3G speed in Chicago Illinois vs other US cities?

[crowdedstr]

Ok... so I saw apple. Here's what happened. They gave me a new phone based solely on the crashing I had been experiencing. They didn't know what to say about my speeds other than 'yes, those are very low'. With the phone the first speed test I did was 350kbps (up from before) but still dissapointing. While walking home down wacker, I finally got 1035kbps, which was awesome. Now that I'm back home (and oddly enough, I live in Randolph place apartments, right next to the Boeing building also) I have 250kbps... so I guess it was a combination of the phone and the network. Clearly in certain areas this phone is capable of higher speeds, but also, it looks as though AT&T just flat out sucks

Thanks for the update... do you (did you in the first place?) still have any issues with dropped calls?

I got home from work today, and immediately dropped two calls.

It at least sounds promising that you were able to get over 1000kbps download... the best I've gotten is maybe 400, and usually I'm 200 max.

Sounds like this phone is working better... I will definitely be going back and expecting a replacement.

 

[ninethirty]

To be honest I hardly ever talk on the phone so I haven't noticed dropped calls. Text message go through just fine though

As far as a replacement go, he immediately said 'you've convinced me' when I told him about the phone just shutting off and a LONG restart from using Pandora and during some calls, so while I don't advocate lying to Apple... maybe you might wanna throw that in with your story if 'slow network speeds' don't get anywhere with them.

Good luck, and I'll update the thread with a few speed tests during my walk to work tomorrow (I go down lake, to Michigan).

Thanks for the update... do you (did you in the first place?) still have any issues with dropped calls?

I got home from work today, and immediately dropped two calls.

It at least sounds promising that you were able to get over 1000kbps download... the best I've gotten is maybe 400, and usually I'm 200 max.

Sounds like this phone is working better... I will definitely be going back and expecting a replacement.

 

[crowdedstr]

To be honest I hardly ever talk on the phone so I haven't noticed dropped calls. Text message go through just fine though

As far as a replacement go, he immediately said 'you've convinced me' when I told him about the phone just shutting off and a LONG restart from using Pandora and during some calls, so while I don't advocate lying to Apple... maybe you might wanna throw that in with your story if 'slow network speeds' don't get anywhere with them.

Good luck, and I'll update the thread with a few speed tests during my walk to work tomorrow (I go down lake, to Michigan).

If dropping 29% of my calls doesn't qualify for a replacement, then I'll just flat out return it and go back to T-Mobile.

 

[ninethirty]

One last update for anyone who was following yesterday. With my new phone, from my office on Michigan Ave I now get between 600-900kbps on testmyiphone.com. Compare that to the 50-90kbps I was getting yesterday. I'm absolutely convinced it was the phone even though Apple swears it had to be AT&T's network. Just doesn't make sense..

 

[aristotle]

One last update for anyone who was following yesterday. With my new phone, from my office on Michigan Ave I now get between 600-900kbps on testmyiphone.com. Compare that to the 50-90kbps I was getting yesterday. I'm absolutely convinced it was the phone even though Apple swears it had to be AT&T's network. Just doesn't make sense..

Why doesn't it make sense? Here in Canada, we had a 3G speed and DNS issue with Rogers and Fido on Monday and Tuesday but yesterday I was getting between 1.8-2.1 Mbps on 3G. That was on the same phone I picked up on July 11th. It's possible that you were in an area with a coverage outage so you were all being shoved onto the nearest cell tower.

 

[alphaod]

The 3G radio on the phones have lower power output, so you will get less reception and slower speeds.

My data card can get 1500kbps, but my 3G phone can only get 600kbps.

 

[ninethirty]

Doesn't make sense because from July 11th until yesterday the speeds sucked at my home, my office, and pretty much everywhere in Chicago. I got a replacement lastnight and everywhere I've tested it so far (including all those same places) I get speeds up to 10x faster than the previous phone. The problem was with the phone - no doubt about it.

Why doesn't it make sense? Here in Canada, we had a 3G speed and DNS issue with Rogers and Fido on Monday and Tuesday but yesterday I was getting between 1.8-2.1 Mbps on 3G. That was on the same phone I picked up on July 11th. It's possible that you were in an area with a coverage outage so you were all being shoved onto the nearest cell tower.

 

[iPhone3G]

Yea it seems like it had to be your phone. I'm also in Chicago, just outside the city by O'hare, but I frequent the city. Also travel down to Northwest IN often as well. I haven't had any speed problems in any of those locations. I'm at work right now, indoors away from any windows, and I just got 1500 kbps on a speed test with 1 bar 3G. Even Edge gets 250 kbps for me.

Enjoy your new phone, good luck to the rest of you trying for replacements.

 

[manchoi44]

@ninethirty:

Is your new iPhone one firmware version 2.0.1? or is back on 2.0?

Also:

How can we be sure that this is a purely hardware issue? wouldn't these issues be affecting people in more than one major metro area if that truly was the case?

 

[ninethirty]

Back to 2.0 now... I don't know that we can be sure of anything, but what I know for me is that my speed was horrible from July 11th until yesterday, and a replacement phone has made my speed much faster. Make of that what you will...

@ninethirty:

Is your new iPhone one firmware version 2.0.1? or is back on 2.0?

Also:

How can we be sure that this is a purely hardware issue? wouldn't these issues be affecting people in more than one major metro area if that truly was the case?

 

[crowdedstr]

Back to 2.0 now... I don't know that we can be sure of anything, but what I know for me is that my speed was horrible from July 11th until yesterday, and a replacement phone has made my speed much faster. Make of that what you will...

the writing is pretty much on the wall...

there are bad iphones out there, and you had one of them.

and i still currently have one of them, hopefully till no longer than tomorrow afternoon

 

[v-roc]

avg 400Kbps 25 miles from Chicago, IL

Right now I'm about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago, IL and I'm getting an avg of 400Kbps with 1.5 bars. I live 10 miles from downtown and I haven't tested it yet (just got the phone yesterday) but I get 5 bars on 3G in my place.

 

[crowdedstr]

Right now I'm about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago, IL and I'm getting an avg of 400Kbps with 1.5 bars. I live 10 miles from downtown and I haven't tested it yet (just got the phone yesterday) but I get 5 bars on 3G in my place.

lol... from my office (Michigan & Lake) earlier today when I was bored in a meeting...

and yes... that kilobits per second, not kilobytes!!

 

[ValientHimself]

I'm at home right now (South Loop), and I just did a speed test and got 419 kbps. I get a much stronger signal though where I work (River North), so I will have to test it at the office tomorrow.

 

[ambhci]

3g speed

I had the first Iphone and rarely dropped calls. I have had the 3g and drop 40% of all my calls. Since 2.01 i see the phone switching rapidly between 3 & 2. Today I dropped 6 of 7 calls walking from the Michigan ave. store to the river... Not a success story. Never dropped one there before. Sending text messages is very slow also in comparison to the old one. Battery life is miserable, although the last update in software on the old phone cut battery life by 2/3 and apple replaced my phone twice within 2 weeks of the new software. I believe all these issues are due to the software somehow...

 

[ninethirty]

Further update for those in Chicago. AT&T contacted me yesterday to investigate the slow speeds. I told them that the new phone was able to download data faster in some areas but that overall Chicago had very spotty coverage. I was told this is a known issue for Chicago and that they're working on it.

Also, I did a speed test from my home just a few minutes ago (where only a week ago I was getting a max of 250kbps and I'm up to over 1000 now.

I'm still on 2.0 with the new phone though, scared to update to 2.01 because of what it did to the last phone. Anyway, encouraging news for Chicago.

 

[crowdedstr]

the writing is pretty much on the wall...

there are bad iphones out there, and you had one of them.

and i still currently have one of them, hopefully till no longer than tomorrow afternoon

just wanted to post an update for anyone interested...

i was able to exchange my phone at the apple store this past friday afternoon... the downloading speeds haven't gotten much better, however, it's a night and day difference in terms of my phone call reception, and i have yet to drop a call (knock on wood) since exchanging phones.

a much-needed improvement over dropping 29% of my calls with the old one.

if anyone else out there is having issues with the dropped calls, i'd urge you to just not back down when the apple employees try to pawn off some lame "fix" and request that the replace the phone. you may have a better experience

now if at&t could just get the 3g speeds worked out here in the city

 

[manchoi44]

What firmware version is your new phone on? I am 100% convinced that ever since the upgrade from 2.0 to 2.0.1 my signal/3G speeds have suffered while in the loop!!!

I would almost be willing to bet that your iPhone is using firmware 2.0, therefore providing you with improved performance!


so pissed at Apple and AT&T for crippling us!

 

[chicitypapi]

yah I live on the Northside and travel as far as the south loop everyday...the reception is HORRIBLE...i never had dropped calls with the old iphone ...I drop calls in my own living room consistently.Also does anyone get the square with a dot in it instead of the 3G symbol?or does it just go to edge for you. I am gonna have an argument with the xtra 10 dollar data package for the supposed higher speeds that I am not getting on my phone.

 

[ninethirty]

Oh yeah, I'm 2.0. I had updated the previous phone and got **** reception and knew it had to be the update... I don't know if I'll be updating for quite a while..

What firmware version is your new phone on? I am 100% convinced that ever since the upgrade from 2.0 to 2.0.1 my signal/3G speeds have suffered while in the loop!!!

I would almost be willing to bet that your iPhone is using firmware 2.0, therefore providing you with improved performance!


so pissed at Apple and AT&T for crippling us!

 

[RynoZebz]

I'm from St. Louis and I remembered this thread while visiting Chicago for the weekend so I wanted to let you know how my experience was in contrast. In STL my reception is awesome. I almost always have full service and rarely find myself losing more then a couple bars (usually when going in and out of places). I've never had any problems and it consistently stays on the 3G network.

While in and around Chicago this weekend I had spotty service at best and was almost always seeing only a couple bars. Not only that but I was off and on 3G service all weekend and spent most of my time in Edge. Not by choice mind you. I wasn't in downtown but I spent my time between Lincolnshire by Northwestern and traveling up to Lindenhurst (sp?). These areas didn't seem rural to me and I expected them to have wonderful coverage. Not so much.

Just wanted to share my experience. As soon as I found myself closer to STL today I took a look at the iPhone and had full bars 3G.

 

[ninethirty]

Yeah.. Chicago coverage absolutely blows for some reason. Thanks for posting though!

I'm from St. Louis and I remembered this thread while visiting Chicago for the weekend so I wanted to let you know how my experience was in contrast. In STL my reception is awesome. I almost always have full service and rarely find myself losing more then a couple bars (usually when going in and out of places). I've never had any problems and it consistently stays on the 3G network.

While in and around Chicago this weekend I had spotty service at best and was almost always seeing only a couple bars. Not only that but I was off and on 3G service all weekend and spent most of my time in Edge. Not by choice mind you. I wasn't in downtown but I spent my time between Lincolnshire by Northwestern and traveling up to Lindenhurst (sp?). These areas didn't seem rural to me and I expected them to have wonderful coverage. Not so much.

Just wanted to share my experience. As soon as I found myself closer to STL today I took a look at the iPhone and had full bars 3G.

 

[BennyBlades]

3G In Chicago Area-Horrible!

I'm in Chicago...my 3G stinks on iphone! At best 3 bars but mostly all bars flat for 3G. Other phones in the household have full 3G bars.....as we speak...I'm comparing my iphone and my old Samsung. Samsung has full bars...iphone 3G flat-lining. Very frustrating. EDGE is at full strength on my iPhone.

I did the update but no change. I doubt it's the iphone but who knows. So the combination of weak 3G coverage and the battery drains fast on 3G setting is alarming.

Anyone else??

 

[JWages]

Turn 3G off. Sure its faster, but are you that impatient?

 

[gandalf18]

Turn 3G off. Sure its faster, but are you that impatient?

Yep, I am that impatient when I've paid the money for it because it should just work Had to replace my original iPhone after it got damaged. I hardly ever experienced a dropped call previously. With the 3G iPhone I've had numerous dropped calls and very uneven signal strength in areas where the original had no problems. So it's not just the Chicago network, which can be iffy, but is related to the iPhone itself. I'm not raging mad about it by any means, but I am disappointed. A visit to the Genius Bar is in my future. Not quite ready for primetime in my opinion...