Yes, I turned off 3G and it got better. That said, would be nice if the phone was smart enough to do that on its own. Also, would be nice if my 3G coverage wasn't bad, considering that I'm pretty solidly in the listed coverage area.
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iPhone 3G reception
- Thread starter dmelgar
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Yes, I turned off 3G and it got better. That said, would be nice if the phone was smart enough to do that on its own. Also, would be nice if my 3G coverage wasn't bad, considering that I'm pretty solidly in the listed coverage area.
This thread makes me weary of the iPhone, but at least I'll have 14 days (Apple products are only 14 days? 
) to test it out. Seems the problem is with 3G, which I can't use anyway since I have no coverage for it, but when I do get 3G, like when I visit my sister, it seems like I won't have much luck with it.
We shall see, I guess.
) to test it out. Seems the problem is with 3G, which I can't use anyway since I have no coverage for it, but when I do get 3G, like when I visit my sister, it seems like I won't have much luck with it.We shall see, I guess.
Let's hope the next update improves the way the iPhone handles the transition from 3G to non-3G...
You would think it's going to be tops on their list. It'd be great if they gave you some robust options - like disable 3G any time you're on wifi or even enable 3G only when you're doing non-wifi data stuff.
I've made an appointment at the Genius Bar today to hopefully exchange my iPhone. I read in another thread where someone didn't get 3G in their home till they exchanged the phone. With the new phone, they get 3G in their home.
Hopefully I will have such luck. Got three hours to go till my appointment.
Hopefully I will have such luck. Got three hours to go till my appointment.
I've got 3G but it generally is 2-3 bars, however I wonder if the signal indicator is misleading because I have 1 bar at the moment and running a speed test get the same speed as with 2-3...
keep us posted with what happens...
there are a million others having the same issues as you...
My suite has always had so-so reception with my original iPhone (~2 bars). So, with the new 3G I was hoping for far greater reception, but from my weeks of using it, I feel my reception has actually gotten worse with more dropped calls. What's the deal with that? I thought the plastic backing was suppose to help And I live in a residential area of San Francisco. I still have my original iPhone, so I'm gonna do more comparisons.
Edit: The signal strength in my area is very unstable. It can easily go from 1 bar to 4 in matter of just lifting up my phone.
And I live in a residential area of San Francisco. I still have my original iPhone, so I'm gonna do more comparisons.Edit: The signal strength in my area is very unstable. It can easily go from 1 bar to 4 in matter of just lifting up my phone.
Since someone else mentioned their 3G network wasn't on, I've been experiencing the same thing. I didn't notice this till now, but I've had no 3G reception for over a week and now I was able to turn it back on by switching the option off and back on. Now I'm back on EDGE again. wtf?
Well, I get down there and they are more than willing to swap phones....
IF THEY HAD ANY!
They've ordered me a new one and it should be in in the morning.
Anyone in Colorado, skip the Boulder 29th St. store. None in stock.
iPhone 3G network issues
I have spent 1 hour on the phone with ATT today, both customer service and tech support were really pleasant but were not able to solve the problem.
ATT confirmed that in my area there is coverage, or should be coverage.
They made me set to 2G and back to 3G... nothing.
They ended up the call by saying that there are many users that have experienced problems with iPhone and ATT 3G network. They said that is it a known issue that seem to be related to the iphone and that the Apple and ATT technicians are working on it but with no solution.
I have challenged the statement by asking if I were to have another ATT 3G Phone the 3G network would work, the answer from the technician was yes it would.
This week I am walking in an ATT store and ask them to make me compare and test an other 3G phone.
I will keep you all posted.
In the apple support forum discussion here a reply:
Or you can just do what I did and get your iPhone exchanged for one that is not defective.
Here's what I did and it worked:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1628071&tstart=90
Now I have a 3G iPhone that smoothly hands-off calls from 3G to GSM when the 3G signal gets weak, and it doesn't drop calls. After getting my iPhone exchanged, I am very convinced that there are simply some 3G iPhones that are defective. Go to the Apple store and give them a chance to help you. I'm glad I did because now my iPhone works great!
I have spent 1 hour on the phone with ATT today, both customer service and tech support were really pleasant but were not able to solve the problem.
ATT confirmed that in my area there is coverage, or should be coverage.
They made me set to 2G and back to 3G... nothing.
They ended up the call by saying that there are many users that have experienced problems with iPhone and ATT 3G network. They said that is it a known issue that seem to be related to the iphone and that the Apple and ATT technicians are working on it but with no solution.
I have challenged the statement by asking if I were to have another ATT 3G Phone the 3G network would work, the answer from the technician was yes it would.
This week I am walking in an ATT store and ask them to make me compare and test an other 3G phone.
I will keep you all posted.
In the apple support forum discussion here a reply:
Or you can just do what I did and get your iPhone exchanged for one that is not defective.
Here's what I did and it worked:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1628071&tstart=90
Now I have a 3G iPhone that smoothly hands-off calls from 3G to GSM when the 3G signal gets weak, and it doesn't drop calls. After getting my iPhone exchanged, I am very convinced that there are simply some 3G iPhones that are defective. Go to the Apple store and give them a chance to help you. I'm glad I did because now my iPhone works great!
Ok I picked up my replacement white iPhone just now and I don't think there is any real noticeable improvement. The new iPhone is of course running 2.0 and I think there may be the slightest improvement in 3G reception as I was able to get 3G on the top floor of my home for a while before it reverted to edge.
I can honestly say that there was nothing wrong with my previous 3G iPhone and the replacement verifies that this is normal for 3G service.
Now I'm going to stop worrying about it and enjoy my iPhone as you all should too.
Now I'm going to stop worrying about it and enjoy my iPhone as you all should too.
Yeah, not so much. I'm not really worrying about it and I'm thoroughly enjoying the phone, but the fact is that we're all paying $30 per month for data and I think with a premium like that they should have the 3G issues hammered out. 3G kills my battery whether I get 3G reception or not, so I have it off almost all the time. It also hurts my reception significantly in some places because it seems to prefer a weak 3G signal to a strong 2G signal. Doesn't seem right.
I think the iPhone should have some options - perhaps set it to use 2G by default for all phone calls and use 3G automatically for data, but only in the absence of wifi. Or maybe an app to toggle 3G on and off without going into the menus in the meantime?
BTW hex, at least the heat here in Boulder has subsided, so there's so much less to be cranky about! Not surprised you can't get a phone swapped at 29th...
Well though I am literally a straight shot down the Boulder Turnpike and get to the Apple store in Boulder in about 20 minutes, I prefer to go to the store in Littleton though it is much further away.
Oh I did forget to mention an amusing incident at the Genius Bar. A man with a foreign accent sat down next to me and told the Genius that since he bought his 3G black phone, he could never get voicemail to work.
The Genius immediately took the phone, reset the password and handed it back to the man and asked him to enter a password. It seems the man didn't understand he had to set up voicemail with a password to get it to function to begin with!
Anyways, enjoy the cool weather, more rain is scheduled this afternoon.
This is what I'm afraid of; when I get my iPhone, it's just going to be me calling people while I move around the house, and hell, the city for that matter. If I'm not satisfied with the coverage, sadly I'll take the iPhone back and stick with Verizon until AT&T really is more bars in more places.
You may be surprised at the 3G coverage in your city. For the most part, I get 5 bars everywhere I go, just not in my driveway.
I tested my speed on one of those iPhone sites and it said I was getting 1.05 MB download. I'm positive those sites aren't really accurate and are meant as a general guide only but it seemed pretty speedy.
Go ahead and buy the phone, you may be surprised at how well your city is covered. You can always get a refund otherwise.
Well, I don't get 3G coverage, but I'm just worried about AT&T's coverage in general.
This is my second go around with the iphone. I gave the 3g a chance and its still less than impressive. The phone itself is amazing, but the coverage is a different story. I think I will take my phone back and wait until icall is released. The only problems I have is in mine and friends houses, which is where I need it the most. This is a cry to icall!!! Your app is needed!!! lol
I don't get good 3G reception at home either. I've been on Verizon in Boulder, CO for over 5 years and got great reception in most places, though my home reception was borderline. When the 2G iPhone came out, I got a couple of friends to bring theirs to my home and try it out. It was unusable. I couldn't hold a call in my home office on the original iPhone.
So I was skeptical, but hopeful that a plastic back on the 3G would improve things. Turns out it's great. I get far better reception at home on my new iPhone than I did with Verizon and there's no comparison to the old iPhone. This thing's a godsend. Don't know how it will work for you, but I only tell you this so that you don't let your previous iPhone experience overly color your perception of how the new one will perform.
Just curious - have you tried turning off 3G to improve reception? Did wonders for me.
Yeah...I literally get maybe 2 bars of Edge if I am lucky. I step outside and I get 3-4 bars of Edge. Many times I go in and out of service. I contacted icall today and it seems like they are giving automative responses. They said it will be available soon and that they are currently working to insure that it will work as designed and to check back for updates. blah blah blah. So I guess Im left to either wait for that or just go back to Sprint.
My only gripe with Sprint is that most of there phones have that 160 character limit on SMS messages. That can drive me insane sometimes.