It may actually be the iPhone's fault after all

[bob616]

I've always had very spotty service at my home, were my iPhone would be on the table and have full bars and 3G then it would drop to no service and after turning airplane mode on and off it would again have full bars. So I decided to test something. I put my sim chip into my old Black Jack 2 and to my surprise it got full bars EVERYWHERE in my house without dropping to no service. So does the iPhone have problems in general with service?

Some more info: iPhone is a 3GS and is running the latest software. Black Jack 2 is running windows mobile 6.1. I live in an area that on at&t's map it should have 3G coverage.

 

[da meat tree]

Same thing happens to me, im sitting at home, just chillin', full bars. Get a call, still full bars. As soon as I put the phone up to my ear, I get no service and the call drops. It's like my iPhone is playin' me. However, on my CU550, I get full bars everywhere all the time.

 

[nehunte]

Had the same problem. It was one of the reasons I did away with the iPhone.

 

[Mush Tush]

I'm in the New York City metro area and I have the exact same problem. I always just chalk it up to the 'ubiquity' of LukeWilson and AT&T's 'powerful' 3G (minus two) network!

 

[Jordan6]

iPhone

I was starting to think the same thing but how does the phone affect the service??

I thought the Phone and the service provided by AT&T was 2 TOTALLY different things?

 

[daneoni]

I was starting to think the same thing but how does the phone affect the service??

I thought the Phone and the service provided by AT&T was 2 TOTALLY different things?

The carrier can have a service but it's useless if the phone doesn't handle pinging of towers, maintaining connection to towers and seamless switching between towers properly

My signal has also been erratic lately even though I never used to have problems. Nowadays I have to resend txts several times and my bars jump around a lot and I hate to admit this but I've dropped calls which is practically unheard of here...although it's only happened once or twice

 

[soLoredd]

The carrier can have a service but it's useless if the phone doesn't handle pinging of towers, maintaining connection to towers and seamless switching between towers properly

My signal has also been erratic lately even though I never used to have problems. Nowadays I have to resend txts several times and my bars jump around a lot and I hate to admit this but I've dropped calls which is practically unheard of here...although it's only happened once or twice

Same here. The last week or so has been pretty bad with sending text messages. My 3G speeds work well but for some reason the SMS stuff gets screwed up. Is apple convinced there are no bugs on the iPhone software or what? Where are the updates and bug fixes?

 

[Jordan6]

The carrier can have a service but it's useless if the phone doesn't handle pinging of towers, maintaining connection to towers and seamless switching between towers properly

My signal has also been erratic lately even though I never used to have problems. Nowadays I have to resend txts several times and my bars jump around a lot and I hate to admit this but I've dropped calls which is practically unheard of here...although it's only happened once or twice

oh ok, I thought that was all handled by the service provider.

I have the same problem with the service here in NYC. But I noticed it only happens between 2pm-6pm.Weird

 

[JUSTQUAN]

Sounds crazy but if you have your wifi on sometimes it can mess with your phone. SOMETIMES!

 

[VulchR]

I have a similar problem with Orange network in the UK - my house is in a little valley and therefore the coverage isn't great. However, I've noticed that if I take 3G offline (Settings > General > Network > Enable 3G: OFF) that the reception is much better. I presume this is because the 2G signal is better and I don't miss 3G because I use Wifi at both home and work.

Also I get the impression that how I hold the phone makes a difference because the reception is so borderline - I seem to get better reception if I hold my phone by my fingers without holding the phone in the palm of my hand.

 

[daneoni]

This is both good and bad. Good because i was actually considering switching networks but it doesn't seem as if the grass is any greener on the other side of the fence. Bad because it further points the finger at the iPhone.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I love my iPhone but you combine a network that is not awesome with a phone that doesn't always have the best range and you get this exact issue. Sorry folks but no network is perfect but some networks are stronger.

I seem to love my iPhone too much right now to care to leave it though.

 

[rotlex]

While I enjoy the iPhone WAY to much to ever get rid of it, the problem, in IMO at least, is definitely the phone, over the service, when it comes to spotty coverage.

Same situation here. Two phones in the house. The iPhone will drops calls, or have no service at all in certain rooms. My wife's Centro has full bars everywhere, and pretty much never drops a call while in the house. With the iPhone, it's 50/50. (I've also gone through 3 of them due to other "issues", and all acted the same way).

It's a great device, but a mediocre phone at best.

 

[strike1555]

Anyways, yeah this has been known for a while. Unfortunately, the iPhone has an inferior antenna design. Hopefully will be revised in the next revision.

 

[Maui19]

FWIW, my son's HTC phone gets noticeably better reception in my house than my iPhone (same network).

 

[critic81]

I've always had very spotty service at my home, were my iPhone would be on the table and have full bars and 3G then it would drop to no service and after turning airplane mode on and off it would again have full bars. So I decided to test something. I put my sim chip into my old Black Jack 2 and to my surprise it got full bars EVERYWHERE in my house without dropping to no service. So does the iPhone have problems in general with service?

Some more info: iPhone is a 3GS and is running the latest software. Black Jack 2 is running windows mobile 6.1. I live in an area that on at&t's map it should have 3G coverage.

The exact same thing happens with me. On the table get 3-5 bars. Pick it up in my hand, drops to like 1 -2 bars or will drop out of service completely. My old razr is consistant like 2-5 bars and will not drop calls. Lately though my phone has been not receiving calls at all.

 

[sorchard]

I have noticed that if I put my N95 next to an iPhone, same network, the N95 will hold onto the relatively crap GSM signal (3G only works outside, granite walls ftw) with ease. The iPhone keeps losing it and puts up that incredibly annoying "lol i've lost signal" box.

 

[iceterminal]

I'm not so sure that this is the problem, the iPhone, with signals jumping up and down.
Nexus One is having the same issue it seems.
It would be nice to find the ONE problem, but maybe its a combination of several things causing them.

Or....maybe its a government conspiracy, or an alien invasion to control your minds, or a sun spot, or some dastardly fiend trying to retake what once was theirs..

.....I'm just saying.