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Recenly moved from a TP2 to the HD2 and am experiencing some antenna (signal) issues that I hadn't with the TP2
I know there are threads about a 'killing grip', but I haven't yet found a solution or at least a partial help.
Holding in RIGHT HAND:
Signal drops by at least 2, usually 3 bars (GPRS)
Holding in LEFT HAND:
Signal drops by 1-2 bars, but not usually lower (GPRS)
I have tried changing grips but unless I hold he phone above the antenna nothing changes, and with this grip its difficult to operate one handed
Wifi is uneffected and I haven't been in a HSDPA area to test that, but I pressume it will be effected similarly.
Has anyone found that using certain cases or full body skins help the situation? or is it simply that our hands are blocking the signal and therefore no case/skin will help?
not aware of any signal issues but I do have my phone in a silicon case that it came with. I'd recommend using a silicon case just for the fact that if you place your phone face down, it keeps the screen up off of the surface thus saving it from getting scratched up.
I am sure most people on here would have noticed that the WiFi signal on the htc amaze is drastically affected by the use of a phone case...
This was a dreaded problem for me up until now...I found a way to boost my WiFi signal without sacrificing protection....
All I did was cut a little piece of aluminium foil and attach it to WiFi antenna located on the inner back panel of the phone.....The antenna is located next to the camera lens....
Once the foil is attached to the antenna, replace the back cover and you should have improved WiFi signal that instant.....Fill free to put on any phone case while surfing the internet at blazing fast speeds using WiFi....
Questions are welcomed if the procedure is not fully understood..
I noticed this when I put a d3o dual case on mine.. can u post pics of what you did?
Sent from my T-Mobile G1 using xda premium.. haha the amaze is at HTC getting a new screen..
I have attached a pic of the foil and its location on the back panel of the phone...
Wifi Signal and Cases
Anyone else try this?
Now that sucks, I bought this phone because of the luxurious look and feel (high class build quality). This is like putting rabbit ears on my 65 inch plasma (Ghetto). Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in (into the projects lol).
Don't forget that no one else knows the foil is there except you... A rabbits ear on a 65inches tv can't be hidden..
darll said:
Don't forget that no one else knows the foil is there except you... A rabbits ear on a 65inches tv can't be hidden..
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Haha so true!
that is pretty ghetto but its hidden so if it works i guess you could consider it hardware hacking
Yeah mine is about 5mbs difference
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using xda premium
I have the d30 case and I never had a problem with wifi signal... have you ever thought that it was your internet provider or maybe your router?
iGoOsE76 said:
I have the d30 case and I never had a problem with wifi signal... have you ever thought that it was your internet provider or maybe your router?
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Perhaps your router is not far from your phone that why... If there are few walls between your phone and router you will notice the problem..
This has nothing to do with internet provider or router..
Try covering the top of your phone when the d30 case is removed and see if your wifi signal drops... If it dosen't then you are too close to your router to notice the problem...
All the fol does is boost your wifi signal .. I have been using it for while and I have consistently got full wifi signal even when there are few walls between my device and the router,,,
Makes a difference, thank you
Bluetooth
I've also notice the same problem with the bluetooth radio. With a gummy cover on (silcone I believe) my moto bluetooth headset SD9-HD doesn't work worth a F*&k but without the cover it's all good.
Which is the BT antenne?
How about cell signal???
This trick reminded me of the old product called cell phone signal booster sticker. Here's a YouTube video http://youtu.be/Elgx7lp7YMc if you are not sure what I'm talking about.
If we can boost cell signal using your method, it would save battery as well (without spending too much money on this sticker). Any thought, guys?
Might be a contact issue, not a "this piece of aluminum foil is a better antenna." I'd posit that the two gold colored contacts are not making a solid electrical connection to the rear cover's antenna contacts and that the aluminum is helping by acting as a shim. But I could be wrong. For those of you with Wi-Fi issues, ever so carefully bend the little gold colored metal contacts on your phone upward to ensure solid contact with the rear of the case.
verkion
verkion said:
Might be a contact issue, not a "this piece of aluminum foil is a better antenna." I'd posit that the two gold colored contacts are not making a solid electrical connection to the rear cover's antenna contacts and that the aluminum is helping by acting as a shim. But I could be wrong. For those of you with Wi-Fi issues, ever so carefully bend the little gold colored metal contacts on your phone upward to ensure solid contact with the rear of the case.
verkion
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Well the foil also helps the wifi signal retain its strength... Try covering the back of your phone using your hand and you will see that you loose all wireless signal unless you are close to the router..
Try the same procedure with the foil on and you will see that the wireless signal remains strong regardless of position
Wow, this little piece of aluminum actually works. However, it doesn't work 100% for me. My WiFi signal strength fluctuates quite a bit. But at least I can actually stay connected to my WiFi now.
Thanks. This is a great tip
Edit: this also fixed the problem my amaze had when connecting to my router at work. It would always say connected but data would never be exchanged.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using XDA App
I thought you were punking us. I was hesitant to even try, because I just KNEW this was a joke. But... it really does work!
I have had nothing buy buyers remorse since buying two of these Amaze phones (full retail price at a TMO store) - on a prepaid plan. They give you about 3 nanoseconds to return - and even then charge a $50/phone restocking fee.
Service is very poor in my home - which I knew before I bought. But, I assumed the Wifi calling would circumvent that problem. I was so disappointed with the jitter, stutter, lost packets, and overall piss-poor wifi call quality, that I upgraded my router, and installed a corporate-rated access point. There was some improvement, but nothing that rivaled a good cell call.
Best DL speeds were around 8-9mbps, and very erratic. With the foil, consistently 20mbps! I am completely dumbfounded.
If such poor wifi performance could be remedied by such a simple fix, why on earth does HTC not do this from the get go? It just doesn't make sense.
So, what have you guys done to keep the foil from shifting, or falling out when changing the battery?
OP, I luv you...
hooutoo said:
I've also notice the same problem with the bluetooth radio. With a gummy cover on (silcone I believe) my moto bluetooth headset SD9-HD doesn't work worth a F*&k but without the cover it's all good.
Which is the BT antenne?
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Exactly my issue too. Maybe it'll work if we know which antenna it is.
Since it's the aluminum back that's supposedly blocking the signal, one could theoretically cutout or punch some small holes over the wireless device akin to the speaker port. Then since the back is so easily stretchable, get a protective skin and put it over top.
Thoughts?
Erusman removed the back of his Prime and then installed antennae that go through the back in order to improve WiFi and GPS performance. However most people haven't found any value with the idea of cutting up the back of their Prime since there is no guarantee that WiFi will improve by a significant amount, however it is 100% guaranteed that cutting a hole in the back of the Prime will void your warranty.
There are plenty of Prime's out there that have pretty good WiFi performance. My Prime's WiFi is nearly as good as my Windows laptop and more than good enough for everything I would ever need to do on my tablet.
If your WiFi isn't working well enough to meet your needs, return or exchange your Prime for one that is working better.
I've had 2 prime side to side and one gets better speed than the other connected to the same router and test ran separately. So IMO there's either faulty hardware or bad connection. Have you tried getting an exchange?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Cutting little holes will not help. A metal mesh or grid reflects radio waves as effectively as solid metal plate - this is even used in some radio telescopes. In order for the radio waves to come through you would have to cut a hole with size comparable to the length of the EM wave. WiFi wavelength is about 12 cm...
At last some real info in a sea of misinformation.
The only thing which will fix this and the gps issue is a good window with a non-conductive cover, or maybe a plug-in or screw-in antenna.
I am sure, though, that some of the preproduction models had some hardware issues relating to antennas, as well as the oft quoted "metal back" issue.
I, too am finding the WiFi performance acceptable, and the sheer flexibility and neatness of the rest of the UK package (tab +dock) has made me a firm fan of the ATP.
Shame about the GPS, though, as there are many google and Android apps which work with phones and GPS which could translate productively to the Prime.
FG (confirmed fan)
Ok thanks for the insight everyone. I now believe my original concept wouldn't work.
I'm curious if there's has been any confirmation of an improved signal by simply removing the back. Someone had said it could be as much a hardware issue as it is the back design.
My wifi is acceptable, it's about the same as it is on my Nexus One which I'd feel bad complaining about. Though it's not as good as my Macbook.
I was just trying to brainstorm some possible solutions. Maybe I'll look into the antennea.
Felisek said:
Cutting little holes will not help. A metal mesh or grid reflects radio waves as effectively as solid metal plate - this is even used in some radio telescopes. In order for the radio waves to come through you would have to cut a hole with size comparable to the length of the EM wave. WiFi wavelength is about 12 cm...
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Click to collapse
So the plastic apple on the back of the ipad where the wifi is mounted is a gimmick? I find that a little hard to believe.
no, the apple cut out is big enough to let some RF through.
compact antennas and some serious amplification will do the rest. Look at the size of some of the antenna modules in other threads to see how small they are.
In fact look at how small the ipad antenna which is stuck behind the apple logo is.
the poster was right that a few small holes in a grounded plate would not let through enough juice to work.
That would amount to a Farady cage, which is used to screen RF signals, not let them through.
FG
Hello everyone i just bought htc amaze last week and i saw that there is a network problem with a lot of people and i heard about the aluminum foil trick so i said what the hell let`s give it a try it worked 200% and the funny thing is it also improve my WiFi strength so that is how i did it.
Tried, doesn't work. No improvement seen.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2
It does work (sometimes)
Petronoid said:
Tried, doesn't work. No improvement seen.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Putting aluminum foil on your back plate where the WiFi sensor is, is supposed to boost WiFi signal strength. I did a science project on it once, it actually worked. When you do it you need to make sure that the foil isn't crinkled or anything. It depends on everyone's phone, some get little to no improvement in signal.
I tested it again and it really improve the signal.
SuperAfnan said:
Putting aluminum foil on your back plate where the WiFi sensor is, is supposed to boost WiFi signal strength. I did a science project on it once, it actually worked. When you do it you need to make sure that the foil isn't crinkled or anything. It depends on everyone's phone, some get little to no improvement in signal.
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Click to collapse
Isn't the WiFi antenna on the other side of the camera, though?
Maybe this will help
sam_conrad said:
Isn't the WiFi antenna on the other side of the camera, though?
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Click to collapse
According to this thread, someone put the foil on the contact on the left of the camera piece and said they had significant improvements in WiFI signal.
We can infer that the WiFi chip is built into the back, and not the motherboard if WiFI doesn't work when the back is taken off. (Correct me if I'm wrong).
The foil is supposed to reflect the signal onto the contact piece, or motherboard. It doesn't really matter where the foil is as long as the trajectory leads to the actual wireless chip.
As Superafnan said, it improves Wifi signal, but you have to go the link which Superafnan mentioned.
You can't put the foil where you put in pictures. You should cover Wifi antenna
Off topic, if you cover your phone with the aluminum foil completely, you will lose operator's antenna
Good for fooling friends. You can tell them you were unreachable
antenna foil
antenna's in the back cover, thus loss of reception in removing it.
foil between the cover and phone body would either reflect signal to the antenna, or reflect it away, depending on the direction the antenna faces relative to the signal.
or cover your camera, or short the heck out of your phone or battery, depending where you put it.
How to Boost WiFi Signal with Aluminum Foil?
You could easily get better signals from your old router to your laptop using this life hack.
The steps are:
1. Find some Aluminum foil.
2. Find a small box (your router’s box will do the job).
3. Stick the foil on the surface of the box.
4. Create holes on the box to put the antenna in.
5. Put the box cover with aluminum foil onto the antenna.
Anyone uses aluminum frame ? I found some on ebay, they are so cheap ! Some look great. I bought one for 2 dollars just to try. If anyone else uses them and found a good product, please recommend here
aluminium frame = at least -2 bars reception. If you want to sacrifice functionality for beauty, then go for it.
I didn't know that ..
I only have 3 bars at home lol I'd have 1! If I use it lol
jigsawcrank said:
aluminium frame = at least -2 bars reception. If you want to sacrifice functionality for beauty, then go for it.
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There is no proof in that, it does reduce reception, but this will depend on the location and where the transmitter tower is located, where I live even with any aluminum bumper or case, I get full bar status.
kms108 said:
There is no proof in that, it does reduce reception, but this will depend on the location and where the transmitter tower is located, where I live even with any aluminum bumper or case, I get full bar status.
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Click to collapse
You're probably on the low-range frequency, then. (850/900). That range is easily capable of penentrating reinforced concrete, aluminium isn't an issue.
Anything above that will degrade very quickly, down to the point where it will kill the 2100 frequency reception (used for 4G in most countries, 3G is usually near 1800.) even if you stand next to the tower.
If anyone thinks aluminium doesn't affect signal strength, go research Asus' blunder with the TF200. They had to replace all the casings with a plastic bar just to get WiFi to function.
And before anyone suggests just sticking to low frequencies, no. Higher the frequency, higher the data transfer speed, but also the weaker the signal.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2
ShadowLea said:
You're probably on the low-range frequency, then. (850/900). That range is easily capable of penentrating reinforced concrete, aluminium isn't an issue.
Anything above that will degrade very quickly, down to the point where it will kill the 2100 frequency reception (used for 4G in most countries, 3G is usually near 1800.) even if you stand next to the tower.
If anyone thinks aluminium doesn't affect signal strength, go research Asus' blunder with the TF200. They had to replace all the casings with a plastic bar just to get WiFi to function.
And before anyone suggests just sticking to low frequencies, no. Higher the frequency, higher the data transfer speed, but also the weaker the signal.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
With 3G we have 900 and 2100, 4G it's 1800 and 2600.
Since I'm not using 4G then it's. 900 and 2100, I'm using 3 different networks and only one of them supports the 900 and 2100 frequencies, the other two are 2100 only.
Hope this can determine your results.
I'm glad I only bought a cheap one to try out. If it's doesn't work it's only 2 bucks
kms108 said:
With 3G we have 900 and 2100, 4G it's 1800 and 2600.
Since I'm not using 4G then it's. 900 and 2100, I'm using 3 different networks and only one of them supports the 900 and 2100 frequencies, the other two are 2100 only.
Hope this can determine your results.
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aluminium affects always the signal, even if its isolated!
jigsawcrank said:
aluminium affects always the signal, even if its isolated!
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Click to collapse
As i did quote your post, aluminum does reduce reception, but the reception will vary with different situation.
kms108 said:
As i did quote your post, aluminum does reduce reception, but the reception will vary with different situation.
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I'm just sayin'
actually, i am going to buy this aluminum frame and also aluminum cover to replay the back cover so if like any1 said, will reduce the signal strength if using them, then i will not have any signal at home. Because rightnow, when using nothing, the signal at my home so unstable, sometime it 1, some time it full 4. Same**** with another phone, like lg g2, nexus 4, note 3. hahaha. I will buy it and let you guy know.
Yeah let us know ! I dropped my note 3 a couple of times. The frame isn't in the best shape, I don't wanna look at the damaged frame and a frame replacement is hard so I do hope to find a good frame !
ShadowLea said:
You're probably on the low-range frequency, then. (850/900). That range is easily capable of penentrating reinforced concrete, aluminium isn't an issue.
Anything above that will degrade very quickly, down to the point where it will kill the 2100 frequency reception (used for 4G in most countries, 3G is usually near 1800.) even if you stand next to the tower.
If anyone thinks aluminium doesn't affect signal strength, go research Asus' blunder with the TF200. They had to replace all the casings with a plastic bar just to get WiFi to function.
And before anyone suggests just sticking to low frequencies, no. Higher the frequency, higher the data transfer speed, but also the weaker the signal.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
How to switch to frequencies ? And what kind of metal is HTC one M8 ?
optimusv45 said:
How to switch to frequencies ? And what kind of metal is HTC one M8 ?
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You can't. The frequency is determined by the hardware of the transmitter in the signal towers.
As for the M8, it's not 100% metal, but as to which one specific, I do not know.
i have one . the slip on type not the one that screws together at the corner.
My main problem is gps is affected with the case off i get between 15-20 feet accuracy. with the bumper on its like 90-190;(
I got my 2 dollar aluminum frame. It's great, no noticeable signal drop. I asked a seller on ebay, they told me it's not real aluminum
I got one and only thing was GPS had dropped so bad! so in the bin it went
jowett69 said:
I got one and only thing was GPS had dropped so bad! so in the bin it went
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I haven't tried gps! Will sometime today !
I tried an aluminum bumper as well and it absolutely killed my GPS. It sucks because it looks so nice...