iPhone 4 "reception issue" is not dropping calls

[bubbagumpshrimp]

I just got off the phone with apple about my iPhone bars dropping. He claimed it was a software issue and that it will never actually effect calls coming in or dropping while on the phone. He said the apple engineers have been looking into this and have come to that conclusion. We did some testing for an hour or so and while i could never get it to say "no service" I was consistently able to keep it at one bar with no issues in call quality or receiving & making calls.

...so according to apple, since this is "software" related, making your phone say "no service" will not effect your calls.

My question... Has anyone had your phone say "no service" while holding the bottom of the phone... Did this actually effect your calls or is apple right and it's just a software display issue with the phone?

 

[F123D]

I've never gotten "no service" but ocassionally 0 bars. The other problem I've noticed is my phone picks up Edge more now where as my 3G phone was always 99% of the time staying on 3G.

 

[pscomp]

Mine said "searching" and I couldn't make calls or connect to the internet

 

[engelke2010]

The only time I had "No Service" over the last 24 hours was early this morning. But that was due to problems with a couple of AT&T towers. Even when I was down to zero bars.

 

[apockalipse]

Please vote in my poll on this topic:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/951061/

I believe this is being blown out of proportion by the media and a small minority of iPhone owners.

 

[Loiterer]

When my bars are down to zero, I can't make calls. If I'm already on a call when I put my hand over the antenna, the call will actually drop.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

alright, my phone does it too now. LOL...you have press it REALLY hard to cause the short on the two antennas. The right hand doesn't cause any reception issues.

Funny thing, it only happens AT WORK. when i'm at home, i don't get this reception issue. and how I hold my iphone, naturally, i'm barely touching the antennas with alot of skin.

I just noticed that

 

[eo6564]

alright, my phone does it too now. LOL...you have press it REALLY hard to cause the short on the two antennas. The right hand doesn't cause any reception issues.

Funny thing, it only happens AT WORK. when i'm at home, i don't get this reception issue. and how I hold my iphone, naturally, i'm barely touching the antennas with alot of skin.

I just noticed that

Same thing happens to me. At home I lose the signal when holding it in my left hand. Here at work I have no problems. I don't lose any bars. Weird. I wonder if it depends on how close to a cell tower you are.

 

[hexonxonx]

I made some calls last night and made sure that my hand was touching the bands by holding it in my left hand and never dropped a call. I see no problems with this phone so far.

 

[palmerc2]

From the sounds of things apple knew this was an issue with other phones, so they couldve just put the antennas on the top, and the top of the sides.

Not on the bottom where all lefties hold it, and some righties fingers end up.

It doesn't bother me though, I guess I got a good i4

 

[psywzrd]

The reception issue has certainly caused dropped calls for me. I've dropped 5 or 6 calls already (including one today) because of the way I hold the phone and it's not like I'm trying to short out the antenna or whatever. It's just the way I hold the phone.

 

[SirHaakon]

You're right, it's not dropping calls... it's preventing them from even happening in the first place.

 

[a3silver]

You're right, it's not dropping calls... it's preventing them from even happening in the first place.

mine's dropping call in my house, where my 3G very very rarely did.. And it's in a case so I don't see attenuation or shorting of the antenna as the issue..

 

[Alive]

I am one of the few people who lives in a place (Memphis, TN) where AT&T seems to have excellent service. Maybe it's fewer smartphones per capita - i dunno.

I've always said that even if I could switch to another carrier, I wouldn't. ATT has been nothing but great for me here.

I cannot replicate the bars dropping like people are doing all over youtube and here.

BUT, I am dropping calls LIKE CRAZY. I am used to the occasional dropped call from previous iPhones, but I'm dropping every other call I make since activating it wednesday. Any call lasting more than 2 mins is doomed. So I would have to disagree with the OP here...

 

[jpeg42]

Yeah, I spent three hours on AT&T and Apple tech support this morning because I am obsessed with watching my bars go up and down but my call experience is great.

 

[kcgunner]

Mine has to be one of the worst. I can go from a perfect signal (5 bars) to ZERO bars, and occasionally "No Service". I have had dropped calls and been unable to send or receive data. However, putting my phone in an old incipio case designed for my old 3G helps the problems a lot. It will usually split the difference and stay steady at 3 bars and does not drop calls or data. I don't know what to do. I already put my invisible shield on it, I hate to take it back.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

The reception issue has certainly caused dropped calls for me. I've dropped 5 or 6 calls already (including one today) because of the way I hold the phone and it's not like I'm trying to short out the antenna or whatever. It's just the way I hold the phone.

My experience has been over 12 dropped calls with my iPhone 4 this morning, while using my AT&T BlackBerry in the same time period, all calls clear & trouble free.

 

[Coukos34]

I just got off the phone with apple about my iPhone bars dropping. He claimed it was a software issue and that it will never actually effect calls coming in or dropping while on the phone. He said the apple engineers have been looking into this and have come to that conclusion. We did some testing for an hour or so and while i could never get it to say "no service" I was consistently able to keep it at one bar with no issues in call quality or receiving & making calls.

...so according to apple, since this is "software" related, making your phone say "no service" will not effect your calls.

My question... Has anyone had your phone say "no service" while holding the bottom of the phone... Did this actually effect your calls or is apple right and it's just a software display issue with the phone?

Your statement would be nice if it were true. Problem is, I have checked using speed test app and basically it will cut out your data almost completely. I have run it back and forth an I will get ~2500kbps (who says AT&T has crappy 3G) and when I hold my phone in my left hand covering that area, it will get ~200-300kbps or it will fail entirely. This is not a software problem where it is not showing the correct bars...The only way I think it could be software, would be if it is their new system they use that changes what signal they use based on speeds.....especially since i dont seem to have this problem at work, but i am affected at home and even in the apple store.

Unfortunately,
I think they have a hardware problem. I just stopped by my apple store after work to ask and see if there was any word, and they hade nothing they could say. Only to wait a few days and apple would announce something. I even tried some of there demo units and they did the same thing. We will see.....

 

[schoff0310]

I had to hold my phone really really tight and one bar dropped (the tallest). That is it....and I had to hold it for about 5 minutes for that to happen. Have not dropped one call, but ATT has a very strong signal here in Delray Beach, Fl....better than Verizon and Sprint together.

I bought a cool case at the ATT store yesterday, its black rubber and fits very snugly around the phone...made by INCIPIO.
I love the case and I think this will help you all who are having a problem.

I love the phone...FAST and the battery is much better than my 3GS.
and the front loading camera........!!!!

 

[Dammit Cubs]

here's another update.

Every needs to carefully factor in their location. I'm in a signal area that has some bad reflection points. I average 4 to 5 bars but sometimes, it drops to 1-2 bars. This happens with my old phone. The building is made of glass with metal frame. Everyone should be away that different constructed buildings affect signal quality. Verizon and sprint phones get 1-2 bars here.

That said. It seems to be location related.

observation one) inside the office where there are alot of reflection points, i saw the signal drop using my left hand (only).

observation two) I decided to take the phone holding with my left hand outside and the signal went back up to 5 bars regardless of you holding it down.

There are more factors that just a short circuit. The short is causing some dbm loss but it looks like the system is trying to find another tower once a certain threshold is hit. With a building that has a lot of reflection points, you can see that regardless of you hold it, it the signal fluctuates....2,3,4,2,3,4,5,1,2,2,3,4,4,4,4,4,4.

In my house, I don't have this signal reception drain issue.

those are my thoughts.

 

[Flash69]

Mine said "searching" and I couldn't make calls or connect to the internet

+1

 

[bwlucas]

See, I thought I was having this issue, but I realized that for me, it's only when I'm indoors with a weak signal to begin with. Then when I hold the phone, it can change to "no service" or "searching."

When outside or around town, with a full AT&T signal everywhere I've been going, no matter how I hold the phone, I don't seem to lose any bars.

 

[topmounter]

There has never been a strong correlation between the signal I'm actually getting and the signal my iPhone 3G shows that I'm getting, it always seems to lag one way or the other... so it wouldn't surprise me if there was some sort of software issue.

I wonder if the "hand on the antennae signal issue" is more about the phone's radio getting confused and dialing down the power.

 

[gceo]

I've never gotten "no service" but ocassionally 0 bars. The other problem I've noticed is my phone picks up Edge more now where as my 3G phone was always 99% of the time staying on 3G.

Me too. Same thing.