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

Its very possible that they are working on a fix, or at the very least figuring out what iPhones are effected (since clearly not all the phones are suffering as severely as the ones mentioned in these threads).

Apple tends to not announce things until they have all their ducks in a row.

So they had their ducks in a row when they released MobileMe and the Iphone 3g?

Clearly they did not. I'm not defending them, I'm simply saying that its possible the are working on these things and are waiting until they have a fix/recall/etc before they announce.

Its was a week or so into the MobileMe issues before they made a statement. By they they were restoring services and had a plan to help compensate users (a free month of MM).

I live in LA and since upgrading to the 3G my reception is very poor and most of the time I have to turn the 3G network off to make simple phone calls.

Rotten hardware core in Apple's iPhone 3G
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20020/1151/

Swedish researcher claims iPhone 3G's sensitivity is poor
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10016483-37.html

My only concern with this is that all the articles seem to point to the research done by a single person. This single person refuses to reveal his identity due to concerns about his employer knowing about the tests he did on company equipment.

While I don't doubt the research done by this person, the anonymity does merit some scrutiny. Hopefully others will test this claim and determine if this is the actual cause.

Count me in as well.

Every time I have a weak 3G signal and a call comes in; I answer it, iPhone loses 3G signal, drops call, and switches to 2G.

I did a test of this in my office at work (downtown Washington DC)...

Called my iPhone 10 times, all on one or two bars of 3G.

6 times, the call failed within 30 seconds. 3 times, the call went straight to voicemail and iPhone never rang. Only once did the call on 3G signal sustain life beyond 60 seconds.

So, I'm now forced to turn 3G off just to use the phone, which defeats the purpose of having an iPhone 3G and a more expensive monthly data plan.

I completely regret selling my original iPhone for the 3G.

hi back in 07 when the original iphone was released it was noted then that apple were reluctant to include 3g due to the demands on the battery, this is evident now as it has shown that the battery life is reduced with 3g on, is it concievable that the balance between powering the 3g chipset and trying to ensure a decent battery life has resulted in a underpowered chipset, resulting in poor 3g performance? in the U.K. in exceptional 3g hotspots as i will call them i can get 5 bars on the 3g network yet it struggles outside these areas, this would support my theory as because the chipset is underpowered it needs a good signal to work?? just a theory.

Well I originally posted on the first of the three posts.

I originally had a build 28 phone with awful 3G reception, dropped calls, NO SERVICE, etc. etc. I performed all the advice on the forums... updated my 3022 SIM for the 4022 sim card. Restored from new phone setting, called ATT to confirm IMEI numbers etc. etc.

Finally called Apple where they contacted ATT and verified my home and work locations should have great 3G coverage, ORANGE COUNTY, CA. They made an apt for me to take it in to have a genius look at the phone.

The genius said he had heard of the issues and likes to keep track of the forums etc. He took one look at my phone and said it wasn't an antenna issue as I had 5 bars of EDGE. I said EDGE showed bars unlike 3G but I still had many dropped calls and was very unhappy. I asked if he could run a diagnostic on the phone but he said that really wouldn't show anything about the 3G issue etc. He then acted as if he was doing me this huge favor and said "What I can do is do a courtesy exchange but it won't happen again cause there is not an issue with 3G" I was a little shocked how he acted as if I was making a big deal out of nothing but he would give me a new phone just to keep me happy or quiet.

He said they did not have phones in stock and ordered one. I was hoping the reason they had to order a replacement was that they new of the issue and were gonna get me a new recent build phone with no issues... Took a few days and I picked up a Build week 30 phone today.

New phone seems to have slightly better 3G reception but the biggest improvement is the handling of 3G to EDGE. The phone no longer holds onto no signal of 3G and instantly switches over to EDGE if there is no reception. Well slight improvement but not what I originally expected from Apple... like many others just very frustrated over the whole thing. I was much more satisfied with my original iPhone.

I live in Arizona and I'm in the 3g signal reception area I get full bars then get one bar then some times lose signal and don't understand why that happen when I'm just standing still just watch your signal it just go up and down time to time some times it says no service when i owened a black jack i never had that problem with there 3g service at home called AT&T they told me to remove the sim card and put back in service came back but I notice when I poped out the top to remove the sim card there is a small gap between the sim card and the insert where the sim card sit on end up going to the AT&T store and showing them but the other iPhone had the samething they changed my sim card but still have the same problem I even asked at&t why I have no signal at my work and that area has strong signal they told me it's probaly the sim card but tmobile works fine at my work alot of my friends have tmobile at work and I explain that to at&t they said it should work fine since at&t use the same gsm network but I don't beleave it because all the phone I ever had from AT&T always say no service at work so I don't know if it is apple or AT&T but at&t told me if it still happen send it back to the apple store I hope they solve this problem soon

*+is it concievable that the balance between powering the 3g chipset and trying to ensure a decent battery life has resulted in a underpowered chipset, resulting in poor 3g performance?+*

Could be. However, when the signal is low the RF chipset usually demands much more power. I'd rather think that short battery usage times are a result of the weak signal issue.

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/08/14/iphone-3g-connection-issues-related-to-softw are-or-hardware/

and counting.

I had arranged to return my phone to Optus Australia, under a "Coverage guarantee." (Basically if you move to the Optus network, and aren't happy with their coverage, you have 30 days to leave without fee/penalty.)

I have been now told (and I'll check this myself tomorrow) that Optus has now cancelled iPhone returns under the "Coverage guarantee" as they state there is "a chip problem" with the iPhone itself, and the phone is therefore not eligible to be returned under this guarantee.

I'm stuck with this broken phone.

so it IS *"a chip problem"* then?

don't read too much into what Optus says, they are generally ********.

i would guess that Optus no very little more that we do, and they are just taking this opportunity to deny people their coverage guarantee, and save some money.

however it is one more carrier that is now "pointing the finger" at apple. (and from what i hear everyone who calls Optus tech support is being told it's a "hardware problem" now.)