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The iPhone 4 update fixed my antenna issue!

A

Aadhil

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 4, 2009
236
0
California
Yes when I hold the bottom left side of the iPhone 4 it still drops bars but it does not go below one bar now. Before it used to reach a "no service" status. Now it just stubbornly holds on with one bar without dropping service.

I don't know about you guys but I'm one happy iPhone 4 owner. :)
 
I am also having better experience with my phone, so far no dropped call after the update. I use to have a lot of dropped calls before the update. Speed test also reports better results. Bars do go down though.
 
Update: Wow; I thought maybe I wasn't holding it long enough so I held the iPhone in the death grip for longer this time and it actually rebounded from one bar to three bars! :D
 
Aadhil said:
I guess maybe you just live in a terrible area for AT&T service. My area actually gets awesome AT&T coverage which is why I stuck with Cingular/AT&T for the past 8-9 years.
Click to expand...

Well i used to have 3 bars and now i only have 1...but i still get 4200/1200 on my speed test
 
Well they changed the range of bars and now the level for 1 bar goes much further down then it did previously.

The real question is did it impact your ability to use the phone any better or worse.

I have always believed most of the people reporting problems were people not having actual usage problems but instead just saying they have a problem because they touched their phone and lost bars.

What you explain is what should have happened. It means your signal level is somewhere above the lowest 1 bar level and below the old 1 bar level.
 
marksman said:
Well they changed the range of bars and now the level for 1 bar goes much further down then it did previously.

The real question is did it impact your ability to use the phone any better or worse.

I have always believed most of the people reporting problems were people not having actual usage problems but instead just saying they have a problem because they touched their phone and lost bars.

What you explain is what should have happened. It means your signal level is somewhere above the lowest 1 bar level and below the old 1 bar level.
Click to expand...

Before when my service dropped, I could not access the appstore. It said that the appstore could not access the internet (which wasn't really a problems since I just had to remove my palm from the lower left corner of the iPhone). Now with one bar; it's a bit slower but now I can browse the appstore fine.
 
Confusion of IPhone 4g Reception

Just like to share some observations I made without updating to 4.0.1...

I get a full reception at my home, and when I grip it with left hand, the bars drop down to 2.

Intresting fact here is, I went to :apple: store 2 days back & when I showed the reception issue to the genius bar by holding it, the bars didnt drop at all. I tested 8 different Iphone 4g availble at display and all were working flawless without a drop. I was damm confused. I just left the store & crossed the street. I tried again to figure out why the bars didnt drop...and suddenly the bars started to drop again from 5 bars to 1 bar. I rushed to the :apple: store again & showed the same to genius bar. I asked them if they had any signal booster in the store? The genius bar agreed that they have a repeater from AT&T to boost the signal at the store.

Now I am confused again....If I am getting full signal at my house, then why the bars drop after applying the death grip?

If :apple: store have signal boosters, I am getting full signal...& the bars should drop after applying the death grip, which dosent seem to happen!!

Now is this something to do with the design flaw on IPhone 4G or AT&T network?

Experts, post your comments!!
 
abhi104 said:
Just like to share some observations I made without updating to 4.0.1...

I get a full reception at my home, and when I grip it with left hand, the bars drop down to 2.

Intresting fact here is, I went to :apple: store 2 days back & when I showed the reception issue to the genius bar by holding it, the bars didnt drop at all. I tested 8 different Iphone 4g availble at display and all were working flawless without a drop. I was damm confused. I just left the store & crossed the street. I tried again to figure out why the bars didnt drop...and suddenly the bars started to drop again from 5 bars to 1 bar. I rushed to the :apple: store again & showed the same to genius bar. I asked them if they had any signal booster in the store? The genius bar agreed that they have a repeater from AT&T to boost the signal at the store.

Now I am confused again....If I am getting full signal at my house, then why the bars drop after applying the death grip?

If :apple: store have signal boosters, I am getting full signal...& the bars should drop after applying the death grip, which dosent seem to happen!!

Now is this something to do with the design flaw on IPhone 4G or AT&T network?

Experts, post your comments!!
Click to expand...

Full bars do not mean the highest signal strength possible. There is some threshold for when it drops from 5 to 4 bars. If you are near that threshold and you then hold it, you will see the bars dropping ("signal attenuating" is technical speak). If you are far above that threshold (for example, right next to a repeater) you will likely see no change.
 
bwb said:
Full bars do not mean the highest signal strength possible. There is some threshold for when it drops from 5 to 4 bars. If you are near that threshold and you then hold it, you will see the bars dropping ("signal attenuating" is technical speak). If you are far above that threshold (for example, right next to a repeater) you will likely see no change.
Click to expand...

Does that mean the design flaw or death grip wouldnt get the bars down in the area of high signal?
 
abhi104 said:
Does that mean the design flaw or death grip wouldnt get the bars down in the area of high signal?
Click to expand...

Yes, thats my observation. Its not just at the apple store. AT&T service is very poor in my area, but I was in a different neighborhood, the bar didn't drop a bit.

With the update, I am getting a better voice quality at home, and no dropped calls as of yet. The bars do drop from 4-2 still..
 
jaykk said:
Yes, thats my observation. Its not just at the apple store. AT&T service is very poor in my area, but I was in a different neighborhood, the bar didn't drop a bit.

With the update, I am getting a better voice quality at home, and no dropped calls as of yet. The bars do drop from 4-2 still..
Click to expand...



Thanks!!
 
My experience with this update is positive. I have a 3G with fido in Canada, I live on some acreage in a very heavily treed area. Before the update I would get varying reception in my house from no service in the basement to full bars on the second floor. I never dropped a call but it would cut out some times as I walked around and I couldn't make a call from the basement (could receive though).
After the update I get consistent (lower) one or two bars everywhere in the house but the reception is rock solid everywhere, not even a bit of fade. Of course as soon as I leave my driveway i get full bars everywhere and the same rock solid connection performance as I had before.
I'm very happy with this update, I'm considering dropping my landline.
I'm very much looking forward to getting the i4.
 
Nice to read some good news about a user and their iPhone 4. That's awesome the update worked out for you :)
 
Aadhil said:
Update: Wow; I thought maybe I wasn't holding it long enough so I held the iPhone in the death grip for longer this time and it actually rebounded from one bar to three bars! :D
Click to expand...

I noticed the same thing, but I had to hold it tight for a long time.
 
I've been baffled since 4.0.1 because of the change I'm seeing.

In my apartment at my computer desk:

4.0: Start with 5 bars and could drop it to 3, sometimes 2 but never lost service.

4.0.1: Start with 5 bars and I can drop it to no service every single time in about 15 seconds.

I can't drop it from 5 bars with the bumper on though...
 
What I don't understand is I thought the signal bars update was strictly a UI tweak, to more accurately represent signal strength. If that's so, how can a mere shift in visual granularity change the quality the phone's reception? Does the algorithim used to display the bars directly control when the phone will fall in or out of service, or vice versa?
 
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