Apple has unleashed its iPhone 3G 2.02 patch which does its usual job of killing the bugs that have been running around your iPhone 3G but unfortunately does nothing to increase the widespread problem of 3G speed and reception. Around the world reports have been flooding in about poor reception in reception rich areas and 3G speeds that make the hare that lost to the tortoise look like Michael Schumacher.

Crave in the US actually reports iPhone 3G users who have poorer reception having loaded the 2.02 patch and are also now left with a stack of applications that won’t work with their phone. Other users report downloading fresh applications having installed 2.02 only to have them crash within a few seconds after trying to load them.

John Markoff of the New York Times wrote that after installing the patch in downtown San Francisco his phone has begun to continually switch between EDGE and 3G for no apparent reason.

What does 2.02 actually fix? Well, bugs, apparently. They include severe lag when typing. However, some users have even reported that this hasn’t been fixed properly. Don’t fear though, update 2.1 has apparently been circulated among software developers and may be released to the public within the next few month.

If you have had trouble with iPhone 3G updates let us know in the forums.