Multiple issues with my iPhone 3GS since 4.1; can anyone help?

Question

Hi,
I have an iPhone 3GS 16GB which I love very much. Vital Statistics are:
Version: 4.1 (8B117)
Carrier: Voda AU 8.0
Model: MC132X
Modem Firmware: 05.14.02
I bought it through Vodafone Australia in January this year. It’s been brilliant, it is this device which convinced me Apple sold brilliant gear, and greatly influenced me to buy my iMac 27", 17" Macbook Pro, Airport Extreme, and Time Capsule.
I am a Senior Test Analyst with telco experience in all of Australia’s mobile phone operators (3, Vodafone, Optus, and Telstra). I now work for a global media company, and depend on my iPhone for phonecalls, emails, internet, getting access to my share trading platform, banking apps, calendar, etc.
I went to Germany for 2 months, and I bought the unlock from my carrier, Vodafone Australia, so I could use a usim from Vodafone DE in Germany. Vodafone’s instructions were that in order to apply the unlock, I had to connect my iPhone to iTunes, where it would download an update from Apple and unlock my phone.
I performed the upgrade to 4.1, which was a completely clean install after backing everything up.
Unfortunately, after upgrading from 3.1.3 to 4.1 I am having no end of issues with my trusty (once) 3GS.
Issues I am currently encountering:
1. Dropped calls. Both in Germany, and in Australia, my iPhone is dropping calls at a rate it has never, ever done before. 1 out of ever 2-3 calls is being dropped. The voice quality is also degraded over what I remember it being (both in AU and DE), and I’m getting ‘squawks’ and ‘screeches’ in the middle of my conversations which I never had prior to upgrading.
2. Signal strength is very poor. Before I upgraded to 4.1, I was able to make and receive phonecalls at my desk at work (right in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, right next to Hyde Park.) without issue. I was able to walk in between my company’s offices in the CBD and talk the whole way without problem. Now, I get 1 bar at my desk, and I’m lucky if I can make a phonecall 50% of the time there. I can no longer receive the volume of calls that I used to at my desk either. Walking between offices sees my phone calls drop EVERY TIME now. At home, with 3.1.3, I had no problem with reception. Now, I drop calls inside my house on a regular basis, and I often don’t have enough signal to make calls at home where prior I had no issues. My younger brother, who bought an iPhone 3GS on the same day I did, from the same Vodafone store, at the same time, is still on 3.1.2. He has no problems with reception in the house at all. He walks around taunting me holding phonecalls without issue.
3. Internet performance has been devastated. Whereas my google maps, email, and internet access used to be fast and crisp, now it is slow and haphazard. I am also seeing the 3G symbol disappear and be replaced by an E symbol, and my phone seems to have difficulty staying on the 3G network. My brother, standing right next to me, does not have these problems. Once again, my brother’s iPhone 3GS on 3.1.2 does not have any internet problems when he is using his iPhone right beside me. We are on the same carrier (Vodafone AU), on the same plan.
4. My iPhone battery life has been dramatically reduced. Whereas I used to be able to use it for almost a full day, with minor top ups when it got really busy, now my battery life vanishes before my eyes in half the time. This is with the device simply not being up to the task of performing the workload it used to!
5. My iphone locks up, and crashes at random times, and I’ve been having to hard-reset it on occasion.
6. My iPhone is far slower than it used to be. I’ve compared it to my brother’s identical 3GS on 3.1.2, and his phone flies in comparison to mine! Opening my SMS’s, email client, and internet browser is painfully slow.
7. When calling a number, often my iPhone ‘waits’ for 20-30 seconds at the ‘calling mobile’ screen before I hear any tone from the phone indicating that it’s making the phone call. This never happened when it was running 3.1.3. This never happens on my brother’s identical 3GS.
8. My wireless performance has decreased. I have run bandwidth tests through my wireless router numerous times from www.speedtest.net, and compared them with my brother’s results performed right before and right after mine. I’ve run this test against my brother’s 3GS more than enough times to form a statistical picture. On the whole, my wireless performance is around 10-15% worse than his 3GS.
I work in the telco industry. I regularly chat with the radio engineers who fix up blackspots in 3G coverage for Telstra and 3 Australia. I know that the excuse offered, that of the iPhone software correctly reporting the signal now and not before is absolute rubbish. My 3GS used to work at my desk, between my offices, and at home flawlessly. It crawls along now, and it does not get the reception signal quality it used to.
I have wiped my iPhone several times now. I have put it into DFU mode and totally, cleanly installed the 4.1 software. I have done this 4 times now.
The clean installs have not fixed the issues above.
I would like to know what my options are for fixing these issues?
The prime questions I have are:
1. How can I roll back this accursed update?
2. Why would Apple release a software update(s) that hasn't been tested, and dramatically negatively impacts my beloved 3GS?
3. How can I get my brilliant 3GS +*back to the way it was*+!?!?
I’m very, very disappointed. And to be honest, the simple fact I’m taking the time out of my busy day to write this post means I’m very angry as well.
I know the problem with my 3GS *is not a hardware issue*. It's a software issue, and I'd like to know how I can get my old, fast, reliable, brilliant 3GS back.
Regards,
-J

Answer 1

The picture you show is normal. If you lightly double tap home button it activates reach ability mode for one handed operation. Nothing is wrong there. Another light double tap returns it to full screen. Do not press, just light touch the home button. AAs far as the other issues check the in call volume or ringer volume as it happens, just a possibility. as far as the banner not displayed on lock screen, as far as I know you need to have notifications set to alerts not banners in order for them to show up on the lock screen.