i live in cincinnati, ohio, and i too am having the connection problem. Someone please post a solution if ther is one :-(
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iPhone reception question/problem
- Thread starter aristobrat
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I have noticed the following at my house. Whenever the iPhone is connected to the dock I get four bars. As soon as I remove it it drops to one bar and alternates between one bar and no service. As soon as I place it back in the dock it jumps to four bars. Battery power issue?
The antenna's towards the bottom of the phone, so when the phone is vertical (like in the dock), I think that both sides of the antenna being "in the air" help it out.
When you lay the iPhone down, the side of the antenna facing down is kinda useless.
Just a guess...
When you lay the iPhone down, the side of the antenna facing down is kinda useless.
Just a guess...
Just to better understand the problem can we post information in a standard form such as this:
Location (City, State) & Type (Home, Work, Other)
Number of Bars (1-5)
Problem Tower Identication (NONE, AT&T, Cingular, T-mobile, ect)
Plan Type (Prepaid/Postpaid)
Make/receive calls even with bars? YES/NO
Has service worked from this location in the past? YES/NO
If yes, which carrier? (AT&T, Cingular, T-mobile, ect)
Please note this is only for problem areas, obviously if you're in an area where its working then you don't have an issue. I'll go first:
Fair Grove, MO (Home)
2-4 Bars
NONE
Prepaid
NO
YES
T-mobile
Location (City, State) & Type (Home, Work, Other)
Number of Bars (1-5)
Problem Tower Identication (NONE, AT&T, Cingular, T-mobile, ect)
Plan Type (Prepaid/Postpaid)
Make/receive calls even with bars? YES/NO
Has service worked from this location in the past? YES/NO
If yes, which carrier? (AT&T, Cingular, T-mobile, ect)
Please note this is only for problem areas, obviously if you're in an area where its working then you don't have an issue. I'll go first:
Fair Grove, MO (Home)
2-4 Bars
NONE
Prepaid
NO
YES
T-mobile
Interesting. I just pulled my phone from the dock and put it back three times. I kept it vertical the entire time. Every time the signal dropped from four to one when I removed it from the dock. Something else is going on.
Could be.
I gave up. My AT&T reception at home and at work was not reliable, so I took my iPhone back and ate the restocking fee.
I really hope that Apple can do something about this with a firmware update, but I didn't want to get stuck in a 2 year contract only to find out they didn't.
I gave up. My AT&T reception at home and at work was not reliable, so I took my iPhone back and ate the restocking fee.
I really hope that Apple can do something about this with a firmware update, but I didn't want to get stuck in a 2 year contract only to find out they didn't.
i noticed one thing. when i am in my room, certain spots will get reception, but only if the phone is in its cradle, or laying flat on a table somewhere. my living room is the same way, and it is also like that on my back patio. do you think this is ATT or do you think its the iPhone? think apple/att will fix it since a few people are having this problem?
Update
Not sure if this, or AT&T fixing the two cell towers, helped - but I had NO problems today with dropped calls (or anything else).
Take a look at the thread I started here: Cycle Power on/off daily
Others have said it helped them too.
Not sure if this, or AT&T fixing the two cell towers, helped - but I had NO problems today with dropped calls (or anything else).
Take a look at the thread I started here: Cycle Power on/off daily
Others have said it helped them too.
Intermittent Service
I am experiencing similar problems -- full signal and then it suddenly drops to 2 bars. BUT THEN THE CALL IS DROPPED -- NOT JUST DISTORTED, BUT DROPPED!!! This sucks! My service reading on the iPhone will go from 4-5 bars to No Service - within seconds - and then back again. Previously I was with Verizon, and in the same location, although I never got better than 2-3 bars, I would NEVER drop a call. I can deal with temporary distorted voice quality, but erratically dropping calls like this is not acceptable.
I've called AT&T tech support several times. Although I live just 1 - 2 miles away from three different towers with overlapping coverage, apparently, I live in an area that has somewhat thin coverage from each of them.
And OK -- if I have bad reception thats one thing, but whats up with 4-5 bars of fantastic reception for 5 minutes and then suddenly dropping the call? Without moving the phone at all? That's not cool. Outside interception maybe? I'm on the 3rd (top) floor of a wood and shingle house. Not many buildings taller then 4-5 stories in the area. From the roof, one of the towers is almost in line of sight. Maybe an alien forcefield surrounds my house?
My instinct is to think that the problem is related to the phone jumping from tower to tower when it may not need to, and several AT&T reps have said the same. All of the Reps have thought that the situation was unusual -- the erratic jumping from 4-5 bars and then losing a call without moving. Almost unanimously, they have all said they thought it had something to do with jumping to a new tower.
I only had 2-3 bars in this same area with Verizon, but I NEVER dropped calls -- only an occasional distortion. I really hope I dont have to abandon the iPhone because of this.
Anyone having this kind of problem -- erratic signal -- please contact ATT and/or Apple and complain. In my opinion, either the iPhone (or iPhone software) is hyperactive in terms of looking for new towers, or it has to do with your physical location and the AT&T coverage in that area and an issue with overlapping towers.
I am experiencing similar problems -- full signal and then it suddenly drops to 2 bars. BUT THEN THE CALL IS DROPPED -- NOT JUST DISTORTED, BUT DROPPED!!! This sucks! My service reading on the iPhone will go from 4-5 bars to No Service - within seconds - and then back again. Previously I was with Verizon, and in the same location, although I never got better than 2-3 bars, I would NEVER drop a call. I can deal with temporary distorted voice quality, but erratically dropping calls like this is not acceptable.
I've called AT&T tech support several times. Although I live just 1 - 2 miles away from three different towers with overlapping coverage, apparently, I live in an area that has somewhat thin coverage from each of them.
And OK -- if I have bad reception thats one thing, but whats up with 4-5 bars of fantastic reception for 5 minutes and then suddenly dropping the call? Without moving the phone at all? That's not cool. Outside interception maybe? I'm on the 3rd (top) floor of a wood and shingle house. Not many buildings taller then 4-5 stories in the area. From the roof, one of the towers is almost in line of sight. Maybe an alien forcefield surrounds my house?
My instinct is to think that the problem is related to the phone jumping from tower to tower when it may not need to, and several AT&T reps have said the same. All of the Reps have thought that the situation was unusual -- the erratic jumping from 4-5 bars and then losing a call without moving. Almost unanimously, they have all said they thought it had something to do with jumping to a new tower.
I only had 2-3 bars in this same area with Verizon, but I NEVER dropped calls -- only an occasional distortion. I really hope I dont have to abandon the iPhone because of this.
Anyone having this kind of problem -- erratic signal -- please contact ATT and/or Apple and complain. In my opinion, either the iPhone (or iPhone software) is hyperactive in terms of looking for new towers, or it has to do with your physical location and the AT&T coverage in that area and an issue with overlapping towers.
That's a great summary. In my case, it was an issue with overlapping towers where only 1 of the 3 towers gave usable coverage.
I called both AT&T and Apple about this. The various AT&T reps I spoke with don't seem to have a way to get feedback about coverage to anyone. The Apple guy I spoke with said he'd definitely submit the "hoping between towers" description to the engineering team.
Maybe a fix?
An update to my prior posting...
After going through several more customer service and tech support people, I finally talked to one woman (in the tech support - the level 2 place that you get forwarded to if the customer service people can't help). They must be located in the South somewhere, cause they all are very friendly and have southern accents.
Anyway - the woman I talked to, also said that it shouldnt be dropping calls like that. She typed away for a while and said she was changing my phone's identification number -- somehow reconfiguring the way the towers find the phone. Apparently, that update takes a few hours to kick in, and as always with AT&T, you need to power cycle your phones a lot to get recent updates uploaded to the phone.
And so far, so good! The dropping calls problem seems to have stopped. I still notice that my phone will sometimes jump around from 1 or 2 bars all the way up to 5 bars (or vice versa) depending where I am in the house, however it seems less eratic now when I'm not moving around. And I think I've noticed a change in the pattern where now I might move from one area that I know had poorer service to an area that generally had great service, and the bars will not jump up immediately. If I power cycle the phone after moving to a "better" location, the bars will then jump back up to what I would expect in that part of the house. SO - I'm thinking that the phone is now doing a better job of holding on the the tower its connected to.
The important thing is that I havent dropped a sinlgle call since the tech support woman made this change (crossing fingers), and even on one bar, I'm finding that I am able to make clear calls. Previously, I would eventually drop almost every call I made, even if the phone had just jumped from 5 bars to 2 bars.
So - I'd say if you think you might be experiencing the hyperactive hopping towers problem, try suggesting this to the person you talk to. And make sure you get transferred to the level 2 tech support people, not just the initial customer service reps, since it seems these are the only people that can make this kind of change.
Please post any success you have here. Since so much of this seems like voodoo, it would be nice to know if this works for other people and there is actually a quantifiable solution to this problem. I'm sure AT&T would like to know as well. And I'll certainly update if it turns out that this didnt fix the problem, but so far so good!
Good luck.
An update to my prior posting...
After going through several more customer service and tech support people, I finally talked to one woman (in the tech support - the level 2 place that you get forwarded to if the customer service people can't help). They must be located in the South somewhere, cause they all are very friendly and have southern accents.
Anyway - the woman I talked to, also said that it shouldnt be dropping calls like that. She typed away for a while and said she was changing my phone's identification number -- somehow reconfiguring the way the towers find the phone. Apparently, that update takes a few hours to kick in, and as always with AT&T, you need to power cycle your phones a lot to get recent updates uploaded to the phone.
And so far, so good! The dropping calls problem seems to have stopped. I still notice that my phone will sometimes jump around from 1 or 2 bars all the way up to 5 bars (or vice versa) depending where I am in the house, however it seems less eratic now when I'm not moving around. And I think I've noticed a change in the pattern where now I might move from one area that I know had poorer service to an area that generally had great service, and the bars will not jump up immediately. If I power cycle the phone after moving to a "better" location, the bars will then jump back up to what I would expect in that part of the house. SO - I'm thinking that the phone is now doing a better job of holding on the the tower its connected to.
The important thing is that I havent dropped a sinlgle call since the tech support woman made this change (crossing fingers), and even on one bar, I'm finding that I am able to make clear calls. Previously, I would eventually drop almost every call I made, even if the phone had just jumped from 5 bars to 2 bars.
So - I'd say if you think you might be experiencing the hyperactive hopping towers problem, try suggesting this to the person you talk to. And make sure you get transferred to the level 2 tech support people, not just the initial customer service reps, since it seems these are the only people that can make this kind of change.
Please post any success you have here. Since so much of this seems like voodoo, it would be nice to know if this works for other people and there is actually a quantifiable solution to this problem. I'm sure AT&T would like to know as well. And I'll certainly update if it turns out that this didnt fix the problem, but so far so good!
Good luck.
same as everyone else...
i am glad to hear others have the same problem. If mine is laying flat on the table 2-4 bars. if i pick it up...drops to zero then no service. I called and they said I was in a bad signal area, but my treo 650 never had a problem and my wifes cell has no problem and when I look at the coverage map I am about 1000ft from the moderate...i am in the good orange. I have been looking for a way to help boost the signal, but everything i have read says that it cant be done (alot of snake oil out there).
any suggestions which would help?
i am glad to hear others have the same problem. If mine is laying flat on the table 2-4 bars. if i pick it up...drops to zero then no service. I called and they said I was in a bad signal area, but my treo 650 never had a problem and my wifes cell has no problem and when I look at the coverage map I am about 1000ft from the moderate...i am in the good orange. I have been looking for a way to help boost the signal, but everything i have read says that it cant be done (alot of snake oil out there).
any suggestions which would help?
dock as extra antenna?
This is interesting...if I connect or disconnet the usb from the iphone dock and leave the iphone snapped in I get a consistant 3 bars in any spot. In addition if i disconnect the iphone at 3 bars and put it to my face it drops to 1 bar then no service...then if i just put the bottom near the base again (not snapped in) it jumps to 3 bars...Could the base/dock be a signal amplifier? Leave the phone connected then walk around with your bluetooth device.
Could someone else try this and see if it works? i do get a good signal everywhere else so this would work for me at home.
This is interesting...if I connect or disconnet the usb from the iphone dock and leave the iphone snapped in I get a consistant 3 bars in any spot. In addition if i disconnect the iphone at 3 bars and put it to my face it drops to 1 bar then no service...then if i just put the bottom near the base again (not snapped in) it jumps to 3 bars...Could the base/dock be a signal amplifier? Leave the phone connected then walk around with your bluetooth device.
Could someone else try this and see if it works? i do get a good signal everywhere else so this would work for me at home.
I wouldn't call it an amplifier as much as a larger antenna.
Also, most of the problems people in this post are describing are not cell phone issues, they are carrier issues which all carriers have.
Also, most of the problems people in this post are describing are not cell phone issues, they are carrier issues which all carriers have.
There is a fix from AT&T/Apple for this problem!!!
Up until yesterday I had attributed my erratic signal strength and dropped calls to tower hopping because of my local fringe area location but I was in a store several miles from home when I got a call which started at 4 bars, then dropped to none and then No Service. All subsequent calls went to voicemail for about 5 mins and I got the voicemail alert about 9-12 mins after they were left.
So I called AT&T tech support who luckily had heard of this problem. He checked my account, said all was OK and transferred me to Apple Tech support. He had me hold while he talked to their network experts who had also heard of the problem and they asked AT&T to send an "update patch" to my phone. He told me to then power cycle the phone and watch its behavior for a few hours. The behavior didn't change and so I power cycled again and it got a lot better. Since about 1PM yesterday i have remained steady at around 4 bars with sometimes a drop to 2 bars but no dropped calls and perfect call quality - this is the behavior I have also noticed with my Nokia N95 so I think it is normal - at last. When I called the Apple guy back to report he told me that most times the patch is fixing the problem but they have had a few rare cases of antenna hardware problems with iPhones.
So I suggest that you don't give up on your reception problems or ignore them or look for quick fixes. They are real and if you persist with AT&T and Apple they should be able to help you. In my case the Apple tech guy is prepared to authorize a replacement phone for me if the patch does not continue to work. Since I seem to have a perfect phone otherwise I want to make this one work right if possible.
By the way since the patch it does not seem to matter how I hold the phone, whether I put it in the dock or not, whether I attach a dangling USB cable or any of the other "solutions" that seemed to make a difference in the reception before. Now if I hold it normally the reception holds steady.
This is a real problem that ATT&T/Apple may be able to help you with or you can insist on a replacement phone or phones until it is fixed. Also you might want to consider leaving feedback with Apple about the problem. Might get them to move a little faster fixing stuff.
Frank
Up until yesterday I had attributed my erratic signal strength and dropped calls to tower hopping because of my local fringe area location but I was in a store several miles from home when I got a call which started at 4 bars, then dropped to none and then No Service. All subsequent calls went to voicemail for about 5 mins and I got the voicemail alert about 9-12 mins after they were left.
So I called AT&T tech support who luckily had heard of this problem. He checked my account, said all was OK and transferred me to Apple Tech support. He had me hold while he talked to their network experts who had also heard of the problem and they asked AT&T to send an "update patch" to my phone. He told me to then power cycle the phone and watch its behavior for a few hours. The behavior didn't change and so I power cycled again and it got a lot better. Since about 1PM yesterday i have remained steady at around 4 bars with sometimes a drop to 2 bars but no dropped calls and perfect call quality - this is the behavior I have also noticed with my Nokia N95 so I think it is normal - at last. When I called the Apple guy back to report he told me that most times the patch is fixing the problem but they have had a few rare cases of antenna hardware problems with iPhones.
So I suggest that you don't give up on your reception problems or ignore them or look for quick fixes. They are real and if you persist with AT&T and Apple they should be able to help you. In my case the Apple tech guy is prepared to authorize a replacement phone for me if the patch does not continue to work. Since I seem to have a perfect phone otherwise I want to make this one work right if possible.
By the way since the patch it does not seem to matter how I hold the phone, whether I put it in the dock or not, whether I attach a dangling USB cable or any of the other "solutions" that seemed to make a difference in the reception before. Now if I hold it normally the reception holds steady.
This is a real problem that ATT&T/Apple may be able to help you with or you can insist on a replacement phone or phones until it is fixed. Also you might want to consider leaving feedback with Apple about the problem. Might get them to move a little faster fixing stuff.
Frank
Fmcgirt i was wondering if you could post the number you called to get the patch updated. Im having somewhat of the same problems and really dont want to return the phone(switched from verizon). Also frustrating is that some days service at home will be fine, ranging from 2-4 bars. Other i will get 'no service' constantly. This is making my thoughts of returning the phone change daily.
I also noticed that once i removed the phone from the dock i lose 2-3 bars.
Ugh, any help with who to call would help much
Dave
I also noticed that once i removed the phone from the dock i lose 2-3 bars.
Ugh, any help with who to call would help much
Dave
Dave, I started with the AT&T Customer Service number: 1-800-331-0500.
I think it is a good idea to do that because both AT&T and Apple need to be involved to get the patch: AT&T to send it and Apple to request that it be sent. And I guess if I didn't have any luck with the first AT&T CSR I would hang up and try another. I was lucky to get both a guy from AT&T and a guy from Apple that wanted to solve my problem.
Frank
I was having the same problems with my iPhone. I picked it up Sat afternoon and from that time through Mon I dropped over 15 calls and would have periods of time where it would say no service for 30-45 min at a time. It would go from 5 bars to no bars to no service.
I called Apple Sun morning and they weren't very helpful really. He read me the standard power it off and at&t is working on their network, blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong I think Apple is great...I'm new to the Apple world, aside from an iPod, but getting a Mac next month. I have had at&t (Cingular) for 2 years now and have not had any problems at all with dropped calls at my condo so this was a big concern for me.
Mon I called at&t and the lady was very nice and sent some update and set up a call back on Wed so I could monitor it and see if that helped. It appeared to work for about 4 hours, then it was even worse, it couldn't hold a signal for anything. I called at&t back, they sent me to level 2 and the guy did some tests, checked the towers and signals and all that jazz and said everything looked fine and was going to send a technician to my addresses, home and work, to check things out. He suggested putting the SIM card in my old phone and seeing if I had any problems. I had already done that and hadn't so he suggested replacing the phone.
I made an appointment at the Apple store (I had originally purchased from at&t via direct fulfillment and the store still didn't have any stock). I explained everything to them and they swapped the phone out and gave me a new one and knock on wood, it is working GREAT!!! I activated it this evening after work and have been watching it since and it has had 5 bars the entire time. Previously I didn't have to watch too closely to catch it with no service.
My advice...start with at&t, but don't wait too long/waste too much time, you might just need to get a different phone.
I called Apple Sun morning and they weren't very helpful really. He read me the standard power it off and at&t is working on their network, blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong I think Apple is great...I'm new to the Apple world, aside from an iPod, but getting a Mac next month. I have had at&t (Cingular) for 2 years now and have not had any problems at all with dropped calls at my condo so this was a big concern for me.
Mon I called at&t and the lady was very nice and sent some update and set up a call back on Wed so I could monitor it and see if that helped. It appeared to work for about 4 hours, then it was even worse, it couldn't hold a signal for anything. I called at&t back, they sent me to level 2 and the guy did some tests, checked the towers and signals and all that jazz and said everything looked fine and was going to send a technician to my addresses, home and work, to check things out. He suggested putting the SIM card in my old phone and seeing if I had any problems. I had already done that and hadn't so he suggested replacing the phone.
I made an appointment at the Apple store (I had originally purchased from at&t via direct fulfillment and the store still didn't have any stock). I explained everything to them and they swapped the phone out and gave me a new one and knock on wood, it is working GREAT!!! I activated it this evening after work and have been watching it since and it has had 5 bars the entire time. Previously I didn't have to watch too closely to catch it with no service.
My advice...start with at&t, but don't wait too long/waste too much time, you might just need to get a different phone.
AT&T coverage - Portsmouth, NH Edition
Very similar situation here. Have two new att/cingular phones (iphone + Nokia). Although the coverage map shows me to be in the second highest coverage zone - my indoor service levels are lousy (no service to 2 bars). I reported the problem yesterday, and they seemed interested in addressing it. First thing, over the phone, they said the right things - and applied $50 credit towards my first bill. Second, the rep agreed with me that the situation wasn't good - and apologized for it (getting on my side, and making me feel like I am not a crazy complainer). Third, they promised to have the local equipment checked out. Last, the promised to have someone check out my street for reception issues.
Within an hour of this call, a technical rep called to verify the problem. Within three hours, a Cingular truck was on my street. This is the interesting/frustrating part. He said, "yea, I am not surprised you don't have service - I don't have it in my car, on my equipment." When asked why it was shown to be a "good" coverage area ( I live within 5 minutes walking distance of downtown Portsmouth (a city - for those keeping score)) - he said, "yea, that is if you are outside - in line with the tower. Not inside the building." When asked what they would do about it he said, "nothing. I don't have the budget to put up any more equipment this year." They haven't closed the claim/report with me yet, so I am waiting to hear back from them with their official response.
My previous carrier was Sprint, and I didn't have any coverage issues in my house (basement included).
I have taken a look at a couple of products designed to extend cell zones:
1) http://www.wi-ex.com/Page3187.aspx
2) http://www.spotwave.com/residential/products/z1900.asp
but haven't done anything about them yet. (the cingular guy told me that these products work - but Cingular hates them as they can cause massive problems on the networks, and are difficult to track down when there is a system-wide problem).
I give att/cingular good marks for customer service so far. If you are dealing with poor coverage - I would recommend calling to report the problem (minimum is getting your $50 trouble credit).
Very similar situation here. Have two new att/cingular phones (iphone + Nokia). Although the coverage map shows me to be in the second highest coverage zone - my indoor service levels are lousy (no service to 2 bars). I reported the problem yesterday, and they seemed interested in addressing it. First thing, over the phone, they said the right things - and applied $50 credit towards my first bill. Second, the rep agreed with me that the situation wasn't good - and apologized for it (getting on my side, and making me feel like I am not a crazy complainer). Third, they promised to have the local equipment checked out. Last, the promised to have someone check out my street for reception issues.
Within an hour of this call, a technical rep called to verify the problem. Within three hours, a Cingular truck was on my street. This is the interesting/frustrating part. He said, "yea, I am not surprised you don't have service - I don't have it in my car, on my equipment." When asked why it was shown to be a "good" coverage area ( I live within 5 minutes walking distance of downtown Portsmouth (a city - for those keeping score)) - he said, "yea, that is if you are outside - in line with the tower. Not inside the building." When asked what they would do about it he said, "nothing. I don't have the budget to put up any more equipment this year." They haven't closed the claim/report with me yet, so I am waiting to hear back from them with their official response.
My previous carrier was Sprint, and I didn't have any coverage issues in my house (basement included).
I have taken a look at a couple of products designed to extend cell zones:
1) http://www.wi-ex.com/Page3187.aspx
2) http://www.spotwave.com/residential/products/z1900.asp
but haven't done anything about them yet. (the cingular guy told me that these products work - but Cingular hates them as they can cause massive problems on the networks, and are difficult to track down when there is a system-wide problem).
I give att/cingular good marks for customer service so far. If you are dealing with poor coverage - I would recommend calling to report the problem (minimum is getting your $50 trouble credit).
fmcgirt was there any way to tell that the update was actually done? I called and they told me that i was in a poor service area, which seemed odd considering i had seen good service coverage here.
I came out and asked about the update and how it helped someone else. He said he would send the update out to the phone. Im just not sure how to tell if it was actually done.
This decision is frustrating, at work last night the phone had perfect service....
Dave
I came out and asked about the update and how it helped someone else. He said he would send the update out to the phone. Im just not sure how to tell if it was actually done.
This decision is frustrating, at work last night the phone had perfect service....
Dave
All they told me was to power cycle the phone - turn it off, wait a minute or two and then turn back on. It took me two power cycles to notice any difference though. If no luck I would call back and ask that the update be sent again. If that doesn't help I would get a replacement phone. You could have the bad antenna problem the Apple tech guy told me about.
Frank
I ordered this from Amazon.com (because if it doesn't work, they've always been great about letting me return things). I'll try to get it installed tonight and let you know how it goes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A3OLZC/002-4934916-3852041
You're not in Portsmouth, VA are you?
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