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3G poor signal strenght
- Thread starter alejovh1
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I noticed that in the Apple store, but once I turned off 3G it had a better 2G signal than my V1 iPhone did.
Yes. Here in Chicago I've experienced a noticeable drop in signal quality since upgrading to the 3G.
definitely an att issue here. I see the same thing here in Dallas which is suppose to have good 3g coverage.
Guys...your phone is always connected to 2 networks. The Edge and 3G network are both connected simultaneously....The iPhone shows the signal strength of the fastest network it is connected too. So while you may be showing 1 bar, calls will more than likely come through fine as the Edge signal is far superior to the 3G. If you go to a basement in a house and watch your signal, you can see it at 1 bar of 3G and then it will switch to full service with Edge. So, if you are seeing lower bars while on 3G, that will not affect performance. For this reason, Verizon has 2 signal bars (EV and the 1RX). EV is their 3G service, while the other is their 2G service. Verizon phones show both simultaneously, which I think would be a good idea for Apple to adopt 
Hope that clears some stuff up
Hope that clears some stuff up
I know other phones do that, but are you positive the iPhone 3G does this? Engadget specifically says that it doesn't.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/11/iphone-3g-review/
I am 100% positive as just today I made a call with 0 bars showing under 3G...It was crystal clear call, no static, nothing. When I hung up, my phone was showing 5 bars of Edge. Then as I drove away, it switched back to 3 bars of 3G. Also, it HAS to be connected to both, other wise you wouldn't be able to do simultaneous data/voice. That works, because the voice will be transferred to Edge if a data service is requested, then the data comes through 3G. Every AT&T phone I've seen uses the same confusing signal bar for 3G/2G...I find it annoying too
Guys...your phone is always connected to 2 networks. The Edge and 3G network are both connected simultaneously....The iPhone shows the signal strength of the fastest network it is connected too. So while you may be showing 1 bar, calls will more than likely come through fine as the Edge signal is far superior to the 3G. If you go to a basement in a house and watch your signal, you can see it at 1 bar of 3G and then it will switch to full service with Edge. So, if you are seeing lower bars while on 3G, that will not affect performance. For this reason, Verizon has 2 signal bars (EV and the 1RX). EV is their 3G service, while the other is their 2G service. Verizon phones show both simultaneously, which I think would be a good idea for Apple to adopt
Hope that clears some stuff up
This cannot be true. I was using the iPhone 3G on the LIRR and it had 1 bar of 3G service. I tried sending a text message and it wouldn't even go through! I turned off 3G and off of a sudden had 5 bars on EDGE and obviously the text message went through with no problem.
Later on the same train ride I was on a call using 3G and the reception was really bad (other person couldn't hear me at all). Again, turned off 3G and the call was perfect and clear. I agree that at&t will improve 3G service but saying that you are connected to both simultaneously can't be a true statement based on my experience.
Yeah. my signal is really low on the 3G iPhone. Two bars average. With Gen 1 iPhone I was almost always full bar.
I've also noticed that this thing gets REALLY hot. I mean...jesus hot.
I've also noticed that this thing gets REALLY hot. I mean...jesus hot.
I am 100% positive as just today I made a call with 0 bars showing under 3G...It was crystal clear call, no static, nothing. When I hung up, my phone was showing 5 bars of Edge. Then as I drove away, it switched back to 3 bars of 3G. Also, it HAS to be connected to both, other wise you wouldn't be able to do simultaneous data/voice. That works, because the voice will be transferred to Edge if a data service is requested, then the data comes through 3G. Every AT&T phone I've seen uses the same confusing signal bar for 3G/2G...I find it annoying too
Again, this statement is 100% false. When you make a call on 3G signal you are TALKING on the 3G HSDPA service which also has the capability to do data (on the SAME signal simultaneously). You are NOT talking on 3G and doing data on EDGE (or vice versa)...both are going over 3G.
..Alright, don't believe me. That is fine, to each their own...I'm just saying that it works just as all other AT&T 3G phones do and I've seen it in action (I'll even get a video up later if I go to my sister's house as you can see this behavior in her basement)
Slightly off topic
Does 3G penetrate buildings better or worse than EDGE?
I work in a large building with a lot of steel and concrete. Verizon users get low but usable reception all over. Sprint and ATT get poor coverage. I have a 3G tower very close by, so would that be better at penetrating the building?
I know the 3G tower is like 100 yards away while the standard tower is about .5 miles. The Verizon tower is also about 100 yards away.
Does 3G penetrate buildings better or worse than EDGE?
I work in a large building with a lot of steel and concrete. Verizon users get low but usable reception all over. Sprint and ATT get poor coverage. I have a 3G tower very close by, so would that be better at penetrating the building?
I know the 3G tower is like 100 yards away while the standard tower is about .5 miles. The Verizon tower is also about 100 yards away.
It's not about believing you or not. I know how the technology actually works. HSPA devices use the SAME 3G network for voice and data bc they have that capability. This is why on 3G phones you will not see two sets of bars like you do on CDMA phones that have EV-DO. If you look at an EV-DO on Verizon you will see 2 sets of bars, one for voice signal and one EV-DO data signal bc EV-DO cannot do voice only data. HSPA does both simultaneously which is why you will not be talking on edge even when you are accessing data services.
Yes, all things being the same (such as distance from tower) 3G (HSPA) will penetrate building much more efficiently. If your 3G tower is only 100 yards away you should have no issues.
So here's an experiment for you guys. I got my 3g running yesterday and immediately noticed just one little bar of reception, which I thought was weird because in my apartment before I had full bars or at least 4. So I set the phone down and went from one to 2-3 bars. Put my hand on the back of the phone, 1 bar. Hands off, 2-3 bars. So even my hand was reducing 3g reception by a lot. I eventually dug around the menus and turned 3g off and signal went to 5 bars on edge. I'm still running on 3g now since I've made calls and downloaded things without a problem on 1 bar, but I do hope this isn't a defect in these phones that can't be fixed.
I did speedtests from my house where the signal is basically half a bar and full bars elsewhere in my city and my data rate is the same. So it seems if you're connected at all you still get the same rate/connection vs. full bars and a higher data rate.
I turned 3G off and using edge/wifi I get full bars, not sure if the 3G uses different antenas?
By the way, 3G is awesome!
its not that...3G coverage had to be converted. It needs different hardware and pretty much re-work the network from the ground up. Which is why its not in every part of ATT's network.
A 3G mounting station is not neccesarily in the same location as your EDGE station which is why you have signal degredation.
Cellular towers signal vs distance is a exponential decrease per feet.
I thought it was the frequency (i.e. 850mhz vs 1900mhz) that had the most to do with the signal penetrating obstacles?
Unless I misread the posts, I think people are talking about the iPhone automatically choosing the strongest network.
My iPhone 3G will switch to EDGE automatically when there is no 3G signal, but in a situation where EDGE may have 5 bars of signal and 3G only has 1, the iPhone doesn't switch over to EDGE automatically.
This is getting ridiculous. Is this an iphone problem, an ATT problem, or BOTH??? Sitting at my desk, where i ALWAYS got full bars on Edge with my old iphone, I get the same on the new phone, but only 3 bars with 3G.
When I run a speedtest (testmyiphone.com) I get .44Mbps connected to Edge, and .29Mbps when the "3G" icon is showing. The tests were run about 30 seconds apart. WTF is going on?????
When I run a speedtest (testmyiphone.com) I get .44Mbps connected to Edge, and .29Mbps when the "3G" icon is showing. The tests were run about 30 seconds apart. WTF is going on?????