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Dropped calls with iPhone in NYC...?

fab5freddy

fab5freddy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 21, 2007
1,206
7
Heaven or Hell
i am experiencing horrible reception with my iPhone on AT&T in New York City.

it is so bad that i am considering trying a different phone or switching
carriers...

Has anyone else had bad reception in NYC and what have you done about it ?

thanks !
 
I don't live in NYC but I remember reading a lot of other threads about people having bad reception there. I've been told by a genius in the Apple store that 3g has a hard time going through buildings (I know, sounds weird); so, that might be the problem in NYC. Even if you have full bars of service, that doesn't mean your 3g signal is that strong. That also sounds weird, but that's what the guy told me.
 
Not NYC here, but Honolulu. I am dropping about 4-5 calls a day, and consistently receiving disconnects when on the phone about every other call. I get the couple beeps, then call failed on my screen. I NEVER had problems with my iPhone 2G, but the iPhone 3G just sucks as far as being a phone goes. AT&T had nothing to say about it either.
 
AT&T sucks in NYC. I still can't manage to actually use the phone whenever I want to. I can put up w/ the subpar data speeds (200kbps or lower usually), but it's the inconsistency on when I can actually use the service that bothers me. I'm currently in an office next to Grand Central and no data on my phone despite showing 5 bars 3G.

EDIT: It could be partially the phone's fault though. I've been in conference halls where my phone would show E and not be able to access anything, while all my coworkers' blackberries worked just fine.
 
AT&T has dropped calls and very few bars everywhere!

I have experienced the same dropped calls in NYC. I live in the Philadelphia area and AT&T's map of coverage shows my home to have the highest signal level. Yet I can't get signal in many parts of my home and a very low one in others. It makes the AT&T TV ad : More bars in more places ---- a joke. And I had to leave AT&T 10 years ago due to this coverage issue - and it hasn't changed. I changed and bought an iPhone (which I love), but having to switch from Verizon to AT&T is not a pleasant change.

AT&T just needs to be more responsive to those of us who are giving them feedback.
 
AT&T sucks in New York, which is why I'm keeping my not-an-iPhone on Verizon. O&A bitch about the iPhone coverage often. Well, Anthony does, Opie just laughs because he has superior Blackberry coverage from Verizon.
 
My phone constantly switched between 3G, EDGE, no data at all, no carrier at all, full bars, no bars....all without moving the phone from the window at 43rd and 7th. To be fair, I had the same results with Sprint and T-Mobile phones in Manhattan. Offhand, I'd guess it's probably a combination of things. Being 20-some floors up, I'm probably hitting more than one tower which might be causing interference. Then there's the signal addition and cancellation caused by the signals bouncing off various buildings. I've come to use text messaging a lot more than phone calls in Manhattan simply because it's more reliable. Even below ground at Penn Station is more stable, I'd guess because there aren't multiple transmitters and reflection sources all interfering with each other.
 
Anything is possible, but I doubt it. I've used various phones from AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile over the past few years in NYC and they all exhibited the same problems to more or less the same degree. Therefore, I don't believe changing phones will make any real or lasting difference.
 
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