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iPhone 3G= Less Bars in More Places?

Rooskibar03

Rooskibar03

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 5, 2007
1,147
110
State of Denial
Is it just me or is the reception of this phone crap compared to the 1st gen?

I'm hitting dead spots along a drive I have made every day for almost 5 years, including the last one with the iPhone.

I thought the whole idea of it being plastic was for better signal? What gives?
 
Reception is killing me

Why would reception be better with 3G off? And I certainly have no intention of constantly turning it off and on to make calls ... 3G is half the reason to buy the new phone.

The 3G certainly does not "show off" very well. My coworker brought her 2.5G iPhone to my cube and had 4 bars next to my ONE. Another coworker came over excited to see it and had 4 bars next to my ONE, as well. I turned off 3G and it didn't help. I then tried to show off the GPS functionality ... each of their iPhones got a crude "locate me" estimate while mine never returned anything ... it just sat there and did nothing.

In short, we need some updates. If these are hardware issues this is very, very disappointing. C'mon Apple.
 
bombtrack said:
Why would reception be better with 3G off? And I certainly have no intention of constantly turning it off and on to make calls ... 3G is half the reason to buy the new phone.

The 3G certainly does not "show off" very well. My coworker brought her 2.5G iPhone to my cube and had 4 bars next to my ONE. Another coworker came over excited to see it and had 4 bars next to my ONE, as well. I turned off 3G and it didn't help. I then tried to show off the GPS functionality ... each of their iPhones got a crude "locate me" estimate while mine never returned anything ... it just sat there and did nothing.

In short, we need some updates. If these are hardware issues this is very, very disappointing. C'mon Apple.
Click to expand...

3G network is different than the EDGE network. Just because you have great reception on the lesser network does not mean AT&T has the area fully covered in 3G as well.

Before blaming the hardware, find someone with another AT&T 3G phone and compare reception. Comparing 2.5 iphone and 3G iphone are not the same.

So far I've noticed that my call reception is fine even when my 3G bars are low (data goes much slower though).
 
I have a nokia 95-4 and a Att Tilt phone and my bars are no where near is as low as as they are with my Iphone 3g. But I had no problems making calls and 3g works good... but it is a bit misleading when I look at my phone and see how low my bars are.. Something is defenitly wrong with the way Iphone is displaying reception.. maybe it just needs to be calibrated or something lol
 
This is disappointing to hear about the reception issue.

The main reason i was gonna dump my 1st gen was because of reception issues.

The 1st gen has a metal backing and the antenna inside is at the bottom of the phone for some stupid reason. The 3g is all plastic and the antenna is at the top. Those alone should help a lot.. but i guess not :(

This blows.
 
dissdnt said:
The 1st gen has a metal backing and the antenna inside is at the bottom of the phone for some stupid reason. The 3g is all plastic and the antenna is at the top. Those alone should help a lot.. but i guess not :(
Click to expand...
My SE phone has an antenna that can be oriented at either the top or bottom (swivel type phone) and it's reception is fine in either (ie it doesn't change depending on what orientation it is). It doesn't matter how the antenna is oriented (top or bottom) because the radio waves will go through you hand without trouble.
 
dissdnt said:
This is disappointing to hear about the reception issue.

The main reason i was gonna dump my 1st gen was because of reception issues.

The 1st gen has a metal backing and the antenna inside is at the bottom of the phone for some stupid reason. The 3g is all plastic and the antenna is at the top. Those alone should help a lot.. but i guess not :(

This blows.
Click to expand...

It depends on where you are. Don't judge it based on one post. My reception is def much better and I usually have 3-5 bars of 3G and the same on edge. I have noticed I get reception in many more places that I didn't with my 1st gen iPhone and if I did get it, I have noticed a vast improvement in bars.
 
I see the opposite in my area. Most of the time I get 3-5 bars in most places. In fact when comparing the Tilts we use at work, they only get 2-3 bars consistently while I have 4-5.
 
Maybe I should clarify my statement. Not only am I displaying
Less bars but I am losing the call. I still haven't dropped one but a have plenty of " can you hear me now" moments with this new phone.

I don't think it's software it's a hardware issue.
 
bombtrack said:
Why would reception be better with 3G off? And I certainly have no intention of constantly turning it off and on to make calls ... 3G is half the reason to buy the new phone.

C'mon Apple.
Click to expand...

Good Question. I'm thinking there could be two different answers:

1. 3G just does not carry as far or the 3G radio in the new phone is not as good as the radio in the old phone.

Or (and more likly in my mind)

2. AT&T has not upgraded all the towers in an area. So, your phone on 3G might not be connected to the closest tower becuase the tower that is closest to you does not have 3G. I really think this is the issue.
 
dissdnt said:
This is disappointing to hear about the reception issue.

The main reason i was gonna dump my 1st gen was because of reception issues.

The 1st gen has a metal backing and the antenna inside is at the bottom of the phone for some stupid reason. The 3g is all plastic and the antenna is at the top. Those alone should help a lot.. but i guess not :(

This blows.
Click to expand...

You guys obviously have no clue about how the networks work.

3G is a different cell tower/network all together, from 2.5G/Edge. AT&T does not have as good of coverage on their 3G network (yet) as they do with the 2.5G

You may have low reception on a poor 3G coverage area. That applies to calls and data, as the improved "call quality" implies that you're using the 3G towers. If you do, turn it off while you're there. The 2.5G coverage should be outstanding in 99% of the places you go.

Now, the only downfall to the current software in this regard is this: It should switch from 3G to Edge when the signal gets too low. It's not doing this as quickly as you might hope, and there will be an update addressing it.

I hope this helps you understand the phone a bit more. As the 3G networks roll out in coverage, the signal quality will get better overall.
 
i also have found the reception to be spotty. And i live and work in a major metropolitan city(philadlephia).

i am hoping that it is b/c At&t is still rolling out and perfecting their network.

The edge netowk is certainly more robust in terms of coverage and I do see better connectiviy when i am using it as opposed to 3g.

But again, as i mentioned above, i am hopeful that it will get better soon, and that data speeds will improve also!!
 
As others have said, this is purely down to the poor coverage of 3G in your area: Sometimes the phone will hold onto a poor 3G signal instead of switching over to 2G. If you're in a poor reception area for 3G, you will find that you will get much more reliability by switching 3G off. This is a similar situation to when 3 launched in the UK:
They had a pretty poor 3G network initially and used O2 for backup. Many people ended up switching 3G off and using O2s network exclusively because it was much more reliably. 3 didn't like this because it cost them money when people used O2s network and disabled the ability to switch 3G off on some firmware upgrades.
Whilst AT&T may own both networks, there are similarities in that their 3G network is much less mature.
Phones should switch seamlessly from 3G to 2G even during a call, but often the infrastructure fails and the call simply drops off.
So, if you're having problems with 3G in your area, turn it off!
 
well i would agree with phil on turning off 3g when necessary. But i would have to say it has become a bit of a pain to have to repetedly do that throughout the day. i hope as phil stated that the network will improve with time.
 
Yeah the reception with this phones a joke. My parents and brothers new phones are always 5/6 bars where mines like 2. Right now in my room if i raise the phone above my head towards the wall it goes to full bars. But as i look at it right now its at full bars so idk whats going on with it.

Its full now and as soon as i pick it up it gets like 2-3.
 
Well its confirmed. Turing off 3G make the signal better. Every area of problem with signal got better with the 3G disabled.

Why again am I paying $10 more a month for less service?

Screw you Att, I want my old price point back.
 
You guys got defective Iphone 3Gs or bad 3G service in our areas..or both..

Take it back to the apple or att store. Why are people scared to do this? Complain to apple or ATT not just on this forum.

If nobody is calling up ATT or Apple to complain then they will never fix it.

Do not be scared...call and complain or return the phone and make a scene in the apple or att store if they will not help you.

When did people become content on keep a defective product or service?
 
Aiphanes said:
If nobody is calling up ATT or Apple to complain then they will never fix it.
Click to expand...

Agreed. According to AT&T's coverage map, I'm in a 3G neighborhood with "best" coverage. The results are 4-5 bars of EDGE and only 0-1 bars of 3G. Driving around I discovered I can get 4-5 bars of 3G within a couple blocks in any direction. I called AT&T to let them know about this 3G dead zone and they are "working on it."

Meanwhile, I sent feedback to Apple regarding the iPhone's ability to switch between 3G and EDGE when 3G signal is low. I find if I leave 3G on at home where 3G signal is weak, my phone will sometimes drop to No Service for up to a full minute before giving up and switching to EDGE.
 
I have a Samsung Blackjack 3G, and compared to all of my friends who have Verizon and get full bars in the middle of the mountains, i get no reception. I am surprised especially that now att has stopped playing their "more bars in more places" commercials. I don't know about the iphone because i don't have one yet, but it seems as though i am having the same problems with different att phones.
 
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