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ELBdelorean

macrumors member
Original poster
May 18, 2010
98
0
I recently got an iPhone 5, but at home my 4G reception is spotty at best, and LTE is nonexistent. I get maybe one or two bars of 4G around and inside my house. However, when my friend bring her phone here, she gets almost full bars of 3G, not to mention most other places I don't get reception. So is there anyway to force 3G so I don't have to deal with my one/two bar reception?
 
Actually, that's what I assumed. But then why does my friend's iPhone 4 get such better reception?
 
That's the thing. I'll usually have one bar, and infrequently two bars. But hers has four or five in the same area.
 
I understand, but I often am unable to even keep a call going for an extended amount of time, let alone use any data. Occasionally I will have no service at all. But her phone always has service and is always able to use data in the same places where I have none and cannot.
 
Test it at the same exact location against another iphone 5 on the same carrier network.
Different model iphones have different antennas and signal strengths and weaknesses.
Better to compare apples to apples.
If your i5 is still weak getting signal compared to another i5 on the same network then your phone might need to be replaced.
 
I probably will end up doing that, but is there any reason why her iPhone 4 gets such better reception than my 5?
 
We have AT&T iPhone 4, 4S and 5 models in the same house. All reflect about the same level of service but the 4 will actually drop more calls.

Just a shot in the dark, but are you sure your friend has an AT&T iPhone4? Verizon offered one too which was released in February of 2011...
 
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