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Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: PeterB
Date: July 17, 2007 10:31AM
Now that I'm "active", got some questions...

1) I'm getting a lot of "Call failed" messages when I try to dial out. Is this AT&T not having sufficient coverage in my area?

2) Likewise, I'm also getting a fair bit of "cannot activate EDGE" messages. What's this about? And is there some way to prioritize my wi-fi over Edge?

3) Not sure if this is a bug, but it doesn't seem to have brought over the photos I have of my contacts in Address Book. It did bring over all their contact info, just not the photos. Weird...




Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: Ken Sp.
Date: July 17, 2007 10:36AM
Those are sure signs of no or low cell phone signal strength. When this happens-look in the upper left, and see how many bars you have.

Did you have ATT before or did you come over from another carrier?
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: PeterB
Date: July 17, 2007 10:39AM
Nope, no previous carrier.

Indeed, I am only getting a bar or two... ugh... looks like I might end up having to return this phone.

Edit: no, wait... now I am getting four or five bars... it seems that the signal strength keeps going in and out. That's kind of like what I get with OTA HDTV around here too... makes for watching HDTV broadcasts an interesting experience, because it's pixelation city.




Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2007 10:40AM by PeterB.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: AlphaDog
Date: July 17, 2007 11:41AM
Where are you when you're using it? I live in an area where the coverage from ALL carriers was very weak for a long time, although my Cingular now almost always gives me 5 bars from any location. In the past, I found that just moving a few feet helped. If I was sitting at the kitchen table, I only had 2 bars, but if I moved into the dining room it went up to 5. I always considered myself lucky, though, because some people who visited and had other carriers couldn't get any reception, even outside.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: PeterB
Date: July 17, 2007 12:14PM
AlphaDog, so far I've only tried my bedroom in my apartment -- that would of course be a major usage point. I'm going to work now (another major usage point), so I will see what it's like there.

Called the AT&T store, they said to try turning the phone off and on again-- not sure why that would make a diff, but I'll give it a shot. I also wonder if it's affected by weather conditions, because we've been having severe thunderstorms and downpours...

I'm still wondering about the Address Book thing (the photos) though... that's just strange, because you'd think they'd have set that up properly...




Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: anonymouse1
Date: July 17, 2007 12:22PM
Turning cell phones off and on calibrates them to the local cell towers, or so we were told by Verizon.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: PeterB
Date: July 17, 2007 01:11PM
Yup, tried the "turn off, turn on" thing, and ... it made no difference. I get signal, but it fades in and out-- going from zero bars to four bars and back to zero. This is unusable-- if it continues like this, I'll end up returning the phone. They claimed (when I called them) that nobody else has reported this problem in my area, but-- what would you expect them to say?

Some other oddities I've noticed:

1) I sometimes have to repeatedly plug and unplug the iPhone to get iTunes to recognize it

2) It seems it doesn't charge via USB2? Or only very slowly? (I've already nearly drained it, seems like the battery power isn't quite as good as advertised...)

3) Strange that you cannot get email while on the phone?? That would be a pretty handy thing to be able to do.

4) Wi-fi reception seems very poor. Compared to my MacBook, which gets pretty much a 100% signal at work, the iPhone is only showing one bar out of three.

Yuck... this is really frustrating, because I very much like the design and the UI -- really intuitive and easy...




Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: Robo
Date: July 17, 2007 01:15PM
I think that's normal. I certainly had times on my Treo with Sprint where it couldnt' get a data signal or a call signal. And it happened far more frequently that on AT&T with my iphone.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: GGD
Date: July 17, 2007 01:38PM
Quote
PeterB
2) It seems it doesn't charge via USB2? Or only very slowly? (I've already nearly drained it, seems like the battery power isn't quite as good as advertised...)

The fast battery drain it most likely related to your poor reception, it's pretty typical for all cell phones to use more battery power when dealing with weak cell signals, even when no call is in progress.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: Big Daddy Cool
Date: July 17, 2007 02:03PM
do you live in a faraday cage?

look around.
Are your walls and ceiling covered with tin foil to keep the internets out?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2007 02:05PM by Big Daddy Cool.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: Harbourmaster
Date: July 17, 2007 02:15PM
Perhaps you have a hardware issue with the phone?

Do you get a good solid signal any other place or does it always seem like it's hunting for signal?

I would be inclined to take it back to the store and ask for a replacement...



Aloha, Ken


“I have developed significant attachments to several members even though I wouldn't recognize them if I sat next to one on a park bench. I'm often tempted when in an airport to walk around, hollering "The Løpe", to see if anyone other than the Homeland Security people will acknowledge me. ” - The Løpe

“Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people. The general government ... can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form, so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.” — George Washington


“in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other." -- Thomas Paine
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: chas_m
Date: July 17, 2007 02:18PM
PeterB:

All I can tell you is that you are experiencing VERY ODD ISSUES that I've not seen ANYWHERE else in ANY trouble reports.

You either have a defective phone, live in a faraday cage (chicken wire in all the walls), or AT&T has cingled you out (ya like that one? smiling smiley) for abusive treatment.

This is NOT the experience the other 700,000 or however many iPhone users are having.



chas_m




[crawlingfromtheusa.blogspot.com] <-- Moving to Canada blog
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: PeterB
Date: July 17, 2007 02:58PM
OK guys, I am now posting this from work... signal here appears excellent, so the problem appears to be my house. Problem is that that IS one of the major places I'd want to be using the phone, so yes, it seems that I must be living in a Faraday cage. grinning smiley ... alternatively, the only other thing that does occur to me-- I do have a good amount of electronics in my bedroom, could I be getting EMI in the room which is interfering with the signal??

Also -- keep in mind, guys -- I'm in NOLA, and the cell issues here are unique. Cingular/AT&T in particular here does NOT have a good reputation for reception... Verizon is generally what people here seem to like.

The only thing that's bothering me at the moment (now that I'm at work) -- the Address Book thing annoys me...




Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: PeterB
Date: July 17, 2007 03:15PM
Ahhh... just found the fix for the Address Book problem... seems like kind of an issue with Address Book, not necessarily the iPhone: [www.everythingiphone.com]
(scrolling down to the bottom part, that worked for me)




Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: billb
Date: July 17, 2007 03:57PM
The "Faraday Cage" thing is not necessarily a joke.
When I was in Los Angeles we went across the valley to some mountain where a new housing developement was. All the houses interior walls were 2x3 studs and ceilings covered with chicken wire nailed to them and plaster or stucco sprayed on the wire.
I had never seen that before.
It was also one of thos e "cookie-cutter" developements with hundreds of identical houses.
Hundreds of houses all being built simultaneously with not one person living in the whole neighborhood, yet.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: pRON aHOLIC
Date: July 17, 2007 04:00PM
Quote
chas_m
PeterB:

This is NOT the experience the other 700,000 or however many iPhone users are having.


Please enlighten us on how you know that every single one of the 700,000 are not specifically having this issue? Have they all contacted you? Are you spying on all of them? That's some incredible product health awareness.



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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: GGD
Date: July 17, 2007 05:42PM
Quote
pRON aHOLIC
Quote
chas_m
PeterB:

This is NOT the experience the other 700,000 or however many iPhone users are having.


Please enlighten us on how you know that every single one of the 700,000 are not specifically having this issue? Have they all contacted you? Are you spying on all of them? That's some incredible product health awareness.

I think that power is a side effect of bathing in Kool Aid.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: chas_m
Date: July 17, 2007 06:38PM
Quote
PeterB
2) Likewise, I'm also getting a fair bit of "cannot activate EDGE" messages. What's this about? And is there some way to prioritize my wi-fi over Edge?

Nobody ever answered this part of your question, so I will.

YES, you just need to touch Settings -> Wi-Fi (which probably shows "Not Connected") -> touch the name (not the > thing) of your network when it comes up. If there's a password, you'll be asked for it. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ENTRY, the iPhone keyboard likes to substitute sometimes in trying to be helpful.

After that your Wi-Fi will always take precedence over EDGE if you're in range. This is true of all the other Wi-Fi hotspots you're in once you acquaint the iPhone with those networks (use "Forget this Network" if you find one that wants money or if you mistype the passcode).

PS. To all the smartarses who took issue with my oversimplification -- yes I did indeed call all 700,000 iPhone owners. What else am I going to do with my unlimited minutes plan? smiling smiley

PPS. Sorry I missed you, you must have been showing it off to someone or somethin'.



chas_m




[crawlingfromtheusa.blogspot.com] <-- Moving to Canada blog



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2007 06:40PM by chas_m.
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: PeterB
Date: July 17, 2007 07:17PM
OK guys, playing around with this more at work, I am really sold. I just hope I can resolve the reception issues at home.

I wonder if the EMI idea is really not so very far off target, because it would explain a number of things-- for example, the troubles I have with getting OTA HDTV reception, wireless from my Mac to the iPhone, etc. (What I see with OTA HDTV is similar to the reception with the iPhone-- reception going in and out, in and out, etc.)




Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)
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Re: Followup iPhone questions
Posted by: PeterB
Date: July 17, 2007 07:20PM
Quote
chas_m
Quote
PeterB
2) Likewise, I'm also getting a fair bit of "cannot activate EDGE" messages. What's this about? And is there some way to prioritize my wi-fi over Edge?

Nobody ever answered this part of your question, so I will.

YES, you just need to touch Settings -> Wi-Fi (which probably shows "Not Connected") -> touch the name (not the > thing) of your network when it comes up. If there's a password, you'll be asked for it. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ENTRY, the iPhone keyboard likes to substitute sometimes in trying to be helpful.

After that your Wi-Fi will always take precedence over EDGE if you're in range. This is true of all the other Wi-Fi hotspots you're in once you acquaint the iPhone with those networks (use "Forget this Network" if you find one that wants money or if you mistype the passcode).

PS. To all the smartarses who took issue with my oversimplification -- yes I did indeed call all 700,000 iPhone owners. What else am I going to do with my unlimited minutes plan? smiling smiley

PPS. Sorry I missed you, you must have been showing it off to someone or somethin'.

Thanks chas, that is helpful. One issue with the wi-fi is that it asks you for a password, but what I've been typing in is the ASCII. (There is an option under Settings to specify an ASCII password, but not when the network is first detected and it pulls up the first dialog asking you if you want to connect, and if so, what the password is.)




Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)
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