iPhone 4 Antenna Not An Issue In Canada?

By Gary Ng on July 30th, 2010 335

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an iPhone 4 of my very own today and so far I’m pretty impressed.

Over the past month I’ve had the opportunity to test an iPhone 4 on the Fido network, which was purchased in UK. I was amazed that everyone was freaking about reception issues and the so called “death grip”. Judging from the few hours I had spent with the iPhone 4 over the past month I saw no signal drop at all.

I waited patiently for it all to blow over, however, the situation took a pretty terrible turn after Consumer Reports noted the “antenna issue” and Apple attempted to appease the general public.

Personally, I believe that the real issue lies with AT&T not having enough juice to transmit properly. It’s no secret that AT&T has been struggling with dropped call issues for ever. Is it possible that their service just isn’t able to support the number of users?

Here in Canada, Toronto specifically, the number of users is tremendously low by comparison to most major US cities and after playing with 3 iPhone 4s, including my own, I have come to a pretty solid conclusion. There is no issue with the antenna on the iPhone 4. Well, maybe there is a small issue, however, I can’t seem to recreate it on any of the 3 devices I have played with.

I have tested all three using various “grip” techniques, including placing the phone under my armpit. Guess what. No signal loss. No decrease in bars.

Maybe it’s Rogers? Is their network far superior to AT&T? Or maybe it’s our tiny Canadian hands? Or, maybe I’m just really lucky and Rogers has so much coverage in Toronto that the signal is at 5 almost all the time?

In the end, the iPhone 4 is performing great. Actually, it’s out performing any other device I have used recently including my 3GS, the Xperia and the Nexus One.

If you purchased an iPhone 4 today, run some tests of your own and share your results with us.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of iPhoneinCanada.ca. Follow @iPhoneinCanada and on Google+. Click here to save 20% OFF at ZAGG.com with coupon 'iphoneinca'!

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  • Juan B. Rodriguez

    iPhone “death grip” could be reproduced with an iPhone 4 on Rogers in Sherbrooke City, Quebec. Went down from 4-5 bars to 1-2 bars. Tried it on an iPhone 4 on Bell network and was unable to reproduce it here in Sherbrooke since signal seems outstanding but definitively can be reproduced in Victoriaville, Sherbrooke where signal is lower.

  • Juan B. Rodriguez

    iPhone “death grip” could be reproduced with an iPhone 4 on Rogers in Sherbrooke City, Quebec. Went down from 4-5 bars to 1-2 bars. Tried it on an iPhone 4 on Bell network and was unable to reproduce it here in Sherbrooke since signal seems outstanding but definitively can be reproduced in Victoriaville, Quebec where signal is lower

  • Emjunk43

    Since the software update my 3G runs slower and i only get 3 bars. Tried to post this on my 3G but it crashed on the moble site and ran really slow (only when adding a comment).

  • Rivest

    Yes, I do suffer from the antenna problem. I'm a lefty so using my iPhone 4 without a case drops reception completly :(

  • Clusty1

    Even 3gs has death grip issues.
    Holding it in a certain manner makes you lose 3 bars

  • Tine2105

    My iPhone 4 does drop signal when held over the little black lines. It has also dropped a call. I don't really care, I'll just go get a case at best buy for now, since I've already ordered my case from apple.

    The only thing that does bother me is that the reception is really bad inside my condo. I have to step outside to take phonecalls! I didn't have this problem with my sony w580i. It went down a few bars in the bedroom, but I could still take/make calls…. Since my intention was to cancel my home phone number when I got the iPhone to even out costs, it's a disappointment – I obviously can't do it now…

  • Edcampanella

    I hear ya man, same thing happens to me guess I'm just gonna have to suck it up and buy a case…which I didn't want to do, oh well lol

  • Gentic

    What was tested by Consumer Reports in the US points to a real RF issue with the iPhone 4. The characteristic of any RF device is a function of the design as well as its immediate surrounding environment. So, a human hanking ANY cell phone actually modifies the radiation pattern and the sensitivity of the device. In other words you become an extension of the antenna. Good RF design takes in consideration this reality. It seems that iPhone RF designers did non quite deal properly with this constraint. Let's face it, the RF designer already have to deal with lots of constraint mainly related to the physical presentation of the device, the real estate available to incorporate the antenna etc.

    You are right in saying that AT&T network is poorly implemented. The handover parameters between the cells are crucial in providing smooth coverage. As a Fido user I can testify of that. When Rogers acquired Fido and when they changed the BTS / BSC then we started to experience all sort of weird coverage issues and dropped calls. As of today this is still an issue. This has nothing to do with the cell phones being used. It just adds to it.

    So, as a result and as a conclusion: I do trust the report coming out of Consumer Report and I will wait for Apple to re-spin their iPhone RF Design before letting my 3GS device. This means that I will wait until next year's device with a hope to see an improve battery life. As a former Black Berry designer and user I miss the quality of a device that holds its battery charge for 3 to 4 days. My iPhone 3GS requires a daily recharge ! that is a real pain to have to switch off 3G / Wifi / Location services etc. I feel like the guy in “Green Acres” !!!!!

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  • Robert

    Hello, I just wanted to say that I picked up my new iPhone 4 yesterday and that it has nowhere near the same signal strength as my old G3. This is very upsetting.

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  • Bill

    mine seems ok so far as grip but in my office i am often down to 1 bar or 0 whereas on my last phone on bell was great in my office…still on bell but performance in my office is definitely worse than old phone..as ilook at my phone now on desk it is two bars out of 5 only and then will jump to 5.

  • Phil DeMario

    If it’s true that the bumper was not designed just to resolve the antenne, why does it not cover the back of the phone, incase the phone is dropped against a protruding object and it lands back first? The back is a glass material instead of the black hardened case backing like the other phones. If such a drop happened, you’d have a nice fat while line down your case.

    Also, it sounds like you’re saying, “If you paid $650-750 on a phone that looks really sweet and you don’t want to take away it’s aesthetic appeal, you’re making a bad investment.” Here’s a thought… don’t drop your phone.

    Whether or not I choose to put the case on is irrelevant. Stating that everyone should be using the Apple bumper in the first place is ignorant.

  • Trololololo

    That’s not an Ad Hominem. Ad Hominems are personal attacks, and though his comment is illogical, working for RIM pays well while working for the pizza shop that he works at – does not.

    Oh man, I dun’ed an AdHom 2! oh el oh el oh el!

  • skull

    I'm on Fido in downtown Toronto. The death grip is real, especially when signal is weak. At home, death gripping the phone slows down 3g but doesnt kill signal and has no effect on voice calls. In class (at U of T) as well as my girlfriend's dorm room (again, U of T) death grip completely kills the signal.

  • dude

    haha

  • Higgins_tyler

    if your gonna show a test with the signal strength please show a picture of you placing your finger on the gap instead of your hand covering the bottom portion of the phone. I test an iphone 4 on display at a rogers location and i touched the gap with really bad results. The signal dropped to one bar from full bars.

  • http://twitter.com/Xaroc  Xaroc

    Same here. My download Suffers Half degradation it seems, where my Upload flops completely.

  • Drei_Coolio

    Absolutely no problems. The phone is blazing fast and the best thing on the market. I do believe Apple fixed the problem though i talked to rogers and they were saying they fixed the problem right at the Canadian launch, and that is why Canada had such low stock in the phone, because US also wanted the “fixed phone”. I’ve had it for a few days and no problems what so ever, I’m actually getting better signal than my 3G so I am more than satisfied with this phone! Great Buy!

  • http://twitter.com/kristenju Kristen Tam

    Sorry guys! but I’m from MTL, got my iphone 4 a week and a half ago. worked fine for 4 days.. then suddenly (after the system crash of FIDO), no service basically everywhere I go (including places that has 5 bars!) My boyfriend also has an iphone 4, and his, it’s at full reception. Right now, I have no reception at home! I called FIDO many times, and the only solution … is to visit APPLE STORE’s Genius to get my phone replaced! SIGH

  • Karim

    Hello I have a Iphone 4G with bell mobility and yes the loss of signal is there and quite often so you say
    you had no signal loss ha.
    i would like to know please which planet do you use your Iphone on.
    all we ask is call it as you see it no stories and do not butter it up.

  • Fred

    i am looking for more info but i manage around 15 iphone 4 in my company and i have to say that rogers coverage with it is not good. Basically i have a user that never had problems with a 3gs and is having hell with an iphone 4. Even when he is not handling the iphone, if it is in his table there are several problems with reception fluctuating and no signal at all.

  • http://twitter.com/d_macgibbon daniel macgibbon

    I am very able to kill the signal on mine just by holding it “wrong.” If I only have 1-2 bars for some reason the call WILL fail. so its still a problem for me, I just got mine on tuesday sept 7.

  • http://twitter.com/Xaroc  Xaroc

    Mine too. But case fixes all ^_^. even with that issue, almost all my
    friends including myself use cases anyways heh so all is well. The
    phone is still totally worth it in my books. Congrats on getting one
    btw

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  • Aria

    May i know what is the production week of your iphone 4 ? (4 and 5th numbers of the phone’s serial number)
    Thanks

  • Epgomez

    That’s not true. The deathgrip is real. I can prove it with my iphone 4 Fido…Dont be in denial. It’s real.

  • Stefanvasiljevic

    Im from kitciner,fido net,& I have a problem…. Strong signal is the answer to you not having prob…

  • Stefanvasiljevic

    So you don’t have probs with new one???

  • Nj_Millar

    I am on the Rogers network in London and for the most part I am only in 2-3 bars. I have had missed calls, but have only dropped 2 although I was not in a bad area or anything.

  • Chadvdk

    I’m in Vancouver, Canada. I have had a cell phone for over 12 years and the iPhone 4 is the first phone that has dropped my calls.

    I’ve just received my iPhone 4 over two weeks ago and I have had the complete opposite effect from what you have written. I don’t have to ‘grip’ the phone hard. My finger just has to be lightly touching/brushing the antenna area and I loose bars. It will keep loosing bars until my call DROPS.

    The antenna is faulty and they need to fix it. I think there are too many people that just put up with it so all of the faulty issues just don’t get reported. But it definitely has to happen more often than what Apple says. The iPhone 4 is crap. Don’t buy it. If you have bought make Apple fix it for you.

  • Anon

    I recently purchased my iPhone 4. Dec 2010. Yup, I have the antenna issue. When I palm x marks the spot in the lower left part of the phone, the reception bars drop from 4 down to 1. According to my serial number, my phone was manufactured in week 35.

  • Anon

    And yes, I have the latest 4.2.1 firmware update.

  • Chris

    Sorry, byt my test today and over the past two days in downtown Toronto – King & Parliament – clearly shows signal loss and dropoffs when holding the phone just the right way. Putting a cover on it solved the issue and as well, made the slippery little thing easier to hold.

  • Methos

    um your iphone gets EVDO ? 

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