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Reception issues - Was skeptic - now believer

D

djfrugal1

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 22, 2008
23
0
I am always a skeptic when it comes to all the complaints about new apple products. This problem is real. I can not touch the rest of the phone, and just touch that one spot to bridge the two antennas with my finger and it drops from 3 bars to 0 in twenty seconds. Reception is MUCH worse than my ORIGINAL Iphone 2g. My reception has always been poor at my condo, but I have always been able to receive calls inside and always make a receive calls from outside on the balcony. With the Iphone 4, even with 2-3 bars, I can not make any calls or receive any calls at this location. Their new and improved antenna obviously isn't that new and improved. 2G worked better.

I will keep it for a while and see if they do come up with a fix, but I may need to return to go back to 2G until a real hardware fix is made.

Its too bad they didn't figure this out before they sold 2 million of them.
 
I'm so perplexed by some of this! I have better reception in my house than I ever had. On the 3G I would always have only 1-2 bars and would constantly drop calls. With the 4 I still only have 1-2 bars but have yet to drop a call.
 
djfrugal1 said:
I will keep it for a while and see if they do come up with a fix, but I may need to return to go back to 2G until a real hardware fix is made.

Its too bad they didn't figure this out before they sold 2 million of them.
Click to expand...
There will be no fix. Its a hardware design issue.
 
dmelgar said:
There will be no fix. Its a hardware design issue.
Click to expand...

I really am getting tired of this response to everything. How the h**L do you know it is a hardware/design flaw? You don't, are you an RF engineer? Are you some sort of specialist? huh? I doubt it. Shut up, you have no clue, you have no tools to test it with and back-up your big claim. Why do we let the experts who actually do this stuff for a living figure it out??? Novel concept eh?
 
perplexed

I am perplexed too! I went ahead and bought it not really believing all the hype, but the "spot" is true. It stops my phone from working completely on 3G. Plus I can't make calls from my house anymore. I kept by 2G in case and it looks like I may have to use it. I am hoping they come up with some sort of fix, but I am a little pissed a Jobs and Apple for acting like its no big deal. I am in the LA area so there is no excuse. When I am outside my calls are breaking up all the time and I am trying to hold it like a teacup, just isn't working. WIFI however works great, and I LOVE the phone and everything else about it.
 
Hardware

swoods93631 said:
I really am getting tired of this response to everything. How the h**L do you know it is a hardware/design flaw? You don't, are you an RF engineer? Are you some sort of specialist? huh? I doubt it. Shut up, you have no clue, you have no tools to test it with and back-up your big claim. Why do we let the experts who actually do this stuff for a living figure it out??? Novel concept eh?
Click to expand...

True - it is an assumption. I think people jump to hardware when you can physically put the tip of your finger on one spot on the phone and it stops working. I certainly can, and I bought this phone not believe this crap people were saying. Then I realized it can't make calls where my 2G does, just feels like something is wrong now. I am keeping it up until the 30 days and see if they come up with fix, but if not will have to return for a real fix.
 
data speeds

My biggest problem with the 'antenna issue' is the data speeds. I can keep a call connected at one bar, but I can't even load Apple's own weather App.

Will holding the 'trouble area' on the lower right still affect my data speeds? That's my real question for Apple and it is not addressed in the letter explanation.
 
slate1 said:
I'm so perplexed by some of this! I have better reception in my house than I ever had. On the 3G I would always have only 1-2 bars and would constantly drop calls. With the 4 I still only have 1-2 bars but have yet to drop a call.
Click to expand...

The antenna design is much improved as long as you hold it correctly. Testing by anandtech and others showed it was better as long as you used the ninja turtle 3 finger grip. I didn't feel comfortable doing that though, I prefer to hold expensive electronics firmly.
 
Oh yeah its true. And i bet it's on everyone's phone.

I was in the Apple store yesterday buying a bumper and I enjoyed going from demo phone to demo phone making each one drop most of their bars by simply holding it in my left hand.

Crazy.
 
Cubs08 said:
Oh yeah its true. And i bet it's on everyone's phone.

I was in the Apple store yesterday buying a bumper and I enjoyed going from demo phone to demo phone making each one drop most of their bars by simply holding it in my left hand.

Crazy.
Click to expand...

You don't even need to hold it. Check out the vid on this thread I posted. You can use your finger tip to bridge the two antennas and it just kills it. This is what is happening to me.
 
djfrugal1 said:
You don't even need to hold it. Check out the vid on this thread I posted. You can use your finger tip to bridge the two antennas and it just kills it. This is what is happening to me.
Click to expand...

I was just trying to see if holding a phone in a "totally natural" way was going to kill all of them. In other words, holding the phone the way Steve and the Apple videos demonstrate.
 
swoods93631 said:
I really am getting tired of this response to everything. How the h**L do you know it is a hardware/design flaw? You don't, are you an RF engineer? Are you some sort of specialist? huh? I doubt it. Shut up, you have no clue, you have no tools to test it with and back-up your big claim. Why do we let the experts who actually do this stuff for a living figure it out??? Novel concept eh?
Click to expand...

Apple's stated solution doesn't address the problem. So it's unreasonable to think a software fix will be available.
 
swoods93631 said:
I really am getting tired of this response to everything. How the h**L do you know it is a hardware/design flaw? You don't, are you an RF engineer? Are you some sort of specialist? huh? I doubt it. Shut up, you have no clue, you have no tools to test it with and back-up your big claim. Why do we let the experts who actually do this stuff for a living figure it out??? Novel concept eh?
Click to expand...

I am a EE (Electrical engineer) and did take RF101 (courses on radio design etc).
Anandtech did very detailed tests. Their final words,
The main downside to the iPhone 4 is the obvious lapse in Apple's engineering judgment. The fact that Apple didn't have the foresight to coat the stainless steel antenna band with even a fraction of an ounce worth of non-conductive material either tells us that Apple doesn't care or that it simply doesn't test thoroughly enough. The latter is a message we've seen a few times before with OS X issues, the iPhone 4 simply reinforces it. At the bare minimum Apple should give away its bumper case with every iPhone 4 sold. The best scenario is for Apple to coat the antenna and replace all existing phones with a revised model.The ideal situation is very costly for Apple but it is the right thing to do. Plus it's not like Apple doesn't have the resources to take care of its customers.​
 
dmelgar said:
I am a EE (Electrical engineer) and did take RF101 (courses on radio design etc).
Anandtech did very detailed tests. Their final words,
The main downside to the iPhone 4 is the obvious lapse in Apple's engineering judgment. The fact that Apple didn't have the foresight to coat the stainless steel antenna band with even a fraction of an ounce worth of non-conductive material either tells us that Apple doesn't care or that it simply doesn't test thoroughly enough. The latter is a message we've seen a few times before with OS X issues, the iPhone 4 simply reinforces it. At the bare minimum Apple should give away its bumper case with every iPhone 4 sold. The best scenario is for Apple to coat the antenna and replace all existing phones with a revised model.The ideal situation is very costly for Apple but it is the right thing to do. Plus it's not like Apple doesn't have the resources to take care of its customers.​
Click to expand...

Interesting solution! Thanks for that. Yea I am waiting until close to the 30 days to see if they come up with solution, then will return and wait for next version that works properly.
 
dmelgar said:
I am a EE (Electrical engineer) and did take RF101 (courses on radio design etc).
Anandtech did very detailed tests. Their final words,
The main downside to the iPhone 4 is the obvious lapse in Apple's engineering judgment. The fact that Apple didn't have the foresight to coat the stainless steel antenna band with even a fraction of an ounce worth of non-conductive material either tells us that Apple doesn't care or that it simply doesn't test thoroughly enough. The latter is a message we've seen a few times before with OS X issues, the iPhone 4 simply reinforces it. At the bare minimum Apple should give away its bumper case with every iPhone 4 sold. The best scenario is for Apple to coat the antenna and replace all existing phones with a revised model.The ideal situation is very costly for Apple but it is the right thing to do. Plus it's not like Apple doesn't have the resources to take care of its customers.​
Click to expand...

Wow, EE huh, that doesnt make you an expert in RF progagation..... Or antenna design... OOOOO RF101, YAY So if I go take english 101 does that make me a master of the english language that can certainly debate a grammar argument with the worlds top linguists? Umm no, Hey maybe if I take Mathimatics 101 I can come up with a new theory of relativity??? NO???

Again, you are not educated on the subject and therfore are just speculating, YOU DO NOT KNOW!

Look I have been working in RF, wireless, for years I desgin wireless networks for ISP's and municipalities. I understand RF propagation and I have not once said because I work in "blah blah" I know what the problem is. Apple has people with PhD's desiging this stuff, guess what those PhD's took a few more classes than RF 101.
 
swoods93631 said:
Wow, EE huh, that doesnt make you an expert in RF progagation..... Or antenna design... OOOOO RF101, YAY So if I go take english 101 does that make me a master of the english language that can certainly debate a grammar argument with the worlds top linguists? Umm no, Hey maybe if I take Mathimatics 101 I can come up with a new theory of relativity??? NO???

Again, you are not educated on the subject and therfore are just speculating, YOU DO NOT KNOW!

Look I have been working in RF, wireless, for years I desgin wireless networks for ISP's and municipalities. I understand RF propagation and I have not once said because I work in "blah blah" I know what the problem is. Apple has people with PhD's desiging this stuff, guess what those PhD's took a few more classes than RF 101.
Click to expand...

Wow, are you angry.
 
djfrugal1 said:
I am perplexed too! I went ahead and bought it not really believing all the hype, but the "spot" is true. It stops my phone from working completely on 3G. Plus I can't make calls from my house anymore. I kept by 2G in case and it looks like I may have to use it. I am hoping they come up with some sort of fix, but I am a little pissed a Jobs and Apple for acting like its no big deal. I am in the LA area so there is no excuse. When I am outside my calls are breaking up all the time and I am trying to hold it like a teacup, just isn't working. WIFI however works great, and I LOVE the phone and everything else about it.
Click to expand...

Have you tried turning of 3G on your iPhone 4 and attempting to get an Edge Signal? If not...please do this before jumping to the conclusion that the antenna is causing you to just suddenly not be able to get any 3G signal where you live. If you're not touching the "spot" and you still can't get 3G where you once could (or believe you should be able to), it's quite possible that you're experiencing a completely separate issue that many of us are having with 3G coverage right now.
 
hockeydude35 said:
Have you tried turning of 3G on your iPhone 4 and attempting to get an Edge Signal? If not...please do this before jumping to the conclusion that the antenna is causing you to just suddenly not be able to get any 3G signal where you live. If you're not touching the "spot" and you still can't get 3G where you once could (or believe you should be able to), it's quite possible that you're experiencing a completely separate issue that many of us are having with 3G coverage right now.
Click to expand...

I did turn off 3G and was able to make a call where I couldn't when 3G was on, so that helped but..... the "spot" still kind of killed it. Thanks for the tip though.
 
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