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Iphone 3GS Call/Reception Quality

T

TPS Reports

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Call me crazy, but I'm actually planning on buying the new iphone to use, you know, as a phone, and look forward to all the features that come with it. That said, if the phone just isn't up to par, I have to go another direction.

So, how's the actually phone working, preferably on ATT.
 
also

TPS Reports said:
Call me crazy, but I'm actually planning on buying the new iphone to use, you know, as a phone, and look forward to all the features that come with it. That said, if the phone just isn't up to par, I have to go another direction.

So, how's the actually phone working?
Click to expand...

+1. I love my 3G, but I really need a phone. More than 10% 😱 drop rate seems to be wrong in my metro city in the US.
 
realeric said:
+1. I love my 3G, but I really need a phone. More than 10% 😱 drop rate seems to be wrong in my metro city in the US.
Click to expand...

Where are getting the 10% drop rate figure?


Made several call so far with no problems. Had 4-5 bars each time and sound was crisp. No droppage. My 3G was the same.
 
Reception varies...but I certainly drop alot more calls in the Houston area than my wife who is using a Nokia flip phone on AT&T. I easily drop 25% of my calls on my 2g and then 3g iphones.

For me, the iPhone is an incredible gadget that I can't live without, but a horrible phone.
 
Not trying to sound cheesy but for the first time I can say I didn't have a drop call. The 3GS for me is way better then my 1st Gen and had no drop calls in the places I normally would. The iPhone is becoming a phone . . . Thanks AT&T for stepping it up.
 
Stangs55 said:
Reception varies...but I certainly drop alot more calls in the Houston area than my wife who is using a Nokia flip phone on AT&T. I easily drop 25% of my calls on my 2g and then 3g iphones.

For me, the iPhone is an incredible gadget that I can't live without, but a horrible phone.
Click to expand...

Yup -- I'm in Sugar Land -- the 3GS definitely does not have the signal reception that my old MotoQ had. That said, when the signal reception is good, the quality is great.
 
I've noticed something kind of interesting with my 3GS. With the 3G, I experienced tons of dropped calls due to living right on the edge of good 3g coverage. Rather than using EDGE, it would try to 3g network and drop the call a large percentage of the time.

With the 3GS, it just goes to EDGE first. In fact, I wasn't sure my phone was working properly. I tried making a call - it used EDGE (good signal). Went to a new room - still EDGE. In fact, I couldn't get it to switch over to 3g until I drove down the road a bit. To me, this is a good thing. It means that perhaps they've updated the algorithm to better seek the strongest network signal. Hopefully I'll have fewer dropped calls now.
 
I am also curious if the 3GS gets significantly better reception. In the fall I purchased a 3G and had to return it because at home I would simply receive "No Service" - not even EDGE. I exchanged the phone, same story. Whats troubling is that my wife and I both have Motorola RAZR V3xx's and they have no 3G reception issues and they both report 4/5 bars most of the time. We're a cell phone-only household (no landline) so reception is pretty important 🙂
 
I'm very interested in the reception issues also. Where I live, we barely get a 3G signal. So I'm fine with just using the edge signal. I recently had to return the Blackberry Bold because it kept wanting to use the 3G by default and would keep dropping my calls. It drove me nuts when my edge signal was very good.

I know that the 2G signal isn't near as good but for people that don't live in a 3G area, can you turn off the 3G? That would be fantastic. I've been toying with the idea of getting an iPhone. But, if it has the capability to turn off the 3G (when I'm at home), I might be sold on it.
 
djc6 said:
I am also curious if the 3GS gets significantly better reception. In the fall I purchased a 3G and had to return it because at home I would simply receive "No Service" - not even EDGE. I exchanged the phone, same story. Whats troubling is that my wife and I both have Motorola RAZR V3xx's and they have no 3G reception issues and they both report 4/5 bars most of the time. We're a cell phone-only household (no landline) so reception is pretty important 🙂
Click to expand...

I can't compare reception on 3G vs. 3GS because the 3GS is my first iphone attempt. However, I also have/had a Razr v3xx and the 3GS reception is definitely weaker. My home has great service so the 3GS still reflects 4 bars usually. But my signal at work is weaker and where my Razr would reflect 2-3 bars, the 3GS is reflecting 1. But is staying on 3G so far. Still need some time to see how it does with calls, but reception is much weaker than the Razr. And I'm a cell phone only household too. Otherwise I am loving the iphone so far.

Update: saw how to get into Field Test mode. My phone seems to be holding a 3G signal but the numerical signal is between -103 and -113...it's my understanding this is pretty bad, right?
 
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