New iPhone 7, bad cell transmission, dropping, garbled,

Many of the phones have weaker antennas.  Two words:  Google Pixel.   

Much better radio and gets service where my ATT phones do not.

 

Thank you for your suggestion. I appreciate your reply.

Hi, I understand and share your frustration particularly because I, like yourself have been a total apple/IPhone fan since my first Iphone 3. I can share with you that I think I maybe have had a little improvement since that first post, but I'm not positive. I did a lot of research because, although I love and appreciate many of the upgraded and new features that this new phone 7 has literally put in the palm of my hand, without the properly working essential and primary function of a mobile phone, i.e.: to provide the ability to make and receive clear unbroken calls consistently, it is unusable to me.

I'm not sure exactly what "thing" or combination of "things" that I did which may have contributed to what I'm hoping may be an actual improvement over past few days. I will explain why. First I want to stress, I am not certain there actually is an improvement. It may be just chance that 3 of 5 recent calls had slight or no issues. if so it's definitely a very modest one but it's encouraging and I'll hang with it for awhile longer hoping for more I went from NO successful calls to 3 out of 5 calls over 2 days with no issues. I will begin increasing my call volume as a result and see if that holds true. I was not making any calls because the problems were so bad. I figured I'd share this with you since any option is better than having no options to try.
Bear with me as I'm not as tech savvy as many here are, and I've never done blog or community posts before.

Now to what I tried and links to some research I found helpful.
1) I opened my iPhone 7 to Apple Analytics
2) I told the AT&T rep from whom I purchased the phone 7. He said to bring it in to the store, that there were a few things they could try. Being 4th of July weekend at the shore, I figured I might be able to find those "things to try" online.
Note: I did all of the following over 2 days:
3) I went onto this At&t forum and refreshed network settings ( new phone, but I tried anything I could find). And my phone has the latest IOS, another suggestion listed there to check.
4) I learned about an app by att called "map it" on the AT&t forums and downloaded it to my iPhone 7. Through that app you register your basic info, phone #, address etc and it brings up a map with location icon similar to pin. The one it brought up for my location was right town but about 2 miles away. I dragged it to my actual location & hit "this is it" then clicked on the problems Im having and it even had a section to type comments to tailor to your situation. My att cell transmission at my home and within a couple mile radius is only one bar/circle most of the time. It varies on brief occasions to two and rarely three, but never more. Again my iPhone 5 worked fine, no problems ever.
5) I turned on 'wifi assist' in settings under phone
6) I then read a a few tech heavy articles (for me), although I did not understand all of the terminology I did definitely hit upon what seems to be the core issue which explained why my iPhone 5 had no cell problems and my iPhone 7 has had nothing but cell problems, except for slight or no problems on 3 of calls as I stated above. I'll try to copy/paste the links here. I believe they are each well worth the read. Some info in them is redundant in part, but each one contributes on its own to the body of knowledge on the topic. I was glad I took the time to read all of them.
Link #1) ExtremeTech:
iPhone 7s with Intel modems struggle badly in low-signal areas - ExtremeTech. ( read comments following article too)
This article was excellent! Even though it was way above my own tech level, I could follow and appreciate the undeniable scientific evidence and results/conclusions presented. This was my first "Aha that's the problem!" moment. My IPhone 7 model # is A1778. For the first time I learned that the main cause of my iPhone 7's terrible cell performance was a combination of the very poor At&t signal strength in my area, AND Apple's decision to put Intel processors Inside AT&T's Iphone 7's instead of the Qualcomm processors, which the Verizon IPhone 7's and certain others contain. These two factors, to which the articles in the links attest, create basically the 'perfect storm' that is the reason I am writing this and you are reading it, namely our terrible IPhone 7 cell phone call performance
I then read these very informative and, in my opinion more consumer friendly articles which also discussed the Qualcomm/Intel processor performance differences and each contributed noteworthy info regarding same and other features as well, giving me a greater understanding of my iphone 7 features in general and this issue in particular.
The links to these articles are next:

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/237984-iphone-7s-with-intel-modems-struggle-badly-in-low-signal-areas (I believe this is kind of the condensed less tech heavy version of the testing & results in the first link above to article by extreme tech.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/20/iphone-7-qualcomm-intel-modem-cellular-performance/

https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/20/iphone-7-qualcomm-intel-modem-cellular-performance/

That is all I know at this point. I will resume my normal volume of cell calls and see if what I thought was a slight improvement, as stated above, is actually sustained over a greater volume of calls, and over longer time. Not likely, I know, given the confirmed combination intel processor & low AT&T signal problems on our I phone 7s.
I also intend to go to the At&t store to discuss this situation with the rep from whom I bought this phone. I have about 10'days left on my 30 day return period in which to decide to keep it or return. I know that my hope that this issue will resolve may be just wishful thinking now that I have identified the cause. I am conflicted about what to do if I do return this phone. In addition to being a loyal Apple customer since my first IPhone 3, I've been a loyal At&t customer for 13 years. For the first time, I'm having trust issues with both of these corporations over this. Starting with "why have I had to spend two weeks trying to figure out what's wrong with my new IPhone 7, which is a substantial financial investment for me, and go without reliable cell service I am paying for, when both At&t and Apple had to know when I bought this phone that I would have this serious problem?" Like many, I don't have a land line anymore. This phone is the only way my 85 year old Dad has to call me if he has an emergency, for my daughter to call me if she has car trouble at midnite on her way home from work, and for the school nurse to reach me if my grandson gets sick since my daughter works out if the area.

To Apple & AT&T: You both (At&t and Apple) hold us to every letter of the endless pages of contracts and policies we are required to sign for the privilege of purchasing your products and services, with substantial penalties for non performance on the part of the consumer. Yet too often I feel like I'm signing a blank check. On your corporate end At&t/Apple, after spelling out your performance duties & responsibilities there are always paragraph after paragraph of disclaimers and exclusions. Followed by the inevitable (paraphrased by me) "we have the right to change anything herein at any time, and may do so without notifying you prior to changes."

And now this. The articles I cited with scientific proof and documentation that my iPhone 7 model A1778 would fail to perform its cellular phone functions in low signal areas such as where my home is located, were published 8 months ago. Both of your companies knew this then, and you sold this phone to me now, and also to countless other people as well. What of your ethical and moral obligations to your loyal customers? I, ... WE trusted you, and you both AT&T/Apple, knowingly betrayed that trust.
Tell me, please, what do I do now? What do we do now? Tell me please, what will YOU BOTH do now, Apple/AT&T to address this situation? I suggest that you start by owning this, by publishing this entry in its entirety. The ball is now in your court Apple/AT&T. We will ALL be waiting to see what you will do.

Thanks for your reply. I have considered that option but I cannot afford to pay for the phone in one payment.
Why should we pay a restocking fee when we are returning the phone for a well established issue with the phone's hardware?
And if we return a phone under the "insurance plan" paid monthly through att, why is replacement with a refurbished phone our only option even if the reason for the return is a defect in the product itself, as opposed to user related i.e.: cracked screen etc?