where are my cell signal bars?

[Stamponephoto]

Sooooo I am an android NooB. I got a Verizon Gnex on launch day do replace my Palm Pre+. My question is: "where are my cell signal bars?" I don't know if it is an Android thing, or a 4G thing, or a me being an idioit thing; but I only seem to have data signal strength, listed as (3G/4G) and blue bars. But how do I know what strength cell signal I am getting? I have very good Verizon coverage in my area, but the other day I had quite a few dropped calls, which I NEVER get in almost 10 years of service. I went to check my bars I I didn't see them. Please tell me what I am missing...

 

[anon(522296)]

Re: Sorry for the ridiculous question....

Take it back if you're getting dropped calls- theres a bunch of gnexs that have radio problems. Mine works ok but I do drop calls every once in a while but I'm waiting for the next radio update, should fix it I'm sure. The update should be out soon...I think so if you want to wait it out.

Good Luck!!

 

[DenverRalphy]

The blue bars you see is your cell signal strength. 4G/Data is either connected or not connected, as there's no data signal strength indicator.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[IamHydrogen]

Re: Sorry for the ridiculous question....

Ive also seen reports of bad sim cards for the device. Multiple people on the forums have talked about it. But that would be just data...the calls use a different system.

Mine runs great...so you should probably go get a new one.

 

[GNex Girl]

Re: Sorry for the ridiculous question....

The blue bars you see is your cell signal strength. 4G/Data is either connected or not connected, as there's no data signal strength indicator.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

My understanding from the Anandtech article is that the GNex is the only phone where this is not true. Here is the article.

AnandTech - Investigating the Galaxy Nexus LTE Signal Issue

 

[zkSharks]

Re: Sorry for the ridiculous question....

The blue bars you see is your cell signal strength. 4G/Data is either connected or not connected, as there's no data signal strength indicator.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

As said above, that is no longer the case with this phone. The signal bars indicate the relative signal level of whichever corresponding icon is shown (4G, 3G, 1x, etc.).

 

[Stamponephoto]

OK then, if the blue bars do represent Data signal, as I suspected, then where is my cellular signal represented?

 

[Turbod]

The bars represent your signal, the blue means its connected to Google's servers. 3G/4G icon shows how you're currently connected. Don't panic if it seems like you're not getting as many bars as other phones, its just the way the signal is reported to you, supposedly more accurately than others. The signal bar representation changes in OS 4.04 to be more in line with other phones. Personally I would rather it be more of an accurate representation, but I'm in the minority.

 

[potatolover1102]

The bars represent your signal, the blue means its connected to Google's servers. 3G/4G icon shows how you're currently connected. Don't panic if it seems like you're not getting as many bars as other phones, its just the way the signal is reported to you, supposedly more accurately than others. The signal bar representation changes in OS 4.04 to be more in line with other phones. Personally I would rather it be more of an accurate representation, but I'm in the minority.

I am in complete agreement with you. I was impressed we finally got the truth on the bars and could see 4g. However i think they still show 4g and people are showing better signal with the better bars is good and means notmuch fake tweaking was done.

 

[Droid800]

OK then, if the blue bars do represent Data signal, as I suspected, then where is my cellular signal represented?

Your question is phrased rather oddly, because they're all cellular signals.

This is how you need to think of it: Anywhere you have 3G or 4G, you will have voice signal.

 

[DancesWithFarts]

Sooooo I am an android NooB. I got a Verizon Gnex on launch day do replace my Palm Pre+. My question is: "where are my cell signal bars?" I don't know if it is an Android thing, or a 4G thing, or a me being an idioit thing; but I only seem to have data signal strength, listed as (3G/4G) and blue bars. But how do I know what strength cell signal I am getting? I have very good Verizon coverage in my area, but the other day I had quite a few dropped calls, which I NEVER get in almost 10 years of service. I went to check my bars I I didn't see them. Please tell me what I am missing...

welcome to verizon's new LTE network.

 

[DenverRalphy]

My understanding from the Anandtech article is that the GNex is the only phone where this is not true. Here is the article.

AnandTech - Investigating the Galaxy Nexus LTE Signal Issue

As said above, that is no longer the case with this phone. The signal bars indicate the relative signal level of whichever corresponding icon is shown (4G, 3G, 1x, etc.).

The signal bars indicate the strength of the cellular service. There is no signal strength for Data, your data connection is either connected or not connected. The data is carried through the same cellular signal as normal voice communication (unless you're connected to wifi). You can have 1 bar of cellular signal and can't carry a conversation on the phone, but data can still carry through because of error/noise correction. The 4g or 3g indicator you see alongside the bars will denote which cellular network you're currently connected to and using, but regardless which, the bars still indicate the strength of the cellular signal. The article quoted above talks about how the GN accurately reports the signal as compared to older devices, but you shouldn't confuse the LTE signal strength to only indicate data connection. The LTE network is the cellular network.

Full signal strength/full-bars doesn't directly guarantee faster data speeds. I've seen insane data speeds with 1 bar of signal, and slow data speeds with full signal.

 

[Stamponephoto]

The signal bars indicate the strength of the cellular service. There is no signal strength for Data, your data connection is either connected or not connected. The data is carried through the same cellular signal as normal voice communication (unless you're connected to wifi). You can have 1 bar of cellular signal and can't carry a conversation on the phone, but data can still carry through because of error/noise correction. The 4g or 3g indicator you see alongside the bars will denote which cellular network you're currently connected to and using, but regardless which, the bars still indicate the strength of the cellular signal. The article quoted above talks about how the GN accurately reports the signal as compared to older devices, but you shouldn't confuse the LTE signal strength to only indicate data connection. The LTE network is the cellular network.

Full signal strength/full-bars doesn't directly guarantee faster data speeds. I've seen insane data speeds with 1 bar of signal, and slow data speeds with full signal.

Thanks,
This was the first answer to truely address my question. Thank you for your informative answer.