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Smartphone integration reception

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  s_t_e_v_e 
#1 ·
Anyone have issues with reception with smartphone integration? In general, I don't have a problem and I think the reception is better. Based on bars, I see one or two bar improvement on the iDrive when my iPhone is plugged into the snap-in adapter.

The issue that I'm having is in an area on my commute where I normally get poor reception. With my iphone in hand, the reception is bad for about a mile in this area, but the call does not drop. With the phone plugged in, my reception is better than before (in fact its pretty good) for a little while. But then suddenly the call drops with no reception at all. And then it takes a longer time (~3-4 min) to renegotiate the signal beyond where the signal would get strong again with phone in hand.

It may be caused by a power transformer in the vicinity, but regardless its a bit worse off than just keeping the phone in my pocket. Anyone run into a similar issue?
 
#2 ·
Similar but different - This applies if you have an iPhone 3GS model. At some locations the Edge network is more reliable than 3G, so turn off 3G in settings>General>Network and only activate when you need the 3G speed. This almost eliminated my dropped calls since doing this for the past week. Details of my experience are below.

About 7 weeks back I upgraded from original iPhone to 3GS and have had numerous dropped calls, in fact for the past 4 weeks the dropped calls exceeded the "unknown Apple limit of % dropped calls" and they replaced my phone. During my discussion with Apple tech support, they did mention that the 3G network may not be as reliable as the edge network in some areas, mentioned that the ATT network does not provide simultaneous use of both 3G and Edge, it uses only one and when the signal from 3G causes, for whatever reason (data overload, coverage, reliability), the device switches to Edge, and a call will be dropped. You can test this phenomenon by turning off 3G in Settings>General>Network and watching the signal disappear then come back indicating strength of the Edge network.
Hope this helps and let me know if this provided a difference, again assuming you have a 3GS model.
 
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