iPhone - 2.2 broken 3G?

[Richard Lowe]

Has anyone else updated their iPhone to 2.2 yet and had problems with the 3G connection and general bad signal strength? I did mine as soon as it was released (hoping they'd fixed the Safari crashing) and now get really bad signal; quite often 'no service' and no 3G connection at all

I thought Apple stuff was supposed to 'just work'

[Dunc]

I've been unable to fetch my emails over GPRS since the 2.2 update (WiFi is fine though - not had a chance to try 3G yet).

On the plus side, battery life seems to be much improved (at last)

[pro4nut]

having been an employee of o2 and still knowing a number of people still working for them the 3g network of o2 is weaker than the others by far. when running the handset in 3g mode it always seeks 3g network and this can cause lost signal.
with a standard gprs or gsm 2g connection the handset can maintain reception up to 27km from a base station in optimum conditions however when using 3g this is effective range is reduced to 5-9km. The 3g module is also less capable of routing multiple users and this can result in reduced coverage and download speeds.

If you want any more dull info let me know.

[Richard Lowe]

The iPhone is pretty poor for for reception itself too afaik, but what isn't working now was working before I updated to 2.2. Funny thing is it worked fine for a day or so, now it doesn't...

You can enable 3G in the menu fine, but it won't pull up a list of currently available providers which it will with 3G turned off.

[Dunc]

I just switched off 3G (no/very weak coverage at home anyway) and now I can fetch my emails again over GPRS - thanks!

More dull info please

Originally Posted by pro4nut

having been an employee of o2 and still knowing a number of people still working for them the 3g network of o2 is weaker than the others by far. when running the handset in 3g mode it always seeks 3g network and this can cause lost signal.
with a standard gprs or gsm 2g connection the handset can maintain reception up to 27km from a base station in optimum conditions however when using 3g this is effective range is reduced to 5-9km. The 3g module is also less capable of routing multiple users and this can result in reduced coverage and download speeds.

If you want any more dull info let me know.

[Richard Lowe]

I've got a dull info request actually, with the icons at the top left what ties to what connection? Obviously '3G' is 3G, and the wifi logo is wifi, I gather 'E' is edge, but what's 'O'?

Sorry if thats a silly question but I can't find them listed anywhere!

[pro4nut]

Will have to get back to you on that one, will give one of the lads a call. I now work for T mobile so i'm a little out of date.
This may sound silly but have you tried the handset in differant locations. For piece of mind outside of an o2 store is often a good choice as they have booster units fitted to make sure the handsets work when customers come in.

[Dunc]

Rich, I'm pretty sure the 'O' is for GPRS.

Originally Posted by Richard Lowe

I've got a dull info request actually, with the icons at the top left what ties to what connection? Obviously '3G' is 3G, and the wifi logo is wifi, I gather 'E' is edge, but what's 'O'?

Sorry if thats a silly question but I can't find them listed anywhere!

[DaveG28]

The 3G signal where I work fails every now and again. It shows 3G on the phone but you have to disable it to get any data at all. Everyone where I am with the iphone finds the same!

[Richard Lowe]

Cheers Dunc, either way according to a speed test app it's sh!t slow!

Thanks for the info Wayne

[jim76]

u square Wayne!! lol

[Richard Lowe]

Originally Posted by pro4nut

This may sound silly but have you tried the handset in differant locations. For piece of mind outside of an o2 store...

I'm going to go down tomorrow after work for a natter, I'd like to know if you can downgrade firmware - if I go back to 2.1 that eliminates software and points to if the phone is faulty of not.

Picking the 'restore' option in iTunes it just warns you it's going to reset to factory settings, which I assume is the same as doing the data wipe on the phone itself. I was expecting it to give you a list of backups to choose from ala windows system restore.

[pro4nut]

Yes the o is gprs.
Restore is quite terminal in that you will go back to box fresh settings and will also lose any apps you have installed.
Opinion is quite divided on the latest i phone sadly the uk network does not fully support the 3g functionality, in fact ofcom have taken o2 to task over there lack of developement of 3g infrastructure.
I used to advise all customers to disable dual mode function and revert to gsm only, this applies to all handsets, and actually works with other networks, especially my own pet hate the N series.....

[Darren Boyle]

Oi leave my N series out of this Mr Elliott!!!! (LOL)

[Richard Lowe]

Will it restore the phone to the origonal 2.0 firmware or just keep 2.2 and wipe everything?

I have the apps backed up in iTunes, I can't find anywhere in stupid arse backwards iTunes that mentions where my contacts are backed up though which I'm most bothered about.

Thanks again for the info

[Dunc]

iTunes will sync your contacts with a local program such as Outlook.

I'm just using the "Windows Contacts" program built in to Vista.

[Richard Lowe]

Originally Posted by Dunc

iTunes will sync your contacts with a local program such as Outlook.

I'm just using the "Windows Contacts" program built in to Vista.

I've just found and enabled that in iTunes, should be go for a restore if all else fails

[ben]

Originally Posted by Richard Lowe

Has anyone else updated their iPhone to 2.2 yet and had problems with the 3G connection and general bad signal strength? I did mine as soon as it was released (hoping they'd fixed the Safari crashing) and now get really bad signal; quite often 'no service' and no 3G connection at all

I thought Apple stuff was supposed to 'just work'

Shouldnt of got an iphone! Does the i-phone have a good video camera on it? And what's the picture messaging like?

[kyoshosteve]

now now dont be bitchy ben

[ben]

Originally Posted by kyoshosteve

now now dont be bitchy ben

hehe The i-phone sounds ace though youtube... well if you can get a wifi signal.. slim chance