iPhone 3G reception problem

This problem is with the phone and not the network. Takie your complaints to APple and have them fix the antenna for your device.

I was at a 49ers football game on Sunday in the heart of the San Francisco 3G network.  I was sitting in my seat with 3 bars and the 3G logo on display yet I couldn't do anything requiring a connection.  No incoming or outgoing calls, no internet, no e-mail, no text.  I powered the device down and nothing changed on restart.  So I basically went 5 hours without service, even though the person sitting next to me was able to use her AT&T phone.  
I contacted support and they said sometimes the iPhone can't decide which network to use when the 3G and 2G (Edge?) are in conflict.  Hmmmm, isn't that something they should have figured out BEFORE they sold these phones?  The suggested resolution:  TURN OFF THE 3G in the iphone settings.  Unreal that one of the biggest features pushed by Apple was the faster 3G network.  So I'm paying more for a service I'm supposed to shut off.  That doesn't really make much sense.

My iPhone 3G reception has no problems, but i understood that this is a common problem.

From what i was able to gather, it's a problem with the AT&T network, i'm not sure what you can do about it though...
sorry.

Try a firmware restore. If that fails it looks like you need a new logic board which in theory you can replace yourself. Here's a guide on how to disassemble an iPhone. Maybe a tech savy friend can do it for you. If you want to have somebody else do it for you there are third party iPhone Repair Services.

I have the same problem on my 2g iphone, its a from apple and they should fix it, the problem is I have reported this on their discussions forums, but no one ever made a comment about it, I think we should make something to speak out our voices.

You can solve this problem by turning 3G connectivity, switching the 3G iPhone to 2G, this will take a few seconds, but you'll probably have a better signal.
The 3G iPhone should switch automatically between 3G and 2G networks. The 3G iPhone is designed to switch between the two networks when the signal is too weak or not available, and switch back when the network is available.

The trouble is that the 3G iPhone doesn't switch fast enough between the networks.

AT&T is doing NOTHING to fix this issue and could care less.