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iPhone 11 Antenna Gain
- Thread starter robrobrobro
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Yep!
Just waited 3 stops for quick enough signal acquisition to write this post on my xsmax. Every year this aspect of the phone has gotten worse and worse.
Constantly going to airplane mode and back to reset signal in nyc.
The guy said he would expect 2 to 4 less DB in regards to signal on the pro max in same exact situations compared to the pixel 4 (xl?) which tested good. Is that a lot of signal difference? He doesn't rate the modems, purely antenna gain.
Depends which X you get. The ATT X has an Intel modem. The unlocked world X has a Qualcomm modem.
I think the Intel modem in the X was GSM only so any X with CDMA will have a Qualcomm.
EDIT: Definitely the iPhone 7 intel modem was GSM only/ATT only. Not sure if this carried over to X or not. I bought an unlocked X at release just to be sure I had a Qualcomm modem.
iPhone 11 *should* have the second gen Intel 7660 on the 10nm die.
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I live in Washington, DC, and own an XS on the AT&T network. Yesterday I ran two speed tests:
Test 1 (1:31pm) 0.08 Mbps down, 0.11 Mbps up
Test 2 (10:20pm) 0.23 Mbps down, 0.02 Mbps up
This morning I walked down the street to get a coffee, and with two bars of service couldn't get any data at all. This is my second XS. I even had a service ticket open with Apple on my first phone, which had the same issues.
What's frustrating -- and this is for everyone in the "but my phone's fine!!" crowd -- is that I can walk a few blocks over and get ridiculous speeds, almost 140.00 Mbps down. But in areas with low signal strength, my phone is a brick. My 8+ with a Qualcomm modem inside never had these issues.
I'm very much looking forward to see how the 11 and 11 Pros work in the same situation!
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I am not convinced that any of last years XS phones don't have these reception issues. Tried 4 XS phones and they all had issues vs my Qualcomm X. I only tested 2K miles so I might have limited results but I will not buy this year till there is some real world testing done and reviews . What good is a phone if you can't make a calls and have data work properly when needed.
It's almost as it is getting reception but due to low signal it acts as congestion. Maybe only pulling off one antenna in lower signal areas which causes "congestion". Can you make calls in those areas when you are having trouble? I had the same issues but ASSumed apple would have fixed it and have a phone in Anchorage for a Friday delivery.
It really depends on your carrier speeds, area, signal strength, congestion, etc. The theoretical speeds are much higher with that 4x4 MIMO implementation (and the new Intel modem shows 1600mb/s in the filings on the Pro models). Maybe in real life you would not even notice the difference that much.
[doublepost=1568816187][/doublepost]
I think it's actually 14nm+ FinFET
So I just ran two more tests, both done in the same spot as yesterday:
Test 3 (10:04am) 14.6 Mbps down, 0.12 Mbps up, call attempt successful
Test 4 (10:26am) No internet connection available, call attempt successful
On the plus side, I was able to make calls
Re: your phone and Friday's delivery, maybe you'll be okay? It honestly seems like it's an issue only occurring in very low signal areas (where unfortunately my home office is located.)
My 8+ spoiled me with its ability to handle the situation
the intel modems are def worse in low signal areas/congestion.
HOPEFULLY, the new modem corrects this. We'll all know for sure Friday.
Thank you very much for this particular post. This issue is the deciding factor on whether to upgrade to an iPhone 11 Pro. Want to get one -- but not with these antenna results.
These results have nothing to do with the iPhone 11 / pro
Whilst it is confirmed it has an intel modem, nobody has any idea whether its the same or 2nd gen, and nobody has any test data to determine if any antenna redesign has made a difference.
If you are that bothered about it then wait until someone tests it.
^
Did you bother to read the first post? The graphs are of the iPhone 11 Pros. They are not made up graphs, but data that Apple sends to the FCC prior to release. Last year @WiWavelength posted the same type of info about the Xs and Xs Max and he stated based on the info, those phones would have reception issues before the phones were released. He was mocked, but in the end he was proved right. The data doesn’t lie. And again, it appears the design is poor.
Did you bother to read the first post? The graphs are of the iPhone 11 Pros. They are not made up graphs, but data that Apple sends to the FCC prior to release. Last year @WiWavelength posted the same type of info about the Xs and Xs Max and he stated based on the info, those phones would have reception issues before the phones were released. He was mocked, but in the end he was proved right. The data doesn’t lie. And again, it appears the design is poor.
Totally wrong. Those tests are of the iPhone 11/pro. Learn to read.
I will be doing the same thing. I had an Intel modem iPhone 7 and quickly realized on some days I was losing 30% battery life to "No Cell Signal" and had to deal with waiting for the modem to recover from a poor signal. When the X came out, I specifically bought a Qualcomm model just for peace of mind that it wasn't going to get hot and drain excessive battery when I didn't have good service. It's been fairly reasonable.
I ordered the 11 Pro last week before learning about the antenna problems in last year's model, so I'm going to be taking advantage of the 14 day return / trade in time limit to decide which phone I keep. If it works fine I'll keep it, otherwise I'll keep the iPhone X one more year instead.
Be sure to report your results here. Tens of thousands of people will be interested in the results.
My concern is that ALL of our iPhones which we currently have active on AT&T right now, whether 7, 7+, 8, 8+, X and Xs Max with Qualcomm cellular in all of them except for the Xs Max, have poor signal and data speed in fringe or weak areas like where we live.
The cell towers above us on Cheyenne Mountain don't have enough vertical spread to hit the homes in my neighborhood that are too close and below the towers. Other neighbors on Verizon and T-Mo in the neighborhood have the same issues.
ALL of our active iPhones have 1 bar of LTE at home, or they switch to 2 bars of 4G if they lose LTE. And without WiFi calling they can all experience call failed if in LTE. We've been used to this for years. No phone upgrade has fixed this, and before WiFi calling was a thing we had to use a micro-cell in the house.
I kept my Qualcomm iPhone X active on my second line for almost 2 years, but after finally admitting that it wasn't going to get better than my Xs Max I sold it for $500 last week. I moved the SIM card to my 7+ with new battery, and it's still just 1 bar of LTE (I have 2 lines, one on the Xs Max).
1) Speedtest on the Qualcomm 7+ right now this very minute, with 1 bar LTE at home, is 0.52 mbps. Yes, HALF A MBPS.
2) The Xs Max at this moment with 1 bar of LTE has a Speedtest = 1.29 mbps, and with LTE off and 3 bars of 4G the speedtest result = 2.50 mbps. This same Xs Max will give me 115 mbps downtown, while the 7+ at the same location downtown has never been over 50 mbps.
So, I don't think that my Xs Max is any worse than any of the other iPhones that we have, which were all released in 2016 or later. In fact, it's almost 3x faster at home with chronically poor signal.
And, in strong signal areas the service and speed is great with the Xs max, even with obstructions. For example, at Disney N'avi River Journey when I went into the building (faraday cage) with 5 bars of LTE outside I found that it hangs onto 1 bar LTE during the ride.
So, my Titanium DLC Series 5 LTE Apple Watch is on the way with FedEx, but I'm still waiting to find out if the iPhone 11 is an upgrade in cell performance before I buy another iPhone. Maybe the 2020 "11s" will have the magic sauce with 5G, and I need to wait.
But, if it is better, I can get one for 15% off from a relative who works at Apple (in a couple of months), and the $500 I got selling the X is $100 more than Apple was offering in trade towards an 11 Pro Max.
The cell towers above us on Cheyenne Mountain don't have enough vertical spread to hit the homes in my neighborhood that are too close and below the towers. Other neighbors on Verizon and T-Mo in the neighborhood have the same issues.
ALL of our active iPhones have 1 bar of LTE at home, or they switch to 2 bars of 4G if they lose LTE. And without WiFi calling they can all experience call failed if in LTE. We've been used to this for years. No phone upgrade has fixed this, and before WiFi calling was a thing we had to use a micro-cell in the house.
I kept my Qualcomm iPhone X active on my second line for almost 2 years, but after finally admitting that it wasn't going to get better than my Xs Max I sold it for $500 last week. I moved the SIM card to my 7+ with new battery, and it's still just 1 bar of LTE (I have 2 lines, one on the Xs Max).
1) Speedtest on the Qualcomm 7+ right now this very minute, with 1 bar LTE at home, is 0.52 mbps. Yes, HALF A MBPS.
2) The Xs Max at this moment with 1 bar of LTE has a Speedtest = 1.29 mbps, and with LTE off and 3 bars of 4G the speedtest result = 2.50 mbps. This same Xs Max will give me 115 mbps downtown, while the 7+ at the same location downtown has never been over 50 mbps.
So, I don't think that my Xs Max is any worse than any of the other iPhones that we have, which were all released in 2016 or later. In fact, it's almost 3x faster at home with chronically poor signal.
And, in strong signal areas the service and speed is great with the Xs max, even with obstructions. For example, at Disney N'avi River Journey when I went into the building (faraday cage) with 5 bars of LTE outside I found that it hangs onto 1 bar LTE during the ride.
So, my Titanium DLC Series 5 LTE Apple Watch is on the way with FedEx, but I'm still waiting to find out if the iPhone 11 is an upgrade in cell performance before I buy another iPhone. Maybe the 2020 "11s" will have the magic sauce with 5G, and I need to wait.
But, if it is better, I can get one for 15% off from a relative who works at Apple (in a couple of months), and the $500 I got selling the X is $100 more than Apple was offering in trade towards an 11 Pro Max.
Do you have good broadband? If so, there is a solution for you, especially on Verizon. You can purchase a 4G LTE Network Extender, which plugs into your router and is a true 4G mini cell tower right in your home. The network extender isn't one of the lame "repeaters" that tries to amplify far-away cell towers (which usually don't work). Nor is this a glorified router for terrible wifi calling. The Network Extender is true 4G LTE signal, which will give you full bars and excellent call quality, routing your LTE call through broadband and out to the network.
Further, the best thing you can do is turn wifi calling off, especially if you have this type of LTE network extender. Wifi calling generally is terrible. But 4G and LTE calling is usually pretty great. And I can confirm this particular device from Verizon is really excellent, full bars, crystal-clear call quality, no drops.
Unfortunately, the Verizon Network Extender allows anyone, with Verizon Cell Service, close enough to to the Network Extender, to connect to it. Even though it creates a tunnel (VPN) to Verizon servers, anyone within range can use your Microcell (Network extender) and your broadband to make and receive calls. Not kosher in my book. You pay to buy the device, and relieve the congestion to Verizon's towers... hmmm
This is the reason I never got one. AT&T's Microcell let's you setup a whitelist so that you can specify who actually connects to your device and is on your network (using your broadband). They do allow you to prioritize your own devices, but that doesn't keep other people from connecting to open "slots".
A quote from the Verizon FAQ (number 1 under Management and Security):
Can I manage and limit access to the 4G LTE Network Extender to a select set of mobile devices?
No, the 4G LTE Network Extender only supports open mode. While Managed mode is being evaluated, Verizon makes no warranty as to its timing or availability.
I agree it's an awesome device, if Verizon would stop being so arrogant, and let the user lock it down.
EDIT: If the behavior I have described has changed, please show me screenshots of the setup screen where you can whitelist devices, and block all other unknown devices. I would love to get one of these. I have one bar of service in my apt. Thanks!
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When they set their budget sliders, they did one tick into Engineering and the whole rest into Marketing