Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Very Bad Reception in iPhone 5

Sdahe

Sdahe

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
1,722
23
San Juan, PR
Hello,

I have an iPhone 5 for 2 months now and I've been having really bad reception in my house. I don't think is the signal because my wife has another iPhone 3Gs and the reception is good. I took my 5 to an Att store and they changed the sim card in case there was something wrong there... still having bad reception. Every time I want to make a call I have to go outside the house. Just now I was talking and the phone dropped the call and it was showing no service... Would it be something wrong internally?... anyone else had this issue with the iphone 5?

Thanks!!!
 
B

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
Sounds like there might be an issue with the phone. I don't see how replacing a sim card would fix signal issues - I think that was a case of the person in the store not knowing what they're doing.
 
Sdahe

Sdahe

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
1,722
23
San Juan, PR
Bacong said:
do you have LTE on?
Click to expand...
Yes... I have it ON

Bear said:
Sounds like there might be an issue with the phone. I don't see how replacing a sim card would fix signal issues - I think that was a case of the person in the store not knowing what they're doing.
Click to expand...
Yes... you are right on that. These guys in the store try to help but they don't really know what they are doing.
 
T

takeshi74

macrumors 601
Feb 9, 2011
4,974
68
Sdahe said:
I don't think is the signal because my wife has another iPhone 3Gs and the reception is good.
Click to expand...
It could be signal. Are both devices on 3G or is one on LTE and the other on 3G? Signal level can definitely vary between the two if different.
 
techstyle

techstyle

macrumors member
Jan 18, 2013
40
4
Bay Area
My IPhone 5 does have poorer reception than my 3gs, 4s and other smartphones in its class. I have tried all of these and currently own a BlackBerry Z10.e.g(gs3,z10,htc one) I have noticed the difference when traveling and being home that many other phones have better reception. I don't know anyone else with an Att iPhone 5 to compare but other coworkers that have Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile also have stated that they get poorer reception on the iPhone 5 compared to 4s.

Maybe a trip to Apple might help?
 
Last edited:
Shrink

Shrink

macrumors G3
Feb 26, 2011
8,929
1,727
New England, USA
Sdahe said:
Yes... you are right on that. These guys in the store try to help but they don't really know what they are doing.
Click to expand...

An interesting, if highly questionable, massive overgeneralization.

Sorry you're having trouble with your phone, and that you are not satisfied with the tech support you received at the Apple store. But to say that the techs "don't really know what they are doing" does not represent everyone's experience.

I hope you do get squared away with the problems you are experiencing.
 
B

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
Shrink said:
An interesting, if highly questionable, massive overgeneralization.

Sorry you're having trouble with your phone, and that you are not satisfied with the tech support you received at the Apple store. But to say that the techs "don't really know what they are doing" does not represent everyone's experience.

I hope you do get squared away with the problems you are experiencing.
Click to expand...
Actually, it was an AT&T store that the OP brought his phone to and not an Apple store. I tend to find that a lot of the "techs" in the AT&T and Verizon stores don't know that much.
 
Shrink

Shrink

macrumors G3
Feb 26, 2011
8,929
1,727
New England, USA
Bear said:
Actually, it was an AT&T store that the OP brought his phone to and not an Apple store. I tend to find that a lot of the "techs" in the AT&T and Verizon stores don't know that much.
Click to expand...

I would not argue that for a moment, since I have no experience with either Verizon or ATT in-store techs.

Sorry if I missed that. I can't imagine taking my iPhone anyplace other than an Apple store.
 
Sdahe

Sdahe

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
1,722
23
San Juan, PR
Shrink said:
An interesting, if highly questionable, massive overgeneralization.

Sorry you're having trouble with your phone, and that you are not satisfied with the tech support you received at the Apple store. But to say that the techs "don't really know what they are doing" does not represent everyone's experience.

I hope you do get squared away with the problems you are experiencing.
Click to expand...

I wasn't talking about the Apple store... I was refering to the person that changed my sim card at the ATT store.. They are not Apple technicians. They just try to help with the little knowledge they have about the phone's problem
 
Sdahe

Sdahe

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
1,722
23
San Juan, PR
This is so frustrating... Everytime I get a call I have to go outside the house...

Tomorrow, first thing in the morning to the Apple Store to have checked or replaced
 
darricksailo

darricksailo

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,353
113
Sdahe said:
This is so frustrating... Everytime I get a call I have to go outside the house...

Tomorrow, first thing in the morning to the Apple Store to have checked or replaced
Click to expand...

well, if your wife is connected to 4G and you're connected to LTE, you can't really say it's not the signal unless you are connected to 4G and the same issue still occurs whereas your wife's phone does not

if it's the signal, switching the phone won't help but i certainly do hope it's the phone so that it'll be an easy fix for you
 
M

maxosx

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2012
2,385
1
Southern California
Bear said:
Actually, it was an AT&T store that the OP brought his phone to and not an Apple store. I tend to find that a lot of the "techs" in the AT&T and Verizon stores don't know that much.
Click to expand...

That's been my experience as well.

My approach has been to build rapport with the store manager. That's worked well. I've done the same at my nearby Apple store. It pays off.
 
M

mfrahm050507

macrumors newbie
Jul 9, 2013
1
0
Case could cause bad reception?

I've had my iphone 5 for about 2 weeks, at first I loved it! Then about a week after I bought it I started having issues with bad reception, places where I always had great reception with my droid razr maxx. I did a little research and came to the conclusion that the cheap phone case I ordered off of ebay was the culprit. If I take the case off and run a speed test, I get 27.24 mbps download, and 9.44 mbps upload speed, when the case is on, it drops down to 1.62 mbps download and .33mbps upload. Just throwing this out there for anyone having similar issues!
 
S

southpoleman69

macrumors member
Nov 15, 2010
68
0
pa
i also have terrible service on my iphone 5 on att. i am constantly dropping calls and can barely hear because it cuts out. I never had these problems with my 4s. For whatever reason i bounce from edge to lte, and 9 out of 10 im on edge. However everyone else around me(at work) who has a 4s or a 5 has great service. Most people i work with are on att to.
 
E

edysdny

macrumors newbie
Aug 18, 2014
1
0
Sudden loss of I phone 5 reception

Sdahe said:
Hello,

I have an iPhone 5 for 2 months now and I've been having really bad reception in my house. I don't think is the signal because my wife has another iPhone 3Gs and the reception is good. I took my 5 to an Att store and they changed the sim card in case there was something wrong there... still having bad reception. Every time I want to make a call I have to go outside the house. Just now I was talking and the phone dropped the call and it was showing no service... Would it be something wrong internally?... anyone else had this issue with the iphone 5?

Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

I Have a 5s, Approx 6 weeks ago my voice reception started to decrease at my house. My service is fine elsewhere. I have to go outside to middle of my yard to even be able to speak on my phone. In the house I can use data. It is slow but usable. My husband also has IPhone 5 and also loss of reception. Searching for help as to what to do, Paying for service not getting.
 
sunking101

sunking101

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2013
7,416
2,656
The signal strength on my i5 has always been much worse than any previous mobile phone I've owned, including the iPhone 4 before it.
The i5 isn't capable of a 4G/LTE signal here in the UK and it rarely gets a 3G signal unless in a very strong area. I'm forever on one or two bars of signal and regularly have 'no service' showing. My friend's i5 is the same, and he's on a different network.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom