I want to get the iOS 5 upgrade, but I'm really scared of bricking my phone. A few months ago I got a 1611 error when I did an update, and they had to replace my phone. Apparently this is simply an error that is related to hardware, and not the updates. However, when I searched around online, I'm seeing people complaining about 1611 errors with the iOS 5 upgrade.

My phone is now no longer under warranty, so I'm a bit nervous about this. Should I go for it, or are these download concerns legitimate?

Nothing in the update *should* cause a 1611, but like any other hardware failure, sometimes they happen at inopportune moments. That said, I know a mess of people with iPhones and they're all running iOS 5 now. Other than the fact that something like 30% of them ended up losing some sort of data (pictures, videos, music, app data, notes, contacts, etc.) due to the somewhat abysmal backup process prior to the iOS 5 upgrade, none of them have reported any 1611s. The most prevalent was the error you'd get when Apple's download servers were overloaded.

In short, make a backup (and backup your pictures and photos in file format from the phone), ensure your data is being sync'd somewhere that it is safe, and go ahead with the upgrade. iOS 5 is definitely worth it in my opinion.

I took your advice and the upgrade went smoothly. Thanks for the reassurance. I was a little worried due to my previous bad experience, but thankfully lightning didn't strike twice.