iPhone 3G Reception Problems? You're Not Alone - Continued

Kbeat that should be really easy to do!

First launch the field test app trough the dial and then close it all the way like you would a normal program.
You do this by holding down the home button for about 10 sec, you will notice you're phone will no longer display bars but number of decibels.

You can now see the map and the decibels at the same time anywhere you go.
And the only way to get the bars back is to do a network reset because a simple reboot won't work.

: )

Well said!

We have decided (again I work as systems and networks administrator in the data center of my city's administration) to not only remove the iPhone from the list of approved devices but to black list it. Which means not only is it not supported and attempts to connect one to our network or sync it to one of or PCs could be grounds for immediate termination of the offending employee and so will using the iPhone 3G as a business mobile phone.

We've never had before to restore as many nuked Outlook calendars and contact lists as since the iPhone became availble (lots of mobile phones, PalmOS, WinCE and Win Moble devices get synced to our Exchange server and local Outlook installations with no major problems).

Plus of course some employees forwarding their office lines to their mobile were unreachable due to iPhone issues. We can't have extra workload to restore data of iPhone users all the time and above all they need to be reliably and consistently reachable on their mobile phones.

Hi there, Hello from the UK - Weather good here! but Reception bad here?

I hope your right! but it's just that I'm on my 4th iPhone now 😟 and there has been no improvement to the service whatsoever! and strangely enough the build quality of the handset has got worse with each one? Please could you provide the serial number of your new handset (underneath box) then we'll be able to tell which factory and what production week it was manufactured! This info might prove to be very usefull in determining if there were a faulty batch at launch. I'm expecting another replacement later on today, I must be nutz? But I'm on a mission! I've already had to exit my 1st contract to avoid being stuck in a 18mth contract with o2, and started a new one on Monday. One good bit of news, I managed to get my bill stopped for 3 months, but I know this isn't a solution - Bad Apple!

Message was edited by: itfreek

I thought just pressing the "home" button quit the active program. Obviously when I do that, as soon as I exit the Field Test the bars return. What is the iPhone doing when you hold it for 10 seconds? Is that the equivalent to a "force quit" on OS X?

Thanks for the tip, it'll be really handy. If fact, that's probably the best way to leave the phone. However, to get it back to bars later, what do you mean by network reset?

yep, that's the same as force quit.

to reset network settings, go to

settings
general
reset
reset network settings (or similar)

please keep us posted whether this solved the issue, or not.

good luck!

Very good to know. Thank you Taltal & Raul.

Could people list the batch number? As that's a better way of finding out what factory the faulty phones were from. Apple will never do a re-call, and if you are saying 1 in 3 why don't users list the store, the color and the serial or factory number so others will be able to tell.

seabreeze1982 wrote:
Apple will never do a re-call

Sure they would, if they isolated a specific manufacturing or design problem that can't be fixed by any method other than repair or replacement. They've already done it before. Powerbook batteries, for example.

happy to oblige, but how do we tell what batch, factory, etc ... is it all in the IMEI number, or ... ???

zac520, how did it go on? is reception in the office improved?

thanks!

taltal

Works like a charm! I'm going to leave it like that all the time. It's much more informative than bars. Thanks again for the tip.

somebody posted this link further up:

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

Great!

There is also a way to reset it WITHOUT resetting the network.

1. Access field test(* 3001#12345# *)

2. tap on the numbers in the upper left (until you see your bars again)

3. hold the home button for 10 secs.

cheers.

This sums up my experience perfectly in Austin, TX... A city saturated in 3G.

The only time I've ever seen my iPhone maintain a very strong signal was when I was in San Antonio, the headquarters of AT&T. The phone had 5 bars down I-35 and all through downtown, regardless of being in a building or not.

But, in Austin, it performs very poorly when right next to a Nokia N75 or Nokia 6555 or Sony Ericsson Z750a.

San Antonio has a very robust network, all phones get 5 bars. Austin's isn't so robust, so the other phones shine with their great reception, and the iPhone falters....

Message was edited by: dcdttu