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Reception Problems

M

manhattanmania

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 9, 2007
285
101
Hi All,

My iPhone seems to have major reception problems. I live in Manhattan, so service should be close to perfect...but definitely has not been. Ive had an insane amount of dropped calls with my iPhone. I realize this is generally an ATT/service issue, but something tells me it's my iPhone, because I get dropped calls even when I get full service. Not only that, there are times when i have full service and edge and my phone will not let me place a call. It'll go straight to the person's voicemail or the call will fail even though there is plenty of service. It usually takes a couple of tries and then the call will go through. The newest thing is that tonight, once again with full service, the iphone wont even place calls at time. It just wont dial and then it'll say call failed. I've tried powercycling, resetting as well. There are like 10 minute time spans where I cant make a call and people cant make a call to me either. Could this new thing be somehow cuz of AppTapp? Otherwise, any ideas? And any ideas on how tough it will be to get a replaced iPhone as i wont really be able to replicate the issue on the spot and Im sure Apple can legitimately blame it on ATT service....
 
i haven't had the dropped call problem you've had in the past.. so i would definitely take it in to Apple and ask them what they have to say about it..

but as far as tonight.. there's definitely an AT&T network problem. as of about 4-5 hours ago, people calling me have gotten a busy signal, not even voicemail, and calling out rarely works.. probably about 1 in 20 calls works.

there's a post on Howard Forums about it.. it looks like it's lower manhattan through central new jersey, could be more widespread. it definitely doesn't look to have anything to do with which phone you have. just an AT&T thing.

this has happened in the past.. about a year ago there was almost a full day where no one nyc could use cingular. and it's happened to me with other providers.

sucks.. but should be fixed soon(ish).. i hope.
 
ahh..guess where i am? lower manhattan! haha...thats probably it. but still the constant dropped calls with total service still makes me wonder...
 
the bars of service are not always all that accurate. aside from tonight, which again is definitely a system-wide glitch, how often are you getting dropped calls? is it only when you use the phone in one place (your home, office, etc..) or does it happen everywhere? if it's just in one place, i wouldn't assume the bars of service is accurate, it may be that you are in a weak service area, even though the bars say otherwise.

if it's everywhere, and it happens a lot.. i'd first reboot the phone. if you've done that, i'd also try turning the phone off, popping out the SIM and then reinserting it, it's possible it's just a loose connection with the SIM. if that doesn't work, i'd bring it in to Apple.
 
AHDuke99 said:
i drop calls too with 5 bars and make calls when i have no bars. sometimes the iphone drops from 5 to 0 bars spontaneously.
Click to expand...

The exact same things happens to me as well. It is quite inconsistent as to when it happens, so I have not found a pattern. I am thinking of taking it to an Apple store and check out the Antenna on the phone. I do not know if that is possible or not but worth a try.
 
Dropped Calls w/ AT&T

While I love the iPhone, I've been disappointed with dropped calls as well. I've had more dropped calls in 6 weeks with my iPhone on AT&T than I had in the previous 20 years with Verizon.
 
confirmed said:
about tonight's outage...

from nave462000 in the HowardForums thread...
"I called about an hour ago and tech support said it was i widespread issue defeating ny NJ pennsylvania and either georgia or alabama."

hmm.....
Click to expand...

I live in Georgia and I can say that tonight my reception was pretty horrible. I had to power down my iPhone and right now... getting 4 out of 5 bars... which is normal for me here.

Earlier I was getting like 1 bar, even appeared to have no bars... and reception / call quality sucked. ( dropping calls, etc )
 
Dissapointed in iPhone reception

Not sure if this is an iphone issue or AT&T issue but the reception is just terrible in certain places that previously gave me no problem at all with a razor and US Cellular service. It is often difficult to get a signal inside buildings. I have difficulty getting a signal in my office with a window when moving the iPhone from one section of my desk to the another. As soon as I walk into some buildings I lose the signal. I wanted to communicate with family while taking care of a family member and had to walk out of the hosptial to do so. AT&T's signal should be able to penetrate a building like a supermarket - no. The signal is very inconsistent or weak. Or perhaps this is an iPhone issue. Perhaps their ceramic attenna should be looked at. This whole campaign about more bars by AT&T is questionable. I expect more out of AT&T and Apple.
 
I took my iphone back to Apple last night and they gave me a new one. The call quality and dropped called problem on this phone is over the top. I was with Verizon for over nine years and was very happy. but changed to get this phone. Now, I am putting my new one up for sale, will pay them(AT&T) their 175.00 and get back to Verizon ASAP. I cannot tolerate dropped calls and bad reception and for all the neat things the iphone can do, the first and foremost thing it is supposed to do well is to be a friggin telephone. Seems a lot of folks I know have seem to forgotten this as they put up with the same issues as I so they can play with the other functions the iphone offers.:confused:
 
Frankie2blue said:
I took my iphone back to Apple last night and they gave me a new one. The call quality and dropped called problem on this phone is over the top. I was with Verizon for over nine years and was very happy. but changed to get this phone. Now, I am putting my new one up for sale, will pay them(AT&T) their 175.00 and get back to Verizon ASAP. I cannot tolerate dropped calls and bad reception and for all the neat things the iphone can do, the first and foremost thing it is supposed to do well is to be a friggin telephone. Seems a lot of folks I know have seem to forgotten this as they put up with the same issues as I so they can play with the other functions the iphone offers.:confused:
Click to expand...

i feel you! same boat as you... i cannot WAIT for my verizon blackberry pearl to arrive tomorrow. and for audible ringtones, instant messaging, picture messaging, reliable call quality, and (i could go on forever) to come with it...
 
manhattanmania said:
i feel you! same boat as you... i cannot WAIT for my verizon blackberry pearl to arrive tomorrow. and for audible ringtones, instant messaging, picture messaging, reliable call quality, and (i could go on forever) to come with it...
Click to expand...

I hope that this is not a common problem, or one that I will experience on the O2 network in the U.K.

It would drive me insane!
 
Aloha everyone,

Here's the crazy situation in which I find myself. I am visiting my Grandma in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and I have great reception. When we go to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Southern Pines, however, I lose reception (within a block of their house). My brother, also with AT&T (but not on an iPhone), has medium to good reception at their house! We've noticed places where his cell phone gets consistently better reception than my iPhone. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I think it's strange that any one particular cell phone gets better reception than any other cell phone when both are with the same carrier.

HawaiiMacAddict
 
HawaiiMacAddict said:
Aloha everyone,

Here's the crazy situation in which I find myself. I am visiting my Grandma in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and I have great reception. When we go to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Southern Pines, however, I lose reception (within a block of their house). My brother, also with AT&T (but not on an iPhone), has medium to good reception at their house! We've noticed places where his cell phone gets consistently better reception than my iPhone. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I think it's strange that any one particular cell phone gets better reception than any other cell phone when both are with the same carrier.

HawaiiMacAddict
Click to expand...

yes, i know people with blackberrys on att that dont have nearly the same amount of problems with service that i do. iphone seems to need work in the phone service area. specific cell phone models DO affect cell reception, even when on the same network. each cell phone has its own antenna...not all antennae work the same... etc etc
 
Frankie2blue said:
I took my iphone back to Apple last night and they gave me a new one. The call quality and dropped called problem on this phone is over the top. I was with Verizon for over nine years and was very happy. but changed to get this phone. Now, I am putting my new one up for sale, will pay them(AT&T) their 175.00 and get back to Verizon ASAP. I cannot tolerate dropped calls and bad reception and for all the neat things the iphone can do, the first and foremost thing it is supposed to do well is to be a friggin telephone. Seems a lot of folks I know have seem to forgotten this as they put up with the same issues as I so they can play with the other functions the iphone offers.:confused:
Click to expand...

Just as an FYI, I live in Upstate NY Albany area and called the Corporate store on central because I know they have tower jockies or repair there, I asked and did get through to one of them and asked why I had 5 bars reception last week inside my house, and this week I have 1 or 2, they said the 3G network is being finished and than they said fall is hear and the leaves are falling, I gasped and said you have got to be pulling my leg, and they / she said no it happens every fall, and problems arise. I said so if I get a BB I have max signal and not problems year round. There reply than buy a BB?

I am NOT making this up, this honestly happened to me today, heck you cant make this crap up.

Like I said in other posts I am seriously thinking of returning the iPhone and going back to Verizon. I also get bigger discounts with Verizon
 
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
 
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