2.1 Do you really have better reception/download speeds or just more bars?

[Xtgirl]

Hi,
Everyone is saying they are happy with the update because they now have more bars than they did before the update....but that doesn't mean that you have better reception.

They adjusted the signal strength bars...do you actually notice faster download speeds than before/better phone reception...? or are people just thinking it is better since they see more bars.....?

I am assuming the improvement in dropped calls would be because they upped the 3G bars so it didn't get into the gray area of poor 3G switching to edge issue which caused lots of dropped calls.

[geist262]

I don't see any improvement in those areas. My data was always decent after 2.0.2, but all I see is more bars. Actual signal is identical.

[hexonxonx]

I have made three phone calls so far under 2.1 in my basement and so far it seems much improved. I could count on poor reception but now the calls seem very clear and strong. I still can't get 3G in my basement but then that is normal for 3G.

[aristobrat]

I couldn't do anything data-related on 3G at work -- it'd just time-out/not connect.

With 2.1, data now works great. DSL Reports bandwidth showed 600kbps at one point.

[Peabody]

Hi,
Everyone is saying they are happy with the update because they now have more bars than they did before the update....but that doesn't mean that you have better reception.

They adjusted the signal strength bars...do you actually notice faster download speeds than before/better phone reception...? or are people just thinking it is better since they see more bars.....?

I am assuming the improvement in dropped calls would be because they upped the 3G bars so it didn't get into the gray area of poor 3G switching to edge issue which caused lots of dropped calls.

I'm seeing better reception. I'm currently sitting on a couch that when my phone is in it's holster I could guarantee never receiving a call. It was a 3G fringe area. Today since the update I haven't missed one call and I can actually carry a conversation without moving to the other side of my house.

While I see more bars, they definitely did some work to correct basic call issues internally.

Two thumbs up for improved call performance on 3G. No more having to turn it off! :)

[liltechdude]

I am definitely getting an increase in bars on 3G. I usually got 3-5 in my room here at my house now I'm getting a solid 5 bars, it hasn't gotten lower. I'm hoping that Jobs didn't try to cut corners by buffering the parameters and making the phone think it has a better signal than it does. That won't be good if it does.

[Justinerator]

To all that get better reception, did you just update it or did you wipe it and start fresh or from a backup?

[Peabody]

To all that get better reception, did you just update it or did you wipe it and start fresh or from a backup?

I just let itunes do it's thing (standard upgrade).

I was concerned about this as well, but figured "what the hey" and at worst knew I'd have to wipe if things didn't turn out.

Well, they turned out peachy...so far.

[hexonxonx]

To all that get better reception, did you just update it or did you wipe it and start fresh or from a backup?

I upgraded both of my 3G iPhones.

[whooleytoo]

My phone is dropping to Edge far, far less frequently (in the same locations, home & office).

[yomibro]

I get one bar right now compared to none before, so I guess it's kinda "better" but don't think it's that much better (at least where I live).

[Rybold]

The speed seems to correlate with the 6 bars of 3G that I have. :)
This was a good software update.

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134605&d=1221253969

In reality, I am observing the exact same SPEEDS that I had before. Bars represent signal strength, not speed. You can have 5 bars of EDGE or 2 bars of 3G and the 3G is going to be faster. From my own experience, the speed is the same whether I have 2 bars of 3G or 5 bars of 3G. :)

[ojstagg93]

I can actually get 3g in places i never used to get 3g

[Justinerator]

I just let itunes do it's thing (standard upgrade).

I was concerned about this as well, but figured "what the hey" and at worst knew I'd have to wipe if things didn't turn out.

Well, they turned out peachy...so far.

I upgraded both of my 3G iPhones.

Thanks guys, I just upgraded too. Everything went well, and now I have full 3g everywhere, even in places where there was only edge before! :D

[Justinerator]

The speed seems to correlate with the 6 bars of 3G that I have. :)
This was a good software update.

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134605&d=1221253969

<SNIP>

That must have been on the EDGE test, not the 3g test. If it were the 3g test, the speed of the connection would be a lot lower (like 600 kbps - 1.2 mbps)

EDIT: It amazes me how much one can do with photoshop....

[patd]

Upgraded to 2.1 this morning, My 3g speed not quit as fast as yours, I am in Southern Calif.

[Whorehay]

Upgraded to 2.1 this morning, My 3g speed not quit as fast as yours, I am in Southern Calif.

According to this site, I have faster EDGE on my original iPhone (284Kbps) than you do on 3G :confused:

[Justinerator]

According to this site, I have faster EDGE on my original iPhone (284Kbps) than you do on 3G :confused:

It's a different kind of test. For example, if he were to do the edge test you did, in the same location as before, it would be exponentially higher. This is because the file (?) being passed through the connection is much smaller, therefore resulting in an innacurate connection speed. If you were to do the 3g test he did, you would get a much slower speed. I hope that makes sense, since I wrote it in about 30 seconds... :p

[mcdj]

The iPhone 3G is like Ft. Lauderdale. You can add all the bars you want, but it's still just Ft. Lauderdale.

I had 0-1 bars in my apt. pre-2.1...with 2.1 I have 4-5 bars. My GF just called me here. Went straight to VM. Didn't even ring. 4-5 bars my butt.

[surfervb]

According to this site, I have faster EDGE on my original iPhone (284Kbps) than you do on 3G :confused:

Thats about what i've been getting consistently on my original iPhone when doing the test over EDGE. I've been getting results between 260 and 290kbps. If these numbers are accurate I am definitely seeing a speed improvement with the 2.1 update. It no 3G but definitely a step up from what I was consistently getting previously with EDGE(between 50 - 150kbps).

[surfervb]

It's a different kind of test. For example, if he were to do the edge test you did, in the same location as before, it would be exponentially higher. This is because the file (?) being passed through the connection is much smaller, therefore resulting in an innacurate connection speed. If you were to do the 3g test he did, you would get a much slower speed. I hope that makes sense, since I wrote it in about 30 seconds... :p

The test site has to be jacked up then...I wanted to test your theory so I just ran the "3G Test" on my original EDGE iPhone and got 352Kbps...

[Justinerator]

The test site has to be jacked up then...I wanted to test your theory so I just ran the "3G Test" on my original EDGE iPhone and got 352Kbps...

wow, or maybe I was completely wrong and nobody should listen to what I say anymore..... :o

sorry guys, it always seemed that way for me.

[patd]

I used both test sites when I checked my 3g speed. I guess they adjusted the bar meter to show good reception

[Blackforge]

testmyiphone.com seems messed up sometimes. If you get a result that you would expect from 3G and then the next time you try it, it looks like Edge speeds, try closing out the page and going back to the main testmyiphone.com. All of the sudden the speed goes back up to 3G speeds.

[hexonxonx]

I haven't noticed any speed changes but my reception does seem to have improved a bit.

[dlewis23]

Sorry about the messed up results some of you guys are getting today. I'm having a problem with our host right now and we are not sure what is going on. But they think it may be a routing issue caused by the hurricane hitting texas right now, that is causing the screwed up results.

EDIT: To fix the messed up results that some are getting I have forward all of the tests to our secondary server temporally for all users on a iPhone. This should fix all the test problems for now.

[otis123]

The speed seems to correlate with the 6 bars of 3G that I have. :)
This was a good software update.

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134605&d=1221253969

In reality, I am observing the exact same SPEEDS that I had before. Bars represent signal strength, not speed. You can have 5 bars of EDGE or 2 bars of 3G and the 3G is going to be faster. From my own experience, the speed is the same whether I have 2 bars of 3G or 5 bars of 3G. :)

how do u have 6 bars? I get a max of 5

[Jayden0606]

how do u have 6 bars? I get a max of 5

I believe he is counting the stub. There are 6 if you count the first tiny little stub.


In a lower level apartment. I wonder what it is like on the outside...
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn12/JayDuvi/Phone%20Stuff/1221284632.jpg

[Jayden0606]

The test site has to be jacked up then...I wanted to test your theory so I just ran the "3G Test" on my original EDGE iPhone and got 352Kbps...

I believe he is correct. If you try 3g, it will tell you that they need to run the test with a larger file. The edge tests do not use larger ones. Therefore it is untrue. For webpages (going to the same site), you would then see the difference.

[daihard]

My 3G performance still tops at around 1.4 to 1.5 Mbps, but the 3G reception is noticeably better where it used to suck. For instance, there is this one area on the freeway where the 3G antenna used to go down to 1 or 2 bars from 5. Whenever I hit that area, the 3G network performance became unbearably slow. With 2.1, I still got 4 bars as I passed by that area. The network performance was significantly better, too. :)

[Justinerator]

I believe he is correct. If you try 3g, it will tell you that they need to run the test with a larger file. The edge tests do not use larger ones. Therefore it is untrue. For webpages (going to the same site), you would then see the difference.

Thanks for clearing that up! I thought my statement was relatively accurate, but because I didn't have my iphone with me (do now, it's just dead), I couldn't prove it.

I knew I was always right! :cool:

[BergerFan]

There's more consistent bars, and definitely better 3G performance.
I live in north Central London, and was getting 2-3 bars of 3G normally before 2.1.
Now I get a solid 5, and performance is superb.
Where I work in Knightsbridge, I was consistently dropping out to Edge and getting zero bars of 3G. I thought 2.1 would have solved that, but I subsequently found out, that I'm simply in a 3G coverage gap location at work, which is a bummer, but no fault of Apple's. :D

Everywhere else I go where 3G coverage is good, I now get stellar performance.
I just wish there was an option in the Settings to have "Wi-Fi quality visuals" on 3G, as YouTube (albeit fast), looks crap on 3G. I'd sacrifice a little speed for top quality visuals.

[ishopukisfake]

Hi,
Everyone is saying they are happy with the update because they now have more bars than they did before the update....but that doesn't mean that you have better reception.

They adjusted the signal strength bars...do you actually notice faster download speeds than before/better phone reception...? or are people just thinking it is better since they see more bars.....?

I am assuming the improvement in dropped calls would be because they upped the 3G bars so it didn't get into the gray area of poor 3G switching to edge issue which caused lots of dropped calls.

Looks like a genuine signal increase in strength, my internet speed is now pretty much as fast as wifi, before 3G was fast but noticeably slower

[SoSII]

I have 4-5 bars of 3g where i used to have 1-2. Phone works ok on 3g but safari and 3rd party apps cannot access internet (server not responding or just times out). This works fine on wifi and did work briefly after I updated but not since.

Anyone else have this issue.