Reception on 8/plus

[maverick22]

I'm interested to know if reception is better than the 7's in low signal areas? Right now my Tmobile plus struggles to make calls/texts/connect to Internet indoors. Wondering if it's any better with the 8's, or do I just need to switch carriers?

Thanks

 

[Vermifuge]

I'm interested to know if reception is better than the 7's in low signal areas? Right now my Tmobile plus struggles to make calls/texts/connect to Internet indoors. Wondering if it's any better with the 8's, or do I just need to switch carriers?

Thanks

I think this is a limitation of the frequencies T-Mobile support. T-Mo just bought some bandwidth in the 600Mhz range (which will improve indoor reception) however this is not supported on the new iPhone 8/8Plus/X and will not / can not be enabled via software.

SOURCE: for this who undoubtably challenge or for factualness of statement.

http://www.peter-cohen.com/2017/09/about-the-new-iphones-and-t-mobiles-600-mhz-spectrum/

 

[maverick22]

I forgot to mention (and this is a big deal to me) whenever I'm on a call, even in areas with good signals, the other person always says I am frequently "breaking up." It's very frustrating.

Wonder if Samsungs have better reception. I'm getting tired of it. Apple checked my phone, and they act like my phone is not defective.

 

[Vermifuge]

I forgot to mention (and this is a big deal to me) whenever I'm on a call, even in areas with good signals, the other person always says I am frequently "breaking up." It's very frustrating.

Wonder if Samsungs have better reception. I'm getting tired of it. Apple checked my phone, and they act like my phone is not defective.

I'm sure your phone is "functioning within normal parameters" this is a T-mo network problem. they don't have the necessary frequencies for trouble free operation.

 

[maverick22]

I'm sure your phone is "functioning within normal parameters" this is a T-mo network problem. they don't have the necessary frequencies for trouble free operation.

So even in areas with good signal T-Mobile is simply incapable of providing problem-free calls basically? Man, can't wait to switch if so!

Thanks for the 2 replies.

 

[MacDevil7334]

It is also possible the modem in your iPhone might also be contributing. For the iPhone 7 (and iPhone 8), Apple started using two suppliers for its modems. The AT&T/T-Mobile version uses an Intel modem and doesn’t support CDMA networks at all. The Verizon/Sprint/Sim-free version uses a Qualcomm modem and supports both GSM and CDMA networks. While the two modems had similar performance most of the time, there were multiple reports that the Intel modem struggled compared to the Qualcomm version in low signal situations. That might be contributing to your issues.

I had an Intel modem 7 and made sure to buy the sim free 8 this time to get the Qualcomm modem. It does seem to do slightly better in low signal environments. But the difference is not dramatic, and could also be due to the glass back of the 8 being better for receiving cell signals. It’s hard to say how much the modem manufacturer is a factor.

 

[maverick22]

It is also possible the modem in your iPhone might also be contributing. For the iPhone 7 (and iPhone 8), Apple started using two suppliers for its modems. The AT&T/T-Mobile version uses an Intel modem and doesn’t support CDMA networks at all. The Verizon/Sprint/Sim-free version uses a Qualcomm modem and supports both GSM and CDMA networks. While the two modems had similar performance most of the time, there were multiple reports that the Intel modem struggled compared to the Qualcomm version in low signal situations. That might be contributing to your issues.

I had an Intel modem 7 and made sure to buy the sim free 8 this time to get the Qualcomm modem. It does seem to do slightly better in low signal environments. But the difference is not dramatic, and could also be due to the glass back of the 8 being better for receiving cell signals. It’s hard to say how much the modem manufacturer is a factor.

Yes I am familiar with the different modems. Thanks. I'm not sure what the cause is:

1) Iphones' reception sucks in general
2) the Intel modem is causing the issues
3) T-Mobile is the problem
4) combination of all of the above

Was hoping to get more replies. I'll probably just have to get my phone unlocked and test it out with an AT&T sim.

Thanks

 

[Apnea2]

Iphones are known for their bad antenna performance.
See following study

 

[maverick22]

Anyone else care to chime in?

 

[Sozzeled]

Anyone else care to chime in?

So here is my experience. I ordered 2x iPhone 8 pluses and both phones had terrible reception to the point where I see one bar alot of the time. Apple sent me a replacement phone but the same issues persist to the point where I am not able to have a good conversation with someone bc it cuts out so much. I am still working with Apple to this day to try and figure out the call drop offs. Today I had enough of the issue (I am on AT&T btw) and popped my sim card back into my iPhone 6. Flawless calls and data, which is why I feel like the iPhone 8s have been faulty. Why should my iPhone 6 work perfect when multiple iPhone 8s can not hold a conversation??

 

[lordofthereef]

My wife just did junk on demand to the 8 from the 7. The 7 gave her nothing but trouble from day one. She never had reception at work. She was ready to bail Tmovike but I told her to just give the 8 a try. She didn’t have any of these issues in her 6s but she also didn’t work where she does now so that was sort of incomparable.

Anyway, she couldn’t be happier. Zero issues with reception and she didn’t have to move to a more expensive plan. She should’ve dumped that phone the day she got it honestly. Clearly a lemon, but I say all of this because Apple checked it out and said it was fine. The most recent issue was completely loss of gps signal, but it was out of warranty so Apple offered andnout if warranty replacement; yeah no thanks.

She really wanted to JoD for the X, but since we aren’t three year customers I guess there’s a down payment; defeats the purpose of JoD. Further, you can’t trade a phone for the $300 off on JoD. So she’s basically stuck with the 8 now, but has been really happy with it.

 

[maverick22]

Wow, 2 very different experiences mentioned above!

I would have thought the one on AT&T would perform better as I am having cut outs and bad signal on my 7 plus on T-Mobile.

 

[Strelok]

If you can, try to connect to Wi-Fi and use Wi-Fi calling in those situations. Sadly the internet at my university is pretty bad in terms of reliability, so Wi-Fi calls get dropped from time to time.