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iPhone 3G Getting Bad Reception? You're Certainly Not Alone.

Submitted by Zak Reiter on July 22, 2008 - 11:07pm.
in

New iPhones around the world are encountering terrible reception with 3G and edge, and this issue is causing quite the raucous ruckus.

From Los Angeles to Miami, Portugal to the cliffs of England, people are complaining about the slow internet and oftentimes as much as the inability to make or even maintain a phone call. So far there have been no explanations, but plenty of theories have been cast around.

For a look at the Apple forum discussion on this, go here.

To sum it up:

• There is no conclusive answer
• 3G may just be overwhelmed
• iPhone may just have a terrible antenna (other AT&T phones work just fine)
• Some are claiming a 'poor batch' of iPhones being sold early on
• Apple has yet to make claims of hardware issues

Update: Gearlog has found mention of questionable 3G reception 600 times in Apple's discussion boards. IN HowardForums there have been 526 comments from people having 3G woes, as well as 215 comments on Engadget, 131 on MacTalk Australia, 58 on iPhone Forums Germany, 24 on the O2 Customer Forums, and 10 comments on Gearlog itself.

The issues appear to be affecting some but not all devices. The discussion on Engadget seems to point toward restoring an iPhone 3G from an older 2G iPhone as the cause, although nothing conclusive has been found yet.

Submitted by Stephen007 on July 21, 2008 - 4:13pm.
I'm sorry to hear this and for those who are affected.

I wanted to at least offer my experience. I have actually found the 3G iPhone to be much, much better than the original, which is why this story surprised me. My original couldn't do any data in my work building because the cellsite was too far away & the building is too... well, too much of a building, blocking out the signal. Even had trouble making calls from the parking lot. The new phone will make & receive calls at work & now I have data (big smile!) and at broadband speeds. Odd to not only have data but also have it fast as crap when the old EDGE phone couldn't do diddly. I wasn't sure whether to attribute my incredible fortune to 3G itself or a newer, bigger antennae.

I definitely "feel your pain" and wish you the best in getting this resolved.

Submitted by Zak Reiter on July 21, 2008 - 4:20pm.
Eh, there really is too large of a field of answers for anyone to say that it's this person's or that person's fault. At times it feels like Apple's fault, at other times AT&T's. Who knows... Some people are getting good reception, however, so it's pretty weird.

?

Submitted by bluecrabby on July 21, 2008 - 4:30pm.
I am surprised by this post, my new iPhone 3G gets at least one-two more bars of signal than my first-gen iPhone, even when they are right next to each other. As a matter of fact the 1st gen can't even place or receive calls in one room of my house, but the 3G can. I'd more quickly believe that people had unrealistic expectations before they bought the phone.

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 21, 2008 - 4:39pm.
I don't know whats wrong... My house/Backyard 1-3bars... a few blocks away 5 bars... I want this to be at&t's fault(poor 3g coverage)... Please, not the hardware!!

On a side note... When I first got my 3g iphone I noticed some plastic/fiber looking stuff on the left side of my screen, in the crack between the glass and silver band. At first I thought it was plastic from the packing... Then when I pulled on it some came off but some stayed. It seemed to be coming from under the silver band or some place behind the edge of the screen and the silver band. is this not were apple but the antennae.

Or its nothing...

1st gen too

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 21, 2008 - 4:58pm.
ever since i updated, my phone reception has gone down

Re: unregistered

Submitted by bluecrabby on July 21, 2008 - 5:59pm.
No the antennae is not located under the chrome bezel, no worries.

Atlanta 3G issues

Submitted by jtenenb on July 21, 2008 - 7:04pm.
I have resorted to simply turning off 3G on my new phone as I get fantastic Edge reception whereas I might be 1 to 0 bars of 3G reception in most places I have been in metro atlanta. I'm hoping this is a network thing...it seems like it. Any other atlanta user reports? Also should we report this to ATT so at least they are aware?

Submitted by xxx on July 21, 2008 - 8:10pm.
So far, being 2 weeks in there seems to be a lot more problems than positives for the iphone.

Submitted by frannyc28 on July 21, 2008 - 11:06pm.
I have been having the same problem here in NYC. Called apple, they told me to call AT&T. Called AT&T they claimed my call was the first call they ever had about this issue!... So Either they are LYING LIKE THERE IS NOT TOMORROW.. which it wouldn't be surprising coming from AT&T or People WE need to call and complain...

I have called and they are trying to find out what is going on.

My rational behind my call was: Why am I paying for a service I have to turn off to have reception on my phone? I politely gave them 7 business days to solve or have an answer about this or I will demand to go back and pay for my Edge old plan, which it was $15 less.

Whomever is having problem start calling AT&T and complaining about. If we don't call and just complain in here this will not be fixed.

from australia sydney

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 22, 2008 - 7:02am.
hi guys

i too have been having reception issues with iphone 3g. im with vodafone and they have pretty shit customer service so its like trying to get blood from a stone.

a mate of mine is with optus and he also got issues.

Signal much worse than other ATT phones

Submitted by Smrtguy (not verified) on July 22, 2008 - 9:12am.
Apple may have improved the signal over the first iPhone, but having switched away from a HTC SmartPhone 2125, I find the signal on iPhone 3G awful. I can swap the SIM card to my old phone and see a 4-bar signal in my basement when iPhone has no bars at all. Same is the case in covered parking garages. Not sure if this issue is somehow related to indoors, but I am obviously missing the continous signal I had before.

Overall, I like my new iPhone for all the other things I am able to do.

Bad reception using 3G

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 22, 2008 - 12:13pm.
In my house I used to get full reception with my older iPhone and now that I upgraded I get only 1 bar. The weird thing is that I noticed that disabling the 3G network the bars go up to the top again. So I'm sure that is AT&T's problem and the poor 3G network they have.

Yes, please publicize this!!

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 22, 2008 - 9:52pm.
My 3G reception is horrible right in the middle of Dallas. It is OK outside with 2 or 3 bars but all I have to do is go indoors in any building even just inside a window and reception drops to 1 bar if that. The worst part is the dropped calls. If the 3G signal drops and it reverts to edge(which always has way more bars, often 5 compared to 1 on edge), the call drops!!

Submitted by jedimacfan on July 22, 2008 - 9:52pm.
I get better reception with the new iPhone 3G compared to the classic one.

bad 3G iphone reception

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 22, 2008 - 9:54pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
My 3G reception is horrible right in the middle of Dallas. It is OK outside with 2 or 3 bars but all I have to do is go indoors in any building even just inside a window and reception drops to 1 bar if that. The worst part is the dropped calls. If the 3G signal drops and it reverts to edge(which always has way more bars, often 5 compared to 1 on edge), the call drops!!
That should be five bars on edge compared to 1 on 3G above. Sorry. Also, I have a brand new Iphone 3G purchased day after release. Stock firmware/software.

Submitted by Peter000 on July 22, 2008 - 10:50pm.
I haven't noticed poor 3G reception, when I've been in a 3G area.

It could be a bad set of 3G chips got out there. But at any rate, the answer is take it back to an Apple store, have them look at it. Don't live with it.

New Orleans Reception

Submitted by lziffer (not verified) on July 22, 2008 - 11:44pm.
I'm in New Orleans and have found the reception with the 3G to be better than the first generation iphone. After reading this article, I took the sim card out of my 3G and put it into my 2G. 5 Bars on the 3G, 2 bars on the first generation.

The 3G speed is definitely faster than edge, but I always thought EDGE was terrible. I used to get very impatient with EDGE and although the 3G isn't as fast as WiFi, I've never found myself wishing I had a wifi hotspot in the vicinity while trying to use safari, so the 3G is much better for me. Unlike a lot of people it seems, I'm thrilled I upgraded.

I hope it isn't the hardware for you guys, like a bad bunch of iphones or something. I hope they get it fixed and I feel your pain.

AT&T credit

Submitted by frannyc28 on July 23, 2008 - 12:45am.
People I have contacted AT&T again, and after 4 days of my original complain, about my issue and they are still trying to figure it out what the problem is.
So far I have got my iphone service credited back for this month and they told me that if the problem remain, I can call and ask for them to credit it back every month.

I know it is annoying as hell to have to call AT&T every month BUT if all of us start to call and ask for credits that will force the different companies to take action and do something about it.

I have also called Apple and they told me this is a network problem not an equipment problem... fact is that there are people on other networks with same firmware that have great reception.

Just call your provider, explain the whole WITH/WITHOUT 3G less or more bars and ask to have the service credited since you have signed a contract for 2 years of a service you are not getting. You are obligated by contract to keep the account but they are also obligated by the same contract to provide you with the service you are paying for.

AND do not accept the excuse "the problem is the SIM CARD or the iPHONE it self". LIE and tell them you already got both changed and the problem remains.

again... call and complain if we keep it on the forum they will never do anything.

3G reception

Submitted by vdowiz (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 1:29am.
I have two problems... the dropped calls and lousy reception all over LA, and the ridiculously short battery life. My solution has been to turn off the 3G mode whenever I am not specifically using it, and that has helped both issues significantly. I had similar quality concerns at the beginning of the first iphone's life, but AT&T service improved significantly after the first few months. Hopefully this issue will also be resolved as they rollout more 3G in the city.

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 5:21am.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtenenb View Post
I have resorted to simply turning off 3G on my new phone as I get fantastic Edge reception whereas I might be 1 to 0 bars of 3G reception in most places I have been in metro atlanta. I'm hoping this is a network thing...it seems like it. Any other atlanta user reports? Also should we report this to ATT so at least they are aware?
Same exact results here as well. (Roswell area)

No problems here

Submitted by javaGuru on July 23, 2008 - 6:01am.
I live in the Jacksonville, FL area and I don't have any problems here. I do notice the number of bars decreasing when switching to 3G but the quality is still the same. I have had numerous 3G cell phones with AT&T and have noticed that the number of bars is never as high as they seem they should be.

The first 3G phone I purchased about 2 years ago was the Samsung Blackjack and the bars were never really that high on it either but It had the best reception that I ever had up to that point.

Submitted by bwilliams18 on July 23, 2008 - 6:53am.
So I just got back from camp yesterday i need to know should I go out and get a new iPhone and risk getting horrible reception or should I risk it

Submitted by bwilliams18 on July 23, 2008 - 6:57am.
after reading all the replys Im going to say that in general people arent in a 3g zone but im ot an expert

Submitted by imagine engine on July 23, 2008 - 7:36am.
No problems with data transmission over HSPA or with network signal strength while on Rogers network here in Canada. The only complaint I have is that the 2.0 software seems to have a slower response time opening applications and when typing. My hope is that Apple will resolve this with another update soon.

in Apple Store

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 9:59am.
tried iPhone to make call to home phone two miles away. used 3 phones in store (thanks for the free call Apple). All calls dropped in mid-conversation. Marlton, NJ.

re: frannyc28

Submitted by theu4life219 (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 10:14am.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frannyc28 View Post
I have been having the same problem here in NYC. Called apple, they told me to call AT&T. Called AT&T they claimed my call was the first call they ever had about this issue!... So Either they are LYING LIKE THERE IS NOT TOMORROW.. which it wouldn't be surprising coming from AT&T or People WE need to call and complain...

I have called and they are trying to find out what is going on.

My rational behind my call was: Why am I paying for a service I have to turn off to have reception on my phone? I politely gave them 7 business days to solve or have an answer about this or I will demand to go back and pay for my Edge old plan, which it was $15 less.

Whomever is having problem start calling AT&T and complaining about. If we don't call and just complain in here this will not be fixed.
Fran, where in NYC are you located?? I'm getting 4-5 bars with 3G in all of the 5 boroughs & Long Island & steady 5 bars with EDGE...I guess I'm one of the lucky ones

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 10:38am.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
I don't know whats wrong... My house/Backyard 1-3bars... a few blocks away 5 bars... I want this to be at&t's fault(poor 3g coverage)... Please, not the hardware!!

On a side note... When I first got my 3g iphone I noticed some plastic/fiber looking stuff on the left side of my screen, in the crack between the glass and silver band. At first I thought it was plastic from the packing... Then when I pulled on it some came off but some stayed. It seemed to be coming from under the silver band or some place behind the edge of the screen and the silver band. is this not were apple but the antennae.

Or its nothing...
I believe that is the seal that goes around the screen. I noticed that on my old iPhone.

My 3G Reception (Silicon valley)

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 11:39am.
For the most part my 3G bars are between 1-2 bars or no bars at all, however, I can still make or receive calls and surf the web with minimal delays. So far I only had one dropped call compared to my 2G which I still have and compare side by side.

When I am at work I get full 3G reception, depending on where I am standing at the time. At home about 20 miles east, I get very little 3G and it actually switched to edge depending where I am in the house.

I hope this gets resolved soon.

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 11:41am.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
ever since i updated, my phone reception has gone down
Same with me, its terrible now, drop calls non stop, and people complain when I talk to them that i sound weird and they can't understand me

Atlanta 3G

Submitted by docgoku (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 3:02pm.
I've been having simlar issues but mostly with "called failed" or dropped calls. I can drive right down I75, south, from I-285....loose reception every time at Mt. Paran road.

For those not from Atlanta, that is about 3-4 miles north of Atlanta's center. Aka, where you should NEVER loose reception. I've lost it there the past 3 days. Add to that I loose calls with 4 bars while in the office... and at home. I've just put it towards the 2.0 build being crap. My phone also crashes the mail app from time to time and is generally show to keep up with my typing. It seems to really be processing on something.

Submitted by Stephen007 on July 23, 2008 - 3:21pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by docgoku View Post
and is generally s[l]ow to keep up with my typing. It seems to really be processing on something.
I've experienced that same slowness with typing emails. A reboot usually will fix it but I'm not sure what causes it. Technically you can keep typing and it will eventually get it all, but an annoyance. I assume that 2.01 will take care of that issue.

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 3:39pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
Same exact results here as well. (Roswell area)
Another Roswell user here. I drop calls from within my house using 3g. Outside or in a car seems to be fine (1 or 2 bars). I have no problems with 2G. I wish there was an option to switch to 2g automatically when wi-fi is connected. That would solve 99% of my problem. I could connect to wifi at home and use 3g driving around. Manually switching the network is a pain.

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 11:10pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theu4life219 View Post
Fran, where in NYC are you located?? I'm getting 4-5 bars with 3G in all of the 5 boroughs & Long Island & steady 5 bars with EDGE...I guess I'm one of the lucky ones
I live on 14th & B in Manhattan and have full bars without 3G and 2 to 3 with 3G turned on. Bought my iphone 2 days ago...

Submitted by frannyc28 on July 24, 2008 - 12:02am.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwilliams18 View Post
So I just got back from camp yesterday i need to know should I go out and get a new iPhone and risk getting horrible reception or should I risk it
Well first you will have to wait 3 to 4 weeks before the have them back in stock and maybe by that time some improvement will be done to the network... hopefully

Submitted by frannyc28 on July 24, 2008 - 12:06am.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theu4life219 View Post
Fran, where in NYC are you located?? I'm getting 4-5 bars with 3G in all of the 5 boroughs & Long Island & steady 5 bars with EDGE...I guess I'm one of the lucky ones
I live in Harlem and I work on 6th and 52nd St. Neither up here nor in midtown I have reception whenever I turn the 3G effing network. Whenever I turn it off 5 bars back again... Concidere yourself blessed by the "MORE BARS IN MORE PLACES" lie!

Submitted by Kevin Dunahee on July 26, 2008 - 1:34am.
Just picked up my iPhone today. Reception is pretty shotty where I live. Surrounding my house are 4 small cities. Inside each of those cities are complete dead zones. The second you leave those cities, as in standing in the corn across the road, AT&T becomes available. I'm not sure how they managed to cover everywhere except within city limits but I am fortunate enough to live 2 miles out into the country. I get poor-to-decent reception right now. Strange though, I recall my buddy with an original iPhone said he got great reception at my house. Hmm.

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 29, 2008 - 3:32am.
The iPhone 3G has horrible reception on 3G. I get one bar or none (2G) in the house, and shotty reception outside. Though where I live T-Mobile (my German carrier) offers pristine coverage. other 3G phones work well in the same place.

And Apple doesn't care at all. This is such a bad customer experience - they leave you alone with a faulty device. In their forums they say we shouldn't be bothered with low bars (as they were pretty meaningless on 3G ...) - they just don't care about masses of dropped calls and bad voice quality.

no very poor cell reception with 3G, great data though

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 31, 2008 - 12:44pm.
I agree. I live & work in downtown Denver, ATT said they have great 3G coverage for the area. Brand new 3G iPhone cell coverage is 1 or 2 bars with 3G enabled, Full bars with Edge. Interestingly the Data rate is faster with 3G then Edge, but the trade off is low call coverage. Figure that one out. I had the first generation of the iPhone but wanted the better antenna for calls and speed of 3G for data. In Edge mode I do get more bars then the first generation. 3G is faster for browsing. Unfortunately the iPhone I have can't do both at the same time. I think I'll return my iphone, too bad not more then 5 hours old. 3G 8GB Black

iPod Touch to iPhone 3G

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on July 31, 2008 - 3:30pm.
"The issues appear to be affecting some but not all devices. The discussion on Engadget seems to point toward restoring an iPhone 3G from an older 2G iPhone as the cause, although nothing conclusive has been found yet."

Hey guys, sorry if this has been mentioned, I did not read everything in the thread as it is getting quite large.
I am experiencing a similar problem with my reception. Although I believe I never go below 4 bars here in Toronto, I still have bad reception. The person on the other end of the call can hear me flawlessly, but they cut out very often on my end. Could be a noisy room and the microphone/mouth piece is very sensitive?
The reason for the quote at the top is, when I plugged my iPhone into my iMac for the first time my iMac told me that there was already an iPhone connected (can't remember exact quote) to it and I was asked to add my new iphone as a additional one. However I do not have an old iPhone... but I do have an iPod Touch. Maybe the above quote applies here also, that is if it's true???

Thoughts?

_teunis

Los Angeles

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on August 3, 2008 - 11:36pm.
I get no bars with 3g on in my apt. With it off it's full.
Not a fix but atleast I can use my I"PHONE" to make a call!

3G and terrible reception

Submitted by Eric (not verified) on August 6, 2008 - 4:48pm.
After reading in these forums about turning off 3G I tried it and it worked. With 3G enabled I get no bars. Turn it off I get four bars. I really hope this is resolved soon.

Crap radio performance

Submitted by dulridge on August 7, 2008 - 4:30pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
ever since i updated, my phone reception has gone down
In my office I get no GSM, let alone GPRS/EDGE/3G signal at all. Put the SIM in an older smartphone (P990i), itself no great radio performer, and I can easily make and receive calls though you can forget data. I am in a small metal-framed building completely surrounded by a very much larger and taller steel-framed building.

In a patient's house 60 miles away he can easily make receive calls on O2 (UK), where I got no signal at all on the iPhone on O2. There is a lot to be said for ancient Nokias where the signal is weak.

G3 Reception in Atlanta

Submitted by Unregistered (not verified) on September 8, 2008 - 3:05pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtenenb View Post
I have resorted to simply turning off 3G on my new phone as I get fantastic Edge reception whereas I might be 1 to 0 bars of 3G reception in most places I have been in metro atlanta. I'm hoping this is a network thing...it seems like it. Any other atlanta user reports? Also should we report this to ATT so at least they are aware?
I'm in Atlanta and my reception in AWFUL! I can't make calls inside my house. Usually, I have three bars in the driveway, but the other day I went outside to make a call and there were no bars. I actually got in the car and drove three miles -- still no bars.

I was hoping this was a dud phone and have a date at the Genius Bar tonight. But after reading the other entries here, I'm not very hopeful. I have a feeling I won't be an iPhone user for much longer.