iPhone 3G on Rogers/Fido = Missed Calls on 3G Network

By Gary Ng on November 22nd, 2008 166

For the past week or so, I’ve experienced a very strange phenomenon with my iPhone 3G on Rogers. A couple nights ago I received the “new voicemail” indicator sound/buzz and it took me by surprise. Why? Well, because I didn’t hear nor receive an incoming call prior! At first I thought I was crazy. But after doing some research online and asking around on Twitter, turns out I’m not the only one with this problem.

There seems to be an inherent problem with the Rogers 3G network for iPhone 3G at the moment. The problem lies directly with 3G, and not EDGE. So that means with EDGE turned on, the problem is fixed. It’s the iPhone 3G–why would we want to use EDGE? Here are the findings so far regarding this reoccurring issue:

- This problem is happening across the country, not just in BC and the Lower Mainland. It’s been occuring for almost two months now.
- Users have also experienced garbled call quality.
- Some people have swapped SIM cards to try fixing this problem.
- Some people have gone straight to Apple and gotten replacement iPhone 3Gs (and even through Rogers/Fido).
- Some people have gotten $5 monthly credits from Rogers and told to use EDGE to solve this.
- Another solution is to go to Settings/General/Reset/Reset Network, as told by a Rogers CSR.
- Fetch mail seems to be affected by this as well (I’ve noticed my mail hasn’t been fetching periodically).

Rogers 3G Network Overwhelmed?

It appears that the problem lies directly with the 3G network and one could infer that it’s severely overwhelmed at the moment. What would be the explanation for people missing calls and having them go directly to voicemail?

Moreover, Rogers iPhone technicians are aware of this problem, yet employees at stores continue to sell the iPhone 3G. Maybe it has to do with the sudden influx of 3G users across the country? Either way, the network seems to be reaching its breaking point because I’ve also gotten “call failed” errors and inconsistent 3G surfing speeds. Rogers, please investigate this problem and fix it immediately. If you can’t offer full 3G support as advertised, don’t charge people for it!

Have you been experiencing any problems with the 3G network, either voice or data related? For those with this problem on 2.1, did updating to 2.2 firmware solve this problem?

**Looking for an iPhone 3G case? Go get an invisibleSHIELD, the strongest protection for your iPhone backed by a 30 day moneyback guarantee, lifetime replacement warranty, and FREE shipping! Use coupon code iphoneinca for 20% off your purchase! Order today!**

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my RSS feed, so you won’t miss any updates! You can also subscribe via email and have daily updates sent to your Inbox! Want more? Find out what I’m doing right now! Follow me on Twitter!

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of iPhoneinCanada.ca. Follow @iPhoneinCanada and on Google+. Click here to save 20% OFF at ZAGG.com with coupon 'iphoneinca'!

Did you like the post?

Related Posts

Recent Posts

Newer Comments →
  • Keaton ec

    this has been happening to me a long time. I think that the first rme it happened was a couple of months ago. Sometimes for me aswell it take forever to connect a call. Just sitsnthere and says calling whoevere. I love my iPhone but it’s kind f annyng haveing to change to edge. It’s so much slower opening emails and on safari. I hope they get his fixed soon.

  • Keaton ec

    this has been happening to me a long time. I think that the first rme it happened was a couple of months ago. Sometimes for me aswell it take forever to connect a call. Just sitsnthere and says calling whoevere. I love my iPhone but it’s kind f annyng haveing to change to edge. It’s so much slower opening emails and on safari. I hope they get his fixed soon.

  • Tony

    Can i get anything from fido for experiencing these problems?

  • Ryan Wilson

    I’ve had the same problem a few times, and a friend of mine has too. Even if you are in full network range, it’ll just go to voicemail (and sometimes voicemail won’t come for about half an hour). I’ve even had a few that I’d be in my house, have 5 bars 3G, then all of a sudden would drop to 1 bar of edge, and take a while to get it back. Not a phone problem, I guess!

  • Tony

    Can i get anything from fido for experiencing these problems?

  • Ryan Wilson

    I’ve had the same problem a few times, and a friend of mine has too. Even if you are in full network range, it’ll just go to voicemail (and sometimes voicemail won’t come for about half an hour). I’ve even had a few that I’d be in my house, have 5 bars 3G, then all of a sudden would drop to 1 bar of edge, and take a while to get it back. Not a phone problem, I guess!

  • Mik

    I’m experiencing this problem. I have had to resort to using EDGE — which is slow, but at least I receive my calls and emails, and it does extend my battery life considerably. Still, I complained to Rogers and they gave me a 30$ credit for the past two months I’ve had my iPhone. I’ll keep asking for some sort of refund until they resolve this issue.

  • Mik

    I’m experiencing this problem. I have had to resort to using EDGE — which is slow, but at least I receive my calls and emails, and it does extend my battery life considerably. Still, I complained to Rogers and they gave me a 30$ credit for the past two months I’ve had my iPhone. I’ll keep asking for some sort of refund until they resolve this issue.

  • bill

    I have the same problem. But I have had this problem even before getting iPhone on fido. So I don’t think it has to do with iPhone or 3g. It’s just their network in general.

  • bill

    I have the same problem. But I have had this problem even before getting iPhone on fido. So I don’t think it has to do with iPhone or 3g. It’s just their network in general.

  • josh whittal

    OMG!!!! YES i have phoned rogers like 5 friggen times and they told me that they have not had any complaints with this issue. GRRRR i am so f.uck.ing pissed.

  • josh whittal

    OMG!!!! YES i have phoned rogers like 5 friggen times and they told me that they have not had any complaints with this issue. GRRRR i am so f.uck.ing pissed.

  • josh whittal

    Yes i have this right now i hate it i phoned in to rogers and they told me that they didnt have any other complaints about it. i hate rogers the guy told me he was about to file a complaint and then he hung up on me. i phoned 3 times now and made 2 calls to apple about it. this is driving me nuts.

  • josh whittal

    Yes i have this right now i hate it i phoned in to rogers and they told me that they didnt have any other complaints about it. i hate rogers the guy told me he was about to file a complaint and then he hung up on me. i phoned 3 times now and made 2 calls to apple about it. this is driving me nuts.

  • JC

    I’ve had trouble fetching email lately, but no voice problems.

  • JC

    I’ve had trouble fetching email lately, but no voice problems.

  • http://iphonenewbs.com/ Jordan

    I’ve noticed it happens to a friedn on Fido way more frequently than on my iPhone with Rogers. Turning on airplane mode and then turning it off usually fixes it.

  • http://iphonenewbs.com Jordan

    I’ve noticed it happens to a friedn on Fido way more frequently than on my iPhone with Rogers. Turning on airplane mode and then turning it off usually fixes it.

  • James

    in my area right now i dont get 3G coverage so i dont need to worry cause im always on edge

  • James

    in my area right now i dont get 3G coverage so i dont need to worry cause im always on edge

  • nutchos

    That’s interesting, I’ve had more than a few times over the past week where i’ve gotten a txt from “who called” telling me about a missed call when I didn’t get any (and there was no missed call marker on the phone). I’ve just been passing it off as errors or something.

    I did also have this one day where all calls were automatically going to voice mail but that was fixed by restarting the phone.

    Annoying to say the least, especially when you’re expecting important calls. They need to get this fixed ASAP (i’m on fido btw).

  • nutchos

    That’s interesting, I’ve had more than a few times over the past week where i’ve gotten a txt from “who called” telling me about a missed call when I didn’t get any (and there was no missed call marker on the phone). I’ve just been passing it off as errors or something.

    I did also have this one day where all calls were automatically going to voice mail but that was fixed by restarting the phone.

    Annoying to say the least, especially when you’re expecting important calls. They need to get this fixed ASAP (i’m on fido btw).

  • http://cdslash.net/ Dan Udey

    First off, thanks for the link!

    My current theory has to do with the way cellular networks break up voice and data traffic. Voice and data are treated differently with GSM, and it’s possible that when the iPhone is in 3G mode, there are just too many other people using voice for it to get a free channel to talk to your phone. Data isn’t an issue because it’s intermittent – you get some data, then you pause, then you get some more data, then you pause. It’s very rare for an iPhone to maintain a consistent stream of data, but voice is far more popular.

    Add to that the 3G-capable Blackberries, video phones, etc. that Rogers and Fido are selling, and you can see it tilting rapidly towards more ‘voice’ than ‘data’.

    From what I know, the only real solution to Rogers/Fido’s capacity problems is more towers, which can be a significant investment. I guess we’ll see.

  • http://cdslash.net/ Dan Udey

    First off, thanks for the link!

    My current theory has to do with the way cellular networks break up voice and data traffic. Voice and data are treated differently with GSM, and it’s possible that when the iPhone is in 3G mode, there are just too many other people using voice for it to get a free channel to talk to your phone. Data isn’t an issue because it’s intermittent – you get some data, then you pause, then you get some more data, then you pause. It’s very rare for an iPhone to maintain a consistent stream of data, but voice is far more popular.

    Add to that the 3G-capable Blackberries, video phones, etc. that Rogers and Fido are selling, and you can see it tilting rapidly towards more ‘voice’ than ‘data’.

    From what I know, the only real solution to Rogers/Fido’s capacity problems is more towers, which can be a significant investment. I guess we’ll see.

  • Ian Kirkland

    I’ve been having the same probllem her ein TO and having many dropped calls, including calls that I pick up on and then immediately drop.

  • Ian Kirkland

    I’ve been having the same probllem her ein TO and having many dropped calls, including calls that I pick up on and then immediately drop.

  • Al

    My wife and I have both been experiencing “failed calls”. Either it rings twice and then you get a Failed Call message, or even more annoying, the call connects and as soon as the person on the other end says hello, the call drops. Restarting the phone seems to work for both of us but after a few days it starts again.

    Very frustrating – I’m hoping the new Firmware update helps.

  • Al

    My wife and I have both been experiencing “failed calls”. Either it rings twice and then you get a Failed Call message, or even more annoying, the call connects and as soon as the person on the other end says hello, the call drops. Restarting the phone seems to work for both of us but after a few days it starts again.

    Very frustrating – I’m hoping the new Firmware update helps.

  • Andre

    I’ve been experiencing the exact same thing, with 2.1 and 2.2. I thought it was an app that causing the problem so I removed most of them but no luck. I restart my iPhone once or twice a day to clear the problem. I haven’t tried putting it in airplane mode but I’ll try that next time. At least I’m not the only one so it must be Rogers (and Fido).

  • Andre

    I’ve been experiencing the exact same thing, with 2.1 and 2.2. I thought it was an app that causing the problem so I removed most of them but no luck. I restart my iPhone once or twice a day to clear the problem. I haven’t tried putting it in airplane mode but I’ll try that next time. At least I’m not the only one so it must be Rogers (and Fido).

  • dawrobel

    I’ve had the exact same thing happening, i’ll get a text message saying I missed a call yet no call came in.

  • dawrobel

    I’ve had the exact same thing happening, i’ll get a text message saying I missed a call yet no call came in.

  • Matt Gendron

    ive had a voicemail that was over an hour old arrive out of the blue and the time stamp was the current time. When I called back the person leaving the voicemail, they said they called over an hour ago (I assume i just missed the call that happens a to i just dont here it) but like i said the voicemail came let

  • Matt Gendron

    ive had a voicemail that was over an hour old arrive out of the blue and the time stamp was the current time. When I called back the person leaving the voicemail, they said they called over an hour ago (I assume i just missed the call that happens a to i just dont here it) but like i said the voicemail came let

  • Luis

    We have 2 iPhones at home and both are experiencing this issue. I’d say about 80% of incoming calls never ring and go directly to voice mail. Anything that resets the 3G connection (on/off, airplane mode, hard reset, reset network settings) fixes it for a while, but it starts missing calls again after a few hours. We have started to use EDGE and switching to 3G when high data speed is needed. This totally sucks.

    I’ve spoken to Fido all the way to tech support in Montreal. They are aware of the problem and they seemed very hopeful that 2.2 would fix it, but it seems to have made it worse to me. What is not clear to me is if this is a 3G network issue or an iPhone issue. Are other phones having the same problem? I could never get an straight answer from Fido.

    I have an appointment at the Genius bar today and don’t plan to leave without two replacement phones. I don’t think that’ll fix it, but at least if it starts hurting them in the wallet maybe they’ll do something about it.

  • Luis

    We have 2 iPhones at home and both are experiencing this issue. I’d say about 80% of incoming calls never ring and go directly to voice mail. Anything that resets the 3G connection (on/off, airplane mode, hard reset, reset network settings) fixes it for a while, but it starts missing calls again after a few hours. We have started to use EDGE and switching to 3G when high data speed is needed. This totally sucks.

    I’ve spoken to Fido all the way to tech support in Montreal. They are aware of the problem and they seemed very hopeful that 2.2 would fix it, but it seems to have made it worse to me. What is not clear to me is if this is a 3G network issue or an iPhone issue. Are other phones having the same problem? I could never get an straight answer from Fido.

    I have an appointment at the Genius bar today and don’t plan to leave without two replacement phones. I don’t think that’ll fix it, but at least if it starts hurting them in the wallet maybe they’ll do something about it.

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca Gary

    I’m in the same boat. I didn’t think about a network error when I received those “who called” texts, I was just confused. This explains it all.

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca iPhone Fan

    I’m in the same boat. I didn’t think about a network error when I received those “who called” texts, I was just confused. This explains it all.

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca Gary

    I agree, why fix it when they will just keep on selling. As for the problem my iPhone never missed any calls from before. It’s been happening in the past couple of weeks.

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca iPhone Fan

    I agree, why fix it when they will just keep on selling. As for the problem my iPhone never missed any calls from before. It’s been happening in the past couple of weeks.

  • Sukisszoze

    OMG…I thought it was kind of weird when my phone on Rogers sent me a text message saying I missed a call and I knew the phone didn’t ring because it was sitting in front of me.

  • Sukisszoze

    OMG…I thought it was kind of weird when my phone on Rogers sent me a text message saying I missed a call and I knew the phone didn’t ring because it was sitting in front of me.

  • Mark

    Also experiencing problems with missed calls, dropped calls and my phone taking for ever to initiate a call (it will hang for up to a minute before it starts ringing). This effects my business and my social life. (Man, my girlfriend was trying to call me all evening and I had no idea. Boy was I in trouble! :)

  • Mark

    Also experiencing problems with missed calls, dropped calls and my phone taking for ever to initiate a call (it will hang for up to a minute before it starts ringing). This effects my business and my social life. (Man, my girlfriend was trying to call me all evening and I had no idea. Boy was I in trouble! :)

  • Sidney

    I thought I was the only one!!! Thanks for letting me know! Any idea if I choose to take my iphone to the apple store, will they give me a new one? or a Refurb?

  • Sidney

    I thought I was the only one!!! Thanks for letting me know! Any idea if I choose to take my iphone to the apple store, will they give me a new one? or a Refurb?

  • Nitar

    It’s time to get they credit… Paying for a service that messes up another service? It’s not right…

  • Nitar

    It’s time to get they credit… Paying for a service that messes up another service? It’s not right…

  • Luis

    Just came back from the apple store and another round of complaining to fido on the phone. Apple is not replacing phones due to this because a new phone doesn’t fix the problem. The official position of both apple and fido seems to be that you should run your phone on edge if you want to receive calls. This needs to get to the stream media so they feeel enough pressure to do something about it. The bottom line is that the iPhone 3g doesn’t work on the 3g network, at least in Canada.

  • Luis

    Just came back from the apple store and another round of complaining to fido on the phone. Apple is not replacing phones due to this because a new phone doesn’t fix the problem. The official position of both apple and fido seems to be that you should run your phone on edge if you want to receive calls. This needs to get to the stream media so they feeel enough pressure to do something about it. The bottom line is that the iPhone 3g doesn’t work on the 3g network, at least in Canada.

Newer Comments →