Not saying this applies to everyone, but I figured out why the particular E4GT I was testing had such jumpy signal levels. I was doing side-by-side comparisons with an Optimus S using menu->settings->about phone->status.
It appears the E4GT has very little granularity with signal strength reporting. It only goes by increments of 5 dBm, whereas the Optimus reports signal levels at a granularity of 1 dBm.
For E4GT, -106 dBm = 0 bar, -101 dBm = 1 bar, -96 dBm = 2 bar, -91 dBm = 3 bar - 86 dBm = 4 bar, -81 dBm = 5 bar, and -76 dBm = 6 bar.
Problem in my main test area is the signal is somewhere between -93 dBm and -98 dBm according to the Optimus S. Whereas the Optimus S can react to small changes in dBm with equally small changes in reported signal strength and "# bars", the E4GT tends to like jumping from -91 dBm to - 101 dBm and back. It only reports certain discrete levels and it appears to be rounding up and down (based on side-by-side signal comparison to Optimus S) They both go up and down at roughly the same time, but Optimus S does it smoothly over time. E4GT just does the signal change reporting very abruptly with 5-10 dBm jumps.
Second thing I noticed is hand and phone positioning really affect the signal strength. The antennae/transmitter appear to be at the bottom hump on the phone. If I place my hands over that area holding the phone normally I can go from 3 bars (-86 dBm) down to 0 bars (-106 dBm). Data starts getting very iffy at -106 dBm but still kind of works, just real slow. If I hold the phone in the middle or near the top, I almost always get the same or better signal. I also found the phone gets the best signal when it is held flat, rather than perpendicular to the ground. In fact the best signal I get is when I'm not holding the phone at all, and instead lay it flat on the table.
Again, I'm not saying every phone behaves this way nor am I saying this explains everyones' signal issues. I'm just relaying my experiences.
BTW the signal levels when laid flat on a table side-by-side to the Optimus S is very comparable, almost the same (minus the lack of granularity). However when I'm holding both phones, the E4GT has generally 5 dBm worse signal, sometimes 10 dBm if I'm holding normally and covering the bottom of the phone.
It appears the E4GT has very little granularity with signal strength reporting. It only goes by increments of 5 dBm, whereas the Optimus reports signal levels at a granularity of 1 dBm.
For E4GT, -106 dBm = 0 bar, -101 dBm = 1 bar, -96 dBm = 2 bar, -91 dBm = 3 bar - 86 dBm = 4 bar, -81 dBm = 5 bar, and -76 dBm = 6 bar.
Problem in my main test area is the signal is somewhere between -93 dBm and -98 dBm according to the Optimus S. Whereas the Optimus S can react to small changes in dBm with equally small changes in reported signal strength and "# bars", the E4GT tends to like jumping from -91 dBm to - 101 dBm and back. It only reports certain discrete levels and it appears to be rounding up and down (based on side-by-side signal comparison to Optimus S) They both go up and down at roughly the same time, but Optimus S does it smoothly over time. E4GT just does the signal change reporting very abruptly with 5-10 dBm jumps.
Second thing I noticed is hand and phone positioning really affect the signal strength. The antennae/transmitter appear to be at the bottom hump on the phone. If I place my hands over that area holding the phone normally I can go from 3 bars (-86 dBm) down to 0 bars (-106 dBm). Data starts getting very iffy at -106 dBm but still kind of works, just real slow. If I hold the phone in the middle or near the top, I almost always get the same or better signal. I also found the phone gets the best signal when it is held flat, rather than perpendicular to the ground. In fact the best signal I get is when I'm not holding the phone at all, and instead lay it flat on the table.
Again, I'm not saying every phone behaves this way nor am I saying this explains everyones' signal issues. I'm just relaying my experiences.
BTW the signal levels when laid flat on a table side-by-side to the Optimus S is very comparable, almost the same (minus the lack of granularity). However when I'm holding both phones, the E4GT has generally 5 dBm worse signal, sometimes 10 dBm if I'm holding normally and covering the bottom of the phone.