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My iPhone 4 signal issues are gone...
- Thread starter jav6454
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Instead of tape, cut a thin strip from the sticky part of a post-it note and use that. It may not help but it should be a better isolator.
I do not recommend this. Post it notes have terrible adhesive and it will come off in your phone.
I'm not taking out the sharp stick or anything, but this level of rationalization gives me a headache. I mean, I listen to my car radio infrequently, but I'd be pissed if it didn't work when I wanted a traffic report or catch a ball game. It's a phone. It should be able to make trouble-free calls without gimmicks.
Besides, it's been demonstrated that 3G data is also affected.
I find post it notes a bit thicker than a normal piece of paper, or perhaps its just me but I would think if its between the sim card and the shelf of the tray wouldnt it disturb the reading of the card?
The top of the card was still flush with the top of the tray and there was no obvious impediment sliding it back into the phone.
Didn't work for me. I have a feeling Apple are going to have a hard time fixing this. Maybe the dude who lost the iPhone 4 prototype shouldn't have been reassigned... he used to work on baseband for the iPhone 
Didn't work for me. I have a feeling Apple are going to have a hard time fixing this. Maybe the dude who lost the iPhone 4 prototype shouldn't have been reassigned... he used to work on baseband for the iPhone
I don't think it's entirely a baseband issue. Maybe if they didn't have the people testing it in the field with cases on them they would have noticed that there is a hardware issue.
The sim card tray comes already lined with non-conductive material
See the different gray? Take a multi-meter to it. It's not conductive.
Exactly.
See the different gray? Take a multi-meter to it. It's not conductive.
Placebo effect still keeping this thread alive eh?
Exactly.
I understand the skepticism but today is the first time I've held my phone in my left hand (bridging the gap) and not had the signal drop to 1 or 0 bars.
Does nothing
I have the iPhone 4 and the iPad 3G
Both use microsim.
i have amazing reception on my iPad when using 3G never had any problems and it holds 3g signal better than my iPhone 3gs
This issue of the simcard touching the metal sim tray does not hold.
The microsim used in my iPad has a larger memory area and there is a large proportion of the sim is in contact with the sim tray.
This is my iPad 3g micro sim.
I think this proves that there is no basis in this fix.
I have the iPhone 4 and the iPad 3G
Both use microsim.
i have amazing reception on my iPad when using 3G never had any problems and it holds 3g signal better than my iPhone 3gs
This issue of the simcard touching the metal sim tray does not hold.
The microsim used in my iPad has a larger memory area and there is a large proportion of the sim is in contact with the sim tray.
This is my iPad 3g micro sim.
I think this proves that there is no basis in this fix.
Still working
I was very skeptical of this whole "fix" and voodoo thread but I figured I would just pop out my SIM and experiment - What could some tape hurt as I'm not about to trim plastic off of the SIM.
Just a small strip of masking tape on the tray increased signal reception from 0-1 bars to 3-4 bars.
Almost an hour later the fix is still working...
I was very skeptical of this whole "fix" and voodoo thread but I figured I would just pop out my SIM and experiment - What could some tape hurt as I'm not about to trim plastic off of the SIM.
Just a small strip of masking tape on the tray increased signal reception from 0-1 bars to 3-4 bars.
Almost an hour later the fix is still working...
I insulated that small strip of metal that the SIM rests on with electrical tape and it didn't help my bar dropping situation. Keep the ideas coming, maybe something will work.
OK, it appears that the "fix" is not universal, however it seems to work for some people. So it's probably worth giving it a try.
Just saying the SIM tray is coated/non-conductive for your phone assumes:
a) 100% manufacturing accuracy
b) Any coating can't scratch/wear off
c) It's not an internal thing anyway
Assumptions need to be carefully stated and managed in any circumstance.
I also want to add that many of us, including myself, have probably not done enough testing before declaring victory. It could just be that today I have better signal quality coming from the tower than in the recent past. There does seem to be some improvement but it isn't a solution and there is not likely to be one since at the heart of it, this is a design issue.
Well I have just tried this.
At home I normally loose all signal if I hold it in my left hand. Now it goes down 1-2 bar max. I will test in further in different locations, but seems to have worked for me.
I would have to say that people who don't believe this works should just try it, it's completely reversible and what have you got to loose? If it works then great, if it doesn't, well it was worth a try.
At home I normally loose all signal if I hold it in my left hand. Now it goes down 1-2 bar max. I will test in further in different locations, but seems to have worked for me.
I would have to say that people who don't believe this works should just try it, it's completely reversible and what have you got to loose? If it works then great, if it doesn't, well it was worth a try.
Just taking the SIM out and putting it back in seemed to have fixed the issue for me here. Weird.
Bad SIM's?
I am not able to reposition the SIM either. It really looks like the SIM was not manufactured correctly. The chip is way off center in the plastic. I took out my 3G SIM and it's perfectly centered in the plastic. I may see if AT&T has another microSIM that's centered and try that. I'm reluctant to put tape or anything else in my phone. Anyone talked to AT&T about this yet?
I am not able to reposition the SIM either. It really looks like the SIM was not manufactured correctly. The chip is way off center in the plastic. I took out my 3G SIM and it's perfectly centered in the plastic. I may see if AT&T has another microSIM that's centered and try that. I'm reluctant to put tape or anything else in my phone. Anyone talked to AT&T about this yet?
also to note is that the original claim was simply:
"I took out the SIM Card for a while and when it was reinserted, things were better."
The whole conductivity thing was just a theory based trying to explain the evidence. So, disproving that only disproves the theory, not that it might or might not have worked for people. (note, it didn't do anything for me).
arn
You obviously know nothing about RF energy.
Let me add my explanation of why this fix works in many cases. I will qualify my assertion by saying that I have a good working knowledge of RF energy and have held various radio licenses over the past quarter century.
OK, class is in session.
RF energy travels through the air in waves in the form of electromagnetic and electrostatic fields at 90 degrees to one another. The frequency of the transmitted wave has a 'wavelength'. The transmitting and receiving antennas must be of the proper length to be 'resonant' at or near the wavelengths involved. In a nutshell, you will receive maximum signal strength when your antenna is the proper length.
Since we are talking about microwave frequencies here, the resonant length of the antenna is very, very short and will be thrown off resonance by a long ways with just the slightest change of 'electrical' length. I say electrical because aside from the physical length, changes in effective length occur with two phenomenon known as inductance and capacitance. Our bodies make for a good capacitor plate and this is how touch lamps can change brightness by sensing a capacitance change when we touch them.
The micro SIM tray is metal on the iPhone 4 and is part of the band surrounding the phone which IS part of the antenna on this new design. If the gold SIM contacts are touching or are too close to the metal tray, they are creating a shift in resonant frequency of the antenna which will degrade its reception of the cell frequencies it was designed for. The SIM contacts are NOT part of the designed electrical length of the antenna, but they can create a change of that length if they touch it. Those SIM contacts need to be as far away as possible from the physical antenna which the SIM tray is a part of on the new phone.
So now, you grip the phone with your finger bridging two of the antennas on the outside and you have killed the reception altogether because the antenna is way off resonance from the cell tower frequencies. Something to note here is that the BOTTOM of the phone's metal band is the cellular antenna because the transmitted RF is required by law to be as far away from our head as possible.
This fix that the OP posted has technical merit and should be at least tried by those who feel comfortable messing with their SIM cards.
I'll shut up now.