I sent my iphone off for poor reception issues last wednesday. Despite contacting them 4 times since to check on it's status I have just found out the repair is on hold because they haven't seen my proof of purchase. Thanks for telling me after 5 business days Optus Looks like I'll be lucky to see it by the weekend now.

from ars technica comments, regarding the 2.02 update -

"The update changed the noise/power floor of 3G and hysteresis of switching between EDGE and 3G in an attempt to stay off 3G if the signal wasn't strong enough to maintain a quality call and to reduce the over switching between EDGE/GSM and 3G in such situations.

So you have less access to 3G in areas with weak/noisy 3G signals but you shouldn't have dropped calls as much, etc. since you would be on EDGE which almost always has better coverage in the US (and other countries) currently.

At least that is what a little birdie told me..."

I'm noticing this on mine, at home I only ever get 1 bar of 3G or No Signal. But since the update it switches to 2G when the signal is lost rather than showing No Signal. I still get it occasionally, but at least now I can make calls at least 90% of the time. Before I was hard up making a call 10% of the time from home, it would just keep saying Call Failed...

So in short 3G reception hasn't improved, but at least I can use it as a phone now

EDIT - maybe DON'T try this... some people are suggesting that the APN's are billed differently. wouldn't want anyone to get a nasty surprise. (also it seems to be a 50/50 split, some people think the following is happening, others dont. it might just be network congestion.)

interesting discussion on whirlpool - Is Optus crippling the iPhone? - Optus - iPhone - Whirlpool Broadband Forums

Optus use the APN "yesinternet" for the iPhone, and "internet" for other 3G phones.

You can change your APN using this online tool - APN Changer

Using "yesinternet" - Skitch.com > vandozza > photo.jpg
Using "internet" - Skitch.com > vandozza > photo.jpg

*Although previously i have seen the default, yesinternet APN, download at up to ~420kbps, this is the FIRST TIME i have seen my iPhone beat this mark.
Does this suggest that Optus have started to cap the yesinternet APN only recently, or have recently reduced the speed cap?

*As always, one persons result, in one location does not make a pattern. But if any other Optus users want to check this out, and find that these results are reproducible, then it's one iPhone related disappointment that we (I) can stop blaming the iPhone for!

More testing: Nothing wrong with iPhone's antennas - Teknik & trender - Göteborgs-Posten

follow up to antenna investigation. interesting read!

Does your phone need to be jailbroken to change the settings?

Peharps the specific Iphone APN recieves alot more traffic wich makes it slower than the normal optus one?

edited post above, you can change the APN using a website. (but don't try it, cause it might be billed differently.) also others are suggesting the "theory" of the apn being throttled is not correct.

who really knows whats going on

That's interesting. That was how they found out in France that they were being throttled!

The French Revolt!

Mmm slowest 3G data in the world on Optus.. Brilliant.
This just fuels my disappointment when I also think of how I can check my usage after a few phone calls.
As far as 3G reception goes, Wired are claiming from the results that it is not the handsets fault and it is the networks.. Strangely enough my iPhone 3G on Optus goes from full 3G signal to 1-0 bars in the same house and even room. I find that when it is in sleep mode, I'll press the home button to see the 3G signal go from full bars to zero. Weird. Anyone else notice this?

Yep I notice this regularly. Also when hanging up from a phone call as the screen comes back on when I take it away from my ear it goes from lots of bars, you press end call and the bars drop right down. Which is better than being the other way I guess (no bars on a phone call and heaps of bars when idle).

I have to say overall I dont find the 3g reception any better with the v2.0.2 update, but I do notice it drops back to 5 bars of normal GSM or whatever the other mode is as where before it would try and hang on to 3g often resulting in no service. I still dont get why though with this sim card in my other phone I get full 5 bars 3g in the same spot at home. Maybe 2.1 is what we're waiting for here..

I did notice last night 3g reception around Hornsby disappeared about 640pm onwards for a few hours. Previously when this happened the phone would display No Service. Last night it just dropped back to the other mode so I still had a phone which was good. So its definitely better as a phone now.

Vandozza,

Has anyone taken a Optus/Vodafone iPhone SIM card and put it into another 3G phone and done a speed test?

I just put my iPhone Optus 3G card into a Nokia E71 and ran the testmyiphone.com test.

Is 4.84 Mbps (4836 Kbps/590 Kbps upload) fast??

I don't know about reception issues all over, but I recieved my phone two days ago and reception has been great, of course theres no reception where I live, cause thats semi-rural and way out of Sydney.

yeah i get about 2x the speed. on the iphone i get about 400kbps, a nokia 6110 about 850kbps.

i dont know if it's the APN, the iphone or what now.

nice speeds you got there on the E71 though!

My report on the new 2.0.2 firmware

Flashed the new firmware just before I went out of town this week.

3g-2g switching has being great. With increased 2g speeds.

The bad is. If it is in 3g mode and there is no 3g in the area. It does NOT switch over to 2g mode. All the way from Ulladulla to Wollongong. With 3g on = no service. If I switch 3g off. Full bars. meh

more regarding what 2.0.2 actually did -

The Inside Deets on iPhone 2.0.2 and Dropped Calls — RoughlyDrafted Magazine
AppleInsider | Behind the iPhone Software 2.0.2 fix to reduce dropped calls

a really interesting point that Roughly Drafted makes is - "In a mixed environment where users are running 2.0, 2.0.1, and 2.0.2, the power control problems of 2.0 and 2.0.1 will affect the 2.0.2 users.”