Aluminum Back

[thatotherdude24]

I just got a Note 2 off eBay last week and it came with soooooooo many accessories, this person took amazing care of this phone.

Anyways many of the backs that came with the phone are aluminum. I used to have an iPhone 5 and really didn't have any spot where I wouldn't get signal, yes some places were low signal but I could always send /receive calls and texts. I have had the aluminum back on my Note 2 and have had tons of signal issues (I don't think I'm holding it wrong), not in high signal areas but places where my iPhone would get low signal my Note 2 would get none and at other times it would completely drop signal. I was doing some research and found the antennas are under the battery and thought maybe part of my signal problems are from the aluminum back rather than the plastic one.

With the aluminum back my phone was getting -107dbm and with the plastic back it's getting -94dbm. Even though this is only a couple of points is that a big difference in signal strength?

Could the aluminum back be my issue or something else? I swapped to the original back but haven't been in the low signal areas to try it out. Anybody else had issues with aluminum or non original backs?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[Golfdriver97]

I just got a Note 2 off eBay last week and it came with soooooooo many accessories, this person took amazing care of this phone.

Anyways many of the backs that came with the phone are aluminum. I used to have an iPhone 5 and really didn't have any spot where I wouldn't get signal, yes some places were low signal but I could always send /receive calls and texts. I have had the aluminum back on my Note 2 and have had tons of signal issues (I don't think I'm holding it wrong), not in high signal areas but places where my iPhone would get low signal my Note 2 would get none and at other times it would completely drop signal. I was doing some research and found the antennas are under the battery and thought maybe part of my signal problems are from the aluminum back rather than the plastic one.

With the aluminum back my phone was getting -107dbm and with the plastic back it's getting -94dbm. Even though this is only a couple of points is that a big difference in signal strength?

Could the aluminum back be my issue or something else? I swapped to the original back but haven't been in the low signal areas to try it out. Anybody else had issues with aluminum or non original backs?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

It may only be a few points, but it seems enough to make a significant difference. I would leave it off.

 

[thatotherdude24]

It may only be a few points, but it seems enough to make a significant difference. I would leave it off.

That was one of my questions. That difference in signal is a big difference?

 

[Golfdriver97]

That was one of my questions. That difference in signal is a big difference?

It must be. At some point on the scale of a signal there has to a tipping point.

From a Sprint Moto X using AC forums app

 

[dpham00]

It is on a logarithmic scale, so it would make quite a bit of difference.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[dpham00]

To comment on the iPhone, it uses the bands on top and bottom as the antenna, same with the HTC one. The bands on top and bottom are separated by a non conductive material from the rest of the case. If you were to put a full metal case on the iPhone, you would see a signal reduction as well.


If you want to test on the i iPhone without buying a case, you can grasp both the top and bottom of the phone fully with both hands fully covering both cellular antennas. Doing so on my iphone made the signal go from - 88 to - 101

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[dpham00]

You can see the band separation on the iPhone here

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro