Wifi Range Weak

[MYNAMESALEX]

My iphone 3GS has a really weak wifi range. This is unrelated to the fact that I have jailbroken and unlocked it, since it was like that ever since I brought it home, before tinkering with it. It has nothing to do with my wifi router settings, I have played with them as much as possible, and no better results.

Iphone 3GS runs 802.11 g/b
D-link DIR-655 runs 802.11 n/g/b
Settings optimized on both, guarunteed, I've played with routers 100s of times, it is definitely not a simple "unplug the router" or "increase transmit power" problem. 3GS shows weak range.

Weak range = iPhone only connects to router within 15-20 feet or less. Doesn't reach upstairs, barely reaches in living room around a corner through an open door. PS3 picks it up from upstairs running on wireless g, PC and laptop pick up on n anywhere, and my old palm pre picks up anywhere in the house or outside of the house.

 

[anon(4698833)]

There are A LOT of complaints about this on Apple's various support boards...and people have tried EVERYTHING to remedy the situation from restoring to taking it apart and cleaning it to buying all kinds of signal boosters for their network and blah blah blah...and almost all of them came out with no real fix.

From what i've read, the only real information that seems to have any logic to it is that it has something to do with the internal battery on the iPhone, and that when the battery becomes weakened over time from numerous recharges and usage, that some how it loses its range as well when it comes to connections...one would think this would effect other things in the same manner like blue tooth and even perhaps cell tower connection, but it seems that it only really effects the WiFi connection portion.

I've yet to find a legitimate solution online for it...someone said they went into an Apple store and they were actually given a new 3GS replacement which worked perfectly for them, so maybe a trip to the Apple store would yield you the same thing...i mean it couldn't hurt, and the worst thing the could say is "It's out of warranty soooo..." to which you could escalate it until you were satisfied with their response, i doubt they want someone in the store telling people that genius bar has no idea whats wrong with your iPhone but they also won't help you, lol.

 

[MYNAMESALEX]

Apple stores aren't really an option I think. Apple stores are far out of town for me, and I bought it off some dude on craigslist, used, no reciept with it even. All I have is box etc. Also I unlocked it so definitely warranty is out.

I tried the motherboard in the oven trick and got an extra 20 feet or so out of my wifi range, so I'm going to try it again to see if it will finally give me optimal results. Just gotta go pick up a magnetic screwdriver first, cause that first attempt was PAINFUL during the reassembly phase without a magnetic screwdriver (also using a flathead instead of a phillips... And tweazers instead of a magnetic screwdriver)

 

[MYNAMESALEX]

Combined with the slight range improvement from cooking my iPhone's motherboard, (google "3gs oven"), and the "wifibooster" jailbreak mod, designed to lower the minimum expectations for a wifi signal to show up in range, my iphone's wifi range now covers MOST of my house, but still doesn't reach my room. Getting close! one more cook in the oven I think

 

[MYNAMESALEX]

one more cook gave me inconsistent signal in my room, combined with wifibooster from cydia. Signal has improved, but yet again, still not good enough. I will try cooking again another day, but not a project I feel I need to do or that it will have particularly great results. Just gonna see what happens.

Anyways, if your wifi sucks like mine, try wifibooster or wifiFoFum and cooking your 3gs in the oven (search on google for "3gs oven") and you will find youtube videos explaining the procedure.

 

[anon(4698833)]

Ever since i peaked into this thread, I've been reading more and more about people replacing the battery in their 3GS handsets and getting their WiFi range back...it may be something to look into...

 

[MYNAMESALEX]

great tip. I seen somewhere a 1650mah battery or something for 6$. Should it matter if I upgrade to a bigger but third party battery, or should I stay on iphone apple battery?

 

[MYNAMESALEX]

ahhhh that was 1600mah for iphone 3g, not compatible with 3gs. Interesting. And saddening
Sad panda... $6 battery was legit too.

Found a great 1200mah replacement on ebay for $9.99 though, no tax, free shipping, from a Canadian seller, so I don't have to deal with international garbage Pretty stoked on that, can't wait till it gets here to see if it improves anything. I figure I'll cook my mobo once more while I am replacing the battery, once it shows up, then I should be covering everything at once.

 

[anon(4698833)]

Good luck man, hope it works out...that has to be annoying in your own house.

 

[MYNAMESALEX]

I hope so too. It works in the bathroom (also upstairs, AND only 10 feet closer to the router than my room), but not my bedroom. Ridiculous. And my bedroom is the one place I'd like it to work, since thats where I use wifi the most. Of course moving the router is not an option