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It's the antenna location, kids...

How much does changing from standard to pincer grip change your signal strength?

  • 0 dBm gain

    Votes: 8 18.2%
  • 1-10 dBm gain

    Votes: 21 47.7%
  • 10-15 dBm gain

    Votes: 11 25.0%
  • 15-20 dBm gain

    Votes: 3 6.8%
  • >20 dBm gain

    Votes: 1 2.3%

  • Total voters
    44

Steel36

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2010
216
34
Northeast Georgia
This is just beginning to pop up in various forums, even here, but I wanted to kick off a new thread dedicated to this specific cause.

It's being observed that you can affect your signal by ~20db just by the hold you use on the phone. Yeah, I was skeptical as well, but I tried it at work where my reception is now nearly unusable, and a regular in-the-palm hold gave me a reading of -100db.

If I then held the phone by my thumb on a bottom corner and forefinger on an upper corner, and waited a few seconds, my signal jumped to -82db. That's a big difference!

Surely they didn't design a phone you can't use while holding. The word is that the antenna is in the bottom of the phone and that is the problem. Can everyone else check this out on their phones and report back?
 
If I then held the phone by my thumb on a bottom corner and forefinger on an upper corner, and waited a few seconds, my signal jumped to -82db. That's a big difference!

Does it have to be the bottom left or right corner? Does that matter?

And this improves signal strength?

At work I have all sorts of problems to. meanwhile others with iphones and Moto Droids just continue on.

Actually my phone is a crap shoot. I get a good internet connection for 30 minutes, than nothing for 20 minutes in a vicious cycle.
 
Upvote 0
Same thing happens to droid users if they hold the phone around the "chin" ... it is very hard to design a small form factor phone and find a location for the antenna that A. doesn't interfere with circuitry, B. fits, C. is in a feasible location on the device

Yeah, I'm with you, but option D) buried in the basement of a signal-requiring device seems like it wouldn't make it out of the brainstorming round.
 
Upvote 0
That is why I have always hated the "candy bar" phones. I have always tried to buy phones with at least a stub antenna, like the XV6700, but those times have past. Where else are they supposed to put an antenna to keep this from happening? If people want sleek phones, then this will be an issue. Only choice is to up the RF which kills battery life and would score low in FCC testing, or even fail..
 
Upvote 0
I don't really hold my phone with my palm when I'm talking on it. It's usually thumb on right and middle+ring on left with index upper back. I only lose about 2db compared to holding it with the crouching tiger hidden dragon hold. In my office I'm @ -88db and if I clutch the thing with my palm it drops to -98db.
 
Upvote 0
I believe the main reason most phones these days such as iPhone 3G/S, HTC Hero, Incredible, Droid, etc. have the antenna in the bottom of the phone is to reduce radiation. I'd rather have the part of the phone that transmits/receives the signal away from my ear/brain than right next to it. Wouldn't you?

Not to be contrary, but no, not really. The fact is that we don't walk around w/ these things upside our heads most of the time. I'm holding that thing on a call a very low percentage of the time it's on. And even then, putting it on the other end of the phone doesn't add much distance given the angle. And further, smartphoners prob have it up there less than most w/ the advent of bluetooth.
 
Upvote 0
I believe the main reason most phones these days such as iPhone 3G/S, HTC Hero, Incredible, Droid, etc. have the antenna in the bottom of the phone is to reduce radiation. I'd rather have the part of the phone that transmits/receives the signal away from my ear/brain than right next to it. Wouldn't you?

Except the incredible has one of the highest radiation ratings of any phone out there
 
Upvote 0
Here you go... Internal / External Cell Phone Antenna Booster - As Seen On T.V.

Seriously though, in the Product Safety & Warranty Brochure, it states "To assure optimal phone performance and ensure human exposure to RF energy is within the guidelines set forth in the relevant standards, always use your device only in its normal-use position. Contact with the antenna area may impair call quality and cause your device to operate at a higher power level than needed. Avoiding contact with the antenna area when the phone is IN USE optimizes the antenna performance and the battery life."

The picture that goes along with it shows about a half inch wide area along the bottom of the phone that is the antenna.
 
Upvote 0
Not to be contrary, but no, not really. The fact is that we don't walk around w/ these things upside our heads most of the time. I'm holding that thing on a call a very low percentage of the time it's on. And even then, putting it on the other end of the phone doesn't add much distance given the angle. And further, smartphoners prob have it up there less than most w/ the advent of bluetooth.

That's great and all but there's no option during testing that calls out minimum percentage of time up against your head. You could make the same argument having an airbag in your steering wheel. It's not like you have a head-on collision on a daily basis. They designed the phone to meet the SAR limits in the extreme cases: up against your head and next to your body, not in your hand, on your desk or downstairs on the coffee table. Also, having the antenna near your chin vs at your ear and next to your brain vastly makes a difference in exposure based on the source point for detection.

Let's not get hung up on antenna location. My Razr had excellent reception with its antenna down by the mic.
 
Upvote 0

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