Death Grip: only in low signal areas only?

[bobright]

Alright I hate to make another thread on the infamous "death grip" issue but was just wondering if others encountered this. If you see my old posts, I had the death grip issue pretty bad, had my phone exchanged, nearly got into a scuffle with a Genius, you name it.

It's crazy but I would always check for the problem just at my residence, indoors or my backyard and the issue was always there. I know I dont have the best reception in my smaller town as I sometimes cant even get 3G service. Anyway recently I took a small trip on vacation and was up and about, of course different highways, passing different citys. While I tried and tried to replicate the "Death Grip" I could not get my bars to drop. I literally was squeezing the heck out of both antenna bands and cupping the whole bottom half of my phone and NOTHING. This was not in one place either I tested while stopped and moving in a vehicle. I had a steady 5 bars - whereas at home touching that spot would steadily drop me to no service eventually. It's like the problem was suddenly gone. That clearly tells you it's do with your overall reception in a area.

Anyways I'm not sure what to make of all this but this definitely has me scratching my head.

[dangerousandre]

I have had zero problems with my iphone 4. None of this "death grip" for me.

[Waleed786]

Rubber bumpers prevent it right? Well then what about the zagg invisisheild? It's somewhat of a rubbery material, would it work? my iPhone 4 is coming tomorrow and my Zagg is coming next week, guess I'll have to wait and see

[Simtech]

I have a gelaskin on mine and it fixes the issue.

[confucious]

From planetbeing twitter:

Messing with the antenna and watching signal strength notifications directly from baseband. Instant 16-20 dB drop touching magic spot. 10:24 PM Jul 14th via web

Touching the iPhone anywhere else, no matter how firmly, doesn't seem to affect it positively or negatively. 10:26 PM Jul 14th via web

Huh. A single layer of cloth between finger and spot stops any detectable attenuation. The Apple receipt I had lying around... not so much. 10:41 PM Jul 14th via web

[bhz1]

Ive only experienced the problem when Im using the internet or playing a game, using an app etc... if Im holding the iPhone in "portrait" mode. If I rotate to landscape, no issue. If I speak on the phone, no issue. Its extremely difficult for me to hold the phone in portrait comfortably without touching the magic spot. Bumper fixes it. Only problem is I had to dremel the dock opening in the bumper so my adapter for my Alpine HU fits.