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NYC Thread: 3G issues

no service in Park Slope

I sat in a Starbucks on 7th ave today and tried to get safari and e-mail for 30 minutes. No luck at all. Several bars, but 3G just didn't do a thing. Walked up 7th for another 10 minutes and got no data whatsoever.

So far, in the month I've had my iphone, it's been little more than a Touch with wifi. This is so frustrating.
 
???

Why don't you understand??? AT&T has always sucked in Manhattan and they don't give a damn. You already signed up for 2 years likely and the phone only works on their network. You think they'll upgrade infrastructure because a few techies complain? They're laughing all the way to the bank and you and I are screwed.
 
macpluslaptop said:
I sat in a Starbucks on 7th ave today and tried to get safari and e-mail for 30 minutes. No luck at all. Several bars, but 3G just didn't do a thing. Walked up 7th for another 10 minutes and got no data whatsoever.

So far, in the month I've had my iphone, it's been little more than a Touch with wifi. This is so frustrating.
Click to expand...

please tell me you tried to toggle 3G and/or restart the phone? if all you did was sit there hoping it would work for 30 min, at this point, with all the info out there on how to try to get a connection, it's your own fault. sad but true.
 
ramyramy said:
Why don't you understand??? AT&T has always sucked in Manhattan and they don't give a damn. You already signed up for 2 years likely and the phone only works on their network. You think they'll upgrade infrastructure because a few techies complain? They're laughing all the way to the bank and you and I are screwed.
Click to expand...

AT&T has like a zillion cell towers per square mile and I've always had good signal.

And I don't know if you ever called service, but they are very concerned about service and they are quick to get it fixed.

Maybe it's attitude that's important. Rude on the phone, no service for you!
 
What happened in the last 2 weeks in NYC?

I left the country 2 weeks ago. Prior to leaving my coverage in Manhattan was good and my only complaint was the battery life of the 3g. I'm back for a couple of days and I still get great 3g coverage (5 bars), but I have horrible internet connection. 3g has been essentially useless. The only time I was able to get near 3g speeds was at about 3am and that only maxed at about 700k. Most of the time it just hangs. I've tried rebooting and toggling the airline mode.

If this persists for a few more days I will seriously consider returning since I purchased it less than 30 days ago. I'm very disappointed.
 
mcdj said:
please tell me you tried to toggle 3G and/or restart the phone? if all you did was sit there hoping it would work for 30 min, at this point, with all the info out there on how to try to get a connection, it's your own fault. sad but true.
Click to expand...

To defend the other poster- it's not his fault.
He shouldn't have to toggle anything to get the phone to work as expected.
None of us should.
I called AT&T and they had me doing the on/off, reset, toggle dance as well. Yes it got 3G to work (for only a few minutes and then it was back on Edge)- but does this mean we settle for a phone that needs constant troubleshooting?
What if At&t fixed all 3G service to all phones except yours?
Then you could toggle away till your heart's content.
 
alphaod said:
AT&T has like a zillion cell towers per square mile and I've always had good signal.

And I don't know if you ever called service, but they are very concerned about service and they are quick to get it fixed.

Maybe it's attitude that's important. Rude on the phone, no service for you!
Click to expand...

Oh please spare us all.

It's a coverage issue. AT&T needs to fix it. Don't try and place blame on the caller's attitude.
 
Bokes said:
To defend the other poster- it's not his fault.
He shouldn't have to toggle anything to get the phone to work as expected.
None of us should.
I called AT&T and they had me doing the on/off, reset, toggle dance as well. Yes it got 3G to work (for only a few minutes and then it was back on Edge)- but does this mean we settle for a phone that needs constant troubleshooting?
What if At&t fixed all 3G service to all phones except yours?
Then you could toggle away till your heart's content.
Click to expand...

Obviously we shouldn't have to toggle buttons to get 3G to work. But for now, that's what many have to do. I'm not saying the 3G problems are the OP's fault, I'm just saying that until (if?) the problems get ironed out for everyone, the stopgap toggle fixes are all we have, and that not trying them is doing yourself a disservice.
 
I have the original iPhone and my EDGE is god awful. Half the time it can't even get to my email. When I lived outside Chicago I never had these problems and even before the 3G came out EDGE in NYC was pretty good. Now it is awful. It's not even worth having an iPhone right now because literally every other time basically I try to get my email it times out.
 
well the 3G gods must have decided my previous post(s) on the matter was too harsh. Today, walking around 6th Ave > 3rd Ave in the 20s, I had to reboot no less than 3 times just to get a mediocre 3G speed. Toggling airplane and/or 3G itself did nothing. Only a reboot worked, and just barely.

Once I crossed back onto the home turf zone...2nd ave in the teens...3G was fine.

This seems to back the theory that A.) 3G is great in certain pockets of the city and horrible in others, and B.) the iPhone has a very hard time moving between these pockets smoothly.
 
I went to Korean town (32nd St) for dinner tonight and got 800kbps to 1090kbps!! This was the case from 36th all the way down to 32nd street. Not bad at all.

Then I came home to the Village and back to 25kbps if I get 3G (usually 5 bars). It falls back to EDGE often though where I get a higher speed.

Is AT&T starting to fix the 3G around the city? It sure was nice when it was working. No airplane mode toggle necessary, it just found it when I was there... It was nice while it lasted.
 
So on the phone with ATT the girl told me that on UES there are 2 towers with "degraded service" and another that is totally not working. The work order is in to fix them but so far there is no work done. No time frame either. This is just on UES by the 59th St.(Queensboro) Bridge. They gave me $10(the difference between the old 2g data plan and the new 3g data plan) per phone, per month of no 3g service. Told me to call back next month so see if the problem has been fixed. If not then I get the refund again for the month. I have 2 phones on my family plan so thats $20 off my bill each month.
 
attny.jpg


Really AT&T? ...Really?
 
interesting said:
So on the phone with ATT the girl told me that on UES there are 2 towers with "degraded service" and another that is totally not working. The work order is in to fix them but so far there is no work done. No time frame either. This is just on UES by the 59th St.(Queensboro) Bridge. They gave me $10(the difference between the old 2g data plan and the new 3g data plan) per phone, per month of no 3g service. Told me to call back next month so see if the problem has been fixed. If not then I get the refund again for the month. I have 2 phones on my family plan so thats $20 off my bill each month.
Click to expand...

2 AT&T reps told me that there is a degraded tower in my area (lower Westchester) but none offered me refunds, they actually told me that they are strictly not allowed to give discounts on iPhone plans or they could get in trouble. So what did you say to the rep to get the refund?

I also go to school at NYU, and service was great there earlier in the week, but towards the end it got horrible to the extent where EDGE was better. I just got my phone replaced so let's see what happens.
 
The first girl I talked to said that they do not have any programs to give refunds so she couldn't help me. All I said was "do I need to call back and talk to someone else?" and she transferred me to the Resolution Specialist. He listened to my overly dramatic story about switching providers and then not getting what was advertised and then said he could offer me what he did.
 
Bump.

My speeds overall are better, but EDGE-droppage happens more frequently. It scares me that I'm learning to live with this, kinda like a bad smell on the subway that you know you're still inhaling but no longer notice.
 
Is everyone no longer having issues? Much silence has fallen on this thread.

Speeds have been decent for me through normal usage; Email checks, web browsing...
 
with my new iPhone I can getting considerably better speeds w/ 3G in the Village area on 5th ave. I am getting 1.09 Mbps in my dorm and the same speeds outisde.
 
Pared said:
Is everyone no longer having issues? Much silence has fallen on this thread.

Speeds have been decent for me through normal usage; Email checks, web browsing...
Click to expand...

I'm just tired of talking about it. I still get crappy and inconsistent speeds depending on where I am in the city. Like now at work where i've gotten over 1.5Mbps, I'm now getting 64 Kbps. Sigh.
 
it's not brain surgery

mcdj said:
please tell me you tried to toggle 3G and/or restart the phone? if all you did was sit there hoping it would work for 30 min, at this point, with all the info out there on how to try to get a connection, it's your own fault. sad but true.
Click to expand...

Yes, I did all the requisite toggling, etc. etc. As a followup, I should report that Park Slope reception has been decent the past couple of days.
 
Full Bars on 3G and EDGE...

I have full service... I can send/receive calls/text/voicemails but any internet app does cartwheels for a long time. mail, weather, safari all sit like dead ducks. anyone else in NYC having this problem today?
 
Mobile923 said:
I have full service... I can send/receive calls/text/voicemails but any internet app does cartwheels for a long time. mail, weather, safari all sit like dead ducks. anyone else in NYC having this problem today?
Click to expand...

I'm on the UES... push mail has been working for my job, but you're right, it seems like other apps just cartwheel.

**** AT&T.
 
Nothing since yesterday morning

Was out at the US Open day session yesterday and was not able to get any 3g service. Also, my phone could not make/receive calls until I disabled 3g. This morning, still no 3g service in my taxi ride from Tribeca to midtown! At least now I can make/receive calls...
 
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