Is ANYONE having reception issues?

[sonicanatidae]

My signal inside my office is crappy, but its crappy for everyone, this phone included. Outside, I get a bar or 2 drop now and then, but so far it hasnt
affected call quality or data transfers at all, as far as I can tell.

At least I cant touch the gap between the bare metal antennas and short
across them...

 

[dsjr2006]

My signal inside my office is crappy, but its crappy for everyone, this phone included. Outside, I get a bar or 2 drop now and then, but so far it hasnt
affected call quality or data transfers at all, as far as I can tell.

At least I cant touch the gap between the bare metal antennas and short
across them...

Before I could at least avoid holding it with my left hand with no case, now just holding the phone causes it to drop.

 

[dsjr2006]

I'll try that, but I'm on a bluetooth headset 95% of the time (the same one I've used with my old phones so it's not the issue), think that'll matter?

No idea, but it's worth a try I guess. Could be that your bluetooth doesn't like this phone or that you're getting bad reception.

 

[Intervenient]

At least I cant touch the gap between the bare metal antennas and short
across them...

Just the whole back

 

[aphexacid]

The phone at the at&t store on display did it as well. As soon as you pick it up and hold it, it drops like a brick. Data speed tanks. The antenna must beright in the middle on the back of it, because holding it pretty much any way makes it go to crap.

It pretty much killed it for me.

 

[Jofaba]

I posted a newer better example video here:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ca...vate-death-grip-issue-similar-iphone-4-a.html

 

[Regalicious]

The issue isn't bridging the antenna like it is for the iphone 4' it's simply that if you hold it like that you cover some of the antenna... It is exactly what apple is trying to say with their "look all phones do this" videos' unfortunately <_<

 

[Jofaba]

except it's not just a small drop in signal. It is an absolute destruction of signal. So while the mechanics of the problems are not similar, they both result in similar outcomes.

 

[keplenk]

I posted a newer better example video here:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ca...vate-death-grip-issue-similar-iphone-4-a.html

I'm just curious but have you tried it with the clear or rubber case that AT&T sells? Does it display the same issue? I'm starting to stray away with this phone but I can't! This is the only good AT&T android phone. Damn Samsung, you make me cry!

EDIT: Or maybe try using a rubber glove to see if it will do the same thing.

Thanks!

 

[rrrrramos]

I've been having the issue of bars dropping from day one, but only inside my house and the thing is, it will show me no bars, and sometimes even drop down to 0 in "About Phone" but I've been able to run Speedtest and get the same results as if it was laying down on my desk, and have yet to drop a call/lose data connection/sms or mms send fail.

 

[Jofaba]

I'm just curious but have you tried it with the clear or rubber case that AT&T sells? Does it display the same issue? I'm starting to stray away with this phone but I can't! This is the only good AT&T android phone. Damn Samsung, you make me cry!

EDIT: Or maybe try using a rubber glove to see if it will do the same thing.

Thanks!

The rubber glove thing sounds a little creepy for youtube so I think I'll steer clear of that, but I have put a piece of paper between the phone and my hand and saw no difference. To my understanding, this isn't a conductive connectivity issue with the antenna design. It's blocking the signal (putting your hand over an important part of the antenna). Apparently some (most?) phones have spots where they specifically tell you no to touch. The Captivate manual does say that if you cover the antenna it can impact reception, but it's not very specific (at least from anything I can find).

I don't hold the phone like that for calls, only for web. I CAN reproduce a no-signal celluar event but it's an extremely unnatural grip. The real problem comes down to surfing the web over 3g. Whether in portrait or landscape, some part of your hand wants to naturally touch the back near the problem area, reducing signal.

If you keep the phone, you just need to learn new holding habits. I think it's poor design, and the phone obviously suffers from other problems (most fixable via update), but what the SGS brings to the table I think is well worth the inconveniences.

Like you said, it's the best Android on AT&T. Arguably the best current phone offered on At&t. It's far from perfect. But it's far from being a tosser.

If it only does 85% of what it advertises as possible 85% of the time then it's worth it; in my opinion.

 

[YellowGT0]

The metal cover is not the Antenna for the radio. If you go to the FCC website you can see if your looking at the back of the phone then antenna goes from the bottom right to the top right.

 

[Jofaba]

The metal cover is not the Antenna for the radio. If you go to the FCC website you can see if your looking at the back of the phone then antenna goes from the bottom right to the top right.

Which is exactly where the problem is.

 

[YellowGT0]

Nevermind.

 

[sremick]

The metal cover is not the Antenna for the radio. If you go to the FCC website you can see if your looking at the back of the phone then antenna goes from the bottom right to the top right.

Well the metal back cover is used for something. Otherwise there wouldn't be two little gold spring-loaded contacts specifically made to make electrical contact with it.

Even my 5-year-old Motorola V635 (which had a metal case) had a single gold spring pin to contact the back battery cover. So the concept isn't new.

 

[tekonus]

On the iPhone 4 I returned: Holding the phone would make the bars go down. If I held the phone a certain way it would drop a call.

On my Captivate: If I hold the phone in any way the bars go down a varying degree. Never dropped a call, though. Even when the bars went down to none showing. The call quality with 0-5 bars seems to be steady. This wasn't the case with my iPhone 4.

 

[thinkledge]

On my Captivate: If I hold the phone in any way the bars go down a varying degree. Never dropped a call, though. Even when the bars went down to none showing. The call quality with 0-5 bars seems to be steady.

This has been my experience as well. I had an iphone 3g that would drop calls when the bars went down. With the captivate I have been trying to get it to drop a call but can't.

 

[Jofaba]

Like I've said though it's not about dropped calls, it's about killing 3g web speeds. For some reason, every time I talk about this anywhere online everyone automatically assumes that I'm making a direct correlation to the problems the iphone is experiencing. I admit that I have said it is an "iphone like problem" in conversation, but that's a very generalized statement. Here, in the videos and elsewhere, I thought I was very clear in saying that web use is more affected than cellular service. I can, if I try, drop a call (or make it fail to connect). But while demonstrable, it's not repeatable through normal use.

I've already started holding the phone differently and the issue is more of a demonstration than anything else at this point. I'm not timing out of web pages anymore, and I'm not having problems with my reception. I've grown to accept that the problem exists but can be avoided.

 

[Infinite-t]

Yea, a quick note on this, If the back of the phone rests against the back of my hand when holding, especially in my right hand, the signal drops a few bars. Unfortunatly for me, At my house I only have a couple of bars of reception. Usually, for calls i hold it in my left hand, naturally, but instead of the phone sitting flat against my palm, its more my fingertips holding the side of the phone. I haven't intentionally tried to kill the the reception duiring a call so I dont know about dropping a call. Maybe Ill try that next time my mother calls

My wife has the iPhone 4 and yea, hlding it certain ways can kill its signal too. She hasnt dropped any calls from it either (while holding it naturally). Her problem is more her cheak hitting the keypad and hanging up the phone.

This seems to be just an unfortunate problem currently bein experienced with a handfull of the latest smart phones. Sure the actual technical explanation for each problem my be different from phone to phone, but the outcome is the same, holding the phone in certain ways results in signal degredation. The difference here just seems to be, the iPhoners are getting a free case out of the deal. Maybe we just need to piss and moan more

The downside to this is, the case on the iPhone may keep people from shorting the antenna. But unfortunatly for us, if the problem really is blocking the antenna with ones hand and not conductivity related, for us, a case wont do a damn thing.

Is there anyone brave enough to test the back cover theory by covering the area on the back of the battery cover that contacts the little springs? Maybe ill try messing with it with the back cover off and see what happens.

 

[Baldilocks]

Is there anyone brave enough to test the back cover theory by covering the area on the back of the battery cover that contacts the little springs? Maybe ill try messing with it with the back cover off and see what happens.

Someone already tried that, it had no effect or made reception even worse.

The problem with most of the newer phones is having the antenna near the bottom of the phone for radiation exposure limiting reasons. If they were still at the top of phones, it would sure help a ton.

 

[Infinite-t]

Someone already tried that, it had no effect or made reception even worse.

The problem with most of the newer phones is having the antenna near the bottom of the phone for radiation exposure limiting reasons. If they were still at the top of phones, it would sure help a ton.

Well, I just tried it with the back cover off. Holding it as I normally do, the sides with my fingertips that is. it actually spiked up to 4 bars, which i have never seen while holding the phone. But as soon as the back of the phone touched my hand the signal dropped almost instantly to 1 bar.

I put the cover back on, laid the phone on my desk, 4 bars. I put a sock (yes a clean one) over my hand and held the phone, 4 bars. Then i completly smothered the phone in the most unatual ways and could only get it to drop one bar. So theoretically, it may be comething to do with direct contact of the back panel, and quite possibly, a substantual case, like perhaps those silicone or rubberized ones my help quite a bit. OR, walk around all day long with a sock on your hand

Maybe we all should bitch and moan about this and see if we can get free cases too?

 

[jazzman09]

Well, I just tried it with the back cover off. Holding it as I normally do, the sides with my fingertips that is. it actually spiked up to 4 bars, which i have never seen while holding the phone. But as soon as the back of the phone touched my hand the signal dropped almost instantly to 1 bar.

I put the cover back on, laid the phone on my desk, 4 bars. I put a sock (yes a clean one) over my hand and held the phone, 4 bars. T completly smothered the phone in the most unatual ways and could only get it to drop one bar. So theoretically, it may be comething to do with direct contact of the back panel, and quite possibly, a substantual case, like perhaps those silicone or rubberized ones my help quite a bit. OR, walk around all day long with a sock on your hand

Maybe we all should bitch and moan about this and see if we can get free cases too?

The cases do not solve the problem. It is not about touching the thing or covering it with something else, it is about blocking the signal.

 

[tekonus]

Like I've said though it's not about dropped calls, it's about killing 3g web speeds. For some reason, every time I talk about this anywhere online everyone automatically assumes that I'm making a direct correlation to the problems the iphone is experiencing. I admit that I have said it is an "iphone like problem" in conversation, but that's a very generalized statement. Here, in the videos and elsewhere, I thought I was very clear in saying that web use is more affected than cellular service. I can, if I try, drop a call (or make it fail to connect). But while demonstrable, it's not repeatable through normal use.

I've already started holding the phone differently and the issue is more of a demonstration than anything else at this point. I'm not timing out of web pages anymore, and I'm not having problems with my reception. I've grown to accept that the problem exists but can be avoided.

My bad, didn't realize that is what you meant. I was just skimming and admittedly didn't read everything thoroughly. I actually tested this using a speed testing app the day I got the phone. Don't have it anymore and don't remember which app, but from what I remember whether I had 5 bars or 1 the speeds were virtually the same.

 

[dsjr2006]

My bad, didn't realize that is what you meant. I was just skimming and admittedly didn't read everything thoroughly. I actually tested this using a speed testing app the day I got the phone. Don't have it anymore and don't remember which app, but from what I remember whether I had 5 bars or 1 the speeds were virtually the same.

I imagine that like the iPhone the effect on data speeds probably has to do with how good the signal was before it was compromised because I notice that when I'm in certain rooms of the house the signal is affected more and data speeds suffer while in other areas I might see the signal strength decrease but there is no noticeable effect on speed.

 

[pank]

I'm actually getting dropped calls (happened 3 times yesterday / and I was just standing in the same spot, so not driving hitting dead spots)... Bars are bouncing from 3-4 bars to zero and then the call drops.

I did a little test (video link below) and put the phone on a flat surface and did not touch it (unless screen timed out or to jiggle the home screen to keep from timing out). Same thing, 3-4 bars down to zip...

Our iPhone with the latest iOS 4 update wich was supposed to fix the false bar/signal strength shows 5 bars where I'm normally only seeing 3. That makes me think the reception is lower in general. Then throw in the bouncing signal bars and I think I'm screwed. I really love this phone and android and I'd hate to have to take it back

Here is a video link showing the drop in bars without holding the phone:
YouTube - bars

Anybody else see their bars bounce around so much?