Hello, I have an original iPhone bought on launch day last year and have managed so far not to buy a 3G version. I remember reading comments here a few weeks back around the launch day of horrible 3G speeds in most places and even in NYC. Have any of you 3G users in NYC seen any improvements and what are your speeds averaging? Thanks
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3G performance in NYC??
- Thread starter ps49556n
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i don't think 3G speed when using DATA is an issue...but i think the issue is when using 3G RECEPTION for phone calls. here was my take on it from a different post....
this is my first iphone, the 3G, and i must say, it's really poor at functioning as a phone. the reception of it on 3G is abismal! living in the heart of Dallas, TX, 3G is widely present. yet, the only...and I mean ONLY way to get 2 or more bars of reception is to stand outdoors with a clear shot at the atmosphere. if tall buildings are around or if you're inside a building or if you have some type of roof over you (house, apartment, garage, etc)...the iphone won't get a single 3G reception bar. not to mention the dropped calls CONSTANTLY because of it. man, dropped call here....dropped call there....whoops, another dropped call...more dropped calls.
i can turn off 3G and when edge kicks in, the reception sky rockets to all bars....but that's kinda defeating the purpose of purchasing a 3G capable phone, right? it's a huge pain in the rear to have to switch 3G off just to get acceptable reception and no dropped calls....then toggle it back on for data usage.
is this something apple can help remedy with a software update or is this just the nature of the iphone 3G?
*i propose apple rename their "phone" to iMedia 3G....because a "phone" it is not.
I was getting around 600 kB/sec in Brooklyn today. I don't trust half the speed test sites though...this one seems to be pretty consistent, however: http://i.dslr.net/tinyspeedtest.html
3G in NYC has been mediocre at best. For the past 2 weeks, the 3G signal in Manhattan and Brooklyn has been very up and down. However, there is a thread somewhere in here with lots of NYC people saying that the 3G signal has improved a lot over the past few days... and I agree.
I am currently in Brooklyn on a business trip and have noticed no problems, strong 3G signal and fast data speeds ~99% of the time
just did a speed test using the site above and got 989 kbps....i live in brooklyn
Yes. I'm on the 20th floor of an office building on 51st and 6th Ave and I barely have any signal here. I told this to a AT&T CSR and she said "That's strange, you should have a better signal than everyone else because you're higher up and closer to the cell towers"..... LOL are you kidding me??
But, I should also point out that my Verizon cell didn't fare too well up here either. It just sucks that 3G doesn't penetrate walls very well.
**** I did read an article online recently that AT&T is in the process of expanding their 850mhz spectrum (or whatever) in order to strengthen their 3G signal through walls.
I just got back from a couple days in NYC where I was planning on relying on my 3G for everything (directions, restaurants, etc). I was staying on the 23rd floor of a hotel and wandering around Midtown. Overall, 3G reception was very spotty. In the hotel, much of the time 3G access either took forever or timed out. GPS access was also very spotty. At street level, GPS-centric apps such as UrbanSpooon timed out trying to pull data back from the server. GPS location times seemed longer than in Philly and accuracy seemed less precise. I didn't get a chance to make many cell calls but I did notice that my bars fluctuated wildly depending on where I was and how fast the cab was moving.
Overall, if I were a NYC resident and experiencing these issues I probably would have returned my 3G. It just wasn't reliable. Now I have no idea how accurate GPS is overall in NYC - would a TomTom or Garmin unit suffer the same location delay issues? I would assume the large population of tall buildings would impact GPS satellite reception. Likewise, AT&T might not have the best coverage in NYC, though I have difficulty believing that they would skimp on coverage in such an important metro area. But I was not terribly pleased with 3G performance in the city that never sleeps.
Overall, if I were a NYC resident and experiencing these issues I probably would have returned my 3G. It just wasn't reliable. Now I have no idea how accurate GPS is overall in NYC - would a TomTom or Garmin unit suffer the same location delay issues? I would assume the large population of tall buildings would impact GPS satellite reception. Likewise, AT&T might not have the best coverage in NYC, though I have difficulty believing that they would skimp on coverage in such an important metro area. But I was not terribly pleased with 3G performance in the city that never sleeps.
Did a speedtest just now and got 51kps while the meter showed 5 bars of 3G reception. Unbelievable. This phone is going to the genius bar for repair.
the problem is likely AT&T. i'd be grateful to get 51kbps in Jersey City. I'm usually around 10-20 if at all.
What makes you think it's a hardware issue? It's been widely reported that the 3G service is dodgy in the NYC tri-state area.
At lunch today I took my phone to an AT&T store to see if they could do anything. The technician there had an iphone as did a few other customers and none of them had problems. After doing some troubleshooting on his end(he swapped the sim card, made sure the IMEI number was correct) he suggested I take it to Apple for replacement--even though I'd rather not since it has a $14.00 screen protector which is stuck to the screen. lol.
What else can I do? Both sides are blaming the other. I know 3G service is relatively new. All I ask at this point is to be able to connect to the internet via 3G 50% of the time. Right now, I can't connect at all.
This is happening to me too. In my office (Columbus Circle, Manhattan) I have great 3G signal strength (shows full five bars and the "3G" icon), but I can't actually access data on the network. My requests time out and I mostly get the message "Could Not Activate Cellular Data Network".
In trying to troubleshoot the issue, I've also been getting the "blame the other company" approach, from both Apple and AT&T. I should also mention that I have had two 3G iPhones, and this problem has persisted on both.
Reception here in NYC is inexcusably bad....I'm here in Astor place and I get TERRIBLE reception and data speeds that are laughable....I can't even run a test because its soo bad. Terrible call quality...when it actually goes through. Edge is fine, sounds great, and is my only data option when away from wifi. 3G is a joke, and I just got back from a business trip in North Carolina where the 3G reception was great throughout. Huh???
This is AT&T's problem...phone works fine in most other places. iPhone for business?!?! My ass.... they may want to make sure that service in NYC (read: center of the business universe) is top quality...what are they thinking??
IF YOU LIVE IN NYC DON'T BUY AN IPHONE....at least not yet. Don't give AT&T your money until they do their job...and Apple too for that matter. Such ********.
WAIT UNTIL THEY FIX THIS OR YOU TOO WILL SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS ON THESE FORUMS SEARCHING FOR A FIX!!!....don't waste you time, wait until 2.1.
Or not, I don't care. But my experience has lead me to that conclusion, so take it for what it's worth
This is AT&T's problem...phone works fine in most other places. iPhone for business?!?! My ass.... they may want to make sure that service in NYC (read: center of the business universe) is top quality...what are they thinking??
IF YOU LIVE IN NYC DON'T BUY AN IPHONE....at least not yet. Don't give AT&T your money until they do their job...and Apple too for that matter. Such ********.
WAIT UNTIL THEY FIX THIS OR YOU TOO WILL SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS ON THESE FORUMS SEARCHING FOR A FIX!!!....don't waste you time, wait until 2.1.
Or not, I don't care. But my experience has lead me to that conclusion, so take it for what it's worth
Yeah, have mercy on us iPhone 3G owners by not adding new devices to an already-congested network!
