iPhone 3G: "Searching" for a signal takes FOREVER!

[CarbonCrew]

I can't remember exactly when this started occurring, but I do know is has been several OS rev.s ago. I am currently on 3.1.2 with the new carrier file. The problem I'm experiencing is the iPhone taking an abnormal amount of time to search for a cell phone signal on reboot/restarts.

I have a full signal at my house. I just rebooted the phone and timed the events. From the time the home screen first appeared until the time that the iPhone started showing 5 bars and "AT&T" was 2 solid minutes.

Does this seem abnormal to anyone else?

 

[Skengman]

Happens to me constantly.
When I go to lunch at work, I lose signal in the lift, walk to wherever I am getting lunch from, get lunch and then am back into the lift before I get signal again, and then I lose it again because I am in the lift.
I am in London though and 02 isn't the best here, so I have always assumed it was the carrier, not the phone.

 

[hsk]

I had a great signal after I bought the 3GS in June, then it started to "flake" about 3 weeks before MMS rolled out. This week it has gotten better - but I can have 5 bars when I unlock it and then it will drop to 0 or 1 bar and then take 10-20 seconds to "build" back up to 5 bars. I actually wait a bit before I make a call for the connection to establish. I do not lose service completely, but it certainly does this cycle of dropping and then re-establishing a good connection all day.

As far as I know, I miss no incoming calls and I have not dropped a call in 2 weeks. So far, 3.1.2 has not effected this either positively or negatively.

 

[ouimetnick]

I'm having the same issue. My iPhone shows 5 bars most of the time, but it will sometimes drop to 1 bar, then say searching. Other times it says No Service. This happens when its sitting still, not being moved or even touched. It happened once so far. I've only had this Phone for 24 hours.

 

[MacKinley]

Hi everyone (1st post). I get his problem when I switch (via settings) between 3G and 'not 3G'. This is one of the reasons I have turned 3G off on my iphone. The others being that it consumes my battery, seems to have no signal whatsoever across London and the South East of England, and is, frankly, a waste of time if you have wifi at home...

 

[gwerhart0800]

Searching ...

I, too, have this issue. I originally assumed that they were turning up new 3G service and I was on the edge of reception, thus the phone was confused. Now I think there is a bug in the latest baseband that is screwing up when trying to find the proper tower/frequency. I live in an area with EDGE only. When I come into town, I turn on 3G and all is good. When I get home, I turn off 3G. Otherwise, I spend lots of time with "Searching ..." and no calls in or out.

I would be just as happy if they brought 3G to the tower by me, but since I live in rural BFN, I don't have much hope.

 

[drm309]

It looks like a lot of you are experiencing this in the UK. I have this issues in the US. I live in an EDGE area but work in a 3G area. I notice, even with the 3G off in the phone, my battery dies at home 100x faster than it does at work. I've had this searching issues since 3.0 came out. Does it have to do with the sim card? Is there anything I can do to get rid of this nuisance?

 

[-aggie-]

It looks like a lot of you are experiencing this in the UK. I have this issues in the US. I live in an EDGE area but work in a 3G area. I notice, even with the 3G off in the phone, my battery dies at home 100x faster than it does at work. I've had this searching issues since 3.0 came out. Does it have to do with the sim card? Is there anything I can do to get rid of this nuisance?

It could be the sim card. There were some issues with some of them in the past. Go to AT&T and ask for a new one. You should get it for free. However, it could be just where you live and the sim card would make no difference.