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"caller-can't-hear-me" problem from AT&T in Jan, 2009?

S

SanRico

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 7, 2009
3
0
New Mexico
Yesterday morning, I receive a call on my iPhone. I answer and they can't hear me. I hang up thinking it's a bad connection and dial them back. Same thing happens. I can hear them just fine, but they can't hear me.

1. I do the hard reset.

2. I do a full restore. Same problem. The only thing the other person can hear is a little bit of digital noise, like a swirly sound.

3. I call AppleCare and we go through the list of potential fixes. Nothing works. They send me to the Apple Store.

At the Apple Store, the Genius Bar guy knows the problem before I even finish describing it. He says, "I've seen this problem nine times today, so I am thinking it's an AT&T issue. But just to narrow down the problem, let's replace your hardware."

He replaces the phone with a new one and it works fine. So I go home and it works the rest of the day.

This morning, I get to the office and the same problem is happening again.

I know there are others on this forum who have experienced the same problem. But if it is happening to everyone at the same time, would it be an AT&T problem or an Apple problem?

If it's an Apple problem, replacing the phone should have worked. But if it's an AT&T problem, it should happen across the board, and not to just nine people that day. That Genius Bar guy would have been bombarded with angry iPhone owners.

Does anyone have any helpful insight on this problem (saying "AT&T sucks" isn't helpful insight)

UPDATE: (January 7, 2009, 9:30am) I am on hold with Apple Tech support and they are trying to find a solution. As an experiment, we tried turning 3G off and it worked. Obviously, not a long-term solution, but effective for getting a call to go through.

Any other input? I will update this thread if I receive a helpful fix from Apple or AT&T. These threads aren't any help unless there is a solution posted.
 
Same issue

I'm having the same issue... now I'm thinking swapping out the hardware is not going to fix the issue. Here is my post from the Apple.com discussion board:

About 3 days ago, I started to experience an issue with my 3G iPhone running 2.2 software. On incoming and outgoing calls I can hear the person on the other end but my voice is garbled and/or filled with a lot of static. This occurs on both the AT&T EDGE and 3G networks with and without the factory-provided headset. However, if I switch the speakerphone function on, both parties can hear each other normally. What I thought was particularly interesting is that when I use Truphone to make a VoIP call, everything functions normally as well. While I first thought that this could be some sort of hardware issue, the last test made it seem more along the lines of a software problem. I have powered on/off the phone, rebooted the phone, restored it to backup and restored to a new phone all with the same result. Has anyone else experienced this issue and been able to resolve it? I have an appointment at the Genius Bar on Friday but am hoping to be able to resolve this on my own.
 
JW223 said:
I'm having the same issue... now I'm thinking swapping out the hardware is not going to fix the issue. Here is my post from the Apple.com discussion board:

About 3 days ago, I started to experience an issue with my 3G iPhone running 2.2 software...QUOTE]
Click to expand...
JW223 said:
I actually had read your post on the Apple discussion board.

Here's the update: As you know, replacing the hardware only worked for a few hours. I spent about an hour today with Apple support. Apple concluded it's not an issue on their end.

We switched from 3G to Edge and the phone worked, so Apple transferred me to AT&T.

AT&T tested again and "reset the network" (whatever that means) and it still didn't work on 3G, so they made a case. They said they would call me back on the case by (drum roll.....) January 12th.

I know yours isn't working on Edge, so I wish I had more to help you with. The guys at Apple met and said they've seen this problem and the only advice they have is to ask AT&T to "reprovision" your account. I don't know what that means, but it has something to do with re-setting your account from a network point of view.

Please keep us posted. This is a very mysterious and frustrating problem.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, let me know how it works out.

*I just copied my post from the Apple Discussion Forum so that others could see it too and know that there are multiple people experiencing the problem.
 
I just wanted to say I'm experiencing the same problem right now.

What's strange is I was on the phone with my girlfriend (who also has an iPhone) and the call seemed to "drop" (I could no longer hear her and nothing was happening, so I just hung up).

From that point we had trouble re-connecting to each other, and when we finally did neither of us could hear the other.

I called a few friends to test, and received some calls and nobody could hear me on any of them. Same goes for my girlfriends phone.

So somehow while talking to each other, we both got the same problem on our phones. Really strange.
 
AT&T is having a few "issues" lately with their 3G service. Several of my company phones are experience the same issues. Blackberries and iPhones.
 
I'm just not sure what to do right now to fix it.

I could take it to the Apple Store tomorrow and get a replacement, but from what's being said here that won't fix it long-term.

Frustrating.
 
Just letting people know that I encountered the same problem for the first time ever tonight, as well (Philadelphia area). On 3G, the other end of my phone calls cannot hear me.

Calls work fine on EDGE, and I definitely know it's not the microphone because mic-based apps like Ocarina and iTalk work just fine. It seems to be an issue with the 3G network. AT&T, of course, is conveniently closed for the night. This is obnoxious. I assume it's going to be fixed soon because I'm guessing people will raise hell tomorrow.
 
matthews said:
Eem, I live in Philadelphia, too.

Very interesting
Click to expand...

Well, look at it like this:

1) It's not your phone
2) It's not just you
3) It's probably not just the two of us having the problem and we both managed to meander here within the span of 15 minutes
 
Eem said:
Well, look at it like this:

1) It's not your phone
2) It's not just you
3) It's probably not just the two of us having the problem and we both managed to meander here within the span of 15 minutes
Click to expand...

Yeah for sure.
I feel a little better now that by tomorrow things should start getting fixed.
 
matthews said:
Yeah for sure.
I feel a little better now that by tomorrow things should start getting fixed.
Click to expand...

I sure as hell hope things get fixed -- I'm heading out to Phoenix for the NFC Championship game tomorrow. Rest assured, though, I'll be calling AT&T in the AM if things aren't fixed.
 
Eem said:
I sure as hell hope things get fixed -- I'm heading out to Phoenix for the NFC Championship game tomorrow. Rest assured, though, I'll be calling AT&T in the AM if things aren't fixed.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty envious.

This is a really annoying problem to test if you still have, too.
Unless you enjoy alarming your friends by calling them and then them thinking you aren't saying anything.
 
WHAT A COINCIDENCE, I'm having the same problem. I TOO LIVE IN PHILADELPHIA. I made and received a bunch of phone calls earlier this morning and in the afternoon with no problems. Now all of the sudden, my girlfriend calls me and she can't hear me and vice-versa. She has an iPhone 3G as well. We are both having the same problems. Could this be an AT&T regional problem or is it the phones?

Turning off the 3G setting works. So I'm assuming something is wrong with the 3G network.
 
jerryeveryday said:
WHAT A COINCIDENCE, I'm having the same problem. I TOO LIVE IN PHILADELPHIA. I made and received a bunch of phone calls earlier this morning and in the afternoon with no problems. Now all of the sudden, my girlfriend calls me and she can't hear me and vice-versa. She has an iPhone 3G as well. We are both having the same problems. Could this be an AT&T regional problem or is it the phones?

Turning off the 3G setting works. So I'm assuming something is wrong with the 3G network.
Click to expand...

definitely a 3G issue. my housemate has a first gen and his phone is working fine.
 
Hi everyone. I have the same problem, and guess where I'm at? Yup, here in Philly area. Turning off the 3G worked for me, so eventhough it's a temporary fix, thanks for the tip. Eem, have fun in Phoenix when we destroy the Cards. They can take away 3G from my iPhone, I'll take the SB! GO EAGLES!
 
khazoie said:
Hi everyone. I have the same problem, and guess where I'm at? Yup, here in Philly area. Turning off the 3G worked for me, so eventhough it's a temporary fix, thanks for the tip. Eem, have fun in Phoenix when we destroy the Cards. They can take away 3G from my iPhone, I'll take the SB! GO EAGLES!
Click to expand...

Philly Metro Area (South Jersey actually) -- Having the same trouble. Successfully took a call at 7:30am -- after that, no callers can hear me, nor can tones shoot down the line (checking my voicemail at work).

AT&T is the suck today.
 
Wow i came on here last night around midnight when my phone did this same exact problem and thinking it was only my phone since i have bad luck with these kinds of things. But looks like its just the 3G Macro Cell coverage over Philly, because i live in philly also haha. Something must of disrupted one of the towers giving signal to us to distribute the data needed to make calls.

Lets keep an update if this gets fixed. I was going to head to ATT to see if they know wtf is going on later today.


edit: also has anyone else been experiencing dropped calls/ error messages when sending texts this past week and the week before?
 
The coverage has been spotty this morning through noon. At certain times I've been okay and then it goes to crap again. I hate having to turn the 3g off b/c I'm paying for it. GOD, I HOPE THEY FIX THIS SOON.
 
As of right now I still have my 3G off just so I know my phone is working.

I'm not sure when I'll feel like turning it back on. I don't like uncertainty.
 
I also live and philly and had this problem since midnight. I was just able to make two successful calls on the 3G network. Perhaps this problem is finally fixed.
 
shmoetheho said:
Philly Metro Area (South Jersey actually) -- Having the same trouble. Successfully took a call at 7:30am -- after that, no callers can hear me, nor can tones shoot down the line (checking my voicemail at work).

AT&T is the suck today.
Click to expand...

Turned 3G back on.. all is well in my area.
 
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