AT&T Reception - Is this possible?

[emr25]

I may just be completely paranoid/ridiculous with this suggestion, but it got me thinking. I picked up my iPhone 3G on 7/21. I work about 15 minutes away from my house, in an area that recently had 3G added (Savannah, GA). At home, I do not have 3G, but consistently have 5 bars of EDGE, plus I have Wifi, so no complaints there. At work, the first few days I had the phone I had 4 or 5 bars EDGE with 3G off, and atleast 1-2 bars with 3G on, which made surfing, etc. plenty fast enough. However, this week I am getting 0 service on either 3G or EDGE, I have to go outside of my office building and walk around for 5-10 minutes to get one bar of service.

Today, my number port from Sprint was completed (giving me a new phone number, and sort of "resetting" my account, until everything is completed). Immediately after the port was done (my number in Settings>Phone>Number shows my old number still, but my online AT&T account shows my new ported number) I began to receive 3-5 bars of EDGE and 1 bar of 3G at my desk again.

So finally to my question, is it possible for AT&T to up your bandwith (reception capabilities) for the first couple days you have a new number (my number port essentially acts like I have a new account)? I probably sound like a conspirator, but it is very weird that I have not had any service at all the whole week, and immediately after my number port I get service again.

Feel free to call me ridiculous, share your thoughts, knowledge, etc.

 

[gauchogolfer]

OK, I'll be the first one to call you ridiculous.

Seriously, it's probably an area-wide effect rather than specific to your handset.

 

[TEG]

It is not really possible, with the iPhone, as Apple Controls the software, not at&t. More than likely there were doing some work on the EDGE and 3G systems in your area, causing your problems, or the systems died. I have that happen here from time to time, as my signal comes from Oregon, in a tourist trap, and it turns out that some how people are overloading the systems and crashing the EDGE server/router. I just have to all at&t and they remotely reset the tower and everything is fine. However, now that summer has arrived, and the tourists have trippled, there have been no problems, so I suspect that they have upgraded the equipment to handle the extra data load.

TEG

 

[emr25]

I didn't think it would be possible, but just how it all worked got me thinking a little. I mean it's hard not to admit that when I first open my account, great reception, after the initial excitement, no more reception. Then I port my number (new number pretty much equivalent to new account) and great reception. Oh well, not a big deal as I shouldn't be playing with my phone at work anyways.

On a side (completely off-topic) note, my white 3G has had no physical defects as far as cracks in the housing, uneven switches/buttons, light leaks, etc., but I do have one stuck pixel in the upper left of the screen. It stays a pretty light red, and it is not very noticeable, so I'm not too worried about it, but is there any way besides the flashing light videos/webapps to fix a "stuck" pixel? I realize there are numerous threads, just haven't found anything that works. Thanks.