Iphone issues

[truckracer]

I have an Iphone 3G 16gb.
I feel like this thing was the biggest waste of money i have ever spent.
3G around here is so slow. I can't even hardly listen to pandora or flycast radio without skips and pauses even in low bandwidth poor quality mode.

The phone is resistant to log onto open wifi routers and tends to stay on 3G instead of picking the wifi nearby that is not secured.

I have wifi "on" by the way.

I dimmed the display as dim as possible to preserve battery life...Battery dies quickly.
The supplied charger/usb cable is about 24" LONG making it nearly impossible
to talk on the phone while charging it since the batter life is so pathetic.
This thing has to be charged every 3 hours. I realize it has a real cpu and faster
features that use power but apple needed to get a little more revolutionary on the battery issue.

This thing is the biggest overpriced dissappointment to me.

I would take it back to at&t today if they would take it back and just put me on a standard voice plan without the unlimited data package.

I depend on my mobile phone for callouts at work so i need a battery that lasts.

i am back to using my razr v3 which is simple by comparison and not feature
loaded but battery lasts.

The iphone has no external antenna jack meaning it does not work with my
wilson GSM amp and external antenna. The cradle "inductive coupler" method does not work too well with iphone.

The direct connection to my razr v3 via the rf test port works great.

I should have kept my money in my pocket.

 

[madailey]

Turn the wifi off and only use it/turn it on when you want to surf the internet on a local network. Leaving WiFI on sucks the battery fast.

Also, I'd be more than happy to buy the iPhone from you for $100 today if you're still that unhappy with it. I'm sure At&t will sell you another phone and let you get only the phone plan. I know of someone who did just that.

 

[mike1973]

Turn the wifi off and only use it/turn it on when you want to surf the internet on a local network. Leaving WiFI on sucks the battery fast.

Also, I'd be more than happy to buy the iPhone from you for $100 today if you're still that unhappy with it. I'm sure At&t will sell you another phone and let you get only the phone plan. I know of someone who did just that.

Actually, I've seen and been told the opposite. I leave wifi on all the time since work and home I have wireless networks to connect to. Someone told me that 3G actually takes more battery than wifi and I do seem to get better life when I leave it on.
That said, I do wish the battery life was better on the iPhone.

 

[JamesJ]

moved the phone forum, for more help

 

[navychop]

I have an Iphone 3G 16gb.
I feel like this thing was the biggest waste of money i have ever spent.
3G around here is so slow. I can't even hardly listen to pandora or flycast radio without skips and pauses even in low bandwidth poor quality mode.

The phone is resistant to log onto open wifi routers and tends to stay on 3G instead of picking the wifi nearby that is not secured.

I have wifi "on" by the way.

I dimmed the display as dim as possible to preserve battery life...Battery dies quickly.
The supplied charger/usb cable is about 24" LONG making it nearly impossible
to talk on the phone while charging it since the batter life is so pathetic.
This thing has to be charged every 3 hours. I realize it has a real cpu and faster
features that use power but apple needed to get a little more revolutionary on the battery issue.

This thing is the biggest overpriced dissappointment to me.

I would take it back to at&t today if they would take it back and just put me on a standard voice plan without the unlimited data package.

I depend on my mobile phone for callouts at work so i need a battery that lasts.

i am back to using my razr v3 which is simple by comparison and not feature
loaded but battery lasts.

The iphone has no external antenna jack meaning it does not work with my
wilson GSM amp and external antenna. The cradle "inductive coupler" method does not work too well with iphone.

The direct connection to my razr v3 via the rf test port works great.

I should have kept my money in my pocket.

I also have an iPhone, only mine is the 8GB. Wish I'd gotten the 16. I also moved from a Razr phone, which I liked. But try to get a new battery for it- most if not all are Chinese counterfeits that don't last long.

I was unaware Charleston WV had 3G. I've been in the area. I suspect you're on Edge, not 3G, -OR- you're at the fringe area of 3G coverage. Speeds under 3G vary tremendously. Or your phone is bad.

You can get aftermarket cables of various lengths, or little rechargers. I used one of those on a recent train trip.

I've NEVER had to recharge after only 3 hours, even with steady use. And mine certainly connects easily to wifi. Overall, I suspect you have a defective phone. Defective phone, not necessarily defective battery. I suggest you get firm and try for a replacement.

 

[truckracer]

we are 3G at least thats what my phone shows on the display. I have seen "E" or edge network before but not often.

One of my friends have a data plan for his laptop connect card that uses 3G and it really sucks on speed.
I know mobile is "convienient" but its nowwhere near cable or DSL speeds...thats for sure.
I think he pays 69.00 per month.

I just think the smartphones and cellular networks are not really ready to be data friendly yet.
They have a lot of work to do.
Iphone is really a big dissappointment for now but I am sure they will learn from their mistakes (apple).
Battery life is so important on mobile devices. I do know that batteries are limited capacity technology.

I am going to stick with my razr v3, i am actually happier with it (even though its sort of a step backward). I am going to visit our local at&t store and see if i can get the data plan removed from my contract (19 months left), or swap out the dollar difference for an add a line or family share deal or something like that if they don't want me reducing my bill (which i understand they don't want to lose revenue).

 

[TheForce]

Check with Scott. He has a clip on battery he claims will get him through an 8 hour day.

A bit of Apple iphone humor--
When the first iphones came out I went to the apple store to get a demo. They had quite a few set up for people to play with. I began surfing the web and it worked very well on wifi. However the battery went dead while trying to launch Satguys.us. I moved on to the next one and ran that battery dead. The third phone available already was dead. Then one of the apple sales dimwits wearing a t-shirt that announced he was a genius came over and I asked him about why the batteries were such short life. he said the best way to make the battery last all day on the iphone is to not use it...

I just think the smartphones and cellular networks are not really ready to be data friendly yet.

Not true! While the best data wireless networks are nowhere near the speed of a cable modem they can do quite well. I have no trouble with the EVDO Rev A network on Verizon. I can tether my phone to a desktop and stream hours of sling box, do video chats with skype too. I spent a month in Pennsylvania in the rural parts and the data speeds were nothing to complain about. The speedtest.net site showed me 2.3Mbs down and 1.1Mbps upload. I suspect that in due time, the AT&T 3G will improve. You just may have to wait a few more years.

 

[truckracer]

I have heard others in other areas having
Some high speeds on 3G but around here it
Seems they have a dialup modem connected to
The network switch-lol

 

[Pepper]

A full charge on mine will usually drain down to 10-20% before I go to bed, so I leave it plugged into the wall all night. That's with BlueTooth off, 3G and WiFi on. I don't talk on it a lot but it is constantly getting Exchange Push and IMAP from another mail server.

I too have noticed how slow ATT network is at times.

 

[tomcrown1]

The new IPHONE due out in July and will have better battery life. This phone will work on ATT 4g network which is suppose to be as fast as GSL

 

[digiblur]

The new IPHONE due out in July and will have better battery life. This phone will work on ATT 4g network which is suppose to be as fast as GSL

LOL... and they still can't get their crappy 3G network going correctly.

 

[navychop]

I didn't think the specs were finalized for 4G. Any rollout sked?

 

[snathanb]

ATT and Verizon will both be using LTE for 4G... and rollout is still a long way away.

 

[TheForce]

The new IPHONE due out in July and will have better battery life. This phone will work on ATT 4g network which is suppose to be as fast as GSL

I'm still game to get an iphone for my son-in-law who desperately wants one. It is to be his graduation present. We can work out the policy issues with AT&T on getting the discounted $199 phone. But is it worth it? Should he wait until July and is that date for real to get a better phone? Will that new iphone price match up to the current prices or will they be much higher for the latest version? Just curious as to the typical practice with them.

 

[navychop]

Can't really answer your questions, esp about price. The current phone is fine, for millions of people. There is no 4G, so that's not a valued feature. Longer battery life would be, though.

 

[Need]

If your 3g network is slow, it is probably because you got weak signal over there. It would be better if you turn off 3g. It will probably double your battery life. There are apps out there that will let you select a WiFi connection and connect to it, so you don't have to let the iPhone do the switch from Edge/3G to WiFi.

I rarely need to use 3g data, so my phone can last me a few days before charging. On the days that I was on the phone for 2 or 3 hours, or playing a new game for a few hours, there is still battery left by the end of the day. I think your main probably is that you are on a weak 3G network and the phone keep searching for that 3G signal. So try switching to Edge to see if that helps.

 

[markd]

I have a room in my house that doesn't pickup the wireless signal at all. When I leave my iPhone in that room it drains the battery fast. I found out it was draining so fast because the phone keeps searching for a signal to connect to. This was also happening to my old samsung phone I had before the iPhone.

I keep 3g and bluetooth on all the time. I can go 2 days before recharging. But I charge it every night just to be on the safe side.

 

[navychop]

Might not want to charge every night. It's rated at only 1,000 charging cycles. I do mine every 2-3 days.

Gotta send it back to Apple for battery replacement. I'd gladly take a phone twice as thick for a longer lasting, user replaceable battery.

 

[snathanb]

Might not want to charge every night. It's rated at only 1,000 charging cycles. I do mine every 2-3 days.

Gotta send it back to Apple for battery replacement. I'd gladly take a phone twice as thick for a longer lasting, user replaceable battery.

1,000 full charge/discharge cycles. Topping the battery off does not count as a full cycle. A partial recharge is a partial cycle.

iPod Battery and iPhone Battery FAQ

 

[thowe21]

I have a 1st generation 4GB iPhone that is coming up on 2 years now and I still get excellent battery life. I turn off the wi-fi and the push on the e-mail and use maybe 10-20% battery life per day. I also plug it in every night. Hoping it goes another 2 years.