So since I have been having the reception antenna issues I thought I would make an appointment and stop in to the Apple store today. I told the guy all my issues and he said we can either replace it or give you a bumper and see if it helps. I thought it would be a good idea if I started fresh with a new phone. He went in back and came out with a box that was NOT the nice small iPhone 4 retail box.
It was plastic looking like one of those small hardware screwdriver boxes with all the little bits. He opened the box and in it was an iPhone 4 surrounded in black foam and the phone was wrapped in a little bag. My first thought was this has to be a refurbished or one someone brought back that was having a different problem. He said "How could it be refurbished? The phone just came out." I didn't believe him cause he has a odd smirk on his face when he said it.....
So i got my phone today from att and of course it has the issue ( not complaining ill deal haha cause its awesome) anyway called apple to see whats up and they told me there will be a update soon blah blah and until then i should put a piece of scotch tape over the antenna and they would fix it for now. Sure enough it did and it hasn't happened since. Just thought id pass this along for those who might wanna try it out.
For those who have the Lumia 950XL, can you comment on signal strength as it relates to the Dual Antenna feature that was touted when the device was first announced? I kept hearing about this Adaptive Antenna Technology that blends signal from two antennas and that the 950XL utilized this technology. Was it just another one of those hype vehicles to sell units or does the Lumia 950XL actually get better signal/reception due to this adaptive antenna feature?
I recently moved to a basement apartment and have trouble with reception - too much concrete i guess. Anyone know a way of boosting reception on a Blackberry Bold to get better reception quality in such a situation?
I need help getting cell tower reception on my phone. Using China Unicom as Network Carrier. I am located in Guangzhou China (a major metropolis). The problem is not with the SIM Card itself because it has been tested and placed in other phones & it works well. Reception Bars fluctuate between 0-2 bars at most, both in and outdoors.Have noticed these problems since upgrading the phone to IOS 5.0 & now also on 5.1.1. No problem with Wi-Fi Networks. I have also tried Resetting the Network & taking out the SIM Card and putting it back in, but this has not helped.
Info: iPhone 3GS, iOS 5.1.1, Model MC637ZA Serial 83028W5VEDG
Yes, I know there are plenty of threads on this already, I just wanna do a quick straw poll to get a sense of whether this is a design or manufacturing/batch fault.I can replicate the left handed signal drop issue on the iPhone 4, and disabling 3g does help alleviate the issue. I'm in the UK on o2, so far no dropped calls, although I don't ever recall having dropped calls at all.Given how this seems to be a pretty hardware serious fault, I may march into the Apple store and DEMAND a free bumper in the interim.
I've had the iP4 since the launch day and yes I have seen the bars drop but haven't dropped a darn call yet. I'm on the phone for the better part of each day and I, like Mr. Jobs, see this as a NON ISSUE. It's just like the old story "Dr. my arm hurts when I position it like this" Dr: "Well don't do that" " Honestly, the news, media and Apple haters have taken this story and misconstrued the hell out of it. Whenever any company sells a million of anything, there are going to be some issues with a small % of the devices. That's a given. The problem nowadays, is that the first "I want some media love-whore attention jerk" will begin to whine, tip news outlets and complain on every message bored around. I've TRIED to drop a call by using a Samurai Death Grip and it just wouldn't happen. Yes, the bars fall but it's not hurting reception or the phones performance. Anywho, to those who have been weary about picking up and iP4 because of this nonsense please don't hesitate it's seriously not that bad.
Just curious, if there are any major problems people are having with their iPhones at all? I'm tempted to get one but what's holding me back is the antenna issue right now, but I was also curious if there were any other problems people were having?
Do you think that Apple made a calculated risk with it's new antenna design? Let's take the 3G/3GS.....the antenna is on the inside of the phone behind essentially an outer plastic shell. So a naked iPhone 3GS the antenna signal goes through 1 layer (the plastic back).
Do you think Apple had enough research and statistics to show that the majority of users put an iPhone in some sort of case, whether that case is plastic or silicone? So now on a 3GS, the antenna has to go through the plastic back, then a plastic/silicone case....now it's going through 2 layers. Do you think they determined that this combo caused a lower/weaker signal?
Now the iPhone 4....antenna on the outside. Do you think Apple took a calculated risk in knowing that most people put it in a case anyway (heck even Steve in one of his emails suggested using a case) and the fact they came out with the bumper....that they knew since most people would put a case on it....that the antenna being on the outside would provide a stronger signal?
Yes, the people who choose to go caseless with their phones are more easily affected by the issue, but since that may be the minority of users, Apple is ok with saying "Hold it differently"? We all know Apple does things based on what they "think" the majority of users will do....ie: no firewire on low end Macbooks.I don't know anything about antenna signals, so I'm just guessing here.....but if an antenna's signal is degraded behind each layer of plastic etc, then by moving the antenna outside, Apple is giving it a better chance at getting a stronger signal, even though there is a side effect of direct contact with skin that can cause the signal to degrade significantly.
Tests I would like to see are the difference in signal strength in a 3GS with the back on and the back off.
a few weeks ago i saw somebody who got a free bumber by complaining to apple. Supposedly it solves the problem. I went to the apple store and what they tell me is ridiculous. buy a bumper im NOT going to buy a piece of plastic that cost 60 cents to make in china. FU&K that. or Return the iphone. Thats out of the damn question i love the damn phone i spend hours waiting in line. So if anyone can help me find that free bumper people have been getting for the issue that would be great. Thanks for the help and sorry for the rant
WiFi antenna location on iPad2 and iPhone4? Somebody says the iPad antenna has more gain than the iPhone one but according to my checks when holding the devices it is not true.
I'm an engineer, and a collegue of mine has a friend (tedious link I know!) who works for a mobile phone manufacturer as an engineer. His take on the whole atenna issue is the following:
1. Sticking your hand over the join between the atennae short circuits them (we all knew this!)
2. The short circuit causes the two small antennae to form one much larger one (obvious I know...bear with me!)
3. This larger antenna has a different frequency to the small one.
4. The phone detects this and switches between frequencies.
Sounds simple in practice, but apparently it takes an age for the software to switch between the two frequencies. My guess would be this is to prevent the phone from hunting between signals. This could indeed be what Apple were talking about when they mentioned that the new phone placed lower demands on the network.
For the sake of making things easy to understand, have a read through the two artciles on Wikipedia and HowStuffWorks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_site
[url]
Basically, a Cell Tower has a finite number of frequencies it can use and assigns your phone to one of these frequencies. As you move around however, you'll be assigned different frequencies on different towers depending on what's available. As you can imagine, if a phone is super sensitive to variations in signal quality, it can reach a point where it jumps continuously between cell towers, placing high demand on all the switching hardware in the network. In reality, the user wouldn't notice any change in call quality if it stayed on one tower. By placing a delay in the frequency switching on the phone, your call will no longer be shuffled around towers constantly and will instead stick to one cell tower for longer, reducing the amount of juggling the network servers have to do and hence reducing dropped calls.
Here in lies the problem. When you change the length of the antenna on the phone, you cut out it's ability to see one segment of frequencies. The phone then starts looking for another available frequency. This now takes forever. Although the frequency may well be avaible, by the time it's found it, the call has been dropped as the slightly weaking signal it is expecting as you move away from the original tower has completely dissapeared.
The design of the antenna is undoubtably a fundamental design issue, which has somehow been overlooked or ignored. Let's not get into the politics of that here. What this does highlight however is that, if the delay between frequency switching is removed, reduced or in some way made smarter, the switch will be so quick, it won't have any noticeable effect on your call as it will just be another frequency switch similar to that between a towers.
My iPhone 4 has been really buggy with the data connections on 3G. I run Speed-Test.Net on it and it barely registers sometimes.....I have to turn it off, reset the network, put it in airplane mode, and then once in a while it will kick in with decent 3G speeds. I thought I was going mad or just imagining this due to all the talk about the antenna. Then I did a test beside someone else's 3GS and I knew there was a problem. I called ATT and got the tier 1 tech. They tried all the stuff I tried above and the Speed-Test and the latency test were all still terrible numbers.
They made me an appointment at the Apple store for 5:30 PM today. I show up and I don't even tell the genius my problem and she is like they are working on the 4.0.1 firmware fix. She did not even look at my phone. The problem is apparently very widespread, and really has nothing to do with the antenna, and that the shorting is just a symptom of the software glitches and the real issue was the switch from the normal sim to the micro sim. Apparently the software was written for the regular sim, and then they made an 11th hour switch to the micro sim, and it was never properly tested. She also said that all the Apple store employees that have the iPhone 4 have the same issues and they are all bummed............
Time to buy a new one.The amorphous metal alloys developed by Liquidmetal Technologies may be used in the design and development of Apple’s next generation wireless antenna, according to Liquidmetal founder Dr. Atakan Peker. In an interview with Cult of Mac, Dr. Peker notes that the properties of Liquidmetal make is an excellent substrate for usage as an antenna and could be one of many reasons Apple signed a broad licensing deal with the California company.Described as a metallic glass, the various alloys used in Liquidmetal offer a high strength to weight ratio, high wear resistance, and a low softening temperature that allows it to be molded into complex shapes and designs. Liquidmetal technology is already used in a wide variety of consumer products including sports equipment like golf clubs and skis, jewelry, and in electronics where it makes its appearance in the casings of USB thumb drives, MP3 players, and mobile phones. It is also used in the antenna of the Verizon USB727 wireless modem, which is known for its excellent reception. Surprise, surprise, Apple already uses this novel technology in its newly released Magic Trackpad.URL...
I m having an factory unlocked iphone 4S and i starts losing my signal bars when i take out my phone from case (bumper) and sometimes in case also when i hold my phone with some force its again starts lossing its signal bar Is any 1 having this problem ..?i m having iOS 5.1..!
Don't have an iP4 myself, yet. However my friend has just reported, from Apple Store TX, that Apple took in his device yesterday to replace the antenna hardware. A solution in the offing? Make what you want of that.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/20...n-this-way.ars According to Ars. Check out the last paragraph. Here's the quote from the link on the Ars page. Looks like the guy was talking to Apple on the phone and they're sending him a new one. update on the reception issue from my buddy who has been hitting his head against the wall: Got off the phone with Apple. They're sending me a new one overnight. They said they're aware of the issue, and it has something to do with a missing protective coating on some of the parts. Hopefully it's not a bunch of baloney BTW, Apple has amazing support. Friendly, knowledgeable, professional. They really do take care of you. Every time, in my experience.
My upload was faster when touching the seam, but my download was drastically reduced. This is concrete proof that it is not just a software issue of inaccurate bars, and that the problem can still be happening when the phone shows full bars.
I just called a friend of mine that was planning on snagging an iPhone 4 within the next couple of weeks. He has a 3G and SWEARS BY using protective cases. He had multiple cases for his 3G. I asked him if he was going to get the new iPhone 4 anytime soon, and he replied "i'm going to wait until they get these reception issues fixed." I replied by saying, "well you use a case on your iPhone, so you shouldn't have any issues at all. In fact, I get BETTER signal strength with this iPhone." He went on to basically say that he was still going to wait until they fixed this "issue" with a software update. I don't understand why anyone that regularly uses a case on their iPhone, would be hesitant to buy the iPhone 4. A case shows the reception issue out the window. It's too bad all this bad publicity is making people think twice about buying this amazing phone. I know there are other issues besides the reception problem, but the reception issue is the most common. Everything else should be easily fixed by getting a replacement. I don't understand why there are still people complaining about sensor issues. Go get a replacement already.
After upgrading my 3GS to iOS4 the 3G reception is much worse. In many places where I always have had 3G reception I now have only Edge. I have a friend who has exactly the same problem.Anybody else experiencing this?
software glitch with ios 4.here it is being duplicated with a 3g.Internet- iphone reception issue on iphone 3g.mov here it is being duplicated on a 3gs.Internet- iphone 4 reception issue replicated on iphone 3gs running ios 4
Forgetting the issue where you purposely try to make it lose signal (really..who holds their phone like that?), have you guys seen an increase in signal compared to your 3gs? It seems like the external antenna would help. I was at Best Buy (all sold out btw) and a guy had one and I asked him to look at it. My 3gS had 2 bars 3g signal and his had 5 bars 3g signal so this was my only comparison. It seems the *3001#12345#* trick doesn't work on 4.0 anymore? Hows real world usage?
Today I noticed my iphone 4 stopped recieveng calls and texts (and outgoing). I updated my IOS but it did not fix the problem. When I tried removing the sim the phone did not recognise that I had taken it out. I still shown 2 bars on the reception WITH NO SIM!! What is going on? Has this ever happend before?
My new Iphone 4S has very poor reception. Updated software as per apple's support team suggestion, tried different SIM & service providers but signals are 50% compared to my Nokia / samsung handsets. Apple service centre & support team refuses repair/replacement in India since phone was bought from US. Really shocked by this since APPLE warranty should be worldwide & since it is a manufacturing problem in such a high end phone it should be replaced at the nearest service centre in India.
