Bouncing bars (signal)

[pank]

Bouncing bars (signal) / dropped calls

Do any of you notice that your signal bars / strength bounces around a lot? Yesterday I was on my phone and had 3 calls drop (1 after 6 minutes, 1 after 23 seconds, and one after about 3 minutes, all in about a 30 minute time frame).

I looked at my signal because I'm in a large area with great reception and my bars would at times be at 4, then drop down to 1 and sometimes 0. So that is why I was dropping my calls. I just booted up my iPhone and the bars are not sporadic at all (maybe 1 bar drop). This phone is still dropping at times up to 3-4 bars?

I'm just curious if any of you have noticed this as I may need to get a replacement?? If you want to test it just turn it on and keep your screen active and give it a few minutes. See if your bars fluctuate quite a bit.

Side note: I am using the Body Glove case from AT&T so the phone is not touching my bare hands.

 

[Albitron]

Are you holding it wrong???




Sorry that was in bad taste

try without the case and see if you see the same results.. .could be some interesting findings

I have had my captivate "no case" and have not had 1 dropped call...unlike the iphone that happened at least once a day.

 

[Reggie]

Are you holding it wrong???




.

That was good

 

[Simba501]

I haven't dropped any calls....it has performed quite well on phone calls...

 

[pank]

Here is a video I made to show what is going on. I put the phone on a surface so my hands would not have any affect.

YouTube - bars

Also taking the case of made no difference. It's strange, the iPhone we have has the latest iOS4 update that (supposedly) has the signal bar fix and I'm getting 5 bars with that phone. I really love android (iPhone convert) and this phone and I'd rater not have to return it... Plus my GPS works great.

 

[R32_Rocky]

First off, from what I recall, the antenae is supposed to be the entire metal battery cover. The other day I was checking out my bars, and I actually could see my bars change depending on how I held my phone. With my hand in the normal position, gripping the entire phone in my palm, I would go down to 2/3 bars. But holding it just by the edges, exposing the entire back cover, it would quickly jump up to 4/5 bars. So it appears your one comment in jest is not 100% wrong. Test it out and post if you notice this too.

Oh, and I have that Body Glove skin on mine.

 

[cyberranger]

With my hand in the normal position, gripping the entire phone in my palm, I would go down to 2/3 bars. But holding it just by the edges, exposing the entire back cover, it would quickly jump up to 4/5 bars. So it appears your one comment in jest is not 100% wrong. Test it out and post if you notice this too.

Oh, and I have that Body Glove skin on mine.

I see the exact same behavior. The reception I get in my office is not great, around 3 bars WHEN the phone is resting on my desk. As soon as I pick up the phone, hand behind it and on the bottom, the bars drop to 1 or 0. To get a text message to go through, I have to place the phone back down on my desk.

 

[Raven71]

I was having the same thing so today I went to the store and they replaced my sim. I am now holding 4 bars and even 5. I was in the area where I only had 2 bars and it would jump to 1 and then to 3 or maybe 4 if I was lucky. It stayed at 4 and it seems it is helping with battery life. Maybe it will take care of some problems people are having.

 

[s2h2golf]

Hmmm... I got a new SIM with the phone when I bought it online from ATT but just used my old SIM when it came in so I didn't have to re-activate it. I have the same issues not only with the bars bouncing back and forth but also with my 3G speed being erratic.

 

[MustangMatt429]

I've noticed my bars bouncing around more than my iPhone 3G but it doesn't seem to affect my calls or text messages.

 

[flashman03]

I have had a similar issue but my ATT coverage is sparatic at best in Wichita. I might go in and see about another SIM since this one is new.

 

[Symbianblack]

one tidbit that i found out that the back cover ISN'T the reception point of the Captivate. I've taken the cover off of 2 separate units and the bars didnt drop any lower than what it was already sitting at.

 

[mdunn1066]

I've used quite a few att phones and this phone seems to get the worst reception out of all of them that I've used except the old iphone 3g. Its very annoying to have to try to resend a message 2 or 3 times or have your calls go to voice mail every time someone wants to call you

If it werent such a good phone otherwise I would probably have returned it, But seeing as its the only really good android option on ATT and I could never live with a BB Torch because theres no apps for the thing compared to this. Maybe ill get that ATT microcell thing..

 

[AndroidDrone]

The signal strength indicator on mine stays steady about 95% of the time. It's far better than my iPhone 4, or Droid X.