.

[nptski]

I love Apple and was so proud of myself to wait for the 2nd generation iPhone. I bought the first day, I had waited long enough even though I had this little voice telling me to wait a little longer. I jumped, and sorry I did. Between what appears like hardware/software/carrier problems, I should have waited. I finally returned both iPhones for lots of reasons, bluetooth didn't work with Lexus properly, ATT may have more bars, they still have worst reception in Orange County, CA., battery issues negating features, and ATT expensive. Apple Store was wonderful, ATT ended up costing about $400 for 3 weeks with mid-range plans including data. I will be back, but my BB Curve works close to perfectly and Sprint is far superior to ATT. They used to be the worst, now very good and $99 for unlimited everything is best deal in town. I use 6,000 minutes average plus data and email. The phone is awesome in so many ways, just too much trouble now...

[belmardays]

I have gotten more dropped call in Las Vegas and New Jesey since getting the 3g ...than i have had in the last 15 years of having a cell phone ....i get dropped calls everywhere ....

[vandozza]

I'm seeing a lot of AT&T complaints but I've yet to see any UK or Canadian Fido/Rogers complaints ...

I'm also seeing some Australian customer complaining but I hear that phone service in Australia has always been a bit hit and miss.

There are plenty of UK people having problems over in the Apple discussions thread. Seriously, read the thread, to make it easy search for O2 or UK.

Secondly your comments about Australia's phone services are way off base. We have had 3G services for much longer that the USA. Our prices certainly aren't good, but there is generally no problems with the coverage or network (unless you happen to use an iPhone 3G...)

I've seen your posts defending Apple in many of the threads we have been linking to *aristotle-dude... It's almost like you work for Apple PR? I can understand people with issues wanting to get out there and tell everyone about their problems. But people blindly defending Apple in the face of mounting evidence (and refusing to acknowledge the issues that are occurring) seems a little strange.

edit - new link - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10016483-37.html

[EricBrian]

C|Net reports this:

A wireless researcher in Sweden claims to have identified the issue causing iPhone 3G reception problems around the world.


Ny Teknik (http://www.nyteknik.se/), a Swedish tech newspaper, has published the account (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyteknik.se%2Fnyheter%2Fit_telekom%2Fmobiltele%2Farticle393845.ece&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=sv&tl=en) of a scientist at the University of Gälve (http://www.hig.se/) who investigated the iPhone 3G and discovered that the phone is not as sensitive to 3G signals as other phones. Claes Beckman (http://www.hig.se/t-inst/cgi-bin/personal_enskild_e.pl?username=cbn) is claiming that the iPhone 3G's nominal sensitivity is below that of published standards for 3G phones, meaning the phone drops the connection with a 3G tower (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10012420-37.html) more quickly than other 3G phones as it moves away from the tower and averages slower data speeds when connected.


Full article here:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10016483-37.html

[aristotle]

There are plenty of UK people having problems over in the Apple discussions thread. Seriously, read the thread, to make it easy search for O2 or UK.

Secondly your comments about Australia's phone services are way off base. We have had 3G services for much longer that the USA. Our prices certainly aren't good, but there is generally no problems with the coverage or network (unless you happen to use an iPhone 3G...)

Have you every actually tried using another 3G phone before? Do you know anyone who has? Was it a 3G phone with a decent browser or a crappy one?

I've seen your posts defending Apple in many of the threads we have been linking to *aristotle-dude... It's almost like you work for Apple PR? I can understand people with issues wanting to get out there and tell everyone about their problems. But people blindly defending Apple in the face of mounting evidence (and refusing to acknowledge the issues that are occurring) seems a little strange.

edit - new link - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10016483-37.html
I've seem you on numerous boards pumping up this issue but I've yet to see quote or even links from these supposed UK users posted by you. I'm sorry but I don't have time to search myself in an attempt to prove your point.

Why did you feel the need to resort to an Ad hominem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem) attack? That is usually the act of a person of a desperate person on the losing end of an argument.

Why would a supposed researcher from a government funded University feel the need to remain anonymous? That casts doubt on the veracity of this "story" from Sweden.

Why are you blindly accepting the reports and so eager to believe that this is a widespread issue beyond your area in Australia and in the US with AT&T? Why have Canadian users reported good coverage after some initial hickups? Why are you so unwilling to accept that it might be a network issue or a capacity issue after Canadians like myself provided an account of how our provider fixed our problem via the network?

Not that it is any of your business but I work in the financial sector as a software developer.

Since you opened the door by attacking me first, are you motivated to make a big deal out of this because you work for a competing handset manufacturer or a competitor to the official iPhone service providers in Australia?

What I find interesting is that everyone at CNET is now trying to pump up this story but during their review of the iPhone 3G prior to launch, they seemed to have zero reception voice or data issues with their review units on AT&T. Of course, this was before there were potentially tens of thousands of iPhone 3Gs running on the 3G network in addition to the other existing 3G traffic.

Things that make you go "hmmmm".

[GregA]

Have you every actually tried using another 3G phone before? Do you know anyone who has? Was it a 3G phone with a decent browser or a crappy one?

Haven't seen the history of your disagreement with each other...

But I'm Australian and I've certainly used plenty of 3G phones, for about 3 years. And I know many people who use 3G. I never used the phones for their web browsing capabilities (and I know few people who have) - just to make calls and tether my laptop occassionally - plus they synced my calendars and contacts.

The iPhone 3G is by far the best browser etc. I don't think that's much contested. What is a problem is the network drop outs - certainly a problem on Vodafone and Optus here in Australia (my father reports no problems with Telstra 'nextG' 850Mhz). I'd say 3G is slightly worse than 2G anyway, as a general rule, but our networks work quite well normally.

[aristotle]

Haven't seen the history of your disagreement with each other...

But I'm Australian and I've certainly used plenty of 3G phones, for about 3 years. And I know many people who use 3G. I never used the phones for their web browsing capabilities (and I know few people who have) - just to make calls and tether my laptop occassionally - plus they synced my calendars and contacts.

The iPhone 3G is by far the best browser etc. I don't think that's much contested. What is a problem is the network drop outs - certainly a problem on Vodafone and Optus here in Australia (my father reports no problems with Telstra 'nextG' 850Mhz). I'd say 3G is slightly worse than 2G anyway, as a general rule, but our networks work quite well normally.
I'm sorry to hear that. I'm just getting a little frustrated that this guy is treating me like I'm an American and completely ignoring that Canadians did have an issue for almost a week with 3G and that I'm on a provider that uses the 1900 band (FIDO). I've seen numerous accounts from fellow Canadians on the Rogers Network (850/1900) reporting decent coverage. I've also seen countless UK users reporting decent coverage with no dropped calls on 02 which use 2100.

It seemed to fall on deaf ears when I not only mentioned but linked to an issue with 3G on Fido discussed on this board and that it had be resolved by the network provider.

I believe that some people are indeed having a problem and that it is possibly caused by a software issue on the iPhone which can be fixed by a firmware update, poor configuration of some 3G network towers and a sudden jump in the number of people using a lot of data on the 3G network. This overload may spill over to the voice layer causing people to be dropped from towers.

Given the good reviews C/NET gave prior to launch and the good experience people have been having in countries like Canada and the UK, I do not believe that this issue is widespread and I do not believe that it is a hardware issue.

[aristotle]

Every link you guys are digging up save for the australian site are filled with AT&T users.

If the iPhone was launched 20 countries, why haven't we seen accounts of continuing problems from more countries?

PS. Maybe someone from AT&T or Apple should talk to Fido about what they did to resolve the issue. It might be something constructive to do instead of having everyone bitch and complain or point fingers.

[vandozza]

I would be happy to link to users in other countries reporting issues... However it's either not possible to link to a specific post from the Apple discussions, or I'm overlooking how it's done (ie. to stupid to figure it out.)

The reports are there -
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1602608
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1632695
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1662678

Given that I can't link them directly, do you want to be a little reasonable?
Click on one of the links (preferably one of the first two, given the third has just been started,) and search that thread for any of -
Australia
USA
UK
Japan
Portugal
Spain
Sweeden
Netherlands
Germany
Hong Kong
Switzerland

You will find reports of the issues that many of us are having.
I can't do any more that this.

[justiny]

...I do not believe that this issue is widespread and I do not believe that it is a hardware issue.

How good or bad is your 3G coverage where you are?

How many bars of 3G service does your iPhone indicate on average?

I'm just curious :)

[Celf]

Every link you guys are digging up save for the australian site are filled with AT&T users.

If the iPhone was launched 20 countries, why haven't we seen accounts of continuing problems from more countries?

PS. Maybe someone from AT&T or Apple should talk to Fido about what they did to resolve the issue. It might be something constructive to do instead of having everyone bitch and complain or point fingers.

Do you actualy click on the links people provide? I'm from the Netherlands and a blog from T-Mobile is filled with 3G complaints. There are threads about this issue on other fora. Apple and\or T-Mobile do have a serious problem over here.

Second. People start to bitch and complain because they are NOT taken serious in the shops when they report a problem. Bitching would immediately stop when Apple\Telco takes us serious and looks into this problem. Up until today they only say they don't know of any problem at all.

[mkwilson68]

The story might have legs but it does not mean that it is true.

I'm seeing a lot of AT&T complaints but I've yet to see any UK or Canadian Fido/Rogers complaints after the initial network problem Fido and Rogers had coincidentally around the time the 2.01 firmware update was released. That issue was resolved on the wireless provider end for most people by the end of that week.

I'm also seeing some Australian customer complaining but I hear that phone service in Australia has always been a bit hit and miss.

It is possible that a combination of a firmware update and some reconfiguration of the new 3G AT&T networks might fix the issues for the most part for Americans and other international customers.

What could possibly be happening is that the algorithm for handing off from one tower to another on the iPhone 3G may not be as robust as the one used for 2G and a firmware could potentially help here. It is also possible that it might be caused by how AT&T configured the 3G cell towers in the US.

There is another possibility that the cell towers have to be reconfigured to block access beyond a certain limit to prevent an overload and force the iPhone onto other towers.

My iPhone experience has been great except for that one half of a week where the 3G network in Canada was basically down.

aaaarrrrgghhhhh!!!!!

Read the posts across the web FIRST before commenting like this. I am in the UK (that's a separate place to the continental US - you know that, right?) and this issue is affecting everyone I know here.

That's the UK. On O2. NO AT&T. Get it???

[djrobsd]

They replaced my iPhone, and the 3G reception at my house didn't drop out once last night!!!! I am hoping it stays that way, keeping my fingers crossed.

The new phone is a different model then the old, even though they are both 16 gig white iPhones:

The Serial # indicates Day 30 as people have described it
The Model is MB499LL

Previous one with problems was a day 28, and had the 7xx model number instead.

[Trajectory]

Do the dropouts primarily happen while driving/walking with the iPhone, or does it also happen standing in one location?

My iPhone is still fairly new, so, I haven't been using it as much, but, the several times I've used the phone I didn't have any dropped calls. But, I was making the calls from my home and not moving around.

I've been hearing that Rogers here in Canada has decent 3G coverage, so, I'm hoping it won't be an issue, unless the problem is a defect in the iPhone or software.

[w00master]

Amazing how you can tell the apologists from realists when something goes wrong with an Apple product.

Some people just can't stop the worship of Apple as well as the continual "blaming" of certain publications.

:rolleyes:

Seriously, this is an issue, and it needs to be fixed asap.

[aristotle]

Do you actualy click on the links people provide? I'm from the Netherlands and a blog from T-Mobile is filled with 3G complaints. There are threads about this issue on other fora. Apple and\or T-Mobile do have a serious problem over here.

Second. People start to bitch and complain because they are NOT taken serious in the shops when they report a problem. Bitching would immediately stop when Apple\Telco takes us serious and looks into this problem. Up until today they only say they don't know of any problem at all.
Do you bother clicking on links that people like me post? Do you bother reading our stories?

The guy who suggested that this was an Infineon chipset iPhone hardware issue is the same guy who perpetrated the fraud about the iPhone touch screens wearing out because of a chemical on the surface. He had so many people fooled and tried to use a Finnish company as his source for his information.

Here is a link about Richard Windsor and his past shenanigans.
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20070810/iphone-deadspot/
:rolleyes:
He is a stock manipulator. I would not trust him at all given his history of being totally wrong.

[bradl]

Here is a link about Richard Windsor and his past shenanigans.
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20070810/iphone-deadspot/
:rolleyes:
He is a stock manipulator. I would not trust him at all given his history of being totally wrong.

Then how about someplace reputable, like The Age in Melbourne:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/articles/iphone-3g-woes-a-hardware-problem/2008/08/14/1218307099509.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Even their sources are citing either hardware issues, software issues, or both. And they don't even want to speculate on the possibility of a recall.

BL.

[aristotle]

Then how about someplace reputable, like The Age in Melbourne:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/articles/iphone-3g-woes-a-hardware-problem/2008/08/14/1218307099509.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Even their sources are citing either hardware issues, software issues, or both. And they don't even want to speculate on the possibility of a recall.

BL.
Nobody is denying that there is a problem but that article you posted came "after" the initial storm created by Richard Windsor who made the initial claim that the Infeon chipset was flawed. Every armchair analyst has been jumping on the bandwagon ever since. I saw quotes from people speculating as to the cause but it seems that everyone is now assuming that it must be hardware even though it appears to be affect only certain cities in the US and seems to be working fine for a lot of people with other providers in other countries.

[belmardays]

I have owned a N95 3g NAM for about a year ...without any dropped calls or so few i never noticed it ..

so it has to be the apple

at first i thought it was a system overload the first week

[pgflmac]

I live in an area notorious for poor AT&T, but really could use a "data phone". Long time Mac User and just finished a Verizon contract (I really loved the coverage) so I got 3G iPhones for the whole family.

I get one bar max in my house (according to AT&T maps I am at the fringe of good coverage) but have no problems with dropped calls. These phones were just bought Saturday in the Naples store. I have no idea on how to decode the serial number and I am not sure what SIM is in it. One of the three had a SIM card outside the phone that had to be installed. I thought it was odd but again despite the terrible location I get no dropped calls so far.

[GregA]

They replaced my iPhone, and the 3G reception at my house didn't drop out once last night!!!! I am hoping it stays that way, keeping my fingers crossed.

The new phone is a different model then the old, even though they are both 16 gig white iPhones:

The Serial # indicates Day 30 as people have described it
The Model is MB499LL

Previous one with problems was a day 28, and had the 7xx model number instead.

Okay, mine is week 28 (the 4th and 5th numbers of the serial number), and 3G is crap. We continually put the phone in 2G mode.

edit: Model MB500X
ps. Is it just a matter of going to an Apple store to replace?