iPhone gets better reception connected to iPod Interface?
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
2008 S550 4matic
iPhone gets better reception connected to iPod Interface?
Can it be? My battery was low on my iPhone, which gets terrible reception in my S, especially compared to the Teleaid external antenna, so I unplugged my iPod and plugged my iPhone into my iPod interface adapter. And lo an behold the reception on the COMMAND unit jumped 2 bars! (btw using the bluetooth module). Is this iPod kit linked to the antenna or something? Or does the length of wire used in the kit just happen to be the same length as the phone's wavelength, creating an inadvertent antenna???
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,498
Likes: 335
From: Europe
223.168 & 213.012 & 906.633 & 214.005
Can it be? My battery was low on my iPhone, which gets terrible reception in my S, especially compared to the Teleaid external antenna, so I unplugged my iPod and plugged my iPhone into my iPod interface adapter. And lo an behold the reception on the COMMAND unit jumped 2 bars! (btw using the bluetooth module). Is this iPod kit linked to the antenna or something? Or does the length of wire used in the kit just happen to be the same length as the phone's wavelength, creating an inadvertent antenna???
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
2008 S550 4matic
Your S-class has IR shielded glasses that make cell phone reception poor (you must have known this) but all cradles I know have either a physical antenna connector or an antenna coupler for those phones that do not have any external antenna connector. I assume this is the same for the iPhone (antenna coupler) and then it should easily improve reception by 2 bars.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,498
Likes: 335
From: Europe
223.168 & 213.012 & 906.633 & 214.005
Yep, I know for a fact that the IR glass is reducing my reception - especially when comparing to the TeleAid phone service which uses the external antenna. But the thing is there in no iPhone connector out in the wild for the S class YET (I know its been announced!). I just have the bluetooth kit. But when I connect the iPhone to the iPod adapter in the glove box my reception jumps. Perhaps its location in the glove box is just improving the signal by moving it below the IR glass? But I don't think that explains it really. I'm guessing, not sure, that on the iPhone dock connector, one of the lines is for an external antenna. But as far as I know the iPod kit does not hook into the S class' external antenna. So then the only case then would be the ipod connection cord itself acting as antenna, which is only possible if the cord just so happened to be a half wavelength in length...which I doubt, but I suppose it is possible. Anyone got any thoughts, or know if there is a link to the external antenna with the iPod kit, as unlikely as that seems!?
The fact that you get better reception from the glove box sounds really odd. I would assume the opposite. The iPod cable certainly isn't in any connection to the antenna. How does Comand actually show the signal strength for a BT HF adapter, I thought it was only able to show the BT signal strength, not the cellular signal? On a BT SAP device you can see the cellular signal strength. Or were you able to verify the signal from the iPhone?
It could always be that there is some way for the cell phone signal to reach the glove box better than some other parts of the cabin but the box should have a lot of metal around and it usually makes things worse.
