2.1 3G reception increased from 1 to 5 bars anyone having problems still?

Kernal_panic wrote:
therefore its not ATTs network its the PHONE. in this case its the 3g chip.

Oh great. Someone else who can do 3G mobile comms hardware diagnostics by reading forums!

If the iPhone had a hardware problem affecting 3G reception the one thing it definitely could not be is the 3G chip from Infineon. That's because the same exact chip is used on a range of other phones (notably from Samsung) with no problems at all.

a little better... not great.. APPLE Tech support indicates they are still working on this... assuming ownership in conjunction with AT&T. I am in a mediocre 3G Blue area where 3G signal has improved from No Svc - 1Bar to 2-3 bar's with R2.1 (3-miles from closest tower).... and when I am in a strong "blue" 3G zone, the bar's top-out. I find it still hard to believe AT&T doesn't hold more ownership to this issue. If you are in multiple 3G tower areas it works great! unfortunately there aren't enough towers to handle the volume of user's or the transmitting power on those few and far between towers need to be jacked-up. Edge quality still questionable and still causes dropped call's in area's where I NEVER had issues with Verizon wireless before.

michaelab wrote:

Kernal_panic wrote:
therefore its not ATTs network its the PHONE. in this case its the 3g chip.

Oh great. Someone else who can do 3G mobile comms hardware diagnostics by reading forums!

If the iPhone had a hardware problem affecting 3G reception the one thing it definitely could not be is the 3G chip from Infineon. That's because the same exact chip is used on a range of other phones (notably from Samsung) with no problems at all.

The same logic could be applied to your statement, do you have inside information that rules out this chip? Do you have a list of all the other phone models that contain the same chip? The chip could meet all its relevant specifications in isolation but each is then dropped into an unique RF design that changes the characteristics of its performance, every phone manufacturer will have its own design.

The reality is that no-one except the RF design team at Apple or the manufacturing teams in China know what is going on, every phone might well meet their internal design goals and they have accepted marginal performance due to costs/battery life or design restraints (trying to stuff several freq bands and technologies into a small constrained elegant package is a challenge). All we can do on these discussions is highlight the issues we see (my own case compare a Nokia E51 using O2 SIM in same location and I get 2-3 bars on 3G that stays connected, on the iphone 1 bar on 2.0.1, now 3 bars! but connection drops back to GPRS after a min or so).

I'm also in Chicago, just north of Lawrence, east of Sheridan Rd. I'm on 2.1 firmware. I can get 3G service on my back porch, but not inside my home (only Edge). Nor in front of my home. But I can at either end of my block. Seems like some kind of a "service hole" for lack of better terms. I've struggled with the data plan costs as well due to this issue.

My wife and neighbor have non-apple 3G phones on AT&T's network. Neither of them experience dropped calls like I do with my iPhone. My wife has an LG and my neighbor uses windows mobile. Did LG and Microsoft work with AT&T prior to the release of their OS/phones? Did apple just drop the ball?

I keep seeing that apple is working with AT&T to fix but suspect it is more a hardware issue with the iphone. My basic need out of my phone is to make calls. I am extremely disappointed in Apple at this point.

If I am using an app like the ipod or mail when a call comes in, my phone also freezes and won't allow me to answer it. People have hung up waiting for me to answer when I can't get the phone to answer.

From what I have seen the issue seems to be with how the iPhone hands off between 3G towers (or to Edge towers). I always know where the tower reception receaches the limit becuase I get dropped calls. Also, often I need to shutoff my phone to make a new call on the new tower. In other words, if I was talking and shifted to a new tower (and the call dropped), I keep hitting callback and can't connect until I turn off the phone.

The work around I found is to turn off 3G. This seems to be the only way to use the phone. However occasionally, I need to turn on 3G to download or foward large messages. I pay the price if I forget to turn it off to make a call.

Could apple at least put the "turn off 3G" on the home screen to make it easier on us until they fix?

<Edited by Moderator>

Has Apple said anything official about the problem since 2.1 was released? The geniuses at my Apple store are adamant that the issues have now all been fixed. Even though I demonstrated the lack of connectivity to them in their store. They blamed that on the store's thick walls but weren't willing to go outside with me.

bring a pig and a lippstick next time and ask them if it's still a pig if you put lipstick on it 🙂

..using a phone indoor year 2008, foolish customers

🙂

Message was edited by: curveball

also, i wonder what would happened in the world if all people would start to behave like the companies did in situations like this..

Indeed. I have seriously considered cancelling my O2 bank direct debit. I wonder if they'd really want this to go to court.

No call problems with 2.0 and still no call problems with 2.1. All good here in SC. My only complaint is apps could be a bit faster. Slight delay in opening apps. Nothing major but it could be faster.

werwerwerwer wrote:
Has Apple said anything official about the problem since 2.1 was released? The geniuses at my Apple store are adamant that the issues have now all been fixed. Even though I demonstrated the lack of connectivity to them in their store. They blamed that on the store's thick walls but weren't willing to go outside with me.

Try and borrow an O2 Nokia (or other non-iphone) 3G phone and see if this works inside the store. Useful to compare two phones alongside each other. I assume they can only demo the phones using WiFi? Did you try the same compare in an O2 shop, at least they will have a stock of non-iphones to check?

I bought iPhone 3G a couple of months ago, and had no problems at all untill I updated to 2.1.
Since that update those apps (safari, maps etc) that use internet do not responde (freeze) under 3G mode. I have to reset the phone to make them work, but after some hours of use the same "connectivity" issue comes up again. Not to mention that while five bars of 3G signal are displayed on my phone, people that try to call me say that they get a message like "your call is not feasible (translation from Greek - sorry)" or something like that. I also get a very bad reception myself when calling another phone. Third party apps also crash all the time.
The funny thing is that I bought my phone the same day with one of my colleagues and from the same store and his phone is working trouble-free even after the update.

That's my experience from using i(can-not)Phone 3G v2.1.
PS Sorry for my endless message.

Restore as a New iPhone via iTunes and see if that does the trick.

2.1 is not working so well. Talked to engineers and they all say, "Just turn off 3G". They have no response when I ask, "Why did I buy a 3G phone then?"

I have got AT&T to credit my account $65 but that doesn't change the fact that my phone ***. Can you put a price on dropping every call you make?

I updated to 2.1 and it worked great for about 2 weeks. Now, for some reason in the last 5 days I've dropped every call on Edge and 3G. I don't know if they have done something in my area but something has changed. I can be on the roof of my building with an un-obstructed 360 degree view with 4 to 5 bars and still drop every call! I live and work in Irvine, the heart of Orange County. Every business you can imagine is withing 2 miles of me. I'm 1,000ft from the 405.
I checked that website that tells you the towers located around you. There are hundreds of towers within the default 4 mile search radius.

Here's my dbm numbers:

Location: Edge 3G
@ Desk: -87 -99
Closet: -87 -91
Hallway: -83 -95
Window: -79 -95
Bedroom: -83 -87
Kitchen: -87 -97
Desk #2: -89 -99
On Roof: -83 -95
Outside: -87 -97

These numbers might be good compared to some, but the fact remains. I'm dropping every call I make, Edge and 3G.

As bars are concerned, I had maybe 1 to 2 bars with 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 with dropped calls every now and then. With 2.1 I have 4 to 5 bars all the time, but I drop every call, Edge or 3G.

I was a Sprint customer for over 11 years. I never had a issue with dropped calls or call clarity. This is by far the worst phone experience I've ever had.

I'm thinking of do the SIM card trick and seeing if that helps.
Anyone else got any ideas?