Delay when placing calls

[southerndoc]

Do you also have a WiFi connection? I didn't think the iPhone used any cellular data if it was connected to WiFi?

[jarbar]

Lets go AT&T!  Look at all of your customers that are reporting the exact same problems with your microcell.  I too have been having these problems. Because of my close proximity to the Canadian border I cannot receive a reliable signal due to the USA/Canada towers competing with my IPHONE 4 for a connection.  The microcell sounded like a great product that AT&T said would solve all my problems, they were wrong.  Having to wait 20, 30, 40 seconds for a call to connect, just to have it fail anyway is extremely frustrating.  Like many Americans, I do not have a landline so GOD forbid I have to call 911 with one of my four AT&T phones at my home and experience these issues.  I have spent the 45 minutes to an hour on the phone with technical support several times going through the same drills (unplug and plug back in, toggle airplane mode, reset network in phone settings, etc.. etc...etc..)  It is obvius that these issues are real and nationwide, do something about it!!

Put out a software upgrade, retrofit the device, but do something or I may not be the only customer who starts writing letters to anyone and everyone that will listen about the customers who live in weak service areas who are not getting the services and features that their hard earned money is paying for, breach of contract anyone with a little arbitration on the side?  Win or lose maybe it will get AT&T to move their rear ends.

[thively]

I meant this seriously...  what is the next step?  Write (real physical paper) letters and mail them to the office of the president?
Maybe if they get a small pile of them, action might get taken.  I've worked for consumer electronics companies that ignored what were considered corner case issues (not by choice but due to lack of resources and prioritization) until irate customers (or the press) got a hold of a VP or CEO, then suddenly the issue got priority (and resources allocated.)
Clearly with billions in annual profit and thousands we pay in bills per year, they can afford to fix this issue.

I don't consider this a corner case scenario.  On the conrary I think it's dead front and center affecting an overwhelming percentage of customes (everyone with an mcell and iphone.)

But clearly the message isn't getting through.

At the risk of violating forum rules (I don't know if I am) may I suggest we write letters to the office of the president?
If others commit to it, I'll take the time and do it too.

But I'm talking about (took the time to write) a snail mail here, not a lazy email. 

If we go this route, I suggest we all get on the same page as to what we believe the actual problems are who may need to fix them as to point them in the right direction.

It is borderline fraud that they continue to sell these for $200 a pop as a solution to iPhone users when it doesn't work right and never did.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[southerndoc]

I would highly suggest writing Randal Stephenson an email or letter. His corporate office has been quick to respond and get people in touch with technical support technicians that must answer to the corporate office. If quite a few people write letters/emails, things will get resolved quickly.

[tward52]

I to am having the same problem with my microcell, bougfht it 1 year ago. I noticed it with my iphone 4 but the iphone 3g doesn't seem to have the problem, but it's not been updated to the new ois from somewhere in the 3's.

I just purchased Samsung skyrocket and also does the samething taking forever to dial.

[acMcLean]

My delay has been reduced to 5-10 seconds. I've waited to post this for 3 weeks since I've been waiting for the delay to return. I work from home so I use my phone a lot during the day. I'm in the East St Louis area. IPhone 4 ios 5.

[thively]

My experience is that the more often and more frequently you use it, the less you experience a delay or call failed. It's when your phone has gone unused for a long period of time that I almost always have the problem. So I'm just speculating that perhaps that's one reason you are seeing better results? For me it's still inconsistent.

It could also have to do with the fact that we have a full 10 people registered with my office microcell.  But I also see it at home where it's just my wife and I.  Go figure.

[nategold]

Is this fixed reliably for anyone who used to have the problem?  I have thought it fixed a few times, when dialing out was fast for a few days, but the problem always comes back.

[acMcLean]

It's fixed for my wife an I in St. Louis. We haven't had any problems in a couple of months. Iphone 4. IOS 4 and IOS 5.

[nategold]

Hmm, I wonder if they rolled out a firmware upgrade for some and not others.  But you can never find out from AT&T.

[bikermomof4]

I talked to someone at the Apple store about this issue thinking it was my phone.  She said to reset the network settings on the phone itself when it starts to bog down on the Mcell, spooling forever to get a call out.  Granted, AT&T should be fixing the issue, but this is a workable solution until they actually fix the problems.  However, I still experience intermittent message send failures when I try to MMS a photo.

Resetting the network settings works for a month or so, and then I have to do it again.  Not sure of they why or science behind it all, but it does help.

[Broderik]

I've got a 5th gen airport extreme and a 2nd gen airport express with a microcell and for a while I had this issue, either extreme delay when placing calls or simply a "call failure". I recently reorganized my routers and disconnected my express, leaving just my extreme to provide wifi. After that, the problem seemed to go away. I then re-added my express in a different part of the house (to extend the range of the network) and the problem came back again. Still don't know if it's Apple or AT&T at fault here, but it seems the existance of more than 1 wifi base station interferes with the call placing, even when the second one is several feet (and walls) away from the microcell.

[E the P]

I've noticed in the past week that I've had very few delays when placing calls via my Microcell (a dramatic improvement).  Is it foolish to hope that they have solved the problem?

[nategold]

I have noticed the same thing but have been fooled in the past - the problem came back.  So who really knows???

[gjlieber]

I have noticed an improvement is connection speed as well. Right around Christmas time, the microcell started connecting within 4~6 seconds.  In fact I notice my router lights start flashing as soon as I press the call button.  

It may have been fixed.  Too bad AT&T does not have the balls to say that they had a problem but it is fixed now.

[jimithing1]

I've had vast improvement as well. My calls go through very quickly now and there has been no delays. 

[chasd]

Yup, no doubt about it, there has been some improvement. I make several test calls every day and there has been no delay for the last week. That has never happened before. I will continue to test.

[nategold]

Well I think for me this problem is fixed.  It has been fast to connect on outgoing calls for weeks now.

[E the P]

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nategold wrote:

Well I think for me this problem is fixed.  It has been fast to connect on outgoing calls for weeks now.

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Should someone tell naysayer? 

[nategold]

nsayer probably knows since he posted in this thread, but he is quite happy on Verizon with his iPhone.

[jamileh]

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nategold wrote:

nsayer probably knows since he posted in this thread, but he is quite happy on Verizon with his iPhone.

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I *just* responded to your Private Message from the 4th asking if you wanted to talk to someone about the delays. I guess you can ignore that now! Sorry for the delay in replying! ~jam

[7Johnny63]

Exact same problem..

[nsayer]

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E the P wrote:

Should someone tell naysayer? 

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I wish you guys would quit calling me that.

It's nsayer. It's basically been my identity on the Internet since about 1987.

[edited for privacy]

[E the P]

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nsayer wrote:

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E the P wrote:

Should someone tell naysayer? 

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I wish you guys would quit calling me that.

It's nsayer. It's basically been my identity on the Internet since about 1987.

[edited for privacy]

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Sorry about that

[blarrrrg]

when the calls don't immediately fail, or mysteriously echo my microphone, i also get the 20-30++++++ second delay often ending in a failure. 6+ months of this nonsense with more promises than I can count that it will be fixed "soon"

even spent over an hour on the phone with someone who was supposed to be an upper level tech support specialist who in the end gave up and said it was a known issue and to wait for a firmware update. UGH.