Contrary to what many sites are reporting, bumpers do not "fix" the reception issues.

[Small White Car]

I'll partly agree here because the Bumper is not said to stop the phone from losing any signal. The Bumper is supposed to stop excessive signal loss from touching the left corner. So, you may still see some attenuation, which shouldn't be a concern.

The problem is though I'm still getting more dropped calls on the iPhone 4 in my home with a case than I ever had on the 3GS with or without a case.

This is also my problem. I'm getting a TON more dropped calls, even when the phone is on the table. So it's not a "holding it" issue.

I'm not clear yet if it's a phone issue or an AT&T issue. Service also got really bad after the 3GS was introduced last year for a few weeks because of all the new users.

 

[TruckdriverSean]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

Let me clarify a bit better.

If you know where your cell phones antenna is located (usually in the bottom section facing the hand) you can cover completely enough, you WILL attenuate the signal. This is simple radio fact.

This is easy to do.

There is a third issue though, (often dismissed after Apple's PR team used it as the scapegoat) and that is the "totally wrong" scale Apple used fo display bars.
As shown in the Anadtech review, the iPhone's bar scale is rather FUBAR, giving a 5-bar display WAY too long and then dropping off a cliff at the end near call-drop land.

Makes it rather hard to tell a carrier's true signal in your area, skewing results further.

 

[Wicked1]

I have an iFrogz case and it completely lets the signal bridging issue go away, however using the case on the first i4 I received release day did nothing. I returned the i4 to Apple bc they would not replace it, then went to Best Buy to pick up my other reserved i4, this one with the same case is nearly perfect.

The cases do work better then the bumpers bc a guy at work has a bumper and he can still cause the bridge, however the thing that bothers me is why would Apple create a Bumper first time ever they had a case for a phone and then release the phone and suggest you buy one, seems a bit odd.

Goto

www.ifrogz.com

They are sold at Best Buy for $29.99 same as the bumper but they are much nicer and cover more of the phone, however everyone has their own preference as to what case they prefer.

Good Luck

 

[brayhite]

The progression acceptance of iPhone 4 reception problems:

There's nothing wrong (because Apple says so)
Hold it differently and it will be fine (because Apple says so)
Use a case and it will be fine (because Apple says so)
Apple says wait for the software fix.

Sooner or later either Apple will finally acknowledge the problem or people will stop believing Apple on the matter.

I'm pretty sure that most people on this board admitted to the problem and majority of posts were about how crappy the problem was. There's been a lot of genuine criticism of Apple and Steve Jobs as a whole about this so you must be reporting observances from somewhere else.

 

[gloss]

Wrong. Look at the chart near the bottom of this page.


http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2

So you're confusing 'attenuation' with 'signal strength'.

The iPhone 4's reception is better. The attenuation is worse. If you have worse attenuation on a stronger signal, you can still have a net benefit.

Hence: "The difference is that reception is massively better on the iPhone 4 in actual use."

 

[BruiserBear]

So you're confusing 'attenuation' with 'signal strength'.

The iPhone 4's reception is better. The attenuation is worse. If you have worse attenuation on a stronger signal, you can still have a net benefit.

Hence: "The difference is that reception is massively better on the iPhone 4 in actual use."

The reception is better in certain instances, but the attenuation means that in areas where the signal was already a little weak, it could very well be GONE by simply holding the phone, even with a case on it. Got it?


That explains why I was able to cut out the 3G data on the iPhone 4 by simply holding it with a bumper on it. The attenuation is a serious problem when you're dealing with an already weak signal. A worse problem than it ever was with my 3GS.

Again, you can stop playing defense force agents for Apple. They already pay lots of people to do that work for them.

 

[smiddlehurst]

Wrong. Look at the chart near the bottom of this page. The iPhone 4 performed worse than the 3GS in every single test, including with a case on the iPhone 4. Get your facts straight before you come yapping about it.


http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2

Umm, that chart proves the point of the person you were replying to. Held naturally inside a case the iPhone 4 suffers worse signal attentuation than the 3GS but is better than a Nexus One. Ergo all phones suffer this problem to a greater or lesser degree (and frankly unless you're in a very low signal area even a 10db drop isn't anything to really worry about). Certainly I've never seen a mobile that doesn't suffer a drop in received signal levels when being held, at least not one that uses an internal aerial.

And just to prove the point, a direct quote from that article:

The drop in signal from cupping the device with a case on is purely a function of us being "ugly bags of mostly water." A material which happens to be pretty good at attenuating RF - thus increasing path loss between the handset and cellular base station. There's nothing Apple nor anyone else can do to get around physics, plain and simple. It's something which demonstrably affects every phone's cellular reception.

As for performing worse than the 3GS, that's true in terms of signal attenuation but read on! The aerial in the iPhone 4 is significantly improved and holds on far better to a signal at a given db level. See here's the thing, mobile phones are not simple objects yet people keep trying to break them down as such. For instance, I personally find that the iPhone 4 gives me by FAR the best performance in the real world of any phone that I've owned in the last decade. Smartphones, feature phones, regular ol' dumb phones you name it, I've never had anything give the sort of call quality the this phone does. Yet I'm quite prepared to believe that for someone else it's terrible. Why? Because the number of variables in this equation are ridiculous. The phone itself, obviously, the exact grip and pressure the user exerts on the phone, the orientation to the signal source, the strength of the signal, whether or not there's non-static objects between the phone and transmitter tower (e.g. vehicles on roads), weather conditions, number of users connected to a given tower and on and on and on.

 

[iammike1]

The reception is better in certain instances, but the attenuation means that in areas where the signal was already a little weak, it could very well be GONE by simply holding the phone, even with a case on it. Got it?


That explains why I was able to cut out the 3G data on the iPhone 4 by simply holding it with a bumper on it. The attenuation is a serious problem when you're dealing with an already weak signal. A worse problem than it ever was with my 3GS.

Again, you can stop playing defense force agents for Apple. They already pay lots of people to do that work for them.

Damn man, you're dense. dB is not everything. No phone is completely immune from attenuation. Learn about how locking onto a cellular signal actually works please. I repeat, dB is not everything and the Anantech article SPECIFICALLY covers that and explains that this is why even with the dB numbers, the real world experience was BETTER then previous iPhones.

Ugg, I'm off to bed. lol

 

[citrate]

That's fine, I suppose, but I just spent all weekend camping in the boonies and was able to test the phone in a truly fringe coverage area, and the iP4 came out ahead. Seeing as this is more in line with Apple's own design claims and most of the reviews on the matter, I think perhaps your particular phone might be having more issues than usual.

I've tested 3 iPhone 4's in the same location and all lose the same amount of signal. I think even the most hardcore of Apple fanboy's would admit that 'Apple's own design claims" are flawed this time. It seems to me like we're now getting a better signal in the good areas but a worse one in a poor areas, does that not seem backwards to you?

 

[gloss]

Again, you can stop playing defense force agents for Apple. They already pay lots of people to do that work for them.

Not playing defense force, just dispelling your poorly-worded logic.

1) The bumpers essentially negate the reception problems caused by antenna-bridging, but they do not solve all reception issues because at least half of the problem is something inherent to all mobile phones.

2) The iPhone 4's baseband functions better than the 3GS's at low signal strengths, meaning that though the 3GS may have a stronger raw signal, it will not necessarily function well. As the Anandtech stated, the iPhone 4 holds calls down to -113db. Try that on a 3GS. Just because the attenuation is 5db higher than the 3GS (with a case) doesn't mean that, between stronger overall reception and improved ability to maintain voice and data at low signal strengths, the iP4 isn't a better phone. You're looking at the raw numbers, leaving out other data, and creating an impression that isn't true.

I've tested 3 iPhone 4's in the same location and all lose the same amount of signal. I think even the most hardcore of Apple fanboy's would admit that 'Apple's own design claims" are flawed this time. It seems to me like we're now getting a better signal in the good areas but a worse one in a poor areas, does that not seem backwards to you?

I go with the assumption that Apple's down design claims were made either in a vacuum or when using a case. Obviously can't test the former, but the latter has held true in my experience. I was able to get and hold signal in places with my iP4 that my two friends, with a 3G and 3GS, respectively, were not. In places where we were all able to get signal, my calls connected faster and my data throughput was higher. Anandtech's review data bears this out.

Obviously there's a design issue here when the phone is used naked, but as far as I can tell, the cased performance in general on the iPhone 4 is beyond reproach. I'm thinking maybe you have a defective device.

 

[kolax]

Not playing defense force, just dispelling your poorly-worded logic.

1) The bumpers essentially negate the reception problems caused by antenna-bridging, but they do not solve all reception issues because at least half of the problem is something inherent to all mobile phones.

2) The iPhone 4's baseband functions better than the 3GS's at low signal strengths, meaning that though the 3GS may have a stronger raw signal, it will not necessarily function well. As the Anandtech stated, the iPhone 4 holds calls down to -113db. Try that on a 3GS. Just because the attenuation is 5db higher than the 3GS (with a case) doesn't mean that, between stronger overall reception and improved ability to maintain voice and data at low signal strengths, the iP4 isn't a better phone. You're looking at the raw numbers, leaving out other data, and creating an impression that isn't true.


I go with the assumption that Apple's down design claims were made either in a vacuum or when using a case. Obviously can't test the former, but the latter has held true in my experience. I was able to get and hold signal in places with my iP4 that my two friends, with a 3G and 3GS, respectively, were not. In places where we were all able to get signal, my calls connected faster and my data throughput was higher. Anandtech's review data bears this out.

Amen. Glad someone has the patience to clearly write out that.

 

[citrate]

1) The bumpers essentially negate the reception problems caused by antenna-bridging, but they do not solve all reception issues because at least half of the problem is something inherent to all mobile phones.

All phones might inherit the problem but the iPhone 4 seems to struggle more than most. What I find ironic was Apple bragging about the external antenna which was supposed to improve things. I'm sure it has in some scenarios, but in others it's been nothing short of a disaster.

 

[BruiserBear]

The bumpers essentially negate the reception problems caused by antenna-bridging, but they do not solve all reception issues because at least half of the problem is something inherent to all mobile phones.

inherent to all mobile phones, but clearly worse on the iPhone 4.

You're looking at the raw numbers, leaving out other data, and creating an impression that isn't true.

Not looking at raw numbers only. I'm actually using something I like to call "real world experiences", and they showed me that even with a bumper on, the iPhone 4 was capable of losing all data capabilities sitting in my friends house the other night. My wife's 3GS sitting right next to me was fully capable of getting data. Explain that.

You can talk up all this nonsense, like Apple's carefully worded PR statements do, but at the end of the day the real world experience is all that matters.

Even if some people are able to get a better signal in places the 3GS used to be worse, that doesn't explain why other people see worse reception in areas they used to be OK.

 

[citrate]

Obviously there's a design issue here when the phone is used naked, but as far as I can tell, the cased performance in general on the iPhone 4 is beyond reproach. I'm thinking maybe you have a defective device.

You mean 3 defective devices?

 

[gloss]

inherent to all mobile phones, but clearly worse on the iPhone 4.



Not looking at raw numbers only. I'm actually using something I like to call "real world experiences", and they showed me that even with a bumper on, the iPhone 4 was capable of losing all data capabilities sitting in my friends house the other night. My wife's 3GS sitting right next to me was fully capable of getting data. Explain that.

You can talk up all this nonsense, like Apple's carefully worded PR statements do, but at the end of the day the real world experience is all that matters.

Even if some people are able to get a better signal in places the 3GS used to be worse, that doesn't explain why other people see worse reception in areas they used to be OK.

I guess my own real world experiences are moot then.

At the very least, this whole issue seems to be rather inconsistent. I've used my iP4 all over the place, including making calls from a dead room in my house where my 3GS couldn't even connect, and it's given me better reception (when cased) in all instances. Obviously, YMMV. Others seem to have issues in places where a 3GS works just fine. Perhaps it's entirely the phone, perhaps it's partially the network. Perhaps there's no single answer for everyone. But all this FUD about The iPhone 4 (as a Product) being broken based on your iPhone 4 (as a single device) having issues is a bit of an overreaction.