Poll: Is firmware 2.1 actually boosting your signal?

So, you've gone and updated to that new "big fix" firmware 2.1 -- but is the Kool Aid as delicious as you've been promised? On our end, we're certainly seeing noticeable improvements on lagging keyboards, app switching / opening (particularly with contacts and text messages), moving through menus / scrolling, application installation and iTunes syncing, but has Apple solved the big issue? The software update page boasts of a "decrease in call set-up failures and dropped calls," and while that might make you think you'll see the proverbial "more bars in more places" (and you probably do), it's likely related to another change in this update, namely, "improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display." We know that a lot of you are seeing apparent improvements in signal strength, but is that a matter of updated icons, or a reflection of some crazy voodoo Apple performed on the phone's radio? We're leaning towards the former, but we'd like to hear what you have to say. So what's the deal? Is the iPhone 3G seeing actual reception improvements, or is it just cosmetic? Let us know in the poll below.

Is firmware 2.1 actually boosting your signal?

Yes! I'm totally getting better reception.Well, I've got more bars and less dropped calls, at least.Seems about the same.Uh, no. This is just as bad as it always was.It's worse!Where am I?Vote

[Andrew Bowerman @ Sep 12th 2008 1:27PM]

getting Full signal in my house.. where it was one or two bars at best before

[Red Alert @ Sep 12th 2008 1:53PM]

Same here. I also just noticed that the menus are poping faster.

[ranova @ Sep 12th 2008 2:08PM]

More bars but value is the same. No increased signal strength for me. Now shows 4 bars of 3g where I would get 0-2 in the house but once again switches to edge when I make a call or use data.

The values (dB) stays the same, but the signal shows different. That doesn't seem very good. Doesn't seem like anything changed except Apple tweaking what they consider "Okay" reception

[Snitch @ Sep 12th 2008 2:16PM]

3G is also better now, at first i though the update was crap but after using my phone for a few hours i can now see it's a solid update, if anyone is holding off on it i suggest you get it

[nerdtalker @ Sep 12th 2008 2:26PM]

"improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display." = Artificially tacking some extra bars onto the signal display to make people _think_ signal is better.

The real quantitative way to tell whether signal _actually_ has improved is to go into field trial mode, which is worlds more useful than "I have mo@r bars in X or Y location than I did before!?!!"

*3001#12345#* and then touch the Call button to put your iPhone into "field test mode" http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/Inside-the-iPhone-field-test-mode.htm

RX Lev Full is really what you want to look at, as it reports the signal strength in dB during calls. Just call something stupid like goog-411 before and after the firmware update, in the same place, and see if this actually improves. If it doesn't do anything but the phone is reporting better signal in the barchart, it's just an entirely feel-good fix.

[who? @ Sep 12th 2008 2:32PM]

Nerdtalker?

Exactly. I've been saying that for a long time, but no one would dare argue with "the bars".

[nerdtalker @ Sep 12th 2008 2:39PM]

As an aside, I've also found that testing a few (two or three) iPhone 3Gs in the apple store seemed to confirm that signal strength varies wildly across devices. Just fire up field test on them and check it out.

Let's see if we can't get some people to actually post their Before and After signal strengths. This really is the _only_ way to know, given that they've changed the barchart reporting. I guess a plus is that they've actually told us, otherwise there would be allegations of underhanded attempts to make signal feel better.

[Gilbert Tang @ Sep 12th 2008 3:29PM]

@nerdtalker: Awesome suggestion. Have you noticed that the 2.1 field test is significantly paired down from previous iterations?

[sygyzy @ Sep 12th 2008 4:16PM]

Nerdtalker - I can enter the Field Test mode but do not see nearly the same menus as the link you provided. I also cannot find the RX LevFull data and many of the pages just say "Unknown" for the values.

[Niz @ Sep 12th 2008 4:53PM]

Well going by the bars SHOULD be good enough! why lie? okay in this case there's a reason to, if its true puts a lot of distrust in Apple i doubt they would do it though as they can easily be caught out if this is the case.

[JJV @ Sep 12th 2008 4:57PM]

Guys and girls we can no longer blame engadget for reporting on such articles....

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/09/12/iphone.update.ap/index.html

[PIGPEN @ Sep 12th 2008 5:31PM]

At my house I always showed 1 to 2 bars all the time (Yes I know the visual of the bars don't mean anything) but calls always sounded choppy and were always dropped. every time I wanted to make a call I had to go outside, and in Phoenix that really sucks to have to do. I did talk to at&t about it and they were surprised because there was a cell tower right down the street and I should be getting great service. Now, like I said before I know the bars are just a graphic that can easily be changed. but I have been having clean calls all day without one being dropped so far in the comfort of my air-conditioned house!

[Joe @ Sep 12th 2008 8:38PM]

here at work i used to get 1 bar and shotty service now i have a constant 3. the real test will be when i go to the other side of the facility where no phone i have ever had has had a signal.

[Zorn @ Sep 12th 2008 8:39PM]

Same here, in my house I had the one tiny bar before, and now I'm at almost full signal always. It's made an absolutely huge difference in reception, speed, syncing, everything. *This* is what 2.0 should have been.

[d840 @ Sep 13th 2008 2:24AM]

OK, FIELD TEST MODE RESULTS:

I put the phone into field test mode before and after the update, and it appears the signal strength got weaker!
I only took samples in one place, but before the update, I was getting between -79 (but only for a moment) and -113, but for the most part, it was staying in the -87 to -83 range. After the update, I have been getting a range that is a little more consistant: -99 to -85, but it has stayed mostly on -93 to -91. Also, there was a short time when it read "No Service" while I was testing it, but then it came back to full bars.

Most of the results were achieved with the phone sitting in the exact same place on my desk, not touching it.

In conclusion, it would seem that the update didn't really improve signal (remember, the more negative a number, the weaker the signal, so -80 is better than -90). However, the signal does seem to be slightly more consistent than before.

Update: Just turned off my wifi so I can see what network I'm on. 3g strength is at -103 and stable.(shows up as 1 bar, same as I've always gotten here) Edge strength is at -89 to -85 stable (shows up as 4 to 5 bars), so it would appear that at least some of the fluctuations I was experiencing for no apparent reason were caused by the phone switching back and forth between 3G and Edge.

The end result is that my test was inconclusive due to my failure to eliminate some of the variables.

Other changes in this firmware: Different 3G and Edge icons, improved contacts scrolling, etc...

[johnrpeart @ Sep 15th 2008 4:18PM]

I'm now able to get 3G signal in my house - couldn't get any before even though I was meant to.
So seems to work fine for me!

Thanks Stevey boy!

[Robert @ Sep 12th 2008 1:34PM]

Yes it seems like I am now getting a better 3G signal BUT the update has caused Last.Fm to crash and not work properly.

[Pete @ Sep 12th 2008 2:09PM]

Me too - Last.fm just hang when I try to use it

[maveric101 @ Sep 12th 2008 8:47PM]

so much for for Jobs' promise.

[y3k.nik @ Sep 12th 2008 1:29PM]

Does it really matter that much?

[Robert @ Sep 12th 2008 1:34PM]

Well seeing this post is about signal strength I would guess so!

Effin troll.

[papafew @ Sep 12th 2008 2:05PM]

this was clever...

[YesHone @ Sep 12th 2008 5:02PM]

Well, considering after using the new firmware for a few hours,

I see my phone bouncing from 3 "3G" bars to 4 "edge" bars...

Total improvement over bouncing from 1 "3g" bar to 4 "edge" bars...

[Joe H @ Sep 12th 2008 1:32PM]

Yeah, but bars don't mean anything, they could've just decreased the threshold for each signal level on the display, what'll matter more is making calls.

[YesHone @ Sep 12th 2008 1:59PM]

Back with the first iPhone, I did the jailbreak and then just reversed the order of the bars, so when the phone had 1 bar, it showed the 5 bar icon.. So needless to say, from them on out, I always had 5 bars!

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Sep 12th 2008 10:09PM]

Yeah, but the problem with the iPhone (especially 3G?) was that the reception sucked, not that the signal strength read too weak. All of the rumors were that there was a problem with the chipset. So when they talk about improving signal strength it's about more than just the strength meter.

I've always been okay with the signal on my 1G, it's been as good as any other phone, but it is really choppy near my desk at work, all cell phones are. Today I had a conversation on my 2.1 software iPhone at my desk without even thinking about it -- so I'm guessing they improved reception on the 1G iPhone, even though I thought only the 3G as considered to have 'problems'.

Mostly I'm just happy to have my snappy UI back the way it should be.

In related news, I got my postcard for a class action suit against Verizon for $175 early termination fees -- yay! When I canceled I had over a year in, and Verizon had put out press releases saying that it should be pro-rated, but they charged me the whole thing anyway... Hopefully I get a few cents from the lawsuit.

[Bryan @ Sep 12th 2008 1:33PM]

Slow day at Engadget?

I would think this article would be better suited for Monday seeing the firmware update came out mere hours ago.

People need time to DL the firmware and test the network. Five minutes of testing doesn't seem long enough IMO.

[bassdog65 @ Sep 12th 2008 3:27PM]

Not only is this post kind of irrelevant, but why isn't there an option in the poll for, "my phone is jailbroken and I haven't updated yet because the dev team hasn't released a new pwnage tool."

[Neeko @ Sep 12th 2008 1:32PM]

In this case full bars doesnt have to mean better reception. give it a couple days in different areas to test.

[mitchell_pgh @ Sep 12th 2008 2:25PM]

Yah, but my bars to go 11.

[Tom Schavo @ Sep 12th 2008 7:37PM]

well from my room, i just don't get proper signal. I initially thought it could be something blocking. But other phones are working pretty good.

[Daniel @ Sep 12th 2008 1:34PM]

Not only am I seeing bars where there were no bars before, but i'm also seeing a far greater data output, so it seemingly HAS had an affect on transmission rate as well as visual bar display.

[Aron T @ Sep 12th 2008 3:12PM]

Concur, 3G data was previously no better than Edge data at my apartment; I only had 0-1 bars there. Following the update I have 4-5 bars and 3G is actually comparable to my Wi-Fi connection.

[G-Thug @ Sep 12th 2008 5:54PM]

Same here. Simplify now loads songs over 3G just as fast as over my wifi connection!

[Andrew Bowerman @ Sep 12th 2008 1:34PM]

I was just making a comment on a change i noticed.

[Eric @ Sep 12th 2008 1:38PM]

How about a couple new polls:

1. "Will Engadget ever learn to make a scientific and useful poll?"

Where's the option for "Well, I see more bars more often, but I can't tell if my signal is actually improved"?

2. "Will Engadget ever give us a way to view poll results without voting?"

Many times I want to see the results of a poll without voting, because either I don't have the product being polled or none of the answers apply for me (see #1). In order to see the poll results I have to skew the results by picking a B.S. response.

[Jazz @ Sep 12th 2008 1:44PM]

I second Eric's comment.

[Ekauq @ Sep 12th 2008 1:52PM]

thirded

[YesHone @ Sep 12th 2008 1:59PM]

Dude, just hit vote without making a selection... It'll take you to the results

[drumdbeat @ Sep 12th 2008 2:01PM]

I was just looking for the link to see the reults, and there isn't one, so yeah I fourth it!

[drumdbeat @ Sep 12th 2008 2:01PM]

Oh yeah, that worked.

[Zak @ Sep 12th 2008 2:25PM]

"Scientific poll" is an oxymoron. A poll is about the farthest thing from "scientific". There are no controls, no consistency, and most importantly it's all just opinion.

[Najakwa @ Sep 12th 2008 2:51PM]

polls are just stats, which are just mathematics and therefore are always scientific. When controls and logic are applied, they can provide a lot of information and observation. That being said, any stat can be used for a multitude of opposite viewpoints. Engadget should include a view without voting (which can skew opinion before voting and increase standard deviation). That being said, there is always someone who thinks their answer doesn't fit a poll. Above all science though, it is a web poll for the love of jeebus. It should probably be taken with a grain or bag of salt.

[tpadekar @ Sep 12th 2008 2:53PM]

@ Zak

But that's one 'moron' we can all live with! :-D

[MBS @ Sep 12th 2008 2:59PM]

How do you think that any online poll would ever be anything remotely close to scientific.
Why don't you just quit wining about it and realize it's for fun not for friggin science.

[cromas @ Sep 12th 2008 3:49PM]

The problem with engadget polls is there is always a useless option that throws off the entire result set so it's not useful for anyone. In this case, it's "Where Am I?", simultaneously receiving nearly half of the total votes and killings the rest of the poll. Sigh.

[Brian M @ Sep 12th 2008 1:39PM]

I'm getting full Bars in my office now at work, were before i was lucky to get one or two bars, which also was not constant. A lot of times i would have no signal. If this is acurate, this is gonna be huge for me. meaning i can actually get calls in my office at work now :)

WHY OH WHY i there no copy and paste :(

[zargon @ Sep 12th 2008 1:42PM]

I still can't make or receive any calls on my iPod Touch, this firmware didn't work!

[aaron @ Sep 12th 2008 1:46PM]

You have to throw it in a full bathtub and let it sit in the water for 3 hours first. Give it a shot and let me know how it works for ya!

[zargon @ Sep 12th 2008 1:49PM]

@aaron

I will give it a try when I get home.