Details of iPhone 2.0.2 Firmware 3G Connectivity Improvements?

[mattster16]

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 noticed my edge iphone doing this also. But it actually started BEFORE the 2.0 update and the 3G came out. I had less bars and they would fluctuate more often. I really don't care how many bars there are, however, as they aren't really an accurate measurement of how strong of service you have. A manufacturer can calibrate them to display however they want. I didn't miss any calls or have any connection issues.

I don't know what to attribute this to other than AT&T. Minneapolis didn't have 3G until a couple months before the 3G was released and it was coincidentally the same time they switched over that I noticed a change in 'bars' on my phone.

Other than there being less bars though I'm not having any actual problems.

 

[manhattanboy]

I noticed my edge iphone doing this also. But it actually started BEFORE the 2.0 update and the 3G came out. I had less bars and they would fluctuate more often. I really don't care how many bars there are, however, as they aren't really an accurate measurement of how strong of service you have. A manufacturer can calibrate them to display however they want. I didn't miss any calls or have any connection issues.

I don't know what to attribute this to other than AT&T. Minneapolis didn't have 3G until a couple months before the 3G was released and it was coincidentally the same time they switched over that I noticed a change in 'bars' on my phone.

Other than there being less bars though I'm not having any actual problems.

Actually I wen to the AT&T store today and ran a side-by-side comparison using the Field test...which I think everyone should use since it quantitates everything.
Anyway, at the AT&T store the signal dB's fluctuated widely from 60 to 90
which is quite a HUGE range for a static location. I think AT&T is seriously f*cked by the iPhone load.

 

[rav227]

Maybe all AT&T 3G service is bad

Take this for what its worth, but I live in NYC and own a Blackjack. For the past month I have had serious issues with getting 3G connections (this coincides with the Iphone launch). It has gotten to the point where even Edge barely work. I think there maybe some truth to the theory that AT&T cell towers are being overwhelmed. We all may not be hearing about this issue from non-Iphone owners because this is a Mac Forum and Iphone owners apperntly surf the web more frequently. I would be interested to know if other non-Iphone users are having similar probles. For the record I exchanged phones and the problem is the same.

 

[manhattanboy]

Take this for what its worth, but I live in NYC and own a Blackjack. For the past month I have had serious issues with getting 3G connections (this coincides with the Iphone launch). It has gotten to the point where even Edge barely work. I think there maybe some truth to the theory that AT&T cell towers are being overwhelmed. We all may not be hearing about this issue from non-Iphone owners because this is a Mac Forum and Iphone owners apperntly surf the web more frequently. I would be interested to know if other non-Iphone users are having similar probles. For the record I exchanged phones and the problem is the same.

That fact that the 3G network speeds slow to a crawl during peak hours likely supports this fact 100%.
I wish AT&T would release their issues on network capacity but they probably never will.

 

[WhySoSerious]

It's not you, it is your fellow iPhone 3G users. As they upgrade to the 2.0.2 firmware, the load their phones are putting on the 3G network lessens which improves service for everyone else.

i see you drank the apple/att kool-aid and are now brainwashed.

 

[rav227]

Not very happy

That fact that the 3G network speeds slow to a crawl during peak hours likely supports this fact 100%.
I wish AT&T would release their issues on network capacity but they probably never will.

To be honest, I am at the point where I will be cancelling my data package so I can save $30 a month. I would like to buy an Iphone but if these 3G issues are not resolved I will just keep my Blackjack as a "dumb" cell phone. On a side note, I think both Apple and AT&T need to be more open about these issues. As a non-tech savy consumer I can accept that technology does not always work properly. What I can not accept, is being kept in the dark while being charged for inferior service. Now stepping off my soap box.

 

[skiphunt]

jinxed

Dang it! I knew I'd jinx it by saying I wasn't having probs anymore. Since I bought the fact that things were getting better because more users were upgrading their phones as Apple/ATT suggests... I went ahead and put a handful of apps back on my iphone 3g. Now it's all screwed up again. Frozen at the Apple logo and nothing bringing it back for a half hour. Finally came back up and everything is all haywire again. Taking the apps back off now to see if stability returns. Dang it to hell!!!! I had no idea getting a freakin' iPhone 3g was not only going to cost me $300 and an extra $30 a month... but also cost me MANY freakin' hours of wasted time.

I have no idea who's fault this is... but it's a freakin' mess for sure. I really want my money and time back at this point.

 

[Riemann Zeta]

Actually, doesn't this mean that it is lack of network capacity? Since 3G is in its early infancy in the US and millions of new iPhone users are vying for the same sparse array of towers, there's just not enough bandwidth to go around. This power argument sounds like a band-aid. Dramatic improvements probably won't happen until the network bandwidth is increased and more towers are added. I'm sure this is happening now, but it is a big process and will probably take time.

I have a 1st gen iPhone on 2.02. While I haven't had any issues with calls dropping out, I will say that the data rate in shot to hell during peak hours, but great at like 2 in the morning. This alone is a clear indication that the network wasn't ready for all the data throughput that high-speed mobile connections require. At least with ATT, I bet the number of high-speed 3G customers jumped five-six fold in less than a month with the iPhone 3G.

 

[Rybold]

I'm on an original iPhone, running 2.0.2 and my reception has never been worse. I can no longer send/receive calls at my house. Period. Which has never once been an issue until 2.0.2. And with no land line - this has proven very problematic. And there is a huge AT&T tower at the end of my street. I can see it form my house. Seriously.

It's almost sounding like this update will REDUCE the power, signal strength, and speed of all iPhones. AT&T figures if the phones aren't as demanding, then there will be fewer complaints of dropped calls and busy networks. If your iPhoneSpeedTest used to read 1.2Mbps, it now only reads 0.8Mbps. This is AT&T's fix ... am I right or wrong?

Also, as someone else pointed out ... this is an opportunity for AT&T and Apple to turn the blame around from them to their customers! "Stop pointing fingers at us. The problems are because of all of your friends who haven't updated." And since the public does not have access to the statistics, techinically AT&T and Apple can continue to use this argument FOREVER!

 

[Mindflux]

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.

Uh. Genius. We're on the SAME towers as the 3G users. The transmission power drops and guess who gets dropped? Everyone using that tower! AT&T doesn't have O-M-G 3G towers separate from W-T-F-B-B-Q EDGE towers.

Furthermore, the 3G network in general just HAS to be over saturated. They went from a relatively small userbase to a much bigger audience, literally over a 3 day weekend when Apple sold 1M iPhones nation wide.

 

[Rybold]

I met a girl tonight at the bar, she was bragging about her iphone and I asked her if she upgraded her firmware, she gave me this dumb blonde look. Then I asked if she received a sms from ATT, then she said "oh I thought it was an Att advertisement or something like that, I deleted it."

"An important software update for iPhone 3G..." This message is pretty clear. Many people may have chosen not to update, but I think the message was pretty clear. Apparently that girl didn't know how to read. See kids! This is why you stay in school !
( btw, Apple has excellent back to school promotions for students! )

 

[t0mat0]

Uh. Genius. We're on the SAME towers as the 3G users. The transmission power drops and guess who gets dropped? Everyone using that tower! AT&T doesn't have O-M-G 3G towers separate from W-T-F-B-B-Q EDGE towers.

Furthermore, the 3G network in general just HAS to be over saturated. They went from a relatively small userbase to a much bigger audience, literally over a 3 day weekend when Apple sold 1M iPhones nation wide.

A secondary point, is that TTFF time to first fix, using the Map service has got slower and slower. Around the 12th-19th - the first week or so, when there were only a few in the UK on O2, it was a very quick fix. Much slower now.

 

[jbernie]

I dunno, I'm still going to wait for 2.1. I just upgraded to a 3G and had to restore a backup, I don't want to have to all that again unless the update is significant!

This where Apple's detailed description of the update that just says "bnug fixes" hurts them, provide details when the upgrade is released so people know what is being fixed, they might actually consider doing the updates sooner.

I'm surprised that Apple or AT&T hasn't developed a way to 'Push' a Firmware update to the devices, then give the user a window saying an update is ready for installation. Then, it would be a forced update. I mean who doesn't want their phone to work properly?

Basically do it the Xbox360 way (assuming internet connectivity), power on Xbox, you must accept update before you can play your games. That should get phones updated faster, obviously you can't rely on the power on method but push the update, give them 24 hours to accept it, then install it without choice.

 

[Mindflux]

This where Apple's detailed description of the update that just says "bnug fixes" hurts them, provide details when the upgrade is released so people know what is being fixed, they might actually consider doing the updates sooner.

Darn those bnug fixes! They're always so vague.

Basically do it the Xbox360 way (assuming internet connectivity), power on Xbox, you must accept update before you can play your games. That should get phones updated faster, obviously you can't rely on the power on method but push the update, give them 24 hours to accept it, then install it without choice.

Meh.

 

[8CoreWhore]

I'm on an original iPhone, running 2.0.2 and my reception has never been worse. I can no longer send/receive calls at my house. Period. Which has never once been an issue until 2.0.2. And with no land line - this has proven very problematic.
And there is a huge AT&T tower at the end of my street.
I can see it form my house.
Seriously.

I don't get it.
But what I DO get is that since 2.0, my iPhone experience has been pretty blah (which is still better than any phone I ever used, but still... 1.1.4 was SO perfect. F the App Store if it means all of these issues).

Sorry. Just not been a happy iPhone user for the past few weeks - which is a new emotion for me.

It''l probably improve again when all the conventioners leave Denver. Why not just revert back to 2.0.1?

 

[natasha69]

My family has a Motorola exec in its group. He/she works in Europe. They said that the most frustrating thing for their company is that ATT never runs their towers at full power. They try to save $$. My iphone drops calls. But guess what, it drops calls exactly where it dropped calls from my edge phone (phone 2g, and a samsung d900).

ATT, time to step up and deliver. I'm surprised the class action suit isn't aimed at you yet.

 

[soLoredd]

Uh. Genius. We're on the SAME towers as the 3G users. The transmission power drops and guess who gets dropped? Everyone using that tower! AT&T doesn't have O-M-G 3G towers separate from W-T-F-B-B-Q EDGE towers.

Furthermore, the 3G network in general just HAS to be over saturated. They went from a relatively small userbase to a much bigger audience, literally over a 3 day weekend when Apple sold 1M iPhones nation wide.

You can be snide all you want but I don't believe this article is the almighty answer. For some reason, a lot of you are fine with saying "Hey, idiot, it's the power from the tower. There isn't enough." Yet, nobody else came up with that reasoning before this article was posted. Yeah, right. When Apple has now released 2 updates to 2.0 and NOTHING is fixed (SMS lag, bad reception, dropped calls, system crashes, etc.) you all keep giving them a pass.

Give me a GOOD reason why people without iPhones are not having the same complaints? And don't use the BlackJack II, please. I had one of those before the original iPhone came out and it was piss-poor from the start.

 

[Mindflux]

Give me a GOOD reason why people without iPhones are not having the same complaints? And don't use the BlackJack II, please. I had one of those before the original iPhone came out and it was piss-poor from the start.

Did you bother to read the rest of the thread? One of the new AT&T Blackberry models is experiencing the same issues. Surely Apple doesn't help RIM with their software, unless you want to continue along the whole conspiracy theorist route.

 

[jbernie]

My family has a Motorola exec in its group. He/she works in Europe. They said that the most frustrating thing for their company is that ATT never runs their towers at full power. They try to save $$. My iphone drops calls. But guess what, it drops calls exactly where it dropped calls from my edge phone (phone 2g, and a samsung d900).

ATT, time to step up and deliver. I'm surprised the class action suit isn't aimed at you yet.

Problem is you don't have a majority of the <insert 3g phone> owners crying up a storm like you do the iPhone 3G users. 3G reception etc doesn't bother me, have a Samsung A737 3G phone and don't have any issues with it, don't miss calls, don't drop calls etc and 3G where I live isn't that strong, I am always switching between 3G & edge without any issues. As for data related traffic, ooo 3G sends my text messages to my wife soo much faster. Speaking of the wife, she has a Motorola Razr 3xx which is 3G and she doesn't have any issues either.

We have both been with AT&T/Cingular for around 7 years. I also have a Blackberry 8700 with AT&T, edge only, but still no issues since the iPhone 3Gs arrived.

Denver metro area for the location.

 

[bluenoise]

You can be snide all you want but I don't believe this article is the almighty answer. For some reason, a lot of you are fine with saying "Hey, idiot, it's the power from the tower. There isn't enough." Yet, nobody else came up with that reasoning before this article was posted. Yeah, right. When Apple has now released 2 updates to 2.0 and NOTHING is fixed (SMS lag, bad reception, dropped calls, system crashes, etc.) you all keep giving them a pass.

Give me a GOOD reason why people without iPhones are not having the same complaints? And don't use the BlackJack II, please. I had one of those before the original iPhone came out and it was piss-poor from the start.

My Moto Q9h had great AT&T 3G service until about July 13 or so, if that tells you anything.

 

[natasha69]

Problem is you don't have a majority of the <insert 3g phone> owners crying up a storm like you do the iPhone 3G users. 3G reception etc doesn't bother me, have a Samsung A737 3G phone and don't have any issues with it, don't miss calls, don't drop calls etc and 3G where I live isn't that strong, I am always switching between 3G & edge without any issues. As for data related traffic, ooo 3G sends my text messages to my wife soo much faster. Speaking of the wife, she has a Motorola Razr 3xx which is 3G and she doesn't have any issues either.

We have both been with AT&T/Cingular for around 7 years. I also have a Blackberry 8700 with AT&T, edge only, but still no issues since the iPhone 3Gs arrived.

Denver metro area for the location.

If we could have a map of ATT's 3G coverage area, and a map we could overlay of density of complaints, I think that might be a very good map to review.

I personally have no complaints. I just can show you exactly on the map where my coverage has dropped consistently for the past 7 years. Out in the San Francisco East Bay in California. Drops right after Stone Valley Road, just before El Pintado Exit.

And yes, have called it in a few times. Nothing has changed.

A better comparison for your post would be if you had a friend who had an iPhone 3G who traveled the same route as you - does he see a difference in reception?

 

[bluenoise]

Out in the San Francisco East Bay in California. Drops right after Stone Valley Road, just before El Pintado Exit.

And yes, have called it in a few times. Nothing has changed.

Interesting...That's right near where I live and I was always dropping calls along that stretch (right after getting onto 680 SB at Stone Valley) with my Blackjack II and Moto Q9h. My iPhone isn't dropping there, though, but I have 3G turned off unless I need it.

 

[twoodcc]

well i'm glad to see that they know the problem, and are getting it taken care of. now if just everyone would update

 

[skiphunt]

software

What are the chances that all of this is simply software/app related? I posted earlier today that after tons of problems... and being on my 3rd iphone 3G... everything seemed to be pretty stable, etc. I had previously taken off any app that I didn't absolutely want on the phone, but left about 30 apps that I liked and was still very stable. THEN, figuring that everything was getting better because many were now upgrading their firmware, etc. I went ahead and put those deleted 15 apps back on my phone. Everything seemed to be fine during the sync... and a few had updates ready to be installed as well..... after everything was reinstalled and updated... and I'd rebooted, etc. Everything got screwed up again, ie. I couldn't move app icons to where I wanted... it appeared that some void was taking over some slots so that no app icon could reside where there was nothing... it froze up... restarted (but it took about a half hour..) got it working, but the GPS seemed to be all messed up and showing me to be in Nigeria instead of Austin, Texas... it dropped a call... and email stopped working.

I just finished taking all those apps back off. I still have about 30 3rd party apps on the phone, but got rid of about 15 that I wasn't that excited about anyway. NOW.. the phone appears to be back to working perfectly again. No freeze ups... the GPS is correct.... and I just got several emails.

What are the chances that most of these problems have more to do with poorly written 3rd party apps? AND perhaps some bug in iTunes during install?

 

[spectravp]

more issues now

I had no issues except the slow contacts app until I updated to 2.0.2. Now I get dropped calls all the time, errors sending SMS message. My mail sounds stopped working. Ugh. I say there official statement is just PR BS.