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lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
Hi there. I am a MAC product lover. We have a mac laptop, desk top, 3 ipods.. well, you can see that we totally support mac..

We my hubby and i JUST purchased two new iphones. He has his, but mine is supposed to arrive in the mail.

Where our house is, we did not expect a miracle of signal bars, or anything like that, but with our previous verizon network, we did have ONE bar which would cut in and out, but was enough to send texts and stuff like that..

Well, now we are on the CINGULAR network, and even though we are getting ONE bar with the USB cord attached, we can't do ANYTHING with that one bar.. WHY WHY WHY give me the hope of one bar if its not going to do anything, send texts, receive a call, call out, I CANT EVEN SET UP THE VOICE MAIL WITH ONE BAR!!

Its the same with two bars. If we go up the street a little, i get ONE MORE bar at the top of the hill. GREAT!! Except i still can not get anything done!

Can someone tell me if there is some bizarre setting or my iphone is screwed up because i find it odd that i can have bars but no service.. If i go into the basement it will say no service, so i know there is SOMETHING that the phone is picking up on .
 

WhySoSerious

macrumors 65816
Jun 30, 2007
1,450
68
Dallas, TX
Hi there. I am a MAC product lover. We have a mac laptop, desk top, 3 ipods.. well, you can see that we totally support mac..

We my hubby and i JUST purchased two new iphones. He has his, but mine is supposed to arrive in the mail.

Where our house is, we did not expect a miracle of signal bars, or anything like that, but with our previous verizon network, we did have ONE bar which would cut in and out, but was enough to send texts and stuff like that..

Well, now we are on the CINGULAR network, and even though we are getting ONE bar with the USB cord attached, we can't do ANYTHING with that one bar.. WHY WHY WHY give me the hope of one bar if its not going to do anything, send texts, receive a call, call out, I CANT EVEN SET UP THE VOICE MAIL WITH ONE BAR!!

Its the same with two bars. If we go up the street a little, i get ONE MORE bar at the top of the hill. GREAT!! Except i still can not get anything done!

Can someone tell me if there is some bizarre setting or my iphone is screwed up because i find it odd that i can have bars but no service.. If i go into the basement it will say no service, so i know there is SOMETHING that the phone is picking up on .

go back to verizon or get a land line.
 

sushi

Moderator emeritus
Jul 19, 2002
15,639
3
キャンプスワ&#
The fun of cellular network reception. :(

I believe that this has more to do with your provider than the iPhone. Granted there are some differences between cell phone models, but in your case it looks like Verizon provided better coverage in your area than Cingular.

BTW, this is why many want unlocked iPhones so they can use their service of choice.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
i have a land line.. I am completely happy with it.. HOWEVER we were trying to FOWARD our cell calls to the land line so that we do not have to worry about missing a cell call because people dont know our land line yet, or a business is trying to call me on my cell..


BUT you didnt answer my question.. arent you supposed to be able to get service if you have one or two bars?? It only makes sense..

also, does the call forwarding work if you have no service, or do you need three bars for that too???
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
The fun of cellular network reception. :(

I believe that this has more to do with your provider than the iPhone. Granted there are some differences between cell phone models, but in your case it looks like Verizon provided better coverage in your area than Cingular.

BTW, this is why many want unlocked iPhones so they can use their service of choice.

an unlocked iphone would not give me service of my choice, just give me an option of T-mobil or another country's network.. either way i would have had to switch from verizon because its not the same type of network..

I know this is more a complaint of Cingular not having enough towers in my area, but i am just surprised that one or two bars STILL gives me nothing..

does anyone know the signal strength percentage that is needed to have 2 bars???
 

eye.surgeon

macrumors 6502
Jul 12, 2007
409
28
California
You're having trouble with your cellular provider's network, not your phone. Being disappointed in your iphone because the AT&T signal in your neighborhood sucks seems a little off.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
can you tell me what they mean when they said this=:
If you are already in a call, just hit "add call", enter the number above and hit call; the phone will go into test mode, but keep your call connected.

in the first link you gave me.. are they saying i need to be in test field mode while making a call?? that made no sense, but otherwise it seems like it will help me a little..
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
You're having trouble with your cellular provider's network, not your phone. Being disappointed in your iphone because the AT&T signal in your neighborhood sucks seems a little off.

like i said.. i needed help understanding.. I DONT KNOW WHY I HAVE BARS BUT NO SERVICE.. thats half network half phone.. why would a phone show bars if theres no service.. i would be happier if it just said no service... which would suck, but wouldnt give me a false sense of hope.
 

s8film40

macrumors 6502
Aug 14, 2007
480
41
can you tell me what they mean when they said this=:


in the first link you gave me.. are they saying i need to be in test field mode while making a call?? that made no sense, but otherwise it seems like it will help me a little..

Thats for seeing statistics during a call, the field test mode is far more technical than you need but it atleast can confirm that your getting a signal just go to cell information screen and see how many if any towers you are getting a signal from towards the end of each line it tells you the network that the cell tower is owned by it will look something like this N:410 if it is 410 that's AT&T if its another number it is another carrier.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
ok well.. have any of you people used a signal booster like the i-tena or the new griffin clear booster??

I know i can not expect a miracle, but they all say if you have 1-2 bars, if the addition of the clear booster or other boosters, adding another bar would help a lot.

anyone use those/
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
S8film40.. you can not choose one of them as a prefered tower though correct??

I havent done it yet. I can not pry the thing out of my husband's hands.. he's moving all his numbers over and setting up preferences, well, as many as he can without signal..

just out of curiousity.. if there are NO AT&T towers out here that my phone can connect to, is there a CS number to call that i could make note to them so maybe if they get some extra cash (ha ha ok..) they could put one up around here????
 

s8film40

macrumors 6502
Aug 14, 2007
480
41
S8film40.. you can not choose one of them as a prefered tower though correct??

I havent done it yet. I can not pry the thing out of my husband's hands.. he's moving all his numbers over and setting up preferences, well, as many as he can without signal..

just out of curiousity.. if there are NO AT&T towers out here that my phone can connect to, is there a CS number to call that i could make note to them so maybe if they get some extra cash (ha ha ok..) they could put one up around here????

The field test mode is just a way to view the cell activity your phone is receiving you can't change anything with it.

I would definately call AT&T, they'll know if there is a tower you should be getting a signal from (they won't tell you though) and its good to let them know your having problems, they add new towers all the time so you never know. I received poor signals it worked but wasn't great and then a few months ago they added a tower literaly just a few hundred feet away from where I live and I obviously get a perfect signal now. One thing to note however if the signal your receiving is not AT&T and you are able to use it most carriers will terminate the service if you use outside network towers over a certain percentage of the time.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
wow, that would SUCK if they cancled my coverage because they couldnt put a tower in the town i live in.. its not like i live in the middle of nowhere.. i'm just 6 miles from YALE UNIVERSITY right outside one of the biggest cities in CT.. stupid i know...

I THINK it is because i am close to the beach, and when you are close to a beach, the signal goes across the water because its a straight shot to the towers over in long island CT rather than the one over the hill in New Haven even though the new haven one is closer and stronger...

thats why i was hoping there was some kind of setting.. my old phone i can chose to make it use ONLY an att tower, or the closest tower to my phone.. thers nothing like that on the iphone?
 

zap2

macrumors 604
Mar 8, 2005
7,252
8
Washington D.C
Putting it out there, its AT&T now...

But yes, I have one or two bar at my house, and I can do voice and SMS( and slow data)


Not sure why it doesn't work for you...also being plugged with through USB won't help it.
 

s8film40

macrumors 6502
Aug 14, 2007
480
41
wow, that would SUCK if they cancled my coverage because they couldnt put a tower in the town i live in.. its not like i live in the middle of nowhere.. i'm just 6 miles from YALE UNIVERSITY right outside one of the biggest cities in CT.. stupid i know...

I THINK it is because i am close to the beach, and when you are close to a beach, the signal goes across the water because its a straight shot to the towers over in long island CT rather than the one over the hill in New Haven even though the new haven one is closer and stronger...

thats why i was hoping there was some kind of setting.. my old phone i can chose to make it use ONLY an att tower, or the closest tower to my phone.. thers nothing like that on the iphone?

Yeah there's no setting to choose what you connect to except for turning international roaming off. I've never heard of any phone being able to do that I didn't know there were phones with that option.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
zap2, thanks for telling me your experience.. i just found it odd that thing dont work until i have 3 bars.. maybe i will bring it to the store just to see what they say.. Or call form my house to see what att can do about it..

s8film40, i cant remember if it was my chocolate from verizon that did it or my sprint phone before that now that i think about it, but i do specifically remember changing that option.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
oh yea, about the USB cord, i read some websites that say that having the USB cord dangling form the bottom can actually get your iphone to gain some bars, and surprisingly it does.. probably because the antenna is on the bottom by the usb connector and it uses the metal in that to extend that "length" of the antenna.. like adding aluminum foil to a CB
 

s8film40

macrumors 6502
Aug 14, 2007
480
41
oh yea, about the USB cord, i read some websites that say that having the USB cord dangling form the bottom can actually get your iphone to gain some bars, and surprisingly it does.. probably because the antenna is on the bottom by the usb connector and it uses the metal in that to extend that "length" of the antenna.. like adding aluminum foil to a CB

Maybe you could get a really really long USB cord and mount it to an antenna on your roof.:D
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
its not something i haven't already thought of i'll tell ya that..

My dad was an inventor, i got some of those genes.. i just wish i knew more about how a cell antenna works and what materials it is made out of.. I cant seem to get too much info on the net.. might need a trip to the library... unless someone here can answer me.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
ya know, i went on the att coverage map area and when i looked at my address, it showed that it should be GOOD.. not BEST but just one step under it.
 

avaloncourt

macrumors 65816
Oct 18, 2007
1,315
0
wow, that would SUCK if they cancled my coverage because they couldnt put a tower in the town i live in.. its not like i live in the middle of nowhere.. i'm just 6 miles from YALE UNIVERSITY right outside one of the biggest cities in CT.. stupid i know...

You don't say specifically where you are but did you look at the coverage area? If you are in the North Haven, East Haven, Hamden or Woodbridge areas there are spots shown that have very little coverage and, in one case, no coverage at all. I'm trying to make a guess at where you'd be at 6 miles from New Haven.

Edit: Oops. You posted about this subject when I was looking at your coverage.

Can you get better results anywhere in the house? If so, pair a Bluetooth headset with the phone and put the phone where it does better. Keep in mind that simply holding the phone puts your body between the signal and the phone. That can significantly reduce the quality of your connection.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
i tried to blue tooth trick, no go because there is NO WHER EIn the house that has helped at all.. the ONLY thing that made a difference is the USB cable hanging off the bottom, but not a big enough difference.. which makes me THINK there is a good idea behind some signal boosters.. i made a new post for that so people might get a better idea of what i am asking..

BUT ... if your lookup soundview ave east haven, CT .. its not where i live, but its close enough to me that you will see that it says GOOD right on or near my street with NO dead spots anywhere near me.
 

avaloncourt

macrumors 65816
Oct 18, 2007
1,315
0
BUT ... if your lookup soundview ave east haven, CT .. its not where i live, but its close enough to me that you will see that it says GOOD right on or near my street with NO dead spots anywhere near me.

The coverage viewer states:

We Cannot Find Your Address
Your address was not matched. Please try again.

when attempting to look up soundview ave in East Haven. Keep in mind that the coverage viewer is in no way accurate at the individual street level. It's merely a mathematical extrapolation of the data collected for FCC transmitter approval. It's best guess. There are some pretty significant low signal areas identified in East Haven but, as I said in your other thread, other factors could be involved and most likely are.
 
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