Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
EDGE and 3G and tripping down memory lane
My relationship with my iPhone hasn't been an easy one. On the one hand, it's an absolutely brilliant platform -- I just love programming for it. On the other hand it's a money hole. To keep it legit, I'm forking over a wad of cash each month to AT&T and from there on to Apple (not to mention the $99/year new iPhone play tax). One of my biggest decisions on that end involved giving up my data plan. Leaving the $20/month data plan behind as my "optional extra" has saved me $240 over the course of the year.
Read on for more about the iPhone and EDGE and my 3G service dilemma.
Since moving to WiFi-only for data, I've occasionally had doubts. There were times on trips that I longed for some kind of connectivity when WiFi gave out. The iPhone's WiFi antenna and reception isn't the best. When I'd be sitting at a meeting, everyone else with their MacBooks open and sucking down the WiFi where my poor iPhone refused to go above 1 WiFi bar-curve or keep a solid connection, I would think: This is what EDGE is for. Or even: This is what laptops are for.
So I was really excited to go back to my EDGE lifestyle for a few weeks after I bought the unlimited data package on my daughter's cellphone plan. I could use the iPhone while commuting, while waiting, while at the pediatrician, or at the grocery store.
But as soon as I started actually using WiFi again, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Wow, this still stinks. Using the iPhone over EDGE is painful. When you're used to WiFi responses, the whole EDGE thing seems like a bad joke. Sure you can use it "anywhere" (for large metropolitan values of "anywhere") but it's not very good. There's no comparison between a full-sized Internet connection and a tiny baby-sized EDGE make-do. The real connection wins out every time.
This is why I'm really looking forward to 3G. We're talking real internet. Real speed, real throughput, real data. Yes, it's not going to magically transform my iPhone into a laptop but it offers the possibility of non-dreadful Internet connections anywhere (again, for large metropolitan values of "anywhere").
Would I pay $20/month for 3G? Would I pay more? I'm not sure. I'd probably go the hacktivate routine (if it's still possible with the iPhone 2) and use the current Pay As You Go AT&T unlimited data plan feature pack. The plan is already 3G-compatible, so it should port well to the new iPhone assuming that hacktivation can be done. And, with PAYG, I can add it only when I'm traveling. That's a really nice option for those of us who aren't out of WiFi range all that often.
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Jason said 3:49PM on 5-30-2008
By all means, keep coming in here to bitch about articles. I'm sure TUAW doesn't mind all the page views.
Jason said 2:05PM on 5-30-2008
As a Canadian using Rogers, I can attest to the fact that the iPhone's EDGE up here is painfully slow to use, and its speeds are anything but consistent - sometimes it's a breeze, and sometimes you have to reload a page three times in Safari to get it to come up.
On the bright side, it's NOM1 EDGE, so at least I can receive calls (unlike a lot of AT&T people from what I gather).
Yes, and I know the Rogers network hasn't been tweaked for the iPhone, etc. But I'm super-excited about not having to unlock the 3G iPhone, and about decent data transfer rates.
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Neon Jebus said 2:43PM on 5-30-2008
I don't know if it's just my crappy phone but I've been on AT&T's 3G for over a year now and I can't say I'm looking forward to too much. I'm constantly getting error messages and disconnects when trying to access sites. The speed is rarely what I would consider 'fast' and are often no faster than what I experienced with my old EDGE based S710a.
I'm currently using the turd known as the LG 550v but have had similar issues using Samsung's Sync.
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igors said 4:31PM on 5-30-2008
Has Ms. Sadun addressed why she doesn't use an iPod touch instead?
Love the waaahmbulance term. Brilliant.
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mentalsticks said 6:20PM on 5-30-2008
She did write a piece about that, yes, if I recall correctly.
Clifford said 9:14AM on 5-31-2008
Not only did she write about why she prefers the iPhone to the iPod Touch, she also received the same kind of abuse in the comments.
I wrote for a popular baseball blog for a number of years. I stopped primarily because of the constant abuse from idiot readers. I knew that there were many, many more non-idiots out there, but I wasn't getting enough money from it to put up with the junk. Whenever I would write anything personal, I'd get a ton of "We don't want to hear about your kids or your 'experiences' or your feelings, we want baseball analysis and news" -- and I never felt like explaining that I was not a baseball analyst, I was a guy writing about what he felt while watching baseball.
That's what they call "blogging", kids.
Patrick Barnette said 5:08PM on 5-30-2008
Gag me with a spoon. Erica, don't listen to these ppl. I think your articles are great. Why don't some of you get a job with TUAW if you think you can do so much better.
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Michael Rose said 4:39PM on 5-30-2008
Nice, SNiP, very classy. Thank you for your cogent and well-considered criticism of the post. We certainly all have benefited from your contribution.
I'd like to reciprocate, if possible. Let me know when it's convenient for me to come to your place of business and scream profanity at you. If it would be easier, I could arrange to have "[your real name] SUX!" spraypainted on the sidewalk outside your office/dorm/parents' house.
Just because you haven't learned to talk to people the way grownups do doesn't mean the rest of us have to appreciate your behavior. The Internet is not your outhouse.
Jackass.
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badtzmaru said 4:44PM on 5-30-2008
I turn off Javascript and plugins in Mobile Safari to speed up page loads using EDGE. Most sites look and function the same.
speaking of which, TUAW always crashes my iphone, even on WiFI!
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J3 said 5:06PM on 5-30-2008
I don't see what the issue is here. EDGE is slower. We all know this. That's like complaining that dial-up is slower than broadband. You use the fastest access you have available. Sometimes that means it's slow.
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Phil said 5:23PM on 5-30-2008
I second that!! ^^^
Well said, Michael.
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Brendan09 said 7:30PM on 5-30-2008
I don't know why everyone complains so much about EDGE on iPhone, I use EDGE constantly because the only place I'm around WiFi is at home. It is extremely fast for me. It's a little slower than 8MB/S Cable Internet on WiFi, but its most definately tolerable. It takes at most 10-15 seconds to load TUAW vs. ishcabittle's time of 2 minutes. It really isn't that bad to work on EDGE...
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Alex said 7:23AM on 5-31-2008
Erica, all this complaining about EDGE, paying for data plans, paying for voice plans, etc. and I still don't quite see what your proposed solution is. We all deal with paying for our service and while we all appreciate your contributions (and we really do) to the iPhone community griping about $20 a month service "add-ons" (mind you while many/most of us were used to paying $40+ for Blackberry or PDA Connect unlimited data plans to begin with) and limitations of the device does nobody any good.
If you're going to treat the iPhone and the services attached to it like the bane of your existence, it would be a little fairer to treat every Apple product like such.
In the age of releasing half-finished hardware in the hopes that any outstanding issues can be resolved via software updates, you could raise similar gripes about absolutely any piece of Apple hardware. I, for one, could think of dozens of things wrong about Apple's business model with iPod's, the iTunes store, Apple TV, and $2 ringtones, but instead I take a "It Is What It Is" approach.
Plain and simple, if you don't like paying for a service because of the way it's run ... well the logical thing to do is not pay for it and not use it.
I love what you do here and elsewhere, Erica ... but for the love of God, posts like these are childish and offensive for those of us who don't get paid to spend a few minutes of our time to bicker about having to pay for goods and services we utilize on a regular basis.
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the mobile experience said 11:10AM on 5-31-2008
AT&T MEdiaNet 200 plan is $19/month and gives 3G for smartphones that support it (ie. ATT Tilt, 8525, BlackJackII, Nokia N95-3 or 8GB). The point is, iPhone isn't your only option if you desire 3G access.
Like others have pointed out, there are ways to get "more" out of EDGE if you must use an iPhone. Personally, I find EDGE over iPhone tolerable, but would always welcome the faster speeds.
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Zews said 1:59PM on 5-31-2008
Erica,
May I suggest you get a job, so you can afford the $240 a year.
Do you have dial-up, because you can't afford broadband either?
Stop the whining already, and keep your otherwise good postings coming.
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Abbie said 9:35PM on 5-31-2008
I don't know why everyone hates edge so much. Most of pensacola is pretty snappy on it, and I get near 200kbps much of the time. I have been places where it is slower than molasses on a steaming pan of dry ice, but thats only been in alabama so far :D.
As a matter of fact, I listened to last.fm using my iPhone much of the way from FL to Ohio this past week with very few buffering issues (though in driving around Ohio I could barely hold on to a signal or get reasonable speeds on the highways).
I do not think it is EDGE that is the problem as much as it is the area the iPhone is used in. How many towers are there? What is the quality of the signal? etc.
If this is the case then we do not need a 3G iPhone (though I welcome it, and 3G access in P'cola), as much as we need the infrastructure to be improved. I wonder what the overall experience with TMobile EDGE has been.
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conor said 10:56AM on 6-01-2008
Sony Erricson X1 for me.
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alessio Tilli said 4:08PM on 6-01-2008
3G for voice (handovers) is reason enough to want a 3g iphone let alone the data speeds
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jojo said 9:53PM on 6-04-2008
thirded. snippy the bitch must die.
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