Iphone 4 antennas

[winrya]

Just been to my parents where I haven't had a Signal once in the last 3 years they've lived there, I'm amazed because I now get a signal on my iPhone 4

[Deako]

Everyone is blowing it out of proportion in my opinion. My phone now has pretty much 5 bars of signal on 3G anywhere, if i cup the bottom of the phone, the signal might drop to what i would have normally had in that particular location.

[pazz]

I tested this in a O2 store last Friday.

Over a period of around 4-5 mins i watched the overall signal strength displayed by both handsets (both had iOS 4 installed an were not touched or moved from their location).

iPhone 4 = 2 bars
iPhone 3GS = 3 bars

Then I made two test phone calls between the two devices. First call dropped when I cupped the bottom left hand corner of the iPhone 4 (took around 5-6 seconds to drop the call). The second call did not drop and held on fine.

Sadly I couldn't conduct anymore testing as the O2 sales guy was getting a little impatient.

[mclovin]

I did a little experiment with a Vodafone sim in a 3GS in store compared to my 3GS with an O2 sim. Both had similar reception but data downloading on Vodafone just blew O2 away, it's easily 2-3 times faster.

That said, Vodafone then screwed up my iPhone 4 order - I'm still waiting for mine! Grr...

[vRStu]

Just seen this on another forum -

Free Apple Bumpers In The UK!

According to a BBC 5Live interview today iPhone 4 users who go to the Apple store to complain about the 'left hand lost signal phenomenon' are being given a free Apple Bumper to alleviate the problem.

When first seeing the bumper exactly why it had been designed to only protect the edge.

It's the first time Apple have offered a 'case' for sale with a device.

This suggests that Apple was pre-empting a known problem.

These Bumpers Retail For £25 So Not Bad For Free!
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC...co=MTY3ODQ5OTY

http://store.apple.com/uk?cid=OAS-EMEA-AFF

[182_blue]

Just seen this on another forum -

Free Apple Bumpers In The UK!

According to a BBC 5Live interview today iPhone 4 users who go to the Apple store to complain about the 'left hand lost signal phenomenon' are being given a free Apple Bumper to alleviate the problem.

When first seeing the bumper exactly why it had been designed to only protect the edge.

It's the first time Apple have offered a 'case' for sale with a device.

This suggests that Apple was pre-empting a known problem.

These Bumpers Retail For £25 So Not Bad For Free!
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC...co=MTY3ODQ5OTY

http://store.apple.com/uk?cid=OAS-EMEA-AFF

A ball ache if your nearest store is miles away though

[no golf clubs at all]

I just bought one of these on Friday!! Doh! Is this true ? Are they giving them away if you complain? Bugger.

[pazz]

I did a little experiment with a Vodafone sim in a 3GS in store compared to my 3GS with an O2 sim. Both had similar reception but data downloading on Vodafone just blew O2 away, it's easily 2-3 times faster.

That said, Vodafone then screwed up my iPhone 4 order - I'm still waiting for mine! Grr...

That is completely irrelevant. That is just one particular location. 3G/HSDPA signal varies significantly. Each provider has good and bad areas.

[MAT ED30]

Apple shop in Trafford park know nothing about a free case but they have none in stock anyway

[mclovin]

I did a little experiment with a Vodafone sim in a 3GS in store compared to my 3GS with an O2 sim. Both had similar reception but data downloading on Vodafone just blew O2 away, it's easily 2-3 times faster.

That said, Vodafone then screwed up my iPhone 4 order - I'm still waiting for mine! Grr...

That is completely irrelevant. That is just one particular location. 3G/HSDPA signal varies significantly. Each provider has good and bad areas.

It really can't be any worse than it has been on O2, especially over the past few months. Any 3G use in crowded areas has been almost pointless due to it being so slow. Other iPhone users I know who have already moved to Vodafone have all commented on very significant 3G performance gains.

Still, don't want to sing their praises too much, they have utterly screwed up my order (7:00am on launch day) so now I am still waiting for my new phone with no idea when it's going to turn up... Still, it'll be worth it when it arrives, at least that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

[mclovin]

Can I just say, further to my last post I have cancelled my order with Vodafone.

They have totally screwed up the iPhone 4 launch and their Customer Services are a total joke, they have been utterly infuriating and downright rude to deal with. If you are thinking of switching due to their bigger datacap or better 3G coverage let me tell you, it's not worth the hassle.

I have gone with Orange in the end, they are about to merge their network with the existing T-Mobile network so they should end up with the best 3G coverage in the UK shortly, they also have great customer service (so far) and let's not forget those half price cinema tickets...

Never used them before so should be interesting!

[cmdrfire]

There's a class-action lawsuit against Apple in the US now regarding the faulty antenna design. Tried it with my dad's iphone 4 and it went from four bars to no signal after about a minute (with reasonably dry hands). You get a conduction path between the wifi and 3G antennae which causes attenuation in the much weaker 3G signal. Some sticky tape will resolve it 

[Ifti]

Apparently this could have something to do with the sim card, since its connectors touch the metal sim tray, which in turn touches the antenna around the phone. Your fingers cause the antennas to connect, and create a connection to the sim, or something.

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/30/one-possible-iphone-4-antenna-fix-with-mixed-results/

[andrewparker]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/02/apple-iphone-4-reception-problems-a-software-issue-fix-coming/

[182_blue]

i am more than happy with my reception, i get signal in many places i didnt with the 3gs