Comments on: Apple, AT&T mum on iPhone 3G issues

A month after the launch of the iPhone 3G, reception problems continue to plague owners with dropped calls, poor networking speeds, and frustrating customer service experiences.

[cn31672]

No problems here in Reading, PA. I have good 3g coverage, and have had only 1 dropped call in the last month. I was worried, since I switched from Verizon to ATT for the iPhone. But I have been very happy, and glad to be rid of my overpriced Verizon contract.. (Yes, the iphone is cheaper than using Verizon for data, email, texting, etc... and I have more minutes)...

[schate--2008]

I have had this problem with dropped connections and No Service messages with my original iPhone. I don't think its just a iPhone 3G problem. I have had my device replaced, and AT&T even insisted my problem could not be fixed until I changed my number, because after I moved out of state the phone was constantly roaming and therefore the cell towers could not sync to it as reliably. This was after hours and hours of tedious checks and restarts and reloads of software. And the change to a new local number did not even help. Well, I guess it helped At&T because they locked me into a new 2 year contract because the new number was a new account. At least they gave me a big break and aren't making me continue to pay the $70 per month for the old number until its two years are up.

I constantly see 3 or 4 bars until the point I actually go to make a phone call, then it changes to no bars or No Service about 50% of the time. Its always done this and they say the signal strength is the best they have where I'm located.

When the new 3G iPhone came out I thought I might try it to see if it was better. No doubt a new and more expensive contract, but if it actually worked, well that would at least make the per month fee worth something. But hearing these problems, I think I might just move the SIM card to my old Blackberry Pearl, which seems to get 4 bars and never drop a call, and use the iPhone as an expensive iTouch. At least that way my locked in two year contract can be used to make calls. Maybe even do the email ( if the iPhone plan will allow it to send mail to a non-iPhone ).

It seems a shame to spend $70 a month for a phone I can only use successfully a handful of times a month. I now consciously avoid making calls on it because its so annoying to have to try multiple times or to always have to explain to people that you got disconnected.

[dylan214u]

the 3g phone blows away the reception of the 1st one. I upgraded and am darn glad I did! What are you guys smoking??? and where are your stats?

[reddawnz]

I run a corporate network. We have added 15 iPhone 3G's. I have tested every single one of them and all suck on the 3G network. Part of my new iPhone setup is to now disable 3G and force everyone on the EDGE network. The problem isn't on ATT's side. Apple needs to fess up and admit that they are not actively switching over to EDGE when the 3G signal gets week (and they need to fix the inherant 3G reception problem). You can be standing directly underneeth a 3G tower and get 1 3G bar. Other than that, the phone's great (except lack of A2DP).

[Tim667]

I live in San Francisco -- a high mobile-traffic area -- and I've been using my iPhone 3g with no issues at all. I did have a call fail once -- but that used to happen with my older AT&T phone too (Nokia). I'd really love to see hardcore statistics about iPhone problems, because I've had none at all, and I'm thoroughly impressed with the device. None of my other friends have had problems with it at all too. And I'm a very heavy phone user (There are funny things that happen with long phone calls -- TMobile for instance cuts off a phone call after 4 hours etc.). Web browsing on 3g seems to drain the battery a lot faster, but that still leaves enough for calls etc. (I recharge every night, but then I also spend a lot of time web browsing on teh iphone). Overall, I have no complaints.

[johnmobile]

same here in germany. weak 3g signal all over the place, extremely well covered areas, just perfect settings - and it keeps showing no service and drops calls. this is just so frustrating. a lot of my friends who don't speak english and can't make their voice heard (apple support discussions are english only) have the same issues. in germany, t-mobile refuses to exchange the devices in the shop - this is why a lot of people are still trying to figure out with their low signal iphones. some have moved this to their lawyers. it's a shame apple doesn't admit they have had some quality shortcomings with this device.

[anilsudh]

When you manufacture and sell consumer electronic items in the millions in such a short period of time there are bound to be issues with some of the devices.

The people who are complaining probably represent less than 0.5 percent of the total number of the iPhones sold. And who knows how many of these complainers are real iPhone owners/users. They could very well be agents of the competition.

If these people are so unhappy with the phone or the service they should return it and go back to whatever they were using before.

[johnmobile]

anilsudh - i promise i am not an agent of anyone (except for myself maybe). i would even love if people would join me and test this thing side by side with other 3g devices, on the ground. i love this device - great ipod, excellent screen, extremely smart browser!!! but the phone just doesn't meet any standards. this is a real issue.

[HeloCaptain]

I recognize AT&T 3G cell sites. I have one located 1.74 miles from my home and I can actually see the top of the tower while standing in my rear yard. My signal strength, outside with a direct shot to the tower, varies from -101 to -113. This is not a usable signal by any standard.

I sincerely believe the problem is antenna related. I don't know if the 1900-2100 GHz antenna isn't connected or perhaps there are thousands of circuit boards with a bad solder connection which inhibits the signal pass through to the receiver.

I have driven to the tower and monitored the signal strength as I drove away from the site. The signal strength falls off so rapidly that I can think of no reason, other than antenna related, for the iPhones 3G failure to perform on 3G. Example, departing from the tower to the busiest intersection in my city, a distance of 6/10 of a mile, the signal drops from -66 to -103.

It would be nice if CNet would have some radio techies analyze (with objective instrumentation) the efficiency of the antenna on a known to be defective iPhone. It would be interesting to have AT&T repeat their LIES when presented with such objective scientific evidence.

BTW - I have conducted signal strength tests at three different 3G sites with similar results, so it is not a problem with a particular site.

I think AT&T is stupid to lie about the scope of the problem, especially if it is the iPhone's problem. If AT&T and Apple really haven't analyzed the problem yet, I think we users are in for a long wait and AT&T and Apple are in for a long and expensive class action lawsuit.

I am retired, so the phone component of the iPhone isn't critical to me. If I still worked for a living, there is no way I would be able to have the iPhone as my communication device - especially when I have had years of reliable experience with the BlackBerry line.

I actually love everything about the iPhone, except the phone and AT&T's lies.

[lanny300]

As much as I hate that all of this is going on with the iPhone 3G, I'm so glad because I thought it was just me, or that's what the Apple tech/Att rep told me when I spoke with them about my iPhone. I got my phone about a week after the initial launch and from day one, I had an issue with hearing an "echo" sound. When speaking with friends on Att, Sprint, Verizon and Alltel networks, they all complained that it sounded like I was in an 'ocean'. I called ATT who redirected me to Apple and we did a Network Reset which did not fix the issue. The Apple rep told me to hang up and recall and this should fix the issue but it didn't. Disappointed and frustrated, I took the phone back to Att to turn it back in but the sales rep suggested swapping out the sim and giving it another try, which I did and still had the same problem. On my last ounce of hope, I went to the Apple store in Charlotte, NC and they replaced the phone with no hassle. However, upon leaving the store and making/receiving calls, I got the same results. P'd off and highly disappointed, I went back to ATT and returned the phone. Among all of it's functionality, it's quite ironic that the most important function of a phone is the very thing that has lead to so many disappointed customers.

[lostatsea]

I bet a good statistician could figure out given how many total iPhone users are experiencing problems based on how many complaints on CNET, Crave etc and how many iPhone users visit these sites. My guess these problems are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of numbers. Isn't there a cell phone lemon law?

[mathue_tax]

Cell phone lemon law? Maybe in the olden days when cellphones cost 3,000+ you MIGHT be able to push that through, but only then is it was apparent that there was a clearly unrepairable malady (i.e. it has been repaired multiple times) that the phone suffered from. Since this appears to be highly regoinal I think you'd have a very hard time using any lemon law to do what you want. Keep in mind Lemon laws are typically automotive related.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_law

There are computer lemon laws, mostly left over from the days when computers were expensive. Considering what a handset costs verses the costs of filing a suit I think you'd have to create a class action to get anywhere, and once it's in class action, you're not likely to get a new handset or even much money. In the end you'll have lots of your time spent, quite possibly less money and little or nothing to show. The US is already FAR TOO lawsuit crazy, don't add to it :)

[mathue_tax]

Personally I think it isn't entirely 3G myself, but 3G via AT&T. When I sold 3G handsets for AT&T we had many customers who lived in the Oakland hills (SF Bay area). Many had easy line of sight cell towers visible from their back or front windows depending on which way they faced. Even in these ideal conditions I had more than a few times where we had to either refund or downgrade as they could not even get a connection. Frankly, my old Cellular One Motorola MicroTAC never dropped calls and had great audio compared to the several 3Gs I've tried out. Different era mind you but I can't help but wonder whether new com systems aren't up to the challenge of being fully reliable.

[eagle_155]

I also have issues with the Iphone 3 in a Cleveland Suburb (Rocky River,OH). When I purchased my Iphone I was told i was in a best 3g zone. (was told there was Moderate, Good and Best, with moderate being the worst) The 3g coverage map does not show the difference though. After purchasing my iphone 3g I have little or no signal in my house in Rocky River (Cleveland Suburb). My ATT Tilt show two bars of 3g, my Iphone 1 or no bars. I called to complain and ask for exchange and was told i was in a moderate to poor 3G signal area. My iphone drops calls all the time, my tilt in the same location no issues. So I guess i got screwed or whatever...I am taking it back and dropping that line and will just survive with my tilt or change to verizon....

[tekbro]

Want to get AT&T and Apple responding? STOP buying iPhone or iTouch, or any of their accessories. Vote with your dollar. Don't be so quick to buy something just because they dangle it our in front of us with lots of slick marketing and adverts. Making Apple and AT&T work for your dollar a little might even drive the price of the device and the plans down a bit. Consumers really don't know how much power they have.

[cahoya]

As usual, you are only presenting ONE side of the story. I've been with AT&T for 5 years now, and I haven't had any issues. As with any cell phone service, IT DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU ARE, including the structure of the building! I have the new iphone 3G and I have great reception in most places and my apartment. I've tested it extensively in the LA area. When I had Verizon, their service and coverage was crappy for me. I'm not saying I love AT&T-to me, they are just another greedy cell phone provider. But, they aren't as bad as some of the other ones. So STOP presenting such one-sided articles...if you were doing your jobs as TRUE journalists, you would present both sides. Instead, it seems like you and Yahoo only want to print all the negatives. And believe me, if the negatives of the iphone 3G outweighed all the positives, I WOULD NOT have subjected myself to signing a 2 year contract.

[r0dr0r]

What about all the echo issues that have been going on with the iphone 3G? I own the original iphone and I have had to switch back to that one since all the problems have not been fixed. With the problems during launch day and now this it is amazing that have not said F U Apple and went to something else.

If they don't get it fixed I am sure there will be alot more just like me!!!

[martini08]

Similar problems with reception. ATT's map said that there was great reception plus 3G in my area but there was not. Instead, I got 0-1 bar and Edge. I called ATT they said they would look into this and call me within a week but, they didn't. Another problem was the battery life. I averaged about 3 hours of use plus 5 hours of standby. I took it to the Apple store only to be told by the store manager that that was normal! He refused to swap out to a new phone saying "We can't swap phones out to everyone who complains." I returned the phones (I bought 2 for a family plan) and returned to Verizon. I got the new Dare, a poor iPhone clone I admit, but at least I get service!

[Florida_Lady]

I have had a few dropped calls to another 3G user. I don't see the difference in speed I was expecting and I am having huge problems syncing my itunes (lost purchased songs)...not sure I would have done this had I realized the problems I would have. Also, inability to sync a calendar (I have yahoo and gmail), sort of stinks! Hope these issues get fixed...soon!

[mjadamci]

3G signals are very bad in SF. I just came back from a vacation. 3G was EXCELLENT in Medford, Oregon and Tuba City, California. It was like wifi and never slowed down. If these small cities can have 3G with EXCELLENT reception, the problem must not be with the iphone itself but the towers. Either there aren't enough to handle the population or they are in need of modern updates. The iphone 3G worked so well in those cities, never switched to Edge once. So AT&T, could you please fix this problem.

[doublethought84]

I've been to the 3 bigger cities in South Carolina (Columbia, Charleston, Greenville) and around the burbs in those areas... I've had very strong 3G signal (even in the rural areas in between), and never even seen my phone switch to the Edge network. Myrtle Beach has a weaker AT&T signal in general, but still no major issues. I'm surprised the network in SC is so strong compared to larger markets. Could our 3G network just be less crowded?

[gerard143]

syracuse, ny bought the phone about a week after it debuted. even with newer firmware i have terrible issues mainting a 3g signal. my area is covered well with 3g towers. it doesnt do a good job maintaining the 3g signal and once it loses it the phone has never once reconnect to edge. i have to manually turn off 3g under settings to get any kind of connection again. It will either show one bar or no service. i even let it go 12 hrs once. never reconnected on its own. i then manually turn off 3g and i get full signal strength edge.

this phone has a horrible time switching back and forth automatically between edge and 3g. horrible time maintaining a 3g signal as well.