Comments on: iPhone 4 Connectivity Performance Bad, Really Bad – Here’s Proof

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:50:34 +0000

I agree 100%! I have carried the iphone 3gs in a weak signal area and always had the best signal of all the cell phones in the area regardless of brand or carrier. I upgraded to the iphone 4 and my signal is just as pathetic as the rest of my family. The 3gs definitely has better reception in weak signal areas without a doubt in my mind!

By: Tom Benson

Tom Benson — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:08:14 +0000

Wow, great info Bill. After reading this, and fearing the worse when I (finally) get the new iPhone, I did some searching. Based on what I've read, some people are confirming your experience and some are reporting the opposite.

Thank so much. Now I know to carefully check drops and download speed ine key locations…If the new phone is worse…back it goes for a refund.

By: billfrench

billfrench — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:05:35 +0000

Guy,

I understand your points about the tests. I'm going to perform follow up tests again in a few weeks and I'll take your advice in the test scenarios.

>>> iPhone 4 has a better antenna and receiver than the 3/3gs under normal conditions and logically should have equalled or bested the 3gs when no grip is involved. <<<

This is what I would have expected to see in the data and notwithstanding the possibility that my tests have frequency ducting biases, I performed these tests specifically because I had a hunch overall connectivity and throughput performance was poorer (for me) even with a case. Had that not been my experience, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble to gather this data. As such, my gut feel was that case aside, my app performance where the Internet is used, seemed poorer and this data seems to corroborate that hunch. Again – this assumes that there are no frequency ducting biases in my tests.

By: /guy

/guy — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:44:48 +0000

hi bill: yes you're entirely correct that in real world use there is not much way to control for such things. but when you're collecting actual numbers as you are, one phone could interfere with the other or one could be in a 'duct' and getting much more signal strength as a result. frequency ducting, if you are familiar with the term, can be observed when trying to improve a marginal signal and you sometimes only have to move your phone a couple of inches to go from breaking up to good quality signal. of course it isn't always present, depending upon temperature, humidity–and sometimes sunspots–but worthwhile to know about and eliminate as a factor when running such granular tests as you're run which yield numerical data. the only reason i even mention it is that nearly every other such test i've seen lately indicate the iphone4 (leaving aside the 'god' (grip of death) issue), has a better antenna and receiver than the 3/3gs under normal conditions and logically should have equalled or bested the 3gs when no grip is involved.

/guy

By: billfrench

billfrench — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:29:23 +0000

Guy,

Thanks for your suggestion. I may repeat the tests with this recommendation. However, isn't it likely that in the wild, multiple phones will be in the vicinity and using the same tower and the same service provider?

By: /guy

/guy — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:33:33 +0000

to eliminate frequency ducting from the equation, at the least you should have swapped their positions after each test. also, the phone not under test should have been turned off as it could interfere even up to several dozen feet away.

/guy (kg5vt)

By: billfrench

billfrench — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:22:30 +0000

A reader pointed out that one of the screenshots for the SpeedTest app shows one phone connected and one on battery – thus suggesting it's an invalid test. This was just a screen shot example to demonstrate which app I was using to measure connectivity performance. All tests were conducted running on battery and both devices were fully charged when the tests began. The actual test shown in the screen shot was performed in my office (the weak signal zone) and as soon as that test had completed, I snapped the screen and synced to add the image to the article. Of course, all tests in the other locations were away from my desktop and had to be performed on battery anyway.

Sorry for any confusion or skepticism this may have caused.

By: Clarus

Clarus — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:49:57 +0000

Read the post again. He wasn't holding the phones, they were sitting by themselves on a flat surface.

By: billfrench

billfrench — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:20:05 +0000

John:

As the article indicates, for these tests, both phones were lying on a flat surface, each in a case, and each pointing in the same direction separated by about 24 inches.

By: johnkoetsier

johnkoetsier — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:29:59 +0000

HI, how were you holding the iPhone 4?