interesting...my 3g is fine and I live in the city..but today I was by Wall Street, the connection was all over the place...for the first time I got frustrated with the iphone!
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iPhone 3G Connection Issues Related to Software or Hardware?
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2 iPhone 3G's over here... White 16g & Black 16g. No case cracking or flaws. They were "skinned" out of the box. The 1 battery is a little flaky, but still testing. The only place thus far with bad reception was the grocery store.
That video is interesting but not a good comparison for 2 reasons: The phones are too close together to rule out any interference and both phones have different apps loaded.
I had the same issue. I live in NYC and have never head a problem finding 3g. For some reason today I was on edge 95% of the day in an area I usually get 3g. I'm not sure what is up with it but today was the first time I have had a problem with getting a 3g signal.
I hear all these people talking about cracks. i have a white 16gb 3g iphone and have looked for cracks. Nothing. I even dropped my phone while at Summer Stage from the highest point of the bleachers (aprox. 6ft up) and there is no cracks. The top near the sim card is a bit gnarled from hitting the concrete and there is a small gnarl on the bottom. I assume from when it bounced. Besides that the case is solid.
I am very happy with my phone and so are all of my friends who have purchased the phone. All I want is copy/paste.
I have had no dropped calls or any service problems with my 3G, in both Las Vegas and recently on vacation in Kaua'i
I have not had any dropped calls but did notice that my 3G internet went down to below Edge speed around 5-6pm PST on Fido today but then it was back up to 2.5Mbps which leads me to believe that these problems coincide with hours of heavy data/call usage on cell networks. Fido's unlimited local calls being at 5pm. I talked with my cab driver this evening and he also has an iPhone but on Rogers and noticed slow internet access earlier today and yesterday.
At around 6pm today in Winnipeg on rogers, the 3g signal wash showing 4 bars, but my call was complete crap, it sounded like i was talking to a fax machine ( well almost ) so i hung up switched to edge and the call was perfect !!!
I am very disappointed that i have to switch off 3g to actually use the phone! i mean wtf apple! lol fix it !
I am very disappointed that i have to switch off 3g to actually use the phone! i mean wtf apple! lol fix it !
# of Bars do not correlate with network load or quality
Most of us would think that having 5 bars means you will get excellent performance. In reality, number of bars only indicate the signal strength.
Unfortunately, it does not mean that network has a plenty of bandwidth or the traffic quality.
I have iPhone for the second day and besides bad sim cards issue (poor internet access on 3G, it was corrected with new sim card), I noticed a wild variations in a network performance based on specific time. Sometimes, during congestion switching to EDGE would help and it is even faster then 3G.
The most important factor in network performance is latency and this one variates greatly during day. When it is ~250ms you hare very happy, but it could go up to 25secs - causing timeouts or huge delays. Once data frame is out there is nothing to stop it. Delays are the killer.
ATT would prioritize voice packets over data without any doubt. The call drop is mainly attributed to a network change/switch. The spoken fix: lowering the 3G signal strength threshold could help to some degree.
Lets not forget 3G is not yet has a coverage of the EDGE. It also means 3G capable towers take more load. I believe 3G will improve going forward as ATT add more coverage.
ATT is pushing for bars in ads, but should not forget about network capacity/quality too.
Most of us would think that having 5 bars means you will get excellent performance. In reality, number of bars only indicate the signal strength.
Unfortunately, it does not mean that network has a plenty of bandwidth or the traffic quality.
I have iPhone for the second day and besides bad sim cards issue (poor internet access on 3G, it was corrected with new sim card), I noticed a wild variations in a network performance based on specific time. Sometimes, during congestion switching to EDGE would help and it is even faster then 3G.
The most important factor in network performance is latency and this one variates greatly during day. When it is ~250ms you hare very happy, but it could go up to 25secs - causing timeouts or huge delays. Once data frame is out there is nothing to stop it. Delays are the killer.
ATT would prioritize voice packets over data without any doubt. The call drop is mainly attributed to a network change/switch. The spoken fix: lowering the 3G signal strength threshold could help to some degree.
Lets not forget 3G is not yet has a coverage of the EDGE. It also means 3G capable towers take more load. I believe 3G will improve going forward as ATT add more coverage.
ATT is pushing for bars in ads, but should not forget about network capacity/quality too.
I agree it's fine to have signal strength, but sucks when the voice traffic over the signal is interfered with or degraded cause a bad user experience.
I have a 3G iPhone but live about 40 miles from the nearest 3G coverage. That said, the store told me 3G was being turned on today in our town. None the less, I have traveled to Portland a few times and never noticed reception problems at all, including the entire trip up I-5 where 3G was available (Salem Oregon and the outer burbs of Portland included)
Same thing in Denver, yes it switched back and fourth a bit there but only when I was clearly on the edge of 3G coverage.
Same thing in Denver, yes it switched back and fourth a bit there but only when I was clearly on the edge of 3G coverage.
one tiny bar and good service
I live in somewhat of a FL backwater with terrible AT&T service. i get ONE BAR but have not dropped a single call. I bet there aren't a dozen iPhones in range of my nearest tower.
I live in somewhat of a FL backwater with terrible AT&T service. i get ONE BAR but have not dropped a single call. I bet there aren't a dozen iPhones in range of my nearest tower.
My commuting route takes me from an Edge-only area to 3G daily. I can just about without fail predict when I'm going to lose a call now . . . and it's always at the fringe of 3G coverage. Either when going out of 3G, or on Edge-only when the phone gets a sniff of 3G.
My personal experience has been that I get much more unpredictable behavior on 2.0.1. I will be in an area that is 3G, yet get no 3G and 5 bars of Edge. Almost like Apple said "take the strongest signal, no matter whether it's 3G or Edge." YMMV.
That being said, I have no doubt that IF this is a software issue it'll be fixed by Apple. But if it's a chipset problem then it's more likely we'll see a 'silent' recall whereby customers who complain are given fixed/new phones, whatever that turns out to be.
My personal experience has been that I get much more unpredictable behavior on 2.0.1. I will be in an area that is 3G, yet get no 3G and 5 bars of Edge. Almost like Apple said "take the strongest signal, no matter whether it's 3G or Edge." YMMV.
That being said, I have no doubt that IF this is a software issue it'll be fixed by Apple. But if it's a chipset problem then it's more likely we'll see a 'silent' recall whereby customers who complain are given fixed/new phones, whatever that turns out to be.
Another reason why CDMA is better than GSM/HDSPA. CDMA supports transitioning from EVDO back to standard 1X without dropping the call.
Oh, and EVDO is more power-efficient than HSDPA for comparable performance.
I don't know why the whole world is convinced that CDMA/EVDO is outdated, inferior technology.
It also doesn't suffer the problem of decreasing bandwidth availability based on number of 3G connections in the area, since it allows all handsets to send and receive simultaneously on the same channel.
Finally got my 3G iPhone and love it but the 3G problems are quite bad
I have had numerous calls dropped for no reason in broad daylight in downtown chicago and other problems noted in the article
I have had numerous calls dropped for no reason in broad daylight in downtown chicago and other problems noted in the article
I say this is a problem only occurring in areas with fairly recent 3G signal.
Spain has had 3G for years, and although Movistar's (the official iPhone network) own 3G network is not the best (Vodafona has the largest and best working 3G network here) I have had absolutely no problems with the 3G network whatsoever.
In 3 weeks I've had the iPhone I've only seen it turning to GPRS (Edge is not available here) a few times, mainly in the subway, road tunnels and isolated and unpopulated areas in between cities or towns.
In 3 weeks I've had 2 dropped calls, which is fine by any mobile setup / handset I've ever had.
And the article is written a bit strangely. Areas with highly populated iPhone base? What? Is the iPhone the only 3G device on the market? Over here I saw 90% of the mobile market is 3G and there are tons of 3G modems for example using a lot of data, so I guess you can only say there'd be an issue in areas where a lot of 3G bandwidth is being used.
Spain has had 3G for years, and although Movistar's (the official iPhone network) own 3G network is not the best (Vodafona has the largest and best working 3G network here) I have had absolutely no problems with the 3G network whatsoever.
In 3 weeks I've had the iPhone I've only seen it turning to GPRS (Edge is not available here) a few times, mainly in the subway, road tunnels and isolated and unpopulated areas in between cities or towns.
In 3 weeks I've had 2 dropped calls, which is fine by any mobile setup / handset I've ever had.
And the article is written a bit strangely. Areas with highly populated iPhone base? What? Is the iPhone the only 3G device on the market? Over here I saw 90% of the mobile market is 3G and there are tons of 3G modems for example using a lot of data, so I guess you can only say there'd be an issue in areas where a lot of 3G bandwidth is being used.
the fact that the iPhone doesn't manage to switch from 3G to GSM doesn't mean it's not possible. All previous 3G phones I've had have been able to swtich from 3G to GSM and back without any issues, and without dropping network signal. Even in the middle of phone calls of data sessions.
as I said in my previous post, I think you're blaming the system (gsm/umts) and the phone for problems that are probably due to the network itself (at&t). For example I don't understand why it wasn't possible to surf the web and make calls at the same time with the iPhone EDGE when over here It has always being possible to receive calls while on GPRS data session. Sure, the data session is put on hold while you talk, but you actually receive the call instead of getting it diverted towards the voicemail service...
Uhh, you do know that UMTS (3G used by the iPhone) is a form of CDMA right?
Otherwise that would mean you are just talking out a hole in your butt. And you do know that EVDO is "Evolution-Data Only". So it doesn't compare to UMTS at all since it is a voice and data solution. GSM and UMTS are totally different radio technologies. The only relationship they have is that UMTS was taken as the next step after GSM. Just like LTE is the next step after UMTS.And as was mentioned, it is perfectly possible to receive GSM voice calls while using EDGE data. Plus it is perfectly possible to switch from GSM to UMTS while in the middle of a call, without dropping. Most other phones actually manage to do that all the time.
iPhone 3G vs. AirCard 875U 3G Modem
Hello, I decided to run a little test and see what I could find out about the iPhone 3G issue. I have an iPhone 3G with NetShare (tethering app) and I also have an AirCard 875U connected to my MacBook. Now I know that this isn't exactly a fair comparison but I decided to see what the difference was in speed between the AirCard 3G - USB connection on my Mac and the 3G - WiFi connection would be.
Results:
AirCard 875U:
Down: 1814 kbps
Up: 350 kbps
iPhone 3G:
Down: 937 kbps
Up: 299 kbps
I wish I could do an exact apples to apples comparison, but this is about as good as I can get it.
I know that in a post above a gentleman wrote about how 3G utilizes CDMA and shares bandwidth among all of the users who are attached and pulling data across the tower at that moment, but I think my test is valid even in the face of this bandwidth utilization fact. I tested five times on both platforms (3G AirCard and iPhone Tethered) and the results I have above are the averages across those 10 tests. Also I know it is unlikely that I am running into bandwidth oversubscription issues coming off the tower as the tower I am connected to is connected via 1 Gig Fiber for wireless backhaul and I can monitor the traffic from the backhaul device.
In closing I really don't want to say anything disparaging about Apple, but I feel the facts truly speak for themselves here. If this is an issue that can be resolved with software or if it is indeed a failure of the ASIC that is being used for the 3G radio I don't know. All I can say is it certainly would be lovely to hit 1.814 Mbps from my iPhone.
Scott
Hello, I decided to run a little test and see what I could find out about the iPhone 3G issue. I have an iPhone 3G with NetShare (tethering app) and I also have an AirCard 875U connected to my MacBook. Now I know that this isn't exactly a fair comparison but I decided to see what the difference was in speed between the AirCard 3G - USB connection on my Mac and the 3G - WiFi connection would be.
Results:
AirCard 875U:
Down: 1814 kbps
Up: 350 kbps
iPhone 3G:
Down: 937 kbps
Up: 299 kbps
I wish I could do an exact apples to apples comparison, but this is about as good as I can get it.
I know that in a post above a gentleman wrote about how 3G utilizes CDMA and shares bandwidth among all of the users who are attached and pulling data across the tower at that moment, but I think my test is valid even in the face of this bandwidth utilization fact. I tested five times on both platforms (3G AirCard and iPhone Tethered) and the results I have above are the averages across those 10 tests. Also I know it is unlikely that I am running into bandwidth oversubscription issues coming off the tower as the tower I am connected to is connected via 1 Gig Fiber for wireless backhaul and I can monitor the traffic from the backhaul device.
In closing I really don't want to say anything disparaging about Apple, but I feel the facts truly speak for themselves here. If this is an issue that can be resolved with software or if it is indeed a failure of the ASIC that is being used for the 3G radio I don't know. All I can say is it certainly would be lovely to hit 1.814 Mbps from my iPhone.
Scott
I wish people wouldn't lump any complaint as a 3G reception issue.
Phones will always perform slower tethering than a dedicated card. You're running a proxy on the iPhone. Its CPU bound, doing extra work. I'd say those results look pretty good for the iPhone.
I experience similar performance degradation with a LG Fusic on Sprint's EVDO network, and it was not having to run a proxy. Most I ever achieved on that phone was 1MB/sec. I can get 1.65MB/sec to Safari on the iPhone.
And the iPhone 3G does not use CDMA. CDMA is the protocol used by Sprint, Verizon, Alltel. 3G does use WCDMA which is similar yet very different.
iPhone dropping calls? Blame the Infineon chip
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Source: Infineon technology 'fairly new and untested in high volumes'
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