3G patch
Very interesting lunch. I decide to run out to my favorite sports bar in Columbia, MD and get in a game of Golden Tee along with a couple of beers. Struck up a conversation another 3G iPhone owner. He turns out to be the VP of operations for AT&T here in the Maryland region. Some high points.
Obviously AT&T's network coverage map isn't accurate. I asked, since we're shown as fully covered here, why isn't 3G worth beans on the iPhone. Couple of reasons. First - AT&T lies. Duh. Even though I live in a "fringe coverage zone" it is still shown as full coverage on the map. On the bright side, much more 3G rollout is literally in the works despite AT&T's claim that the rollout was complete back in July.
Second - and this makes a lot of sense given 2.0.2 update today. What did it do? Well, besides UI upgrades and bug patches the big thing is the 3G fix. He said that it increases network power on request from the phone (I'm not an electrical engineer so no clue here) and should not only improve 3G reception but also decrease 3G battery consumption. This is a good thing.
Finally - and I like this part. He said that currently most of the 3G towers around here (Baltimore/DC area) are 1900 mhz. The new hardware (I'm assuming towers, etc.) going up is 850 mhz which should significantly increase building penetration and generally improve the entire experience. He threw around some numbers such as 60% improved in building reception, blah, blah. I take it with a grain of salt.
Anyway - FYI. The guy was geniunely friendly and seemed to know every detail of iPhone geekdom (I would certainly hope so). And if it makes you feel any better, I beat him by 4 strokes on Golden Tee