Interesting thing about the Iphone signal problem

[Chew]

Someone may have posted this already....

But I was cruising a news website and found a video of a guy that stated the following:

It's not the new Iphone 4's design that is causing the signal problems/bars to fade while holding the phone....it's a problem with the new IS04 (or whatever it's called) software upgrade.

To test out his theory, I tried it out on my old iphone 3G that has the latest 4.0 software upgrade. I put it flat on my desk and it had 4 bars of service. I then picked it up and held it in my normal position as if to make a call and about 10 seconds later it had dropped down to 2 bars. I put it back down and it went up to 5 bars. Not a scientific test by any means but pretty interesting.

I then put my Iskin Revo rubber case on the phone and put it down. 5 bars.
I then picked it up with the case on as if I was making a call and it stayed at 5 bars.
Draw your own conclusions! But I bet the new software upgrade somehow affected that doohickey in the iphone that reacts to touch/heat or whatever it is that shuts off the screen when you have it to your face.

[blacksunshine]

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148765

[texaspyro21]

I am not happy with the ISO4. My 3G has been a lot slower and has had worse cell reception since I updated. Even did the restart several times.

[Chew]

Interesting thing about the Iphone signal problem

I like mine better.


TTT


;-)

[red]

I am not happy with the ISO4. My 3G has been a lot slower and has had worse cell reception since I updated. Even did the restart several times.

my 3g is stalling all over the place, using the camera, looking at photos, changing web pages all have about a 10 sec delay before it reacts. when im typing in email or txt it is about 5 sec behind what i am typing.

i am having to reboot once a day, sometimes more and it is %$^&%$^&* me off!

[Extremebowman]

my 3g is stalling all over the place, using the camera, looking at photos, changing web pages all have about a 10 sec delay before it reacts. when im typing in email or txt it is about 5 sec behind what i am typing.

i am having to reboot once a day, sometimes more and it is %$^&%$^&* me off!

Is that with the 4.0 upgrade or not? My 3G does that with 3.1.3 and have been wanting to do the 4.0 upgrade just haven't yet.

[leebtattoos]

my 4g has not had these issues (knock on wood). i dont call out alot, but the few times i have, its been fine....

i did lose my pictures and apps though

[Johnny Dangerr]

My 3gs works perfectly. May skip the up grade for a while...

[Bill]

Bobby,

I read what you found, but working in the semiconductor supply chain (Thank God I'm employed) and having worked with both Freescale on their cell phone chips, and being involved with the company who licenses the microprocessor that is in 95% of all phones and certainly is in the iPhones, the signal strength is not affected by the operating system on the ARM processor in the baseband chip. The orientation of the antenna may affect it, but the OS4 should not. Kind of like upgrading the speakers and radio in your truck and blaming reduced gas mileage or a front end shimmy you notice on the change I'd say.

Here's another opinion. They're like noses, everybody has one.

the problem may be due to what appears to be Apple's decision to embed the phone's cellular and GPS antennas in the metal frame of the case. When a user's hand covers a functional break between the two antennas, the hand bridges signals across the break. That can change the length of the antenna and thus its performance.

That sure is a reassuring thought that putting the phone in the front pocket of your jeans may make a certain, unmentioned, male anatomical features part of the antenna signal path and be transmitting radio frequency energy through it all day long.

The crazies in San Francisco have passed a law that the amount of energy being radiated by cell phones (a known value and submitted to the FCC as a portion of getting regulatory approval to be able to sell them in the USA) will need to be posted next to all models when they are sold in "Soddom by the Sea".

EE Times: Latest News

Poor antenna design may cause iPhone 4 issue
Rick Merritt
EE Times
(06/25/2010 11:59 AM EDT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Some users are experiencing cellular reception problems with the Apple iPhone 4 that one analyst said could be due to Apple's novel use of the smartphone's frame as an antenna. Apple acknowledged the problem in a statement advising users on how to hold the phone.

The Gizmodo Web site published comments and videos from users showing loss of cellular reception when the iPhone 4 was held in certain ways. PC Magazine confirmed the problems based on internal and external lab tests.

One teardown expert speculated the problem may be due to what appears to be Apple's decision to embed the phone's cellular and GPS antennas in the metal frame of the case. When a user's hand covers a functional break between the two antennas, the hand bridges signals across the break. That can change the length of the antenna and thus its performance.

"We haven't had a chance to test this theory yet," said Jeff Brown, vice president of business intelligence at UBM TechInsights that published a teardown of the iPhone 4.

In its teardown, UBM TechInsights showed a functional break in the frame believed to be used to separate the cellular and GPS antennas. The frame also includes a break on the opposite side that has no function other than to provide a balanced symmetric look.

The frame-based antenna may be something of an experiment with the iPhone 4. "I am not aware of any frame-based antenna" in other smartphones, Brown said.

Typically smartphones implement an antenna with a wire inside the phone or a folded piece of metal embedded in the acoustic chamber where speaker resides. "One of the benefits [of using the frame as an antenna] is it can save space for a bigger battery," Brown said.

Apple acknowledged the problem in a statement advising users not to cover the functional break, identified by a black strip on the phone's case.

“Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas,” Apple said. “If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases,” it concluded.

The issue—and Apple's recommendations for handling it—fly in the face of the company's tradition of carefully crafting compelling user experiences.

Apple also experienced an antenna problem with Wi-Fi networking on its iPad. After several users posted complains Apple said that under certain conditions, the iPad may not automatically rejoin a known Wi-Fi network after restart or waking from sleep. The issue can occur with some third-party Wi-Fi routers supporting multiple bands when users use the same network name for each network or use different security settings for each network, Apple said.

[red]

Is that with the 4.0 upgrade or not? My 3G does that with 3.1.3 and have been wanting to do the 4.0 upgrade just haven't yet.

my prob is with the OS4 software upgrade. my phone was awesome last week. OS4 has caused my phone to act up. and its eating my battery life. i was fully charged when i left the house and 4hrs later im at 20% left. ive got all kinds of junk turned off, even 3G and turned down the brightness. im hating this OS4

[Chew]

Bill... I was aware of the original theory that it was the antenna/band around the new iphone. What I was saying is that my old 3G doesn't have the band/antennae around it and does the same thing...so that would imply it was something else...

[wellingtontx]

So is the general opinion to just stay with the 3.1.3 version for a while ?

[Scott G]

I have a 3G and upgraded it two days ago. My battery life, reception and performance have not changed at all that I can tell. Enjoying the new features, but the 3G won't support the multi-tasking.

[westguy76]

my prob is with the OS4 software upgrade. my phone was awesome last week. OS4 has caused my phone to act up. and its eating my battery life. i was fully charged when i left the house and 4hrs later im at 20% left. ive got all kinds of junk turned off, even 3G and turned down the brightness. im hating this OS4

Sorry for that I would be ticked too.
I have the 3Gs and did the update 2 days ago and have had nothing but good results.
Bobby as I say I have the 3Gs with the 4.0 software upgrade. I just took it out of the otterbox and tried to screw up the signal holding it different ways but it stays on 5 bars.

[6.8mmSPC]

My 3G seems better with the IOS4 upgrade. No signal problems that I have noticed and it seems that it is a bit faster. You can always go back if you backup the phone before you upgrade it. There are also ways of going back even if you dont have a backup but you would have to google it to figure it out.