iPhone no signal at home

conolan

Bought the iPhone (switch from VF to O2) and signal drops in the house. Disappears for a while then comes back.
Annoying thing is I got an O2 sim first and tried it and had much better signal all through the house than VF. VF was only really usable upstairs or enar a window.

What attitude are O2 likely to take if I want to exit the contract?

missgwish

first you can try turning off 3g as thats probably the problem, you can do this in settings, general, network and slide enable 3g to off. but if it doesn't help get some examples of calls made in the area and call O2 or visit the Talk2O2 forum on o2.ie.
hope this helps!

New.White.Socks

Not sure how receptive O2 would be, but if you did have reception and no longer do it could be something to do with the phone.
If you reset network settings (Settings- General- Reset- Reset Network Settings) while at home it might be able to establish a better connection. Worth a try anyway.

Donnelly117

ive got the same problem i was fine on meteor but have no recption on o2, doubt o2 would really care tho

Qualitymark

I've had calls from friends saying they'd been calling me and got an engaged signal when I was sitting looking at the phone. Unlocked 3GS.

whiterebel

Trying switching to airplane mod and back again.

quintron

Check to see where your nearest o2 mast is in relation to your house. Sounds like you are on the edge of an o2 masts radius. I picked my network based on the nearest mobile mast to my building to know I'd have a good signal at home.
http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/siteviewer.273.LE.asp
When on to o2, ask them if they plan on updating (insert Mast ID here).

Qualitymark

Thanks, Quintron - how can you tell on that map which masts belong to which operators, do you know? And those turquoise squares marked 'site' - are they masts?

Oh, found out; if you click on the turquoise squares they bring up info on the left that says what operator and gives other information. Odd; I'm about 200 metres from an O2 mast on one side and about 300 on the other; reception shouldn't be so bad.

AARRRRGH

iPhone reception is rubbish.
My own iPhone and anyones who ever comes to my house have to go out to the garden to even get one bar of GSM signal.
Anyone with any other phone on the same or any network always get full coverage even inside the house.

The iPhone is just bad for phone reception. If you can live with it or have another phone then its a great phone but if you need good coverage dont get an iphone.

Qualitymark

Not my experience, AARRRRGH - this is a recent problem for me, people are saying they're getting an engaged tone, while I'm sitting looking at the phone.

quintron

AARRRRGH wrote: »

iPhone reception is rubbish.
My own iPhone and anyones who ever comes to my house have to go out to the garden to even get one bar of GSM signal.
Anyone with any other phone on the same or any network always get full coverage even inside the house.

AARRRRGH, I'd have to disagree too. I have 2 iPhones on 2 networks and they perform on par or exceed my work colleagues Nokias and Samsungs in terms of reception.
The screen representation of "bars" (on pretty much all phones), is not really indicative of a precise signal reading, its just a graphic. I can get a full 3G signal with 3.5G data speeds (speedtest) with no visible bars on an iPhone, but I appreciate that others may have issues, although there may be a combination of issues at fault.

@Qualitymark, make sure the o2 masts close by are 3G O2 signals and not GSM.

drunkmonkey

I agree with aarrrrggghh the iPhone has to be one of the worst 3g phones on the Market for reception, not being able to set it to 3g only is stupid, every 3g phone I've ever had has been better at picking up 3g signal, I'm really hoping they sort out the reception on the iPhone 4, I've used the iPhone on Voda, 02 and 3 and both 3g and 3gs model.

byte

I too agree that reception on the 3GS is quite poor. Here, in this room my 3GS will display "No Service" while my old Nokia E51 has 4 bars, from o2.

While the bars are only an indication, I can at least make and receive calls with the Nokia unlike the 3GS when it displays No Service.

I'm hoping reception will be much improved on the iPhone 4 using part of the frame as the GSM antenna.

banquo

For what it's worth, a lot of OSX users have this problem - it's always happening on my sister's MacBook.

Qualitymark

I'm thinking of switching when the iPhone 4 comes out - anyone know what the policy of other networks is on 'indoor coverage'? An email from O2 help today said:

I can confirm that there are no known coverage issues in your area at present. Also, please be advised that we cannot guarantee indoor coverage.

If you continue to have coverage issues, I would advise you to contact us with some examples of outdoor calls that were affected and we will be able to log the issue with our technical team for further investigation.

This is a new concept to me - mobile phones that don't work indoors!

AARRRRGH

quintron wrote: »

AARRRRGH, I'd have to disagree too. I have 2 iPhones on 2 networks and they perform on par or exceed my work colleagues Nokias and Samsungs in terms of reception.
The screen representation of "bars" (on pretty much all phones), is not really indicative of a precise signal reading, its just a graphic. I can get a full 3G signal with 3.5G data speeds (speedtest) with no visible bars on an iPhone, but I appreciate that others may have issues, although there may be a combination of issues at fault.

@Qualitymark, make sure the o2 masts close by are 3G O2 signals and not GSM.

Its not just the signal graphic. I have to borrow guests phones quite a lot to make a phone call. No signal on my iPhone or a weak one that drops calls in my house, yet i can take anyone elses phone whi is with me and make a call no problem.

quintron

Is your sim card ancient by any chance? Thats about the only other thing I can think of...

drunkmonkey

He's not making it up, the iphone is rubbish at making calls, even cnet agree http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39029453,49303754,00.htm

if your not a big talker you might not notice it so much but if you are you'll know how bad it is, it really is shocking.

conolan

As I'm the original poster, I'll update on my experience.
Talked to O2 and surprise! they let me out of my 2 month old contract. Didn't ask for the phone back! So now I'm on 3, better signal at the house but no 3g here. Paying half what I was on O2. Effectively I got an iPhone for €100 plus 3 months at €65.

quintron

drunkmonkey wrote: »

He's not making it up, the iphone is rubbish at making calls, even cnet agree http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39029453,49303754,00.htm

if your not a big talker you might not notice it so much but if you are you'll know how bad it is, it really is shocking.

Dude, I know hes not making it up, obviously.
Let me repeat for you, I have 2 phones, no issues.
And one CNET link is not the gospel according to internet. Each to their own.
Anyway, OP, glad you got sorted. Obviously o2 know something is going down there. Good luck with 3.

faceman

Do you live in an appartment?

WayneEnterprise

I had this too. Got to the point where I couldn't take calls without walking outside of the house! Didn't matter if I turned of 3G or not. I don't think it's an iPhone problem because I have since switched to 3 and have full coverage everywhere. O2 just don't invest in improving their network - simple as.

Qualitymark

It's definitely got worse lately, and this business of "we can't guarantee coverage indoors" from O2 is new.

Let's see what happens when the iPhone 4 arrives; I'd imagine there'll be a lemming-like flight from O2 by iPhone users - this may shake out some change.

AARRRRGH

quintron wrote: »

Is your sim card ancient by any chance? Thats about the only other thing I can think of...

No its not ancient. The cause of my problem is that I have an iPhone. Thats all there is to it.

AARRRRGH

faceman wrote: »

Do you live in an appartment?

No. Why do iPhones not like apartments while every other phone does ?

whiterebel

Qualitymark wrote: »

It's definitely got worse lately, and this business of "we can't guarantee coverage indoors" from O2 is new.

Let's see what happens when the iPhone 4 arrives; I'd imagine there'll be a lemming-like flight from O2 by iPhone users - this may shake out some change.

Some house have big old 2 foot thick walls, and coverage inside is affected. My wife's parent's house had these and her O2 signal was non-existant inside, but worked perfectly outside. Not an iPhone, BTW, a Nokia E71. My iPhone on VF was much better in the same place, strangely enough.

Qualitymark

whiterebel wrote: »

Some house have big old 2 foot thick walls, and coverage inside is affected. My wife's parent's house had these and her O2 signal was non-existant inside, but worked perfectly outside. Not an iPhone, BTW, a Nokia E71. My iPhone on VF was much better in the same place, strangely enough.

Not mine. And I've used mobiles successfully as long back as an old 088 one!

whiterebel

Qualitymark wrote: »

Not mine. And I've used mobiles successfully as long back as an old 088 one!

I wasn't referring to your house, more the explanation behind the networks not guaranteeing reception indoors

Qualitymark

Ah yes, I understand that, whiterebel - but they don't ask "Do you live in a castle with two-foot-thick walls", they just say blithely that they can't guarantee reception indoors. It's an excuse.

whiterebel

Qualitymark wrote: »

Ah yes, I understand that, whiterebel - but they don't ask "Do you live in a castle with two-foot-thick walls", they just say blithely that they can't guarantee reception indoors. It's an excuse.

I know, I'd normally prefer to give myself a brazilian with an electric sander than agree with a mobile network, but having seen what happens, I understand it can happen. No way they should be making it a blanket response.

faceman

AARRRRGH wrote: »

No. Why do iPhones not like apartments while every other phone does ?

Its seems modern construction, particularly apartment blocks, use material that isnt the most friendly to mobile phone signal. In some cases, opening a window can improve the signal!!

AARRRRGH

faceman wrote: »

Its seems modern construction, particularly apartment blocks, use material that isnt the most friendly to mobile phone signal. In some cases, opening a window can improve the signal!!

So how does that explain how everyone elses phone works inside apart from my iphone, my other halfs iphone and another friends iphone.

I love my iphone. I have wifi and a house phone, so it doesnt bother me that it doesnt work in the house. gets expensive though with diversions to the house phone. Luckily i can expense that.

But anyone who is thinking of getting one, be warned about the reception. Just google iphone bad signal and you'll get millions of hits.

Qualitymark

AARRRRGH wrote: »

So how does that explain how everyone elses phone works inside apart from my iphone, my other halfs iphone and another friends iphone.

I love my iphone. I have wifi and a house phone, so it doesnt bother me that it doesnt work in the house. gets expensive though with diversions to the house phone.

Are you all with the same network, AG?

AARRRRGH

Qualitymark wrote: »

Are you all with the same network, AG?

Myself and the mrs are on O2. Friend with is on 3. Ive had people in the house with iphones on metoer who have had to go outside to.
People with other phone that work inside are on all different networks.

There is a reason why apple made a big deal about the new iphone using the case as the aeriel.

Im not dissing the iphone. Its a great phone, but it is lacking in reception big time. Google will tell you this. You dont need myself or others in this thread to tell you. Its got about the worst reception ive ever seen a phone have. And if you dont have wifi in your house and no 3g signal inside, then its not much use for data.

Qualitymark

Hm, interesting. I've had three. First one flew out of my pocket and broke its face; second one (3G) was replaced by a 3GS, which I'm now using. The 3Gs were fine, the 3GS not so good at all - I miss many calls, which go through to voicemail, and other calls simply never arrive.

Waiting to see if the 4's reception is better, anyway, but I think I just got a Monday phone in this 3GS.

faceman

AARRRRGH wrote: »

So how does that explain how everyone elses phone works inside apart from my iphone, my other halfs iphone and another friends iphone.

The material used to make the iPhone is believed to be signal unfriendly

Qualitymark

faceman wrote: »

The material used to make the iPhone is believed to be signal unfriendly

Faceman, is this so with the iPhone 4 too?

faceman

Qualitymark wrote: »

Faceman, is this so with the iPhone 4 too?

Not sure but it is seems that the exterior material of the phone is the antenna from what the promotional material is saying which would suggest improved reception.