AT&T Shuts Down 2G Network, Ends Cellular Connectivity For Original iPhone (macrumors.com)

ATT yesterday announced that its 2G wireless network was officially shut down on January 1, 2017. Since the network is no longer active, it means that, as the Verge points out, the original first-generation iPhone (also known as the iPhone 2G) will no longer receive cellular service from ATT's network. If you still happen to use an iPhone 2G, it may be time to upgrade or list it on eBay. Mac Rumors reports: Few people appear to have been using the original iPhone as there were no complaints from iPhone owners two weeks ago when the network was shuttered, but going forward, customers who keep the device as part of a collection will only be able to use it on WiFi. Originally released in June of 2007 and discontinued in 2008, the first iPhone was made obsolete by Apple back in 2013, and it has not received software updates since the 2009 release of iPhone OS 3, later renamed iOS 3. According to ATT, shutting down its 2G network frees up valuable spectrum for future network technologies, including 5G. ATT says the spectrum will be repurposed for LTE.

Comments

Leaf off the air too

[Moof123]

This same service was used for my Nissan Leaf. I can no longer pre-heat or check the charge status remotely without paying for a modem swap.

Dumb that cars that should be targeting a 15-20 year life span are larded up with the current flavor of the month that will be obsolete in a fraction of that. Wish it had WIFI so I could maintain the remote pre-heat functionality at home at least.

Re:Leaf off the air too

[whoever57]

Why is it that car manufacturers cannot do this type of technology? It should have been obvious that 2G would be shut down within a few years of the car's manufacture.

Last year, Nissan's "mobile app" stopped interacting with Pandora for months. It's crazy: a multi-billion dollar company can't keep an app updated so that it actually works. Also, who names their app: "Mobile App"? Really Nissan, there are apps that are not mobile? It's not even something like "Nissan Mobile".

Re:Leaf off the air too

[certsoft]

I think the newer Leafs got a free replacement modem, older ones had to pay. Ford provided free replacement 3G modems for the Focus Electric and the two Energi PHEV models. Kind of surprised me. So my "MyFord Mobile" finally started working for me at the end of November after I got the new modem. We have AT&T 3G, never did have 2G here because the tower was installed after the announced 2G shutdown back in August 2012. Of course, Ford's software still sucks.

Re:Leaf off the air too

[Nethemas the Great]

What's dumb is that my 2015 Infiniti Q50 was dependent upon their 2G service for connectivity to the mothership. It was contractually known by Nissan that the 2G telematics control unit they selected for their brand new Q50 model (2014 first release) was dependent upon a service that'd go dark in 3 years. It wasn't until the 2016 model year that they switched to something newer, even then some of their other 2016 models were being churned out with the 2G TCU for a portion of 2016. Additionally, that 2G service made the connectivity features, e.g. online search, speech recognition, etc. so painfully slow to use as to be worthless. Continuing that tradition of stupid it seems the replacement TCU (which they make you pay for) only supports 3G.

Re:Leaf off the air too

[dj245]

At least you get Pandora, TripAdvisor, etc.. Us Infiniti owners just got a broken promise with our Q50s. The jack wipe managing the Airbiquity Choreo integration (branded InTouch) never bothered to turn on anything other than Facialbook and Google Search. I guess they prefer drivers to fumble with the phones they're streaming from via bluetooth instead.

As someone who just rented a car with Apple Carplay for the first time, I wish they would just STOP IT with the touchscreens and just have radios that pair quickly with bluetooth devices and can swap between devices without going 7 menus deep. Showing the currently playing song is plenty. I don't need any more information than that. My phone knows how to interrupt my Pandora music with Waze navigation prompts or any other notification. Even this basic function seemed too difficult for Carplay to do.

If they absolutely must have a touchscreen in the car, let it handle the car stuff and only the car stuff. I have never seen an phone-integrated car app system that worked well. And I travel roughly 75% of the time and cycle through a LOT of different rental cars of all makes and models. It's mostly all rubbish. The least annoying ones are the simplest ones which only handle basic bluetooth functions.

Re:Leaf off the air too

[Darinbob]

They add these features because there are indeed customers who are swayed by them. So who is dumber, the auto maker or the auto customer? And believe me, there are customers out there right now thinking "2G was a dumb choice, but at least 4G won't go obsolete in 15 years."

Of course you should expect *some* years out of the service at least. I bought a new phone once and a few months later they started transitioning to GSM and connectivity on it started getting worse and worse. All the while I would get mail about bringing in my phone to get a new simcard except that when I did they would say my new phone was too old to get the new simcard. And the phone was not just an older model still on sale, it was a reasonably current model.

Re:Leaf off the air too

[MachineShedFred]

Touch screens in cars are the dumbest fucking idea that has ever been. There is no tactile feedback, so you have to take your eyes off the road to use the fucking thing. Every time.

I have no idea how they are legal, other than the stupid message that comes up every time you start the car that basically says "don't use this unless you are pulled over and parked." Which nobody does.

BMW spent over a decade to get their iDrive (now ConnectedDrive) system to be what it is today, and it's probably the best-of-breed. Big screen for showing information, and a knob / bump controller / touchpad thing on the center console that you can use with one hand to do practically everything, with your eyes still on the road. And it has shortcut buttons for the most accessed functions, which you can find by feel alone.

It's the way it should be, so that you aren't fiddle-fucking around with a touchscreen instead of paying attention to that idiot in a huge bro-truck that isn't checking his blind spot, and entering your lane.

Re:MVNO???

[ameyer17]

In my experience when I messed up and went over 5 GB, I was still connected via LTE. My connection was getting like 64 kbps (or something like that, it was one month over a year ago, so I don't exactly remember the exact speed), though.

Good!

[plague911]

If only we could now shut down, AM, FM, Broadcast TV and Postal Delivery on Saturdays maybe we can start to modernize the hell out of the 70000 mile/hour dirtball. Nah just kidding I am just glad vaccines are gone so polio can make a come back. Lets make polio great again.

Re:Good!

[rmdingler]

Well plagued, sir, well plagued.

Re:Nobody is using original iPhone

[dgatwood]

Actually, no, my original iPhone still works just fine on its original battery. I used it until I got my iPhone 5, and up until a few months ago, I still kept it powered, up until the original charger started malfunctioning and shutting off power randomly, causing it to buzz over and over. I decided it wasn't worth buying a new charger to keep it charged up.

At last check, it still worked correctly on the T-Mobile network with my OneSim.

Washing & reusing Ziploc baggies

[rmdingler]

Originally released in June of 2007 and discontinued in 2008

If you're still using a phone you've had for 9.5 years, my hat's off to you, you thrifty bastard.

Re:Washing & reusing Ziploc baggies

[Pollux]

I'm one of those thrifty bastards...almost.

I have a Sanyo Katana LX, purchased in January 2009. It still makes phone calls, it still sends and receives texts, and its battery lasts a week with the light use I give it.

I avoid upgrading for four reasons: 1) It's no longer subsidized by the major players. 2) Even a new flip phone costs a minimum of $100. 3) Both my wife and my brother-in-law gave me their old phones, so if mine is lost or broken, I have spares. and 4) I dislike the disposable culture of today, given that we cannot infinitely replace old electronics with a finite supply of building materials.

Re:Washing & reusing Ziploc baggies

[rmdingler]

I dislike the disposable culture of today, given that we cannot infinitely replace old electronics with a finite supply of building materials.

As long as you can live with the knowledge that your miserly tendencies are cheating a 25th Century landfill miner out of rare earth elements.

more important than iPhone

[kiviQr]

Shutting down 2G shuts down also some of the elder/patient tracking devices that depend on 2G network (that was more energy/cost effective than 3/4G).

Just a thought

[jonyen]

Today's iPhones might not have cellular connectivity by 2027. Just a thought to ponder...

Re:MVNO???

[alzoron]

Seeing as Straight Talk and similar providers merely piggyback on AT&T's towers if AT&T no longer accept 2G connections that would also cut off carriers like Straight Talk. Interestingly T-Mobile has offered 2G AT&T customers a home until 2020. https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/...

Re:Nobody is using original iPhone

[dgatwood]

By contrast, I replaced my iPhone 5 battery after only about three years because it had swelled up like someone with a peanut allergy on a Planters factory tour.

Re: iPhones just one affected component

[Miamicanes]

Ironically, 3G coverage can be *better*, or at least be made usable at greater distance with a bigger antenna. 2G-GSM has a timing-imposed hard limit of approximately 25 miles, regardless of signal strength. 3G-GSM is basically CDMA2000-1xRTT data, with wider channels (using VoIP instead of circuit-switching). That's why Australian & Canadian CDMA carriers used to be popular with remote users, and why they were able to switch to UMTS/HSPA("3G") with minimal drama... 2G-GSM was unsuitable for service in distant rural areas, but 3G-GSM was pretty much just like CDMA2000 coverage-wise.

T-Mobile

[darkain]

I really fucking hope that T-Mobile doesn't follow in AT&Ts footsteps with this one. This isn't just about old phones. With my Galaxy S5, I will sometimes force it into 2G only mode? "WHY?" might you ask. Well, let me tell ya somethin. Try going to PAX Prime/East, and look at how many high-end cell phones there are in such a small space, all being constantly used by tech savy and data hungry users. 3G/4G networks become extremely unreliable at events like this. However, practically nobody is on the 2G network. Yes, it is slow. But when all you need to do is push out SMS messages to meet up with friends in person, it is seriously a life saver.

Another reason is this. When traveling the country side, there are places that ONLY have 2G networks available, because they're literally in the middle of fucking nowhere. In rural America, 2G antennas are set to their maximum operating distance, because there are no other network towers to compete with. The "cells" become their maximum size. The furthest I've been away from a cell tower and still had 2G coverage was 20 miles up in the Rocky Mountains. These places are too difficult to run wiring to. Entire communities rely upon 2G connectivity for the most basic levels of outside communication, myself being one of them when I lived up there temporarily for a few months.

Good ol "PROGRESS"!

Re: iPhones just one affected component

[satsuke]

There is no "3G-GSM" in the proper sense, the successor to GSM voice is UMTS, which is _not_ VOIP, it's circuit switched vocoder based like GSM was, just much more spectrally efficient because it uses CDMA on the air interface. (that's not the same as CDMA2000)

Four years without updates? Does Apple hate us?

[sabbede]

If Apple says the first iPhone was obsolete in 2013, why did they stop updating it four years before that? Shouldn't the last update have been in 2013 or the phone marked obsolete in 2009? Microsoft kept updating XP after announcing it was obsolete, Apple stopped updating a phone after two years.

What does it mean? Apple left users without security updates to a device that contains the keys to a user's life for four years before informing them they needed to replace it. If you can't afford to replace your phone every other year, Apple is going to give you the finger and leave you vulnerable.

That is some piss-poor behavior.

Re:US is not the world?

[RoverDaddy]

This would be about as dumb as proposals to turn off FM radio

You mean like Norway?