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So, how is your phone service with iphone? Mine sucks!

fourthtunz

fourthtunz

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 23, 2002
1,735
1,212
Maine
Ok, I've had my Iphone for about 4 weeks and it's very cool but as a phone I have some problems, how about you?
I'm in the middle of the 3rd largest city in Maine, I know not really a metropolis, but all the same, I have trouble getting or making a call in my home:mad:
Does anyone know if ATT shuts off the tower or something sort of like dsl when they disconnect you if you aren't using it?
I received a call this morning and had no towers!! In the middle of the city!
Minutes later, I can make a call and I'm back to 3 towers:confused:
The speaker..why did they put it near the mic?
You really have to wear your earphones or people on the other end get feedback if you use the speaker on the phone to hear your conversation.
I realize that most of you that read this are in bigger cities but as close as I am to att towers this shouldn't be a problem no mater what town you are in should it?
So far US cellular kick att's AS*
So how is iphone working as a phone for you?
And no I am not a troll, just not liking the phone service.
Daniel
 
As a phone the iphone seems a bit worse than my treo 755p with sprint. Also, for some reason edge seems a bit faster than the 3g on my treo. Maybe safari just handles web pages so much better than blazer.
 
My iPhone reception (St. Louis, Missouri)

I, too, have been using my iPhone for about 4-5 weeks now, here in St. Louis, MO.

My impression with the reception is mixed. I work in the far north part of the city, and inside our building, I usually get no reception or 1 bar of signal. I can't necessarily blame the iPhone for this though - because my boss has had Cingular for years, and his Palm Treo does the exact same thing. If I walk outside, I get much better signal strength immediately.

It seems like I generally get usable phone reception in most parts of town, or when driving around ... but my EDGE network data speeds are usually quite poor. Interestingly, I went out to eat a couple weeks ago at a Red Lobster restaurant (near I-40 and Hanley Road, for anyone living around here who cares), and the EDGE network was really screaming along in there. Web pages were pulling up 2-3x faster than I ever saw from EDGE before. I had to double-check to make sure I wasn't actually on someone's wi-fi network or something!

I think I've also witnessed what you're describing, with towers seeming to just suddenly "appear" and "disappear". Sometimes I can be walking around, and I can watch my signal strength jump from 2 bars to 5 instantly. It may stay there for 30 or 45 seconds, and then just as quickly, drop back down to 2 or 3 bars. It doesn't make much sense. I used to have U.S. Cellular, and I *never* had any of this behavior with my Razr phone and their service.


fourthtunz said:
Ok, I've had my Iphone for about 4 weeks and it's very cool but as a phone I have some problems, how about you?
I'm in the middle of the 3rd largest city in Maine, I know not really a metropolis, but all the same, I have trouble getting or making a call in my home:mad:
Does anyone know if ATT shuts off the tower or something sort of like dsl when they disconnect you if you aren't using it?
I received a call this morning and had no towers!! In the middle of the city!
Minutes later, I can make a call and I'm back to 3 towers:confused:
The speaker..why did they put it near the mic?
You really have to wear your earphones or people on the other end get feedback if you use the speaker on the phone to hear your conversation.
I realize that most of you that read this are in bigger cities but as close as I am to att towers this shouldn't be a problem no mater what town you are in should it?
So far US cellular kick att's AS*
So how is iphone working as a phone for you?
And no I am not a troll, just not liking the phone service.
Daniel
Click to expand...
 
My iPhone (Denver, CO) does seem "fuzzier" and cuts in/out more than my Treo 700p or Moto Q with Sprint. That being said, I'd never go back to those phones.
 
Ugh. I've got a sick feeling in my gut after reading this.

Granted, I live in the Northeast, so my coverage may be better than most, but the last thing I want to do is buy a $400 phone only to find out that it's great at playing videos but I can't make an actual call with it.
 
fourthtunz said:
Ok, I've had my Iphone for about 4 weeks and it's very cool but as a phone I have some problems, how about you?
I'm in the middle of the 3rd largest city in Maine, I know not really a metropolis, but all the same, I have trouble getting or making a call in my home:mad:
Does anyone know if ATT shuts off the tower or something sort of like dsl when they disconnect you if you aren't using it?
I received a call this morning and had no towers!! In the middle of the city!
Minutes later, I can make a call and I'm back to 3 towers:confused:
The speaker..why did they put it near the mic?
You really have to wear your earphones or people on the other end get feedback if you use the speaker on the phone to hear your conversation.
I realize that most of you that read this are in bigger cities but as close as I am to att towers this shouldn't be a problem no mater what town you are in should it?
So far US cellular kick att's AS*
So how is iphone working as a phone for you?
And no I am not a troll, just not liking the phone service.
Daniel
Click to expand...


Sorry, no iPhone, but in Portland, I get great service with AT&T and a Sony Ericsson w810. I have a friend who just got an iPhone and he says his reception is good.
 
I live in NYC and I have found that I get reception in places where I couldn't with T-Mobile. Also, the calls seem to be much clearer than on my N95. So far, very happy.
 
This is going to depend on lots of stuff.

I used to work for Motorola. Since these things are essentially little computers with a radio, it helps to turn them off then on (or restart) so that the radio can re-sync with the tower...
 
The service each person gets from any cellular service provider varies by where you wander in the network geographically among other factors.


To my surprise, I'm actually much better reception with AT&T then I had with Sprint or T Mobile where I live.
 
I have only had one weekend where I had bad service with my iPhone and that was when I was camping outside a very small town up in the mountains. Other than that I have only had maybe one or two dropped calls and my EDGE signal is always there. In my area and the areas I have been with my iPhone AT&T has been perfectly fine.

I should add that I live in Northern California.
 
Yep... I know your pain. I live and work around and through Philly. ATnT here is awful . I took 2 iPhones back. I really wish I didn't have to but I use mine for work and couldnt afford the amount of dropped calls and bad call quality I was dealing with. Plus, the other was for GF and her reception was worse.

I guess I would have kept it if it wasnet for the GF thing.

I liked EDGE and didnt have a problem with internet access.

I miss my iPhone :( . Its a great product. I wish it had better coverage in my area.
 
ksmith80209 said:
My iPhone (Denver, CO) does seem "fuzzier" and cuts in/out more than my Treo 700p or Moto Q with Sprint. That being said, I'd never go back to those phones.
Click to expand...

I'm in the Denver Metro Area as well, and I would say as a "phone" the iPhone is okay at best. I have a client who is a Moto Rep and would always being me new handsets to try and they always go better reception.

Its acceptable, but not as good as it could be. But the phone is such a great device, I can overlook it.
 
I live in Houston, and I would say my iPhone reception is about the same as it was with my Blackberry 8700c.
 
chameleon said:
Ugh. I've got a sick feeling in my gut after reading this.
Click to expand...
Why would a non-control group's experiences have any bearing on whether you get an iPhone? With so many variables; location, environment, etc., anecdotal reception reviews from people all around the country are pretty much useless. We may as well be discussing our favorite soup.

Wanna get some useable data? Find a friend with an iPhone, borrow it, take it to where you plan to use the phone the most and note the signal/call quality. Even then you might not get a 100% accurate idea. I was in an AT&T store the other day and a dude next to me was complaining about no signal in the store. I had full bars.
 
I am in Denver and I would say that my experience with the iPhone and AT&T has greatly improved from my previous which were a Treo 650 and Sprint.

Sprint during that last month in June was just plain bad. I had so many dropped calls especially the last week I had service alone. Since I didn't have 3G with that phone, the internet was most times unusable. It was just too slow and sometimes I had to give up because web pages simply wouldn't load.

In all these months now with my iPhone, the call quality alone has been nearly perfect with just one dropped call. I only wish that if the number you were dialing was busy that the iPhone would indicate that it is busy instead of saying the call failed. That makes the iPhone look bad.

The only thing I miss with Sprint was the unlimited text messages. I never used the chat apps or even most of the apps on the Treo to begin with, I just bought it because of the bigger screen.

I love my iPhone with AT&T!
 
I live about an hour away from Philadelphia, and my service is very good, so idk what you guys are talking about.
 
I live in Evansville, IN (Southern Indiana) and have had my iPhone for about 3 months and the service is great. I have full bars or nearly full bars everywhere I go and the EDGE speed is as fast as wifi sometimes. I went to Chicago after having my iPhone and had great reception up there, only lost signal in our hotel. I give it an A, much better than when I had Verizon here.
 
mcdj said:
Why would a non-control group's experiences have any bearing on whether you get an iPhone? With so many variables; location, environment, etc., anecdotal reception reviews from people all around the country are pretty much useless. We may as well be discussing our favorite soup.

Wanna get some useable data? Find a friend with an iPhone, borrow it, take it to where you plan to use the phone the most and note the signal/call quality. Even then you might not get a 100% accurate idea. I was in an AT&T store the other day and a dude next to me was complaining about no signal in the store. I had full bars.
Click to expand...

Not to mention all the different types of phones.

I had a T-Mobile SDA and it had great reception and no dropped calls. Some friends of mine said that T-Mobile was horrible and dropped calls constantly and they had some fancy Nokia Smartphone with Symbian on it...
 
Is there anyone that lives in LA who can comment on their service? I live in Santa Monica, and wanted to hear some feedback before purchasing it.

Thanks!
 
iPhone Phone Service

I travel all over the US of A. I have used my iPhone in 10 of the 50 states in both rural and city locations. I previously owned a Blackberry with T-Mobile service. My service overall is considerable better than was my Blackberry service. I think it all depends on where you are, of course. But around my home which is in a rural area in Texas, it is clearly better. In most other states including: LA, FL, MI, PA, CA, AR, OK, MS and GA it has been consistently better in most but not all locations. I don't know what the complaints are all about. We do not live in a perfect world nor does AT&T have a perfect network....nor does Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint etc...etc...etc.
 
Comparing to previous phones: BlackBerry Pearl, Samsung Blackjack all on AT&T. My iPhone has always gotten better service than the blackjack. I would say its equal with the BB Pearl.
 
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