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iPhone 4 Reception Issue? [Video]

Well it definitely depends on how far you are from the nearest tower. I am parked as close as I can be to it and I cannot get the signal to drop any way I try it.
I held my finger in "the sweet spot" as I drove away and after about 2 miles I started to loose bars. It didn't seem to happen as quickly or completely as when I was stationary testing it, but it did eventually drop to 1 bar. I never actually went to no service though.
So depending on topography I suppose you have a 1.5-2 mile radius from the tower to not be affected by this.
This was only one test however and cannot reasonably be called a result unless more tests are done and any variables are removed, but still compelling non the less.
People could start to blame AT&T for not having more towers :)
 
Here you go....

marksman said:
This is my problem with this stuff... people suck at critical thinking and troubleshooting problems.

I finally break down and watch the video and the first thing the guy does is move the phone.

HELLO... EARTH TO VIDEO MAKERS... IF YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE LOCATION OF THE PHONE TO TEST THIS, EVEN SLIGHTLY IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.

Picking up the phone with your hand and moving it six inches away from the table could cause any number of factors to impact the reception of the phone.

It is not a legitimate test.

Someone can feel free to PM me someone who actually tested this accurately and correctly and in multiple settings to demonstrate a problem.

This means you have to have the phone sitting in the same location and then put your hands on it, in the SAME location. This means you have to try it in multiple different locations, preferably with multiple different starting bar strengths.

It is possible someone actually properly tested it, but as is normally the case with the stuff, someone does one thing that is nonsense and other people jump on the bandwagon, touch their phone, go OMG OMG OMG and agree or make their own waste of time videos.

Apple apparently did not account for my house when they made their phones either, because I get different reception in different parts of it.

Phone reception is impacted by so many things that all kinds of other factors would need to be worked in. The bottom line is the original video is nowhere close to proof or even an attempt at a reasonable test to troubleshoot or identify the problem.

It is a guy who has his phone laying on his desk and then picking it up and having the signal bar change. I can make a video of any phone in the world that does that.

By the way I just tested this with my 3G phone and I actually have a holder that holds the phone in place so I can actually test this on my 3G phone without the phone moving, and the bars drop when I wrap my hands around it while the phone is still in the same exact location.

This is not a problem that is new the iPhone 4. I can duplicate under more correct circumstances on a 3G version of the phone.

I get 5 bars, then it drops down to 4 and then down to 3. All while still in the exact same place, on a iPhone 3G, and unlike most of these tests never moving from the same place.

This is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I dont want it to be true either but Im pretty convinced that it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gb3aQ5XoQw
 
I have a microcell. I put two iPhone 4's on a desk 3 feet from the microcell. Both have 5 bars and indicate "AT&T M-cell" as the network.

I put my hand, palm up, on the desk under the phone, with my thumb where the volume buttons go, and my other fingers curled on the other side. This lifts the phone about 2". Each phone loses bars, one at a time, over the course of about 30 seconds, until even the "AT&T M-cell" indicator goes away. As soon as I put the phone back on the desk, I'm back to 5 bars.

Same experiment in a different room, on a different floor of my house. Start with 5 bars microcell. Same result.

Turn off microcell. Go outside where I can get 3 bars reception. Put phones on picnic table and repeat. Same results.

These things are broken. (At least my two).

marksman said:
This is my problem with this stuff... people suck at critical thinking and troubleshooting problems.

I finally break down and watch the video and the first thing the guy does is move the phone.

HELLO... EARTH TO VIDEO MAKERS... IF YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE LOCATION OF THE PHONE TO TEST THIS, EVEN SLIGHTLY IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.

Picking up the phone with your hand and moving it six inches away from the table could cause any number of factors to impact the reception of the phone.

It is not a legitimate test.

Someone can feel free to PM me someone who actually tested this accurately and correctly and in multiple settings to demonstrate a problem.

This means you have to have the phone sitting in the same location and then put your hands on it, in the SAME location. This means you have to try it in multiple different locations, preferably with multiple different starting bar strengths.

It is possible someone actually properly tested it, but as is normally the case with the stuff, someone does one thing that is nonsense and other people jump on the bandwagon, touch their phone, go OMG OMG OMG and agree or make their own waste of time videos.

Apple apparently did not account for my house when they made their phones either, because I get different reception in different parts of it.

Phone reception is impacted by so many things that all kinds of other factors would need to be worked in. The bottom line is the original video is nowhere close to proof or even an attempt at a reasonable test to troubleshoot or identify the problem.

It is a guy who has his phone laying on his desk and then picking it up and having the signal bar change. I can make a video of any phone in the world that does that.

By the way I just tested this with my 3G phone and I actually have a holder that holds the phone in place so I can actually test this on my 3G phone without the phone moving, and the bars drop when I wrap my hands around it while the phone is still in the same exact location.

This is not a problem that is new the iPhone 4. I can duplicate under more correct circumstances on a 3G version of the phone.

I get 5 bars, then it drops down to 4 and then down to 3. All while still in the exact same place, on a iPhone 3G, and unlike most of these tests never moving from the same place.

This is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
 
I think this is iOS4 related. As I'm typing this on my 3GS I have only one bar on 3G. I'm not traveling or in a car. Before I upgraded to ios4 I never really had this issue. As a matter a fact I just discovered this now as I was reading through here and decided to test the theory out. When I put my phone down the bars start to go up slowly.
 
LDT said:
It's more like $2 million short not to mention the puts, and why not? After all as I said I already thought AAPL was heading down post iP4 release. If this iP4 story is now true, watch for AAPL to be down >20% by Friday's close, I kid you not, as the stock right now is priced for absolute perfection.
Click to expand...

Man you have no idea what you are talking about. Waste your money.

They have minor defections with ALL production launches. This **** happens. You clearly aren't a finance major, because you are throwing your money away.
 
blen said:
dude, learn simple math then comment on my stories. thanks!
Click to expand...
Dude, try to understand (this is asking a lot, clearly):

Regardless of the sample size, it SEEMS like an issue affecting more than 5% of current users. Math has absolutely zero to do with this, dude.

Dude, your reasoning was, "I used my friend's phone and couldn't replicate the problem. Therefore, it must only be a small batch of phones and most people are just here to whine rather than enjoy their phones that can't make calls."

I'm going by information available. Of the "600,000" delivered units, more than 5% seem to have a major flaw with the hardware or software. You then make a supposition that has no basis in reality. Further, the 5% failure rate you pulled out of your ass encompasses several massive issues hardware may encounter. This is one issue, replicated in one way. And if it's a software issue, then you're looking at a 100% failure rate.

Dude, go to bed. ;)
 
Can easily duplicate this on both:
iPhone 3GS with iOS4
iPhone 3G with 3.1.2

Both have incipio feather case on. Both phones have 3-4 bars 3G while on the couch. Picking them up, cupping back of phone completely with hand, after 10-15 seconds drops steadily to Searching then No Service which lasts until I let go of the phone. (can't make calls while on No Service...)

If on a phone call then do the same thing, drops to 1 bar but does not drop the call.

If I hold the phone normally without completely cupping it, it drops to 1 bar nothing more.

Funny thing, had never tried or noticed this until reading this thread. But it obviously has not been a big issue in real life, daily usage.
 
nooaah said:
Dude, try to understand (this is asking a lot, clearly):

Regardless of the sample size, it SEEMS like an issue affecting more than 5% of current users. Math has absolutely zero to do with this, dude.

Dude, your reasoning was, "I used my friend's phone and couldn't replicate the problem. Therefore, it must only be a small batch of phones and most people are just here to whine rather than enjoy their phones that can't make calls."

I'm going by information available. Of the "600,000" delivered units, more than 5% seem to have a major flaw with the hardware or software. You then make a supposition that has no basis in reality. Further, the 5% failure rate you pulled out of your ass encompasses several massive issues hardware may encounter. This is one issue, replicated in one way. And if it's a software issue, then you're looking at a 100% failure rate.

Dude, go to bed. ;)
Click to expand...


duddeeeeeeeeeeeee lol

Look at my second comment please.

More people are likely to bitch than praise. Trust me, the numbers are severely inflated.

If it can't be replicated on one unit, it means the rest are faulty.
 
And LOL at the guy saying the tests aren't controlled because people are moving their phone itches. These things are called "mobile phones" for a reason. Sorry, I'm going to call a spade a spade. I'm highly confident Apple will fix this for us quickly, one way or another. At the same time, the sky isn't always blue and Apple isn't immune to criticism.

The tests aren't reliable because we're using inaccurate "bars" as our measurement of signal strength, for one thing. If you go into the field test mode, the loss of signal isn't that bad (compared to what the dropping bars seem to indicate). However, if you don't have much of a signal to begin with, it'll cause you to lose your connection altogether.
 
I really think during the keynote when the iPhone 4 was not able to load the pages could be because of the antenna issues, since the iphone 3gs lying right beside could load the pages, anyone remember this?
 
Ddyracer said:
I think this is iOS4 related. As I'm typing this on my 3GS I have only one bar on 3G. I'm not traveling or in a car. Before I upgraded to ios4 I never really had this issue. As a matter a fact I just discovered this now as I was reading through here and decided to test the theory out. When I put my phone down the bars start to go up slowly.
Click to expand...

I did the same on my iPhone 3G on Edge and I go down from 5 bars to 2, but I Don't go below 2. Perhaps this is because an Edge signal is more secure, or more towers?

But this is most likely a iOS4 issue...

Also, this thread brought this to my attention and I never noticed this issue before. Just sayin..
 
marksman said:
This is my problem with this stuff... people suck at critical thinking and troubleshooting problems.

I finally break down and watch the video and the first thing the guy does is move the phone.

HELLO... EARTH TO VIDEO MAKERS... IF YOU HAVE TO MOVE THE LOCATION OF THE PHONE TO TEST THIS, EVEN SLIGHTLY IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.

Picking up the phone with your hand and moving it six inches away from the table could cause any number of factors to impact the reception of the phone.

It is not a legitimate test.

Someone can feel free to PM me someone who actually tested this accurately and correctly and in multiple settings to demonstrate a problem.

This means you have to have the phone sitting in the same location and then put your hands on it, in the SAME location. This means you have to try it in multiple different locations, preferably with multiple different starting bar strengths.

It is possible someone actually properly tested it, but as is normally the case with the stuff, someone does one thing that is nonsense and other people jump on the bandwagon, touch their phone, go OMG OMG OMG and agree or make their own waste of time videos.

Apple apparently did not account for my house when they made their phones either, because I get different reception in different parts of it.

Phone reception is impacted by so many things that all kinds of other factors would need to be worked in. The bottom line is the original video is nowhere close to proof or even an attempt at a reasonable test to troubleshoot or identify the problem.

It is a guy who has his phone laying on his desk and then picking it up and having the signal bar change. I can make a video of any phone in the world that does that.

By the way I just tested this with my 3G phone and I actually have a holder that holds the phone in place so I can actually test this on my 3G phone without the phone moving, and the bars drop when I wrap my hands around it while the phone is still in the same exact location.

This is not a problem that is new the iPhone 4. I can duplicate under more correct circumstances on a 3G version of the phone.

I get 5 bars, then it drops down to 4 and then down to 3. All while still in the exact same place, on a iPhone 3G, and unlike most of these tests never moving from the same place.

This is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

mostly i agree

basically when i saw the videos and people moving the phone- even by just a few inches, i knew right there that the tests were invalid in absolute terms. On the flip side however, i do think the video's do show something interesting at the point where the signal goes from full to 100% out (even given the imperfect test conditions). Its one thing to go from 4 bars to 1, but from five to SEARCHING, is a little disconcerting.


anyway, lets see what happens
 
blen said:
duddeeeeeeeeeeeee lol

Look at my second comment please.

More people are likely to bitch than praise. Trust me, the numbers are severely inflated.

If it can't be replicated on one unit, it means the rest are faulty.
Click to expand...
You're completely in denial. There's one thread for people having this problem. There's another for people without this problem. The difference is staggering.

As I said in the first post that made you upset, I'm only making a loose conclusion based on what information is available. Everything you've said is based on a desired outcome and not what's in front of your face.

Last year, there was WAY more praising than bitching. I think it's because we could hold our phones without losing the signal completely. :eek:
 
Ddyracer said:
I think this is iOS4 related. As I'm typing this on my 3GS I have only one bar on 3G. I'm not traveling or in a car. Before I upgraded to ios4 I never really had this issue. As a matter a fact I just discovered this now as I was reading through here and decided to test the theory out. When I put my phone down the bars start to go up slowly.
Click to expand...
lol, if you never tested or knew about it before, then yeah... you'll assume it's an iOS4 issue...
 
Espo said:
I did the same on my iPhone 3G on Edge and I go down from 5 bars to 2, but I Don't go below 2. Perhaps this is because an Edge signal is more secure, or more towers?

But this is most likely a iOS4 issue...

Also, this thread brought this to my attention and I never noticed this issue before. Just sayin..
Click to expand...

I notice this on my wife's 3GS too, but calls are not dropped. In the very same room, call quality on this thing is abysmal. But at least there are a lot of these issues, Apple will need to address it.
 
I am sitting here holding my phone all around the antenna area and watching my bars disappear. Then I hold only the front and back making sure not to touch the sides and the bars come back. WTF
 
Travisimo said:
I am truly in agony over the decision to pick up my iPhone 4 tomorrow morning or not. I have an appointment at Best Buy at 7:30am and I was totally excited about it until earlier tonight when this problem surfaced.

There's a part of me that says go ahead and get it and just get it replaced when Apple has a fix. If it was clear that using a case would solve the problem for now, I would probably go ahead and do this. But there have been mixed reports of the problem still happening even with cases on. On top of that, Best Buy is not going to have any bumpers tomorrow, so I'll probably have to use some crappy cheap case that I don't even want.

The other part of me says just cancel my preorder and wait this thing out. I really didn't want to use a case, and I know this issue will bug me until it's resolved. But I know iPhone 4's are going to be hard to find for quite some time and I was lucky to get one at BB. However, it could literally be months before Apple acknowledges and fixes the problem and is able to replace phones for those affected. Apple took forever to acknowledge a problem with the yellow tinge on the 2009 iMac's, though they did eventually make things right.

What to do, what to do? Only 8.5 hours to decide!
Click to expand...

Getting ready for bed and I have made my decision: I am getting the iPhone tomorrow morning! Here is my rationale for those who even give a darn:

1) Apple will fix the problem, regardless of whether it's a hardware or software issue. I've dealt with Apple customer service before and I trust them. It might take a while, but they'll make it right.

2) I should probably use a case with the phone anyway, as I have with each of my previous phones. And worst case, I just use one until there's a fix and then go back to nude!

3) I can return the phone within 30 days anyway. Best Buy has a 10% restocking fee on iPhone, but not if defective (which I would insist this is definitely a defect). And anyway, I am a RZ Premier member at Best Buy and do not incur restocking fees for any items anyway! I just hope my contract goes back to where it was if I return the phone????

So there you have it. I just hope a case does indeed solve the problem until the problem is fixed.
 
nooaah said:
You're completely in denial. There's one thread for people having this problem. There's another for people without this problem. The difference is staggering.

As I said in the first post that made you upset, I'm only making a loose conclusion based on what information is available. Everything you've said is based on a desired outcome and not what's in front of your face.

Last year, there was WAY more praising than bitching. I think it's because we could hold our phones without losing the signal completely. :eek:
Click to expand...

Denial? I don't even have one yet.

I'm getting mine tomorrow, and won't leave with one of the defective ones... I also don't plan on coming across one.

Fingers crossed obviously, but this stuff does happen.

My MBP had a defect, it was returned instantly.
 
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