Interesting ... I have a new IPhone 3G in Washington DC and had OK reception with the original OS version. I updated last night and get close to zero now. I guess backing it up to the original Os version is in order.
I'm really confused now. I used to lean towards the 3G reception / data problems being an Apple problem (although I've had good luck so far with no dropped calls in LV even with only 1 bar of 3G at my house.)
But I just spent 5 days back east (first inner harbor Baltimore, then Wasington DC, then Silver Spring MD. I had 4-5 bars the entire time, but suffered numerous dropped calls and frequent inability to connect to the data network as well as a laggy keyboard when texting.
Returned to Las Vegas last night, am still at 1 bar (never even 2, sometimes dropping to Edge) but am back to perfect luck with every call going through with no problem, and reasonable 3G data rates (300-450 kbs with iNetwork, 80-120 kbs on Edge) with barely 1 bar showing.
Did the update, no issues, and everything is still working fine.
isnt one potential "fix" to simply use the iphone in EDGE mode until Apple gets this figured out? Ive had mine in EDGE since i started to experience 3G issues while trying to connect to the internet and the thing works like a dream. Im on wifi in the house, i get the great ipod functionality and never drop calls.... all good to go here in EDGE, and whent he finally get this figured out ill snap on the 'ol 3G.
I am fed up with the fact that Apple is not publicy addressing what the real problem is. I have been a loyal Apple customer for a very long time and I am really ready to go return this phone. I bought the first generation Iphone the week it came out and had no real problems with that phone. The 3G is simply not ready for primetime. I believe a recall is the only substantial way to fix the issue...its DEFINITELY hardware. Steve Jobs should be ashamed.
Just got the new firmware. Same craptastic 3G signal in downtown Denver, CO. I've kinda given up on 3G on this POS phone. I just use Edge and try not to think about it all.
I live up here in the northern, frozen, tundra known as Canada. I've just stepped out of my igloo, after my morning breakfast of whale blubber and hockey pucks...
I'm standing on the edge of a frozen ice floe, the sled dogs are all fed and watered, harnessed and ready to go....
I am really sorry to hear that so many of you are still experiencing 3G reception issues after this update. For the life of me, I do not know why I have been spared your level of grief.
I bought my 16G Black on the evening of July 11th. Since then I have completed the 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 updates. Both brought improvements to stability and quality of calls. Around Portland, Oregon, I now have anywhere from 1 bar (in very rural areas) to 5 full bars 3G. I never had that before (5 full bars), as there were a few rural areas where it would auto-switch to Edge. Now that doesn't really happen. I have yet to lose one call in all this time. Sorry that I don't have more scientific data for everyone, and no, this is not a placebo effect. My improvements are real. I will run the testmyiphone.com tests and post the results here when I can.
On a side note, has anyone else noticed a far more smooth transition when scrolling among the pages of your installed apps? Mine sure does. I can even stop half-way between pages.
I have a 1st Gen iPhone. I updated to 2.0.2 at 5:39pm PST and that was when all **** broke loose. I went to the bathroom and when I came back, iTunes said "Cannot retrieve activation information from phone. Please check that your SIM card is inserted properly" The phone was in Airplane Mode and on the screen it said "Slide for Emergency". I went to AT&T, and after waiting in line for 30 minutes, a sales guy gave me a new SIM card and said re-activate the phone using iTunes. Went back to my office, same message - could not activate. Went back to AT&T, waited another 30 minutes and they finally gave up and said take it back to an Apple store. Got to Apple at 8:50pm and at first they said there was nothing they could do that night. After some whining, a manager offered to help and they did some magical restore on the phone. Took it home, did a restore from backup. Phone is now working with 2.0.2 but it will not show up in iTunes. It keeps saying it is a new phone and would I like to activate it or restore it from a previous backup.
To say the least, I am most displeased. I had a similar issue with the 2.0.1 update. Took me a couple of hours to finally get it working. No noticeable change in the OS or functionality. I don't have 3G, but I have had just as many issues with the new 2.0 OS since its release. On the up side, at least the manager at the Apple Store was extremely helpful and so, for that, I am thankful.
Oh yes....and I should point out. When iTunes said "Cannot retrieve activation....etc" the phone would not show up in iTunes in order for me to do a restore. It completely bricked the phone and no matter how many times I shut the phone off or did a full reset, it would not show up. I don't know what fancy software the manager at the Apple store used, but it sure saved the day.
Perhaps you better get those dogs into gear and have them take you for a little tour on the town. I bet you will soon find out that your phone hops around from 3G to Edge.
Whatever they did, it's much worse for me. Mine is bouncing from Edge to 3G a lot now. 😟
At first, it looked a bit stronger when I was sitting at home, but as I started roaming around the house I noticed the unfortunate change. It's very flaky now.
