that's been my experience too. just trying to confirm this i suppose.

again i think everyone who isn't satisfied needs to get onto apple/their carrier, just so we have some strength in numbers!

hey guys...

i unlocked a telstra iphone and using the 3 sim. The coverage is shocking. 1 bar the best of times. It is now affecting battery life.

Anyone else that has unlocked have the same problems?

Some more data for the doubters :P
(and to send to Optus!)

The reception on my iPhone 3G -



My local Optus coverage, from their coverage maps -



The distance to the Optus 2100mhz 3G Tower (it's 1.2km when measured in Google Earth) -



The view from out my window -



I think there's an issue

Nice work there vandozza

I parked myself on the same block as an optus tower. Got full bars. 700kBps download.

I think the problem is poor 3g reception. Then stupid software which prefers low 3g over high 2g.

If I have it in 3g mode, a call comes it. it drops out for a few seconds to switch to 2g mode.

Are you sure you've posted enough evidence to warrant accusing Apple? You might want to calculate the exact distance from your place to the tower, then measure the height of the tower. With that information, you could use trigonometry to calculate the exact length of the hypotenuse, giving you the distance from your place to the top of the tower.

no need to be a jerk.

i'm really dissapointed that i can't sit in the middle of an area with good 3g coverage, and USE this 3g network!

this information was going to optus, i figured whats the harm in sharing it.

and yes i do think it's an apple/iphone issue. ive said this before, but a nokia on the same network gets 7 (strange amount...) bars of reception (and faster data, and no "no service," etc.)

EDIT - i've also found that if i hold the iphone upside down, my reception goes from 1 bar ... to 3! I'm fairly sure that Optus will tell me that this is a workable solution next time I call them!

Did anyone else ring Optus iPhone tech support directly (number somewhere above!) to help the cause?

Love the post.

I'm almost in the same position, the tower is not far away and one bar.

To really clinch it, you should take a photo of another manufacturers 3G phone and record their reception right beside yours. Also, record the time to load pages etc. Know anyone else using Optus 3G without being a iPhone owner?

here is a comparison of the iPhone and a Nokia connected to Optus 3G network.
(now I know the Nokia says its Virgin, and not Optus, but it's the same network, so should be a fair enough comparison.)



the other phone is a Nokia 6110 Navigator (also uses 2100mhz 3G.)

On Telstra here. almost always have 5 bars, never had any problems whatsoever so far, though I'm most located between Hawthorn and the CBD so I'd be surprised if I did. i'm doing a trip up to Byron Bay in a few weeks and will be interested to see how the phone (and the network) performs then.

Addendum... (love that word) My partner works in a pretty old building in the CBD. Beforet his he had an Imate Jasjam and the reception was mostly pretty crappy and he had constant dropouts etc when calling him in the office. Now with iphone 3g he has no problems at all, vast improvement. But also on Telstra.

The network and the iphone will perform fine. You are getting what you are prepared to pay for, as is everybody else in this thread.

Optus
Tullamarine (home) Brooklyn (work) - Mebourne
Low 1-2 bars reception
No Service
Slow network switching

Other brands of phones in same area hold higher reception and better quality of service with same SIM.

if the iPhone's current 3G performance is as good as it is going to get, then I'll be returning it.

your suggestion that this problem relates to Optus (is that what you are implying?) I think it negated by people all around the world reporting similar issues, with many different carriers. if this problem was specific to a carrier, then I certainly would point the finger at that carrier, and not at Apple.

you also don't seem to be able to account for the fact that 2 phones side by side, can have drastically different performance on the same network. (and no, i don't expect them to be exact, with differences in components/materials etc, but i think they should be in the "ballpark".)

that being said, I do agree that people on Telstra generally seem to have better reception than others. (Only 3 Telstra users have responed in the survey, 2 without "issues", 1 with.)

The problem, I suspect, is with Optus, and a majority of the the problems reported around the word are more than likely carrier related.

like it or not, the Telstra 3G network is regarded worldwide as the best 3G network bar none. all other 3G networks, in Australia at least, are patchy and limited in coverage.

As far as the two Phones side by side issue, unless you can compare the same two phones in the same position on Telstra, or Vodafone, then again, you can't necessarily blame the iphone, (Especially if the Nokia is an "Optus exclsive" handset {ie: pre manufactured to work best on the Opus network.) but, having said that, the pressure to get the iPhone stocks optimised for launch, may have resulted in a lowering of quality control.

I suspect time is the only way these questions are going to be resolved. If the issue is with the iphone software, then Apple will address it with an update. But I personally suspect an increasingly large number of iPhone owners, to throw in the towel, and move to a network that can deliver the goods. So far, I am very happy with both the performance and reception of the iphone connected to the Telstra network.

I was joking! No need to take offence. I have the same reception problems you have, and I appreciate the thread, as at least now I know that other people have the same problems.

Perhaps I should have added a little smiley after my previous post... might have made it more clear that I was joking.