“iPhone 3G users in Australia and around the world are suffering from slow internet speeds and poor reception because of a flaw in the device that may have been fixed if not for Apple’s immense culture of secrecy,” Asher Moses reports for The Age.
“A source at an Australian telco who did not wish to be named said Apple – paranoid about keeping the device under wraps – only provided the iPhone 3G to carriers the day before it went to market, leaving them with no time to test it thoroughly on their networks,” Moses reports.
“Users in Australia, Europe and the US have flooded online forums – including Apple’s own discussion boards – with complaints of poor reception, slow internet speeds and dropped calls,” Moses reports. “The poor reception – often displayed as one bar – and slow speeds are occurring in areas of good coverage and do not seem to affect other phones.”
“Jessica Forrest, Vodafone Australia’s spokeswoman, said the iPhone 3G issues were device-specific and nothing to do with the carriers’ networks,” Moses reports. “‘We are aware of the issues on the iPhone 3G and we’re working with Apple to provide a solution,’ she said, declining to elaborate.”
“In the Netherlands, T-Mobile also blamed the iPhone 3G’s reception issues on Apple,” Moses reports. “On a company blog it said the problem was a “hardware/software issue” specific to the iPhone itself. The Australian local telco source also said the issue was a software problem.”
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “George” for the heads up.]
As we stated yesterday, a software problem is the best case scenario as the issue can be fixed with a firmware update.
I have OPTUS here in Oz and my reception with my 3G iPhone is better than my 1st Gen iPhone and any other phone I have had. Usually at my home, I get minus 5 bars! Now I have reception 24/7 at 3 to 4 bars.
Optus had the phone at least a week before launch and I am sure others did too. However, “stick to their knitting” Telstra was late to the party and I know of peopel who are having issues with “we don’t care about our customers, we care about our shareholders” Telstra. Why? Because they are —-fill in the blank with your own derisive comment—– (I was going to say pigs but that is an insult to pigs)…
All in all I am VERY pleased with my 3G iPhone – even the 1st months bill was OK. I just wish we had visual voicemail.
Cheers…
I’m sticking w/my first generation iPhone until they fix this in the U.S. Once they do, though, it’s off to the races!
Go Apple!!
Okay, I know this is C/NET but I am curious as to what the results will be (for the US only).
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10014633-37.html?tag=mncol;txt
Anyone know of similar studies being conducted?
Peace.
I really don’t know what this guy is talking about reception has been fine for me. As a matter of fact, 3G reception is better than my old Tilt on the same AT&T;network.
Oh, one last thing. iNetworkTest.com tests connection speeds on the iPhone. Using their site (not the 99 cents app one can purchase and download), my best results (out of 3 tries each) were:
Edge – 248.4 kbps
3G – 444.1 kbps
Wifi – 1355.3 kbps
Yep, I live in a 3G covered area in the Northeastern part of the US. Was told by ATT that the local tower is 1900 MHz.
Peace.
In Canada, with Rogers I have noticed no problems with my iphone. Only some rural areas do not allow 3g use….Other than that no complaints!
“A source at an Australian telco who did not wish to be named said Apple – paranoid about keeping the device under wraps – only provided the iPhone 3G to carriers the day before it went to market, leaving them with no time to test it thoroughly on their networks,” Moses reports.
Surely they wouldn’t do that?! Oh wait…isn’t that exactly what they did with Leopard too? It is getting kinda silly.
Uh huh, okay sure…
I have bad 3G reception at home and in my office, but while riding the commuter train to work, I have excellent 3G reception, so it seems like it can’t all be the hardware of the iPhone’s fault.
My wife and I both bought 3G iPhones, and our 3G reception hasn’t been so good. I don’t know if it’s AT&T;’s coverage (we live in the Chicago metro area) or the phones, because sometimes I can get as many as 4 or 5 bars in some spots, but then there are other places (like my house) where I just get 1 bar. That leads me to believe it’s the network and not the phone, but I don’t have another 3G phone to use for comparison.
I sure hope these phones aren’t hosed.
WiFi – 1304 kb/s
Edge – 40 kb/s
3G – 200 kb/s
And I’m across the street from an AT&T;tower.
Interesting thing about the WiFi is that my laptop gets 13,650 kb/s on the same connection.
Like I said yesterday. It appears little or no serious testing was done.
Talking to a new client today, a small public relations firm, though they count many large and well known companies and individuals among their clients, about mobile communications.
They’re all hot for the new iPhone 3G.
I’m going to advise that if they can wait, I think iPhone 3G will eventually be the way to go, but due to massive amounts of reported problems and my own experiences with two phones, I’d hold off on going iPhone 3G right now.
If they need solid fast 3G mobile communicaitons there are better *phones* out there.
WOW
Telco typles, i.e management are a little butchy these days! Liten up guys and get back to county the money!
One bar of signal from AT&T;?
That’s the usual condition on my AT&T;phone where I live.
“More bars in more places” is AT&T;’s advertising slogan.
In reality, you might think that they have Carrie Nation as their CEO.
@Mittens Romney
Logical conclusion given the data, however here’s a bit more data. I just went inside and got a friend’s Moto Q 3G phone. His phone shows full bars with or without 3G on. With 3G on, my iPhone 3G shows no bars.
His phone gets a little over 600 kb/s consistently while my iPhone 3g tops out at 200 kb/s, but fluctuates between 90 and 200.
My results, live in hills just east of San Jose, CA.
Edge 47 kbs
3G 637
WiFi 2906 (I have comcast cable and airport)
pretty interesting discussion…..the “all over the map” reports makes it very hard to nail down…if it is the iphone, why not all iphones? why not on all networks?
ad hoc user reports on this can be very misleading as most users have no clue how it works or why they are getting the b/w or issues they are experiencing.
I do remember someone at Duke U. who reported the 2007 iphone was defective and flooded their wireless network with packets. “no way it was his network or Cisco’s problem” — of course, in the end, it was his network.
In most locations in the US, IME, getting a good cell signal and counting bars is a shot in the dark at best – with a high degree of daily variance due to load, location, weather and what you are wearing that day.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> I suspect 3G just amplifies it more.
The main issue is actually a Telco one and has more to do with how their own network software handles contention. As for the number of bars you see on your mobile, that is NOT the signal strength of your preferred carrier but the signal strength on the frequencies your phone is capable of receiving.
At the end of the day the only real proof for data is what throughput you get and for voice what is the proportion on dropped calls. Different algorithms and processes are used for each. The protocol handshaking for data is more rigid and unforgiving than for voice.
I know of more than 200 iPhone 3G users here in the UK who are all except one, very very happy. The odd man out has decided that he cannot get on with the touch screen keyboard which is another issue entirely.
Earlier comments about Telstra’s attitude are consistent with what I found with them about all sorts of services and products since before they were called Telstra. Always it is someone else’s fault.
The all over the map reports are what is scary. How many of us would eat at a restaurant if some of the people reported a great meal, others a so-so meal, and others got food poisoning? If the 3G is going to work it has to work well for a very high percentage of the people a very high percentage of the time. This should be obvious.
By the way, did all the Blackberry critics run away to their caves?
Beware, theloniousMac is a troll; Only posts here when the media is trying to slam Apple. Be wary of any reports. I still haven’t seen a “flood” on other forums. Could be M$ or RIM paid BS.
Here is the Anustralian quote: “A source at an Australian telco who did not wish to be named said Apple – paranoid about keeping the device under wraps – only provided the iPhone 3G to carriers the day before it went to market, leaving them with no time to test it thoroughly on their networks,”
Here are some added notes to assist with the interpretation:
“A source at an Australian telco who did not wish to be named” = a source at an Anustralian telco who could not remember his name cause he/she lost their name tag.
“said Apple – paranoid about keeping the device under wraps ” = had actually wrapped the iPhone under complex wrapping that perhaps a child could open but was too complicated for the average Anustralian to figure out.
“only provided the iPhone 3G to carriers the day before it went to market” = was only finally unwrapped the day before it went to market.
” leaving them with no time to test it thoroughly on their networks” = they still need several months of research and reports on how to figure out how to turn the unit on.
It’s always the other persons fault…
I’m with Optus and my reception on the iPhone has been amazingly better than my previous LG phone. Drop out are virtually a thing of the past. I know other people with Optus who have terrible reception from their Nokia’s etc on Optus, so I wouldn’t be blaming the iPhone. It’s clearly better than it’s competitors.