Dual Subscriber 3GS to 4
I am on a dual service family plan of two subscribers, one of us located in Evanston, Illinois and the other in Dublin, Ohio. Like yin and yang, I prefer Microsoft while my partner prefers an Apple – so the choice of the iPhone 3GS was more my partner’s decision and I must admit my fascination with the device grew as I became aware of all the features. My partner was especially excited when he convinced me to buy a Macbook Pro - I love the Apple hardware – however I still prefer to operate under a boot camp of Windows 7.
This summer, because of a discount we received for the new iPhone 4 and because of the Facetime feature, since we live in separate cities, we decided to make the jump. Now we have had the bumper since we first acquired the new phone – so perhaps this has prevented us from dropping calls because of the antenna; however, I don’t cover that area anyways when I talk. Prior to either of the two versions of the iPhones – I was on Sprint, I never once dropped a call in my apartment or on my drive home; however, now that I have switched to AT&T – either the iPhone or the service provider really sucks in maintaining a call.
The number of dropped calls is so bad, AT&T identified us to receive one of those free MicroCells. Now maybe it’s just our luck with AT&T – but the MicroCell is even worse than the cell network. The MicroCell plugs into your link out to the Internet and extends the signal to only the 10 phone numbers you specify. My Internet is a business connection with a static IP on the outside and 30mbps down 10mbps up – plenty of bandwidth; however, we have turned it off due to its poor quality. Often calls are dropped or the person I am talking to stutters and we have to end and call back to stop the digital stuttering effect. Also it’s not just my phone – my partner also has had the same issue while on the MicroCell…
Facetime is neat – but we have not had luck maintaining a conversation – every single instance of a conversation has at some point failed. We have simply come to terms with the “Beep Dup” – “Call Failed” and are back to the.. “So I was at the supermarket… are you there? – good, and picked up some milk… still with me? great! Went home afterwards… have I lost you?... (Beep Dup)” – redial…
At my school where I work with the technology for the district – all the administration use the iPhone (3G – 3GS and now on the iPhone 4) and every single one of them (I know, cause I work with them on new technology), including the ones that favor Apple report inconsistent quality and continuous dropped calls. We have deemed the iPhone a fantastic device for everything but phone calls.
Let me put it into perspective, I was on a phone interview with Microsoft (no I did not get the job, perhaps pulling my MacBook Pro out during the face to face interview with my iPhone next to it to tether through Handylight was a bit much for them) – during my phone interview I dropped the call 3 times before switching over to the Skype app.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it – but I would love it even more if it worked as a phone also. I have at times considered abandoning the phone and getting my old Sprint phone back online while using the iPhone as though it were an iPod Touch with 3G. There isn’t a day that goes by where I am not messing with it while on the train/plane/in the car while driving and eating a hamburger and switching music tracks while talking to my partner on the Bluetooth – which now works again after the version 4.1 update (on a MyGig UConnect system). I like having the data services at my fingertips – the option of Facetime is great, when it works… I even Jailbroke my phone – did the whole Facetime while on 3G – added the cool styles to the lock screen (switched back cause I wanted Bluetooth to work) – the phone is wonderful for trips – have traveled to China, Europe and most recently South America – and Skype is fantastic – to make calls through this app for pennies just cannot be beat – heck I might as well drop our phone minutes to the minimum and just switch over to Skype, I think it may operate better
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It’s a love-hate relationship – but overall the features – minus the phone – just cannot be beat. I also acquired the incase slider – be forewarned, if you have the ZAGG front/back protectors – don’t bother with this case – I tried boiling the case hoping to bend the edges without luck… I ended up ruining my front/back protectors – it does; however, fit perfectly without the screen protectors – if you get the forward protector – just use a paper cutter to slice off a little bit of the sides & corners to make it fit accordingly.
If you use the Apple bumper case, no old USB cables that have the clips you pinch to withdraw the cable will work. There is not enough clearance in the case for the cable to make contact – unless you want to stand there the whole time pushing the cable in… And no, with the bumper on you cannot dock the phone into a universal thing a mi jig… hence why I bought the slider.
My partner’s service in Ohio, although not as bad as in Chicago, shares equal difficulty – he used Verizon previously and never experienced dropped calls like we do now. In comparison to the 3GS – noticeably longer battery life in the iPhone4 – I feel like they are similar in call quality, maybe more dropped calls with the version 4 – perhaps it’s AT&T’s coverage – or Apple may be better at making high quality equipment but lacks with designing good reception. I am not qualified to say as I have only used the iPhone while with AT&T.
It offers a lot, but if you are on a phone interview, better use a friends or find a pay phone
nboy once again. 
