Do older 'flip phones' have bands that newer phones don't have?

[Engineer]

After eight years of use, I finally switched my LG VX8300 to an unused Apple iPhone 4. I know the 4 isn't the best at signal reception but being in town, it's generally at four to five (full) bars. However, I recently took a trip to Bardstown, KY and noticed that I had NO service once I left the highway (for over a 5 mile drive through the area inside Bardstown). Nothing, not even a blip. With my old phone, I always had 5 full bars.

I'm on Verizon and nothing changed except me moving to the iPhone. What am I missing here? Does the iPhone not have the same bands that the older phone has? Surely, if it had the same bands, it would have picked up something, or does it simply suck balls?

From what I can tell, it does support the same bands that the older phone does. UGH.

Now I'm trying to decide just to change back to the older phone as it just worked. Can't text worth a crap on it and no net/apps but at least I got service where NOBODY else could.

 

[paperwastage]

the older clamshell might have better antenna design/performance than your current phone

if you look at current smartphones, some have better reception than others (eg original Moto X)

 

[jersiq]

If it was just a single occurence, there was probably an issue with the site covering the area.

 

[Engineer]

If it was just a single occurence, there was probably an issue with the site covering the area.

Well, my daughter took this iPhone 4 to Bardstown just over a year ago and told me that she had no service. I didn't think it would be ZERO service over a 5 mile stretch though. Hard to believe that a PHONE cannot get service today that an 8 year old phone gets 5 full bars on.

I thought about going with a new iPhone 6 upgrade but after reading about the reception problems of that one, I might just move back to the VX8300. I'll try to update the roaming capabilities of the phone (since it was wiped via iTunes) before going back there again (in a few weeks).

 

[Engineer]

the older clamshell might have better antenna design/performance than your current phone

if you look at current smartphones, some have better reception than others (eg original Moto X)

Yes, I understand that (the 4S has better reception than the 4 as my wife's 4S demonstrates vs my 4) but 5 bars vs ZERO SERVICE?!?!

Makes me wonder if one of the radios is burned out of the phone.

 

[lopri]

I remember the old days using clam shell phones without worrying about battery, and never losing phone calls (both incoming/outgoing). Voice quality was never a concern, either.

I am guessing, 1) Vastly increased cellphone usage, or 2) Me getting more sensitive to aforementioned stuff, or both.

In any case, it is unlikely the hardware is the culprit.

 

[Engineer]

I remember the old days using clam shell phones without worrying about battery, and never losing phone calls (both incoming/outgoing). Voice quality was never a concern, either.

I am guessing, 1) Vastly increased cellphone usage, or 2) Me getting more sensitive to aforementioned stuff, or both.

In any case, it is unlikely the hardware is the culprit.

In my case or yours?

Something isn't right and the only thing I've done is change hardware (and my daughter confirmed the same from a year earlier but I didn't really believe her because IT's VERIZON....and they are the best, right? ** ).

**at taking my money.

 

[crashtech]

My LG flip was a way better phone than my G3 will ever be. I think with all the things smartphones are expected to be, actual telephony ends up taking a back seat.

 

[Engineer]

My LG flip was a way better phone than my G3 will ever be. I think with all the things smartphones are expected to be, actual telephony ends up taking a back seat.

Need to take the word phone out then. Make it a smartdevice or whatever.

OT: do world phones (i.e. have GSM and CDMA - such as iPhone 4S) have the ability to roam between types of networks (CDMA to GSM, etc.)?

(pardon my ignorance on the subject. I have little knowledge of the bands, types, roaming, etc.)

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Need to take the word phone out then. Make it a smartdevice or whatever.

OT: do world phones (i.e. have GSM and CDMA - such as iPhone 4S) have the ability to roam between types of networks (CDMA to GSM, etc.)?

(pardon my ignorance on the subject. I have little knowledge of the bands, types, roaming, etc.)

You're on Verizon. AFAIK, even though Verizon phones now have CDMA bands (only in the last 2 years or so), they don't sign roaming agreements much with AT&T and T-Mobile. Its most likely roaming agreements with Sprint.

Old flip phones shouldn't have any more bands than new phones. If anything, new bands have far more bands.

Your old phone probably does CDMA 800mhz and 1900mhz. Actually the iPhone 4 CDMA probably does the same bands. (Yup confirmed: http://support.apple.com/kb/sp587). The 4 just doesn't have great reception.

Honestly, reception depends phone to phone. The 5/5s had great reception in my opinion, but the 6 has worse reception. The Nexus 4 had a great antenna too, but the Nexus 5 is much worse.

Its likely how the antennas are on your device.

 

[notposting]

Remember: that flip had an extendable antenna (even retracted, internally you had the shaft in the hole :ninja: ). You would think the 4, with a couple of those external bands, would have enough antenna surface to be comparable (a lot of the modern smartphones have a tiny little internal anntenna).

However, it seems to me, and this is totally out of my ass this morning, that the older phones ONLY had to focus their battery on phone reception -- their radios were a lot more sensitive. The smartphones are a constant battle between battery capacity, screen, processor, wifi, etc.

Also, the iPhones don't have a terrible reputation for reception I would say, but certainly something like Motorola and Nokia have good reps for RF performance. Though even that is getting a bit spottier in the smartphone era (and everyone is using the same dang radios, so it does come down to antenna/case design etc).

Try driving the same route with your old phone (even deactivated, it will still show Verizon signal). That could help verify it wasn't simply an outage that day. One problem is any newer flips from Verizon eliminated the retractable antenna and aren't as reliably better than a smartphone as you would expect.

edit: 5 bars to nothing seems a bit bizarre though. Roaming should be automagically updated on a smartphone (plus you *just* activated it, so it would be current), and...I dunno. The 4 on Verizon supposedly fixed deathgrip issues, but let's just go with "you're holding it wrong".

 

[notposting]

Re: worldphones and roaming -- not like that, no. Would be CDMA network roaming (ie Verizon coverage roaming on Sprint) or GSM (on an AT&T SIM roaming on T-Mo if programmed for it).

edit: bonus for the Verizon (LTE) phones, they come SIM unlocked. So no problems throwing another SIM in. Though you won't get LTE generally on other carriers, and they tend to lack a lot of the T-Mo data bands here in the States.

 

[notposting]

Also: you must be the kindest, gentlest man out there :awe: Your phone gets its own pillow at night, doesn't it? :wub:

Eight years and one flip? My wife has gone through (mentally trying to tally them up) SEVEN* in nine years on Verizon.

*at least

 

[Engineer]

Also: you must be the kindest, gentlest man out there :awe: Your phone gets its own pillow at night, doesn't it? :wub:

Eight years and one flip? My wife has gone through (mentally trying to tally them up) SEVEN* in nine years on Verizon.

*at least

Nah, my flip phone is beat all the hell. The leather cover is hanging by threads and almost not usable. Being a controls engineer, I work around factories all the time and just beat the living hell out of it. It just took the beating and continued working. Been dropped at least 50 times. I love that phone...and may go back to it.

I've searched at least 5 times for new leather covers for it and none can be found. Always out of stock (as note made anymore). The original battery lasted 7 years and when I bought a 'new' one, it was made in 2007. It would last a week to ten days if I used it moderately. I could drain it in two if I talked 8 hours on it.