I've had my iPhone 4 for a few hours now and the signal strength is all over the place. At least a third of the time, it's "Searching" or "No Service" and then (after 1-5 min) it jumps back to a perfect signal with all bars. My 3GS was working just fine in the same location this morning (4-5 bars).
Is anyone else experiencing this issue? (I realize this could be a local AT&T problem here in East TN...but I'm curious if others are seeing the same thing.)
Is it by chance when you are holding the iphone 4?
Take a look at this article there are currently a bunch of people with iphone 4's who when they hold the phone it causes them to not have reception. Hopefully apple comes out soon with either a fix or an explanation.
An early iPhone 4 review by Walt Mossberg reveals a few key issues with Apple's latest and greatest.
Walt Mossberg has posted an early iPhone 4 review where he concludes that Apple's latest and greatest can't be recommended for voice calling if you live in an area where the predecessors have struggled to provide an acceptable experience. He goes as far as saying that Apple needs to team up with a second carrier in the U.S.
*_As far as signal reception is concerned, the good news is that Apple has told Walt Mossberg that there's a bug in iOS 4 that in some cases presents no bars in areas where the signal is strong enough to make phone calls. Apple plans to fix this bug down the road.*_
Furthermore, despite the iPhone 4 being powered by a back-illuminated sensor, Walt Mossberg says he's seen better images produced by other phones, though it produces better images than the iPhone 3GS. With patented Kodak technology to play an increasing role when it comes to processing images, for instance in Nokia and Motorola phones, we guess Apple's iPhone without such technology will be a step behind the best of the best in that regard.
Walt Mossberg also notes that while the iPhone 4's Retina Display may not compare to the human retina, Apple's claims of delivering a great display is still valid. He also reports that while not having done a precise battery test, the iPhone 4 perfectly handled heavy usage during a day without requiring a power boost.
The rest of the iPhone 4's new features should also be in line with what was expected.
I have the same problem. My phone is essentially useless. I think there is something to the "holding the bezel" problem. If I put my phone in the white plastic tray it is shipped in and hold it, I can get some bars. When I hold it without the plastic tray, they disappear and I get "no service" in about 15 seconds. I can do this over and over. My 3G phone has no reception problems.
I've had the phone for a few hours now, activated with no problems but the call quality is the worst, signal is terrible, 90% of the time it does not have service. It is hard to believe that AT&T's service could get any worse but with this phone it did. It is very close to being unusable. I really hope that it is just a network issue that they are working on because if it is not I will have to give this very cool phone back as it is not much of a phone.
Has anyone tried to put some tape around the metal and see if that solves the issue. I suspect that the issue is the conductive nature of skin putting a short across the antenna's.
I'm not even touching my iPhone 4 (it's laying on my desk) or the antenna, and the reception is worse than I have ever had. Heck, my son has an original iPhone (2G) and it is substantially faster at browsing and downloads. This is beyond atrocious. Additionally, I've made a couple of calls on the phone and had both of them drop. Again, while not actually touching the phone/antenna. None of the tips about resetting the network settings or turning the Airplane mode on or off has worked. This phone is fantastic. The reception problems make it near useless.
AT&T didn't expect customers to have their iPhones in their hands until today, so they did not make proper adjustments to their cellular data network in order for the iPhone 4 to function properly. Try resetting your "network settings" in the settings menu, and see what happens.
A more visible expression of the AT&T service impacting the overall communication of the device is try sending a text or MMS message using the ip4 message app.
Try sending one while holding your device bridging the sides of the phone in your hand. When you click Send, it will hang for a period of time around 98%.
If you're lucky, it will send. If not, set the phone down on the desk or hold the glass (front and back) between your fingers and the message will be instantly sent.
Again, send a message while the phone is on the desk and click send, the message is immediately sent.
I don't think this is a visual issue from Apple. This appears to be related to a physical issue.
I already had issues with ip3g AT&T service, don't need this to be worse.
Lets see what Apple has to say about this problem.
Outside this issue, ip4 rocks in every way I would have expected.
this is now a confirmed issue with apple tech support. the antenna is depolarized when your hand makes contact between the antennas at the black line. tech support recommends buying the bumpers. i am on hold now trying to get a set sent to me at no charge. which apple really should do.
UNACCEPTABLE... brand new phone same reception issue. You have got to be kidding me. HOrrible reception.... did they forget that this is a telephone and that is the major feature of telephone is to call? This must be resolved immediately.
Guys, I am in the UK and on the O2 network. When not touching my iphone I get 4 bars, hold it and it drops to one and then no signal at all. Put it back down and back to 4 bars.
I dont think it is AT&T to blame! Never had a single signal problem with my blackberry from the same location.
This is why Apple wanted us to buy the bumper case right away. They tried to shove them down our throats because they new it would solve the service/bars problem.
Apple: "Here's our knew iphone 4...it's amazing...it's magical.....buuuuut you should definitely buy these bumpers, ok? No seriously, please pay an extra $29.99 on June 24, trust us"
