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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  • Carlysimps

    6GB – $30 plan? What? Please elaborate bro…

  • http://twitter.com/Xaroc  Xaroc

    It’s a promo plan Rogers, probably some others are offering

  • http://twitter.com/Xaroc  Xaroc

    It’s a promo plan Rogers, probably some others are offering

  • Jkchiu11

    I am with the bell network and I don't have any reception problem. iphone 4 is very good!!!

  • Drizzx

    Bell will have service in Sask as soon as SaskTel turns up their network.

  • Drizzx

    First off , you sound like a spoiled child who should never get their way. But that aside, SaskTel's network launches August 16th and will have the Rogers footprint on that date. It will quickly expand from there as they turn more towers up.

    SaskTel won't have the iPhone on that date but they will be allowing grey-market devices like the iPad and iPhone right away. A SaskTel locked iPhone will follow by several weeks, after which time Apple is satisfied the device works to their standard.

    A smart man would bide his time and wait those few weeks in order to have great coverage going forward, rather than going with Rogers and having poor/no coverage outside the major centers. Rogers has shown no interest in the past, nor likely too in the forseable future, in expanding their network in Saskatchewan. There is no money in it for them so why would they?

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca Gary

    I was waiting in line getting my iPhone 4 and was blogging from the street.

    Real time updates were on twitter. It’s more efficient than constant blogging updates. Also, if you read comments on the blog people updated in real time. Thanks for the feedback.

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca Gary

    I was waiting in line getting my iPhone 4 and was blogging from the street.

    Real time updates were on twitter. It’s more efficient than constant blogging updates. Also, if you read comments on the blog people updated in real time. Thanks for the feedback.

  • mackman6151

    you are the best….Tdot rules! :D

  • http://www.iphoneincanada.ca Gary

    Enjoy the iPhone 4 guys!

  • Officerjmac

    Waited in line at the Eatons Centre. Got my Iphone 4 32Gig Around 3 Pm.

    As far as the Antenna Issue, it definately is there but it certainly isnt as bad as people are trying to make it out i got like 4.5Megs down and .6 Megs up with no Deathgrip and like 2.7 Megs down and .3 Megs Up With the Deathgrip so a little less than half signal strength, and thats when im Trying to Make it stop, In reality if we all werent Specifically looking for it to have issues we probably wouldnt notice it at all. but Due to the media nonsence most people are watching the Signal Bars so much they are Neglecting the Beautiful “Retina Display” that there eyes SHOULD be Glued too.

    All-in-All
    I give Iphone 4 10/10 and the Eatons Center Apple Store Workers a 10/10 for making my wait in line as enjoyable as possible and my expierience with Apple that much better.

  • Noahattic

    there's nothing wrong to be a fan. but, being a fan who cannot accept any “bad” reviews is just childish. as i said, i love this phone. it's awesome!

    on the design flaw, i suspect the issue with reception isn't a big deal in canada. our average signal strength is much better than our south neighbor. but it seems like the antennagate affects the data transmission a lot, especially the uploading. i am still testing my own solution to this.. i will come up with it when i am done.

  •  Xaroc

    “there's nothing wrong to be a fan. but, being a fan who cannot accept any “bad” reviews is just childish”
    Well said, and i agree 100%

  • KC

    I did not get my iphone 4.
    But I played with couple of them in apple store and they all had signal drop with my left hand holding iphone touching bottom-left corner of the phone.

  • KC

    yet I am still getting it….when it is available

  • Chad

    I can definitely reproduce the issue. I did some tests in my downtown Calgary apartment on the Rogers network. I was consistently getting around 1 to 1.5 Mbps (as high as 2.4 once) down and 2 to 3 Mbps up when holding the phone “correctly”. When I bridged the antennae on the left side with my finger or my hand the download speeds dropped to around 0.5 Mbps and the upload speeds went to around 0.1. Not much grip was required to achieve this result; casually holding it the wrong way will do it. If I gripped really hard the speeds went to about 0.

    I also tried a test call in which I held the phone in my left hand in the normal way I would hold it, and the call was fine. But when I touched that area on the lower left (which is actually an unnatural hold for me) the person on the other end reported that I became unintelligible, and when I kept it up for long enough (5-10 seconds?) the call dropped.

    However, this is not enough to make me dislike the phone. I had already read enough to expect this behaviour, and I just don't think it's a big deal. The way I naturally hold the phone on a call this doesn't happen. The way I naturally hold it during web browsing, etc., it could, but it's an easy thing to avoid.

    Incidentally, a piece of tape over the area was not enough to significantly mitigate the problem. Something thicker (like the bumper I guess) would be required. Like I said, I don't see the need though.

    Sent from my iPhone

  • Chad

    Oh, and incidentally, I love everything else about the phone. The gorgeous industrial design, the amazing screen resolution, the speed (even a bit snappier than my 3GS), etc.

  • Supera

    thx

  • rorypiper

    I have had mixed results. When I'm out and about the town, I test it everywhere. Typically, I can't drop any bars. When I'm in a low signal area, I can definitely replicate the attenuation issue. That being said, I have yet to drop a call, or notice any issue in call quality.

  • http://twitter.com/NHazelrigg N Hazelrigg

    What we should all be talking about and bringing to light is how iOS 4 has all but bricked the iPhone 3G. Think about it. Though I am soon to upgrade my old 3G. I find it frustrating trying to do menial tasks I used to do with ease.

    I am a huge apple supporter. Always have been. But I can't help feel left out in the cold on this one.

    I think there should be a whole new thread on this blog concerning this issue now that the hype over the new iPhone has peaked.

    Pipe up and let's hear what some of you out there have to say.

  •  Xaroc

    A quick bandaid for the time being is turn off your spotlight search
    options ( settings > general > home > search ) uncheck everything,
    then restart your phone. It's a quick fix until 4.1 comes out. (I'm
    beta testing it, and yes apple is working on the 3G slowness issue
    with positive results)

  • Jhakshk

    its a piece of crap…got it today and am getting no signal in buildings where i used to have atleast 4-5 bars…:@:@:@ F*** Steve jobs

  • APploholic

    Then sell it for the price you bought in eBay there are 100s to buy…. Don’t just complain …. I ain’t a apple fanboy… When they produce crap products like Apple Tv I complain… The death grip issue is over hyped….. I’m sorry to think that you didn’t buy it in the first place…

  • APploholic

    Then sell it for the price you bought in eBay there are 100s to buy…. Don’t just complain …. I ain’t a apple fanboy… When they produce crap products like Apple Tv I complain… The death grip issue is over hyped….. I’m sorry to think that you didn’t buy it in the first place…

  • JonnyDub

    lol, they should make a commercial for it.

  • JonnyDub

    lol, they should make a commercial for it.

  • Fasdfds

    actually it does drop signal in Canada I tried with my unlocked iphone 4 with Fido (which is owned by roger and uses same towers) but the lowest I could go was to 1 bar, never went below 1 bar or complete loss of signal, I think if you go to an area with weak reception you will be able to create the deathgrip/signal loss but its surely not like the U.S

  • Pingback: if you buy an external usb wifi antenna, do you need software to connect to internet? | WIFI Booster Antenna

  • dewa

    Does Locked iphone have better signal than the factory unlock ? can someone help me to answer my question. My new iphone 4 (unlock) has weaker signal than my old 3g (locked) while I am not holding the phone.

  • dewa

    Does Locked iphone have better signal than the factory unlock ? can someone help me to answer my question. My new iphone 4 (unlock) has weaker signal than my old 3g (locked) while I am not holding the phone.

  • Frazer

    Well Kelowna was already lined up- so I went to Vernon! hah

  • Frazer

    It came as 4.0.1, fool.

  • Frazer

    It came as 4.0.1, fool.

  • Frazer

    It came as 4.0.1, fool.

  • Frazer

    Well Kelowna was already lined up- so I went to Vernon! hah

  • Frazer

    Well Kelowna was already lined up- so I went to Vernon! hah

  • Frazer

    Hey man! Vernon was where its at! Goto Fido! Email me and ill hook u up w/ some details!

  • Frazer

    Hey man! Vernon was where its at! Goto Fido! Email me and ill hook u up w/ some details!

  • Frazer

    Hey man! Vernon was where its at! Goto Fido! Email me and ill hook u up w/ some details!

  • Fraze

    t h e f r a z e t h a t p a y s @ g m a i l . c o m

  • Fraze

    t h e f r a z e t h a t p a y s @ g m a i l . c o m

  • Fraze

    t h e f r a z e t h a t p a y s @ g m a i l . c o m

  • http://twitter.com/ZippoS Zippo

    I purchased an iPhone 4 myself, switching from Rogers to Telus (I live in Newfoundland… Rogers is pitiful here) and I haven't had the antenna issue either… I was able to recreate the issue once, when my hand was a little sweaty, and it still only dropped one or two bars. Nothing dropped. Every other time I've tried to recreate the issue, nothing's happened. Nada.
    This issue is TOTALLY blown out of proportion, mostly because of the original faulty bar algorithm… it's simply the product of both AT&T's terribleness and a loud minority.

  • Mike S

    Give us a update if you dont mind how it goes today

  •  Xaroc

    No, they are the same. Signal strength depends on the carrier 20% of the signal strength CAN be because of the phone design. Unlocked/Locked will be exactly the same signal strength

  • KnightFire

    Hey! That ring looks familiar… got mine from Spence.

  • Alkie4ever

    My company's I.T. gives the same theory……. I played with his iPhone 4 and it works perfectly! U.S. sucks, ha ha

  • L A

    Did your phone had 4.0 or 4.01?

  • Markwilliam

    Really!? In Halifax me signal is really bad. I am used to having 5 bars no matter where I am with me 3g and with the 4 I get between 1 and 3 bars, If i Touch the side it drops to zero bars of 3g and then to about 3 bars on EVDO. It really shocking. I am waiting for my invisi-shield to dry and i’ll play with it more. I don’t talk on the phone much so i shouldn’t worry about dropped calls. But it is definitely more drastic than I expected.

  • JeeLord

    No drop with Fido in Montreal too!

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