i-Everything-But-Phone ?
July 22nd, 2007 by ktula
Anyone who’s known me well the last few years will know that i am a huge fan of Apple products. Ever since i bought an Apple Power Mac G4 Cube back in 2000, i have always been following Apple products religiously. I am a diehard atheist and the closest thing to being religious for me is probably being in the “cult” of Apple. Throughout the years, i have spent some significant amount of dough on Apple products:
- First generation 5GB iPod. This iPod has accompanied me to different parts of the world, including Austria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore and was on uncountable flights across the US.
- First generation 17″ 1GHz Powerbook. This thing almost cost me an arm and a leg.
- Airport Express. One of my best investments. I carry it with me on EVERY business trip.
- First generation 500MB iPod Shuffle.
- Second generation 2GB iPod Mini.
- Mighty Mouse.
- Bluetooth-enabled Mighty Mouse.
- Second generation 8GB iPod Nano.
So it is no different that on the day iPhone was released, i found myself waiting in line, braving the alternate funky rainy/sunny weather for about an hour and a half, before i found myself happily carrying my iPhone out of the Apple Store at the University Village.
After a week of use, i realized that in my house, especially in my living room, my calls were being dropped almost half the time. When i initiated a call, the signal would be either 4 or 5 bars (5 bars is full). In the middle of the call, the signal would drop down to 1 bar while i was sitting in the same location and eventually, my call would be dropped. This would happen to the next few consecutive calls.
Two weekends ago, i contemplated returning my iPhone. Since i did not want the hassle of switching back to T-Mobile, i contacted AT&T and asked if i could remain on their network but without the two-year contract. AT&T told me there was no way they could provide me service without a 2-year contract! I was literally giving them business and and yet, they refused! After talking to an Apple iPhone support personnel on the phone, i brought my iPhone back to the Apple Store with the intention of returning it. After talking to one of the guys at the Genius Bar, i was convinced to try out another iPhone and so that was exactly what i did.
Unfortunately, the new replacement iPhone exhibited the exact same problem. It was useless calling AT&T for support. After explaining my problem to him, the AT&T support technician told me that AT&T does not guarantee reception within a building and even though another phone (SE W810i) using AT&T network in the same location exhibited no such problem, there was nothing he could do. I called Apple support again and i went through a few things to try to get this resolved like re-seating the SIM card by taking it out and putting it back it, reset the phone by holding the Home and Power On/Off button for 8 seconds and also by restoring the iPhone. Nothing worked.
Is the drop call issue due inherently to iPhone’s design, or is it because of a combination of iPhone and AT&T’s network? I do not have a clue. If somehow i am able to use iPhone on T-Mobile’s network, i may be able to come to a more conclusive understanding of the problem. But since iPhone is locked to AT&T’s network, i am not willing to be forced to stay on my AT&T contract for the next two years (i can cancel my AT&T contract within 30 days without paying the $175 cancellation fee) trying to figure out if this problem is fixable by a firmware upgrade.
So i come to this sad but inevitable conclusion that iPhone is not ready for me yet. Even though iPhone is lacking a lot of the features that i normally expect a cellphone to have, i have enjoyed browsing the web with Safari and the seamless integration between Google Map, Safari and Contacts. But first and foremost, iPhone is supposed to be a phone. If i cannot consistently make/receive calls without having them dropped, for me, everything else is secondary. The only reason why i switched to AT&T was because it is the exclusive mobile carrier for iPhone. About an hour ago, i went back to the Apple Store and reluctantly returned my iPhone. Without my iPhone, there is absolutely no reason for me to stick with AT&T, whose claim to fame is “Fewest Dropped Calls” (apparently that does not apply to me), so about 15 minutes ago, i switched myself back to T-Mobile!
Throughout my dealings with Apple support (both the phone support and at the Genius bar), they have been extremely friendly and helpful to me. And even though they were not able to help me resolve the drop calls issue, i have nothing but praise for their excellent customer service.
Update: 2007/09/16
On the day after iPhone was unlocked by the hardworking folks at iPhone Dev, i decided to get myself another 8GB iPhone. I got it unlocked the following evening and have been using it on T-Mobile’s network since that day. I am very happy to say that i have not had a call dropped on me yet 
StHalcyon
Says
It is definitely the service. For some odd reason, of all the places I have been to, I have the spottiest reception in my own condo. I suspect that the radio frequency is easily manipulated by the wind (at the lake, in the 6100 North block of Chicago). How the hell else does it explain why I always have a full bar, but at random indiscrimante times, no service? And within seconds, full bar again. I have the most dropped calls when I’m within the confines of my building. It doesn’t matter if it is my Nokia N91, or the 7610, or the old clunky GSM phone I used to have. It’s the service, man. I think that the “Fewest Dropped Calls” is just a trademark, not a claim. Just like a bank’s name with the word “Federal” does not mean it is a government-run bank. AT&T is the most dropped call network, I swear.
I’m staying with them though, because once I leave my high rise, I have perfect service everywhere else. Doesn’t make sense to me…
Jul 22nd, 2007 at 21:37
ktula
Says
That does not explain why my girlfriend’s Sony Ericsson phone, on the same AT&T network, sitting right next to me, not having any of the drop call issue that i have with AT&T. Even when the signal strength in my iPhone was fluctuating between 5 bars to next to nothing, her phone was perfectly fine!!! How do you explain that?
I’ll put my money on the combination factor of iPhone and AT&T’s network.
That said, the day when someone frees the iPhone from AT&T, i will give it another shot. In the meantime, i am sending my money to the hardworking folks at The iPhone Dev Wiki.
Jul 22nd, 2007 at 22:04
StHalcyon
Says
You have a point. I’ve owned 4 different Nokia phones since living here in Chicago. All of them experiences the same full bar, no bar, full bar effect. You suppose Nokia’s design is bad too? What I don’t get is that I have perfect service in some thick, high rise buildings in downtown Chicago. Just my home. It doesn’t make sense whatsoever. That’s why I honestly think the radio waves are easily disturbed by the strong Lake Michigan winds. I know I’m not supposed to be superstitious, but in this matter, I think I’d opt for that.
Oh, and I also had another theory for a while, but have long abandoned it. I suspect that my location is stradling between two competiting towers. In other words, both towers are almost equivalent in distance away from me, just different directions. For a while I thought that whenever I get a 30 second window of no service, I suspect that it my phone is switching between one tower to the next. Although they are of equal distance, depending on unique situations, the phone might think that the other signal is better, thus switching over.
If this theory is true, then it is a matter of software algorithm that is flawed. Perhaps the threshold telling the phone to switch to a different tower was a little too sensitive.
Of course, now comes the flaw that made me abandon my theory. I never get dropped when I’m on the phone riding the L or the bus. And I’ve covered almost 10 miles in that journey. So obviously the tower hopping is quick and transparent, thus not explaining why the 30 second window of no service.
I have pretty much given up on having a clear reception at home. People who call me will always just assume it was my service that got screwed up when the line goes dead.
Jul 23rd, 2007 at 23:11
ktula
Says
I think i am already suffering from the iPhone withdrawal syndrome. For the three weeks that i had an iPhone, i was constantly using the WIFI/EDGE connectivity of the iPhone to browse the web and also to check my email. Yesterday when i was traveling to Providence, i was carrying my really old Sony Ericsson T610i (the phone with the worst reception that i have ever known). There is no WIFI/EDGE on the T610i and apparently i didn’t even have the necessary setting on it to get on T-Mobile’s GPRS network. So i whipped out my Nintendo DS Lite, connected to the airport’s WIFI network and surfed the web using the Opera browser!
Jul 24th, 2007 at 05:47