Better Reception when Plugged in?

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Level 1

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Better Reception when Plugged in?

Has anyone else noticed that the IPhone has much better reception when it is plugged in? Normally (in my hand) when at home my Iphone is only at 1 bar reception on standby or between calls and drops my calls frequently...I am in a bad area for AT&T. When the Iphone is in the cradle the reception goes up to 4-5 bars during and between calls and never loses calls. I have 3 cradles around the house and the reception is great when plugged into all of them, but poor otherwise.

Is it possible that the cell phone radio is cranked down a notch to save on battery life but is on max when plugged in? If so, wouldn't it be nice to have this as a sliding option, best reception is the worst for battery life and vice versa?

Dell XPS Gen 2, Windows Vista

Posted on Oct 18, 2007 11:45 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 18, 2007 12:17 PM in response to Madriver

Haven't noticed, but could you be covering the antenna (the black area on the back of the phone) when you are holding the phone? I've noticed significant drops in signal strength with EDGE and Wi-Fi when my hand is covering that area.

Either that or it's your magnetic personality ;^)

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Answer 2

Ansuz82

Level 6

8,285 points

Oct 18, 2007 12:18 PM in response to Madriver

Its not too unreasonable. There are quite a few possibilities as to why you might have better reception docked

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Answer 3

Madriver Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 18, 2007 7:16 PM in response to Ansuz82

I tested it out today. I held the phone in my hand gingerly with 2 fingers on the sides and made a few phone calls, the reception was spotty at best and my last call was dropped. I was holding the phone next to one of the docks, literally 2 inches away. I then docked the phone and made a few more calls which were perfect with no drops, no static, and no lost speech on either end.

If this isn't something others have experienced maybe I need a new phone. :P

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Answer 4

Smeagol7

Level 1

58 points

Oct 18, 2007 9:35 PM in response to Madriver

That's the ONLY way I can get 5 bar reception in my apartment. I leave it in the stand and use my Blue Tooth for ALL calls while home! If I don;t, I have the same problems your having.

Questions about covering the antenna area. Those out there with the AGENT 18 case and ones similar, what are they experiencing?

Gunny

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Answer 5

anamule

Level 1

9 points

Oct 18, 2007 10:01 PM in response to Madriver

There have been several threads in this forum about this phenomenom, but I have yet to see a real answer, other than the USB cord, plugged in or not, acts as an external antenna for the iPhone, thus improving reception. I know this is the case at my house. I have decent reception everywhere except in my home office. There I have to use the phone in the dock either with the headset, or on speakerphone to make calls.

Inconvenient, but oh well! It works great everywhere else for me.

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Answer 6

Oct 19, 2007 12:53 AM in response to Madriver

Yes, I have noticed this too. I work in a very poor reception area, and all my previous phones have never had a signal whilst on my desk, only if I prop them up at the window and they may get 1 or 2 bars.

My iPhone does exactly the same, unless I dock it on my desk, and I then get between 1 and 3 bars. I'm not complaining though, I'm quite happy it does this 🙂

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