Because of the known and widely publicized flaws in the Verizon iPhone that prevent it from providing accurate location information when WiFi and Cellular Data are enabled, I have to turn those off when I go running with apps like RunKeeper and RunMeter.
At the end of my run I re-enable Cellular Data so my program can upload my route and times to my account on their website. When I enable Cellular Data, I immediately get the "3G" indicator on the status bar. However, none of my internet-enabled applications (including my running program, Safari, and Facebook) can access the internet. They all give an error message saying they can't access the internet right now.
If I wait a few minutes, I'm connected. It's not position-related -- sometimes I can just stay in the same place for a while and it will connect. And sometimes (on rare occasions) it will connect right away -- again, it may be at a location where the previous day it had taken several minutes.
I keep my phone up-to-date with the latest updates. How do I fix this problem?
It might be best to keep your data on all the time. It does take a few seconds when turning it back on to establish a connetion. And Runkeeper works better when the data is always on. I never turn my data off and apps track me just fine.
I can't keep cellular data turned on because Verizon iPhones will ignore GPS location data and instead try to triangulate based on signal strength from their cell towers. If the location database of those cell towers is flawed, it will calculate location wrong. And of course the whole idea of ignoring GPS signals in favor of triangulation based on signal strength is stupid in the extreme -- yet that's how Verizon does it. I've confirmed this with David McCarley, Executive Director, Service Performance & Device Evaluation for Verizon.
So the problem remains: When you turn on cellular data, it reports 3G and 5 bars but there's on internet connection. I've found that I have to temporarily turn on airplane mode to turn off the radios, then turn it off after 3-5 seconds. I then get an internet connection immediately.
So this is a flaw with iOS on Verizon. As long as they continue to give me suggestions that I've already tried and pretend like they don't have problems with iOS, this will never get fixed.
Craig
I have the same issue but I don't think it is abnormal. It is indicating you have 3G, but it hasn't downloaded all the settings it needs to give you internet access.
Look at it like this, if you connect to wifi it takes a few seconds to get an actual connection even when it is connected. It needs to detect an IP address, as well as subnets and other settings. If one of these settings isn't established there won't be connectivity. 3G cellular data works very similarly to wifi in this.
I too have this problem, which started out of the blue about a week ago. I've tried re-starting my device, turning wifi on and off, keeping it fully charged and nothing that I do has fixed this issue. I'm so frustrated, because the whole point for me in having this smart phone was to have internet on the go without being reliant on wifi hot spots.
Is there a way to refresh that anyone has found successful? Would appreciate any pointers.
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