Apple → [iPhone] Cell/BT/WiFi radio issues?

iPhone 4
iOS 6.0.1


I recently started noticing minor static on my car stereo when using my iPhone as a Bluetooth audio source. This static is present from one end to the other of my 30+ mile commute, unaltered.

This past weekend I was traveling around Birmingham, AL and noticed during the trip, and a lot around Birmingham, that my phone would switch from 3G to Edge. My brother in law, who I was visiting, works for AT&T and said he has never seen his iPhone on Edge, and none of the 7 other iPhones in regular use around me were ever once on Edge while mine was. At one point, even though I was passing data, the cell signal status was stuck in "Searching...". I restarted the phone and that went away, landing me back on 3G for a bit. My BIL said I might want to contact Apple about issues with the hardware.

What do you folks think? Does it seem I am having a radio related hardware issue? Is it worth trying to rectify through Apple?

Thanks,
Jim

To the Genius Bar for you ...
If you're out of warranty upgrade to the iPhone 5, and kill two birds with one stone.

Yech, genius bar is an hour away.

IDK, do you want your phone to work? We can discuss hardware issues for free all day long, but at the end of the day your phone will still not work. This will give you a good excuse to go check out the apple store, and geek out on their latest & greatest while resolving your problem. Don't forget to go online and schedule your appointment before you go. If making the trip is not feasible then you can mail it in, but turn around time wil be much longer and not nearly as fun.

You misinterpret my "yech" to mean I think your advice is bad. I do not. It just blows to take the time and gas, is all.I do not have any need to drool and covet, and don't consider the setting fun. Totally cool if you or anyone else does--it's just not my cup of tea. Thus my "yech."

I'll do what I gotta do, but given the pain of taking time and gas to drive there, and the giant looming question of whether the issue is what I think it is and whether or not Apple will give enough of a rip to deal with it, I decided to seek some input.

I read your input as "problem sounds plausible enough to take the time to see an Apple rep." I appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!

Yes ... I think you've already deduced that on you own, and just needed someone to give you a push. Good luck

One thing you can do is call up AT&T and have them reprovision your phone. If you had a CDMA iPhone, you could simply reprovision it yourself along with updating your roaming list and see if it helped.

Basically, if your driving route hasn't changed, then it leaves only two other things to have changed. Something on AT&T's network (i.e. tower expansions/changes, etc.) or physical damage or hardware failure of your phone device.

If the restart of the device has fixed the issue, then it was probably just iOS stability issues. (Yes, they do happen.) If you continue to experience this problem and you are meticulous with your tech and never drop it, ding it, get it wet, etc. (i.e it's in perfect mint condition) then it could be an issue with the hardware.

I would start with the reprovision from AT&T and reporting to them as to you having problem with 3G dropout. I would also download their network app from the app store and report the problem spots you run into on your route if it's something you can duplicate on a daily basis. All these things combined should pretty much cover all possibilities of where your issue is coming from.

Or something inside the car could have changed. OP- do you have any other iPhones you can try in the car (wife, girlfriend, friend's phone you can borrow for a test trip)?