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

It's simple, rule out your house, you can't compare the signal at your house IF NO AT&T cell phone works at your house on either edge or 3g, who cares what they said.

Now on to the topic we are discussing, that you have low signal on your iPhone in 3g areas, yes like the rest of the thousands of posts on here. I have gave you the answer as to why. You are mixing different scenarios in your life into this which is why you are confused.

I know it's the phone. Scientific method. Take several AT&T 3g phones in the same area, they all work, full signal. Take several iPhones in the same area, 70% less signal or no signal. This is also WORLDWIDE, which rules out the network. Just read every post like I have and go through all of the scenarios like I have and you will conclude with the same answers I have.

Here I am tired of typing the same thing over and over. Here are two youtube videos I did on this exact issue: If you read the entire post you would have seen I already posted this video. I don't expect you to read the entire post as it is time consuming, but I have and researched it on my own scientifically with other 3g at&t phones.

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvICtI5Wqr4
Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI_d54nNchE

KBeat,

Glad you are having a decent experience with your phone, but I am not giving up my N95 any time soon. 🙂 Frankly, if you are enjoying the device, and it works for you, who really cares if it compares unfavorably with the N95? I simply have no skin in the game any more. But I am left with being really quite disappointed that Apple has released a product with such poor quality control (software & hardware) and with so many issues. It really seems that there are just too many lousy phones out there with the Apple logo on it now.

Moreover, I have no expectation that Apple will resolve it soon. The lines are still forming outside the Apple stores.. still... and even if many people have a lousy one, many seem to be sufficiently happy with all the other features of the phone to retain it. So, I don't believe that the problems my mates and I experienced with abysmal 3G signal quality will be addresed by Apple until there is greater outcry and negative press associated with large returns of the iPhone. Frankly, that is more likely to occur in more mature 3G markets like nothern Europe where the poor 3G performance will be more apparent. Even then, can Apple get its act together? For those who believe that Apple will resolve matters soon, this article makes for sobering reading:

http://gigaom.com/2008/08/05/mobileme-problems-show-apple-needs-an-infrastructur e-lesson/

So, for those who keep their iPhones, good luck and enjoy them.. as they are.

I went into an Apple store today and had a long talk with the guy at the Genius bar. For once I got one that actually knew what he was talking about, as far as I could tell. He also admitted to being aware of some of the problems that have been reported here: i.e. cracks in the plastic, dead/overactive pixels, excruciatingly long backups, bad 3G reception, horrible battery life, etc.

I was a little reluctant to go in, because my white phone has none of those problems except bad reception - no cracks, no dead pixels. No 3G. When I can get 3G, it usually drops and then I get "no service" for two or three minutes before it will reconnect to Edge. It will not reconnect to 3G until I turn 3G off and back on again.

The Apple Genius told me that employees were aware that Apple had "tweaked" the iPhone several times after the first were delivered. He wasn't sure if iPhones are still being tweaked or not. But it was interesting to hear that phones built later are actually not the same as phones built at the beginning, so anecdotal reports of differences may actually be correct.

On the basis of that statement, and because some have reported that new phones will not gracefully switch between 3G and Edge, I asked for my phone to be swapped out. He was more than happy to do so, but they were out of White phones so one is on order for me.

In the meantime, he suggested that I "restore" the phone - except set it up as a brand new phone. Sometimes that helps if there's something corrupted in the software. I am going to try that, but I don't have much hope that it will help.

jabecker wrote:
The Apple Genius told me that employees were aware that Apple had "tweaked" the iPhone several times after the first were delivered. He wasn't sure if iPhones are still being tweaked or not. But it was interesting to hear that phones built later are actually not the same as phones built at the beginning, so anecdotal reports of differences may actually be correct.

That seems plausible. Me and 4 friends (3 - NYC area, 1 - Boston and 1 - Chicago) all got our iPhones during last week of July. None of us had time and inclination to hang out at Apple store so we all ordered through at&t and waited from 4 to 10 days. Most got 8G and one guy got 16G. Two guys were upgrading from an old iPhone. All of us got new at&t SIM cards irrespective of upgrading from an old iPhone or another at&t phone or jumping ship from some other provider. Since we all were scared to death by threads like this we keep exchanging impressions. None of us so far had any of the horror problems (3G, cracks, backups, pixels, screen dust) except for operation and typing delays that were to some extent cured by 2.0.1.

As far as I'm concerned in respects to 3G (totally fine) and battery life (***** a little but expected from a slim 3G smartphone) my iPhone behaves more or less same as my previous at&t Blackjack 3G.

That's all just personal and anecdotal evidence.

Hi, I'm from Sacramento, CA and I live in the pocket area. I did have problems with dropping calls, etc., & on 7-30-08, I did a hard reset. I have been keeping the i-phone in the 2G mode except when I get online.

Since that time, the phone has been working great with no problems.

Joe

Come on Apple! I'M A HUGE FAN, but own up and admit this reception problem. I bought the phone on day of release. Don't **** off loyal customers Apple. You won't get them back.

side volume button ............all the way up.

I'm having problems hearing anyone, I love my phone but wish it was louder.

I dropped Mr. Mossberg a note directing him to this thread. Looks like an article from him in the Wall Street Journal might get some attention from Stevie.

today, I get crazy 5 bars (-77 to -87 dbm) in my office. I've never seen this on the iPhone 3G before. Maybe the 2.0.1 did fix something?

The signal is still highly unstable, meaning if I move it one ft to the right the signal drops to -101 dbm.

I've done a lot of resetting and restoring yesterday after installing 2.0.1 - maybe this did help in the end? reception at my home is still one bar or less though ...

No, the solution is simple...just exchange the phone for a new one. I did and mine is now perfect. Unfortunately you may have to exchange it several times before you get one that is not defective.

Well, I did as the Apple Genius suggested - restore my phone as a new phone (instead of restoring from a backup).

And lo and behold, I'm getting 3G inside my house for the first time ever. It's not a very good signal - not good enough for a successful conversation probably - but when it drops to Edge, it does so instantly without going through 2 minutes of "no service."

Granted I haven't left my house yet, but I'm absolutely gobsmacked that the restore made such a huge difference. If it's better "out in the world," too, I probably won't exchange my phone after all.

This is definitely worth trying after the 2.0.1 update if you are still having problems.

my info:

Location: Austin, Texas (360/Bull Creek, 78731)
Previous Equipment: Verizon, Treo 700p
Purchase: Day of Launch
SIM: 71234G3022
Software: 2.01
Field Test: -85, sitting on my desk, 3rd floor inside the builing, Edge
-91 <--> -102, walking around floor, down the stairwell to the outside - Edge
-83 <--> -91, outside of building, 3G

I'm on hold now with *611 to check my IMEI number on my account. Then I will go to the store later to try to get a new SIM.

My wife will be getting her direct fullfillment phone in the next few days and I will compare.

Also, a friend of mine has a ATT Blackberry and we sat the phones beside each other near DFW airport this weekend and he had 2 more bars. Not sure if his is 3G capable or not.

I'm actually getting funky (scientific term) behavior with 3G & Edge since the update. I don't think I had a single instance of "No Service" since I picked up the iPhone 3 weeks ago. Now, since the update, when the iPhone is in a transition spot I sometimes go from "Edge" to "No Service" to "3G". Prior to the update this happened instantly, with no loss of service. The "No Service" can last a couple of seconds or as long as 30 (this is in the exact same areas I've been using the iPhone these last three weeks).

I read somewhere else on this forum that resetting the iPhone after the update cured this, so I'll give it a try. In the meantime, I'm still looking for another brand of 3G phone on the AT&T network to test my iPhone against. At this point, curiosity has gotten the best of me. 🙂

ok, to finish this story, in my office it's definitely better. outside at some spots it's still ridiculously low. I'm going to exchange this as soon as they have new devices here. so far they're still sold out.