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Does every HTC Sensation have the death grip issue?

Before I exchange my phone again, I was wondering if there is 100% confirmation of this issue. I use my phone with WiFi in landscape mode, so this problem is really bothering me.

If you not having the issue, why worry about others?

I am having the issue. I apologize if I wasn't clear, but I had said that "this problem is really bothering me" as in it is literally bothering me.

No i don't have this issue. Can't even make it happen. If that's couse of the signal strength i have on the wifi's i use it on, who knows. But it's never been a issue here!

Can't say I've found it an issue but I don't use my phone in landscape for anything

Death Grip.
Hi OP, Ive had this problem when browsing in landscape, a certain grip can knock WiFi signal strength right down or if its already low completely kill it. Another thread on here advised
Settings - Wireless and Networks - Wireless Settings - Advanced - Tick Best WiFi Performance.
This seems to have made a significant improvement and TBH I havent noticed a change in battery life.
Hope that helps.
(Never had the problem WRT 3G/4G)

Third Sensation also has death grip issues, performance setting doesn't seem to help substantially. Bummer. I guess I'll just have to find an new handling position when reading.

no problems here, works fine

Symbi said:
no problems here, works fine
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Click to collapse
Are you using it in landscape mode and gripping the left side (near the HTC logo) with your left hand? Also, you must be a reasonable distance away from your router. If you are within 8 feet, the drop isn't noticeable.

When I first got the phone I was staying in a hotel. WiFi dropped constantly if I held the phone in my "normal" grip. Now I'm at home and I'm unable to kill it, no matter how I hold it.

Yeah I have the problem too when I use it in landscape mode sometimes it'll be so bad I'll be put on 4g thinking if I should replace it I also have the lock screen issue is there really sensations out there with absolutely no death grip?

Got my Sensation yesterday. Just tried the death grip test and can't make it drop below 4 bars no matter how I hold it. This is with "Best wifi performance" unchecked. Wifi Analyzer does show a drop in signal strength of about 20dB, but I never lose connectivity. Played a YouTube HQ video and it never stutters in landscape, with both hands wrapped around the phone. Based on the signal drop it's very likely that in a low signal location holding it certain ways would cause connectivity loss. But that's very likely true of any phone.
So, being conservative I'd say at least some Sensations with some routers do not have the problem.

Hi. I've heard that there may be a difference in the models. Some have 3 pins connecting to the back cover/antenna and some have only 2 pins connecting to the cover. If people could post if they're having problems and how many pins they have under their back covers there could be a link?

i just purchased my phone last Saturday, and i am already on my second phone. they both exhibit this "death grip" issue, and the problem is very apparent--enough to render the wifi useless for me.
it does seem to be based on the wireless AP though. i do not experience an issue at work, nor at certain public wifi points. however, my cheesy home wireless AP seems to have a problem, and i suspect most hotel wireless APs will as well. since i travel for work, this is a problem.
i was informed by a T-Mobile employee that this is a known issue with the first generation of these phones. phones manufactured after June 1st are supposed to have resolved the problem. i am currently waiting for their shipment of these new phones to arrive so that i can get a replacement to see if it truly does resolve the problem.

When I throw my gorilla grip on my sensation (just below the point of annihilation) I have no signal issues. No change.

Maybe only certain sets have the issue, because I haven't faced it at all. I browsed the web using WiFi and had no issues. I have issues with the signal, but that is more due to my service provider and where I work. Otherwise, no dropped calls and surely no deathgrip.

My Phone has the. Issue. When I hold it with a death grip, I can see my wifi bars going down. I don't know how it affects the practical use and the internet speed.

Mo0oSaH said:
My Phone has the. Issue. When I hold it with a death grip, I can see my wifi bars going down. I don't know how it affects the practical use and the internet speed.
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Click to collapse
That would be 'signal attenuation' rather than 'death grip'.

I don't have any signal attenuation on my Sensation. It does not matter how I hold the phone. My phone is dated 6/6/11.
Sent from either my N1, NS, or Sensation4G....

My first Sensation had the best screen but the worst connection with the death grip. My second handset has the worst screen but the best connection with death grip. Much like ALL android phones, you always have to compromise with some feature/defect.

Ok, for those without the DEATH GRIP WIFI ISSUE. PLEASE POST

a video. Im not calling yall liars, but ive had 3, and all have the issue so I just dont see how others dont. Unless its the routers, and yours is way better than mine cause mines junk, but never had issues on other phones.
Anyways, please post a video showing in another room from your router, covering the top landscape style and take a video showing the bars. I dont care if they drop some, Those that say it dont vanish can I please see a video. I JUST DONT GET IT.
Thanks, p.s. I got my 4th sensation on the Way. I want this phone but dont want the wifi issue cause i use wifi 90%of the time.

smashpunks said:
a video. Im not calling yall liars, but ive had 3, and all have the issue so I just dont see how others dont. Unless its the routers, and yours is way better than mine cause mines junk, but never had issues on other phones.
Anyways, please post a video showing in another room from your router, covering the top landscape style and take a video showing the bars. I dont care if they drop some, Those that say it dont vanish can I please see a video. I JUST DONT GET IT.
Thanks, p.s. I got my 4th sensation on the Way. I want this phone but dont want the wifi issue cause i use wifi 90%of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't have another video camera, so you'll just have to trust me, or trust the videos that are posted on YouTube that show it working. I'm in another room, landscape, hands wrapped around the phone every which way, the wifi connection never drops. I don't have a case on the phone. Using Wifi Analyzer I do get about a 20-25dB drop in signal, but it's still plenty strong enough to stay connected and not drop data.
It's more likely something about differences in routers than the phone. Maybe signal strength, or g versus n, or the specific channels being used. Not saying there are no bad phones, but if you try 4 phones and they all do it then it's probably related to something about the router.

I've not got a video but I don't hold my phone when using it in landscape (I rarely use landscape at all tbh). I put it on my lap so don't have the issue

please please post a video someone. This is my only issue. If its my router and I need a N ill buy one, but I need a video of someone going to the router, then watching them walk to the end of the house in the room and do it. If it does not kill your wifi I will be sold and figure out why mine is..
Do you have a N router?
Is it just G?
This is serious and Ive only seen videos of them effected and experienced the same.

Ok so I took my case off and had to wrap my hand completely over the top end of the phone to show a difference, but it did drop two bars ,now since ill never hold my phone in that manner this will never be a problem for me , so I would say that the case makes a diff and its definately there , I really don't like holding it in landscape mode ever , i rarely do

For ref, I have a G router (a rebranded Thomson)

EddyOS said:
For ref, I have a G router (a rebranded Thomson)
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Click to collapse
but you said you dont hold your phone in landscape. I for one play online FPS games in landscape and need it.
Can you test in landscape? since you dont go in landscape? or did you already and have no issue?
please post a video. If yours is fine there are good ones and ill find it. If not im trading back for my g2x today because that

so far Im getting. I have no wifi issue cause I never cover it?
well if you do hold your phone in landscape and have no issues, then please post a video. In portrait im golden, but when I landscape it completely depletes.

Here's a video that shows signal drop but no disconnect when the wifi signal is strong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j64GKuuczoE
This is just what mine looks like. Drop in signal, no disconnect.
Notice the other low signal wifi's in this vid do drop away. The same guy also posted a video showing a total drop in connection if the wifi signal is relatively low at it's peak. So, at least part of the reported problems could be due to a relatively low max signal.
If you don't have Wifi Analyzer get it and post a vid so we can see what's going on.

I will make you a video the second I get off work at 4pm. I will show the router on video, then walk up stairs, hold the phone in landscape and show that none of my bars disappear. Do I get anything in return or do I just prove I'm not a liar? I am really not trying to knock anyone here but I find it odd that we can all buy top of the line phones but still use shifty routers. A goog router will make your life a lot better for a fraction of the cost for your phone. I suggest everyone get into the year 2011 and atleast by a N router, if not a dual band N router.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

samnada said:
Here's a video that shows signal drop but no disconnect when the wifi signal is strong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j64GKuuczoE
This is just what mine looks like. Drop in signal, no disconnect.
Notice the other low signal wifi's in this vid do drop away. The same guy also posted a video showing a total drop in connection if the wifi signal is relatively low at it's peak. So, at least part of the reported problems could be due to a relatively low max signal.
If you don't have Wifi Analyzer get it and post a vid so we can see what's going on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok that. WEll, hes next to the router, so thats why the wifi dont die, but I garuntee that if he goes in another room it will die. WE need to see where his router is before we judge if his connection never drops. I bet hes in the same room.
WIfi analyzer vs my vibrant is amazing. Vibrant perfect barely loses db. Now the sensation loses 20 no problem. So in a room with wifi it will be connected, but in a room with less signal, you will cover the signal and kill it. It shouldnt be like that.

smashpunks said:
Ok that. WEll, hes next to the router, so thats why the wifi dont die, but I garuntee that if he goes in another room it will die. WE need to see where his router is before we judge if his connection never drops. I bet hes in the same room.
WIfi analyzer vs my vibrant is amazing. Vibrant perfect barely loses db. Now the sensation loses 20 no problem. So in a room with wifi it will be connected, but in a room with less signal, you will cover the signal and kill it. It shouldnt be like that.
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Click to collapse
You've identified why people are reporting different experiences, which is exactly what I said. If the signal is strong then the connection won't drop. If it's weak enough at max then it will drop.
The loss of about 20-25dB by holding the phone certain ways is known, and isn't likely to vary much be getting your 4th or 5th Sensation. You could try holding it differently, or maybe some types of cases (with or without PT ) may help. Or you can get a router with a stronger signal.
Whether or when HTC will do anything to fix or improve the issue remains to be seen.

samnada said:
You've identified why people are reporting different experiences, which is exactly what I said. If the signal is strong then the connection won't drop. If it's weak enough at max then it will drop.
The loss of about 20-25dB by holding the phone certain ways is known, and isn't likely to vary much be getting your 4th or 5th Sensation. You could try holding it differently, or maybe some types of cases (with or without PT ) may help. Or you can get a router with a stronger signal.
Whether or when HTC will do anything to fix or improve the issue remains to be seen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe Ill try a stronger router. Im going to try a few locations with wifi, if it perfoms bad, Bye Bye. My other phones pick up wifi outside buildings.
Your right, if i hold it in portrait its strong, but I shouldnt need to do that. Ever.

smashpunks said:
Maybe Ill try a stronger router. Im going to try a few locations with wifi, if it perfoms bad, Bye Bye. My other phones pick up wifi outside buildings.
Your right, if i hold it in portrait its strong, but I shouldnt need to do that. Ever.
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Click to collapse
Your right, you shouldn't need to hold it differently to hold a WiFi signal. Do you still want me to make a video showing that non of my bars drop while on a different floor from my router.
I actually get a stronger WiFi signal on my Sensation than I do on my G2X.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

jrwingate6 said:
Your right, you shouldn't need to hold it differently to hold a WiFi signal. Do you still want me to make a video showing that non of my bars drop while on a different floor from my router.
I actually get a stronger WiFi signal on my Sensation than I do on my G2X.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please, I would love that... Cause if so I just need a stronget router even though my other phones work fine sitting on them..

I live in a small apartment and I have a good router (bought it like a month ago) even when I'm standing directly in front of it, the signal will drop (I watch the meter in wifi analyzer drop) If I'm in another room it drops even more. I have my phone set for max wifi performance too. One night I really noticed it while streaming a video from my computer via splashtop. Every time I held it a certain way the video would actually stutter. I wonder if the people experiencing it have some kind of grounding problem with the phone. It's not a huge issue for me because it never fully drops and when I hold it in landscape mode I just make sure My hand doesnt cover all three anntena holes on the back. It seems when your hand is in contact and covers all 3 that it drops. I should be getting another sensation on friday. I hope 1. the wifi drop isnt as bad 2. That I get the better sharp screen

graffixnyc said:
I live in a small apartment and I have a good router (bought it like a month ago) even when I'm standing directly in front of it, the signal will drop (I watch the meter in wifi analyzer drop) If I'm in another room it drops even more. I have my phone set for max wifi performance too. One night I really noticed it while streaming a video from my computer via splashtop. Every time I held it a certain way the video would actually stutter. I wonder if the people experiencing it have some kind of grounding problem with the phone. It's not a huge issue for me because it never fully drops and when I hold it in landscape mode I just make sure My hand doesnt cover all three anntena holes on the back. It seems when your hand is in contact and covers all 3 that it drops. I should be getting another sensation on friday. I hope 1. the wifi drop isnt as bad 2. That I get the better sharp screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one coming soon as well. Ordered today. Will see how it goes. I just don't think I should have to get a new router when my others phones work great.. I'd say grounding causeof if I put tp between my phone and case I can't get it to drop... Move the 2 layers of pt and it goes away.

Sounds like you should just ditch the Sensation; some feedback from my experience; I have the Rubberized case on mine and at work with the case I get about 1-2 bars of WIFI; without I get almost full.
Turning it landscape also kills the connection with case and drops to 1 bar without case so thats pretty ****ty although I don't use my phone landscape or really play games on it but for people who do I could imagine that sucking pretty hard.
Was gonna do a vid but I don't think it's really necessary. If you have a strong signal (ie sitting next to the router) your likely not going to notice anything at all; if your on a medium signal it's likely you will lose bars or total connection.
Not really sure what video proof is going to do for you however as it really doesn't matter what others are experiencing in this case outside of their verbal explanation.

I have to agree, this issue is annoying. In my house I have 2 MT4G's a Thunderbolt and the Sensation. None of them drop wifi signal like the sensation does.. I don't use a case and sitting 3 feet from the router I'm ok, even turning around facing away from the router at 3 feet I'm ok but it does drop a couple of bars. In other rooms I have full bars but if I cover or hold in landscape as has been shown I loose all or down to 1 bar and most of the time it will disconnect.
Not sure what type of router mine is as it is from AT&T UVERSE.

Here is my video 3 rooms away from my router I drop a little but no disconnect.
-McMex
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

Wifi Issues ?

Anyone having wifi issues ? I can connect at home no problem, wap2, range seems fine. At work we use wap2 enterprise. Seems to connect for a 1 min or so then drops connection. It shows that its connected just doesn't seem to send/receive info. Thanks

First impression is that it might be a tad weaker than the old Tab7. Weaker reception in parts of the house where the Tab7 had no problem. But the signal certainly is stable.

The one I've tried at best buy definitely had shoddy wifi. The 10.1 and 8.9 both connected to the bestbuy wifi, but the 7.0 had trouble.

signal weakens when your holding the lower left side of the screen on portrait mode. Thats what i experience.

Its a great tablet for sure but if the only major way to connect to the web has poor signal that can be an issue. How does the 8.9 tab compare in performance to this 7.0 plus ?

khel26 said:
signal weakens when your holding the lower left side of the screen on portrait mode. Thats what i experience.
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Click to collapse
I can back this up also,I always get a better signal when I hold from left to the right side, antennae must be around there somewhere
Sent from my GT-P6210 using xda premium

New shield k1 tab wifi problems

Hey all, new to the forum and new to the shield k1 tablet. Feeling pretty frustrated. Need help. I got the shield delivered from Amazon on Friday the 18th December, nice looking tablet but issue right out the box continues to be wifi connection/signal. I managed to get it connected in the home but if I walk further than a room from the router it disconnects. At first I figured it's our fairly old router but now I've taken the k1 out in public places to connect to wifi and it still fails. At most it "connects" but also displays a exclamation point. Is it a problem I can solve or should it be returned? I've seen some minimal threads with the same problems. Also one other issue is the power on button is flush with tablet itself, not really a deal breaker, just annoying. Thanks for any input.

My Sheild K1 tablet has different wifi issue.
It always connected to my wifi network with
excellent signal strenght. But sometimes the
internet speed drops very low. Normally it connects
at 130 MB/sec and would drop to 6MB/sec.
Rebooting the tablet and give it sometime to return
to normal speed. Also, setting the power/performance to max performance help
to keep the tablet from dropping internet speed.
Just updated this tablet to Android 6.0 and
the wifi connection speed seem to be more stable.
Enjoying the performance of Marshmallow .
Also I keep my tablet inside a protective case.

bump:
I've had similar issue as well. The tablet seems to be able to accept lower strength than other devices. For example, In my bed-room, my phone shows medium signal strength but the tablet only shows low signal strength. and moreover, my phone will still work with when it receive low signal, but my tablet won't work once the wifi signal is low.
I opened back-cover to see if i can make any improvement to the wifi antennas, but I found out that the wifi antennas are built-in to the speaker boxes. Is there any way i can make the tablet receiving better wifi signal? Thanks.

The WiFi antennas **are not** built into the speaker boxes. If you hold the tablet in portrait mode, front camera at the bottom, the antennas are at the top left corner (below the speaker). And if you cover that area with your hand, you'll have a poorer WiFi connection.
Thus the front camera should **never be** at the top when holding the Shield in portrait mode!!

Shield K1 - Wifi performance Tips?

Hello Everyone,
I had my shield k1 update to nougat last week, I am very happy to see that nvidia is still supporting the device :good: !
Well my question is about the wifi; few months ago I got the fiber coming into my house! After the connection upgrade I started to realize that the wifi on my shield k1 is very inconsistent (speed and range).
Using speedtest by ookla, a 2.4ghz router (can´t get the 5ghz working on the shield due to wrong canal that cannot be change on the router...), a 50mbps fiber internet connection; I got results that varies between 2mbps to 50mbps with an average of 20mbps sitting in the exact same spot (6 feet from router).
Of course I checked with computers, smartphones everything is fine (no variation and a lot better range..), so seems that my router is working great.
Also, after update to nougat nothing has changed... After a clean install neither...
Does anybody has experienced the same problem on his tablet? Is there any solution?
I asked on the geforce forum, people seems to have wifi problems but I couldn´t find an explanation or solution.
Also I have seen videos on youtube about this issues, the good or bad thing is that I am not the only one affected
Thank you for your help and have a nice day!

Sorry for the bump. But I'm also having bad connections on my k1. All my devices except k1 works fine. Wifi drops randomly.

AFAIK Shield WiFi uses 2.4GHz whereas the 5GHz is reserved exclusively for the controller.
Oh, and no WiFi issues on Lollipop. Just saying..

Niii4 said:
AFAIK Shield WiFi uses 2.4GHz whereas the 5GHz is reserved exclusively for the controller.
Oh, and no WiFi issues on Lollipop. Just saying..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong, i get 5ghz working. But needles to day, the K1 WiFi range is much shorter than my oneplus one, always been since L to N

But you don't use the controller simultaneously, aye?

Niii4 said:
But you don't use the controller simultaneously, aye?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use both 5ghz wifi and a controller (old wifi one) simultaneously with no problems
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

I think the problem is (as reported and pictured) that the antenna is right on the bottom of the tablet where you [usually] have your hands.
Plus, I have this unsubstantiated impression that the tablet is being very finicky on otherwise usually normally working low RSSI values.
EDIT: hardware fix