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Cellphones Really Are Not As Good As They Were 10 Years Ago At Making Calls (telegraph.co.uk)
whoever57 writes: If you ever thought that your cellphone does not make calls as well as the cellphone you had 10 years ago, you may be right. The UK's Ofcom (roughly equivalent to the FCC) tested cellphones and found that many needed a much higher signal than the standards recommend in order to send and receive data. This applied to 2G, 3G and 4G connections. Confirmation bias has me nodding along; Google Fi has been dropping a huge percentage of my calls lately, and I've been unfairly reminiscing about the good old days with a heavy Nokia 5100 series phone.
It's not really a mystery. Phones used to have external antennas, and now they're not only internal but the phones themselves have mostly metal cases (because it feels so much more "premium") with a tiny plastic window for the antenna because that metal blocks the radio waves. This is textbook "form over function" design.
Ten years ago data was almost unheard of in cell phones. It was basically limited to SMS. People simply used their phones less.
Now EVERYONE has a phone and they're constantly in-use. Congestion is probably the bigger factor.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I get signal everywhere but in my house. So if signal isn't as good, meh.
"Antenna's serve a purpose"
So do apostrophes. That wasn't one of them, though.
The only way I know of to keep a competitive environment where cellular carriers cannot fuck with user experiences and device makers get a fair shake is to prevent cellular services companies from providing the phones. It's anecdotal (because I don't know of any app that will allow me to prove this), but I am certain TMobile drops data connections of my phone detects wifi signals nearby - even if Wifi is off. It basically forces me to use a wifi signal even though I'm perfectly happy using the cellular data signal that I pay for. It happens in good coverage areas. If devices were decoupled from cellular service providers, the device makers would have much more incentive to show the user that the device is not causing the issue. And, the services would have much more incentive to show which devices play well with their networks. Since cell phone services control the device, they can install the worlds worst battery-hogging software that just annoys the user - and prevent the user from removing it.
So, to sum it up:
- cellular service companies are evil, make too much money, and don't spend enough money upgrading their networks
- cellular device companies need to grow a backbone and prevent cellular services from screwing up the user experience
- cellular service companies should not be able to control every aspect of the cellular device
- cellular services AT&T and Verizon are especially evil
--- We need more Ron Paul!
Living in Houston, TX with Verizon as my provider; I've never had a dropped call while talking (hands free) and driving for over an hour in and around the city. Perhaps it's just the increase in cell tower coverage and technology, but not having dropped calls is a massive, HUGE improvement over what it was 10 years ago!
Back in the analog cell phone days, coverage in my hometown seemed about as good as it is now. However, call quality on analog cell phones was far better than modern devices. No digital VoIP sound ever. And no, I don't recall ever hearing any "static".
Analog was great for transmitting analog information (voice) but you can't oversell the spectrum as much so it's less attractive to providers. The fact that consumers got tricked into thinking digital was better for audio transmission is kind of humorous.
No it wont. most carriers are shutting down the 2G and earlier phone compatibility. by next summer it will not be useable in any way.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
[Cut back to Fry, who is relaxing, when his head shakes and we hear a bell ringing. A telephone icon is shown on the eyePhone screen.]
Fry: What's happening to me? Is it puberty?
Bender: It's a phone call, dingus.
Fry: These eyePhones are phones, too?
Bender: Duh!
LOL, I have an HTC Desire C or somesuch. It's a little older, not overly fancy, and has no data plan.
It's great for texting, and is an Android device.
The problem is it is terrible as a phone. When it's not on speakerphone, or isn't connected to a Bluetooth device, it's impossible to hold it as a handset and actually hear anything.
Now, this is mostly OK because I mostly text, or can connect to a Bluetooth thing.
When the odd time when I need to try to use the damned thing as an actual hand held phone, I find myself thinking "the ability to actually use this thing like a phone was the last thing on their checklist".
Sometimes I miss my old Motorolla Krazr. Huge amount of standby time, good as a phone, not gummed up with a bunch of other crap.
At some point I'm going to have to get a replacement phone for this thing. I just don't want something which is a smart-phone first, and an actual phone as an afterthought.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
The external was a simple coil/linear antennae. The new antennae's in phones use a design that is "Fractal" in nature. This "Fractal" nature for antennae's leading to a much larger signal gain over traditional antennae was discovered by a German Boy Scout working on his Ham radio license. He experimented with different designs, and found a clear signal gain the more he made the antenna fractal in nature (he didn't immediately understand that it was fractal, but, he had the data plotted against various designs that were basically loops of more and more internal opposing bends (think more and more pointed star instead of circle). When this data/finding was analyzed and he began working with experts in the field, and himself learned more about fractals, he ended up with a patent on the concept. That is why "All of the Sudden" phones went from having external antennae to internal. The internal is a "Fractal" antennae that can be much, much, much more compact while have much better gain etc.