I recently upgraded my old iPhone 2G into a snazzy new 3G model. The big new features for this device were the on-board GPS (instead of using cellular and WiFi signals to triangulate) and the fast 3G data capability.
So far, it's pretty much been a total bust.
Oh, the GPS works well enough. That's not the problem. It's the damn 3G data: It simply does not work.
I work in an area that has excellent AT&T coverage. Full-strength on all of my other devices on the same network. Excellent 3G capability on another HSPA phone sitting right next to the iPhone 3G.
But the iPhone 3G doesn't work. It can't connect to the network. 95% of the time, the browser reports "Safari could not open the page because the server stopped responding," which is a lie, because it's the iPhone that can't get on the network.
Streaming applications like Pandora stutter and cough, when they work at all.
Any of the native network applications fail. Being on a 3G iPhone means you have no connectivity.
Apple pushed a firmware update (2.0.2) this week that might have been aimed at addressing the connectivity issues. At least, the speculation is that 2.0.2 did something to address the signal/network issues, because Apple described the update as "Bug Fixes", with no further elaboration. The only reason we all assumed it was to fix the radio was because the one thing it actually seemed to affect was the radio -- but not in the way that Apple intended, I am sure.
Why? Because 2.0.2 made my iPhone 3G into a network-disabled brick. I now cannot use the 3G network side of things at all. Not to make calls, not to surf the Web, not to do anything that requires the 3G cellular network.
Not to worry, though -- Apple has a solution. Turn off 3G.
That's right.
Turn off the one major reason to even buy the 3G iPhone in the first place. Just flip the toggle switch in the Preferences pane and all your problems will go away.
Oh, I'll grant them this: It does solve the iPhone 3G's problems. The only problem it, it turns the device back into a 2G iPhone, basically indistinguishable from my old iPhone.
When I disable 3G, the iPhone does start working again and reports full signal strength, and the network comes back into being.
I am not alone. Many people are conjecturing about what the problem can possibly be, pointing fingers at the firmware, the iPhone's radio chipset and AT&T's network. Honestly, I'd be the first to point the finger at AT&T since I usually have pretty bad coverage and performance out of AT&T almost everywhere, but when I do some controlled testing against another HSPA-capable device, side-by-side with the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3G always fails. It always reports lower signal strength and absolutely refuses to perform network operations in an area where other HSPA devices sing like a canary.
I really, really want my iPhone 3G to work. I really, really want to have faith in Apple again. Mostly, I just want to be able to use the product I paid for.
So far, it's pretty much been a total bust.
Oh, the GPS works well enough. That's not the problem. It's the damn 3G data: It simply does not work.
I work in an area that has excellent AT&T coverage. Full-strength on all of my other devices on the same network. Excellent 3G capability on another HSPA phone sitting right next to the iPhone 3G.
But the iPhone 3G doesn't work. It can't connect to the network. 95% of the time, the browser reports "Safari could not open the page because the server stopped responding," which is a lie, because it's the iPhone that can't get on the network.
Streaming applications like Pandora stutter and cough, when they work at all.
Any of the native network applications fail. Being on a 3G iPhone means you have no connectivity.
Apple pushed a firmware update (2.0.2) this week that might have been aimed at addressing the connectivity issues. At least, the speculation is that 2.0.2 did something to address the signal/network issues, because Apple described the update as "Bug Fixes", with no further elaboration. The only reason we all assumed it was to fix the radio was because the one thing it actually seemed to affect was the radio -- but not in the way that Apple intended, I am sure.
Why? Because 2.0.2 made my iPhone 3G into a network-disabled brick. I now cannot use the 3G network side of things at all. Not to make calls, not to surf the Web, not to do anything that requires the 3G cellular network.
Not to worry, though -- Apple has a solution. Turn off 3G.
That's right.
Turn off the one major reason to even buy the 3G iPhone in the first place. Just flip the toggle switch in the Preferences pane and all your problems will go away.
Oh, I'll grant them this: It does solve the iPhone 3G's problems. The only problem it, it turns the device back into a 2G iPhone, basically indistinguishable from my old iPhone.
When I disable 3G, the iPhone does start working again and reports full signal strength, and the network comes back into being.
I am not alone. Many people are conjecturing about what the problem can possibly be, pointing fingers at the firmware, the iPhone's radio chipset and AT&T's network. Honestly, I'd be the first to point the finger at AT&T since I usually have pretty bad coverage and performance out of AT&T almost everywhere, but when I do some controlled testing against another HSPA-capable device, side-by-side with the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3G always fails. It always reports lower signal strength and absolutely refuses to perform network operations in an area where other HSPA devices sing like a canary.
I really, really want my iPhone 3G to work. I really, really want to have faith in Apple again. Mostly, I just want to be able to use the product I paid for.
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