iPhone 3G Connectivity Affecting 2% of Customers? Software Fix Soon?

[137489]

Why are we talking about Macs on an IPhone forum? Many of us are interested in Macs...I am as I have an IMac, but I don't expect to have a Mac discussion in an IPhone forum.

Because I was pointing out the fact that people are starting to think of Apple as a whole as a failure due to the iphone and MM crud. WHen people think of apple, they think of iphone. Now they are equivelanting

iphone issues + mm issues = company issues = mac issues.

Which is clearly not the case, but people are starting to percieve that.

 

[vanderbob]

3G network performance

I have no problem using 3G in MD and in fact observed a significant improvement in 3G in the last few days. I suppose it is AT@T (and other networks outside the US) that are scrambling to deal with a massive influx of new users of their 3G networks.

 

[twoodcc]

well i hope that this is true and that they have a fix out soon

 

[bzen]

That's depressing. I'm in Bakersfield too and wanted to upgrade to the 3g iphone. I used to get 3G coverage all the time with the original 3G blackjack. I switched to edge iphone (Edge is so damn slow here its ridiculous) I wonder why the iphone isn't getting the same coverage? Now I'm thinking the upgrade to 3G isn't worth it.

I live near Stockdale and 99 I have never had 3G anywhere near the house. Now, I have been able to pick it up in the NW and the farther SW, but like I said, it comes and goes. Makes me wonder if there is a pattern to the coming and going...I hadn't really thought about it.

I will totally agree that Edge is just the snagfest here in bfield. I had horrible connection issues (static and dropped calls) with the Razr, but I really have much better reception and call longevity with the iPhone. I sure don't regret the purchase, but if you really want the 3G, I'd wait a bit. I'll keep a tab on your post and let you know if any of these updates help around here...

 

[Hands0n]

@stockcerts - Rather than "dump on" you I think it would be much more appropriate to say two things in direct response

1. The latest iPhone 3G software update 2.0.2 resolves 3G signal issues. Where I was unable to get 3G at all I am now accessing it with a low, but effective, signal strength. Apple have very evidently done something in this release to improve the 3G radio sensitivity.

2. Leopard (OT for this part of the forum) is quite stable. The early problems were all down to people performing "Upgrades" to Leopard while having installed various OS accelerators and suchlike. These hook into specific parts of the OS and in changing the OS to Leopard there was no chance that they would work. A clean install of Leopard solved the issues.

Its not about "not giving a damn" - more it is simply **** happens. But inevitably the solution is delivered by Apple.

 

[HyperZboy]

Best Advice For Iphone 3g Owners

BEST ADVICE FOR IPHONE 3G OWNERS...

Return your phone to the Apple or ATT store for immediate replacement.

Even if Apple fixes the problem through software, most likely Apple's software solution is probably going to slow down the phone slightly to compensate for Infineon's bad chipsets and memory that fails to meet spec.

I would not under any circumstances settle for a software quick fix for what is obviously a hardware problem.

By the way, no, I don't have an iPhone 3G, but I do have an iPhone 2.5G and don't have this problem nor would I accept a quick fix software update for such a problem.

My opinion is that Apple should recall the affected phones and probably already knows the affected serial#s already. For a phone this expensive, I think Apple's response is quite poor and I say that as a lifelong Apple fan & Mac user.

PS: And to the person above, nope, Leopard is still not nearly as stable as Tiger, especially on PowerPC machines, not even close by a long shot. I could name at least 10 unresolved issues in Leopard and still have kernel panics on my PowerPC Macs that run Tiger just fine.
If you doubt this, try running some PowerPC games with upgrade graphics cards like a Radeon 9800.
My Radeon 9800s runs just fine in Tiger for Doom3 and Halo, yet artifacts in Leopard, go figure.
Since I have a variety of PowerPC Macs I've seen this problem multiple times with multiple graphics cards, some 3rd party, some from Apple. If you doubt me, go to Apple Discussions forums for a plethora of Leopard issues.

 

[plunar]

Why is no one here considering the fact that 3G reception is fine when there is no 2G network (ie: JAPAN)?

Nearly everyone posting on this board is having issues in countries with 2G/3G dual networks. Browsing the Japanese websites about iPhone, I find no grumbling about iPhone reception on Softbank. And Softbank is the WORST provider in Japan as far as coverage is concerned (Like Verizon here, their #1 provider AU operates on CDMA)

Some mentioned this Cydia program can turn off EDGE. Can it turn off 2G entirely??? For me, living in manhattan, this would be ideal. My wife has a Japanese phone that's doesn't have ANY 2G, and her service is solid. It's obvious whatever the 3G chipset issue is, it pertains to handoffs - that is, it's only an issue when the phone sees a 2G network and gets confused thinking it should switch to 2G or not.

 

[vandozza]

Nearly everyone posting on this board is having issues in countries with 2G/3G dual networks. Browsing the Japanese websites about iPhone, I find no grumbling about iPhone reception on Softbank. And Softbank is the WORST provider in Japan as far as coverage is concerned (Like Verizon here, their #1 provider AU operates on CDMA)

I have seen quite a few posts from Japan in the 3 x forum threads over at the Apple discussions. I don't think this claim is accurate.

 

[plunar]

Can you link? I've read/heard complaints from people who switched over from DoCoMo or AU to Softbank, but that's Softbank in general (their equivalent of T-Mobile). I'd be interested in knowing whether people in Japan complaining about reception on iPhone are complaining relative to the performance of the other 2 carriers.

Regardless, taking some perception in here, the fact seems that if the iPhone was dropping 3G like it seems to do here, there would be a **** storm of complaints and mass returns in Japan. I get 3G maybe 10% of the time here, smack in the urban core of NYC. And it NEVER works at that moment when I'm trying to show my buddies a quick youtube. Completely unreliable as anything other than a toy gimmick. Imagine if there was no 2G to drop to - the phone would be a paper weight. This is not what is being reported in Japan though. It's being reported as a phone with decent, (not outstanding, but decent) reception. Basically, it's fair to say that it's reported that their 3G reliability is comparable to our 2G reliability.

So it's not a network issue (other 3G phones on ATT are solid) and it seems highly unlikely it's a 3G exclusive issue (the level of performance in Japan does not cross over here). I'm convinced it's a handoff flaw.

I have seen quite a few posts from Japan in the 3 x forum threads over at the Apple discussions. I don't think this claim is accurate.

 

[vandozza]

Can you link?

I don't think you can direct link to specific posts in the apple discussions. (Or I've never worked out how to do it.)

But they posts are within the "iPhone 3g reception problems... you're not alone" threads x 3

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1602608&tstart=0

If you just search these threads for "japan" I'm sure you will find reports from Japan of similar problems. (Not saying the quantity of reports is as high, just that they do exist.)


In Australia the Vodafone/Optus networks report twice as many problems (~85% of users with issues) when compared to the Telstra network (~38%.) (This was an informal/unscientific survey at mactalk.com.au however!)

Telstra has a much better network, thicker and wider coverage. But the other difference is that Telstra is 850mhz, while Optus and Vodafone are 2100mhz.

I'm not sure if Telstra's network masks the iPhone reception problems, due to the excellent strength of the network, or if the 850mhz band just has less issues.

Maybe this might be a similar reason as to why Japan does not report as many issues? I don't know!

 

[mkwilson68]

Aaaagghhhh!

Grrrrrr! Etc.

I'm in the UK, on O2. I bought my iphone 3G on day one, as did my partner, and about 15 other colleagues and friends bought them then or since.

Every single one of them has this issue. Everyone. Not 2%, not even 20%. 100%. I know this is anecdotal, but this group of people live in London, Manchester and Birmingham - i.e. 3 of the UK's largest and most 3G-friendly cities.

I suspect that the 2% figure is a PR-friendly way of kinda sorta admitting there's a problem without making it sound too serious. But from our experience here, this is a fundamental flaw in the phone, affecting everyone I know using one. And all but one of those people had 3g phones before the iphone - none of which had the same issues. Most were on O2.

The device is flawed. I *seriously* hope it can be fixed with a firmware update, but I suspect that someone buying the iphone in a month or two will be getting subtly different hardware than those of us who bought early. And frankly, given that many early purchasers are the most loyal to the brand, that just sucks. Apple's behaviour here is staggeringly shoddy.

Seriously - ignore this 2% figure: it has no bearing on the reality of the situation whatsoever.

 

[megfilmworks]

I know five people with the iPhone, and all six of us have issues. Thats a heck of a lot more than 2%.

Well, I have 5 iPhones in my family with no 3g issues at all,
sooo, using your logic,
I assume the number is 0%.
That's a heck of a lot less than 2%.

 

[Pginsburg2004]

Here is the fix for all the 3G reception problems!!!!


I have been experiencing the same exact problems that everyone here is describing. Dead sporadic 3G coverage. There is an app available to those of us who have Jailbroken our iPhones called BossPrefs. This is a 1 icon shortcut to many of the iPhone settings and then some. One of the neat options avaialable is the ability to shut off Edge reception. This forces the iPhone to only be able to pull a 3G signal. I have been testing this for the last 12 hours and can say that it has resolved all of my reception problems. The phone can no longer switch to the Edge network. I strongly beleive that this is the root of the problem. The iPhone is too sensitive when moving out of range of 3G towers and therefore flips to quickly or tries to flip to an Edge network asd soon as it sees one. By forcing the iPhone to only be able to aqquire a 3G signal the problem has all but vanished. I think that even if a 3G signal ia avalable but getting weak, the iPhone prematurely flips to the nearest edge network. Perhaps this flip hangs the reception to make it appear as if the reception is dead. The iPhone cant make up its mind what to do???? I am just guessing. This is a feature I remember from some old cell phones I have had where you could tell the phone to only aqquire your carriers tower. Unfortunately the iPhone only allows you to turn off 3G coverage when what is really needed is the ability to turn off EDGE!!!!

In closing I feel the problem is indeed the chipset in the phone in combination with the chipsets firmware being to fast and thus causing the premature flips from 3G to EDGE.

Hope this helps!!

 

[himalayas.fien]

im not in that 2%. hope 2% ppl to get solved soon.

 

[plunar]

well i downloaded boss prefs, and disabled edge.

now i have NO data access. open safari, "cannot connect to the internet."

if boss prefs really has disabled edge and 3g is active like it says, then either my phone's 3g chip is useless or ATT has NO 3g service in east manhattan.

what do you think???

phone is going back tomorrow.