Is this where the iPhone 3G should lay to rest?
Wired recently wrote an article called “What’s Wrong With the 3G in iPhone 3G?” It’s a great article that details the poor reception on the iPhone 3G, specifically on the AT&T network. This leads us to some obvious questions: Is it something to do with the 3G chipset? Is it specific to the AT&T network?
First, we’ll breakdown Wired’s roundup of opinions surrounding the issue, then I’m hoping QuicklyBored readers will add their own anecdotes about the iPhone 3G’s reception.
We aren’t the first to actively ask for experiences regarding the iPhone 3G’s reception. Cnet, Wired, and a few bloggers have all asked for users to document their experiences.
It seems that David, Nowicki is the expert on the iPhone 3G reception issues. David is the Vice President of product development at Femtocell developer Airvana and he believes the poor reception is due to the following:
It seems all of the above are pointing to AT&T being the foundation of all these problems. They just simply weren’t prepared. On the other hand, there are a few people pointing the finger at Apple saying that the 3G chip inside the phone is the issue. Richard Windsor, a respected analyst, believes the chip inside was “immature.”
Personally, I have had many problems with my iPhone 3G but most of them are with customer care. I have only had an active phone for about 2 weeks so I’m not confident enough with my own experiences to say whether or not the reception is adequate. I have had some dropped calls, but that seems to be the case with every phone I buy.
I would really like to see a Canadian take on this issue. If the above complaints seem largely directed at AT&T, we shouldn’t have these problems in Canada. Or has Rogers made the same mistakes with tower placement and network overloading?
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I think you make a good point about ATT network.
ATT should not be off the hook for the issues.
I have had communication with people in full 3G coverage in Europe and they say there are not problems.
A mature network will hide the iPhone 3G issues, because it will provide complete 3G coverage not allowing the iPhone to switch between the 3G and 3G.
Though there is a reception problem with the iPhone, look at this picture. The reception with a Motorola 3G and a iPhone 3G in an ATT store in Folsom. It is more than evident that there is something wrong.
http://www.virtualemotion.com/images/IMG00023.jpg
my problem is that sometimes i don’t get any internet service even when the 3g has all 5 bars… now who’s to blame for that?
Here is what I have experienced. I have a Moto V3Xx with ATT 3g service. In every situation it has a much stronger signal (using bars as the criteria) than the iPhone. For example: v3 4 bars, ip 1 bar. In some locations, the v3 has 2 bars and the Ip has no service at all. I had ATT establish a “trouble ticket” and have just received a call that ATT techs said, in essence, the network is not the problem. I am inclined to agree because of the outstanding 3G service I have had with the V3 for almost a year. (I have the data plan for the V3.)
I wondered if the standard for the number of bars was different, but I have concluded this is not the case because of the indications of the very low signal strength I am getting from the iP in the field test mode. In addition, I have called someone when the signal on the Ip was 1 and V3 2 or 3, and the V3 always has better voice quality.
These are all pretty frightening anecdotes because it seems people are experiencing problems with the iPhone’s hardware.
No amount of software updates can save us from cheapskate chipsets.
I was hoping Richard Windsor, the above anaylyst quoted saying the chipset was “immature”, would be wrong. Alas he may be right.
It seems the iPhone 3G is not the only smartphone out there experiencing bad 3G reception.
The BlackBerry Bold is having problems of its own:
http://www.quicklybored.com/2008/08/early-blackberry-bold-reports-of-poor-3g-reception/