iPhone Have you been practically affected by iPhone 4 reception issues?

HarryT · 07-12-2010, 01:44 PM

I'm curious to know how many people have actually been practically affected by iPhone 4 reception issues. Speaking personally, for example, I suffered some mild signal loss, but fixed it entirely with a £2.99 case from eBay. Scott, on the other hand, reports that every time he picks up his phone, he entirely loses the signal.

Which is more typical? My circumstance, or Scott's?

Please only vote in this poll if you have an iPhone 4.

Thanks!

petermillard · 07-12-2010, 03:40 PM

Managed to get my hands on one last Friday and have to say I haven't been affected by this at all, on the contrary, I get better reception from my iP4 than I ever did from my 3G - and slightly bizarrely, better WiFi reception from it than I get from my iPad...

Pete

vaughnmr · 07-12-2010, 03:40 PM

Harry, one of the issues is the signal strength for your location. Touching the wrong spot on the iPhone 4 will kill +/-20db signal strength, if you are in a good signal area, no problem. Where I live, you will loose connection completely if you drop that much. The signal strength is going to vary depending on where you are.

kjk · 07-12-2010, 04:01 PM

My brother has one, and even in SF with its crap coverage we can't duplicate the problem, even following the spot of death, grip of death, etc...Really weird. But its not something we've tested extensively...he said the phone works much better than his 3G.

Robert Minneman · 07-12-2010, 05:23 PM

I've had mine almost a week now. So far no issues with reception. I'm left handed and before I put the case on my phone could absolutely see that the reception dropped when I held it like I normally would.

I'm to "risk averse" when it comes my phones to NOT have a protective case on them, so with the case, no significant reception problems. It's certainly no worse than my previous iPhone 3G, and I've noticed no increase in the number of dropped calls. All dropped calls have been attributed to my relatives calling me from basements.

I mean seriously, come on, stop calling me when you're in the damn basement people...

scottjl · 07-12-2010, 05:30 PM

well what's funny is i have been in 7 states over the past 3 weeks and i can duplicate the problem everywhere i've been. i'll admit i'm left-handed (holding the phone in the left hand is more likely to cause the problem) and i've got some meaty mitts. some reports have said it can vary on how wet your hand might be (sweating my ass off this hot summer) and a person's ability to conduct electricity and short out the antenna. i'd guess wearing gloves my alleviate the problem just as well as a good case might. either my particular phone is extra sensitive to the issue or i just got fat sweaty conductive hands. but i have been able to duplicate the problem everywhere i go. putting the phone in my old 3gs silicone case does help (some times i've still seen a bar drop if i held tightly, but usually no issue).

JSWolf · 07-12-2010, 05:36 PM

Harry, please get rid of the just show me the results answer. It skews the % of the other answers.

kjk · 07-12-2010, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Harry, please get rid of the just show me the results answer. It skews the % of the other answers.

But what if we don't have an iPhone 4 and still want to see the results?

scottjl · 07-12-2010, 06:50 PM

he could just close the poll in a week or two and then the results will be available for all. the percentages are off because of the bogus answer, but the numbers are accurate i guess.

JMikeD · 07-12-2010, 07:58 PM

If anyone is interested in comments by an antenna designer, see:

http://www.antennasys.com/antennasys...artmodule.html

He's going to post actual test results at some point.

JSWolf · 07-12-2010, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjk

But what if we don't have an iPhone 4 and still want to see the results?

There's a link right under the poll that says ... view poll results. So having a poll option for it is crazy and wrong and skews the results.

tompe · 07-12-2010, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottjl

well what's funny is i have been in 7 states over the past 3 weeks and i can duplicate the problem everywhere i've been. i'll admit i'm left-handed (holding the phone in the left hand is more likely to cause the problem)

I am right handed but hold my phone in the left hand when talking. I thought that was the most common way to do things and maybe that left handed people used the right hand...

vaughnmr · 07-12-2010, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

I am right handed but hold my phone in the left hand when talking. I thought that was the most common way to do things and maybe that left handed people used the right hand...

I think that's the natural way, I mean why would a right handed person use his left hand to type onscreen... for me hold phone in left hand, do the work with the right hand. My natural actions unfortunately kill the reception.

HarryT · 07-13-2010, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottjl

he could just close the poll in a week or two and then the results will be available for all. the percentages are off because of the bogus answer, but the numbers are accurate i guess.

I've removed the additional option, as requested.

HarryT · 07-13-2010, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

I am right handed but hold my phone in the left hand when talking. I thought that was the most common way to do things and maybe that left handed people used the right hand...

I'm left handed, and I always hold a phone in my right hand, so I can use my left hand to press the buttons.

View Poll Results: Have you been affected by iPhone 4 reception issues?
Not to any significant extent.	8	53.33%
Yes, but I can live with it, or I've got around it (eg with a case).	4	26.67%
Yes, and it makes the phone unusable for me.	3	20.00%
Voters: 15. You may not vote on this poll

07-12-2010, 01:44 PM	#1
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Have you been practically affected by iPhone 4 reception issues? I'm curious to know how many people have actually been practically affected by iPhone 4 reception issues. Speaking personally, for example, I suffered some mild signal loss, but fixed it entirely with a £2.99 case from eBay. Scott, on the other hand, reports that every time he picks up his phone, he entirely loses the signal. Which is more typical? My circumstance, or Scott's? Please only vote in this poll if you have an iPhone 4. Thanks!

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07-12-2010, 03:40 PM	#2
petermillard Evangelist Posts: 496 Karma: 2384998 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: London, UK Device: iPad, iPhone, K3 & Amazon - between them they cover my needs.	Managed to get my hands on one last Friday and have to say I haven't been affected by this at all, on the contrary, I get better reception from my iP4 than I ever did from my 3G - and slightly bizarrely, better WiFi reception from it than I get from my iPad... Pete

07-12-2010, 03:40 PM	#3
vaughnmr Ebook Reader Posts: 605 Karma: 3205128 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Texas Device: Kindle 3, HTC Evo, HTC View	Harry, one of the issues is the signal strength for your location. Touching the wrong spot on the iPhone 4 will kill +/-20db signal strength, if you are in a good signal area, no problem. Where I live, you will loose connection completely if you drop that much. The signal strength is going to vary depending on where you are.

07-12-2010, 04:01 PM	#4
kjk . Posts: 3,408 Karma: 5647231 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: never enough	My brother has one, and even in SF with its crap coverage we can't duplicate the problem, even following the spot of death, grip of death, etc...Really weird. But its not something we've tested extensively...he said the phone works much better than his 3G.

07-12-2010, 05:23 PM	#5
Robert Minneman Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 18010 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505	I've had mine almost a week now. So far no issues with reception. I'm left handed and before I put the case on my phone could absolutely see that the reception dropped when I held it like I normally would. I'm to "risk averse" when it comes my phones to NOT have a protective case on them, so with the case, no significant reception problems. It's certainly no worse than my previous iPhone 3G, and I've noticed no increase in the number of dropped calls. All dropped calls have been attributed to my relatives calling me from basements. I mean seriously, come on, stop calling me when you're in the damn basement people...

07-12-2010, 05:30 PM	#6
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	well what's funny is i have been in 7 states over the past 3 weeks and i can duplicate the problem everywhere i've been. i'll admit i'm left-handed (holding the phone in the left hand is more likely to cause the problem) and i've got some meaty mitts. some reports have said it can vary on how wet your hand might be (sweating my ass off this hot summer) and a person's ability to conduct electricity and short out the antenna. i'd guess wearing gloves my alleviate the problem just as well as a good case might. either my particular phone is extra sensitive to the issue or i just got fat sweaty conductive hands. but i have been able to duplicate the problem everywhere i go. putting the phone in my old 3gs silicone case does help (some times i've still seen a bar drop if i held tightly, but usually no issue).

07-12-2010, 05:36 PM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,897 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Harry, please get rid of the just show me the results answer. It skews the % of the other answers.

07-12-2010, 06:50 PM	#9
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	he could just close the poll in a week or two and then the results will be available for all. the percentages are off because of the bogus answer, but the numbers are accurate i guess.

07-12-2010, 07:58 PM	#10
JMikeD Evangelist Posts: 473 Karma: 15000 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Various and sundry	If anyone is interested in comments by an antenna designer, see: http://www.antennasys.com/antennasys...artmodule.html He's going to post actual test results at some point.