iPhone 4S Signal Issues

Hi

I have exactly the same issue.

I have both iPhone 4 & 4s, the 4 picks a signal within a few seconds of being on, whilst the 4s takes an eternity. I think it must be to do with the fact that apparently, there are 2 antennae inside the new phone 4s, it must be switching between them to get the best signal??

Tony

Hi

I don't think the 4s is faulty, I think it is a characteristic of the new antenna/s.

Pity that the new set up cannot hold a signal for too long, such a poor performance from Apple.

Tony

UK

hi guys,

i recently bought a new iphone 4s factory unlocked. in order to avoid sim failures and invalid sim errors or No service errors, Each phone has to be unlocked by connecting it to the Itunes.

Kindly follow the below steps to avoid any SIM card conflicts

iPhone FULL Unlock - How it Works:

-Connect your iphone to itunes without any network sim inside and when connected click on the iphones name.

- Click Restore install latest version of iTunes on your Pc or Mac or click check for updates

- Let itunes Backup your phone and then Flash to the Latest Version.

- Now disconnect phone and reconnect after 10 seconds.

- Now Enter another network simcard that's not the same network its locked on to

- Connect phone to iTunes with not accepted (not valid) simcard

- Wait until iTunes detects the phone

- iTunes will display (Congratulations, Your iPhone is now unlocked)

- Phone Unlocked

- just follow the instructions about activating the Iphone.

and iphone is unlocked 🙂🙂🙂

NOTE : This is the only FULL LIFE TIME UNLOCK solution for Apple iPhone as the IMEI is registered as UNLOCKED in Apple database.

This solution should be used ONLY THOSE WHO BOUGHT FACTORY UNLOCKED iPHONE 4S.

Your phone will always be unlocked even after each new update of your phone firmware !

All reasons given like bad IMEI series, manufacturing defects etc blah blah are not logical as everything was tested before every sale.

I have the very same problem, it takes for ever for the signal to be picked up. When it finally picks up the signal it is at least one bar less than on my previous iPhone 4. So where I used to have 4 bars I now have 3 or 2. Every now and then I get a "no signal" message. I had my iPhone 4 for year and a half and not once did I see the "no signal" message, not once. With the iPhone 4S I get it at least once a month and it usually takes 10-15 minutes before it finally picks up the signal (stationary, not moving).

- The ONLY thing I prefer on my new iPhone 4S is the 64G memory. I take many photos and videos so the extra memory is great. The higher resolution is nice but the previous (4) was ok too.

- However, the battery life is much worst, even after the latest software fix I can tell a difference, battery life on my iPhone 4 was much better than what I have now, I'd say 30% less than before.

- The signal strength isn't as good, (see above), takes looong time to pick up signal after rebooting, etc. I like to turn my phone ON right after landing, in the past I'd get signal before reaching the gate, now I'm often already walking in the terminal and it's still "searching".

- As far as Siri, well, it's ok. However, I prefered the active voice I had on iPhone 4 (works the same by holding HOME button for a few seconds). In the past I could press the button and say play Norah Jones, or call such and such and it worked great. Siri does the same and it works BUT only within the US (or your home country). I travel for a living and am overseas 14 days a month where Siri is absolutely worthless. The iPhone 4 voice control worked overseas too. A huge downgrade.

In hindsight I should've waited for the iPhone 5. In fact I got a little angry after writing those comments.... Apple, get your act together!!!

I have the same issue with the signal strength and ''no service''. I called Apple today and they said it was a problem with the antenna. They are sending me a replacement phone and I should get it within the next 1-2 days. I will let you know if the replacement phone has a better signal. Keeping my fingers crossed....

So, I got my 4S replaced. The new 4S is now running ios 5.0 and although the signal is definitely still low (rarely gets 4 or 5 bars) , the signal doesn't seem to jump up and down as much. It stays more constant. On the other hand, it DOES pick up the signal quickly when I'm coming out of a "no service" zone such as my garage. The one I returned only picked up the signal after about 5 minutes, if at all! So - now I don't know if the returned phone really had an antenna problem or if is was due to ios 5.0.1. One thing is for sure: I will NOT update to ios 5.0.1. !

I doubt it was the software, several of my friends have similar problems and they had them with the previous and with the current software. Same with me, battery life got little better with the latest update but not by much, still much worst than iPhone 4. I think the design is flawed, they resigned the antenna and it just isn't as good as before.

On another note, why is this forum so iPhone unfriendly??? I got your reply emailed to me so I opened the browser but couldn't find a reply button. Normally a reply will prompt you to sign in but not here , gotta look for the sign in prompt. Once I signed in I had to search for this forum as it wouldn't take me to the page I initially opened up?? Shame on you Apple, your products are slipping in quality. Just got to see my friend's android with the voice over gps instructions. Made me feel like I was using a WWII device...

You are probably right that it's the new antenna design. In the meantime I have compared the signals with those of my 3GS and have noted that the 3G signal actually isn't any better on the 3GS. In fact I realize now that I always had Edge on where I almost always had a 5 bar signal. Unfortunately, as I don't really need the 3G network for what I do with the phone, it would be so much better to be able to switch off 3G, but Apple has taken this option away !!!!!!

Oh well. I have had the same head-scratching experience as you when attempting to reply to a message in the forum. I've worked around their stupid system and just bookmark the page of the forum I would like to reply to, then sign in and go back to the bookmark. Crazy to have to do this, but it's better than searching around in the forums again trying to get to that one message you want to reply to!

My battery in not great, but it works a bit better once one has totally let the battery drain and charged it again during the whole night. BTW, I have location services OFF, iCloud OFF and most of the notifications OFF and after having played around with Siri at the beginning, I don't use Siri either.

Other than these issues, I actually still like my iPhone though 🙂

The solution is in resetting the network setings..I had the same problem and I called Apple and they told me to go to Settings<General<Reset<reset network settings and it worked. Before the phone did not go on with any network for over 15 mins, it drops and searches for signal but now after resetting, the problem is done and gone.

I upgraded from a Nokia to an iPhone 4s and I am seriously disappointed.

So far I have experienced:

• 95% no reception - I live with "No Signal"
• battery life that last 3/4 of a day (it got worse with the upgrade)
• recieving text message telling me of a voicemail message - everyone 19 days after it's been recorded!
• a possible conflict of my and my wife's email (why does my iPhone try and pick up her emails?)
• Siri can't understand me!

The diagnostic reboots suggested didn't work. I will try the other option which is to put my wife's SIM in my phone and see if it still wotks - she has an iPhone 4 and no problems with any of the above., but it's the logistics of us being home at the same time without screaming kids to distract!

Has anyone else experienced the above?

As I'm sure is true for most people on this chain, I don't have time to be phoning up helpdesks all the time.

I hope this is a blip, but it hasn't impressed me one jot...

Resetting network settings doesn't do squat for me. I so regret switching from iPhone 4 to 4S, it's just not as good of a phone, period! Better camera and larger storage, those are the only real improvements. Most other things are either about the same or worst. Connectivity issues are MUCH worst!!! The initial iPhone 4 antenna problems (I never had any) were a joke comparing to this.

Do I really have to wait 5+ minutes for the phone to find a signal? Heck, I need to start my phone 30 minutes before landing and not after landing if I want to call my ride before we get to the terminal. It's pathetic actually. Very disappointed.