[Ben]

Ok, so, I noticed when I unlocked my iPhone tonight that it said I had full 3G. At home. Where I usually have about 1-2 bars of 2G. Then WiFi kicked in and all was normal again.

So, out of interest, I switched WiFi off and fired up Safari. Sure enough, after a bit of indecision, there it was. Glorious full 3G. Browsing was nice and fast, too!

I set up a call and, with a speaker next to the handset, I had my confirmation - absolutely 3G. For about 2 minutes, at which point it switched down to a couple of bars of 2G for the rest of the call and the speaker started screeching. Madness.

Just a foot away from where the iPhone was on my desk, I can't get any 3G at all. Where I'm sat now in the next room (thin walls, new build) I've got one bar of 2G. I just don't get it!

Is there a secret microscopic O2 3G mast under my house? =D Is 3G so rubbish that you can have full signal to no signal, just like that?

[gorilla]

I get this all the time. When at work, for example, I get full 3G, that is until I want to use the phone to either call or browse the net and then the signal starts to fluctuate wildly.

It's not the iPhone either (other people report the same network flaws), it's O2 and their pitiful network.

[Ben]

Well, at least I'm not the only one. Using Safari under 3G really was very quick, and my call was definitely routed over it for a while, but that this "full strength" 3G coverage could be lost by moving the handset a matter of inches was incredulous!