Working with its “hardware partners,” Google has identified problems where a software fix should improve 3G connectivity for some users, and Google says it is testing the fix and if everything goes right, it is hoping to provide an over-the-air software update in the “next week or so” to address the issue. However, some users who are experiencing the problem may simply be on the edge of 3G coverage so the fix won’t help them.

Some Nexus One users have complained that their phones do not connect to the 3G network even when another phone in the same location does. After more than 1,200 comments stacked up on the subject in the support forum, Google started a second discussion that now has nearly 390 comments. Just days after the phone landed in customer hands, hundreds of complaints about trouble with 3G connectivity appeared in the forum. Some customers called T-Mobile and were directed to HTC, which in many cases pointed people back to the operator. Google has no phone support, so people who e-mailed the search giant for help were told they’d receive a response in a day or two.

The $529 Google Nexus One, manufactured by HTC, is the first smartphone to come with the 2.1 version of the Android mobile operating system and also the first phone that Google is selling directly to customers. It’s unlocked so it can be used on many GSM networks, but it’s also available at a discounted price of $179 for those in the United States who sign up for a service contract with T-Mobile. That contract lowers the phone price through a subsidy T-Mobile pays Google that effectively shifts some of the customer costs from up-front payments to monthly fees.

Amidst all speculations, T-Mobile’s relatively limited 3G coverage could be part of the problem. The wireless carrier, so far the only available partner for the Nexus One, has the smallest 3G footprint in the U.S., after Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. The above-mentioned software fix from Google won’t be able to improve T-Mobile’s 3G coverage. Google has also forged deals with Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and Vodafone in the U.K., where the Nexus One will be available this spring, so then we’ll know if the real issue is the phone or the service provider.