CNET readers share their iPhone 3G stories
Reception problems with the iPhone 3G are occurring in towns and cities across the U.S., based on readers' responses this week to CNET News' request for more information about their balky phones.
More information has trickled out this week about the iPhone 3G's reception problems, which are now believed to be the result of a problem with the Infineon chipset inside the unit. Business Week reported Thursday that Apple and Infineon are working on a software fix for the problem, which Apple has yet to officially acknowledge.
Reports of reception problems with the iPhone 3G poured in this week after CNET News ran a story on the issues Monday.
(Credit: Apple)But CNET News readers across the country report that many Apple and AT&T customer service representatives are indeed aware of their problems. The iPhone 3G is having trouble connecting and staying connected to 3G networks even in areas that appear to be located within a strong pocket of AT&T's network, as well as on carrier networks around the world. Business Week's sources said that the problems are affecting "2 percent to 3 percent" of iPhone 3G traffic, but there's no official word on just how widespread a problem this is.
A few words of warning before we get into the results: this was not a scientific survey. Apple is believed to have sold about 400,000 iPhone 3Gs in the U.S. as of the first week it was on sale, and has certainly added to that total since. We received input from 334 people over the last four days, both in comments on our site and in e-mail, 312 of whom were iPhone 3G owners and the rest of whom were AT&T customers with other phones.
In the absence of any hard information about what was happening to the iPhone 3G earlier in the week (much more has come out since then), the idea was to try to get a sense of whether the problems were located in a certain region, or whether there was any other kind of pattern. If a disproportionate number of problems were happening in a certain area, for example, that could indicate nothing more than network weirdness.
That wasn't the case: 257 iPhone 3G owners, or 82 percent of all respondents, reported a variety of reception problems, from inconsistent data connections to 3G networks in their area to multiple dropped calls. The problems were reported in 32 states, but seemed to get slightly worse as they traveled west: 37 percent of those experiencing problems lived on the West Coast, mostly in either the San Francisco Bay Area or the Los Angeles area.
It's not surprising that residents of the nation's most populous state would be disproportionately represented among iPhone 3G early adopters, especially given Apple's roots in the Bay Area. But California residents were almost unanimous in their negative experiences with the reception of the iPhone 3G, even in the South Bay area near Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
The iPhone 3G is having trouble maintaining a connection to fast 3G networks--the reason many bought the thing in the first place.
(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)"I'd estimate that I see 3G icon on the phone less than 1/3 of the time in so-called 3G areas that I frequent in Bay Area and Austin (Texas)," wrote Marty Faltesek, a resident of Santa Clara, Calif., which borders Cupertino. Only 13 percent of responses from the West Coast were from iPhone 3G owners satisfied with the reception of their unit, the lowest of any region.
Chicago and New York City were two other hot spots of iPhone 3G frustration. Again, big cities are more likely to contain early adopters, but the high ratio of problem iPhone 3G experiences to trouble-free iPhone 3G experiences was noticeable in those cities.
The Northeast in general, on the other hand, recorded the highest percentage of satisfied iPhone 3G users based on the overall responses from that region. We received a total of 61 responses from residents of that region and 23 percent said they were satisfied with the reception of their iPhone 3G. Residents of the Southeast also seemed more satisfied with their reception than the average user.
Owners reported, for the most part, sympathetic if frustrating treatment from representatives at their local Apple and AT&T stores. Many of those who took the time to share extended accounts of their experience said that Apple and AT&T appeared to be aware of widespread issues with the handsets, especially in the week since coverage of the complaints of iPhone 3G owners has expanded.
After advising owners to restore their iPhone 3Gs or turn off the 3G capabilities, Apple and AT&T store employees would in many cases replace the units if customers persisted with their complaints. AT&T customer service representatives tended to point the finger at the iPhone 3G, while Apple representatives tended to blame the reception problems on AT&T's network, as might be expected.
Cory Emmelle of San Diego was told by an AT&T representative that the towers in his area were producing strong signals, and therefore it must be a phone issue. Later on, an Apple representative said that AT&T's network was the problem and advised switching off the 3G capabilities for the time being. Neither company said it was aware of any known issues with the phone.
Andrew Kowalyshyn of Denver, Colo., took his iPhone 3G to the AT&T store where he purchased it after experiencing the reception issues, in hopes of returning it. The AT&T customer service representative advised switching out the SIM card as a possible fix, and said she was aware of issues with the iPhone 3G. After the SIM card replacement didn't solve the problem, AT&T advised him to visit an Apple store.
At his local Apple store, Kowalyshyn encountered one of Apple's "Geniuses" who was sympathetic to his plight, explaining that iPhone 3Gs in use by the store employees were suffering from the same issues and that a replacement unit would likely be just as flawed as his current phone. The employee told him to "sit tight," and that while he wasn't aware of any official fix in the pipeline he was confident that Apple corporate was aware of the issue, given the volume of complaints about the iPhone 3G's reception recorded at that store.
Some Geniuses at Apple stores, like this one in New York, were aware of problems with the iPhone 3G, while others pointed the finger at AT&T.
(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News)Gordon Goodman, a resident of suburban Chicago, was asked last week to come into his local Apple store to get a replacement unit after a prior service appointment at the store indicated that a new unit would be the best solution to his persistent reception problems. His first attempt to get the SIM card readjusted at an AT&T store--which did clear up the problem for some early reporters of reception problems--failed to solve his issues.
When Goodman arrived at the Apple store for his appointment on Tuesday, he was told that Apple had "changed its policy" since his last visit and was withholding iPhone 3G replacements until a software fix arrived. After complaining to a manager, Goodman was able to get a replacement unit, but the reception issues persisted. On Thursday, he was told by an AT&T customer service representative that its cell towers are having trouble recognizing the iPhone 3G on the network, and that a fix was forthcoming.
As the week closes, it seems iPhone 3G users are closer to a solution to their reception problems. One amazing thing about the responses was how many respondents still loved their iPhone 3Gs, warts and all. After all, the touch-screen interface and navigation features that have made the iPhone a hit weren't affected by this problem.
Apple's reputation for quality software, however, might have suffered. While the reception issues have received a lot of attention--given the fact that many bought the iPhone 3G to use it on 3G networks--reports are cropping up about several bugs in the iPhone 2.0 software that affect the performance of third-party applications, the iPhone's camera, or that result in the newly coined "white Apple logo screen of death."
With a September iPod event likely on the horizon, Apple will have its hands full over the next month getting the iPhone 3G back on track while preparing for the most important part of the year for the company: the holiday shopping season.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom.
If it is in fact an issue with the firmware, just let us know. We won't abandon you. We just want to be informed.
Mr. AT&T:
if it is a 3G problem with your network, just let us know...and we'll add it to the list of problems we had with EDGE. And, a word of advice, TRAIN you customer reps. Once they finish their script, they're lost.
1 - Battery life - the iPhone won't last a full day without charging. If I leave for work in the morning and don't plug it in at the office or in the car, it is dead by the drive home.
2 - Integration of calendar functions with the phone. The BlackBerry does an excellent job of letting you call a phone number based on a calendar event. This is a big help on the go when you have a meeting. The meeting notice comes up, and you can click on the number and dial into a conference call. On the iPhone you have to exit the calendar, go to the phone, select the number pad, and then enter the number. If the number is a conference call with a passcode, if you are like me, by the time you do all that you've forgotten the passcode (very frustrating). I found myself having to get a pad of paper (or back of a napkin) just to write the numbers down (seems to defeat the purpose).
3 - e-mail - On the BlackBerry you have an option to delete e-mails from the phone, and not from the server. This is very helpful if you have get alot of emails a day and want to quickly look at the new e-mails on your phone. Granted everyone may not want to use the function this way - but I sure miss it.
4 - Voice calling - the BlackBerry has a great voice calling feature. While AT&T offers something similar, it is harder to use and set up. Also on the BlackBerry the feature can be set to a favorite button on the phone, making it really usefull for hands free calling in a car (you can even access the function from a bluetooth headset and not touch the phone). The iPhone implementation of this through AT&T is just clumsy in comparison.
Don't get me wrong, I love the browser, the integration with iPod features, and the e-mail and calendar are easy on the eyes, and the keyboar typing while not as good is acceptable, but I am seriously considering switcing back. If you really want a phone for business use, the iPhone is not there yet (I am hoping the items I mentioned can be fixed soon with a software update because I don't know how much longer I can keep the iPhone). At a minimum don't through away your BlackBerry yet.
But, I think you're mistaken about your third point. The default behavior on my phone is exactly as you've desribed. I can delete e-mails to my heart's content on the phone and not have those deleted from the server.
My advice: do not expose yourself to this program and turn off data roaming internationally.
In response to your second point, it's doubtful that AT&T's 3G network is the issue. I've used my Motorola Q9h with AT&T 3G for about 11 months now with absolutely no issues. In fact, I'm writing this post through my Motorola over 3G now.
I have noticed all of the 2.0 bugs, but my experience has been incredibly positive. One gripe I have is that once a calendar event is created you cannot change which calendar it's in.
A couple of other things:
The lack of a LANDSCAPE KEYBOARD is criminal. Seriously, what bone head decided to only allow it in Safari?
The backup times in iTunes are excruciating. There's no reason I should have to wait 20 minutes each time I plug in.
Upgrading apps from my phone crashes it. Every time. ...And since it takes 20 minutes to get into iTunes, my choices are not pretty.
Overall though, a great phone. But definitely released before all the kinks were worked out. And the fact that Apple and AT&T are acting like there are NO kinks, is pretty awful.
drewcohen, on your 3rd point regarding email, depending on who your service is through, you should be able to delete the email on your phone, but not on the server. For example, gmail has a pop3 setting that allows you to only download new messages, and to always keep a copy on the server.
If you set it up with imap - thats an entirely different story, and that will sync up in real time, so if you delete it - its gone from the server as well.
CLOSED and PROPRIETARY. Can't wait for my Google G1 Phone. Open. Fresh Air. Great!
How do YOU know what Google will come out with? It could be just another Razr-type phone. Think before speaking.
One thing I can guess, I live in Bergen county NJ and can probably count with my hands and toes the number of iPhone users which would explain why I didn't get dropped.
EETimes.com - Apple shuns leading chip makers in 3G
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=JY5T4PKLR54TGQSNDLPCKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=209100058
'Slow' iPhone 3G glitch blamed on secrecy - iPhone Insider - Digital Life (Australia)
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/08/13/1218306957900.html
The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs MashUp
http://blogs.smh.com.au/mashup/archives//019724.html
Swedish magazine blames iPhone 3G woes on hardware - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080814/ap_on_hi_te/tec_apple_iphone
Now I ask you: When three completely seperate international 3G providers are having issues with the iPhone what is the common denominator?
..the story goes as far as saying, he used the iphony to call and annoy Starbucks crew , in the SF Bay area to give fake orders. I think, with rate even that was dropping calls , he did not find it funny anymore.
......There is nothing wrong with the Infineon chip , the only thing is Apple engineers didn't take the time to read the data sheet. This leads me to believe they would have cut and pasted some other phones firmware (Samsung ??)
But then this raises bigger questions :-
1.) Does ATT have the sufficient bandwidth to meet all these 3G Users ?
2.) Does it vary from tower to tower , how is the bandwidth distributed ?
3.) Is the perceived 3G bandwidth a real scam , made possible by clever algorithms , which is being exposed now ?
4.) What are the criteria for dropping a call ?
5.) If there is a senario , in which a person in grave emergency needs to call 911 in the same pipe as a guy watching youtube ..whose packets will be dropped ?
6.) What happens to ATT 3GB when the real 3G phones like Google G1 , XPERIA etc come out later this year ?
-
by jack_russell
August 15, 2008 7:25 AM PDT
- The concept that Apple has for the iPhone is great the implementation is pathetic. I had one of the first iPhones and after being replaced three times the fourth seemed to work great. The new 3G has bad battery life, the network drops constantly and the phone reboots itself at least twice a day and most of the time in the middle of doing something.
-
Reply to this comment
-
-
-
by skillingssucks
August 15, 2008 10:31 PM PDT
- Cluetard, Apple asked Verizon first...and they refused.
-
-
-
by jason99825
August 19, 2008 12:38 AM PDT
- Well first of all Apple went to Verizon first. Verizon turned Apple down so they where forced to go to AT&T. I am not sure who was the dumb on yet. If the Iphone was on the Verizon network I would buy it in a heart beat but that is not the case.
-
-
Showing 1 of 5 pages (117 Comments)The ATT told me that the reception issues were due to the iPhone so I pulled my Blackjack out and started using it, the use of the 3G network is no better than the iPhone but it does not drop the calls when switching from 3G to Edge like the iPhone does. It does not reboot itself like the iPhone does but does have bettery life issues like the iphone does.
What bothers me more than anything is that they rolled it out before it was ready and ATT as has always been the case has a weak network. Verizon is absolutely a better network without question, Apple made the wrong choice when they chose who they were going with as a network provider.