For those claiming they don't have signal strength issues

[cardinal]

Most people who are reporting they don't suffer from signal degradation when bridging the antennas indicate that they remain at 5 bars before and after, and therefore the issue is not affecting them.

However, this can be attributed to the fact that the initial signal strength is already very high, and the range over which 5 bars is displayed is also relatively large compared to the range of 1-4 bars. What this means is that depending on the initial signal strength, a 100x increase in noise (potentially caused by bridging the antennas) can cause the signal to remain at 5 bars if there is initially a strong signal, or it can cause a drop from 5 bars to no service if the initial signal strength was near the threshold between 4 and 5 bars.

This means that the only meaningful test to disprove the signal degradation needs to be conducted in an area in which the initial signal strength is at 4 bars. If your phone truly does not suffer from this effect, then it will remain at 4 bars even after bridging the antennas.

 

[plinden]

I've tried several times and don't see any signal drop that can't be attributed to sucky AT&T service. I get 2 bars max here at home (which is 2 bars more than my 2g iPhone got). I can walk from the front window to the kitchen, holding the iPhone any way at all, and lose signal, but I can stand in one place and hold the phone as shown in the various pictures and videos and see no variation.

Then again, my palms never sweat, so maybe if you have sweaty hands it will cause this.

 

[bentrider]

I've tried several times and don't see any signal drop that can't be attributed to sucky AT&T service. I get 2 bars max here at home (which is 2 bars more than my 2g iPhone got). I can walk from the front window to the kitchen, holding the iPhone any way at all, and lose signal, but I can stand in one place and hold the phone as shown in the various pictures and videos and see no variation.

Then again, my palms never sweat, so maybe if you have sweaty hands it will cause this.

Same here. No matter how many bars I have, it doesn't lose any. And I have freakishly dry palms. I even tried licking them though (seriously) and I couldn't replicate it.

 

[Ogrillion]

I've tried several times and don't see any signal drop that can't be attributed to sucky AT&T service. I get 2 bars max here at home (which is 2 bars more than my 2g iPhone got). I can walk from the front window to the kitchen, holding the iPhone any way at all, and lose signal, but I can stand in one place and hold the phone as shown in the various pictures and videos and see no variation.

Then again, my palms never sweat, so maybe if you have sweaty hands it will cause this.

I will have to agree with this guy. I have no issues with reception at all, even in low signal areas (based on in hands vs on desk).

I will check more tomorrow at work! I surrounded by lead and get a very weak signal. I hope it is better then my old phone.