AT&T's data network down for the iPhone?

Having problems with AT&T's data network on your iPhone? Or any phone for that matter? We are too, and so are other people up and down the west coast. It's been spotty for about the last 45 minutes, so far as we can tell -- let us know in comments if you're having issues (and where you're at)!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Looks like we're back up (as of about 4:30PM PST, anyway).

[dahammer @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:12PM]

Edge is down in central Washington.

[David @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:32PM]

Can somebody explain to me why EDGE is down? Isn't EDGE only a system that connects ATT users to the internet and not the system that actually routes the calls?

Thanks.

Anyway, San Jose/Cupertino is slow (realllllllyyyyyyyy slow) at 1531 PST

[daHammer @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:45PM]

'cause it is easier to say that "EDGE is down" instead of the "AT&T data routing system is down." ;)

[Square @ Jul 2nd 2007 8:07PM]

I am not a sadist, but posting this on BB Perl over T-mobile EDGE network has never been so satisfying!

[Josh @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:13PM]

It has been spotty for me in Los Angeles (Koreatown) since 11:00 PST and down completely since 12:30.

Big discussion here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1022569&tstart=0

[liquidsgi @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:13PM]

Its down here in Tucson, AZ on my Samsung blackjack,

[dm_cgo @ Jul 2nd 2007 11:50PM]

Internet down in Chicago on my Cingular Blackjack as well.... from 4pm. But I am back UP when I just checked it now!

[Jason @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:13PM]

Ryan, I sent this to you guys awhile ago. It's been down for the past 3 hours now. I get no credit :(

[Ryan Block @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:24PM]

Sorry, but a TON of people sent this in! Thanks for letting us know!

[sergio @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:16PM]

I have Verizon... haha. Can you hear me now?

[rock99rock @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:21PM]

At least our bluetooth isnt crippled while the network is down... 3g is out in Houston.

[OGHowie @ Jul 2nd 2007 7:20PM]

But the iPhone bluetooth is crippled too...

[Chris @ Jul 2nd 2007 7:33PM]

Classic.

[rock99rock @ Jul 2nd 2007 11:29PM]

Who said anything about the iphone? You've been reading too much engadget. I said 3g was crippled. And we all know the iphone doesn't have 3g. HMMmmmm... Classic Genius.

[Jason @ Jul 2nd 2007 11:24PM]

Yeah, I'm sure the Verizon network is running quite smoothly now that a huge chunk of its customer base just switched to AT&T over the weekend.

[OGHowie @ Jul 3rd 2007 12:19AM]

Let me explain it to you since you don't seem too fast. You talked about crippled Bluetooth on Verizon and yet the iPhone bluetooth is also just as limited with it's bluetooth features and it is on AT&T. Get it now?

[rock99rock @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:26AM]

Dear Old G,
Bluetooth is crippled on EVERY verizon phone, purposely. The iphone is a 4day old device with many revisions to come. Besides, I dont think this "bad apple" should ruin the bunch... Just sit back in your rocking chair, and come to the realization, that *&^$#%*&^)(&%$

[spotshooter @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:17PM]

Down in Seattle.. all day. Called AT&T and they said the edge system is down and won't be back till 4pm PST.

[Ed N @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:18PM]

No EDGE at 4:15p in downtown Denver, CO.

[James @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:19PM]

Plenty of problems exist after the Cingular/ATT merger. I still get disconnected while jumping from a 3G tower to a non-3G tower in the middle of a call.

[MacBookOwner @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:19PM]

Works here in SF..3:24 PDT.

[CharlieX @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:20PM]

Down all day in west Los Angeles

[pete_01 @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:20PM]

Down all day in sacramento.

[Derrick @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:21PM]

Edge is down in Honolulu Hawaii since 9:45 am Hawaii this morning.

[Chris @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:22PM]

its been down all day in Dallas.

[dave @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:23PM]

fine in chicago 5:22cst and all day for that matter

[Chase @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:23PM]

from bakersfield to vegas its been down. Thank you for wifi, Venetian!

[Dan @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:23PM]

Data is a no-go in Phoenix. Damn Apple Hippies.

[Michael Emmons @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:24PM]

Reno, NV has no coverage since 9:30 or so.

[RS @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:25PM]

Official ticket:

Customers who are homed out of the Allen NDC may be intermittantly unable to pass data. This is also impacting Enterprise APN customers based out of Allen. This is also impacting SMS/MMS messaging out of Allen. It also appears to be impacting some prepaid resellers, such as Tracfone

[aidin @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:25PM]

yeah i'm having trouble too, in north county san diego. havent been able to connect all day!

[phil @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:36PM]

In different parts of northern San Diego county, all heavily populated along I-5 and I-805. It was near impossible to connect either to get my email or access a Website. Had 5 bars and the E icon showing, which should suffice for getting a decent connection. I tried my AT&T BlackBerry (8800), which uses the same network and it worked fine.

Spoke to AT&T tech support who said as long as there's a strong signal and an E for EDGE it's not their responsibility and to try calling Apple. Spoke with Apple and after moving up three levels of support they said it was likely the AT&T network. Tried it with a second iPhone I managed to borrow and the same problem.

[Andrew Jones @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:26PM]

Just tried using Google Maps in SLC, Utah and no luck - I'm getting network connectivity errors.

[Frank V. Roesler III @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:26PM]

I just tried it out here in OKC and it's SUPER slow right now. I tried going to Gmail.com and where I would have accessed the page instantly, I now was greated by a 15 min wait.

Way to go Former Southwestern Bell / Lucent Technologies / Avaya Communications

[Sean @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:26PM]

Could this be part of a grand apple masterplan to upgrade EDGE to some obscene level to boost even more iphone sales?

[andres @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:27PM]

not here (orlando florida)

[paul34 @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:28PM]

Well, I'm not sure if you guys JUST got ATT like many others when they got the iPhone... but as a former CingularTT user, you have many more days like this to look forward to ;-).

This actually isn't news, it's just how the ATT network works. How are you all liking undecipherable phone calls thanks to half-rate too?

[Peter P @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:28PM]

been down from 9am until 2 pm for me here in los angeles

[Travis L Addington @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:28PM]

(Hopefully not a doublepost)

Dang... Steve Jobs must be pissssed. I'd love to hear the conversations going on between Apple and AT&T right now though.

To me though, especially after working with Sprint for over a year (far more evil than Cingular, and no one is less evil than AT&T) is that... what choice would have been a good one? Sprint sucks. AT&T Sucks. Verizon sucks (and not available in many areas). The little companies suck. Everyone in this industry sucks. And yeah, I'd have loved Apple to have made the iPhone network generic - but we all should know better than this, Apple doesn't leave variables open.

But.. heh... it does look like AT&T sold them a big load.

In Oklahoma, at least, I've not had any problems with the Edge network yet. Working as of right now.

[Tomasz Bania @ Jul 3rd 2007 12:01AM]

Verizon has probably the most available (and most reliable) network in the U.S. The only problem with Verizon is that they cripple their phones, but again, the service is unmatchable.

[Josh @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:56PM]

Try using O2. I've rarely ever had problems with them. I really like their home-zone feature, which gives me a separate, low-cost number for a small geographical region around my home. Coverage is great (generally only unavailable when a store is jamming GSM). Never have dropped calls. Wait! I forgot, they aren't available in the U.S. Too bad!

Which would I rather have: reliable service, or the iPhone? Europe's reliable service probably (and I even have a pitiful Sony phone with the world's worst interface).

[nikster @ Jul 2nd 2007 7:41PM]

i am using t-mobile in the US right now - there seems to be no real explanation as to why the U.S. carriers suck so bad - they are some of the most profitable operators in the world, yet they just don't seem to be able to build out their networks enough so that there's ubiquitous coverage.

and i am not talking about the countryside here - this is in the SF bay area, home to over 6m people and half the high tech companies in the U.S.!

i didn't have problems like this in 3rd world countries, let alone in europe. it's mystifying.

as for the article: umm... i am not really surprised that adding 500,000+ users to the EDGE network will bring it to its knees. no one was using that before iPhone b/c it sucks and it was expensive.

[Scott @ Jul 4th 2007 5:15PM]

The reason why Verizon is reliable is because they use CDMA which has been in use since WWII and has a 46 year advantage over GSM which AT&T and many other cell companies use. GSM has only been around since 91 and hasn't been the widely accepted cell format like it is in Europe. Because of its history CDMA has been approved upon over so many generations of the networks life while GSM in the States is still in its infancy.

[Travis L Addington @ Jul 4th 2007 5:24PM]

I dunno about that... Sprint is using CDMA as well... and Sprint sucks. There's more to it than network tech, much more.

[Rob @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:28PM]

Although I enjoy using Apple's products from the iPod to Final Cut Pro, I think picking AT&T was the worst choice for their iPhone provider. Why they picked AT&T? Maybe it was the one that offered them the most money. But still, it was a bad decision for customers.

I'm not here to discuss if the iPhone is a good choice or not, as I can't afford, or choose not to get, the phone or its service plans. I'm pleased with my current regular cell phone.

I didn't like AT&T 5 years ago, and I don't like them today either.

[andy @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:43PM]

I'm betting it's because they had the largest network in the country and the phone would work overseas.

It fits with the whole "make it easy to use" mantra of the iPhone. People don't want to think about how, why, or if their phone will work in a place, they just want it to work.

That said, you need Quad band GSM to work anywhere in the world, and ATT has the largest GSM network in the US. That makes it pretty easy to pick a carrier doesn't it?

[Anthony @ Jul 2nd 2007 7:14PM]

Today's at&t is not the AT&T from 5-years-ago.

[kingofwale @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:28PM]

man, hate when this happens, the provider should just refund people the day's service fee.

[istevano @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:29PM]

I have had issues since about 11am this morning - Northside of Chicago. I get a 3g icon on my blackjack, called CS, checked settings, and they told me there was a network issue.

Damn the iphone. And pants for that matter.

[smac @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:29PM]

San Francisco is working fine.