iPhone 3G Reception Problems? You're Not Alone - Continued
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iPhone 3G Reception Problems? You're Not Alone, which has been locked. The thread was too long and some browsers were timing out. The above link goes back to the original thread.
I am both relieved and disappointed to find this thread!
Checking in from Redmond, WA here. I've got an 8gb 3G iPhone, just picked it up Monday evening. Reception has been HORRIBLE at best. We even had an AT&T tower installed near my employer's campus here specifically to improve reception, and 80% of the time I can't even
make or
receive a call at ALL. The 4 calls I have made successfully from the office here have lasted 10 seconds at best before dropping.
My wife and I both switched over to AT&T (family plan) from Verizon specifically so I could get an iPhone. My Verizon service was flawless and had awesome signal here. Reception on the iPhone is unacceptable and IMO, is NOT USABLE,
especially in a professional capacity! I
do use this phone for work, I use my data plan a LOT. (I'm not some 14 year old who just wants a cool phone!) I'm not really expecting anything to change, but I'll give it another week or two just for good measure. If it doesn't improve then we're ditching this plan and going back to Verizon!
I did the
3001#12345# thing, and I'm usually hovering around -113.
I'm going to complain to AT&T on my way home from work. I don't know if it's their fault or Apple's, but I want it on the record that the reception on this phone is awful.
Aside from the service, the phone is pretty darn cool though. Despite all my coworkers razzing me for owning an Apple product this thing rocks and is MUCH cooler than I expected it to be! But eventually the coolness and gadgety-ness will wear off and it'll just be my phone that doesn't work. 😟
Ok guys....here is the scoop. I have had my iPhone 3G for two weeks, and have been following this giant thread all along, because I have ALL the 3G signal problems like everyone else on the planet (I live in Kingwood, TX...near Houston). I did ALL the tricks (sim card change, restores, updates, etc), and nothing helps my 3G problem of poor phone service (while another 3G Nokia works JUST fine)....so I have basically been running it with 3G off, which my AT&T store recommends (just great). So today, I decided to give AT&T and Apple a call, to try and see about getting a new phone to see if that would fix the problem. I love the iPhone for all the tricks, but it just HAS to function better as a 3G phone! I expected a real goat rope on getting them to do this. Anyway, I called the AT&T number, and it had a menu prompt for "Apple iPhone", and it sent me directly to Apple tech support. Got a nice lady named Stephanie, and told her the entire sorry story. Then I said that I guess I need to get bumped up to start the process to go see a "Genius" and see about getting a new phone. I about fell off my seat when she said (remember....this was the FIRST tier of Apple support), that if I wanted, she would SEND out a brand new (not refurbished) iPhone 3G to me in the next few days, and there would be a prepaid box to send my old iPhone 3G back to them! I was floored. I asked her....does this mean that Apple is now acknowledging that there IS a hardware problem.....and of course, she did not come right out and say as such, but did acknowledge that MANY phones DO have some "hardware problems", and they are sending out replacements. Of course, I now have to see if the new phone will solve the problem, but at least this is encouraging that Apple, even though silent to-date on the issue, will now send you a new phone with just a call to them. I will get back on here to let you guys know how the new phone works. Good luck to us all.
Wow! I'm a huge Apple fan, but have held off buying the iPhone; partly due to I'm a Verizon fan for 10 years, my phones have worked great and I've never lost a signal, and also due to the constant issues I read about in the Apple Discussions. I'm amazed this entire week all I'm hearing is issues with the iPhone. Yet, I will say, as some have, I do believe the issues fall more on AT&T. Our Coffee Guy across the street just upgraded to 3G & 2.0 and his phone now shuts down after 1 minute, every time he turns it on. He's new to Apple, so I told him I'd search the discussions and see if I can direct him to the right discussion for help.
I just read, AT&T/Verizon are talking going 4G now that Verizon won the recent 700 Mhz block that was auctioned by the FCC; the FCC lifted the gag order and details are coming out. The 4G discussion seems to be taking place with all the major carriers in the U.S. With regard to AT&T, If EDGE has issues, now 3G has issues, can't they just stay in one place until they work it out; now Verizon, AT&T and others are talking 4G by 2010.
To be fair, it seems many issues stem from folks not having specific system type coverage in their area; some don't have 3G coverage, others have week EDGE coverage, and so on. That said, goes to show you why they should develop one solid system for all. I know this comparison sounds stupid, but a friend once asked why they put Brail dots in public garage elevators; blind don't drive. Well, he researched; it's cheaper to make all elevator panels the same, then make multiple styles.
Gives some thought to maintaining my iPod Touch & my phone separate for now. I don't lose my entire lifeline if one or the other goes out. The Touch has my contacts, email, wifi, photos, music, etc. It's just not a phone. While the Touch has had some issues too, for the most part, my has worked great, even when dropped accidentally into a bucket of gasoline.
I still have much faith in Apple, hopefully all will work out.
The original poster of the thread this thread continues was able to get his reception issues resolved by working with his carrier to make sure the IMEI on his account was correct as well as replacing the SIM card.
For the record, I'm not refuting in any way that this is not a hardware issue, but here's a post of mine from a similar thread that applies here as well:
I live in San Francisco, where I currently do not receive adequate 3G or 2G coverage to make an uninterrupted phone call (I do receive adequate coverage close to antennas, but not at home, where the phone is my primary communications device). My case (with AT&T) was assigned a Clarified Network Ticket, and I received a phone call this morning regarding their conclusion.
The official party line (from ATT), is that unfortunately, the area where I live (DuBoce Triangle, for the locals, the middle of SF for the others) does not receive a strong 3G signal (no word on 2G), despite what the coverage maps state. There are no plans at this time to upgrade or improve the service. Furthermore, there are known issues with the iPhone (and "other" devices) depending on the 3G Frequency (1900 or 850mhz). There is no official word on if this problem is being addressed, if it will be fixed on the network or hardware end (or both).
In a nutshell — live with it, we have no plans to change your service.
I am kind of curious if anyone knows how to read the information from the diagnostics screen, and can share how to tell what band your 3G is using. My general assumption is that since I'm surrounded by 3 antennas, and the further in a building or group of houses I am, the lower the signal goes that I'm on 1900MHz.
Well, I have been "dealing" with the issue of dropped calls but I may have reached the boiling point. On a conference call today, hosting I might add, I was dropped three times in a 15 minute period. Talk about being embarrassed each time I had to dial back in, wow! This is becoming more common and I am on 2.0.1...I don't know but as stated before it is always occurring during the handover, that handshaking is just not happening correctly. Is the restore as "new", changing SIM and validating IMEI necessary at this point? When connected to 3G, the signal strength is typically at -70 ~ -75 and signal level indicator is always at 4-5 so yeah I'm a little frustrated...
Well, had to go in to see the "Genius" and after running diagnostics on my launch day phone the results showed an 11% drop called rate since last restore which was on 8/5. Bottom line, I received a new 16Gb White, serial # reflects a week 31 build. I have it running 2.0.1 and will report reception performance after a few days of real world operation, e.g. traveling with the device and effectively monitoring for transitional issues etc. Out of the chute the 3G performance has been excellent. More to follow...
I'm glad I'm not the only person having this problem. I have been to the Apple Store repeatedly because my iPhone 3G was having problems dropping calls, horrible reception, and slow responsiveness. They have replaced my phone THREE TIMES. None of the new phones have resolved my problem. I have called AT&T and made my way up the tech support ladder until I was at the top-tier support. They basically reset everything about how my account was set up, which towers it connects to, etc. They told me that they have done everything that they can possibly do. I also tried switching out the SIM without any luck. My iPhone is driving me crazy. It drops calls 1 out of every 5 times. It never has more than one bar of 3G reception, and usually about 3 bars of Edge (where my old iPhone had full bars always). I am soooooooo tempted to sell this piece on eBay... If it wasn't so cool...
I have a White 16GB, model number MB499LL/A, Serial number 88828R
***.
I was in the exact same boat as you, though I only replaced it once, not three times. I just returned the iPhone 3G yesterday and picked up a MOTO Z9 - guess what, the 3G reception on the Z9 is far superior at my house and everywhere else. And no dropped calls.
It's a shame because I loved everything about the iPhone except the call dropping / bad reception issue. Oh and the no A2DP stereo bluetooth. And the no MMS messaging. And no support for laptop tethering. Well, at least it was a superb iPod media player...
