I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
12/7 Update - More information on what I have attempted
Setting APNS for 4g on ATT
getting correct 4g data plan on account
New Sim cards
Replacement Galaxy Nexus
Different Roms
Stock Restore Rom
restore to default and install nothing
different radio
update to 4.0.1
Once the signal drops to almost unusable levels , the only way to get it back is either reboot the phone or toggle airplane mode. After that the signal returns to a solid 89-93 DBM. After roughly 30-60min it will then drop and I have to toggle it again. All other phones in my location have no problem including my iphone 4s with the exact same sim card.
I am in a decent location for signal. On the nexus reboot its at -89 dbm , my iphone 4s is at -87. The iphone stays that way and the galaxy nexus over time drops to -105 to -111.
Still no conclusion.
I only have problem with Wi-Fi where the reception is considerably weaker than any other device just around it.
aimetti said:
I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bars mean very little, as devices have their indicators calibrated differently. You should be comparing signals, in dBm for a meaningful comparison.
The acid test, of course, is whether you can make and hold a call, and or send/receive data.
aimetti said:
I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah kind of hard to gauge from bars. Nokia and motorola are known for excellent reception. Samsung not so much. They do seem to be improving on all fronts though, including wifi and gps.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong country.
I havent got too in depth with testing but its simple to see there is an issue. Everyone around me can make calls and i cant. Cell standbye taking up battery life as well and has been out of signal for a while
I'm seeing a similar issue.
When I have 2g only selected, I get 2 bars -98 asu 7. When I have it deselected I have no bars and signal is -111 asu 1.
Well ive had similar issues
Today I wiped phone and came back to initially 4/5 bars and download speeds of 4 down 1 up.
Then after about 10 min , right back down to 1/0 bars and 800 kbps down 200 up.
popped off back cover and then pulled sim , reset sim and then reboot. Again it initially came back with 4/5 bars with hsdpa. Again about 10 min later back down to 1/0 bars and a -113 dbm reading,
Then oddly enough i was in the status screen just watching it hover around -113 to -105 , it clicked to edge full 5 bars , then came back to 3G 4 bars and now at -93 dbm.
Does this sound at all normal? I havent changed location more than a few feet through all this. My wifes Iphone seems to be having 0 issues right next to me.
just watched it do it again.
Was at 1 bar went to 0 , got stuck on -113 dbm for about a minute or 2 clicked over to edge-2 -87 dbm then back to hsdpa -93 dbm
:/ i got no clue at this point
there is a video showing some of the issue
http://youtu.be/dbSAEHVcosI
aimetti said:
just watched it do it again.
Was at 1 bar went to 0 , got stuck on -113 dbm for about a minute or 2 clicked over to edge-2 -87 dbm then back to hsdpa -93 dbm
:/ i got no clue at this point
there is a video showing some of the issue
http://youtu.be/dbSAEHVcosI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this at home or a place where you frequently are? If so, I would do one of two things (provided you want to keep the device):
Write an NFC tag that you can tap on your way in (and presumably on on the way out as well) that would switch you over to "2G only" (which it seems gives you a better signal), and back to 3G/3.5G on your way out the door. or...
Either write yourself, or wait for one to be written, a kernel that will throw more power to the radio (at the expense of battery life however- but if you are constantly searching for signal your phone is probably wasting a ton of battery right now anyways)...
ya i am at home.
My wife consistently gets 3 down 1 up on her 4s.
No one else seems to be having issues , perhaps mine is just defective?
this is what happens when i lightly grip phone
http://youtu.be/-eqlMUoeq_I
aimetti said:
ya i am at home.
My wife consistently gets 3 down 1 up on her 4s.
No one else seems to be having issues , perhaps mine is just defective?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, but I can't think of a way to reliably test whether it is defective or not. My Samsung phones have always had lightly weaker radios than my HTC and Moto phones, and my sister's iPhone, so I will wager that it is just that in the name of battery life the radio is under-powered, which can be changed in the kernel. I was in a similar boat back when I was on T-mobile (right on the edge of service), and luckily someone had posted a custom ROM for the G1 that routed more power to the radios, and gave me just enough to hold a signal and use my wifi for data. Whatever that kernel in that ROM did, it gave me about 10 dbm difference. You might want to throw a request in the development section.
you can also try exchanging the device (if ever unhappy at all you should try to), but I am wondering if it will actually make a difference. Do you know someone with a recent Samsung phone like a SG2 (not LTE/Skyrocket) or maybe one of their Windows phones (I don't know what radios/speeds they use), to see if it gives similar results?
s.m.knipe said:
Maybe, but I can't think of a way to reliably test whether it is defective or not. My Samsung phones have always had lightly weaker radios than my HTC and Moto phones, and my sister's iPhone, so I will wager that it is just that in the name of battery life the radio is under-powered, which can be changed in the kernel. I was in a similar boat back when I was on T-mobile (right on the edge of service), and luckily someone had posted a custom ROM for the G1 that routed more power to the radios, and gave me just enough to hold a signal and use my wifi for data. Whatever that kernel in that ROM did, it gave me about 10 dbm difference. You might want to throw a request in the development section.
you can also try exchanging the device (if ever unhappy at all you should try to), but I am wondering if it will actually make a difference. Do you know someone with a recent Samsung phone like a SG2 (not LTE/Skyrocket) or maybe one of their Windows phones (I don't know what radios/speeds they use), to see if it gives similar results?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya , i was at my brothers house yesterday with no service at all.
My bro had an atrix with 1/2 bars and service.
my wife had an iphone 4 with 1/2 bars and service
and my sister in law had a galaxy s2 with 1/2 bars and service as well.
I had 0 at all.
The odd thing is , every time I reboot my phone it holds on to 4/5 bars at the location im at right now for a good 10 minutes , then flatlines.
aimetti said:
Ya , i was at my brothers house yesterday with no service at all.
My bro had an atrix with 1/2 bars and service.
my wife had an iphone 4 with 1/2 bars and service
and my sister in law had a galaxy s2 with 1/2 bars and service as well.
I had 0 at all.
The odd thing is , every time I reboot my phone it holds on to 4/5 bars at the location im at right now for a good 10 minutes , then flatlines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what APN are you using? Use the same APN settings as your Sis-in-law's GS2- when my Nexus first came I noticed the APN did not match my Atrix and it would not hold an HSPA+ signal for long; I changed it to match the Atrix and speeds/holding towers has been much better. Try the APN thing.
The GN and GS2 would have the same radio chip (I would imagine), and be set to draw the same amount of power by the kernel. If the APN thing doesn't work then you might want to consider an exchange I guess, maybe it is defective
The fact that it flatlines AFTER 10 minutes (presumably after all the syncing is finished for the various apps and services) is suggestive of a sort of "demand" model- like maybe the device amps up the radio when it knows there will be a lot of need, then scales back when demand is less- or over compensates at first, then under compensates later after some sort of calibration? The ten minute thing sounds odd, but sounds like something software/firmware/kernel-based...
[Keep in mind that there is much speculation contained in that advice, the true test for defective or not would simply be another GN at the same location- as that is unreasonable we'll have to speculate. Also, if your sis-in-law comes back over, check her phone status for her signal strength (not bars but dbm and asu) and see if it matches yours. The bars that you see are a software representation of those two numbers, and can be modified to under represent the actual signal.]
I am using the default cingular 410 apn
ive been reading that if support put a 4g data plan on my phone that it could potentially cause data loss. Is that correct?
also changed to 2g only for now and have 5bars -81 dbm constant.
aimetti said:
I am using the default cingular 410 apn
ive been reading that if support put a 4g data plan on my phone that it could potentially cause data loss. Is that correct?
also changed to 2g only for now and have 5bars -81 dbm constant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure I follow, if AT&T made your data plan a 4G data plan, it would interrupt your service?
I think you are asking if changing these APN settings will trigger something at AT&T, and they will "bump" you to a 4G plan- in which case I don't really know, I had to jump onto a "4G" plan when I got my Atrix. I think it would never reach that point though, when you set up the new APNs, that step where you touch the dot to select the HSDPA APN, it would default back to your cingular 410 apn if it were not able to connect (via SIM provisioning or whatever). If unavailable it wouldn't be connected at that rate to begin with.
How old is the data plan you are on (is it prior to the tiered plans)? If you are worried about the connection (APN) not matching the SIM, you could request a new (4G) SIM. Maybe stop in your local store, or call customer service and tell them you are thinking about buying a 4G phone, your friend's brother's uncle' pizza delivery boy's nephew has an unlocked phone you could test speeds with, could they switch out your old SIM for a newer 4G one to see if it will be worth your while at your house, then just pop in that new SIM, change the APN and away you go? (Or to be even less complicated take your old phone in with your old SIM, and just ask for a new SIM card, that yours isn't working right, and it should be a new 4G (not LTE) card...
Well, at least the phone is usable on the 2G band for you, and will save a lot of battery. Meanwhile we'll try to get you connected to an HSPA+ tower.
s.m.knipe said:
Not sure I follow, if AT&T made your data plan a 4G data plan, it would interrupt your service?
I think you are asking if changing these APN settings will trigger something at AT&T, and they will "bump" you to a 4G plan- in which case I don't really know, I had to jump onto a "4G" plan when I got my Atrix. I think it would never reach that point though, when you set up the new APNs, that step where you touch the dot to select the HSDPA APN, it would default back to your cingular 410 apn if it were not able to connect (via SIM provisioning or whatever). If unavailable it wouldn't be connected at that rate to begin with.
How old is the data plan you are on (is it prior to the tiered plans)? If you are worried about the connection (APN) not matching the SIM, you could request a new (4G) SIM. Maybe stop in your local store, or call customer service and tell them you are thinking about buying a 4G phone, your friend's brother's uncle' pizza delivery boy's nephew has an unlocked phone you could test speeds with, could they switch out your old SIM for a newer 4G one to see if it will be worth your while at your house, then just pop in that new SIM, change the APN and away you go? (Or to be even less complicated take your old phone in with your old SIM, and just ask for a new SIM card, that yours isn't working right, and it should be a new 4G (not LTE) card...
Well, at least the phone is usable on the 2G band for you, and will save a lot of battery. Meanwhile we'll try to get you connected to an HSPA+ tower.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for all the help really appreciate it.
Anyways a few things have happened since I last posted.
I had an iphone for the last 3 years. I went into ATT last week and got a normal 4g sim card in advance. Today I called my buddy who is a manager at a corporate store and he checked my account. Found that the lady had the wrong data on it. He ended up setting the sim to the 4g plan etc (which is unlimited)
I was able to add the ATT HSDPA apn and successfully connected to it. Prior to this I actually installed modaco's rom and restored everything.
At this point I am getting consistently 3 bars in my house (which is more than my wifes iphone 4s) on 4g.
Seems to be working much better now. The only other issue that remains is when I turn on WIFI. If i turn it on the cell reception goes to 1 bar or sometimes 0. I dont have the exact dbm values right now unfortunately. Calls and text still seem to go through however. Is it possible the wifi is drawing power designated for the radio?
Thanks again !
aimetti said:
thanks for all the help really appreciate it.
Anyways a few things have happened since I last posted.
I had an iphone for the last 3 years. I went into ATT last week and got a normal 4g sim card in advance. Today I called my buddy who is a manager at a corporate store and he checked my account. Found that the lady had the wrong data on it. He ended up setting the sim to the 4g plan etc (which is unlimited)
I was able to add the ATT HSDPA apn and successfully connected to it. Prior to this I actually installed modaco's rom and restored everything.
At this point I am getting consistently 3 bars in my house (which is more than my wifes iphone 4s) on 4g.
Seems to be working much better now. The only other issue that remains is when I turn on WIFI. If i turn it on the cell reception goes to 1 bar or sometimes 0. I dont have the exact dbm values right now unfortunately. Calls and text still seem to go through however. Is it possible the wifi is drawing power designated for the radio?
Thanks again !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, glad it worked out.
And possibly yes, depending on how the kernel relegates power wifi could "commandeer" a little from the cell radio, and reduce the dbm just enough to reflect in the "bars" algorithm.
perhaps a new radio will eventually come out that I can test.
either way seems to be at least in service now , signal definitely drops when i hold the phone but as long as I can make calls it should be fine.
aimetti said:
perhaps a new radio will eventually come out that I can test.
either way seems to be at least in service now , signal definitely drops when i hold the phone but as long as I can make calls it should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in the meantime i'll suggest using the open signal widget https://market.android.com/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en
which will tell you the real reception in the phone, and see what you are getting behind those bars
don't expect to make a good call when the signal drops to -90 dbm and above
and if you have multiple phones like i do, then you can compare if other phone in the same spot, connected to the same tower, is having higher or lower dbm than SGN
for example my Nexus S had worse reception than my Milestone XT720.... go figure
AllGamer said:
in the meantime i'll suggest using the open signal widget https://market.android.com/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en
which will tell you the real reception in the phone, and see what you are getting behind those bars
don't expect to make a good call when the signal drops to -90 dbm and above
and if you have multiple phones like i do, then you can compare if other phone in the same spot, connected to the same tower, is having higher or lower dbm than SGN
for example my Nexus S had worse reception than my Milestone XT720.... go figure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will try it out,
Overall i dont think the issue is fixed at all now. Went to bad and signal dropped all the way again. Stuck at -111 dbm. I held the phone i saw it switch to edge 5 bars and then click over to H 4 bars.
I really believe its some kind of software thing. If I cycle airplane mode on / off I get 4 bars (unknown dbm but its working) of 4g service. I know the service is here and working as my wifes iphone is fine but something is causing it to not hold the signal and eventually drop and not recover.
Makes no sense
Downloaded the app ,
Was at 42% signal strengh, I noticed when I picked up phone and lightly held it , it dropped right on down to 5% and got stuck there. This wasnt death gripping it either , barely holding it. Does anyone else have this issue or is it just mine? I know all cell phones have this issue but this seems excessive , worse than my iphone 4 ever was. I then cycled airplane mode again and signal strength went right up to 65% again -89 dbm
Related
Was wondering if it is at all customizable in the phone connection settings itself, or if it is only do-able through calling up customer support and asking to be able to pick up signals through ATT/Sprint/Verizon towers. Just upgraded from a steep monthly bill through Cingular, and went to T-Mobile, and now cell service at my house sucks horribly - 1 or 2 bars, with an occasional spike to 3/4 bars and I haven't seen it hit 5 bars yet at all even when I was in town.
I've seen the Radio ROM posts, but am not sure if thats what is needed to fix the issue of being able to pick up the other cell towers.
Since I am fairly new to the Smart Phone scene - feel more then welcome to guide me where its needed - I am very high on techy garble, so I can get my hands dirty when needed.
Thanks ahead of time!
Not possible you are stuck with the signal you have. You can only get an att signal with a att sim card.
WowMike2002 said:
Was wondering if it is at all customizable in the phone connection settings itself, or if it is only do-able through calling up customer support and asking to be able to pick up signals through ATT/Sprint/Verizon towers. Just upgraded from a steep monthly bill through Cingular, and went to T-Mobile, and now cell service at my house sucks horribly - 1 or 2 bars, with an occasional spike to 3/4 bars and I haven't seen it hit 5 bars yet at all even when I was in town.
I've seen the Radio ROM posts, but am not sure if thats what is needed to fix the issue of being able to pick up the other cell towers.
Since I am fairly new to the Smart Phone scene - feel more then welcome to guide me where its needed - I am very high on techy garble, so I can get my hands dirty when needed.
Thanks ahead of time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well 4 bars is max you can get. the phone only displays only 4 bars. wich is maximum signal
a radio will most likely give you beter signal. i went from 1-2 bars in my room to 4 bars all the time it rarely drops below 3 in my room. but also remember. u cant get signal where it dont exist.
you cant use sprint or verizon towers period. and u only pic up att signals for emergancy calls if u dont have signal. or ur roaming
Hmm - yeah.. thats what I was curious about - in the Manual Networks settings, I can pick up ATT towers all the time, and finally after 10-15 seconds a TMobile tower pops up - as the default in the phone (Was told through Customer Care) that if any TMobile tower is in range, it has to be selected. I'm curious if there is a way to edit the registry on the pickups for the tower and make it so it doesn't have to be the default as TMobile.
But, other then that I am currently looking at the Radio's are doing some searching to find the better one to use...
Thanks again!
just because it picks up att towers dont mean that you can actually register on the network. the phone will default to any carriers sim card so if the phone is unlocked and you put in a att sim it will default to att.
u can force it to use att but i wouldnt recomend it because 1 tmobile only has roaming agreements with att in certain spots and once your out of that spot no signal. and 2 you can only use atts network for so long before tmobile vuts your service.
so best bet just keep it on auto
I have no issue making calls or using the internet with 1-2 bars with my tp2. I prefer more, but if i am somewhere with less, as long as i have any signal, it works fine. Only place i have issues with signal is in the red line subway in chicago. Edge only and the signal between the stations gets really low and strong a lot. Makes like hell with my phones.
I have a problem with my Tmobile g2 running 2.2, it is all stock no modifications whatsoever other than handcent and fancy widget.
The problem is I can not connect to 3g or hsdpa network when I am at home. By this I mean the cell tower that provides service when I am at home. I have txt and calling capabilites but I have no data whatsoever. I have to manually switch to 2g or edge to check email or use the browser. I have called tmobile and they keep telling me that the problem is with my phone, however when I am 2 or 3 miles from my house and it goes to any other tower on the planet everything works fine.
I have searched the g2 forum here but could find no answers. I apologize in advance if this has been indeed covered or discussed to death and I have just failed to find it.
I did find the *#*#4636#*#* option and when it is on 2g I can run a ping test and it finds the server just fine, but on 3g it always fails to connect. Again this only occurs of course when I am sitting at home!
Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on this or point me in the right direction because leaving it up to tmobile has proven to be fruitless.
It might also be worth mentioning that i replaced the sim card today as well, this too had no effect on this phenomenon.....
My mom's nexus s has the same problem. Only difference is that when i walk out the door i get 3g. Once i walk back in, I get edge...... I think its might be just tmobile frequencies poor ability to pentrate walls.
Sounds like a problem with the 3G network in your area, or just a weak signal there.
I know its not the signal strength, I always have full bars at home Its something to do with the network....
DefiantMenace said:
I know its not the signal strength, I always have full bars at home Its something to do with the network....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Full bars on 3G or 2G ? If you have full bars on 3G then it sounds like a network problem.
I have the exact same problem, but my building is probably over 100 years old with 300 coats of lead paint on it. It depends on your building. Signals can bounce off of mirrors for example and other materials. The more material the signal has to go through, the more attenuation happens.
I have a similar problem, my G2 can't maintain a consistent connection, I will go from 4 bars of HSPA+ to 4 bars of Edge to nothing (lost connection to network) and it will jump around wildly between these three states (every few minutes). My wife's MyTouch 4G doesn't do this, my G1 did not do this, our kids (dumb) phones have consistent connections.
I know it's some interaction between my phone and the TMO network, I'd say it was a defective phone except the only place it happens is inside my house.
I wish that TMO offered a microcell.
There is no reception problem, I have had the phone working here for awhile and it always has full bars, like I said I can hop in the car and drive a couple miles and it works just fine. Tmobile finally got back to me today and said they are having their Engineers troubleshoot the tower that provides service when I am home. I hope they get this fixed soon, they said 72 hours.......
It's that anti-cellphonereception chemical they put into paint!!
Hey all,
I'm curious to how your reception is on the VZ GNex. I still have my Rezound here and it seems like I'm getting about -20db worse on the GNex compared to the Rezound. I'm curious - has anyone else experienced this?
Thanks,
Super
yeah, and it is killing me. In the same spot in my room I had my rezound, I had MUCH MUCH better signal strengh. I could keep 4G all day, which is why I switched from sprint to verizon. Thunderbolt, Droid Bionic, Rezound, all worked fine. The GN looses 4G consistantly. This might be a deal breaker for me. I am going to try a custom rom in a min when it finishes downloading, but I doubt that will help. Also am on 4.0.2.
on the thunderbolt there was a setting that allowed us to change when it "lost" 4G signal. I.E. it would allow the phone to pick up a weak signal. Does anyone know if there is a setting like this? I know the signal isn't weak in my house from the previous phones, so it is either a setting like this, or the GN has a really crappy radio...
The 3g and 4g on my Nexus is very bad and not even usable. It is either dropped or barely working. Without wi-fi my phone would have been useless today.
If this isn't correct quickly I will have no choice but to go back to my Thunderbolt which was great!
Service at my apartment just sucks but it's getting the same reception as my OG Droid
I had a rezound and was certainly getting a better signal, 2 things I noticed on the rezound was the battery door actually had antenna relays in it, and also there was 3 settings on the rezound for network performance (performance, normal, and battery saver)
I get horrible signal strength in spots, like on my way home from work there are several short distances where it just drops the signal all together.
At home, my phone seems to just drop connection completely and it's having a hard time picking it up again. Noticed this morning it had been without network access all night. Rebooted it and everything was OK (strong signal) in the exact same physical location.
does any body know how to update roaming with this phone I tried *228 but that didn't work
I am having similar issues in regards to network dropping out. I can understand why 4g would -being limited coverage and all- but 3g should seamlessly pick up where it drops off, plus my voice signal is much lower -100dBmw vs -85/-90dBm which I got with my OG Droid.
jnyce87 said:
does any body know how to update roaming with this phone I tried *228 but that didn't work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't update roaming on LTE devices, as the sim card automatically does it. What you can do is a "sim reset" type thing.
Power off, and leave your sim card out for like 5 minutes. Put it back in and turn on the phone. According to multiple sources, this will cause the sim to have to re-register on the network, thus refreshing/updating your privs.
Rezound is way better reception wise. Matter of fact, the Rezound is better at a lot of key things! Ima give this a chance but I gotta say I miss my Rezzy!!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
WOW.... my Nexus data was very bad and almost unusable, but now it is fixed!
I didn't want to, but I did a factory data reset and it resolved the data issues. Everything is solid connections now and holding steady. Before the signal was bouncing all over the place.
Give the factory data reset a try if you are having issues. Yes you have to start over but it's better than having a phone that doesn't work.
Phew... now I am happy again! I really thought I was going to have to go back to my Thunderbolt.
OK. I did some digging. I recommend all users download an app called sensorly. It would appear that the reported signal strength by default is 4G. Currently, my 4G is is teetering at -100dBm to no signal and that shows on my phone as no bars. However, I discovered that my 3G is at -90 dBm (excellent coverage). From what I have researched it would appear that the phone has issues handshaking between 3G and 4G which I am sure will be corrected in an OTA update.
If I go to Settings-Wireless & Networks-More-Mobile Networks-Network Mode-CDMA/LTE and switch to CDMA only my bars come up and my dBm appears normal in settings.
I am pretty confident this is a LTE/3G handshake issue. Just like when you leave your home and you are still barely connected to wifi and the phone doesn't know what to use, so all of your apps fail trying to connect. I think it is just the same.
Anyway, I hope this helps others. It has made me less neurotic finding this out.
I had the rezound and returned it because of the headphone noise. Got the nexus and it gets terrible signal and speeds where the rezound was great. Called Verizon and they are sending me another Rezound and told me it shouldn't have the audio problems. We shall see. I just know that the nexus is unusable in my house due to reception.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Has anyone read this article? Very informative.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
interesting read.
For a long time people have blamed their handsets for problems when the truth is there are always a lot of network issues out there at any given time.
Simply blaming your handset and assuming the network is 'great' because it has full bars or a good db is not the way to go.
Bars or db ultimately mean nothing, they do not mean you will get good speeds or in some cases to be able to make a call, in my experience its rare that the handset is to blame
True.
I had the RAZR before my phone. I would bet that the RAZR wasn't showing the correct signal strength and this is what a lot of people are comparing.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
aye it would be interesting if someone ran some speed tests on the two devices side by side to what what the speeds v coverage were like
edit
jimdurt said:
They still have some issues to work on. My OG Droid gave me a better signal at my house on 3g. At least measuring the db strength. I dont have 4g here so the measurement in db strength should be sufficient to accurately see which phone has better reception.
Give Google time. They have the right hardware. Just need to get the software tweaked a bit more.
My wifes DroidX consistantly shows -93dBm with 3 bars of 3g service, while my GNex bounces a little more between -120dBm(most of the time) to -93dBm(rarely)
Even with no bars and @-120dBm, i get 600kbps download. Thankfully i have 18mbps download service through ATT Uverse wifi.
I do have to mention, my service improved ALOT from 4.0.1 to 4.0.2 update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At -120 on 3g your lucky to anysort of dl
My 3g/4g signal has never been better. This phone is twice as good as my incredible.
WiFi signal strength does seem to be a little less strong but nothing horrible. Now I wish they would figure out why the OS won't go to sleep.
Well, Verizon resolved all my Nexus, CDMA, and LTE issues for me in one fell swoop. They called me yesterday and told me that they couldn't provide me service at my house and recommended I switch to a different carrier.
I was with them for less than three days. Brought my Galaxy Nexus and wife's temp phone back to the store, then went to the Apple Store to get my wife an iPhone 4S on AT&T with the plan to stop at an AT&T store to get myself a Skyrocket. While standing there playing with the 4S waiting for a sales associate, I got the warm fuzzies from back when I used the iPhone and decided to get one for myself as well.
It was a fun year with Android, but looking back at how I spent yesterday debating if I was going to keep the GN with all its issues, I think I made the right call for me.
I also forgot how much better GSM is than CDMA. I have full bars in my office, whereas on Sprint and Verizon the phones were struggling to hold onto a 3G connection. Amazing difference.
Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread for a moment. I truly hope that this is an issue that can be fixed with software; it seems like poor reception has become a hallmark of Samsung phones and I haven't seen a software update yet that makes a notable difference. We'll see what Sammy and Verizon come up with.
i can understand the signal strength display not being accurate but explain this...
for one, the signal strength on this Nexus is always 1/2(or more) then what i had on my Thunderbolt or Rezound at any given time/place.... which apparently is explained above.
what isntvexplained is this... my Thunderbolt was able to download fast, but not nearly as fast as my Rezound. on the R, i was able to download 1GB in roughly 5 minutes. ive tried downloading the same file(s) from same location various times(test) on this Nexus and it always takes 30 - 40 minutes.
so if the signal strength isnt being reported accurately i can accept that.... but what about the significant difference in data speed?
i also want to note that on my Reound, whenever i played a track in Google Music it started up right away and could jump/skip forward in a track without delay...
now on this Nexus, theres always a delay before the track starts & when you jump/skip to. buffering b.s.
Your Rezound probably already had the music cached.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
You guys also have to keep in mind that the LTE network slows down the more people that use it. When it was first intro a year ago, it was STUPID fast. Like 50mb DOWN. I remember my Droid Charge hitting low 40's in May. Now that there is a plethora of phones that have LTE and a lot of people using it, the network will be slowed. It still beats the hell out of any other network.
I’m glad somebody posted this.
I did a little experiment in my office this morning with three Verizon LTE phones:
1) Samsung Charge
2) HTC T-Bolt
3) Samsung Galaxy Nexus
With all three phones laying side by side, I opened up the same “Network Signal” app. All three phones we ranging in the -85 to -100 dB strength. There was no phone that clearly had a better or worse signal.
However, the Samsung Charge was showing 4 out of 5 “bars”, the T-bolt had 3 of 5 while the Nexus has a whopping 1 out of 5 bars. Amusing since they we all reading between -95 and -90 dB at that moment.
One thing I noticed different though, is that the Nexus requires at least -85dB before it will connect to LTE. Anything less, it switches to CDMA. I can’t speak for the T-bolt, but I could have sworn I saw the Charge at -95 / -100 dB and still reporting LTE Net. Type.
So, food for thought. Hopefully this “update” that Verizon is working on isn’t anything more than a recalibration of the “bars” indicator.
-Gp
Grannypotts said:
I’m glad somebody posted this.
I did a little experiment in my office this morning with three Verizon LTE phones:
1) Samsung Charge
2) HTC T-Bolt
3) Samsung Galaxy Nexus
With all three phones laying side by side, I opened up the same “Network Signal” app. All three phones we ranging in the -85 to -100 dB strength. There was no phone that clearly had a better or worse signal.
However, the Samsung Charge was showing 4 out of 5 “bars”, the T-bolt had 3 of 5 while the Nexus has a whopping 1 out of 5 bars. Amusing since they we all reading between -95 and -90 dB at that moment.
One thing I noticed different though, is that the Nexus requires at least -85dB before it will connect to LTE. Anything less, it switches to CDMA. I can’t speak for the T-bolt, but I could have sworn I saw the Charge at -95 / -100 dB and still reporting LTE Net. Type.
So, food for thought. Hopefully this “update” that Verizon is working on isn’t anything more than a recalibration of the “bars” indicator.
-Gp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There needs to be some kind of way to trick the OS into thinking it actually has the real signal so it will stop switching between 3G and 4G.
One thing I noticed different though, is that the Nexus requires at least -85dB before it will connect to LTE. Anything less, it switches to CDMA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have -86dB with 3 4G bars as I write this. I know that's not much of a difference from the -85dB, but I thought I would just mention it. Also, I've had -93dB with 4 4G bars (no picture of that though).
Syn Ack said:
There needs to be some kind of way to trick the OS into thinking it actually has the real signal so it will stop switching between 3G and 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 30,000 foot uneducated view is simply that the calibrations for the Nexus require a stronger signal to both acquire and then maintain an LTE data connection. These calibrations probably could be tweaked, but at what cost? I suppose (assuming my theory is correct) the decision came down to a flaky 4G or a solid 3G... and Verizon chose the stronger connection over the faster one. Do you blame them?
However, when I do get a solid 4G connection... the speeds are stupid fast.
On my lunch break today:
30.6M down
15.7 up
Has anyone had luck getting signal issues addressed with Verizon?
My signal has gone to crap - I thought it was my new One M7, but my wife's S4 is exhibiting the same behavior...can't help but think something is wrong, as I used to get a solid 4G signal at home a few months ago on my ReZound.
I live just off a major state highway, I am in town, and right in the middle of the 4G coverage for Verizon (there's 6 towers within 4 miles of my house, and 17 antennas - according to antennasearch.com). The local Verizon tech pulled their map and said I should be getting full signal at my house.
Despite all this, when I get within a mile from my house coming in fr the East on the state hwy, I drop to 1 bar of 3G and lose all data. At home, I switch between these signals:
(rare) 4G RSRP -120 to -123 dBm
3G (eHRPD) -110 to -118 dBm
1 1xRTT -97 dBm
If I go another half mile west in town (which is flat land), I am back to sub -100 signal on 4G. Any way to get someone to actually investigate and do something about it?
Thanks...
Call tech support and demand that they send a tech to investigate. I have to do it constantly. They tell me every time I call everything is fine on their end and a few days later it gets better all of a sudden. It's like they don't want you to know they have an issue.
You on the latest radios? I noticed when I updated to the latest radios my signal improved. Still would call tech support and have them check what's going on. Don't take we have no issues as you live in the area and they don't. So they should take your word for it. If you know others in your area have them call to so they have to take it seriously.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Man, I have tried newest radios, older radios, combinations of different setups with different ROMs (Sense and AOSP based), flashed RUU and did factory resets, back to stock rooted with new and old radios, and even a new SIM card...now back to 100% stock and fully updated - getting ready to see if they will trade out my hardware in case mine is bad.
One odd thing - when I first got the phone, the Best Buy tech couldn't get the SIM to activate, and had to call Verizon. When I swapped my SIM out two weeks ago at the local Verizon corporate store, they couldn't get the new SIM to activate and had to go to the back and do it from the computer...which is what makes me wonder if my hardware is bad.
Have had Verizon here (same house) for 8 years...very rarely had a dropped call in that time up until about 2 months ago (when I got my One M7). I drop about 1 out of every 3 calls now, and the other two get garbled sometime during the call - I hear "you're breaking up" at least once per call.
Your wife has a totally different phone and she is having issues as well so she has hardware issues too?
Her Samsungs always had worse reception than my ReZound (why she likes them, I have no idea) - but I chalked it up to bad reception on the device line.
I never looked into her signal strength until I was comparing my One to hers, which is when I noticed her signal is also bad (mine is worse at times). That's what made me wonder if it was something Verizon should look into in the area.
The hardware thought on my end is due to the fact that I can't find a combination of radio/ROM/RUU that will improve my signal at home and the fact that both SIMs had an issue activating in the phone. Grasping at straws on the hardware thing really.
May reactivate my ReZound tomorrow to see if the signal has just gone to crap here or if it's my phone.
I had signal issues at one point and the problem was because the SIM couldn't seat all the way because of a tiny piece of plastic still attached to the back side of the SIM. It made just a tiny little bump that made it so the tray wouldn't slide all the way in. Since then though the problem in my area has been Verizon. Every time I've called to tell them the coverage here has been crap they tell me the same old it isn't their fault junk. Keep hounding them and they will send a tech even if they tell you otherwise. Like I mentioned before. They almost never admit to an issue with a tower. The only time I have heard of them admitting it was when it was bad enough that they received several reports.
Update:
I reactivated my ReZound yesterday morning to see if my recollection of signal was off or if things are worse on the network near my house.
I monitored it heavily yesterday, last night, and again this morning, and at home the ReZound keeps a 4G signal ranging from -110 to -120.
I did a side-by-side comparison with the wife's Samsung, and while the One mirrors the Samsung (when one drops to 3G or 1X, the other is doing the same), the ReZound held the 4G signal. I watched the Samsung go from poor 3G to 1X - ReZound held 4G.
Also, the dreaded 1 mile dead zone around my house - on my One, Slacker quits playing about a mile from home, says it has lost connection to the server, even though I am on a decent 3G signal. Twice yesterday (coming and going), the ReZound held 4G through the zone and Slacker never skipped a beat.
Conclusion - either something is wrong with the One (and possibly the Samsung?), or the One simply can't contend with a weak signal as well as the ReZound.
If a rep said you should have full bars they might not have the antenna aligned right. I remember years ago someone on one of the sites talked about the same problem he was suppose to have full signal but want and Verizon sent someone out to check alignment and found the person who installed it didn't have it aligned right. After he rest the antenna the guy had full bars. I'd bet this happens quite often and maybe have the two that told you to have someone sent out to see if the antennas are setup right
the_Damaged_one said:
Update:
I reactivated my ReZound yesterday morning to see if my recollection of signal was off or if things are worse on the network near my house.
I monitored it heavily yesterday, last night, and again this morning, and at home the ReZound keeps a 4G signal ranging from -110 to -120.
I did a side-by-side comparison with the wife's Samsung, and while the One mirrors the Samsung (when one drops to 3G or 1X, the other is doing the same), the ReZound held the 4G signal. I watched the Samsung go from poor 3G to 1X - ReZound held 4G.
Also, the dreaded 1 mile dead zone around my house - on my One, Slacker quits playing about a mile from home, says it has lost connection to the server, even though I am on a decent 3G signal. Twice yesterday (coming and going), the ReZound held 4G through the zone and Slacker never skipped a beat.
Conclusion - either something is wrong with the One (and possibly the Samsung?), or the One simply can't contend with a weak signal as well as the ReZound.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With newer phones, they may be dropping the 4G and 3G signal because it is below the preset threshold in the firmware. -110 to -120 is horrible. You should be getting higher than that, like -90 and up.
Edit: if Verizon is saying you should be getting full bars, your signal should be above -78dBm. (Signal is measured in negatives, so "above" -78 is 77, 76, etc). If you read any documentation on signal strengths, you will see anything below -105 is so horrible of a signal, most data, sms, and calls are frequently dropped. With you claiming with the Rezound having not experiencing this, it is highly likely what the above poster is saying is true: antenna alignment is messed up. Even a fraction of a degree will mess with signal quality.
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