On Sun, 02 Mar 2014 00:49:32 -0500, nospam
wrote:

In article , Jeff
Liebermann wrote:

Just to make things interesting, the usable sensitivity can be reduced
by external influences, such as your hand on the antenna as in the
iPhone 4. There can also be RFI generated by the processor and
display drivers inside the iPad. Treat the specs as best case.

reception on all radios is reduced with one's hand on or near the
antenna, which is why just about every device maker tells you how to
hold it, and not to put your hand near the antenna.

it's not just apple.

Correct. Except that Apple is the worst.

nope. they're about the same as everyone else. a little worse than some
and not as bad as others.

I have the numbers from my test at:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/cellular/cell-test.htm
What do you have?

Try your phone, whatever it might be. Post the signal strength in
-dbm for holding it normally, holding it with 2 fingers, and holding
it in a death grip covering the antenna.

the iphone 4 worked *better* than the 3gs it replaced, with fewer
dropped calls.

I used an iPhone 3G for about 2 years on Verizon. No dropped calls.
However, my friends with similar phones on AT&T were constantly
dropping calls. Oddly, when the problems with the iPhone 4 appeared
my friend's iPhone 3G's magically stopped dropping calls. AT&T said
they didn't change anything. What happened is that the disconnect
time was extended, so that the system could tolerate extended deep
fades as produced by the antenna grip problem.

most users didn't have a problem with the antenna according to a survey
from changewave. in fact, very few thought it was a serious problem.

Sigh. If you just bought an iPhone and someone asked if you're having
"serious" problems what would you say? I'm in the computer repair biz
and find Apple users rarely admit they have problems unless they are
totally desperate. Instead of asking if they had "serious" problems,
I wonder how the survey would look if they asked "Have you learned to
tolerate the antenna grip problems"?

apple sold the iphone 4 for three years (and still sells it in some
parts of the world). once the initial hype died down, nobody
complained.

Sure. The rubber bumpers sorta work.

it's the same damned phone. if it really was as screwed up as some
claim, there would be ongoing complaints, and there are not.

I see. If there are no complaints, there is no problem. Time for an
old anecdote. Once upon a time, I helped a friend who owned a company
that sold light pens for the PC. Included with each pen were the
usual instructions, drivers, and documentation. After shipping about
2000 light pens, someone casually mentioned that the demo software
crashed. I checked and sure enough, it crashes every time. My guess
is at least 800 users had installed the card, ran the install
software, ran the demo, watched it crash, and said absolutely nothing.
It never ceases to amaze me how much poor quality, bad software, junk
hardware, miserable design, etc the GUM (great unwashed masses) has
learned to tolerate.

Oh, yes. Nobody complains. Here's Google search for "iphone 4
dropped calls" with the date limited to the past month:
https://www.google.com/#q=iphone+4+dropped+calls&tbs=qdr:m
Seems to be quite a few complaints. Instead of nobody complaining,
perhaps the problem is that nobody is listening to the constant
complaints?

other phones have the same issue, if not more so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zft3-Lwh2bo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4zbQ3f7H0U

I find it interesting that you picked two videos that measure signal
strength in "bars". Both phones have pages that show signal strength
in -dBm. All I want to know is how many dB does the signal level drop
when the phone is badly gripped.

many phones say 'don't hold it wrong'
http://dontholditwrong.tumblr.com/

Yep. That's part of the wholesale repudiation of responsibility and
litigation avoidance document included with every product these days.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558