Good Article on Yahoo News About Poor iPhone 3G Reception

[shinenjk]

Link

At first, I was really happy to purchase iPhone 3G and make a switch to AT&T, BUT I have been mightily disappointed with 3G performance thus far during 2 weeks of use. I live in a metropolitan area (Boston) but I get 1-2 bars and it frequently switches to EDGE at most places unless it's close to downtown. 3G also performs poorly indoors which means either that iPhone has crap reception or 3G signal isn't strong enough (or a combination of both). Also, please do not tell me to keep 3G off & use EDGE just because it's more reliable or for the sake of battery performance, etc. Am I the only one who sees stupidity in this "advice" (nobody has been called out on this)? I bought this phone for its intended use, not for its downgraded ability. It was never my intention to pay $299 for a poorly built phone and $80/month for crap 3G reception. Apple & AT&T have advertised faster speeds, and I'm not getting it. Having browsed this forum daily since the iPhone purchase, it's not difficult to tell that bad 3G reception is a widespread problem. So Apple & AT&T, please take responsibility of your mess and fix it soon, or you'll be losing lots of customers including me.

Sincerely,
A concerned iPhone 3G user

 

[vega07]

^^ word.

at&t advertises on their website I should get excellent 3G reception. but I actually get ZERO 3G service. my iPhone always switches to edge after maybe 15 seconds of 3G every time I turn off and on 3G in the network preferences.

I called customer care and they said I should be receiving excellent coverage, and are investigating my case. I wonder what they mean by investigating...

if they cannot provide 3G service, then it should not be advertised on either the online coverage map or by word of mouth from the reps themselves. I only got the iPhone after I was falsely ensured by both sources I will receive a good 3G signal. such blatant false advertising! I'm paying at&t extra for a service I am not receiving.

I should have asked an iPhone 3G owner around my area before getting one myself. I guess it's my fault as well.

 

[aristobrat]

at&t advertises on their website I should get excellent 3G reception.

What city are you in?

When I type my address into the AT&T website, it only shows the parts of my area that have 3G coverage shaded in dark blue. Nowhere does it indicate the quality of the 3G coverage.

IMO, the only thing that is going to fix AT&Ts 3G network is time.

As in years of it.

They still have to manage their old 2G network while they're bringing their 3G network up, and it's not like they have the ability to just pop up new towers everywhere they need to. Nobody wants one in their backyard.

 

[t0mat0]

Pinch of salt required for both those authors.

 

[RexTraverse]

Nobody wants one in their backyard.

Maybe not a whole tower, but AT&T is more than welcome to throw an antenna array on my roof.

 

[vega07]

What city are you in?

When I type my address into the AT&T website, it only shows the parts of my area that have 3G coverage shaded in dark blue. Nowhere does it indicate the quality of the 3G coverage.

ahhh...true true, the website does not indicate quality. but my argument still stands. the online map says I should be getting 3G reception but I get none at all. my zip code is 92840

 

[drchipinski]

I could not deal with ATT's piss poor coverage so I cancelled my service and now I am back with my VZW service where in the 9 years I have used them have dropped less calls in that time frame than I did with the iphone in two weeks.

ATT should really fix this and not steal money from people just because of the love for the iphone.

 

[Kyeris]

My brother has a RAZR. Whenever he comes over, he gets full bars (3G), when I'll get anywhere from 3-1 (usually 2 or so).

I have yet to have a call to drop, but they do get choppy every once and a while. I have seen though that Motorola phones do get better signals?

 

[w4rmk]

I have had the exact same dropping issues described in the article here in Denver, Colorado. I have had my 3G radio turned off since the first weekend I got the new iPhone 3G. The Edge service works great, but 3G is terrible. I get dropped calls and no signals constantly when 3G is turned on.

I had used an HTC Tilt for the past year and never turned off 3G and never had any problems.

 

[djrobsd]

I am glad to see this surface. The way the article describes it is EXACTLY what happens at my house here in San Diego (92103). I have FULL 3G service (5 bars), and my phone keeps switching back and forth between EDGE, and 3g. Sometimes when the phone shows full 3G service, there really isn't any and when I dial out it just says call failed. When people call me, it's just going right to voice mail.

It's so frustrating. I got a cheapo Samsung phone from AT&T to test out at home, and it's working perfectly with no 3G reception issues. My x has a Samsung Blackjack on 3G, and whenever he came over here, he NEVER had any issues with the phone!

So, I'm not really sure what to do...... I am now beyond my 30 day return window too. UGH.

 

[shinenjk]

So, I'm not really sure what to do...... I am now beyond my 30 day return window too. UGH.

You could probably try to cancel citing breach of contract (no 3G/intermittent 3G loss). I'm gonna suck it up and see how it goes because 3G will probably improve as Apple & AT&T work to fix all the issues. But if I don't see improvement in the future, I will have to cancel. ;(

 

[crtowles]

Call ATT

I was having some of the same troubles as some of you and called ATT. They had me call them from a land line and they sent some settings to my phone and viola..the phone works works perfectly now.

Try giving them a call.

Carmen

 

[djrobsd]

Carmen, what you are referring to is the "provisioning" of the phone. Certain iPhones were not provisioned properly, and are having issues. However, AT&T has already checked this on my phone and they said everything is provisioned properly. They even checked again when Apple called them on my behalf before Apple replaced my phone.

Now I have my replacement iPhone in hand, but haven't swapped it out yet, since my original phone is working perfectly tonight. Why do things WORK after we get a replacement? Are they scared into good behavior?! LOL

 

[lavrishevo]

I get 5 bars inside my house in Trujillo Alto, PR. I am kind of on top of a hill and must be close to a tower. I just did a speed test and got 900 Kbps which is pretty good. Right now it is all about location to the tower and how many others are pulling data from that same source as well. Give it some time if you can it will be well worth it when everything get implemented in your area.

 

[shinenjk]

I get 5 bars inside my house in Trujillo Alto, PR. I am kind of on top of a hill and must be close to a tower. I just did a speed test and got 900 Kbps which is pretty good. Right now it is all about location to the tower and how many others are pulling data from that same source as well. Give it some time if you can it will be well worth it when everything get implemented in your area.

That is so weird. I get one bar 3G sitting in my room and when I test for speed, I get 1300-1400kbps.