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My iPhone 4 signal issues are gone...
- Thread starter jav6454
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in the same boat, never lost my signal completely, but the bars did go down for me as well. I just pulled out the SIM card and my card was actually a bit loose, not making contact with the tray. Just to be safe while I had the card out, I placed a small strip of tape on the area that could potentially touch. Put the card back in, and now virtually no signal loss.
This is an extremely quick experiment. Worst case you spend 2 minutes and it doesn't work. Amazing find.
To a point I am, I am still trying to conceive a theory on why some people's phones seem to not work despite the SIM issues.
As I said before, I'm in a "no drop zone" right now but am able to do it at my current work location. I just pulled my SIM and, like others, it is making contact with the tray. I managed to shave a tiny bit off the outer edge of the card so its not making contact. Will try tomorrow and report back.
No luck here 
Before: Reliably drop but slowly in my basement
Reseated sim and had immediate drop to no signal
Put electrical tape over contact point with return to the 'before' - remains with slow drop. Have reseated it multiple times but can't get it to hold at 4-5 bars.
E
Before: Reliably drop but slowly in my basement
Reseated sim and had immediate drop to no signal
Put electrical tape over contact point with return to the 'before' - remains with slow drop. Have reseated it multiple times but can't get it to hold at 4-5 bars.
E
Interesting that no one noticed this. It could explain why not everyone can fix the issue. If it is not conducting there could still be some kind of interference. This is where Apple could give more answers. Let's hope they come forward.
I don't have an IP4 (yet) but this thread definitely interests me for obvious reasons.
One question. How does the sim card interact with the phone once it is inside the phone? By this I mean how is the card transmitting data? Is there a receiver that just touches the card itself?
I opened up my iPhone 3G and looked at the sim card and it is perfectly centered within the tray - which makes me wonder why they would design a tray that would hold a card so off-center?
I'm sure that bridging the antennas is still the biggest issue, but if the card is also contacting the antenna frame then it would make sense that all of the cellular information is being disrupted through this bridging.
One question. How does the sim card interact with the phone once it is inside the phone? By this I mean how is the card transmitting data? Is there a receiver that just touches the card itself?
I opened up my iPhone 3G and looked at the sim card and it is perfectly centered within the tray - which makes me wonder why they would design a tray that would hold a card so off-center?
I'm sure that bridging the antennas is still the biggest issue, but if the card is also contacting the antenna frame then it would make sense that all of the cellular information is being disrupted through this bridging.
No luck here
Before: Reliably drop but slowly in my basement
Reseated sim and had immediate drop to no signal
Put electrical tape over contact point with return to the 'before' - remains with slow drop. Have reseated it multiple times but can't get it to hold at 4-5 bars.
E
put tape on the tray instead.
what kind of tape are you using?
No luck for me. I took my SIM out for 20 minutes and applied some electrical tape along the edge like everyone else has and I still lose my bars when I bridge the antennas. Oh well. Hopefully Apple gets their fix out soon.
I just wanted consider speculation on that very issue! Can we please just speculate, a little? I mean, could others be allowed to continue speculating, even though you have it all figured?
I called a friend with a voltmeter. He tested his iPhone 4 sim tray and said that the tray is conductive but the inside edge with the coating is non-conductive. Just FYI.
i admit this could be psychological, but my bars seemes to drop almost INSTANTLY after my attempts .. LOL something seems to be going on, but it could just be the shrooms.......i am now waiting 16 more minutes.. and i put electrical tape on the side of the sim card to boot
will advise
will advise
no dice for me either.. i did get it to say no sim with thsim card inserted though
I don't know how this works, but all I did was eject the microsim, take the sim out of the tray, look at it a little, put it back, wiggle around in the tray a little, reinserted tray and started the phone back up.
I'm now gripping the phone tight, wifi turned off, and the 3g signal is doing just fine - calls are fine too. Hope everyone else gets their phones fixed! This is definitely the root of the problem imo..
My iPhone4 now works as advertised. Relief, finally!
I'm now gripping the phone tight, wifi turned off, and the 3g signal is doing just fine - calls are fine too. Hope everyone else gets their phones fixed! This is definitely the root of the problem imo..
My iPhone4 now works as advertised. Relief, finally!
^^
I hope there's at least a few... and at least one qualified that disagrees. And they talk about it. It'd be better than the confirmation hearings.
I can just see Steve Jobs now:
"See, I told you it wasn't a problem with the phone."
Response: "But the issue apparently has something to do with the microSIM."
SJ: "We don't make those, that's AT&T's problem."
R: "Yes but the issue comes not from the microSIM but the tray it sits in, which is something that Apple designed."
SJ: "Well, no, the microSIMs aren't working right in our trays, it's not our fault."
R: "But it sure appears that way."
SJ: "What, do you believe everything you see?"
R: "No."
SJ: "So, the fault lies with the microSIMs because they don't fit our perfect trays, not our problem."
R: "It's not quite that easy, you'--"
SJ: "No, I don't."
and that's about it.
"See, I told you it wasn't a problem with the phone."
Response: "But the issue apparently has something to do with the microSIM."
SJ: "We don't make those, that's AT&T's problem."
R: "Yes but the issue comes not from the microSIM but the tray it sits in, which is something that Apple designed."
SJ: "Well, no, the microSIMs aren't working right in our trays, it's not our fault."
R: "But it sure appears that way."
SJ: "What, do you believe everything you see?"
R: "No."
SJ: "So, the fault lies with the microSIMs because they don't fit our perfect trays, not our problem."
R: "It's not quite that easy, you'--"
SJ: "No, I don't."
and that's about it.
If this is about bridging and contact then why am I still able to make signal drop by covering the left side with a case on (Speck Candyshell), two phones. Is that bound to happen regardless?
I have full bars, cover the left side and it starts dropping, with case. Or is it not about the bridging with the finger anymore.
Is it possible that reseating the SIM makes it look for the best tower when re-inserted and it's just a switch in towers?
I have full bars, cover the left side and it starts dropping, with case. Or is it not about the bridging with the finger anymore.
Is it possible that reseating the SIM makes it look for the best tower when re-inserted and it's just a switch in towers?
I think it has to do with the alignment of how the gold contacts are printed onto the sim. The one side of the sim's contacts are right on the edge of the board whereas the opposite side has a nice gap. Had the contacts been shifted just 1 mm from the close end there would not be a problem.
Some sims may have been printed with a little more fudge room and others not, this is simply a tolerance in manufacturing.