IPhone Users Report Network Outages; Second 3G Lawsuit Emerges

[Jason]

As Britney Spears would say... Oops they did it again...

While Apple's iPhone sales continue to succeed, things just aren't looking any better for AT&T's network woes, and their dysfunctional relationship has given birth to a second lawsuit.

Several iPhone users on Wednesday morning reported a complete outage of AT&T's data service. Reports have surfaced in Boston, Chicago, Washington DC and St. Louis; users have claimed in the Apple support forums that a call to AT&T's support line confirms the outage. AT&T's Brad Mays confirmed a "routing issue" in the Northeast region affecting wireless data in the early morning. He said technicians restored the service by about noon EDT.

The reports of a network outage work to the advantage of customer William Gillis, who filed a lawsuit late last week. In his 18-page complaint, Gillis -- a retired Chicken of the Sea executive -- alleges that AT&T's network is not strong enough to support the millions of iPhone 3G users, and therefore the handset is not performing as advertised, according to Michael Ian Rott, Gill's attorney.

"The bottom line is iPhone 3G users are not getting what has been represented to them," Rott said in a phone interview. "[The iPhone 3G] is kind of like a Dragster: A Dragster can go 500 miles an hour, but you only have a short amount of track space so you'll never reach that 500 miles per hour.... Similarly the 3G iPhone isn't working to the specifications Apple represented."

Gillis's hypothesis of 3G networks being strained coincides with observations made in Wired.com's recent study conducted on iPhone 3G download speeds around the world, in which we discovered network performance varied greatly based on carriers and countries. Users reported the fastest 3G download speeds in Europe, which possesses some of the most mature 3G networks that have been developed since 2001. By contrast, AT&T's U.S. 3G network is relatively young, having been introduced in 2004.

Before today's reported outage and Gillis's lawsuit, femtocell developer Dave Nowicki also theorized that in the United States, the iPhone 3G is straining AT&T's young 3G network. He explained that AT&T installed the 3G cells on preexisting EDGE transmission towers -- meaning those towers were spaced based on the requirements of earlier, 2G technology, which has a longer effective range than 3G.

User complaints about the 3G network have been passionate and widespread ever since the iPhone 3G's July 11 launch. The problems have varied from slower-than-advertised 3G performance to getting no 3G connection at all.

Alabama resident Jessica Alena Smith was the first customer angry enough to file a lawsuit, alleging false advertising on Apple's part for touting the handset as "twice as fast for half the price" compared to the original iPhone. Smith claims in her complaint that the handset's network performance is grindingly slow and only stays on the 3G network 25 percent of the time.

Apple's public relations department has said recently that the latest iPhone software update -- 2.0.2 -- would improve 3G performance, but very few user reports have backed the company's claims.

Regardless of what's said about 3G performance, Apple is continuing to ride the high tide with the iPhone's popularity. Insiders have said the corporation plans to produce 40 to 45 million more iPhone 3Gs in the next year.

Read the full article with links and such @ Wired News

[ValueSize]

I don't get why this is Apple's problem or, specifically, why they should get the bad rep. Users who have complained before had their phones tested and the iPhone actually beat other phones during the same tests. So it is not like it is a hardware/software problem. I bet the software updates are just Apple turning down the threshold so that AT&T can cope. I'm also guessing the bulk of the population just has no clue what the hell 3g is and it is easier to say that the iPhone sucks (and sue Apple for AT&T's problem).

This isn't the one I read but here is one link: http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=444&a=440573
Still not the same one (also didn't do the 850MHz band): http://www.appleinsider.com/articles..._hardware.html

[bobexists]

I always like to see an apple lawsuit but i totall agree... It isnt apple's fault the service cant cope with the high usage. If anyone should be sued it's ATT. I mean what could apple do? Release an inferior product because of the lack of support on ATT's end?

[4-n-zics]

What is Apple's fault is the CRAPPY 2.0 software, which has cause numerous iPhones to hardlock several times daily. The only way to get it to work is to do a complete reboot. My wife updated her Gen 1 iPhone to the 2.0 software and has had nothing but trouble.

[Vertigo Boost]

Originally Posted by ValueSize

I don't get why this is Apple's problem or, specifically, why they should get the bad rep. Users who have complained before had their phones tested and the iPhone actually beat other phones during the same tests. So it is not like it is a hardware/software problem. I bet the software updates are just Apple turning down the threshold so that AT&T can cope. I'm also guessing the bulk of the population just has no clue what the hell 3g is and it is easier to say that the iPhone sucks (and sue Apple for AT&T's problem).

That is easy to explain... It is the same comment that ignorant users make when they start relating their "Slow Computer" to when their internet is not performing to the speed they think it should. I know several people that upgraded their PC, because their internet was too low and come to be disappointed when it didn’t solve their issue.

While I do not know enough of the AT&T and Apple Issue. It seems to me the problem is with the AT&T network.

[Leviathan]

This particular event is not Apple's fault but they still carry much of the blame for the general problems this phone has been having.

TERRIBLE firmware. OS 2.0 is BAD. Laggy, crashy, lockup happy, and until 2.0.2 it was requesting too much power from the cell towers and thus degrading signal distribution for everybody.

Also, when a guy to my right has a Samsung 3G phone that performs with no problems whatsoever, and my 3G iPhone is 1 foot away and can barely get a signal and drops calls left and right, that tells you something is wrong with the hardware.

[rupchurc]

The 3G release was pushed fast and maybe to soon, but its not really apples fault IMO.