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vbman213

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
353
0
Normally I had about 4 bars of 3G at my work. Today I installed a candyshell and now I'm only getting 1 or 2 bars of 3G at my work... Uh oh! Did something in my phone break?

If I take my case off and leave the phone naked I still don't get my normal 3 or 4 bars... Is my antenna broken?
 
I've tried rebooting, hard reboot, resetting network settings and nothing is working...... I really hope my phone is not screwed up...
 
Were you running 4.0 before and now 4.0.1? That might be why.


Nope, my device shipped with 4.0.1

I checked the coverage map and I am in deep orange (very high)

But I only get 1 or 2 bars at most....
 
Nope, my device shipped with 4.0.1

I checked the coverage map and I am in deep orange (very high)

But I only get 1 or 2 bars at most....

Do you only notice this drop in signal at your work? Or is it everywhere?
 
In the U.S.? Sometimes AT&T turns a cell tower off for maintenance. The next farther cell tower would give you a weaker signal. You might be able to call them up and ask about nearby cell tower status.
 
In the U.S.? Sometimes AT&T turns a cell tower off for maintenance. The next farther cell tower would give you a weaker signal. You might be able to call them up and ask about nearby cell tower status.

Well I've always had crappy AT&T service at my home. Even though the coverage map clearly shows that my house is in "Excellent Coverage". I remember having AT&T/Cingular phones many years ago that had 1 bar of service at my home. So I know that AT&T is weak at my house... I switched to Verizon, and I'm now back on AT&T.

I remember having to go outside to use AT&T at my house. about 2 years ago. So nothing has changed lol

So as I drove home, and I am now in between home and work, I noticed that my phone did gain some bars. Peaked at 4 before I hit my weak neighborhood.

I don't know what was going on. What should I do?

I think part of the problem is that I worry. "OMG I don't have 4 bars, my phone must be defective!"

I know it could be a hundred other things that are unrelated to my phone that could be affecting the signal strength...

I really am a bad Apple customer. I spend WAY too much time worrying that my devices are malfunctioning than I do actually enjoying them. Is there a cure for this?
 
If your calls aren't getting dropped and you notice no other issues (slowdown of data, etc.) then I wouldn't worry. If you do notice the above issues for an extended period of time, then I'd take it to an Apple store to get it looked at/replaced.
 
If your calls aren't getting dropped and you notice no other issues (slowdown of data, etc.) then I wouldn't worry. If you do notice the above issues for an extended period of time, then I'd take it to an Apple store to get it looked at/replaced.

Apple store is 2 hours away lol

Another question, does Apple reserve some iPhones for replacements? If I do end up calling Apple about this, I can't be without a phone for 3 weeks...

The only time I "dropped" a call was when I was talking to AT&T about this problem. I got a call back saying that they were sorry my call was dropped during the transfer. So I assume it was a problem on their system.
 
I have a similar issue. With my 3GS upgraded to 4.01 (jaibroken), I typically always had 4 to 5 bars. I just upgraded to Iphone 4 with 4.01 and I rarely if ever hit 5 bars, mostly it's 1 to 3 (and my phone is protected with a case).
 
Apple store is 2 hours away lol

Another question, does Apple reserve some iPhones for replacements? If I do end up calling Apple about this, I can't be without a phone for 3 weeks...

The only time I "dropped" a call was when I was talking to AT&T about this problem. I got a call back saying that they were sorry my call was dropped during the transfer. So I assume it was a problem on their system.

I don't know about replacements over the phone. I went to the Genius Bar with a problem (rattling lock button) and the phone was replaced with no questions asked. They gave me a phone on the spot and even activated it for me so I would not be without a phone on the way home (and I only live about 15-20 minutes away).

I would just monitor the situation for a week or two. If you feel as though the quality of your calls or anything else is lowered in correlation with the lower bars, then you should try to get a replacement. If nothing seems wrong aside from the lower bars, then I would just ignore it.

I too am fixated on my bars (I have the death grip issue). I got a case and even though I get 1-2 bars a lot, I haven't experienced any loss in call quality, dropped calls or anything else (knock wood). So I basically ignore the bars unless it drops to zero.
 
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