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

AT&T has always had a bad rap in NYC. (Verizon is KING around here). The main reason I didnt pick up the iPhone when it was released (other than price) was the perception of the poor AT&T service. My friends told to me to avoid it as they had it years ago and it was awful.

I don't know why or how, but the service on the iPhone has been as good as Verizon and I couldnt be happier with AT&T.
 
Wow, some of you seem mad that I asked the question, sorry.:confused:
I was trying to find out if others are having flakey reception or just me.
I realize that "reception depends of lots of things" and that it's
"not a perfect world".
I've bought many bleeding edge products so I know about this.
I love the iphone and have gotten great reception in hotels and in the basement of my Y right here in town and many other places that I shouldn't have but hey, call me weird, i'd like to be able to get iphone calls in my home.:cool:
 
Very poor in Tucson AZ

My reception is VERY poor in Tucson, AZ.
(I had Sprint which worked 99%.)
Now my AT&t does not even work outside the Tucson Airport!
Now, if I drive across Tucson on my iPhone I am sure to drop at least 1-2 calls per day!!! No exaggeration.
 
It's not the phone...

...it's the network.

My iPhone performs quite well compared to my Sony-Ericsson on the same AT&T network.

I'm pretty sure Apple chose AT&T for its nationwide coverage map, which -- last time I checked-- blanketed the country better than T-mobile, Verizon, etc. but for some reason AT&T's signal strength is patchy or weaker than it should be in the areas it claims to cover.

There really is no excuse for the wide holes in coverage I've experienced in major metropolitan cities with AT&T. I dial 611 and lodge an official complaint every time.
 
domzanghi said:
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!
Click to expand...

Haven't used it in SM but I'm in Ventura and go to Burbank frequently (and spots in between). No problems for me.
 
i was with sprint for several years before i switched to cingular (which became at&t). the call quality on at&t is more reliable than sprint ever was, and reception didn't change going from the razr to the iphone. i'm pretty happy with my phone situation. :)
 
theliksta said:
Hi Guys,

Ive had my iphone for 3 weeks unlocked in the UK where we have excellent towers and these days on any phone dont get any dropped calls.However on my iphone ive noticed that it can go from no reception to 5 bars in a split second,and when ive been driving,the reception drops out quite a lot,reminding me of the days when coverage was crap.

I reckon its the phone,so hopefullyy in some future update this will be rectified....
Click to expand...

Er, My phone (Samsung600) on Virgin drops calls/gets no service in several areas of london. As does my mates Sony Ericsson (on Orange) but I can get reception in some ares he can't and vice versa.

UK and LOndon can be as patchy as anywhere else, it seems.

So I am guessing that these examples listed in this thread are indicative of the cell network in your particular area, and unlilely to be the iPhone.
 
I had some of the problems expressed in this thread. I was getting concerned. I couldn't have just payed that much for a phone with poor reception right? Something had to be wrong. I went to see a genius at which point they said I should get my sim card swapped out before we do anything major. Just to make sure it wasn't a sim card issue.

Guess what? It was. I got my sim card replaced and not a single complaint to this day.

Notably, back before I got it replaced I'd fluctuate between no bars and 5 bars. And anything short of 5 bars would mean a crappy conversation because of crappy reception. Now, I can hold a conversation with as little as 2 bars just as well.
 
With my previous phone, a Sony Ericsson z520, I'd drop calls constantly from inside my house. With the iPhone I haven't dropped any calls inside the house.

Now my wife wants one too. :)
 
Service is generally very good here in Washington, DC. My office building rather thick though so I only get about 1 bar in the interior areas. Service in VA is very good as well. I frequently travel to the South Jersey/Philadelphia area and also experience good service there.
 
I really has to do with the carrier. I have noticed no reception difference on Cingular between my old Razr and my iPhone. My sound quality is better though.
 
I haven't dropped any calls, and truthfully never without service so far as I can remember. I will say that sometimes the phone does funny things like go to 0 bars than after a few seconds goes back to full. And sometimes I get a voicemail, but don't remember the phone ever ringing. Maybe I just don't hear the "quiet" speaker...
 
It really isn't the phones fault for poor service. It is the coverage area you are in. I live in CA, both in Orange County and Anaheim. When I'm in Orange, I get usually 1-2 bars, enough to send a text, but if I get a call I can never hear ANYTHING and I also have to play phone tag for about 10 minutes. On the other hand, when I'm in Anaheim, I get full service and good call quality. I have a LGCU500, so it really isn't the phone's fault, it's the coverage.

I had a question about EDGE. How does it compare to the wi-fi in terms of speed and all that? Is EDGE really that bad? Like, if I wanna use the internet but I can't connect to wi-fi, am I gonna be really frustrated with the speed of it?
 
levitynyc said:
AT&T has always had a bad rap in NYC. (Verizon is KING around here). The main reason I didnt pick up the iPhone when it was released (other than price) was the perception of the poor AT&T service. My friends told to me to avoid it as they had it years ago and it was awful.

I don't know why or how, but the service on the iPhone has been as good as Verizon and I couldnt be happier with AT&T.
Click to expand...

Same here. I was so worried about poor coverage that I didn't port my number from Verizon in case I'd have to come crawling back. Turns out the service is par for the course, perhaps somewhat better in indoor areas. Voice quality is just slightly fuzzier, but I think that's a GSM-vs-CDMA thing.

I'm guessing the phone itself has a lot to do with it; Blackberrys always get good T-Mobile coverage here, but my Sidekick 3 never got more than a couple bars at any given location. Go figure.
 
I live in Boston and have found wireless reception to be mediocre to poor. It seems to be an issue with the GSM network as I had similar experiences with T Mobile a few years back.

In comparison, I've also used Sprint which was only marginally better than either ATT/Cingular or T-Mobile. I switched to the iPhone from a Verizon account which gave me the best wireless experience so far.

The issue of having a strong signal drop off completely is not unique to the iPhone. I've had the same phenomena occur on both T-Mobile using a T68i and various Sprint telephones. I don't recall this being an issue with Verizon on a Moto Q however, not that the Q didn't have numerous, mostly software, problems of its own.

If Apple ever does ink a deal with Verizon and ATT isn't able to improve the GSM network I would switch back.
 
'73-B said:
Service is generally very good here in Washington, DC. My office building rather thick though so I only get about 1 bar in the interior areas. Service in VA is very good as well. I frequently travel to the South Jersey/Philadelphia area and also experience good service there.
Click to expand...

Is this with an iPhone? And, any luck on the metro?
 
I find around LA, CA that the signal strength is strong, coverage is excellent, but the EDGE performance is horrid. Just today somewhat near the ocean, loading a web page took a few minutes. In some busy areas of the Westside, Edge will work great for one minute, and then it stops connecting.
I think they need to update the data infustructure in many areas.
 
live in orange county, Ca and its horrible. Had Cingular which is the new AT$T for five years and its always been this bad so its not the phone. Call poor reception and dropped calls have been this bad however my previous nokia had better vocal quality. Really wish that apple can flex their muscle on att to get their crap fixed.
 
I live in the SF Bay Area, just visited LA & SD...

and the coverage in the Bay Area is excellent 98% of the time with some dead spots in valleys and low spots (I just don't make calls while in those valleys and low spots), but I've had maybe 10 dropped calls during the past four years, (mostly the East Bay, while the SF side of the bay is great coverage, you find some dead spots along the Point Reyes Area and on the coast; one of the great things is that AT&T works really well up in Arcata, CA, 'cause people were asking to use my phone because Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile had NO SERVICE). I've been with AT&T/Cingular going on six years. I just returned from Southern California, and found "0" dropped calls, 4-5 bars 100% of the time while traveling in San Diego County (El Centro, Temecula, Fallbrook), Los Angeles County (West Covina, Walnut, Diamond Bar, Azusa, Covina) and Orange County (Trabuco Canyon, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Newport Beach, Anahiem near Disneyland). Pretty impressed with AT&T's SoCal coverage!:cool:
 
beeeen said:
It really isn't the phones fault for poor service. It is the coverage area you are in.
Click to expand...
No, to a certain extent it is the device itself. My dad and mom are both also on AT&T and use their phones in nearly the exact spots I do-- yet they get better reception than my iPhone does. I'm pretty sure there have been other posts saying so much as well-- that the iPhone itself isn't the greatest for reception and whatnot.

Of course the specific coverage area makes a difference, but so does the device.

SFStateStudent said:
and the coverage in the Bay Area is excellent 98% of the time with some dead spots in valleys and low spots...
Click to expand...
Nuh-uh. Not so great in my neck-o-the-woods in the South Bay. Coverage is quite spotty and downright finicky. In the exact same location (for example, if I set the iPhone down in the dock), I can call w/out a problem. But the phone will not show incoming calls at all. It's either a busy signal for those calling in, or asks them to leave a vmail. The awesome part is, I don't even get the vmail chime until I move the phone out of that specific 1 ft area. But it will show SMS messages in that same odd spot. WTF?!

It's ridiculous how spotty the reception can be.
 
iPhone Calls SUCK

I totally regret getting the iPhone 3G. It's a P.O.S. phone.

I was with T-Mobile for eight years before this. I'm going to pay whatever fee is required to get out of my contract and go back.

This is just pathetic. It's basically an iPod Touch with a two-year contract.
 
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