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"It Just Works" Seventy Percent of the Time

Posted 10/01/09 at 08:44:29 PM  by Ryan Whitwam

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Apple likes to say their products “just work”, but their definition of “works” seems to be a little different when it comes to the iPhone. A recent visit to the Apple store by one New York iPhone owner ended with a rather confusing diagnosis from the Apple Genius.

Manoj Gupta became frustrated with his iPhone’s propensity for dropping calls. Suspecting there was something wrong, he had the local Apple store run some tests. Luckily, the Genius reported that no repairs were needed. However, that’s not to say nothing was wrong. The phone dropped 22% of calls, which is totally normal for New York apparently.

The report stated that most phones drop over 30% of calls. So clearly, Mr. Gupta is downright lucky to only be dropping 22% of calls. We’ve long heard that AT&T’s network is in a terrible state in New York City, but has it really gotten this bad? If you’re on AT&T in The Big Apple, let us know how your service is in the comments.

attds
COMMENTS:19
TAGS: mobile, apple, iphone, at&t, Apple Store
COMMENTS
avatarPleased

Submitted by trident60 on Sat, 10/03/2009 - 7:58am

I joined Cellular One just before they ended up merging with AT&T. I live out in the middle of no where. A place where Nextel, Verizon, Sprint etc... Don't work. The only two companies that work around here is Alltel, and AT&T.

 Haven't had any problems with AT&T. No dropped calls on either of the two phones I have owned now, and the service quality as far as reception, or signal has been great. Alltel worked better at my house, but I lost all service in certain areas where I don't with AT&T. Both companies are great though. I have three phones on my plan, which includes full data service on mine, and we pay less than 100 dollars a month.

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avatarmy boss has an iphone and

Submitted by atomaweapon on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 1:29pm

my boss has an iphone and he's always dropping calls, and we're in Louisiana. Sometimes his phone won't even ring and he'll get a voicemail. I'll always ask him if he wants to use my Samsung Instint. I say sure it doesn't have 50,000 apps but I can make a call.

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avatar"works 70% of the time" =

Submitted by nsk chaos on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 12:23pm

"works 70% of the time" = epic fail on quality

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avatarSucks in Ney York?! HA! The

Submitted by Xylogeist on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 6:40am

Sucks in Ney York?! HA! The whole cell phone service, AT&T, sucks. They have good cable TV, but lets face it - their cell phone service is WRTECHED. Here in Texas, the dropped call rate must be at LEAST 50%. I get like .2% dropped calls on Sprint. Thats right, 1/5th of a percent. It happens VERY little, because Sprint is twice.. no... 10 times... NO... 200 times the reliability of most networks. The onlyone evenclose to comparable is Verizon, and they don't have "mobile to mobile" (call any mobile phone for free)

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avatarcheck your facts much?

Submitted by nduanetesh on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 12:11pm

All Verizon plans have unlimited mobile to mobile calling included, and they have for years.  In fact, it's the first thing touted on the "plans" page of the Verizon Wireless website.

 

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avatarI think

Submitted by mesiah on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 8:46pm

I think he is talking about sprints new feature that allows you to call any mobile phone on any network for free. Verizons mobile to mobile is only for calls made to other users of the verizon network.

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avatarI've had almost every

Submitted by VinnyBags on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 5:44am

I've had almost every cellular provider in NY and AT&T is by far the worst provider.  In Manhattan, the service is at its best, still however dropping about 5-8 calls a week.  In the outer boroughs like queens, the bronx, or brooklyn, the service is just aweful.  Dropping 10-12 calls a week.  Roughly, 25% of my calls.  Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of the i-phone and am not sticking up for it. I am just pointing out the fact that the network it is on is just bad, at least in the NYC area.  I will say this, the iphone seems to work much better when on t-mobiles network...

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avatarAfter a call, everything was fine.

Submitted by ranron on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 7:53pm

After 15 years of AT&T, their service coverage has only gotten better for me. I've only had dropped calls a handful of times and mainly they were my fault (pressed the end button or entered the subway).

I had reception issues a while ago and I recall calling AT&T about it and the next day I was getting full bars instead of none. Don't know what they did, but they made me a happy camper.

As with the iPhone, I'm not a big fan of it, but so far I haven't had any issues. The only gripe is the lack of tethering—paying $65 a month for data alone… that's off track.

---
Ran

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avatarThis article appears to be

Submitted by jwalch.hawk on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 6:32pm

This article appears to be trying indicate Apple in something that clearly isn't their fault.  Granted, it's possible that there exists a flaw in Apple's hardware which makes it more susceptible to dropped calls (though that seems unlikely, as someone would've made a stink about it by now).  It would seem to me that this is just a case of AT&T's failure to deliver service, not a bad Apple product.  The only possible reason I can see for blaming Apple is their decision to go exclusive with AT&T.

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avatarThe only way to know

Submitted by mesiah on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 8:47pm

The only way to know for sure is to see a study showing the percentage of dropped calls in new york. Compare AT&Ts average dropped calls excluding iphones, iphones dropped calls, and other networks dropped calls. Compare the number for just the city of new york, as well as the national average. Then we could make a solid argument as to whether this is an AT&T issue, an iphone issue or a little of both.

I think the original article was attempting to point out that apple finds a 30% dropped call rate reasonable, but I think your right, with the available information, its hard to just point a finger at apple alone.

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avatarThis is about their

Submitted by Ryan Whitwam on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 6:40pm

This is about their advertising. They gloss over problems with the wireless service in some areas. Certainly, it's AT&T's network that sucks, but the Apple Store's response that "at least it isn't 30%" is ridiculous.

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avatarGood advertising?

Submitted by jwalch.hawk on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 7:39pm

So they're supposed to advertise spotty coverage?  C'mon, advertising always focuses exclusively on the positive - that's a given.  

It is ridiculous that 30% is apparently normal, but I don't see how Apple's response is absurd in that context.  Why would you repair a phone that is performing better than the average phone is (average as in among iPhones in NY, not phones in general)?  

Don't get me wrong - I love to hate Apple - but I just really don't see them being culpable here.  AT&T's the one dropping the ball here. 

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avatarIt is Apple's fault. They

Submitted by Xylogeist on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 6:44am

It is Apple's fault. They were idiots to sign a contract with AT&T as their first network. They also couldn't make a phone that could beat the palm pre or windows mobile! Wahaha!

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avatarreally though?

Submitted by hbodek on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 11:04am

that's a little ridiculous. have you ever USED windows mobile?

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avatarFWIW... I work in

Submitted by mono on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 6:32pm

FWIW...

I work in NYC-midtown, live right across the river in Jersey, and never drop calls on my iPhone (3GS).   At least it's so rare that I can't even recall it happening.   ATT has actaully been a great provider.  I'd been with them (branded as Cingular) pre-iPhone with no problems, as coverage has gotten stronger every year.

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avatarI agree with you. Service

Submitted by trident60 on Sat, 10/03/2009 - 8:08am

I agree with you. Service just gets better. I just went on a trip to Chicago (I know, not NYC) and the service was awesome. Umm... I'd be willing to go as far as stating it being perfection. Zero complaints.

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avatarI crashed a mac at school

Submitted by pellier on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 5:49pm

I crashed a mac at school opening Dreamweaver. Also we cant access our network drives. I don't think that they work all the time.

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avatarThe article is actually

Submitted by SEALBoy on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 5:56pm

The article is actually talking about AT&T's network in New York, not the iPhone or other Apple products in particular.

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avatarI think pelletier was just

Submitted by zstadt on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 4:12am

I think pellier was just going off of the "it just works" theme.

P.S. I crashed a Mac last week in the lab by inserting a flash drive... o_0

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