I'm curious, do we know where the antenna in the new 3G is located? I'm hoping since the back is all plastic that it's been moved to the top but I'm thinking they might have left it in the bottom to keep it further away from the users head.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 3G Antenna Location
- Thread starter iammike1
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Umm not sure really, but the 3.5mm headphone jack silver outline is used as an antenna, the camera outline is also used as an antenna
That video is BS. I can sit mine in my hand covering the entire back case and have perfect signal throughout. Makes no difference where my hand is. My guess is this phone was dropping signal anyway, and it happened to drop when he moved his hand.very interesting...which would also explain the new 'plastic' back casing.
But, what good is the new back casing if your hand blocks the signal by that much?
Well dude, what is the point of me taking my time to sit around and loop a video to prove how crappy my iPhone signal is. Someone even pointed out that my ring may have had something to do with it. So I went ahead and made a video with my ring on at first and mid video I took it off and it did the same exact thing with it on. Even though the last video I made it would only move 1 bar but it is very consistent with where I place my hand. Now I will admit that it has a little to do with signal strength. Because when I'm outside it is way stronger than in my room and way harder to make it budge off some of those precious bars. However when I'm inside and I'll get between 4 and 5 bars it is much easier to affect the signal. If you'd like I can even make a video with my 3g iPhone side by side with the 2g model I own and the signal won't even budge on the 2g iPhone.
Well, I've noticed that if I put my hand behind the top third of the case then my signal drops from 3bars of 3G signal down to 1 bar. As soon as I move my hand away it goes back up to the 3 bars.
Thus I'm guessing the antenna is in the top third somewhere.
Thus I'm guessing the antenna is in the top third somewhere.
Well do you remember the old iPhone 2g? It only had plastic on the lower 1/4 of the phone which was for antenna purposes. Now they have a few more including the 3g and GPS, which is why the rest of the phone is now plastic. I believe the lower 1/4 is still 2g antenna while the rest are in the area between there and the top, just as you indicated the top 1/3 of the phone. But have you ever seen a phone that is affected that much by your hand? I don't know much about these antennas or anything, I was just pointing out how much of an affect your hand can have on the signal, which in my opinion is way too much and should be fixed. Oh well I'll live with just hanging the phone next to my ear by a piece of string just so I won't drop a call. lol
Oh well I'll live with just hanging the phone next to my ear by a piece of string just so I won't drop a call. lol
Or you could use a bluetooth headset. Or the included headphones.
In any case, mine isn't doing what yours is doing. Trusting that nothing else is going on here, either you got some lead in you somehow, or you got a bum phone.
Well, he must live in the Ozarks because if you live in an area without EDGE... Hell i was in Wisconsin up in the middle of the woods without a store for 20 miles, and i got 5 bars of EDGE, and this was a year ago.
So many things can result.
He could have a bad phone.
He could be in a dead spot.
Etc.
So many things can result.
He could have a bad phone.
He could be in a dead spot.
Etc.
Yeah, it is kind of funny....if I hold the phone by cupping it in my hand so that the bottom half is covered, it drops from 3 bars to 2 when in EDGE mode. What's funnier...if I do the same thing in 3G mode it does the same thing, dropping from two bars to one. If I cup it in my hand so the TOP half is covered, however, it rises from two bars to three. And it does all this consistently from where I'm sitting. Not that I'm implying anything about the quality of the phone, radio or antenna...they are small and in my hand after all...but it is kind of interesting.
The antena on 3gs is crap. I am on vodafone and if I put my old sony W595 next to the iphone the sony shows nearly full signal and the iphone shows no service.