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.
A genius at the Apple Store told me that Apple had AT&T install signal-boosting antennas inside their stores so that all phones have superior signal when you went in with them at the genius bar. Hmm...
+might be a silly question, but are you sure they were on 3g?+
+in the apple stores they are usually connected via wi-fi, so the downloads of course are quick. when connected to wi-fi the 3g symbol is covered.+
They were definitely on 3G because I had one of the employees show me how to turn off the 3G function. I have thought that if I get an iPhone, I would have it on Edge most of the time and then turn on 3G to surf the web. All of the phones I saw had the 3G symbol up and 5 bars.
could be worth trying 2.0.1, if you haven't already ... mine was much improved by it - much more 3G & very snappy now ... much more like what I expected in the first place !
BTW, must say, I was sceptical about software affecting reception, but I've heard recently that land-line broadband is prone to drop-outs of even as much as a few seconds, as a fact of life, and has to be dealt-with by software ... I could easily imagine 3G could be, too, given the complexity needed to achieve the through-put, overall ... in other words, maybe software updates can make a big difference !
If you hold phone in a normal fashion, with your hand wrapped around it, the signal is weak. Now try holding it between 2 fingers at the top, you get a better signal.
Try it and let us know your thoughts?
difficult to be sure, with 3G waxing & waning all the time, but the signal does seem stronger when it is held top & bottom between fingers, rather than grabbed around the sides & back ...
Thanks for your history, I've forwarded your info to numerous friends. I did as you suggested and took a look at the 3G coverage in SF; shows the entire City covered. Odd, considering how many of my friends live in the City and are having the same issues you highlight. One friend did a test based on what you said; he went to the Apple store this morning, near Union Square. He had no bars in all of Union Square, yet ATT's map says he should have coverage. He even got into the Apple Store, nothing. You noted how other 3G phones, per your photo comparison, were working. As one poster noted, the Genius Bar admitted to him it's the phone and they were going to replace his phone.
I looked at the entire California coverage and not much has 3G coverage and when you look at the entire U.S., it's hardly much coverage. Makes one realize, if you're buying a new gen iPhone w/3G, don't expect those lightening fast speeds the Apple commercial shows since 3G coverage is highly limited; especially if your a traveler. Even when I compare ATTs EDGE coverage to Verizon's coverage, ATT is still week across the country. Explains why even some of the EDGE users are complaining.
Even more interesting is the recent FCC Auction of new blocks of 700 MHz bandwidth, with Verizon & ATT as the big winners. The headline of one article stated: 'AT&T Plans Fast 4G Wireless Rollout' by W. David Gardner
InformationWeek April 4, 2008. He notes "AT&T's wireless operation will move from its current GSM-based infrastructure to Long Term Evolution, or LTE, the high-speed standard that's expected to be used eventually by all mobile phone service providers."
I've said before, the carriers can't settle on fully developing one system, they just keep moving on thinking they're offering better service when they aren't. Yet, the promise does sell lots of phones.
I got one hostile post reply when I noted AT&T was to initially dump EDGE in the Spring of 2008. I read this at NireWire and in mobiletechreview's initial iPhone review in early 2007. It's why I held off buying the iPhone, figuring let the kinks get worked out, but they have continued with EDGE for now, makes one wonder why; Uh, the 3G coverage isn't working well. Gardner's article makes me wonder how much energy is going into EDGE, when they are focusing on 3G and now 4G.
I think with the constant buyouts of one carrier by another, and each having their established system, it's helped to fuel the fire as we end up with multiple systems.
It's a huge difference when you hold the phone only with 2 fingers, I have ful reception when I do that.
But as soon as I hold the phone in my hand I only get 2 or 3 bars.
I've updated it, reset everything, installed the phone as new ... nothing helped.
to be honest I believe it is the antenna that is defective. i'm sure they will improve reception a bit by firmware updates - but overall reception is REALLY bad, and will remain so. Even when I'm outside, city center, close to antennae, I often don't get full bars, i.e. -91 dbm.
I'm living in Germany's second largest financial capital, we have great 3G coverge almost everywhere in town - and i just need this to work.
You guys are totally correct... if I hold the phone with my whole hand, I get -96db reception on EDGE. When I hold it top+bottom with two fingers, It goes up to -79. Ouch!
All of this technical bullshine, and all along it is a simple antenae problem.
It was by pure chance I noticed this, so come on APPLE recall them all and sort out the problem..........
All handsets have the same antenna location. Local signal strength and tower location may have some effect. You have to set the phone to Field Test mode and get the signal strength in -dBm - bars are too crude.
With my phone and location - Edge/GSM signal:
Holding phone in fingers at upper corners: -75 dBm
lower corners: -83
in palm, upper half: -73
lower half: -99
entire back -93
Proximity of other hand, position in relation to wrist of holding hand all made a difference. 3G reception results may be different as it uses a different antenna, Also the frequency of the signal (mostly 850 Ghz for Edge) makes a differance as there are different antenna locations. I don't know the exact locations of the antennas in the 3G, but for the original iPhone:
I'm sure this effect is seen with all phones with internal antennas. Unfortunately, the most natural way to hold the iPhone gives the worst results.
I just got back from a vacation trip to Florida at a remote location. This is my second attempt as a G3 customer and I just made a return appointment with Apple on Tuesday to return the iPhone. I have knowledge of CDMA cell coverage with RF and tower sectors as a contractor that built a network in New Orleans area which was a difficult design and deployment. While I understand that some have considered that the RF issue is a lack of cell sites from AT&T, I was willing to try a second time hoping that real issue being the device would be resolved. What I found is the iPhone cannot pick up the RF signal unless there is a direct line of sight to the tower given its limited reception capabilities. The final proof for me was the fact that the area in Florida did not have 3G and was limited to Edge coverage. I had two devices with me on AT&T's network. The iPhone failed to provide service about 50% of the time. The interesting fact is the other device provided coverage 100% of the times that I used it. I also found that if I went to the crows nest of the beach house the iPhone Edge had 5 bars coverage and on the second floor it failed most of the times...no service.....1 bar at most. I have come to the conclusion that the iPhone hardware has a design flaw and cannot pickup a signal unless well. I have made an appointment with Apple and will review my issue with them one last time. I expect to return the iPhone given I expect the will not be able to address the problem.
