After a few tests, the Apple Genius determined that Manoj's phone was dropping 22 percent of its calls, which turns out to actually be "excellent" compared to most iPhone users in the New York area, where a dropped call rate of 30 percent is said to be average — according to the dude at the store, anyhow. The Genius further went on to confirm that the phone was indeed "fully functional," and that the problem is "consistent with the service provided by AT&T."
"Apple Genius says 30 percent iPhone call drop rate is average in New York" [Engadget]
(Photo: DeaPeaJay)
Or where I am. Not that I'm thinking of the iPhone. I am faaaar too clumsy for this.
]]>The guy telling a guy, in this case, happens to be someone actually trained to test this particular item, so, in essence, it's expert testimony. I think that sorta counts for something. Don't you? No, you'd rather rely on a paper that actually doesn't present data to say that there's a problem with eyewitnesses.
Ok, I can buy that, people aren't trained to really notice the average guy on the street walking by.
What I can't really follow you on is that the Apple guy is trained to test iPhones. It is his job. He tested it. It dropped calls. He made a statement. Why is this hard to follow?
]]>You can knock Apple all you want, but you have to give them credit for finding a bunch of rich morons for customers...
]]>It's got nothing to do with the iPhone. I have had an iPhone on Rogers since the 3G came out and I have yet to have a single dropped called. I use it as my one and only phone, no landline at all, and I have -- never -- had a problem. This whole dropped call business is entirely AT&T's fault.
I get 5 bars 3G all over the GTA and haven't had a single dropped call. My data is always blazing fast and I can't complain at all. Sure Rogers rapes their customers with their pricing, but the service itself is second to none in Canada, and also the US it seems...
]]>I do agree, though, that GSM was the right way to go. There's a world outside the US, and it's a lot easier to develop one device that works anywhere (which is why the G in GSM stands for Global).
As for the superior comment and rebuttal, I won't touch that one with a 10-foot clown pole. Both sides seem to be baiting the Great Flame War, and I'm a pacifist on this one. (Full disclosure: I own an iPhone, and worked at Option-Shift-K for a good while).
]]>This story is extremely suspect. I can't see any way the AT&T network is dropping 30% of only iPhone calls. They'd me dropping a third of everyone's calls, and that would be highly noticable.
]]>/waiting for my contract to run out
//you couldn't pay me enough to get an iPhone
So novel that AT&T is spending $18 billion this year alone on infrastructure. Sure, it may be late, but it's getting done. If the shareholders would consent to taking a short-term hit on profitability to put that money into the network, it would be getting done much faster.
]]>Exactly. If I went in to an AT&T store and got a sales guy to type out something that says, "Dropped calls due to poorly developed iPhone firmware", would that make the front page of the Consumerist?
Also, if it is such an AT&T network problem, how come the dropped call rate isn't 30% for all phone models that use the network? If that were the case, it would be a bigger story than, "Some guy says AT&T drops a lot of iPhone calls". I'm not saying that the network doesn't have problems, but the results of one retail troubleshooter does not necessarily reflect the entire reality of the situation.
]]>This actually happened at a convention; I get the feeling it was traffic from all the people and all the cellular credit card machines. Still, I never had that problem on Sprint.
]]>@remington870_20ga: Um, there are two issues with your comment:
A.) Stating that the iPhone is superior. This is probably poor word choice as it is a good phone, but we cannot say it is superior to anything since you don't state what you're comparing it to.
B.) GSM is in more of the world than CDMA. It was probably a better decision for worldwide penetration to be GSM, rather than CDMA*.
*I assume that you are referencing the old rumor that they offered it to Verizon first and Verizon turned them down. Though that wouldn't be surprising based on Verizon's phone offerings, it is hasn't really been substantiated by either Verizon or Apple.
]]>As for VZW and Sprint working better, of course they do! Verizon has been more aggressive about getting signal repeaters INSIDE buildings so there are fewer deadzones. Sprint has a relatively small coverage area and so can cover the area with antennae intensively.
The transition over the next few years to LTE is going to be messy for all us though, regardless of carrier. An yes, this does mean new phones for all of us.
]]>It still kills me how a superior phone is sitting on a bad network. iPhone should have been CDMA from the get go.
]]>@tbax929 is back from the beach: Probably a localized AT&T issue. We use AT&T at work because they were the only ones we could get a decent and fairly reliable signal with at work.
If this is in NYC, does the prevalence of all the buildings have anything to do with it? Do they interfere with the signal?
]]>@Preyfar: Wow, I've had no problems at all with 3.1. Weird...which iPhone do you have?
]]>Wait a second, you mean the iPhone isn't perfect in every way?! Ohhhh nooooez!
]]>Most of the time I can get no more than 30-60kbps max here...and this is primarily on campus or in nearby areas, which is where I'd imagine that they would have decent coverage! (And these are areas where I get 5 bars and usually do not have problems with call quality.) To me this is a bit unacceptable considering that AT&T advertises speeds of 75-135kbps, and that I recall getting EDGE speeds of 150-200kbps on the last smartphone that I used a data plan on.
Anyone have any experience dealing with AT&T on matters like these? I figure I'm probably screwed (outside of switching to another provider) but was just curious if any other Consumerist readers have had similar issues.
]]>It's a shame that you cant cancel avoiding ETFs based on the crappiness of AT&T's network.
]]>I've been considering an iPhone, but the prospect of dropped calls is a little scary to me. Cool apps and all that crap is great, but the main premise for having a phone (at least for me) is the ability to, you know, make phone calls.
]]>I think I might average 1-2 drops a week on Nextel with my Blackberry, and that's in known "All Carrier" Dead Zones, and even some of the known spots have gotten better lately.
]]>I've got to be in the minority for almost everything on here...lol I'm happy with my Comcast service and have AT&T for my cell phone and haven't had any major problems with it for the 7.5 years I've had them. Any small problems I had (billing error or plan changes or questions), were usually resolved with one phone call and within 30 minutes or so. I wouldn't have any other cell phone company as I get excellent coverage in my area and haven't had a dropped call in over 2 years.
]]>People just really like the iPhone. I know I do.
]]>Obviously, things have not changed much, since then.
]]>Sorry. Couldn't resist.
]]>Except that a 30% call drop rate DNE only usable 2/3 of the time.
]]>Some guy told some guy. Really?
And, even if this true, it is the drop rate for declaring a phone defective.
Got a beef with AT&T fine but Jesus act like a report not the guy talking smack about somebody's mom.
]]>