Signal drop when you hold phone!

[jazzman09]

This thing drops 1 - 2 bars when held compared to sitting down on table, wtf! Anybody else have this issue?

 

[MarcMaiden]

all phones have a "weak" spot on them that drops the signal...yes...like the iphone4....the difference is the I4's is too easy to grip hence all the complaints


the captivates is located on the back towards the bottom where the sliding mechanism is to remove the battery. cover it with the palm firmly against it and you will see what i mean

 

[JDM9499]

I could be wrong about this, but I believe the antenna is located near to the lower part of the phone. So holding the phone in the palm of your hand, or making a tight grip will lower the bars a bit. Does it on mine. No big deal since it has yet to affect my call quality and reception.

 

[Infinite-t]

Yes, you can strangle the signal out of this phone a bit, like with most phones. If you grip the bottom of this phone tightly in your hand with your palm flat against the battery cover you can get it to lose a bar or two. However, for most of us, that is not how we natually hold the phone during use, and, I havent heared of anyone who was actually able to drop a call by strangling off the signal, so even with 0 bars, you stay connected and communicating, unlike some other phones who drop a lot of calls even being gripped in a natural way.

 

[mongstradamus]

It's pretty drastic when you are in low reception area where it goes fro two bars to no service where phone becomes unusable I wonder if case will fix that or is it unusable in low reception area

 

[Infinite-t]

I havent picked a case for mine yet, but I have heared many people debating over if a case will help or not. But I did a test and put a sock on my hand, and tried to strangle the phone and I couldn't get it to drop no matter what i did.. so I dunno. I havent had any issue with it yet.

I have seen all kinds of antena boosters online from 2.00 to $200.00. If you live in an area with really crap coverage, maybe looking into one of those might be a good idea.

 

[mongstradamus]

I am just wondering if captivate has bad signal and if bad wifi strenghth are connected. Since I get pretty bad wifi connection and signal strength when i hold the phone normally inleft hand.

 

[rlb4]

I go from 4 bars to 1-2 bars when I hold the phone vs lying on a table. I have 2 phones that I just got and they both do this. I haven't made any calls yet so I don't know if it affects a call.

 

[snapper.fishes]

If you switch to 2G only mode, the signal gets stronger.

 

[mi04se1]

I was on the phone for over an hour yesterday with me holding it normal and didnt drop anytime.

 

[jazzman09]

I havent picked a case for mine yet, but I have heared many people debating over if a case will help or not. But I did a test and put a sock on my hand, and tried to strangle the phone and I couldn't get it to drop no matter what i did.. so I dunno. I havent had any issue with it yet.

I have seen all kinds of antena boosters online from 2.00 to $200.00. If you live in an area with really crap coverage, maybe looking into one of those might be a good idea.

it's not going to help it is a design flaw, it is not about contact it is where the signal goes out.

 

[jazzman09]

I go from 4 bars to 1-2 bars when I hold the phone vs lying on a table. I have 2 phones that I just got and they both do this. I haven't made any calls yet so I don't know if it affects a call.

return them it is a flaw, you shouldn't have to live with two phony phones.

 

[jas2k9]

I had similar issues, along with a host of others. I DID NOT lose a single call. This is an important point, but as I turned mine back in for the other phone (with the same problem) it made me realize that as much as I dislike that guy (Stevie J), I realized that what he said was true - they can all lose some bars based on how hold them - but that does not automatically equate to losing a call.

 

[sapv]

This thing drops 1 - 2 bars when held compared to sitting down on table, wtf! Anybody else have this issue?

I have seen this happening. Strange thing is: i have seen calls not getting dropped even though all the bars have disappeared!

 

[Shelbster]

I had similar issues, along with a host of others. I DID NOT lose a single call. This is an important point, but as I turned mine back in for the other phone (with the same problem) it made me realize that as much as I dislike that guy (Stevie J), I realized that what he said was true - they can all lose some bars based on how hold them - but that does not automatically equate to losing a call.

jas, how is your iphone holding up? I have two friends with the iphone 4, and both want to take them back. They are both having serious problems with the proximity sensor, as well as dropping calls. Are you having problems, or is your phone ok?

 

[Jofaba]

I posted a 12 second video here to prove I was experiencing this and it's gotten over 11,000 views lol. Here are my "proof" videos. It doesn't effect phone calls (everyone seems to think these were anti-iphone), though it can if you WANT it to (try very hard). But it does greatly affect internet speed regardless of how you hold the phone. Touch it equals huge signal drop and page timeouts and very slow loads.

YouTube - captivate-reception.wmv

YouTube - captivate-reception2.wmv

YouTube - Samsung Galaxy S (AT&T Captivate) -- "Death Grip" signal problem

 

[jas2k9]

I have no problems to report at all - frankly I am kind of stumped. I don't understand why.

I had to do a little tweaking to get photos loaded, that was it. I mostly use my icom (it is a bluetooth device that I use to stream sound to my hearing aids) so I can't really comment fairly on the proximity issues -though I have heard about them. Aside from that, I have used the phone against my head (like a normal person) and I have nothing bad to report - I do maybe press the phone against my face - but that has more to do with the hearing aids than anything else.

I had expected a lot of issues, well not really, but I had expected some issues - and they are just not there for me. Make no mistake, I am no fanboy. I get great battery life, I sync by plugging it in, I have my music, itunes and about 3 or 4 other sites of music - all sync flawlessly.

I guess I don't understand (yet) how come I occasionally lose my bluetooth and have to turn it back on, and some calls come in and I have a choice how to hear - instead of automatically being on blue tooth.

That's it.

The product just works - yes, it's quite vanilla, and I miss the customization, but I am happy with everything else, and for me the everything else was more important than the customization. Mine is a simple 16gb black iphone 4. Nothing special, no need to return it (everything works).

Maybe I got the one good one? I can't even replicate the deathgrip - and have never dropped a call (never dropped one on the Captivate either).

Both are super products, and when the captivate cleans things up (soon I hope) it will be a real contender.

I assume your friends have not jailbroken - I have not (don't plan to either), I have heard of issues with jailbroken phones. Have they visited the numerous iphone message boards for some advice?

Heck, if it's not working TAKE'EM BACK!

 

[Shelbster]

I think you did get a good one. One of my friends is taking his back. The other can't because she scratched her screen. I was ready to jump ship back to apple until I heard their stories.

 

[jas2k9]

I believe it has more to do with where one lives than anything else. Good article on CNN yesterday to that affect with ATT and Verizon service and customer retention.

As to the scratched screen, that is of no consequence if the phone is not functional.

Did they try (out of curiousity) the bumper or other fixes?

I am in the DC burbs and ATT is as good as wireless gets around here.