I noticed that I am only getting a couple of bars in my house with the 3Gs whereas before with the 3G, I was getting 5. Is the reception worse on the 3Gs or is the meter just more accurate?
Sitting here in my recliner, I can set the phone on the table beside me and the meter will fluctuate from 5 bars to 3 to none and then back again. This is without touching the phone. I don't know if their is a problem with the meter or the signal is really fluctuating that much. All I know is that with my 3G this did not happen. I had a solid 5 bars all the time in my house. I hate to take it back so soon, but if the signal is this bad then I would rather have my 3G back. While I'm complaining, the battery goes away very fast also. I'm hoping that this will improve after a few charge cycles.
Tommy, you describe a problem with extreme signal variance with phone being untouched that I've also encountered (perfect description match) that others describe similarly in this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2049575
This is also a problem in the UK. We have 4 mobiles in the house, all on the same network. The Sony Ericsson and the LG Prada phone have no trouble connecting to O2 anywhere in the house. The two new iPhone 3GS's (16Gb & 32Gb) both keep dropping calls consistently so that they are unuseable even when in the same location as the non-iPhones. It's so bad that we can't send text messages out at all. This therefore cannot be a network problem.
My signal fluctuates a lot in the same location. But worst of all, I never seem to keep hold of a 3G signal. At best, I get E for EDGE displayed. And then it sometimes even drops to the little circle icon for normal GPRS. I know my friend has a 3GS too, and is a few roads away from me (both locations have got full O2 coverage according to their website) and she gets permanent 3G connection on hers!
What's going on?
I am having the same problem. I just switched ovr to AT&T when I bought the iPhone 3GS, so I can't attest to AT&T/3G signal strength before then but I get little to no signal for making calls on my iPhone. This is incredibly frustrating as I was so glad to get an iPhone but now I'm wondering if it was worth it.
Has anyone contacted Apple or AT&T about this issue? Also, does anyone know if buying a cell phone signal booster for my house would be worth it?
Big problems with signal strength as well. Previously owned 2G and 3G models, now have 3GS. The signal of my new 3GS is much lower and more erratic, and this is happening at the same exact locations where i was previously using my 3G iPhone. While driving my commute the issue is much more problematic as i am on the phone constantly for business. While with my 3G iPhone I was able to have a constant signal, on the same exact route my 3GS drops the signal constantly. We need a software update SOON to fix this signal issue. The 3G had the same weak signal when it first came out which was later addressed with a software update. Nonetheless, this does not surprise me. With a more powerful processor and a promise of longer battery life, they had to diminish the power drainage from somewhere else. But taking this from the gsm antenna is not the way to go!
I too am having problems in the UK. I read some posts elsewhere about the sim card not having proper contact, together with a recommendation to put some scotch tape on the reverse (plastic side) of the sim on order to 'fatten it up'.
This solution I am pleased to say seems to have worked for me and I am now getting three to five bars in my house, when before I had no service.
"This solution I am pleased to say seems to have worked for me and I am now getting three to five bars in my house, when before I had no service."
Would this help increase 3G signal too? I'm sorry- I don't know much about 3G, but bought a 3GS on Friday, and was disappointed with the lack of 3G around my area.
Apple has this topic listed on their troubleshooting list, so they seem to be aware of it. As to whether they do anything about it is another story. I did everything on the fix-it list and that hasn't helped. I went by the AT&T store that I bought the phone from and they replaced the sim card and this didn't help either. I have 30 days to return the phone so I'm hoping there will be a solution by then. The weak or no signal is certainly a deal breaker for me, so if it's not resolved soon, the phone is going back. All the wiz-bang new features are nice, but first and foremost, it's a phone and I need to be able to make calls.
I'm also having a problem with the signal strength. If I leave my phone on the desk I get a full 5 bars. When I put the phone in the palm of my hand the bars start to drop to 4, 3, 2, 1 then it will switch to EDGE. When I put the phone down it immediately goes to a full 5 bars. I brought it to the Apple store and was able to duplicate this in the store (with me holding the phone and 2 of the techs in the store holding it), they said they have never seen this happen before so they exchanged the phone. The new phone does the same thing. They suggested that I replace the SIM which I did at the ATT store and it did not help. I have an incase slider case for the phone. When the phone is in the case I can hold it and it will not lose the signal as fast.
Considering the fact that you replaced the phone and it does the same thing, I don't know what the solution is except to return the phone for a refund. I've got 30 days to decide, but if Apple has not come up with a solution by then, mine is going back. I love the phone, except for this issue, and I really don't want to return it but I need to be able to make reliable calls. This isn't an isolated incident since many people have this problem. You would think this issue came up in testing. If it did and Apple released the phone for sale anyway, shame on Apple.
+"If I leave my phone on the desk I get a full 5 bars. When I put the phone in the palm of my hand the bars start to drop to 4, 3, 2, 1 then it will switch to EDGE. When I put the phone down it immediately goes to a full 5 bars."+
I'm guessing this is a design/hardware problem where Apple used a less powerful/less sensitive radio antenna to reduce power consumption to extend battery life (maybe also somewhat to conserve space or reduce costs).
How to test this beyond seeing the signal drop when you pick the phone up off the desk?
Try holding the iPhone 3G S differently - instead of "cupping" the phone to view it as a PDA device with one's hand covering nearly the entire back of the phone (with palm pressed against its back), try instead to use just 3 fingertips, holding on to the edges of the phone, centered around it's middle, with your palm positioned off/away from the back of the phone.
This makes a HUGE difference for me in not just how many signal bars are displayed, but even moreso in data throughput (measured using SpeedTest) as well as talking signal clarity.
Why? Well, my guess is with a cheaper/less sensitive antenna (used for who knows what reasons only Apple knows), holding the phone with a "cupped grip" to feel secure basically shields or blocks the weak antenna, dropping the displayed signal and resulting throughput. Using the lighter less-obtrusive fingertip position limits this shielding/blocking and keeps the signal/throughput up.
IF this work-around improves your signal/throughput, then the question presents itself: *Is this a suitable solution to allow us to keep the phone despite perhaps NO "fix" coming in the future?*
If you can answer yes, then I'd say keep the phone and make this adjustment and HOPE things improve with some kind of firmware fix. I'd like to see if others find the same results as I did holding the phone differently and whether or not this is an adequate work-around for now (possibly from now on)...
Well, I hope you are wrong about the cheaper, less sensitive antenna. If that's the case, there is no solution. For me, the low signal strength is unacceptable and if there is no fix, the phone is going back.
