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iPhone 4 Reception Issue? [Video]

Um...that's why Apple is introducing bumpers.

"Need better reception, get a bumper and stop touching the sides of your phone!" ;)
 
I just tried the technique on my Motorola RAZR and it drops to 1-2 bars when I hold it.

I don't know what all of this means. :confused::confused::confused:
 
Nocaster said:
Winner winner, chicken dinner

I'll tell you one thing, I have a reservation at Apple tomorrow morning and I swear to God I'll make them keep opening boxes until I get one of the ones not affected by this.
Click to expand...

double dog dare ya
 
wow, i guess the bumper is important then, lol - keep the electromagnetic energy of your body from the sides?
 
I have a video I'm uploading to youtube showing my 3G which is still activated (haven't opened the iPhone 4 yet) doing the exact same thing.

I really think this is iOS4 not the phone.

I'll update when it's loaded.
 
SCOfoshO said:
are the 3g and 3gs's that are experience the same problem using IOS4? Just wanted to see if it has ANYTHING to do with the operating system or software
Click to expand...

3.1.3 here with up to date baseband. Had an early version of the baseband for a while for the ultrasn0w unlock, but upgraded it recently when I got it unlocked officially.

I'd never noticed it before but hadn't been looking for it (when you look for problems they have this nasty habit of appearing). If I do exactly the same as is shown in the video, it drops from 3 bars to "searching". It also gets a bit rough if I put the juice pack (battery case) on.

But this is in an area where I get very patchy indoor coverage, so if anything I've always put it down to "if I place it somewhere stable it might have the bonus of a signal" rather than "if I pick it up it might lose the signal". Sort of a glass half empty/full type scenario. I'm curious if people are having this problem with strong outdoor signals.
 
I just got my iPhone (been working and following this thread) and it is NOT exhibiting this problem. I am however in a smaller town that just got 3G the very year the iPhone 3G came out... less people here so we usually have good signal I guess :)

I have covered it, bridged it and even used some aluminum foil to "join" the two antennas and its pretty solid 4/5 bars no matter what, I have not made any calls but have used data and that has been steady so-far.
 
ro050408 said:
I was able to reproduce the exact same thing from five bars to "Searching...".

I then tested it during a call in the exact same positing and the signal stayed at 5 bars. Could the signal strength meter be influenced more when the radio is not actively being used?
Click to expand...

After reading through almost the entire thread this is what it's starting to sound like (fingers crossed) that it's the strength meter which is fouling up by touches and appears to have more problems in less populated areas... when the phone decides to "switch" or "search" for another tower or whatever is when it drops the call, because there often isn't one.

Maybe??
 
I called apple tech support to tell them I had this problem. They told me it was AT&T having network problems because of the new phone. I told him that it wasn't AT&T because my 3GS worked perfectly normal and fine all day today and that the iPhone 4 only loses signal when I hold it. He said just wait a few days for the network to be ok. So I said well the phone is unusable right now, and he proceeded to laugh and tell me to use facetime on wifi. I didn't think it was that funny...

Long story short, obviously apple tech support guys have no idea about this at all, or this is a huge problem and they aren't allowed to admit to anything yet.

Has anyone else spoken to apple or AT&T and got any sort of response?
 
Drag'nGT said:
I have a video I'm uploading to youtube showing my 3G which is still activated (haven't opened the iPhone 4 yet) doing the exact same thing.

I really think this is iOS4 not the phone.

I'll update when it's loaded.
Click to expand...
Running iOS4, can't create the problem even if I cradle the 3gs in both hands, where the only thing showing is the signal strength icon.
 
Nocaster said:
Winner winner, chicken dinner

I'll tell you one thing, I have a reservation at Apple tomorrow morning and I swear to God I'll make them keep opening boxes until I get one of the ones not affected by this.
Click to expand...

i'm collecting my reservation from Regent Street in the UK and am now having second thoughts. however, given they tested these things in the wild, i am sure they would have picked-up on this.

re: antenna design, again, there would have been experts involved...so i'm guessing that this is to do with the initial batch that have been shipped having some sort of faulty construction. well that's what i'm hoping.

if it turns out this is a hardware issue, then i guess i'll have to return the phone.
 
alexbates said:
I just tested my 3GS on the AT&T 3G network. IT WENT FROM 5 BARS TO 1 BAR WITHIN 12 SECONDS! This is just something that ALL cellphones will do, and we just have to live with!

Nonsense! If you held your steering wheel in a certain way and your MPG goes from 35 to 15, would you accept it?
Click to expand...
 
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