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6 Plus Antenna

Freakonomics101

Freakonomics101

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 6, 2014
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Hey y'all,

Just went up north to my grandma's today and I couldn't catch a signal 90% of the time, but with my iPhone 6, I mostly had a 4G connection (AT&T). Is the antenna in the 6 Plus weaker? Any way I can improve it?

Thank you.
 
I wish that were the case. I couldn't figure out why I kept getting no service. My grandma doesn't have wifi or Internet. Otherwise I would've used AT&T's wifi calling and would have been okay. When I did get a weak LTE signal, it was around -126 dBm. If I moved an inch, I would lose it.
 
Sometimes switching into airplane mode and back out or even a reboot is all it takes, forces the phone to reconnect and hopefully find better towers. Also did you have a case on either of them?
 
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Freakonomics101 said:
I wish that were the case. I couldn't figure out why I kept getting no service. My grandma doesn't have wifi or Internet. Otherwise I would've used AT&T's wifi calling and would have been okay. When I did get a weak LTE signal, it was around -126 dBm. If I moved an inch, I would lose it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a runt phone. Take it into Apple and explain the issue, if a 6+ is getting a worse signal on the same network as an iPhone 6.
 
lamborghini392 said:
Sometimes switching into airplane mode and back out or even a reboot is all it takes, forces the phone to reconnect and hopefully find better towers. Also did you have a case on either of them?
Click to expand...

I tried that many, many times. It did me good only to refresh the network but if I did get a signal, it didn't last long. I almost became desperate enough to try those dumb antenna boosters that you put on your phone. That's the only place I've noticed a signal difference though. Everywhere else, my 6+ seems to get the same signal my 6 did.
 
lamborghini392 said:
Yup figured, any metal cases can really interfere with your signal, and it's most noticeable when the signal is already weak to begin with like in your case. Don't suppose the iPhone 6 had either no case or one with no metal on it?
Click to expand...

I did use the same case on my 6, but I had Verizon at the time so it didn't matter. I always had a signal. When I used the 6 on AT&T, I had a different Spigen case that had no metal in it. With that case, I had a usable signal about 60% of the time.
 
belfong said:
I have this aluminum bumper too (on 6 Plus) and hated it. The reception was poor. When I changed back to the Spigen Tough Armor my reception was much better.
Click to expand...

That really sucks because this case is the best phone case I've ever had. It protects yet has a cool design, but kills the signal lol.
 
Newtons Apple said:
I can remember buying a carbon fiber case for my 6+. It looked great but cut the RF down to half.

Cases can matter.
Click to expand...

Well at least I know what's causing the problem now. Thank you everyone! I'll try to see if I can find a case similar to the one I have now. I mainly like it because it gives me the feel of the 5s design again. I don't like how thin and round the new iPhones are. They are so easy to drop.
 
Darryjr said:
Try the rhino shield bumper case. It isn't metal , and they work terrific.
Click to expand...

Reviews of that on Amazon aren't good. Reviews show a lot of them tear and fall apart quickly.

Also, I took the metal part off of the case and instantly saw my signal go up from -118 to -111.
 
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