Apple admits third of iPhone calls in New York are dropped

iPhone owners actually use the phone?

I now know quite a few people with a JesusPhone and they are mainly intelligent. But when it comes to their toy the intelligence seems to cut out. They love it so much they seem to be prepared to put up with all kinds of shit (higher tarriffs, poor service, etc.) for the privilege of owning.

Kudos to Apple for coming up with the ultimate McGuffin.

per a previous comment of mine on El Reg

Choose a bright screen and data or long battery life and good radio performance. You can't have it all

No IPhone but have AT&T and was in NYC recently...

and the coverage was the equivalent of, hmm, sucking thick mud through a drinking straw. No, it was slower than that. And 1 of 3 being dropped isn't far off...

Even worse than voice was data coverage. There essentially wasn't any. Zip.

and yet the advertise excellent coverage?

www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer

Alternate view

I'd wager an alternative to more spectrum would be providers who actually give a shit about service. A little mobility between mobile service providers would go a long way to fixing the problem. Screw that must use provider "A" to have phone "B" shit.

Still waiting for the commodification of wireless spectrum. I know, it's going to be a long wait but I really don't see anything compelling coming down the pike.

Better yet, dish out that spectrum to new providers

With several more cell phone companies in the US, I bet we'd see that dropped call rate approach zero.

Hmm..

This is why, here in the UK, I've put off getting an iPhone. Sure, they're not super-magical solve-all-your-problems phones, but there's quite a few apps that would be really very useful to me, but I'm not trading that usefulness for lack of connectivity on 02 (which is rubbish in my area - a couple of friends have them and the amount of time they spend wandering round peering at their handsets, looking for a decent connection just doesn't seem worth it).

I thought about buying an iPod Touch, but that'd mean carrying around two things to break/lose/have stolen, and I've gotten used to my phone being an all-in-one. The news that the iPhone's coming to Orange is good for me, since their coverage is excellent, and my current contract runs out at the start of November.

Same over here on O2?

I'm awaiting the outcome of scrap/media frenzy of which networks will be selling the iPhone 3GS alongside O2, in the hope of being able to upgrade to one later this year. I'm currently on O2 with a Nokia N73 and noticed that call quality, call volume, signal strength and coverage is definitely getting worse - especially over the last couple of months!

I regularly get disconnected mid-conversation, seemingly at random. It can happen at any time, whether I'm at home (full 3G in Nottingham), walking around city centres (again full 3G) driving on the M1 to and from work (junctions 26-33 using a car kit) or at work (half 3G signal). As soon as I get disconnected I look at the phone (not in the car, obviously, officer), and I've got full signal strength! What's going on?

Surely it's about time the phone companies moved to an intelligent, nearest mast auto-reconnection technology instead of desperately trying to hold on to the last mast you're connected to for as long as possible?

I used to be on Orange and got 1 minute of credited talk time automatically if I was every disconnected. Ironically, I moved to O2 back in 2005 because their coverage was better than Orange's. I've complained to O2 about being disconnected, and was told that it's basically tough, that they don't offer any guarantee of connectivity, and won't be re-compensing me! WTF!?

O2 is crap and I'm sick of paying through the nose for their poor coverage!