Comments on: Can You Connect to 3G Now?

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:20:26 +0000

Hi — for quite a while it was apparent to me that the issue was the 3G network here in the US. When I first received my new iPhone on July 11th, at 8:30am, the 3G worked fine….I could make calls and browse the web under 3G and everything was flawless. Using 3G as my default network all the time sucked my battery down pretty quickly, but it worked just fine. When I complained about battery life, the Apple “genius” bar suggested I turn off 3G whenever I didn’t really need it, to save battery life.

A few weeks later, after Apple and AT&T had sold hundreds of thousands more of the new 3G iPhones, 3G started working much more sporadically, and in fact I began experiencing the issues already raised by othere on this blog…inability to complete a cell call (which would go through the 1st time if I tried it on Edge), and horrible browsing on 3G as well. I was instructed to try all kinds of things to fix the 3G problems and nothing helped. Upgrading to the newest firmware didn’t help, nor did rebooting, or completely resetting (erasing and starting from scratch) the iPhone. I just had the unit replaced with a brand new one….and it now WORKS on 3G. I am making calls again (1st time), and also able top browse. Maybe AT&T improved their network at roughly the same time that I finally got my phone replaced…hard to say. Anyway, I think all the wrinkles will get smoothed out here…Apple and AT&T have too many customers (and too much customer dis-satisfaction) at stake to not keep focused on resolving this. My next issue is to keep pounding on the door until someone at Apple gives permission for app developers to make an app that provides voice-reco for dialing of numbers (etc), which is an amazing feature I had working for over 2 years on my HTC 8125 (Windows phone on AT&T) and now miss it terribly. This is a throwback to old cell phones that pre-date Windows CE…

– Jimbo

By: MJ

MJ — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:41:34 +0000

i am from the philippines and i have the same issues as you all have.. i think its the phone’s issue not the carrier.

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:27:23 +0000

Got the Iphone and enjoyed it untill the updates came out, one is worse than the other, what is the point of having safari if you can't connect, I can't even get my email from edge, 3G or wifi!!!! PC guy that thought maybe I was wrong about apple, now I am not so sure.

I am waiting for the parody of the famous "I ama Mac add" Only this time its I am an Iphone. Where the pudgy regular phone connects, sends email, doesn't crash. and then sends and recieves photos with text messaging. Teh skinny cool guy just stands there and says "wowo you can send pictures with txt, I just wish I could connect to my network, I am so alone.

By: DJ

DJ — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:32:34 +0000

It’s so good to see that many of you are having the sames problems I am. My troubles seemed to start after 2.0.2. While at first, I thought the update was great, my 3G downtime has now far exceeding the time it works. As many of you have pointed out, the Safari progress bar will stick at about 10% and the page will not load – sometimes for over 20 minutes and repeated attempts at refreshing – even when I have 5 gleaming bars of 3G. Switching to EDGE is no help, either.

This is a maddeing problem since I bought the phone for 3G use. I plan on calling AT&T and requesting a refund on my data charges for this month. I know it’s probably not their fault, but if they start getting dinged financially, they’ll put increased pressure on Apple to get a fix out NOW.

By: Rene Ritchie

Rene Ritchie — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:39:27 +0000

the E stands for EDGE, or the 2.5G network. It means there’s no 3G connection.

By: cj

cj — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:08:54 +0000

for some reason i cant get 3g i always get the E in the corner with i do not know what that means.

By: cj

cj — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:38:39 +0000

what do you mean the 3g will light up. is that the E in the corner

By: thecolor

thecolor — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:17:05 +0000

As noted a couple of times above, this was not an iPhone specific problem. True, the iPhone has MANY problems and does not live up to many expectations, but, I also have a Nokia N95-4 and AT&T card and they also had 3G "or connection" difficulty. So, PLEASE, stop just assuming it's iPhone woes, and do some more comparison before hyping the device more than others that are even more impressive. Sheesh. Ugh, all this press for something that is SO far behind many other devices, STILL! It's got a slick black touch screen, (that's the only separation really) even that has been cloned over and over.

Thanks, ~Tired of the hype

By: eccparis

eccparis — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:36:40 +0000

I have now updated to 2.0.2, and am having no problems connecting to Orange/France 3G. Meanwhile, everything does seem zippier in various apps. I also read at a French iPhone blog that Orange has yet again updated its 3G network (which some posters suggest to be timed with iPhone updates), whereas a German blog also reported no problems with 3G reception.

It's perhaps a good idea to remember, though, that France is only slightly larger than the State of Texas hence much easier to manage when it comes to coverage, regardless of GPRS/EDGE/3G.

By: eccparis

eccparis — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:16:29 +0000

I am in France and haven't had any problems with 3G either with 2.0 or 2.0.1. I was in Germany in early August while still on 2.0 where I had no problems, either. On the night of 5-6 August Orange/France upgraded its 3G network and advised its 3G customers (including non-iPhone users) to turn off their phones and reboot, after which I get 4-5 bars in all rooms of my 4-level house, including the laundry area in my half-basement in the back part of my house, where I used to get hardly any signal.

I hope to get up my nerve and upgrade to 2.0.2 today, and shall post back with findings.