Iphone increased dropped calls after 3.0 upgrade

– June 23, 2009Posted in: iphone, product review

I really do not understand this. But for some reason, I’ve been dropping more calls, and the quality of my calls seems to have degraded. I when I first upgraded, I tried to make a call and it sounded noisy like I had an analog connection. At first I thought perhaps since the baseband was upgraded, it just needed to re optimize the locations of towers. Well, 24 hours later, I have already dropped 4 calls! What the heck?

I did a search on google and found nothing, so this could be some local issue, but 4 dropped calls in 24 hours??? I’m going to give this a few more days. If things do not return to normal then perhaps some extended testing is required.

Has anyone else experienced this?

{Update … I posted an old article here on reducing dropped calls. Hope this helps. }

Tags: dropped calls, iphone 3.0

About perivision

All you need to know you can get here or google. http://www.perivision.net

ccmoo

I have had the same problem with my iphone since the 3.0 upgrade. There have been crackly sounding calls where both my voice and the other person's voice will be garbled, and plenty of dropped calls, and even situations where the 3G network just drops out entirely randomly — even if I'm standing in the same place. Not cool.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Not good at all. I have to return to my habit of keeping 3G off to improve cell performance.
- herbert Leung
  
  I get drop calls most of the time. My friends calls me 67 times and only 1 call got through
Josh

I have had the same issues here in Denver, CO…very disappointing…I thought I worked through all of the drop call issues when I bought the 3G originally. Lots of dropped calls and poor switching between networks. I wonder if they inadvertently forgot to include their reception fixes in the 3.0 release.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  I was kinda of thinking that. I wrote an article in iphoneLife on reducing dropped calls. Given whats going on, I'm going to post it tonight.
- AdS
  
  I drop EVERY call at least once. And connecting a call takes numerous seconds…and all since the 3.0 update!
HELPLESS

This is so rediculous. ever since the 3.0 update the phone is worse than my old razor. the in call quality is terrible and theres always a buzzing sound, ill have perfect service in one spot then suddenly have no service a minute later in the same spot. i cant have a phone call for 3 minutes before the call drops. solutions would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
Jassinpain

Same here such a bummer
- HELPLESS
  
  yea any ideas???
  weird, i noticed that if u squeeze the phone it makes the in call buzzing almost go away, but who wants to do that for long conversations.. im really fed up with at&t. maybe i should get the 3gS?
  - http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
    
    Dude, do NOT squeeze the phone. Most likely you are changing how the antenna is picking up the signel since the antenna is at the bottom. Read what I posted today and experiment for your area.
    - OMGWTF
      
      ok thanks. no more squeezing. but where can i read your potential solutions?
  - TuneG49
    
    hell no f att and f apple theyused us and are now forcing us to upgrade the 3g could have a camcorder and tether but they wont make money. f apple and att. highest dropped calls text plan and voice plan.
AngryUser

I called AT&T 3 times earlier…. 3 dropped calls
http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision

Hmmm.. Something odd is going on. Well, last year I did a bunch of tests to try and understand what was going on. I'll see if I can find my old notes (with the numbers) and recheck things. I posted 4 tips for reducing dropped calls from last year too. The link is at the bottom of this post. But, still. WTH is going on???
OMGWTF

while on the phone with them?! wow… definition of irony. did you get any info in the time you were on the phone with them?
OMGWTF

tonight for the 1st time ever since ive had the phone, ive dropped calls while the phone displayed 2 bars of signal. ive tried everything. turned the phone off, restarted it (home and top button held down) fully charged it, went to differant wi-fi areas, turned off 3g, even synced with itunes (desperate, i know) NOTHING HELPED !:(
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Do this… Read the article I just posted so that you can see the numbers in the upper left. Then walk around the room and try to find where you get the lowest number. Remember, phone orientation matters. Now, if you are getting good numbers, -80 or lower, then something else is messed up. Oh, and turn wifi off.
  - OMGWTF
    
    wow!!!!! thanks a bunch! i didnt even know a field test existed! thanks! i was getting numbers around 85-95
    - http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
      
      Good luck!
      
      Sent from my iPhone, please excuse the typos.
OMGWTF

@perivision:
ive been doing the field test and its really unconsistant. in some places it will dip down to -81, but the moments later, without moving the phone, the number surges to 109. what does this mean and can i do anything else to keep a signal CONSISTANTLY? thanks.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Always hold still at each spot for at least 3 sec. The updates are not in real time.
  - OMGWTF
    
    well i do, but if i stay in one spot and dont change anything at all the number will still jump around? what causes this?
    - http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
      
      Hmm. I don't know. It's like a radio, so anything metal will interfer, like a truck driving by, but every place is different, you have to be really patient and let the phone sit for a min, write the number down, then move. I had to do this to find the dead spots at my place.
      
      Sent from my iPhone, please excuse the typos.
      - OMGWTF
        
        any reason why service could be worse at night?
      - http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
        
        Weather? This is radio we are talking about.
        
        Sent from my iPhone, please excuse the typos.
OMGWTF

im in the mountains of northern VA, 3G coverage is almost non existant at my house.. but no weather here rescently. coverage was fine other than a few slow spots in my basement, but ever since the 3.0 update its a lotttt worse
http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision

Hmm.. sounds like its back to the pre 2.1 days. Not sure what to suggest short of try everything and keep an eye on that reception meter. Good luck!!
- OMGWTF
  
  do you know if AT&T is aware of the problem and working to fix it? im curious if this is all due to the 3GS. maybe they prioritize the new model of the iphone and the older 3G is now service-neglected. since im obviously not the only one suffering from the new problem, im hoping it gets fixed sooner.. but is the 3GS the ultimate sollution? are there any cases that the S is having problems similar to mine? the price just not convenent right now?
  
  also it is now night time and my service is jumping all over the place just like it has been at this hour rescently. dropped calls galore! are there any reasons for this? any incite will be greatly appreciated as ive come to know u as an iphone expert. at least you know way more about the issue than the "professionals" over at AT&T
Grrrrr

Here in Dallas, I switched from Verizon where I rarely dropped a call, but with new pre-3.0 iPhone, dropped calls were more numerous. With 3.0 they're even worse. Went to AT&T store but was told there wan nothing they could do. I even asked if there was a way to go back to pre-3.0 and was told there was not. Of course, I got my new iPhone 1.5 months before the new 1/2-price phones came out, but with the iron-clad strength of a 2-year contract, there's nothing I can do. So now, I'm screwed. Thanks, AT&T. And Apple… fix your damn over-hyped upgrade before you release it. Do what doctors are supposed to do… whatever you do, don't make the patient worse!!
JS

I’m having the same problem! many many dropped calls and static calls after upgrading to 3.0, even when it shows 5 bars of coverage. this is getting annoying –
Amaldon

It is happening. Since 3.0 more no signal warnings, dropped calls, ppl cant hear me, less coverage. . You are nor alone.
Skala

I've got very poor voice quality sometimes. The signal is strong and in the beginning of the conversation the other person is hearing me pretty well, but after 40 – 60 seconds he can't hear me almost at all, my voice is fragmented, we can hardly continue. After rebooting the device everything is ok for some time, and then again.

I've got iPhone 3G with new firmware 3.0 uploaded from Apple.

Somebody has got some solution?
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Did you look at my post on 4 way to reduce dropped calls?
Stratford, CT

This is definitely happening. I not only anecdotely experienced it, like many, but I have my wife's iphone, which I have not yet updated, for comparison. In the same house, mine will be on the E network, and hers is on G. I'm experiencing dropped calls, she is not.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Weak. There HAS to be something going on. the 3.1 update was just release (just wrote a short post on it). I hope it will address the problem, but, as always with Apple, they are quite about it.
Pingback: Will the iphone 3.1 update reduced dropped calls? Maybe … | As Seen Through PeriVisioN
Naven

Yes i have had the same problem. I was talking to my gf last night and i had my call dropped 9 times.
Very bad cingular. I hope they fix it or end my contract without charge.
Paulie

Yes, I am on an original iPhone – just updated the OS and since then had very strange behavior. Dropped calls when not moving, and I have bars. Then, unable to retry the failed call. I've had something possibly unrelated where i was unable to answer a call I received, after I moved the slider across and the phone just continued to vibrate and continued and continued until I shut it off completely, which took forever. This has only happened once, but my main beef is with the dropped calls. On average I've had 2-3 dropped calls per day, if not more. I am ready to throw this thing against the wall – so frustrated
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Sigh. This is the first time I did an update and things worked worse.
Mike

Same happening to me and I have the 3GS model. I live in the Seattle area. The symptoms are crackling and garbled sound then usually the call is dropped. Hopefully it can be fixed in a software update???
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  That same thing with the 3GS? Sad. Well, 3.1 is already in the works. Lets cross our fingers that it solves some of our problems.
Ron

Ditto in AA, MI. Grrr!
Tom P

I live in the United Kingdom, since upgrading my 3G to 3.0 i keep loosing my signal in areas where it used to work fine without any problems before I upgraded. Its quite annoying when you want to make a call and have to wave your phone in the air like a mad man for it to pick up a signal. Also my internet and apps seem to load a lot slower… even when I'm on W-Lan. So far I haven't experienced any dropped calls, but have had the problem where the phone wont answer and just continues to vibrate and ring.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Silly isnt it? You have looked my post for reducing dropped calls yea? Waving your phone in the air (except in anger) is not the best way to find a singnal.
Brenden

I too am having massive dropped calls since the 3.0 upgrade. I live in Boulder, CO..

I have been virtually unable to use my phone when I am at work and am having issues in other locations as well. The phone is barely usable at this point.
PAT

ANYONE GETTING THIS TO APPLE- I RETURNED 3 PHONES BEFORE THE APPLE STORE TOLD ME THE TRUTH – THAT DROPPED CALLS ARE COMMON.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  The word is out.. I've talked to the apple store and got the same story. These is a new update coming out soon, 3.1 All we can do is cross our fingers and hope they fix this issue. However, keep bugging them, its the only way things will change.
Gene

Same issue here in NJ.
2 new iphones later, calls still dropping…Finally told my AT&T to turn off 3G until Apple comes up with a fix.
dropping calls when driving and dropping calls with 3 bars showing……go figure
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  If can turn 3G on and off on your phone yourself. In fact, my fav jailbreak app is one that allows me to control all the radio function on one screen, SBSetting.
Doug

All the same issues in Sacramento, CA.
Dropped calls are occurring more frequently, sometimes 5 times within a 10 minute conversation. Seems to occur most often in my apartment, even though I have 4 or 5 bars at all times there. Even more infuriating is that now the screen won't respond to my touching "Slide to unlock" when a call comes in. Missed calls are stacking up.
Paulie

In addition to dropped calls I'm also seeing:

Vibration kicks off on receiving calls or plugged in to power and won't stop. Have to power off phone to make it cease.
Phone locks up, can't answer calls with slider, doesn't respond.
Opening different default applications, including text, takes forever – initial screen loads but then takes a while for content to load
Keyboard is unresponsive at times with Notes or Text application

Anyone else seeing any of these?
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Oh, thats a good point. Yes, because the connection is weaker, some apps will load slower and perform slower because either the app is trying to make a connection or an app running in the background (mail) is trying to use digital and its slowing down. Its a sad time isnt it? I'm thinking I may have to write another post on this just to keep the pressure up.
http://www.donlambert.net Don Lambert

Dido on the dropped calls after updating to 3.0. I'm averaging 5 dropped calls a day and often multiple drops during long conversations. All in areas that I did not have a problem before and with full bars. Also, my phone (3G, 16gb) started working pretty slow after the update. Haven't been able to resolve either issue.

Has anyone had success with tech. support, either apple or att?
MrsWoman

Since upgrading my iPhone 2G from 2.1 to 3.01 I can't hear anyone when I make a phone call. Great! Now I have a lovely iPod Touch with a camera and SMS… Any ideas what's gone wrong there please?
http://Perivision Dan Gunther

I had good luck with my first 3G phone, which worked well for approximately 12 months, then died. Apple was very good about replacing the phone (at no charge) and that phone worked for 9 days. I received my second replacement yesterday and have had over 90% of calls dropped. Then I get a “no service” message, followed in a couple minutes by the “you need to restore your iPhone, calls cannot be completed”. I’ve now restored twice the phone I just received yesterday. Is Apple just recycling refurbished phones? I can’t imagine this kind of bad luck.
Andy C

I have a 32GB 3GS with OS 3.01. I live in central Manhattan, work on the 20th floor of a Manhattan office. I'm presuming that I should have NO problems, right? WRONG!! I think on average about 1 in 3 calls are dropped. I have missed many calls where the phone doesn't even ring, goes straight to voice mail and then I don't get the voice mail for up to 4 days! Calling another Iphone user on OS 3.01 is impossible, I usually give it about 1 minute before it will drop. On one occasion we just resorted to SMS. The Iphone is no longer a professionally capable product, NOBODY can drop off a conference call 3 times and maintain professional dignity. Its becoming what the Imac did to Apple in the mid nineties. Good for fun but not a serious tool anymore.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Did it work for you under 2.x?? And since you are the third person to complain about 3.0.1 I'm guessing the update did nothing.
http://twitter.com/ZenCoder @ZenCoder

It seems that I am not the only one experiencing this issue. I have an iPhone 2G (1st Gen) I have been using it quite successfully for the past year with no major problems. Just a few days ago, I updated to OS v3.0 via RedSnow (mac) and the upgrade seemed to go fine. the phone restored and i was on 3.0 and i synched all my contacts, messages and even notes! successfully. Then I noticed starting yesterday, that people were telling me that they were trying to call my phone but the kept getting the message "out of coverage area' I tested it with my office mates and they got the same error message. When I call them I can connect with no problem (although sound quality is bad, but this may be a handset issue) Also, I can send and receive SMS with no problem. Although I am not sure if others are trying to text me and are not getting through
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  was it 3.0 or 3.0.1?
David

Welll, I'm up here in Canada on Rogers and since upgrading to 3.0 and 3.0.1 I have had bad phone connections. Dropped calls, losing the 3G, E and getting my first o connections since buying the iPhone 3G last year in September. 3.0 is flakey in certain ways. The antenna fluctuates oddly and looses signal/power even when not moved. I place the phone to sleep with 5 bars, wake it and it's displaying 3 bars… after 10 secs awake, it goes back to 5 it's almost as if it throttles the signal to preserve battery… really odd! Even after completing a call, I'll see the 3G signal that was 5 bars is often 2-3 when done. 10 seconds later, back to 5… This is surely a Firmware/OS issue. Hopefully, it will get addressed when 3.1 is released!!!
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  well, it seems from everyone I've heard from that 3.0.1 did not help. Guess its time to write an update post.
  - David Cushing
    
    I just upgraded to 3.1 four days ago. I was using 3.0.1 up until then with no problems at all. Since the latest upgrade, (1) about 50% of the time I cannot make an outgoing call. Turning my phoine off and on again solves this problem, for a while, (2) when I do make a call, it drops sometime between 3 and 5 minutes in, every time, (3) when the phone is in the "cannot call" state (i.e., if I have not turned it of and on again in the last hour or so) I cannot receive calls, but instead they go straight to voicemail, (4) I do not get the voicemails on my phone, but I can call in manually and retrieve them, (5) I have reset to factory settings and erased all the data, twice, and it is no help, (6) I have found that if I turn off 3G, the phone works (i.e., incoming and outgoing calls are working fine now), but it will not show any voicemails waiting and I have to call in periodicaly to see if there are any (but at least now that I am receiving calls, I see a missed call and I can call to check voicemail).
  - David Cushing
    
    Two more data points on my message of a few minutes ago – the signal strength in my home has always been OK, although not great, and all of the problems I have been having happen when I am still seeing four bars of signal strength. And my daughter has an iPhone (an older one, not 3G) and she upgraded to 3.1 some time ago and has had no problems.
    - http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
      
      Have a look at the link I provided at the bottom of this post. It will let you see a lot more detail about reception as well as change your display from bars to numbers. Would be interested is seeing the diff between your 3G and your daughters 2G
Pingback: Want to reduce drop calls and poor performance on AT&T, give them more money! | As Seen Through PeriVisioN
Andreas

I have a similar problem. Searched the net but still no solution.

I have a 2G iphone with firmware 1.1.4 and I recently upgraded it to OS 3.0.

I can send messages, receive messages, make outgoing calls but i CAN'T RECEIVE CALLS.

I restored it more than 6 times, still nothing. I jail-broke it with redsnow 0.8.

When I restore it, I can get calls for few minutes (i checked it with my house phone) but after that it says something like ''the subscriber you called is unavailable''. It's like my iphone is turned off which is not.

I noticed that if I change the status of Call Waiting to ON/OFF it can receive calls for a few minutes and then the problem reappears.

I am at dead end.

PS. I reboot it, restore it and still nothing.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  hmm… try running the battery all the way to dead. The restore. I have no ideas from there.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision
  
  Also, they just released 3.1.2 with a revised baseband. You may want to try that too.
http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision

I've heard nothing so far, but I have been looking. I have to imagine they are hearing the complaints. I do not think this has much to do with 3gS because I do not think ATT has turned the newer com features on yet. I have to images something was messsed up with the revised baseband firmware on the iphone, and the ONLY way that will be fixed is an update from Apple. So I'm afraid we are screwed till they address this issue. I would keep complaining though.. they will not do anything unless there are enough complaints from users.
OMGWTF

have you heard many complaints on the same issue yet though? it will take a lot more than just a few problems before they fix it. and are there any problems that you know of with the 3gS?
http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision

Not as much as I would have expected. Also, how old is your SIM card? Sometimes.. sometimes getting a new simcard helps reduce dropped calls. I still do not fully understand why (or believe it) but I've heard through the interwebs it helps. So if you were at the edge of coverage, and 3.0 was just worse enough to push you over the line, then perhaps a new card might get you get enough improved performance to see a reduction of dropped calls. Also, when you go to the apple story, they should have a log of your dropped calls.
OMGWTF

well i think i got new sim at the begining of october wen i 1st got the 3g. is that old?
http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision

Not sure.. You can always reload it just to be sure. Does not hurt anything
OMGWTF

didnt help at all……
but really, does time of day affect the service? because mine is always significantly worse at night.
http://intensedebate.com/people/perivision perivision

Kind of hard to explain in a comment, but do a search on am/fm reception how to improve. Many sites will explain the details of what is going on as well as further tips to deal with reception. Keep in mind, a cell phone is a type a radio.

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Iphone increased dropped calls after 3.0 upgrade

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