Comments on: iPhone 3G: What's the frequency?

Please help us determine whether there are any patterns connected to the reception issues experienced by some iPhone 3G owners on AT&T's network.

[TheMBC]

Area in which you live.
Miami

Date on which you bought your iPhone 3G.
July 15th

Do you live inside an area labeled as 3G as shown on AT&T's coverage map?
Yes! Definitely, Miami is supposed to be in abundance with 3G

Have you experienced problems with dropped calls or flaky 3G connections?
Yes, I have had dropped calls like crazy, even with other AT&T users.

I didn't get the MHz...

[M C]

I'm assuming you actually took the minute to look, but for the benefit of others: "supposed to be in abundance" is not the same as "yes, I looked at the map and my home is within the marked coverage area."

[Tom Krazit]

@MC, TheMBC- AT&T's coverage viewer doesn't differentiate between "abundance" or "just sorta there." All areas are labeled with the same perceived strength of signal for 3G, as opposed to the layered effect they use for voice and 2G coverage.

[sacsucks]

Im having the issue with a samsung blackjack, in alpharetta GA. It was fine up to about 4 months back, and now it drops calls like a mother. I even replaced the phone. Same issue happens in Santa Monica CA. In both locations in the past I had solid reception with no dropped calls. Now I have decent signal, at least 3 bars, but the phone switches to edge then back to 3g and drops calls. I dont have the frequency.

[reddawnz]

I manage the it for a company in alpharetta, ga. we have two Edge Iphones and 7 3G iphones multiple other 3g phones (treo's, windows mobile, etc.) 3G iPhones all get terrible 3G reception so as part of my setup of new iPhones I disable the 3G so I don't have to deal with a constant barrage of "issues" related to the stupid phones. Alpharetta coverage area is supposed to be very full with 3G. Complaints have been dropped calls, low battery life (possibly due to searching for signals, which improves vastly after the switch to the Edge network), and constantly having no more than two bars (both indoors and out). These problems exist on all 7 of our iPhone 3G's but no such complaints on the other ATT 3G phones (we have about 20 total). Don't know what the frequency is but this other commment is in Alpharetta as well. (30005 zip code windward pkwy & windward concourse by the equifax building)

[nlakin]

Indianapolis

Saturday morning after the Friday launch (can't remember the date)

3G yes. Solid coverage area.

Problems? Yes. Calls will just drop even when not moving. 3G will switch to Edge without warning and then just hang. I get "server stopped responding" popup. And the GPS is slow. I get a large area bracket before the blue dot finally kicks in. Sometimes takes several minutes.

[usarioclave]

3G in portland oregon is really bad on the west side. AT&T says that the 850 band activates at the end of september, so we'll see.

[manchoi44]

Area in which you live.
Chicago

Date on which you bought your iPhone 3G.
July 22nd
Do you live inside an area labeled as 3G as shown on AT&T's coverage map?
Yes

Have you experienced problems with dropped calls or flaky 3G connections? Please elaborate.
I've been having a lot of calls go straight to voicemail (no rings... I pick up the phone later to see that I've got missed calls and voicemails waiting for me). I noticed that this was only happening when I had 3G turned on. Hasn't happened since I turned it off. Also, full bars of 3G in the Loop (where I work) but terrible speeds.

I blame the 2.0.1 firmware upgrade. I wasn't having these issues before then.

[microapple]

3G is horrible in Pacifica, South San Francisco, and Palo Alto. I get dropped calls, missed calls (just a Voicemail), and no service. if I disable 3G, my bars go full strength and it improves. I wish I could use my iPhone on Verizon - it is by far "the most reliable network!"

[sharmajunior]

Here are the frequencies supported by the iPhone 3G.

On a 2G network it is : GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

On a 3G network it is: HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100

Area where I live is Dublin, Ca. Most likely the iPhone 3G network works better on 850 network as I have a phone that is an unlocked and is triband excluding 850. That phone does not work in the area let alone getting 3G reception. So I would assume that the network is 850.

[JP2stepR]

Atlanta
July 11
Yes I live inside an area labeled 3G
No dropped calls. I live less than a mile from AT&T Wireless national headquarters and I get poor 3G reception at the house. Their map shows I should be getting a strong signal here. I get a strong signal in other places I frequent. My feeling is it's an AT&T issue, not Apple's.

[fdunn3]

Before you place the blame on AT&T (no, I'm not a fan of AT&T) find someone with another brand of 3G phone and do the comparison.

[bjcwbg16]

Area in which you live. : Williamssburg, Virginia

Date on which you bought your iPhone 3G. : 7-11-08

Do you live inside an area labeled as 3G as shown on AT&T's coverage map? ; YES

Have you experienced problems with dropped calls or flaky 3G connections? Please elaborate.
NO I have not. I have noticed that i don't have as strong signal as i did with sprint in my area. However they share the same tower placement. I use to make calls inside buildings where i work and now i can't.

[fdunn3]

Then it is probably nor dropping down to 850MHz and only using 1900MHz.

[joncanfield]

Area being used: Odenton, MD
Date purchased: 7/25/08
3G area: Yes

Almost every call has at least one dropped connection. Service outside 3G area is much better. Turning off 3G works much better but the speed obviously suffers

[martini08]

Area in which you live: Long Beach, CA

Date on which you bought your iPhone 3G: Day 1

Do you live inside an area labeled as 3G as shown on AT&T's coverage map: Yes. Many dropped calls. Poor to no reception and no 3G in area where ATT rep said I should have great 3G coverage.

[orteginho10]

iPhone 3G 16GB

July 11th Apple Store Stonestown San Francisco

Daly city CA 94015

My area is supposed to Have 3G! But it does instead it has EDGE
very low signal! I drop calls every day! I have to move out of my house to talk
And I have to turn 3G off since there isn't!

The battery sucks! The apps keep on crashing!

When I go to myspace.com it always frezzes so I try And hold down the home button for 6 seconds it doesn't work! So I have to reset it pressing the power and home buttton.

I'm with tmobile and I never had all those problems. I'm going to cancel my at&t contract
And unlock it to use it with tmobile.

[kitsap360]

Switching to T-Mobile isn't going to keep you from experiencing iPhone 2.0's bugs, Einstein.

[shannoncarver]

I am having the same issue is austin tx. My 3G only averages about 3 bars and it will move up and down while standing in the same place. I appreciate cnet reporting this issue. this is the only way we will get apple to address it. I don't think it is an att&t issue. There 3G network seems to have pretty good reviews here in austin on other handsets or wireless card

[chart97]

Austin as well. Seem to be the same problem I am in the Zip 78704. It would be cool to have a signal tracking app to track the signal strength and upload the data to a centralized db....just a thought.

[mountaineer77]

Tucson, AZ
July 11th
According to ATT Wireless' coverage map, I should have Good to Best with 3G coverage in my area.
I've been getting numerous dropped calls and failed calls. I would receive calls and after I answer the call would fail. People would also call me and it goes straight to voice mail due to my lack of signal. 3G coverage has not been too much of a problem as far as I know.
I contacted AT&T online chat support and they stated that in my zip code where i work they have two issues with towers in the area. One was from today and the other was from mid-July. Both are still unresolved. I also inquired about my home zip code and that area has two "degraded towers". When I inquired about what frequency my phone was on, she said that she didn't know. She said I should have good coverage because I'm in a 3G area.

[matwer]

Live in Westfield, NJ

Bought iPhone on July 19th

Yes, live in a 3G area

Very weak, intermittent 3G signal. Mostly reverts to Edge.

Accessing data (internet via Safari) or email is painfully slow.

I called AT&T today (Aug 11th) and was told a fix was available. All I had to do was dial " #002 " and the phone would drop then reconnect to the closest cell tower and fix the 3G reception. Well, guess what? Nothing, zero, zilch, nada, not one iota's bit of a difference. I still have horrible 3G reception.

I really do like the iPhone... but the 3G functionality is, for all practical purposes, non-existent.

[cnet_reader01]

Area in which you live.

Northern Virginia (DC Metro)

Date on which you bought your iPhone 3G.

08/10/08

Do you live inside an area labeled as 3G as shown on AT&T's coverage map?

Yes

Have you experienced problems with dropped calls or flaky 3G connections? Please elaborate.

No bars at all with 3G at home or at work (even outside), spoke to AT&T and they said, there are 3 cell towers down in the area.

[zato_3]

The MS shillosphere is clearly in all-out Anti-Apple mode the last few days. Don't believe the phony tales of woe above. Most are broke PC gamer/haters. C|Net gets the Apple hate ball rolling, and the gamers supply the real ugliness. This is how the Microsoft owned IT net works.

[trippj13]

Williamsburg, VA
July 17th
Yes I live inside a 3G labeled area
Rarely get more than 1 bar using 3g in house. Frequent dropped calls. Forced to use Edge at home

[timl2k8]

wow, almost 20 commments and only 1 person found out their frequency. Smart crowd.

[pdxrealtor]

My thought exactly! If everyone posts what frequency they are on, this will help more than any other piece of information at this point!

Unless your Steve Jobs, stepping up to the plate......

[JG14889]

Area in which you live.
Chicago

Date on which you bought your iPhone 3G.
July 31

Do you live inside an area labeled as 3G as shown on AT&T's coverage map?
Yes - Downtown area

Have you experienced problems with dropped calls or flaky 3G connections? Please elaborate.
3G works great at street level and near windows. If towards the middle of a building, 3G signal is minimal or non-existent and the phone does not properly switch over to EDGE. However, if I manually switch to EDGE, it works fine in the same areas where 3G does not.