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My iPhone 4 signal issues are gone...

Bigyella said:
JMO, here, But. This is not the fix. In time, everyones problem will occur again. I think it has more to do with turning off the phone, or restarting it. You get good results, after that, for a while, but the problem will reemerge. Not, totally a bad thing. It may prove to be a software issue, if this is the case.
Click to expand...

Yeah, still holding hope for a software fix. For all our good.

One thing I wish to see more of is more positive reviews of this awesome kit. Left hand death grip aside, the iPhone 4 is really a damn fine piece of engineering. This screen is lickable.
 
I cut a very small piece of Avery sticker to insulate the sim from the tray and it did NOT work for me. But I am NOT surprised as my iPhon3 3G with iOS4 had the same issue and I don't think it had a sim problem.
 
br0adband said:
Now if only the phone did Flash, eh? Oh wait... pr0n sites are giving that up too:

http://www.conceivablytech.com/1553/business/an-unexpected-apple-ally-porn-industry-to-drop-flash/

Not a good year for Adobe, it seems. ;)
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I don't think porn was ever a big deal, however hulu making an iphone app, thats huge and one of the reasons people wanted flash.

I have never had any problems with flash, but adobe really screwed up by sitting on their lorals for too long, even now there is only flash on andriod and only if you have froyo.
 
Did Nothing

Just tried this. Felt somewhat foolish as there is absolutely no logical reason for this to work and...as I assumed, it did nothing. I can't imagine that it would except for the wildest of coincidences.
 
As some people have mentioned it could just have something to do with the actual sim cards them selves, a bad batch or what not.

Would it be possible to go to ATT and get a replacement sim card? Even with a small fee?
 
arn said:
The fact that it's not working for everyone doesn't make these findings useless.

The "contact" theory as to why may be off.

It seems clear that manipulating the SIM card seems to have improved and possibly worsened the issue for some.

1) It may be a physical manipulation of the SIM card
2) It may be the resetting of the iPhone's networking settings.

In any case, I think it's interesting and hopefully will be investigated further -- even if the contact theory proves to be untrue.

People are too quick to say "oh, it's just observational data", not some randomized controlled study. C'mon people, no one is going to fund a massive scientific study on this, so forum case reports are the best way to get information on possible fixes

arn
Click to expand...

Just like to add a lil' something that may be helpful even if indirectly.

I haven't used an iPhone for a few months so don't jump on me like I'm sort of troll, please.

Back in the heyday of Symbian S60 that Nokia used so prevailently (before seeing their own arse stink just a few days ago) there was an incredibly geeky and yet useful app called "CellTrack"

RogersEdgeConfirmed.jpg


As you can see it provided quick glance of information of your signal strength, tower id, tower & network information. I'll bet there is a similar application like it (it could even track history as you moved/jumped from tower to tower; almost creating a map as location was set) for iPhone.

If there is then this app could help in a more scientific way to isolate network tower loads (even though on AT&T iPhones have priority over other phones, competiting iPhone users on the same towers will hope even to a farther tower if data is not called upon or the data stream isn't large to be a priority than someone else on the same tower. many phones will hardly get a stable if not normally slow data speeds on 3G/EDGE with just 1 bar of signal strength (if you consider the 1bar being completely accurate).

Forgive me that I haven't read the past 10pages if someone is already suggested a similar testing app or used it.
 
This is a top story on Engadget now, too. I didn't think that this story would get so big without being well-proven.
 
Did the fix, used black electrical tape as well. It has zero effect. If you're testing this by watching your "bars" then you're epic failing, fyi.

I know I saw a couple people purport to test with speed tests, but I think if you're seeing success with those you ought to try a second speed test. Many speed tests are victims of caching.

Fact is, it makes little to zero sense for the described solution to fit the problem. If the SIM was being "shorted" by this situation it would be fried, you'd never get back on the network. It's a load of bologna.

What's more is that I can demonstrate the problem without touching the phone physically at all. Period. Just very, very close to the left-side antenna line and the problem occurs. Anywhere a couple mm away and further, it's great. But any other combination of touching/bridging/etc. at any other combination of locations or metal strips causes no issue. Even with a finger 1 centimeter up from the left-side antenna and thumb to the bottom, or a copper wire extended at least 1cm out from the antenna radially but touching the metal above and below it: no issues.

THIS IS ATTENUATION. It's just way worse because the antenna is nearly at the very surface of the device, which is very rare. You usually have up to a centimeter of space between the device and anywhere that could be touched. The older iPhones had the same issue but it was less pronounced because the internal antenna forced at least a couple mm of space to reduce (but not eliminate) attenuation.

Pro-tip, regardless of what you've been led to believe, the metal parts are not the antenna. The black lines are the antennae. If there is any hope of fixing this problem in-place it will be due to the right-side antenna not working for some reason and reenabling it in a radio firmware update.

Since the antenna is on the outside, save a tiny thin strip of shielding, attenuation is accented and far more obvious. As a more classical example of radio shielding, take the old Palm Treo and its antenna that stuck out. Inside that plastic box was almost entirely air, a little plastic support, and a tiny thin strip of wire that was the antenna. The reason for the big box was to prevent any noticeable attenuation. A centimeter away from the antenna and you'll get no measurable attenuation.

On the iPhone you can put your finger less than 1 mm from the antenna, that's going to cause MASSIVE attenuation.

Still, Apple may be right about not being a real problem if the second antenna is simply not being enabled. Assuming the right side black line is another cell antenna (and there is no really compelling reason for it to be there and not be an antenna for the cell network, all other radios are 2.4ghz and will share an antenna anyway) then that's your best hope for now.

If you want a fix today: Buy a nice thick case. Or... Hold Different. Even Apple makes mistakes sometimes. This one is just a little bigger than usual.
 
RichBoston said:
Just tried this. Felt somewhat foolish as there is absolutely no logical reason for this to work and...as I assumed, it did nothing. I can't imagine that it would except for the wildest of coincidences.
Click to expand...

All logic aside, the simple fact that if contact is being made where it shouldn't be, either because of mis-centered SIM cards, mis-seated SIM trays, bent "teeth" as someone called them, etc, then it's going to cause some problems.

One question: are you having problems with your iPhone 4 with reception/etc? If not, then why bother with this at all? :) You posting implies you have an iPhone 4 that's having some issues and you made this attempt to resolve it since it's a potential "fix" for some but not all. So, are you having problems with your iPhone 4, if you have one?

One person tried it, apparently had positive favorable results and posted about it - the OP - and others have done the same thing(s) and had similar favorable results too. Some don't, of course, like me but the point holds that if some folks are noting improvement to any degree then there could be something to this.

We don't precisely know what that "something" could be but, hey, we're all basically doing beta testing and troubleshooting for Apple right now anyway, just as I'm quite certain they are in Cupertino. :D

Can't hurt to simply reseat a SIM, can it? The tape thing I'm leery off, or painting the SIM tray with any non-conductive materials of any kind, but if others care to go at it, more power to 'em and best of luck.

If everyone that had an iPhone 4 problem simply returned it, nothing would get done in reality. Apple would keep selling them, people would return them and get others or dump Apple outright, and nothing would really happen.

It's not really about getting it fixed - which is a big thing itself - but for me it's about Apple saying something, admitting something, just flat out boning up to it like someone should and stop being so damned deceptive and do everything by implication or ridiculously terse emails no one can decipher for true meaning.

"It's broken, we know it, we're sorry, we'll fix it."

Can't be that tough, can it?
 
zacheryjensen said:
*snip*
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Man, you're way off base. In fact, you're not even in the right thread I think.

It's not attenuation when I can kill my 3G service with a fingertip - loss of service, complete, total loss, disconnected from the cellular network, in under 60 seconds. And I am not alone.

The metal parts are the antenna per Apple, per Steve Jobs, per the video slides during WWDC, per simple fact. The "black line" is the seam, the gap between the two antennas, and there are only two "black lines" - one on top by the headphone jack, and one on the lower left side - they are GAPS in the metal, complete disconnects and separations. The "black line" on the lower right side is a notch in the band - it is not a full separation, just a groove cut into the metal antenna band to keep the symmetric aesthetic of the sides equal, that's a visual design thing.

Plastic or rubber coatings on an antenna are there for a reason: to stop skin-on-metal contact with the resonator/antenna which when dealing with microwave energy is fundamentally disastrous. There's no fix for that except preventing the contact potential, period.

The point remains: if you're not having problems with your iPhone 4 - if you even own one - fantastic, congrats, more power to you, move along. Many of us are, and we're discussing the problems and potential resolutions.

Just because you and some others don't believe the problem(s) exist doesn't mean they don't. Because they do.
 
pflau said:
I cut a very small piece of Avery sticker to insulate the sim from the tray and it did NOT work for me. But I am NOT surprised as my iPhon3 3G with iOS4 had the same issue and I don't think it had a sim problem.
Click to expand...

Well, how about someone installing 3.x in the iPhone 4 and see what happens?
 
The contacts are C1 and C5 and these are power (c1) and ground (c5). I really doubt it that these will have an effect on the signal as a short cut between those two are more likely to kill all communication with the SIM.

The only thing I can come up with is that it might be is that there is a tiny, tiny bit of current flowing over the sim-tray, just ever so slight and that it may build up and somehow interfere with the ground of the signal.
In that case it would make sense to remove the tray for a minute orso and have a better working phone, until it builds up enough current.
But, my SIM is cut from a 2FF and the contacts (c1 and c5) are positively NOT touching the sim tray, but I can still degrade the call quality by touching the black strip.
OTOH, my sim touches the tray at C4 and C8, but those are not in much use AFAIK
 
I used electrical tape, and this did NOT fix my reception issue. It still drops the exact same way. :(
 
this is really weird...

i just put a super small piece of tape on the very edge of the sim card so it separates the sim and the tray, i sit in the same spot...every night on the computer...and it seemed to work..its been about an hour now and it still looses some signal when i grab it...but it never drops completely anymore...i had a hard time believing the sim card had anything to do with reception...but oh well.
 
So I did some more geeking. If I turn off wi-fi, grip the phone in the worst place for reception in my home, I get no loss of bars, calls fine.

But..with wi-fi on, it dips down one bar, but that is it. Soooo...who knows?
I guess I will find out tomorrow when out and about...
 
arn said:
Hey, do me a favor and try resetting your Network settings in your phone and see if it that makes a difference.

Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings

arn
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I tried that followed by a phone restart. No luck. My signal and voice/data interruption is just as it was before unfortunately.
 
question, for those who are saying your sim contacts are touching the sim tray (thus causing the issue), are you people who have cut your sim manually?

OR

does it not matter? im worried that my microsim supplied from O2 UK will be affected.
 
MacGiver said:
So assuming this is the issue, coud Apple solve this by re-designing SIM cards and ship to customers once ready OR does it mean it has to be a HW fix on the IP4 side (the SIM tray)?
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Doh... Of course Apple is not going to redesign and ship sim cards (what are you thinking?!) :rolleyes: The only thing Apple might do is fix the issues with the sim tray (non-conductive coating or another material altogether?) and provide free replacement sim-trays to the people who are experiencing these issues...
 
Fernandez21 said:
I don't think porn was ever a big deal, however hulu making an iphone app, thats huge and one of the reasons people wanted flash.

I have never had any problems with flash, but adobe really screwed up by sitting on their lorals for too long, even now there is only flash on andriod and only if you have froyo.
Click to expand...

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/hulu-plus-preview-arrives-in-itunes-app-store-for-ios-devices-f/

Hulu, for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch... ;)

People are already complaining about it because apparently even in spite of the $10/month charge, they're still shoving ads down our throats... it's a preview so, maybe that will change later on, who knows.

</back_to_the_topic_at_hand>
 
went ahead and tried some electrical tape, also followed up by network reset and a hard reboot...still no luck.
 

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Pez555 said:
question, for those who are saying your sim contacts are touching the sim tray (thus causing the issue), are you people who have cut your sim manually?

OR

does it not matter? im worried that my microsim supplied from O2 UK will be affected.
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anyone?
 
Pez555 said:
anyone?
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Haven't gone that far with mine, not planning on it either. I had tried another SIM from another iPhone 4 several days ago (that was also exhibiting the same problems I'm having) and that SIM card didn't do anything to make it better, nor worse for that matter.

I've done enough testing on mine to believe it's simply defective as shipped from the factory.
 
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