Drop, charge, and lose the cords
iPhone 3G signal and reception complaints pour in
Users, in droves, are reporting signal strength/reception issues with the iPhone 3G when utilizing the 3G network in areas with purportedly strong coverage, per AT&T and other carriers' maps. Most disconcertingly, phones from other manufacturers often deliver excellent 3G signal strength on the same network and in the same location as signal-crippled iPhone 3Gs.
Several users have exchanged their iPhones for replacement units with no improvement.
A sampling from this Apple Discussions thread, which currently has 86 responses:- "Seems the reception is really unsteady (even in Manhattan) and today the signal disappeared entirely, stating "no network" for over an hour (I was walking around during this time in an area where I know I always get reception)."
- "I have the same problem here in Los Angeles. Very low 3g signal going to no service sometimes then service a minute or two later.
- "I actually swapped it out on sunday thinking it was my phone. Its not. Still crummy reception, albeit AT&T showing great 3G service."
- "Same here in Zurich with my 8GB. All my other phones have a good reception."
As previously reported, the iPhone 3G automatically switches between 3G and 2G networks for voice and data connections. In theory, the phone should hop off 3G when signal strength is too low or non-existent, and hop back on when the signal gets better. In our experience, however, the iPhone 3G isn?t aggressive enough regarding the switch from 3G to 2G. In other words, you may find that your phone stays connected to a 3G network when the signal strength is too low to allow incoming or outgoing calls.
The simple solution is to manually turn 3G connectivity, forcing a switch to 2G ? which may take several seconds ? and likely a boost in signal strength.
One user's experience is exemplary:
"Hi there. I live in Philadelphia, PA in the USA and having the exact same problem! It is terrible. THe moment I turn off 3G on the iPhone, my service defaults to EDGE and I get 5 bars like I was used to getting on my 2G iPhone."
A number of users have reported success with other previously mentioned solutions, particularly resetting or restoring the iPhone, resetting network settings and more.
Feedback? info@iphoneatlas.com.
i spoke to a rep of O2 and they said they had had similar complaints from other new iPhone users. i spoke to somebody else in the signals dept who basically said the coverage was completely fine and no outages or issues had been reported at all.
i now only turn on 3g out of morbid curiosity and nothing else.
so what we have essentially here folks is a dodgy product.
2. (Not only does having to keep 3G on all the time drain the battery)Low signal forces it to drain the battery even more as it is struggling to get more signal.
When I am outside, I have not yet seen the signal bar go to full strength. I have never made it past 3 bars.
What can be done about this???
I'm also having a lot of trouble with my wifi connection, especially in comparison with my old iPhone...any suggestions on that front?
I get 5 bars for 3G:
* most of downtown San Jose
* Pruneyard/Campbell
* along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale
I get almost no 3G signal:
* home (just north east of Pruneyard, where I get 5 bars)
* work (near moffet field)
* areas of south San Jose
The thing that seems odd, is that if it were completely a hardware issue, I'd expect to have problems more or less everywhere. I mean, when I have 5 bars, the 3G is good... it doesn't drop or stutter, and the data is fast. I am just finding the places that I get good 3G signal to be less than impressive. I am wondering if Apple did something with the software (perhaps as an attempt to save battery) that is causing it to have problems in areas with "middle of the road" signal strength.
I cautiously can report that it seems to be getting better, however I too am also at 1 to 2 bars inside my house quite often. I can only guess that wifi is getting in the way of the phone radio somehow. Dunno... This is where the rubber meets the road for Apple though, hope they perform. (and that they do something mucho pronto about the Contacts app).
If we knew where the antenna is in the new iPhone (potentially everywhere, since the whole back is now plastic), we could prevent touching this part and check whether it improves reception.
I'ld love to blame ATT but it doesn't sound like it's there crummy network this time. Love the concept of paying a 10% restocking fee for poorly designed technology.
I feel bad for any loser who waited in line for this thing for hours on end.
As for my friends who have upgraded to 3g, (I'm kinda using them as guinea pigs before I upgrade) they are getting horrible 3g coverage here. When they switch back to edge they get full service but on 3g they get 1 or no bars at all. It's sad, we did a speedtest the first day between the old and the new iPhone and the old iphone loaded up the Apple home page 10 seconds faster than the 3g did.
The phone is awesome and all the other features work well; however, the ultimate goal of the iPHONE is to be PHONE and with this incredibly poor reception I can't make or receive phone calls at least 50% of the time.
I live in Chicago and downtown in the Loop (business district), the phone works well in 3g, but when I'm at home still inside Chicago (the Uptown/Rogers Park area) the phone reception is aweful. I also tested the phone in the Lakeview area where it also went in and out of coverage.
It's odd. The phone can go from 3 or 4 bars to "no service" and bounce back and forth all day. I was driving up Lake Shore Drive (a major road in the city) and I dropped a call 3 times!
Unfortunately this phone is going back. I agree with the sentiment that we shouldn't have to pay a 10% restocking fee for a phone and/or network that is POORLY designed.
WARNING: Do NOT buy the iPhone until this problem is fixed!
Have 3G coverage at my office. Signal is full-scale most everywhere I go, at least around the east side of the county (I'm near Memphis, TN).
Oh, and I had a Samsung Instinct before I switched to the iPhone. If you want to see erratic signal drop-outs, get one of those. I told Sprint about it and all they said was to wait for them to release some signal booster soon and pay an additional $15/month for that. Yeah right.
I beg to differ! The iPhone seems to be a very crappy 3G phone even on good networks.
Here at home in Bern, Switzerland, My Nokia 6280 has a maximum 3G signal on Orange, while the iPhone has two bars at best, mostly one bar, which isn't enough to place or receive calls and it stubbornly won't step down to 2G.
As far as phone functionality goes, the iPhone is all but useless on the Swiss Orange network. I have returned it after an afternoon of use, having no or bad signal for the entire afternoon with the iPhone not stepping down to 2G, at the same time, my work mobile, the Nokia consistently showed maximum 3G signal strength or 3 of four bars at worst.
I have never seen more than 2 bars of 3G signal strength on the iPhone 3G.
3G reception of the iPhone and mode switching (or rather not switching) are the worst I have seen here from any 3G phone.
-
by mderosa22
July 17, 2008 1:29 PM PDT
- I live in the Silicon Valley about 5 minutes away from the Apple Headquarters in Cupertino....and I guarentee this problem is #1 on the minds of Apple iPhone engineers, I rarely get more than 2 bars the only time I get 3 is when I have it plugged into its charger and its usually only for a few seconds. It is consistently at 2 bars and drops to one pretty often.
-
Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (34 Comments)1 possible idea as to why this is the case would to be due to the high demand for 3G and influx of new 3G users due to the iPhone 3G insane number of sales! ATT is sooo happy!!!
second idea is that the iPhone's battery is drained dramatically when on 3G so the weaker the 3G the less the power used by the phone....not sure if there is any truth to that but just an thought I had after using my iphone 3G for the past week.
Possible Solutions:
Turn off 3G! unless you are surfing the web or doing something where you need 3G speeds just switch it off and use the Edge until you need the 3G speeds, you dont need your phone to receive calls in 3G speed or listen to music and use any of the games and many of the applications. And the EDGE in most areas will be 3 bars or higher.
I am sure Apple is working to fix this issue.....they dont want 1 or 2 bars either!!