
Bad Connection: Inside the iPhone Network Meltdown - jesseendahl
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/07/ff_att_fail/all/1
======
brainsik
This is a nice overview of the iPhone vs AT&T debacle, but the conclusion is
sensationalized. It may be that Apple and Google are helping the wireless
carriers reach new levels of poor service, but the reality is the carriers
have never been that good.

In the 10 years I've had a mobile phone, I can't think of any time when people
weren't complaining about their carrier and wondering if any of the others
were better. It didn't seem to matter who you were with. Like the Mutt motto:
"All mobile carriers suck. This one just sucks less."

~~~
hga
It's worth pointing out the one major relevant fact they didn't cover, that
Fake Steve Jobs pointed out at the end of last year: every quarter after the
first "iPhone Christmas" (4Q07, the first Christmas after the release of the
first iPhone), AT&T's had lower wireless capital expenditures (capex):
<http://www.fakesteve.net/2009/12/att-by-the-numbers.html> (through 3Q09 at
least).

AT&T made a conscious choice to maintain its operating and net earnings at the
expense of its quality of service (something we've heard detailed bits and
pieces about, e.g. insufficient backhaul, like this article's comments on the
not much used in the US market chip Apple used/uses). We'll see if that was a
good choice as Verizon et. al. converge on LTE along with AT&T.

------
kierank
I expected a serious article from Wired about how 3G networks promise so much
but can never realistically could deliver the bandwidth consumers want along
with an explanation of the reasons why.

Instead I got a puff piece about twitter and people complaining with hashtags
(yet again(!)) and about meetings with managers who most likely don't know or
understand the issues with the network.

Nobody has approached the topic of 3G network saturation in a serious manner
yet. I hope someone does one day.

------
YooLi
I thought I would throw this out there because I am sure someone here knows
this.

The article said Qualcomm is working with Apple to make a chip that would
allow the iPhone to operate on both AT&T and Verizon networks. Does that mean
the chip would also work with Sprint by virtue of it also using CDMA or is
there more to it than that?

~~~
jesseendahl
I think there might be more to it than that. I think Sprint uses 1.9 GHz and
800 MHz frequencies, whereas Verizon uses 1.9 GHz and 850 Mhz.

But they both use EV-DO (specifically CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A), which is a
standard...

On the other hand, it looks like Verizon is fast moving towards LTE. See:
[http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/18/verizons-lte-rollout-
is-i...](http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/18/verizons-lte-rollout-is-imminent-
computers-updated-for-4g-sim/)

and

[http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/verizons-4g-lte-sim-in-
th...](http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/verizons-4g-lte-sim-in-the-wild/)

My guess is that the next iPhone supports LTE and is available on either AT&T
or Verizon.

Sprint, on the other hand, is only now thinking about using LTE:

[http://gigaom.com/2010/07/13/sprint-going-lte-makes-sense-
bu...](http://gigaom.com/2010/07/13/sprint-going-lte-makes-sense-but-not-a-t-
mobile-merger/)

~~~
wmf
I doubt that a single iPhone design will work on AT&T and Verizon any time
soon. AT&T would need GSM+UMTS+LTE while Verizon would need CDMA2000+LTE. An
omni-protocol super-chipset is possible but unlikely.

------
bosch
Interesting point about the Infineon chips and the cell tower distances. I
wonder what advantages the Infineon chips had/

------
dkarl
_When an AT &T representative suggested to one of Jobs’ deputies that the
Apple CEO wear a suit to meet with AT&T’s board of directors, he was told,
“We’re Apple. We don’t wear suits. We don’t even own suits.”_

That's the joke, jackass. It's easy to make someone look stupid by reporting a
joke as a serious suggestion. If you get called on it, you flaunt your low
opinion of their intelligence by saying, "Whatever, they say so much bizarre
and retarded stuff it's impossible to tell when they're joking."

None of that is unusual, but why did Wired decide to include itself and its
readership inside this junior high put-down instead of reporting it straight?

~~~
CamperBob
Of course, there's always the possibility that this is basic factual
reporting, and not a joke.

This is a real issue at larger tech companies who must interface with older,
established players. Even back at Dell in the early 1990s there was some
friction between sales/marketing managers and engineers, with the former
arguing that the latter should dress a little sharper in case they
inadvertently got on an elevator with a customer.

~~~
bitwize
It's worth linking to Don Burleson's famous dress code for Oracle consultants:

<http://www.dba-oracle.com/dress_code.htm>

The idea being that banks and that expect "professional appearance and
behavior".

~~~
protomyth
from that link: "If you have been working all night and have an early morning
meeting, you can use an anti-inflammatory hemorrhoid cream (e.g. Preparation
H) to quickly shrink those unsightly puffy bags under your eyes. Just
carefully dab the roid cream on your lower eyelids (being careful not to get
any in your eyes) and you will look fresh and well-rested."

well, I guess you learn something new everyday.

