“Apple Inc. may be having teething problems with another iPhone rollout, this time in the U.K. Some people who have bought the iPhone since it went on sale there on Nov. 9 are complaining of a weak signal or no signal from O2 (U.K.) Ltd.’s network,” James Niccolai reports for IDG News Service.
“About three dozen people have reported problems with reception, mostly when they are indoors, in threads at Apple’s discussion board. Some said they have received a good signal when using different phones, also on O2’s network, in the same location,” Niccolai reports.
“A few people said the problem clears up when they put their phones in the charger cradles, even if the chargers aren’t plugged in. That led to speculation that the antennas in their iPhones are weak or faulty and that the signals get a boost when touching metal components in the cradles,” Niccolai reports.
“Along with the complaints, about 10 people wrote that their phones were working perfectly,” Niccolai reports.
“A spokeswoman for O2 said there are ‘no problems whatsoever’ with the O2 network. She said O2 is ‘aware’ of the discussion thread at Apple’s board, but she would not say whether O2 considers it a problem or whether it is investigating,” Niccolai reports. “There were no significant complaints about other types of connectivity on the device, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.”
Full article here.
Emma Thelwell, claiming “more than a hundred complaints” regarding reception issues, reports for The Telegraph that “up to 40,000 iPhones were sold over the weekend of the launch of the much coveted gadget, according to O2, the exclusive network provider.”
Full article here.
You know your company’s under the microscope when 36 (or even “more than a hundred”) people* out of 40,000 report reception problems and it qualifies as “news” in some places.
*Along with 10 people who say their iPhones are working perfectly.
first post
senseless
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I don’t even own an iPhone (yet), let alone have any reception problems, and this problem is still annoying me!
Join the club – I have to forward my phone anytime I am further than 20 ft within a building (in the us in NYC).
I have reception problems with my Nokia…. OMG!!!!! Alert the media…..
IN addition to MDN comment,
This could possibly be an O2 issue not the iPhone.
I tried calling Steve Jobs 60ft underground and couldn’t get a reception. I’m gonna sue for $5m because not having any reception made me cry.
So there. (Blows a raspberry)
Yep, same thing in the states. Awful indoors. Much better when hooked up to cradle.
It’s not just the UK. Using an iPhone on the German T-Mobile network I am clearly underwhelmed by the reception of the iPhone. My average no. of lost calls was 2-3 a day with my Nokia and now is 8-10 with the iPhone. Would I switch back? Probably not. (I am a bit naive and just hope it will get better over time.)
I wonder if this is a power saving issue? Perhaps Apple reduces the gain on the signal when the iPhone is operating off of its battery in order to preserve battery life? That is one possible (but highly speculative) explanation for why reception might improve when the iPhone is docked. That would be a good thing, if true, because Apple could then improve the situation by updating the software/firmware.
Or I could be full of it…
welcome to GSM!
i have an iphone and have the same issue, with verizon and CDMA it had huge penetration in any building i was in.
The trouble is I have yet to find a phone in the uk on a range of service providers that performs particularly well.
Zune Tang!!! What should we do?
Gee, when I watch a Hollywood movie people can use their cell phones even if they are under a mountain at the NORAD facility. Ya mean that ain’t for real?
Or in planes at 35,000 feet
My iPhone’s O2 reception is rubbish indoors at home too. and much better when it’s on its cradle. That makes it very tricky to make a call
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My previous (Vodaphone) mobile phone was no better though.
MDN- What the hell is up with the web page scroll to the stupid Winblows window ad.
Very irritating when I try to find were I was reading.
100 out of 40,000 is 0.25%. Just to give you some perspective. Even if those numbers aren’t 100% accurate, they give you a close approximation.
Had a motorola Rokr, Razr and couldn’t make a decent phone call from my apartment on the GSM Rogers wireless network in Canada (approx. 60% dropped calls). Got a blackberry pearl,the signal is much better (approx. 25% dropped calls).
Hope the iPhone will not disappoint me in that regard…
@Brit
“My iPhone’s O2 reception is rubbish indoors at home too. and much better when it’s on its cradle. That makes it very tricky to make a call”
looool !
Use a bluetooth headset, this should be much easier…
This isn’t a new issue or specific to 02. I’m waiting for the end of the semester to go to the Apple store to complain about my phone all of the sudden developing ‘No Service’ syndrome despite having service for the past 3 months. It’s a little ridiculous; I may as well have bought an iPod touch.
I took pictures and video showing how after resetting the network settings, for example, the phone goes from no service to full signal.
I love Apple but they need to look into this and admit something is up. It’s not AT&T;, its the iPhone.
I do not doubt that there are some possible teething problems with the UK iPhone. I would love to see Apple put a tiger team — no pun intended — on the case to demonstrate its commitment to its customers. This could turn a FUD attack into favorable free advertising.
I think they might of had a bad batch, as the first one I had, I could only get 3 bars at work & a friend had 5. The next day I took it back to the Apple Store & even their it was only 3 bars. The Genius swapped it & I had no problems. Just a little note thought, that the 1st one was purchased from an AT&T;Store & the second one that worked, was from an Apple Store…
@Nick
“This isn’t a new issue or specific to 02. I’m waiting for the end of the semester to go to the Apple store to complain about my phone all of the sudden developing ‘No Service’ syndrome despite having service for the past 3 months. It’s a little ridiculous; I may as well have bought an iPod touch.
I took pictures and video showing how after resetting the network settings, for example, the phone goes from no service to full signal.
I love Apple but they need to look into this and admit something is up. It’s not AT&T;, its the iPhone.”
I was having the same issues. No service in areas which were fine in the past. Having the reset the phone and then service mysteriously appears. The final straw was at a restaurant late last week. My buddy has a new Razr phone with AT&T;. He had five bars of service. I had ZERO!!
I took the phone in yesterday to Apple and they replaced it…no charge. Service seems a bit better so far. We’ll see…………
using a nokia on the t-mobile network in the uk, i expect to lose signal whenever i enter a building. its that bad. they cant seem to do anything right over here.