All Articles Tagged 3g connection issues

Roughly Drafted is claiming a source close to AT&T has spilled the beans on what’s really going on with the iPhone and its 3G connection problems, and what 2.0.2 did to fix it.

In a nutshell? An iPhone 3G running 2.0 or 2.0.1 tries to pull too much power from the network, so when multiple iPhones connect, a tower can actually run out of juice and start dropping calls and losing data.

Why hasn’t upgrading to 2.0.2 already fixed the problem? Simple: some people haven’t yet upgraded, so their 2.0 and 2.0.1 iPhones keep pulling too much power, causing the same problem even for people who have upgraded but are stuck on the same tower (or same high-density city like San Fran or NY). Only when most users have patched to 2.0.2 will people stuck on high-demand towers see improvements.

Earlier reports and theories have lain blame on everything from the 3G radio and antenna, to the Infineon chipset and Apple firmware, to the carriers themselves. We here at TiPb have long been saying the problems were likely a combination of factors, and firmware that pulls too hard on networks that aren’t that hardy seems a far better explanation than any one previously offered. It also goes a long way to explaining why Bluetest didn’t find any hardware issues, and why both Apple (via their website) and AT&T (via SMS) have really stepped up the push for this update.

So, do we finally have our answer, or is this just the next “shot in the dark”? Are you still having 3G problems? Is your neighbor still on 2.0 or 2.0.1? Tell them to upgrade now and then let us know if it helps!

When the Swedish engineers over at Bluetest revealed that, when measured at their facilities, the iPhone 3G radio performed roughly the same as 3G handsets made by Sony Ericsson and Nokia, some (including a few of TiPb’s own, very astute, commenters!) cried foul. Not ones to be dissuaded by a little doubt, however, the Swedes brought in some of the people who complained about 3G reception problems, and put their iPhones to the test.

The results? According to Apple Insider, pretty much the same as before:

Wieselgren reported that the lab found that all these iPhones to “have no problems with the 3G communication in the test chamber. They send and receive signals in a fully normal manner. They do not disconnect earlier than the others we have tested when the signal becomes weaker.” The iPhone using updated 2.0.2 software reported slightly better numbers, but Bluetest indicated there was no statistical significance, as a difference of up to 1dB in the results “can occur due to measurement uncertainty and random fluctuations.”

Does this mean all the problems we keep having and hearing about are the exclusive fault of the carriers and their networks?

Well, no. We go back to our original theory that it’s a confluence of conditions at work (which is why Apple says they can address some of the problems via another firmware update). Even if the antenna is fine, combine some dodgy networks with software that may be a little too sensitive to fluctuation, or too conservative in its reporting, and there are all many of problems that can arise.

2.1 may fix things on Apple’s end, while public outcry (especially in France, where Orange has just been caught… er… red handed throttling down 3G traffic) could speed up the notoriously slow and stingy carriers to invest in their networks, and our future.

Make any sense? (Provided you can connect to the network long enough to read it…)

Last week Apple and Infineon were getting all the heat for shoddy 3G performance. Now AT&T is getting its share of the blame with a dizzying array of combinations. First it was Wired’s fairly damning survey and the Swedish antenna tests that pointed further fingers at the network, and now Gizmodo head-honcho Brian Lam has had the chance to chat with AT&T CTO John Donovan:

I asked Donovan if caution was the overriding strategy behind waiting to match Sprint’s initial 3G rollout, he replied, “I’d like to say we’re deliberate. ” He added that initially meeting the voice quality and data rates of Sprint’s 3G network would have been both technically and financially impossible, despite the customer benefit. (One only needs to look at Sprint’s financial weakness now to appreciate the wisdom of his point.) He also pointed out that by waiting, they got to leapfrog the limitations of Sprint’s EVDO networks, referring to the extended data rates their network will eventually run at, at a better value. “The most astute thing you can do is be as late as possible and as fast as possible. Because it’s going to cost you more if you do it too early, and if you do it too late, you don’t get the features you want.”

Well bully for AT&T, but where exactly does that leave frustrated customers with dodgy 3G reception? According to Donovan, they have a multipart plan to make sure AT&T really, truly, eventually delivers on the “more bars in more places” promise.

Lam likes having them on the record, so they can be held accountable. We think customers would prefer having them simply get the job done, so that dead zones, dropped calls, downgraded connections, and basically everything else that’s currently broken about AT&T’s 3G network is fixed and fast.

Remember the Wired.com Global iPhone 3G Study Casey posted about a week or so back? Well, the results are in, and Wired’s conclusion is interesting to say the least:

In our view, this data is a strong indicator that performance of the mobile carrier’s network is affecting the iPhone 3G more than the handset itself.

Wired further cites the recent Swedish engineering tests, run by Bluetest, which showed that the iPhone 3G’s eponymous radio and antenna performed roughly the same as those of the other handsets they tested.

So where does this leave the last, 2.0.2 firmware tweaks from Apple, and hopes that 2.1 would further fix 3G connection problems? Chipset and firmware finger-pointing may have been misplaced, or at least been only part of a larger overall 3G connectivity knot. Either way, it looks like the tennis ball has just been rocketed back into AT&T (and the other carriers’) court for now.

From an end-user’s perspective, however, especially if you’re one of the unfortunate 2%, other than providing some entertaining distraction, does the blame game really help us? Or do we just want it fixed, like, yesterday?

(Thanks Bad Ash and yc for the tips! Thanks to the TiPb faithful who went over there to help out with the study, and thanks to Wired for recognizing them!)

More Blackberry Bold coverage? What are we, ? Fair point. But come on, RIM’s latest/greatest did just launch in North America yesterday, so it’s only polite that we pay it some attention. How does RIM repay us, however? It’s not enough they iClone our glossy black and silver edged form factor, now they’ve got to iClone our 3G network connectivity issues as well?

I mean, we’ve gone on, and on, and on (or should it be off?) about the reports of the iPhone suffering from a string of perplexing 3G connection problems. Blame has been laid with the carriers and their networks, with chip manufacturer Infineon and their hardware and drivers, and with Apple and their 2.0h-no firmware. But thus far, while 2.0.2 supposedly addresses some issues for some users, no widespread solution has yet appeared.

However, reports are also now surfacing of the brand spanking new BlackBerry Bold suffering from very similar sounding problems. Says Electronista:

[Citigroup investment analyst Jim Suva] also notes that the BlackBerry suffers from the same problems of the iPhone, including 3G connection problems; the device will frequently drop 3G in favor of a slower, 2G EDGE link when downtown. Suva speculates that the flaw may likewise stem from rough software and that AT&T may have delayed its launch primarily to stabilize 3G performance.

Of course, our friends over at Crackberry HQ would likely point out that, as usual, truck-sized grain of salt should ship standard with every analyst report, and that AT&T due to the size and perhaps complexity of their network, does a whole heaping lot of testing.

But misery — and lack of connectivity — does love company, doesn’t it?

For my part, other than Gmail on the iPhone continuing to make my life miserable, 3G is a little slow in connecting at first, but then seems to be working fine.

(Thanks Bad Ash for the tip!)

Ed Baig over at USA Today (via Daring Fireball) is reporting that:

Apple (AAPL) acknowledged Tuesday that a software update for the iPhone partly fixes the connection snags that have caused a global firestorm for the new iPhone 3G. Though mum on details, Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock said on Tuesday, “The software update improves communication with 3G networks.”

Really?

As I mentioned previously, yesterday in Downtown Montreal, it looked like I was unable to connect to the 3G network at all. Last night in the suburbs of Montreal, however, I was able to connect (though it took a while). Today, downtown again… nadda. Or so I thought. I switched back to WiFi and still couldn’t connect… to Gmail.

Yup. While I’d tested Gmail, MobileMe, ActiveSync, and MobileSafari yesterday, sometime since then I’d made the mistake of just hitting Gmail in MobileMail.app to see if a connection would pop up. Turns out that was really shoddy testing on my part. See, Gmail on iPhone says I haven’t had any messages since 6pm last night. Gmail on the desktop however, while continuously giving me “Server error: too many simultaneous connections (Failure)”, shows 50+ more, right up to this very minute. Now, I’ve Twittered nearly constantly about problems with Gmail IMAP lately, from invalid certificate errors, to server connection problems, to the mail outage they had a week or so back (not coincidentally the same time MobileMe was out… again).

So what’s going on? Are their network connection problems or is Gmail IMAP that really buggy (according to Twitter again, it’s buggy enough to make some iPhone developers abandon it entirely)? And has this been adding to, or merely confusing my 3G network connection problems?

My guess is the former. Intermittent 3G network connection errors, and Gmail IMAP still really isn’t ready for prime time. (And why that doesn’t get the blog-focus MobileMe gets, aside from the admittedly free nature of the beast, is a bit perplexing).

I plan to run more (and better) tests today, and hopefully get something of a less obscure picture.

So, this weekend I had a lot of problems connecting to the 3G network. Bars showed full. 3G icon was lit up. But email and web browsing — any type of network activity really — either took forever to resolve or timed out completely. Today was even worse. Couldn’t get on for most of the day. Zip. Zero. Zilch. And this was AFTER installing yesterday’s hot new 2.0.2 firmware (once I got it to download...). So what’s going on?

Are there carrier issues resulting from less mature 3G networks? Is there an Infineon 3G chipset hardware problem? Is Infineon dragging their heels about writing better drivers? Is something in Apple’s iPhone 3G software stack that’s just not connecting well, or timing out too quickly? Or is it a horrible confluence of all of the above, making it an especially tough — and frustrating — bug to squash?

Given the lack of any apparent, or at least successful, fix in 2.0.2, Engadget says Apple is “shooting in the dark” trying to resolve the 3G issues. I don’t think so. I think, as one of our commenters mentioned, 2.0.2 was scheduled to add support for the addition 20+ countries and carriers coming on line this week, and crammed in whatever minor improvements Apple had ready. Rewriting the 3G drivers, especially if Infineon isn’t moving at Apple-required speed, isn’t likely to happen before the rumored September 2.1 release (which, as mentioned in the post on turn-by-turn GPS, has already jettisoned Push Notification Server support, hopefully because Apple is laser-focused on delivering an actual, gosh-darn real stable release in 2.1).

I don’t know about you, but at this point, that’s the priority I want them to have moving forward. Do one thing at a time, do it very, very well, and then move on…

Have you run into any 3G connection issues? Do you notice a slower tick than expected with your iPhone 3G? Well, take a part in Wired.com’s global study so you can see if your iPhone is the slowest horse in the race or if it’s just your area. Just point your iPhone Safari browser to TestMyiPhone.com and start a download and upload test and remember your location to import into Wired.com’s interactive ZeeMap.

Maybe all this data won’t amount to anything but it sure is cool to see how blazing fast 3G is in different parts of the world. Also, it serves as good reference to see if your iPhone 3G is part of the unlucky 2%. Click the Read Link for more info.

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