Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Details of iPhone 2.0.2 Firmware 3G Connectivity Improvements?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is a pretty interesting explanation. It would explain why it seems most complaints from iPhone users I've read are from those who live in the densest urban areas like NY, Chicago, and L.A. Also London, England, too, now that I think about it. More iPhone users in those areas, so more problems.
I wonder if it might also explain why I had some dropped calls/calls going straight to voicemail on my 2.5G iPhone after the 3Gs running 2.0 were rolled out. I never had anything like that happen before then.
One thing I don't get, though, is why the lower power output from the cell towers wouldn't also affect everyone else using different brands of phones besides iPhones. Do iPhones get their own discreet block of power allocation or something?
I wonder if it might also explain why I had some dropped calls/calls going straight to voicemail on my 2.5G iPhone after the 3Gs running 2.0 were rolled out. I never had anything like that happen before then.
One thing I don't get, though, is why the lower power output from the cell towers wouldn't also affect everyone else using different brands of phones besides iPhones. Do iPhones get their own discreet block of power allocation or something?
Possible I suppose though I haven't noticed slow speeds - getting 450 kbps here on 3G (inside a building), which I think is ok, perhaps they have limited it around there, which seems reasonable to me. Better than getting disconnects all the time certainly
Probably just AT&T haven't got their network set up with enough coverage yet for the number of users - the influx of users who all want to use the data intensively must have been a bit of a shock.I don't buy this explanation. I have an iphone in Ireland, 02 got the contract to supply them here. However I got my iphone from Italy unlocked (one of the few countries that sell them like this) and am using the phone on vodafones 3g network. Now I would say there are very very few people using a 3g iphone on vodafones network, and yet I am still getting the problems everyone else is reporting. I had a N95 previously which had perfect reception in the same areas.
O2: We didn't know we were capping 3G data speeds
It was just a PRovisioning error.
Hmmmmmmmmm.
O2 says 128Kb/s is all its 3G customers need
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Sending out text messages really isn't the best way to notify users of an update.
I expect the push notification service will be used to notify users of an update once it's released. Apple should also lock 2.0.2 users ability to access the App Store until they upgrade, to make sure everybody is running the latest software, even if the app they want does not require 2.1.
It's a bit of a Microsoft tactic, but this is a serious issue where some iPhones are limiting the service to all other phones.
I expect the push notification service will be used to notify users of an update once it's released. Apple should also lock 2.0.2 users ability to access the App Store until they upgrade, to make sure everybody is running the latest software, even if the app they want does not require 2.1.
It's a bit of a Microsoft tactic, but this is a serious issue where some iPhones are limiting the service to all other phones.
The employees at Carphone Warehouse don't know anything about the iPhones. Same with folks at o2.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5C1 Safari/525.20)
This further proves that Apple needs to be more open and ensure that things are tested better before they ship. You would think AT&T and Apple would have worked out what settings to use before they released the iPhone 3G. I like Apple, but the quality of some products has been dropping with the rush to release. Look around and find similar problems with products like the MacBook Air which had core shutdown issues.
Apple needs to work better with it's partners. Especially if it is to enter corporate environments which have little tolerance for these types of issues.
This further proves that Apple needs to be more open and ensure that things are tested better before they ship. You would think AT&T and Apple would have worked out what settings to use before they released the iPhone 3G. I like Apple, but the quality of some products has been dropping with the rush to release. Look around and find similar problems with products like the MacBook Air which had core shutdown issues.
Apple needs to work better with it's partners. Especially if it is to enter corporate environments which have little tolerance for these types of issues.
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5C1 Safari/525.20)
It was mentioned that the reason that thing are slow to improve is that other users are still using 2.0 and 2.0.1. Basically, we can expect this to happen until the bulk majority updates to 2.0.2. All we can do is sit and hope.
happydude said:
It was mentioned that the reason that thing are slow to improve is that other users are still using 2.0 and 2.0.1. Basically, we can expect this to happen until the bulk majority updates to 2.0.2. All we can do is sit and hope.
RoughlyDrafted reports on details of the iPhone 2.0.2 firmware 3G connectivity improvements. According to a "source close to AT&T," the connectivity issues have been caused by iPhones demanding that cell towers devote more power than necessary to their connections. When a "critical mass" of iPhones, all demanding excessive amounts of power, are connected to a cell tower, the transmitter runs out of power and begins dropping calls and degrading data delivery. The 2.0.2 firmware update is said to address this issue via modifications to the power control algorithm.
The source also clarifies that iPhones running 2.0 and 2.0.1 firmware are continuing to cause problems for all users, which explains why many users have reported that connection issues persisted after they updated their iPhones. This also explains the advertising push for the 2.0.2 update seen with Apple adding a banner ad to the iPhone App Store and AT&T sending text messages to users encouraging them to update their iPhones.
Apple is due to release a software update for the iPhone in September, but it is not known whether it will include changes to further address the connectivity issues.
Article Link
Ohhhhhhh, i get it now. What a huge HUGE pile of S*#&
First Apple was blaming ATT for the 3G issues.....
Then ATT began saying "nope, it's not us...its APPLE!"....
Now, after the 2.0.2 "update" and the reception still isn't fixed, Apple and ATT decide to pin it on US THE USERS!
Apple/ATT: "see, it's not our fault, it's YOUR fault.....and even if you upgrade and your reception still sucks......it's because everyone around you didn't upgrade. shame on all of you users!"
nice, nice......well played apple/att.
lololol
I can just imagine the scenario, pretty blonde girl playing on her iphone, tech geek from macrumors walks over and in a nasaly voice says:
'heh, heh excuse me miss.... have you updated your firmware yet *geeky nervous laugh* its just your making my phone lose calls because the cellular towers are overloaded, and if you don't upgrade.. they're going to reach critical massss'
Free The iPhone Then!
This is not gonna happen, expecting everybody to update their firmware to 2.0.2? First and foremost unlockers/jailbreakers will brick their iphone if they will update it (AT&T is being tricky again). If only they open-up the iPhone AT&T is not the only one who's gonna carry all the network load problem solved. Besides this 3G on AT&T is not a matured technology yet. Their still a lot of things that need to be done on updating their facilities. I feel sorry for those 3G iPhone subscribers because they were being scammed for paying the premium data plan. AT&T should do what Apple Inc. did on mobileme service if we are not getting what they promised we should get a refund. Or open-up the iPhone so Apple can focus developing their firmware on FEATURES not on how to handle AT&T's unreliable technology.
This is not gonna happen, expecting everybody to update their firmware to 2.0.2? First and foremost unlockers/jailbreakers will brick their iphone if they will update it (AT&T is being tricky again). If only they open-up the iPhone AT&T is not the only one who's gonna carry all the network load problem solved. Besides this 3G on AT&T is not a matured technology yet. Their still a lot of things that need to be done on updating their facilities. I feel sorry for those 3G iPhone subscribers because they were being scammed for paying the premium data plan. AT&T should do what Apple Inc. did on mobileme service if we are not getting what they promised we should get a refund. Or open-up the iPhone so Apple can focus developing their firmware on FEATURES not on how to handle AT&T's unreliable technology.
Well I mean this explanation makes sense if it's true. I agree though that it is going to take a while to get everyone to update. I like the idea of them not letting you do anything when you connect the iPhone until after you update. I think this is probably the most logical way to get everyone to update.
My '07 iPhone is still on 2.0.1. After reading all these 'crappy 2.0.2 reception' reports, why in the world would I upgrade? The iPhone is a phone first and foremost. If a firmware update is going to reduce my ability to make phone calls, I will skip it and wait and see if the September update has this problem as well.
O2: We didn't know we were capping 3G data speeds
It was just a PRovisioning error.
Hmmmmmmmmm.
O2 says 128Kb/s is all its 3G customers need
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Interesting but the reason i said i dont think they cap is because the speed tests i've conducted on iPhones at the Apple/CPW/O2 have all resulted in speeds ranging from 600kbps to 2mb/s but it could be argued that end users won't get those speeds and the iPhones i tested only got those because there are probably 3G repeaters in Apple/O2/CPW stores
No arguments there
I somewhat agree/disagree. SMS messaging is a viable way to notify users. Users need to stop being ignorant and start taking responsibility for their devices. If your devices asks you to update then freaking update it!
I have a friend who switched to a mac a few months back, recently i asked how everything was going and she says fine i then check her macbook and there were like a dozen uninstalled updates. I asked her why she didnt update when it asked and she said "i couldnt be bothered, i just ignore it". I mean seriously?
But sadly this is the norm and most people just ignore alerts telling them to update their systems so even if you send push notifications it most likely wont change anything. People seem to have learnt to ignore anything that says update, thanks in part to the reputation of windows update i guess
Where i agree with you is the locking out thing. Sadly its probably the only effective way, deny people something they like/are used to and they'll suddenly pay attention and start asking questions
This doesn't explain why an iPhone 3G will drop calls and another AT&T 3G phone right next to it will work perfectly. The 2.0 and 2.0.1 firmware should affect those other users as well.
This press release may be partly true, but as someone else already hinted at I think Apple is trying to shift blame on the community to buy them some more time to fix their issues. For the most part the Apple community will lap this up, since they love to blame others for OS misgivings: if someone's Mac isn't meeting their expectations, it's obviously the user's fault. Up until now there was no general sentiment for the iPhone OS similar to this but it could certainly happen soon.
On another note, 3G just went up in my neighborhood yesterday at noon eastern, and I'm really effing excited about it. Now, this morning, 3G calls sound great and don't get dropped but network speeds are slower than ever, it took like 2 minutes to download Customize from Cydia and that's only like 250kb.
This press release may be partly true, but as someone else already hinted at I think Apple is trying to shift blame on the community to buy them some more time to fix their issues. For the most part the Apple community will lap this up, since they love to blame others for OS misgivings: if someone's Mac isn't meeting their expectations, it's obviously the user's fault. Up until now there was no general sentiment for the iPhone OS similar to this but it could certainly happen soon.
On another note, 3G just went up in my neighborhood yesterday at noon eastern, and I'm really effing excited about it. Now, this morning, 3G calls sound great and don't get dropped but network speeds are slower than ever, it took like 2 minutes to download Customize from Cydia and that's only like 250kb.
lololol
I can just imagine the scenario, pretty blonde girl playing on her iphone, tech geek from macrumors walks over and in a nasaly voice says:
'heh, heh excuse me miss.... have you updated your firmware yet *geeky nervous laugh* its just your making my phone lose calls because the cellular towers are overloaded, and if you don't upgrade.. they're going to reach critical massss'
Well, having an Apple device is a good conversation starter actually. People always smile at me when I pull out my Macbook or iPhone in a train. Even the linux people get friendly if they see you have a terminal window open.
I'd love to have an informed geek around everytime I go shop for something I don't really know much about. The sales people are usually the worst informed of all and they're not really trying to help you out, they just read the info on the display model and get more enthousiastic the higher the price is.
Quick, someone write an iPhone app that can identify and target "evil" iPhones. I'm thinking of a tricorder style app that you have to hold really close to the subject like a metal detector and that makes erratic beeping noises.
I whole-heartedly yell BS. Why is this affecting EDGE users (such as myself) then? I don't drop calls but damn is my connection a lot weaker than before. With 1.4, I could get 4-5 bars and now with 2.02 I'm getting 2-5. And it fluctuates like crazy. That tells me there are consistent and intermittent connectivity issues.
I'm getting more and more frustrated as "fixes" come out. At this point, all they are doing is using a band-aid instead of actually fixing the f%^&ing thing.
I'm getting more and more frustrated as "fixes" come out. At this point, all they are doing is using a band-aid instead of actually fixing the f%^&ing thing.
OK so let me get this straight. Apple wants to make sure that they have a reliable product, so they create it to demand a reliable connection. Then ATT comes back and says "WHOA, wait a minute, we can't handle all of this demand on our networks (be it power or anything)." And, still, it is Apple's fault?!? If I spend this kind of money on something the thing had better work, and work better than anything else out there. This is what Apple created and ATT cannot handle it? This is freaking hilarious. SO in order for Apple to maintain its reputation of reliability, it has to conceed to ATT's demands and reduce it's demand on the network. Maybe I am an idiot, but wont reducing the amount of power demanded by each iPhone on ATT's network REDUCE the reliability of each individual connection? Or, at the very least, make the service MORE sporadic in areas with sparse 3G coverage? I don't know, but to me the problem is still with ATT.
Because it's crap. That's why we, people who can think things through, are not getting their "explanation". There is no seperate iPhone power block. Apple is blaming AT&T, AT&T is blaming Apple. Nobody has answers so they come up with junk like this.
What other 3G devices have you seen this with. My experience is exactly the opposite. ALL 3G devices have exactly the same problems on ATT's network.