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My iPhone 4 signal issues are gone...

Does having the WiFi on make any difference? I've heard it won't lose signal if the WiFi's on, because the antenna is using more power to keep both things turned on.
 
arn said:
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
Click to expand...

Hover in my case, (after closer look) my SIM tray appears to have been smudged and the coat is thinner (or rather you can see the metal) on the section where the SIM contacts actual touch the tray.
 
I wouldn't think the sim card tray has much to do with this issue. The fact is you either hold the phone in a stange fashion or buy a bumper case.

Not for nothing but honestly how much does it cost to produce a bumper case anyways??? a few bucks. Doesn't that seem like the easiest solution for apple. Give everyone with the issue a $3 piece of rubber.
 
xdhd350 said:
You obviously know nothing about RF energy.


I'll shut up now.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Something I had thought of before your post is that even though the SIM tray has a thin plastic layer where the card sits, there is some inductance going on. Your post just solidified my thought. Separating it slightly may reduce inductance enough so that the contacts do not become part of the antenna. Even better would be a new SIM with the contacts properly spaced. We have to be careful though because we don't know if shifting it too far will cause contact issues inside the phone. Maybe there will be a market for plastic SIM card slots. :)
 
dagomike said:
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.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry about the headache, I did not mean it :)

Look, the point I am making is that if you know before making that call that you need to avoid touching that one spot, you can, and with ANY phone there is always somewhere that you can not make a call.

Anyway, since writing that I have been testing all day, and my position changed a bit. Don't wanna repeat it here, tis on my blog.

http://bit.ly/cKr7at

Kev
 
Removed tape to test fix and bars drop again...

After ejecting the SIM, applying a sliver sized piece of masking tape to the thin side of the tray my bars went from 0-1 to 3-4.
I have now ejected the SIM and removed the tape to test without the fix and within minutes my bars dropped to 1.
I added the tape back to the SIM tray and bars are back to 3-4.

Is this all a coincidence? I guess it could be and I'm willing to believe the tape has nothing to do with reception but I can't deny the results either.

The only other thought regarding the tape is that it is providing a better fit for the SIM in the tray and thus increasing reception and/or connectivity with the contact points.

I'm keeping the tape on regardless.
 
Off centre SIM chips

I also have the signal loss issue though no dropped calls to date. I had time to spare so I had a look at my sim, the chip is well off-centre but I cannot tell whether it touches the holder or not, it certainly might. When my partner returns I shall borrow some of her clear nail varnish and paint the holder on that side.

One thing I did notice was scratch marks on the sim itself, some of these appeared to lie over the separating tracks, possibly the off-centre sim is causing contact to occur in a marginal location. Then again this might all be a bit bogus.

Still counting down to next Wednesday when I shall return my phone unless a safe fix has been identified.
 
DaffyDuck said:
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.
Click to expand...

But that is the whole problem with this issue, its the opposite for me, its only today that it has been doing it, not for last few days in same places.

You tower could be different, you hands could be less sweaty, your weather could affect the signal ever so slightly, the baby unicorn in the phone could be happier today......

Kev
 
offcamber said:
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...
Click to expand...

Can you take the tape off now and report back please?

Kev
 
I posted here regarding my iPhone signal issue.

Basically the signal will drop if your reception is poor. Try going somewhere you know you have good reception or fast mobile broadband speed. Most likely cupping the corner won't drop the signal or it won't drop as drastically.

An engineer explains the reception issue here.
 
rockstarjoe said:
Just taking the SIM out and putting it back in seemed to have fixed the issue for me here. Weird.
Click to expand...

Not that weird really. Taking it out and putting it back means it has to re contact the tower, or even a different tower. Better signal probably.

My Nexus One has a weird thing where it loses all bars, but you can still get and make calls without issue.

Kev
 
it worked....

:eek:

Thanks for posting Jav. MR has been the most helpful place since I converted to Apple.
 
offcamber said:
After ejecting the SIM, applying a sliver sized piece of masking tape to the thin side of the tray my bars went from 0-1 to 3-4.
I have now ejected the SIM and removed the tape to test without the fix and within minutes my bars dropped to 1.
I added the tape back to the SIM tray and bars are back to 3-4.

Is this all a coincidence? I guess it could be and I'm willing to believe the tape has nothing to do with reception but I can't deny the results either.

The only other thought regarding the tape is that it is providing a better fit for the SIM in the tray and thus increasing reception and/or connectivity with the contact points.

I'm keeping the tape on regardless.
Click to expand...

Aha, you are ahead of me. This gets stranger, and stranger.

Kev
 
Does this work on the new iPhone 4?

Dial:

*3001#12345#*

To bring up a signal strength diagnostic menu. Worked on older iPhones.
 
I remember when the original iPhone came out this piece of tape on the SIM was mentioned and many MacForum members used it with success. I put a piece of tape on my iPhone 4 SIM and I definitely have better reception and fewer dropped bars even when using the "death grip". So for me this was a win.
 
No the field test is no longer in iOS4, removing and messing with the sim card negatively affected my signal but RF is a weird science so who knows what is actually causing the problem.
 
problem not resolved

Just tried the sim "fix" and it definitely didn't do anything for me. Even with the phone on the desk, 5 bars untouched, touching the bottom seam(s) will reduce the bars to 1 - returning to 5 once I stop touching the seam. I have no case, but did apply clear electrical tape to the antenna, which has helped somewhat.
 
Anyone tried swapping the sim card holder including the sim from a working iphone without the death grip to a death grip iphone?
 
Hey Guys,

I inserted my SIM card into the phone without the tray at all and I still get the same issues as before. So I do not think this has anything to do with the tray at all. It still appears to be a attenuation problem with the antenna.
 
offcamber said:
After ejecting the SIM, applying a sliver sized piece of masking tape to the thin side of the tray my bars went from 0-1 to 3-4.
I have now ejected the SIM and removed the tape to test without the fix and within minutes my bars dropped to 1.
I added the tape back to the SIM tray and bars are back to 3-4.

Is this all a coincidence? I guess it could be and I'm willing to believe the tape has nothing to do with reception but I can't deny the results either.

The only other thought regarding the tape is that it is providing a better fit for the SIM in the tray and thus increasing reception and/or connectivity with the contact points.

I'm keeping the tape on regardless.
Click to expand...


I second this!

I tried it and now I cannot get the bars to drop by bridging the antennas no matter what I do or where I go. It works as I expect it to now. I did notice that the metal tabs from the sim card were coming into contact with the sim tray. Isolating this with the tape has made a huge difference.

-D
 
Just finished spending about an hour on this method using Scotch packaging tape, a surgical scalpel, and steady hands to completely insulate all 4 corners of the sim card.

Replaced the sim card, powered it on...didn't even use the death grip...only used my one thumb and I went from 5 bars to zero just like before. :(
 
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