I've read a few stories about people having poor 3G reception exchanging their phones and getting better ones. I currently have terrible 3G reception in my area (city of Chicago and north suburbs) and need to disable 3G. I'm considering exchanging it but I don't know if it is a problem with my Iphone or just AT&Ts 3G in my area, hence the poll.
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IPhone 3G Reception Poll
- Thread starter ks-man
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Hey KS, i live in Elgin, and it's the same with me. I'm currently in Huntley though for the week, and the service here is still better than it is in Elgin. I don't think it's anything to do with Apple. Maybe the firmware, but i think it's just AT&T.
I get usually 3-5 bars of service here, but i can see 2 cell towers from this house.
I get usually 3-5 bars of service here, but i can see 2 cell towers from this house.
I have horrible 3G reception at my house. I mostly have 1 bar but it jumps to 5 occasionally. I dont think it's the phone.
Inside my house I get 2-3 bars maybe 4 but have no problem talking. I can confirm this is not the iPhone since I have an ATT 3G data connect laptop pcmcia card and get the same level of bars when comparing the two in the same location. Only difference is I can't see the GAIN on the iPhone like i can the laptop.
I think there is definitely an issue with at least some of the iphones 3G antenna since many people have done side by side comparisons of two 3G AT&T phones and get far better reception with the other one.
The main thing I'm wondering is if the problem is specific to certain iphones meaning that an exchange would fix the problem.
The main thing I'm wondering is if the problem is specific to certain iphones meaning that an exchange would fix the problem.
I have pretty good 3g reception in the house. I seem to have 1 bar pretty often in general, though. The good thing is that the speed with 1 bar is still awesome. Still absolutely kills edge and no problem talking or anything. I'm not sure what the story is, but with 3g I really don't notice much difference between 1 bar and full. It's also very sensitive to my hand placement it seems. If I leave the back of the phone uncovered by my hand in my bed, full 3g bars. If I hold it with my hand around the back, I lose 2 bars, lol. Every time.
The worst part for me is just AT&T coverage in general. It's terrible compared to Verizon for the areas I frequent. I live in the DC metro area where coverage is great (3g pretty much everywhere), but I work in southern Maryland, where the coverage is awful. I have "no service" for like 40% of the ride, 1-2 bar edge (useless for internet) for like 25%, 3-5 bar edge for like 15%, and the rest 3g. Pretty annoying because in the car pool is when I want to use the phone the most (when not driving) and I really can't do much with it since the reception sucks. Hopefully they improve it, but it's been bad for a while (for friends with AT&T) so I doubt it's high priority.
The worst part for me is just AT&T coverage in general. It's terrible compared to Verizon for the areas I frequent. I live in the DC metro area where coverage is great (3g pretty much everywhere), but I work in southern Maryland, where the coverage is awful. I have "no service" for like 40% of the ride, 1-2 bar edge (useless for internet) for like 25%, 3-5 bar edge for like 15%, and the rest 3g. Pretty annoying because in the car pool is when I want to use the phone the most (when not driving) and I really can't do much with it since the reception sucks. Hopefully they improve it, but it's been bad for a while (for friends with AT&T) so I doubt it's high priority.
I had terrible reception with my week 29 phone. But for some unknown reason, it stopped registering sim card. So they gave me another phone (week 28 - white box) Now this one has AMAZING reception. No more bouncing between egde and 3g. And also for some reason, it seems to have better battery life, go figure...
I believe my sim problem was related to my phone's reception. So, if you have bad reception in a good 3G covered area, watch out, your phone may stop recognizing your sim card.
I believe my sim problem was related to my phone's reception. So, if you have bad reception in a good 3G covered area, watch out, your phone may stop recognizing your sim card.
3G reception in New Orleans is good but far from great. Unless you are in certain hot spots, the 3G coverage can be hit or miss at times in terms of fast speed though even in most miss-spots, it is better than Edge
I think that this new Iphone really has put at&t's 3G network to the test. In many places it is very very spotty which was no different before the iphone was released. To me they really did not do anything to improve the existing 3G network but went ahead and expanded it in places at the edge of coverage. Everywhere else they left it as is and it is really abysmal compared to the regular non-3G service.
Here in Dallas the 3G service is working ok, though you can noticeably feel a drag in service such as slow speeds, and decreased signal. In FTW the 3G service is horrible now getting about 400kbps when before i was getting 1.2Mbps.
I dont have an iphone 3G yet due to having to order it thru at&t due to FAN but this is something I am willing to bet that when I get mine the speed wont be as different as using the original, marginally better at best.
Here in Dallas the 3G service is working ok, though you can noticeably feel a drag in service such as slow speeds, and decreased signal. In FTW the 3G service is horrible now getting about 400kbps when before i was getting 1.2Mbps.
I dont have an iphone 3G yet due to having to order it thru at&t due to FAN but this is something I am willing to bet that when I get mine the speed wont be as different as using the original, marginally better at best.
My 3G reception at home is poor, but it's a coverage issue. I can get a full five bars within a few blocks in any direction.
Full 5 bars at my house...we have an AT&T cell on a water tower nearby.
Other than that coverage is spotty...I frequently get kicked to Edge. On Edge I get great coverage wherever I go in the area.
I'm not disabling 3G or exchanging my phone...none of the poll options covers this (the last option in the poll implies that I'm disabling 3G, I'm not). I'm living with it and waiting until they eventually improve coverage.
Other than that coverage is spotty...I frequently get kicked to Edge. On Edge I get great coverage wherever I go in the area.
I'm not disabling 3G or exchanging my phone...none of the poll options covers this (the last option in the poll implies that I'm disabling 3G, I'm not). I'm living with it and waiting until they eventually improve coverage.
I think you would actually fall under option 1 even though you wouldn't consider it great 3G coverage. Most of us with poor 3G coverage are forced to switch to Edge b/c of dropped calls. I have about 50% fail rate with calls on 3G which basically means it isn't usable. This is despite the fact that I live and travel in a 3G area.
When I got the iPhone 3G on launch day it had decent 3G reception. Since hurricane Dolly, though, the 3G reception is non-existent (I assume at least one tower went down) so I've been using Edge and it's been pretty good, actually. I haven't even checked for 3G coverage in a couple days.
I have a 3G Palm Treo 750 along with my new iPhone and the Treo consistently has more bars and fewer dropped calls than the iPhone, so it's not all the AT&T network.
When I'm in a 3G area, my phone seems to do fine. I don't have any other 3G phones with which to compare, but I don't drop any more calls than when on EDGE and data is definitely faster than EDGE.
I get 3G service where I work and in town, but none out where I live (AT&T's map shows I'm right outside the edge - no pun intended - of the 3G service area, so I don't expect 3G service at home). Doesn't matter anyway when I'm at home, since the phone has wifi for data.
I get 3G service where I work and in town, but none out where I live (AT&T's map shows I'm right outside the edge - no pun intended - of the 3G service area, so I don't expect 3G service at home). Doesn't matter anyway when I'm at home, since the phone has wifi for data.
Less bars in more areas
I took the iPhone back after a 24 hours test. Though the ATT website showed solid 3G coverage over 15 miles beyond my area, the phone would not work.The 3G service was almost non-existent.
Driving showed that it also dropped out near work, in a city that's on a high ridge in the center of Cuyahoga County (Garfield Heights). Nothing has apparently changed in our location about 9 miles from downtown Cleveland OH in 2 years when I had to buy out my ATT service for $400 on the promise of "more bars in more areas" -- note that the Death Star no longer uses that in their ads? All in all, the service really sucks.
Apple was kind enough to take the phone back the next day. Don't buy one unless you're assured that you can return it for a full refund. Perhaps I should have tried to exchange it for another one, based on some of the comments about spotty quality control here, but I think I'll wait another 6 months and try again. It's an absolutely lovely phone, but if the damn thing won't work due to poor coverage, it's worthless. Run, don't walk from ATT unless you're certain you really have great coverage.
I took the iPhone back after a 24 hours test. Though the ATT website showed solid 3G coverage over 15 miles beyond my area, the phone would not work.The 3G service was almost non-existent.
Driving showed that it also dropped out near work, in a city that's on a high ridge in the center of Cuyahoga County (Garfield Heights). Nothing has apparently changed in our location about 9 miles from downtown Cleveland OH in 2 years when I had to buy out my ATT service for $400 on the promise of "more bars in more areas" -- note that the Death Star no longer uses that in their ads? All in all, the service really sucks.
Apple was kind enough to take the phone back the next day. Don't buy one unless you're assured that you can return it for a full refund. Perhaps I should have tried to exchange it for another one, based on some of the comments about spotty quality control here, but I think I'll wait another 6 months and try again. It's an absolutely lovely phone, but if the damn thing won't work due to poor coverage, it's worthless. Run, don't walk from ATT unless you're certain you really have great coverage.
That's funny I live in Elgin also. I am less than a mile from the at&t cell tower and my signal can go from a full 5 bars to none with no reason. Just seems funny since I am within eyesight of the tower.
Help Please. iPhone 3G reception
Hi there,
i bought an iPhone 3G yesterday, and its a great piece of tech. however, the reception is horrible. At home, i have one bar. While in the same spot, i get full reception on other phones, on the exact same network.
One more thing i'v found is that when my phone drops back to 2G due to poor 3G reception, it is also on 1-2 bars. BUT, when i turn off 3G, it shoots back up to 4 or full ? WTH
I need advice as i can still return the phone. Should i ask for a replacement?
Sorry if i posted in the wrong thread; apolagies if i did.
Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.
any further details:
Location: Australia
Network: Optus
Phone: iPhone 3G 16GB
Hi there,
i bought an iPhone 3G yesterday, and its a great piece of tech. however, the reception is horrible. At home, i have one bar. While in the same spot, i get full reception on other phones, on the exact same network.
One more thing i'v found is that when my phone drops back to 2G due to poor 3G reception, it is also on 1-2 bars. BUT, when i turn off 3G, it shoots back up to 4 or full ? WTH
I need advice as i can still return the phone. Should i ask for a replacement?
Sorry if i posted in the wrong thread; apolagies if i did.
Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.
any further details:
Location: Australia
Network: Optus
Phone: iPhone 3G 16GB