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mgerbasio · 02-11-2009, 06:36 PM

Hi,
I've had the Bold for a couple of months and it hasn't been getting better. I use 1.5-2 hours a day in the NYC area, mostly downtown and midtown while on the move.

I tend to drop between 4 and 10 calls a day. I have a good 3G signal. I called AT&T a couple of times and they offered to replace the phone. I have the OS it shipped with and haven't tried the upgrades or beta software because I'm not sure that would help and getting support would require I down grade.

What are you guys finding in the Northern NJ/NYC area? Think it is the phone, signal, network or OS?

Regards-Michael G.

Dubdub · 02-11-2009, 07:36 PM

Most all carriers have holes in NYC. Seems the tall building block towers and your ability to hold a signal. My incar GPS even has trouble at times.

x14 · 02-11-2009, 08:26 PM

I can be standing still in one spot and get dropped call or failed call.

Dubdub · 02-11-2009, 08:38 PM

Had that happen as well. I have been seeing more reports of dropped calls on the Bold/3G than usual. Could be an issue with ATT also. I know they are pushing everyone off of EDGE and onto 3G as fast as possible.

greggov · 02-11-2009, 09:04 PM

I live in Northern NJ and work in Midtown near Grand Central.

In NJ, I have 3-5 bars of 3G all the time, I've dropped a few calls, but nothing out of the ordinary.

At work it's a whole different story. 5 bars of 3G, and get the "call failed" message more often than I'd like. I'll have to try calling 2 to 4 times until it finally goes through. Drop a few calls a day at work, and in the office it switches between EDGE/3G a lot (my iPhone always had 3G). I'll have full signal, and a VM message will pop up even though it never rang.

Tonight in Port Authority I was trying to check a website. 4 bars of 3G, Blackberry connection, and it told me I could not access the website because I was out of data coverage, or something to that extent.

I was about to call at&t this week thinking it was my phone, but if this is just how at&t is in the city, I guess i'll have to get used to it.

I'm running .234 on an at&t Bold.

mjbanks · 02-11-2009, 09:21 PM

I was in NYC over the past weekend covering NY Comic Con and my Bold kept giving Call Failed and "Congestion" in and around the Javitz Center. I was bouncing between EDGE and 3G both inside and outside. It was pretty annoying, actually.

mgerbasio · 02-11-2009, 09:58 PM

Thanks guys. So it doesn't seem to be an issue where exchanging my phone is going to help. It is getting to the point where it is more than a distraction. Sometimes when I have a fairly important call I'm second guessing if I want to use the cell phone which is a problem when you're out of the office.

I was using T-Mobile for four years and didn't have this problem. It isn't an isolated dead spot it happens all over. I've seen the same messages, "Call Failed", "Congestion", "Can't find radio path".

Regards-Michael G.

mjbanks · 02-11-2009, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgerbasio

Thanks guys. So it doesn't seem to be an issue where exchanging my phone is going to help. It is getting to the point where it is more than a distraction. Sometimes when I have a fairly important call I'm second guessing if I want to use the cell phone which is a problem when you're out of the office.

I was using T-Mobile for four years and didn't have this problem. It isn't an isolated dead spot it happens all over. I've seen the same messages, "Call Failed", "Congestion", "Can't find radio path".

Regards-Michael G.

I think the problem is that AT&T doesn't have a very solid signal in NYC since the 3G switch. I had friends with Sprint and Verizon last weekend and no one had any problems with their 3G signals. Those with AT&T all had trouble making and dropping calls.

mprest7 · 02-11-2009, 10:19 PM

My Bold in Chicago drops calls all the time. I've done the update and no real improvements. Not sure if it's the phone, but my sister had AT&T and her service was terrible. I had an LG VX7000 phone with Verizon and I never had dropped calls. Too bad Verizon went with the Storm and we had to use AT&T. They should save some of that baloney "Five Bar" advertising money and improve their service.

DrJerry · 02-12-2009, 12:18 AM

Both in Westchester and on Long Island I experience a lot of dropped calls.

nolan65 · 02-12-2009, 09:01 PM

I flew into LGA last week and the service was fantastic. Out on LI it was bad. Bad BAD!! Data refused,dropping calls,Around Queens I was fine. 3G and no dropping calls. Data was very fast in LGA. My brother has Nextel and he was in cell hell the entire week.

oggyz · 02-12-2009, 10:52 PM

Yah, i think it depends on where you are. I live in brooklyn and I have no problems with my phone here, however the second i get into midtown or lower Manhattan, I need to stand still in a clear area for a solid signal.

DrJerry · 02-12-2009, 11:53 PM

LI is the AT&T twilight zone.

rockstarbaun · 03-05-2009, 03:10 PM

I just had 5 "Call Failed" already today. I fails in my house, on the street, everywhere. Other times, the sound goes blank as if it hung up, but pops back in and the other person is talking like nothing happened! I upgraded from the Curve, have only a couple days left on my 30day trial and am totally thinking of switching back! Rarely did I have these issues on it. Oh yea, I'm in NYC, I freelance so am using this phone all over the City + Brooklyn. So this is crappy ATT 3G service not the phone itself? Just for comparison, iphone 3G service is crap too?

AllanRosen · 03-05-2009, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockstarbaun

I just had 5 "Call Failed" already today. I fails in my house, on the street, everywhere. Other times, the sound goes blank as if it hung up, but pops back in and the other person is talking like nothing happened!

I had MAJOR "Call Failed" issues the other day. For about an hour, I couldn't make a call to anyone; I was trying to call a client, and every single attempt (maybe 10 in a row) was "Call Failed". Since, then, I've had numerous "Call Failed", but not as consistently nor for as long as that day. Something is seriously wrong.

chrism380 · 03-05-2009, 10:33 PM

Here on LI it almost seems like the service is getting worse each day. On the Southern State I can drop calls every few minutes. Take a boat 5 miles out into the Atlantic and you have full signal!!

lellobello · 03-06-2009, 03:45 PM

Weird that it might seems, cellphones reception is a big issue in NYC (Manhattan).
AT&T has often data outage and dropped calls, but at least has reception almost everywhere (unlike T-mobile). T-mobile has gotten better and better with the dropped calls for me, but boy there are holes in their coverage that are just unacceptable.

For as much as I hate non GSM carrier, Verizon is the best in the city. However, it carries some of the most awful handset and customization on the market and as good as sarah palin with anything outside the US (Verizon is still not an option if you leave the US for work on a regular basis). It's getting better with this I heard though.

mgerbasio · 03-07-2009, 12:24 PM

I've had just the opposite experience with T-Mobile in NYC although I haven't used them in about four years. I found there service in NYC/North NJ to be excellent, as good as I had with Verizon.

Regards-Michael G.

DrJerry · 03-07-2009, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrism380

Here on LI it almost seems like the service is getting worse each day. On the Southern State I can drop calls every few minutes. Take a boat 5 miles out into the Atlantic and you have full signal!!

I know what you mean! I can be out on a boat in the LI Sound or 5 miles off Montauk and signal is great. Drive down the NSP or SSP and every 3 miles I get dropped. It is getting worse.
I think the issue is cell site utilization and hand off. I think there is so many people on the island using cell phones the sites drop calls and data connections. Just a hunch!

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NYC Area Dropped Calls