With the iPhone 3G release last month, came the promise of “Twice the Speed, Half the Price.” For some, this has only been half true. Many, including myself, have noticed lackluster signal strength and data speeds from the new iPhone. AT&T provides a coverage map so that customers can assess the 3G availability in their area. I gladly checked my coverage in Norman, Oklahoma at the National Weather Center. Here is what I found:
While this clearly shows that I am supposed to be in great 3G coverage, I routinely only get 1-2 bars and speeds of 350 kbps. This is a far cry from AT&T’s claim of “speeds up to 1.4 Mbps”. This falls in line with what people are seeing in the Apple Forums, here and here. We have discovered less than expected signal strength and speeds, now what? Well the answer is not much, at least yet anyway. You can, however, make use of a little known iPhone feature to see detailed cell signal information.
The Field Test program is a built-in feature that allows users to see information about the cellular signals that their iPhone is receiving. To access this feature, open the phone app and enter *3001#12345#* and hit Call, as shown below.
Once the Field Test application opens, you will notice that the signal bars we are used to seeing is replaced with a number. This indicates the signal strength in dbm. In this case, a number of -60 dbm is much better than -100 dbm. I ran the field test with and without 3G enabled. You can see the results below.
You can see that with 3G enabled, I am getting -103 dbm, while with Edge only, I am getting -81 dbm. This is significant difference. It either points to less than advertised 3G coverage from AT&T, or an antennae issue with the iPhone 3G. Either way, it has caused many people grief and disappointment. Hopefully the upcoming iPhone software update will fix some of these issues. Also note that the Field Test offers access to many more signal specific information for those cellular tech heads.
Poor iPhone 3G Signal? Field Test Mode.
With the iPhone 3G release last month, came the promise of “Twice the Speed, Half the Price.” For some, this has only been half true. Many, including myself, have noticed lackluster signal strength and data speeds from the new iPhone. AT&T provides a coverage map so that customers can assess the 3G availability in their area. I gladly checked my coverage in Norman, Oklahoma at the National Weather Center. Here is what I found:
While this clearly shows that I am supposed to be in great 3G coverage, I routinely only get 1-2 bars and speeds of 350 kbps. This is a far cry from AT&T’s claim of “speeds up to 1.4 Mbps”. This falls in line with what people are seeing in the Apple Forums, here and here. We have discovered less than expected signal strength and speeds, now what? Well the answer is not much, at least yet anyway. You can, however, make use of a little known iPhone feature to see detailed cell signal information.
The Field Test program is a built-in feature that allows users to see information about the cellular signals that their iPhone is receiving. To access this feature, open the phone app and enter *3001#12345#* and hit Call, as shown below.
Once the Field Test application opens, you will notice that the signal bars we are used to seeing is replaced with a number. This indicates the signal strength in dbm. In this case, a number of -60 dbm is much better than -100 dbm. I ran the field test with and without 3G enabled. You can see the results below.
You can see that with 3G enabled, I am getting -103 dbm, while with Edge only, I am getting -81 dbm. This is significant difference. It either points to less than advertised 3G coverage from AT&T, or an antennae issue with the iPhone 3G. Either way, it has caused many people grief and disappointment. Hopefully the upcoming iPhone software update will fix some of these issues. Also note that the Field Test offers access to many more signal specific information for those cellular tech heads.
AT&T 3G coverage map for Norman, OK.