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iPhone reception question/problem

I occasionally get the problem where I lose service and then get in back without actually moving the phone at all. But the bigger problem for me is the call quality. And I'm not nitpicking here. This is like sound breaking up, can't hear most of what people say kind of quality problems. People have significant trouble hearing me and almost always ask if I can call them on a land line. This is happening literally on almost 100% of the calls I have made with my iPhone to date. This happens at home and at work in downtown Boston. Most recently I was in downtown Manhattan and it happened there too. Later at LaGuardia it was happening. When I look at the phone it says 4 or 5 lines of service. What's the deal with this? I assume this is not normal. Does anyone else have such a severe problem with their calls?

Thanks.
 
DROPPED CALLS all the time!!

Same issue here. I get dropped calls (call failed) all the time. Plus my service is really choppy, cutting in and out without even moving the phone. The signal will jump from 5 bars to 0 bars then to 3 then to 0 then to 5 and so on... I can barely make a phone call in my house (which was perfect on Verizon) and even when I go outside its the same. My friend has AT&T and does not have these problems with his RAZOR phone.

Called AT&T and totally got the run-a-round: started with an Apple rep. Explained the situation with the calls being dropped, she said it sounds like a service issue; transferred me to an AT&T rep.

went through the whole explaination and she looked up my account to view my dropped calls. Told me that I was in an excellent coverage area and the dropped calls are happening in random places that all should have good coverage.

She then transferred me to a tech specialist who would determine if it was something with the towers (coverage) or with the handset. He told me that it seemed to be a hardware issue, possibly something wrong with the antenna or something. So, his recomendation was to have the phone replaced. To do so he had to transfer me back to an Apple Rep because they handle the replacements.

The new Apple Rep then went on to tell me that what I'm experiencing is bad service from AT&T and that she works with people and has similar problems on her iPhone.. Saying this as if the last three people knew nothing. So, she told me to take the phone to an Apple store and have a mac Genius test the hardware. She said there was a machine they can hook it up to to test it.

Made my appt and went to the Apple store only to be told they do not have any such testing equipment. The only thing they do is look at the number of bars and try to make a call. She said they could send it in to Apple to have it checked under warranty which takes 2-3 days, but most likely they will not find any problems with it. Plus I would have to pay $30 for a loaner. She recommended doing a Restore to see if that helps resolve any possible software issue.

Did that. No change - still more than half of my calls are dropped.
 
First it is definitely a known, real problem and there are many opinions about whether it is an iPhone problem or an AT&T network problem. I can tell you that I had exactly the same problem and an AT&T tower tech guy came to my house and we walked all around it and outside with his 4GB iPhone and my 2nd 8GB iPhone side by side. His for the most part had a steady 4-5 bars with sometimes a drop to 3 in a screened area while mine was jumping all around as you described. He told me that they (AT&T techs) had been advised to do a firmware restore and his had been steady ever since. So I returned my 8GB and got a 4GB, did the firmware restore and it is not as good as my N95 but much better. I have noticed that it tends to "age" over time and then I do another firmware restore which helps for a week or so, etc.

I would not accept the run around that you got but make another call to AT&T/Apple and try to get a more knowledgeable CSR. If all that fails I would send it in for repair and pay for the loaner. The advantage of that is that you can try a different phone at your location and can determine better if it is your phone or the network. All of this is very frustrating - especially for those of us not in a direct line of sight to the tower which seems to make this problem a lot worse.

Frank
 
blueflame said:
I found if you hold the phone higher up, on the silver, without really touching the black part, leaving it exposed, the reception boosts.
I think covering it with your hand REALLY impacts reception?
A
Click to expand...

This is true. Having the problem of no reception in the house. When I put iPhone in the cradle I get 4 bars. Was on the phone with AT&T & Apple guys for over an hour. The last question the Apple guy asked was how I was holding the phone. I told him that laying it down didn't make a difference. He said to take it back to the store. As soon has I hung up, I noticed I had 4 bars. I can now demonstrate the problem consistently. If you hold it in your palm, covering the antenna, reception goes away. I'm astonished that Apple let that problem get past QA.
 
Doug Meacham said:
This is true. Having the problem of no reception in the house. When I put iPhone in the cradle I get 4 bars. Was on the phone with AT&T & Apple guys for over an hour. The last question the Apple guy asked was how I was holding the phone. I told him that laying it down didn't make a difference. He said to take it back to the store. As soon has I hung up, I noticed I had 4 bars. I can now demonstrate the problem consistently. If you hold it in your palm, covering the antenna, reception goes away. I'm astonished that Apple let that problem get past QA.
Click to expand...

That is also astonishing to me but I am equally astonished at the design decision that would place the cell antenna at the bottom of the phone which is guaranteed to be obscured by almost anyone holding the phone normally - rather than at or near the top like every other cell phone I have used with decent reception. I would guess that they were so concerned with building a device with all of its cool features that they forgot about the getting the basics right - it needs to be a good phone first.

Frank
 
fmcgirt said:
That is also astonishing to me but I am equally astonished at the design decision that would place the cell antenna at the bottom of the phone which is guaranteed to be obscured by almost anyone holding the phone normally - rather than at or near the top like every other cell phone I have used with decent reception. I would guess that they were so concerned with building a device with all of its cool features that they forgot about the getting the basics right - it needs to be a good phone first.

Frank
Click to expand...

Frank,

Apple is apparently not alone in this new design flaw. My wife just got a new Sanyo Katana (Sprint). On the back of the phone is a label that says: "To maximize call performance, do not obstruct the internal antenna area". There is a picture of the phone being held by the fingertips and an arrow pointing to the bottom of the phone indicating the location of the internal antenna. Apple store Genius had not heard of this problem, but they gave me a new phone. Still has the same issue. I just need to change the way I hold it, I guess!

Doug
 
Doug,

There are still a couple of things to try. My AppleCare guy had AT&T download an update to my iPhone which appeared to help for a time. You could call AT&T and ask for that. Also you could try a firmware restore. That is the position I am in now - doing another firmware restore when the phone starts to have really erratic RF. It does help for a while. I don't think there will be a permanent fix until Apple steps up and takes care of it. And I think there are just too many cases of this problem occurring to solve it by exchanging phones. My 4GB seems to be perfect otherwise and I hesitate to exchange it for one who may have other problems. Finally when I am near a tower or have a direct line of sight to a tower, it doesn't matter how I hold it so it really is a problem for people like me in other areas.

Frank
 
Reviving this thread.....

Has anyone updated to 1.0.2 and noticed that it fixed the 5 bar-to-0 bar-to-5 bar hopping? There are reports here on macrumors that 1.0.2 fixed it, but I still have the problem.

Anyone else? Anyone get a resolution to the problem?
 
I've updated to the newest firmwared, namely 1.0.2 and I am still having the same problem.
 
trupika said:
I have the same problem with the iPhone in Cambridge, MA.

When the phone sits in the doc. 4 bars, browses fine etc. If I pick up to make a call it'll try for a little while then drop me to one teeny bar or no service.

Does anyone know if this is an AT&T or iPhone problem. I've used T-mobile for years and never had any substantial issues.
Click to expand...

I believe its an at&t problem. Theres always a cutoff for reception, and you must be right on the edge of the tower line? I dont know, thats what i always suspected.
 
Ok, I started experiencing this myself just today after having my phone for about 2 months. While it was sitting on my desk it would jump from 4 bars to zero, to 3, to no service...without me not having moved it an inch. So I tried moving around and just kept an eye on it all day. It kept doing the same erratic behavior, regardless of where it was.

So I started trying to figure out what could have made it go crazy overnight for no reason. The only thing that was different about today was that I had it out of its case all day. I bought the case at the AT&T store the same day I'd bought the iPhone - nothing fancy, just the generic 'leather' case that comes with a screen protector and a spot in the back where you can screw in a rivet and use the belt clip. I think it was like 20 bucks. So I've had it in there since literally the first time I used the phone.

Last night I was at a friends place, and he was looking at the phone and for some reason took the case off. I didn't even notice till I got home. Didn't think it was a big deal, I would just pick it up next time I was over there. Then, soon as I get up this morning the things signal is going haywire and kept it up all day.

So I was pretty frustrated by the end of the day, and decided to just go pickup the case, cause it seemed odd that the first time I'm using it without the case is also the first time its signal strength is erratic.

So I got to my friends house and check the phone - 0 bars. The moment - hell, the instant, I slid that iPhone back into the case the signal strength went back to 4 and hasn't changed. Even though its in the same spot on my desk where it was getting "no signal" messages for hours earlier in the day.

Right now, as I type this, I removed it from the case and started a timer. After about 5 seconds 2 bars went down, and a sec last one came back. After 1 min 6.4 seconds of being out of its cheap, unremarkable case, it hit 0 bars. Putting it back in - 36 seconds later, i'm back at full signal strength and full WiFi strenght (which was 1/2 out of case).

So call me crazy, but this little black case doubles my iPhones signal strength. Doubles it! Every single time.

I wish I knew someone with an IPhone, so we could try it on another phone, but I don't. This is the case I have. Most AT&T stores have them.

I hope this helps some of you guys who are suffering form the "Signal at full power one min, now 1 bar...now 'no service'.

If someone goes out and gets on of those cases to try this, someone times you have to hit the little sleeper button the top once you've placed it back in the case.
 
Mr Derp said:
Ok, I started experiencing this myself just today after having my phone for about 2 months. While it was sitting on my desk it would jump from 4 bars to zero, to 3, to no service...without me not having moved it an inch. So I tried moving around and just kept an eye on it all day. It kept doing the same erratic behavior, regardless of where it was.

So I started trying to figure out what could have made it go crazy overnight for no reason. The only thing that was different about today was that I had it out of its case all day. I bought the case at the AT&T store the same day I'd bought the iPhone - nothing fancy, just the generic 'leather' case that comes with a screen protector and a spot in the back where you can screw in a rivet and use the belt clip. I think it was like 20 bucks. So I've had it in there since literally the first time I used the phone.

Last night I was at a friends place, and he was looking at the phone and for some reason took the case off. I didn't even notice till I got home. Didn't think it was a big deal, I would just pick it up next time I was over there. Then, soon as I get up this morning the things signal is going haywire and kept it up all day.

So I was pretty frustrated by the end of the day, and decided to just go pickup the case, cause it seemed odd that the first time I'm using it without the case is also the first time its signal strength is erratic.

So I got to my friends house and check the phone - 0 bars. The moment - hell, the instant, I slid that iPhone back into the case the signal strength went back to 4 and hasn't changed. Even though its in the same spot on my desk where it was getting "no signal" messages for hours earlier in the day.

Right now, as I type this, I removed it from the case and started a timer. After about 5 seconds 2 bars went down, and a sec last one came back. After 1 min 6.4 seconds of being out of its cheap, unremarkable case, it hit 0 bars. Putting it back in - 36 seconds later, i'm back at full signal strength and full WiFi strenght (which was 1/2 out of case).

So call me crazy, but this little black case doubles my iPhones signal strength. Doubles it! Every single time.

I wish I knew someone with an IPhone, so we could try it on another phone, but I don't. This is the case I have. Most AT&T stores have them.

I hope this helps some of you guys who are suffering form the "Signal at full power one min, now 1 bar...now 'no service'.

If someone goes out and gets on of those cases to try this, someone times you have to hit the little sleeper button the top once you've placed it back in the case.
Click to expand...

Others have reported this as well, especially in fringe areas, and I have seen this exact behavior on my 4GB iPhone and as a result now always keep it in a Sena leather case. I had three 8GBs and returned them with the same behavior and cases didn't help them. Sure is strange but definitely there on some devices.

Please report this to the Apple Feedback web site

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

Maybe if enough of us report this behavior it will get acknowledged and fixed.

Frank
 
Maybe I am one of the lucky ones, but I have had my 8GB iPhone since the 19th of august and I have had no problems with dropped calls or lowered reception. I am holding the phone on the black part of the phone and I still have 5 bars of reception. I also was in the city on Monday and had perfect reception all day walking from Penn station all the way down 7th ave to Central Park. Maybe the new batch of phones that apple is putting out has a stronger antenna or something but my phone that I bought on the 19th of August is still going like a champ. Just thought I'd tell my experience with my phone.
 
iPhone Reception Issues Here In Australia

I have this problem and i am certain it is not the carriers in most cases. Check this link out on youtube........the bars drop and lift erratically - no movement at all.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1q24ftCg0M

This video shows exactly what's happening to me and from the sound of it to many others. My colleagues also have iPhones on the same network and they have no problem. I have even tried another network provider and it didn't fix the issue.

I hope someone has a fix....if yes, please share it by posting. I have spent hours with this issue and no-one (including service agents) in the US will help me either. A tech here in Australia looked at it and can't fix it also and said they can't see an issue. I have upgraded to 1.1.1, repaired basebands, downgraded and so on and it still won't work. With the phone in this state i have to carry my Nokia for work.

Please post if you find a solution........thanks alot. Dan
 
DanOz said:
I have this problem and i am certain it is not the carriers in most cases. Check this link out on youtube........the bars drop and lift erratically - no movement at all.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1q24ftCg0M

This video shows exactly what's happening to me and from the sound of it to many others. My colleagues also have iPhones on the same network and they have no problem. I have even tried another network provider and it didn't fix the issue.

I hope someone has a fix....if yes, please share it by posting. I have spent hours with this issue and no-one (including service agents) in the US will help me either. A tech here in Australia looked at it and can't fix it also and said they can't see an issue. I have upgraded to 1.1.1, repaired basebands, downgraded and so on and it still won't work. With the phone in this state i have to carry my Nokia for work.

Please post if you find a solution........thanks alot. Dan
Click to expand...

I have almost exactly the same behavior that you show in your video except sometimes the AT&T and E disappear either together or separately along with the decrease in bars. Today I arranged through Apple tech support to return my iPhone for repair. If they can't fix the problem or find it then I am done with iPhone until I hear that the phone part of the device can be depended on. BTW this is my third iPhone and I have tried two others - all have had varying degrees of this same problem.

I almost think that it is a power problem. I have noticed that other phones with varying signal bars show a boost in signal strength once a call is connected so maybe the problem with the iPhone is something like that. Maybe they are decreasing the power but through a failed algorithm or process or even a faulty hardware controller they are not able to restore it enough in time to prevent an insufficient signal strength which leads to dropped calls, etc.

The latest occurrance that happened to me today was while I was reading and responding to emails and the signal dropped from full signal to low bars and I was unable to connect to Edge to send emails. Then it restored itself for about a minute and then went to No Service. I immediately put my SIM card in my Nokia N95 and proceeded with the emails having no more signal problems. After finishing that I put the SIM back into the iPhone and it was back to normal. Almost like some cosmic ray got me for a while.

This type of random problem may be hard to detect and to fix but I would like at least for Apple to admit that they know about the problem. It is also a problem when so many people claim that they have no reception problems at all.

Frank
 
My O2 iPhone often loses signal in my house. It has 1 bar at most, all of the time.

My old Nokia phone constantly gets 4/5 or 5/5 bars, and my iMate Pocket PC stays at 2/5 or 3/5 bars. So, the iPhone is by far the worst for reception!

Oh well...
 
Agreed......

fmcgirt said:
BTW this is my third iPhone and I have tried two others - all have had varying degrees of this same problem.

I almost think that it is a power problem. I have noticed that other phones with varying signal bars show a boost in signal strength once a call is connected so maybe the problem with the iPhone is something like that. Maybe they are decreasing the power but through a failed algorithm or process or even a faulty hardware controller they are not able to restore it enough in time to prevent an insufficient signal strength which leads to dropped calls, etc.


Frank
Click to expand...


My iPhone worked beautifully for a couple of weeks, then this happened, so i hope it can be fixed. Most forums are discussing AT&T's poor service, but i agree that the Phone is to blame here. I'll keep posting and researching until i find an answer.....I REFUSE TO BE BEATEN by this thing ;-)

I use alot of Apple products and i love this phone, but at the moment i joke that i have a big, fat, low capacity, expensive iPod touch until the mystery is resolved. ha ha. :eek:
 
DanOz said:
My iPhone worked beautifully for a couple of weeks, then this happened, so i hope it can be fixed. Most forums are discussing AT&T's poor service, but i agree that the Phone is to blame here. I'll keep posting and researching until i find an answer.....I REFUSE TO BE BEATEN by this thing ;-)

I use alot of Apple products and i love this phone, but at the moment i joke that i have a big, fat, low capacity, expensive iPod touch until the mystery is resolved. ha ha. :eek:
Click to expand...

same prob here in the UK with O2 network. full 5 bar signal on my other O2 phone and 'no coverage' on the iPhone when inside shops or large buildings.
this is def a software or design prob with the phone IMO.

edit -
just been and swapped for another iPhone, this too appears to drop the signal :-(
 
iPhone SIgnal failure

This is my second iPhone and third sim card and I am having the same problem. I was told by an Apple Tech at the genius Bar at an Apple store that if you have had an existing AT&T account and added the iPhone to the account this can cause this problem. He told me he had AT&T reset the account as a new account and put the iPhone on it and had not had this problem since. I am yet to try this solution, but if everyone else out there have had this problem, maybe it will work.
 
Reception

I am wondering why nobody saying anything about FieldTest program on your iPhones. It clearly shows the signal strength of your ATT and/or T-Mobile towers. This is how iPhone making decision on switching towers, so it's a software / firmware glitch... Someone possibly can write a program to improve this, unless Apple will take care of this first.
 
I would have waited too, but the incidental problems the phone presents are well outweighed by the utility that if offers in return. Nothing is perfect. If you wait for the second version it will not be perfect either. I had a new simm card from my home area code put in the phone recently and 90% of the signals problems were removed from it.
 
I think the problem goes into iPhone switching cell towers when it shouldn't do so. We need to develop the application to fix it if Apple doesn't care.
 
whoever said:
I am wondering why nobody saying anything about FieldTest program on your iPhones. It clearly shows the signal strength of your ATT and/or T-Mobile towers. This is how iPhone making decision on switching towers, so it's a software / firmware glitch... Someone possibly can write a program to improve this, unless Apple will take care of this first.
Click to expand...

I was looking at my field test screen today, when I noticed the phone would say i have no signal, but the FT screen would show me connected to a tower @-105 dB. I pressed refesh a bunch of times and it didn't budge. That is leading me to believe that there is something wrong with the baseband and the main phone software(or at least the part that updates the signal strenth). Every once and a while i can still make a call and surf the web even though it claims I have no signal. I live in Staffod, VA (aka SoNoVA) for location reference.
 
Test

I was testing my iPhone reception lately from a land line @ my house. I have ATT and my iPhone always has a full bar and occasionally drops to 1-2 or 3 bars (never goes to "no signal"). I think it happens when it is in a process of switching towers (for no reason).
1 out of 5 times the call will not go through to my iPhone (no ring) and go to the voice mail. (I tried to call about 30 times total). Then I tried my old phone which is Nokia 6200 and it never happens.
Anyone can confirm this easy test?
 
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