Ooopsie! Blackberry Bold suffers from iPhoneitis?
Apparently the iPhone 3G isn’t the only hot new data device that is suffering some 3G issues. The Blackberry Bold, which has not yet been released in the United States, is reportedly losing its 3G signal and falling back to technology from the days of yore EDGE in lots of places. That’s a little better than the iPhone is faring, which according to the report stays in 3G with very low signal strength. Can you hear us now? Well, so much for everyone thinking it was an AT&T network problem.
Note from BG: I’ve been saying this forever! Anyone out there getting the “Searching for Network…” issues?
i have an ip 3g and an unlocked rogers bold im in nyc which where its swamped with 3G coverage. my iphone holds one bar while the bold holds between 4-5…. anywhere i go in nyc. the iphone could have 4-5 bars for a minute and without moving itll go to no signal or one bar. while the bold from looks of it stays strong at all times..
I’ve been using the iPhone 3G extensively in LA for the past 3 weeks and I have had NO issues on the 3G network, nor with switching down to EDGE. It seems to work really well so I’m guessing it is NOT a chip problem.
bb9000,
That is a big Stmt and something that fellow NYCers will take to heart in making a purchase decision. I for one am in the berry boat and that lil piece of info definitely provides some positive re-enforcement on the purchasing side. Thanks for the info.
bb9000,
I forgot to ask – unlocked and using TMO or AT&T with the Bold?
Just throwing this out there, but something to think about is compatibility with the network switches in the towers, some phones are more compatible than others thus have better performance with certain brands of switches (Nokia,Ericsson,Siemens,etc)
Boy Genius, you really need to check your facts before posting stuff like this.
Please read this Engadget article:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/08/25/iphone-3g-reception-just-fine-say-curious-swedes/
Please use a BlackBerry Bold and iPhone 3G on 3G networks OTHER than AT&T in the United States. You will realize that the 3G on both phones works just fine.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BLACKBERRY BOLD 3G RADIO.
First the iphone and now the bb bold. I hope in the next few month we wont be hearing similar stories about the new T-mobile adroid phone. Phones really should be tested more completly before thwy are released to the public.
BBerry (from my experience) are very poor at downloading anything, except e-mails, whatever the network is.
I have had my bold on Rogers in Toronto since Friday. I have yet to see a “searching for network” message. 3G solid all the time.
Are you sure it is not the bug that was also in other devices that showed that is was searching when it really wasn’t?
cuz its not a pc smh…what u trying to download at the itunes stores. Blackberries are strictly business and if you are looking for a mobile jukebox then stick to ya iphones ppl. RIM FOR LIFE!.
PS: FUCK AT&T for delaying the blackberry Bold
yeah I dont care im in NYC I know ill get good coverage, at&t stop being greedy and release the bold ALREADY
BB fanboys out now to defend their Bolds. Not a bad thing as Apple fanboys did the same thing.
So how long till some lady sues RIM for bad 3G reception?
I’m too lazy right now to look it up. What 3G radio frequencies does Rogers use? How does that compare to Sweden & the US?
Different radio frequencies provide better coverage in different situations. Noise is one problem. If your using a frequency that is highly used and your in a very urban area, you will get a lot of noise.
Although I did find a bunch of articles that said Sweden does have 3G issues on the iPhone also.
att..
A lot of the old PacBell area in California is still UMTS, not HSPDA like the new ones. For example you’ll get a smooth super-fast ‘n’ smooth HSPDA signal in Vacaville while Silicon Valley is mere UMTS everywhere.
fan boy or not fan boy of anything ive had an iphone 3g since the day it came out…. for testing purposes. it is an official release model. im a bb for life type of person. and i judge with no grudge. the iphone has serious reception issues. no matter where i am if im on the phone longer then 30 seconds if i lean the phone against my shoulder the call drops. ive had the official release rogers bold on at&t for a week and a pre release for 3-4 months prior. had battery issues with the pre release bold. had os quirks freezes etc.. but never had reception issue. and with the final spec bold from rogers its stable as ever and reception 3G wise is perfect.. have not had one dropped call not one searching for network. nadda
apple has a team of “testers” running beta os’ on the iphone and its not solving the problem. its imo not the network. its the phone itself. its doing some signal bouncing as i like to call it…
do i think it will work out with software updates. honestly no. i believe the problem is in the chipset.
just my 0.02
Well, ATT’s 3G coverage footprint is a joke, and TMO’s is non-existant (and won’t work with a Bold OR iPhone anyway).
According to this, it’s not just an AT&T issue:
http://supportforums.blackberry.com/rim/board/message?board.id=Bold&thread.id=96
…since the thread-starter is in the UK.
It could be neither. It could be an issue with HSPA or the whole 3GPP in general.
I agree with previous post! If anyone has not looked at At&t 3g footprint, YOU SHOULD! I was SHOCKED when I took a quick look at it. Ummm you have to be kidding me! So of course I wanted to see what the competition offered and browsed over to Verizon’s 3g map, dear God! It’s a laughable difference. hmmmm this die hard Att’er may have to gulp his pride and look at Verizon with a new view. Their 3g coverage is HUGE, and when you think about it, there is no price difference.. Made me go hmmm…
bb9000, the problems on the phones do not affect everyone so its good your Bold doesn’t have problems but there are plenty of people out there that are disappointed with the problems they are having. – same as the iphone users with problems.
@likephonesthatwork: It’s the same as comparing apples vs oranges. Verizon’s 3G network has reached its apex. What you get now, you’ll get until 2011 when LTE rolls out. Your looking at 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps down. AT&T (& possibly T-Mo) have the ability to roll out higher speeds incrementally over the next 3 years until they roll out LTE.
Also, Verizon’s network is so widespread that it’s not really growing anymore. Anywhere where Verizon isn’t its usually more of a legal issue than a technical one. Northeastern PA, Northern NY, Vermont and Maine come to mind.
AT&T’s network is still growing. Sure, 3G coverage is limited to East coast and major cities. But I think they update the 3G coverage map every two months. Take a look at previous versions versus the latest. It’s growing. They are spending like $18M a day on 3G infrastructure (citation needed
.
And there is a price difference. I think unlimited everything only costs $40 on Verizon. With AT&T your looking at $50 – $60. iPhone is $50. Blackberry is about $54.99+
As long as AT&T continues to overhype its 3G network, people will still continue to blame the hardware for the poor 3G performance.
All my 3G devices on AT&T suffer similar network bouncing problems as the iPhone does. The iPhone just gets a lot more press.
Why can’t AT&T just come out and admit their 3G network still leaves a lot to be desired?
Umm… I thought this was always common sense that it was an AT&T network issue, as ALL their 3G devices have this issue. Their network does not handover data/calls properly when switching from Edge to 3G or vice versa and this issue has been around for years.
i’m so confused. is it att or iphone????
does rogers iphone have the same problem?