Nexus S Has Terrible 4G Radio, Terrible Wifi Radio, and Wifi Tethering Crashes Data

Wiley_11

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From this point on, this thread will stay 100% on topic. We are addressing problems with the Nexus S, not with each other. Any posts of direct references/criticisms toward other members will be deleted and/or receive an infraction. I appreciate everyone's understanding and cooperation in advance.

Thank you!!! As a prospective NS4G buyer I find this thread very helpful. The recent attempts to silence honest discussion were becoming quite annoying in my opinion. I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on a NS4G but I need reliable 3G/wifi. :D
 

ragnarokx

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Thank you!!! As a prospective NS4G buyer I find this thread very helpful. The recent attempts to silence honest discussion were becoming quite annoying in my opinion. I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on a NS4G but I need reliable 3G/wifi. :D

Glad to help. The Nexus S is a great phone, and it deserves a great forum :D
 

redtooth

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my live chat with "Sean" at Samsung

Sean : Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?

Visitor: What can you tell me about the signal issues people are having with the nexus s 4g? I would like to get one but I am waiting to find out about the signal (3g 4g and wifi) fix

Sean : I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.

Sean : I understand that you have a signal issue, Am I correct ?

Visitor: I do not have the phone yet. I would like to get one but I am waiting to see what is going to be done. Its all over the internet and most of the reviews of the phone say there is a problem with the radio on the phone. Can you tell me if this is true

Sean : Thank you for confirming.

Visitor: Does your Nexus S 4G have poor signal quality too? | ZDNet

Sean : No, it is not true.

Visitor: Nexus S 4G Having Reception Issues?

Visitor: so there are no issues with the phone and its raido?

Sean : As of now we do not experience any issues with the radio on the phone.

Sean : However, I will post this issue to the concern department on your behalf.

Visitor: so if there is no issue its safe to say samsung is not working on any fix at this time?

Sean : I will be right with you.

Sean : I apologize for the inconvenience .

Sean : It appears that you have been away from your computer for an extended period of time or that your questions have already been answered. To assist another customer who has been waiting, I need to close our chat conversation. I apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any further queries, please contact us again through Live Chat.

Chat session has been terminated by the Samsung Agent.


I guess that was all he had to say.
take it for what it is i guess.
that was today at 1;30 pm est.
 

Richard1864

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Sean : Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?

Visitor: What can you tell me about the signal issues people are having with the nexus s 4g? I would like to get one but I am waiting to find out about the signal (3g 4g and wifi) fix

Sean : I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.

Sean : I understand that you have a signal issue, Am I correct ?

Visitor: I do not have the phone yet. I would like to get one but I am waiting to see what is going to be done. Its all over the internet and most of the reviews of the phone say there is a problem with the radio on the phone. Can you tell me if this is true

Sean : Thank you for confirming.

Visitor: Does your Nexus S 4G have poor signal quality too? | ZDNet

Sean : No, it is not true.

Visitor: Nexus S 4G Having Reception Issues?

Visitor: so there are no issues with the phone and its raido?

Sean : As of now we do not experience any issues with the radio on the phone.

Sean : However, I will post this issue to the concern department on your behalf.

Visitor: so if there is no issue its safe to say samsung is not working on any fix at this time?

Sean : I will be right with you.

Sean : I apologize for the inconvenience .

Sean : It appears that you have been away from your computer for an extended period of time or that your questions have already been answered. To assist another customer who has been waiting, I need to close our chat conversation. I apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any further queries, please contact us again through Live Chat.

Chat session has been terminated by the Samsung Agent.


I guess that was all he had to say.
take it for what it is i guess.
that was today at 1;30 pm est.

It was posted a page or two back that Google is already testing a fix for this issue. some of the people at Samsung are aware of the issue and that a fix is is being worked on, but not everyone is. i have found the supervisors at Samsung are usually more up on things than the regular reps. Wish they would update all the regular reps....
 

ragnarokx

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After having Sprint for so long, I've personally learned to take what (any) CS reps say with a grain of salt.

Sent by a little green robot
 

redtooth

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It was posted a page or two back that Google is already testing a fix for this issue. some of the people at Samsung are aware of the issue and that a fix is is being worked on, but not everyone is. i have found the supervisors at Samsung are usually more up on things than the regular reps. Wish they would update all the regular reps....

I did not know Google was testing a fix.. I read that Google was doing testing and investigating but I did not know they had a potential fix for the problem that they are now testing. Could you provide a link to your source ? That would be great!
 

wstevens

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I would be very interested in the following if anyone owns both an EVO 4G and a Nexus S 4G.

Compare the devices side by side both running the "Network Signal Info" app available in the market. This app will show you a nice graph of your signal strength over time for both EVDO and WiFi.

Alternatively, compare the devices side by side using the "Real Signal" app available in the market to just compare CDMA and EVDO signals.

Both of these will show the actual dBm and use the same number of bars to represent signal. If the Nexus S truly has an issue, it would be very evident using this type of comparison. If possible, a video of this would be great so others can actually see the issue.
 

Richard1864

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I did not know Google was testing a fix.. I read that Google was doing testing and investigating but I did not know they had a potential fix for the problem that they are now testing. Could you provide a link to your source ? That would be great!

http://forum.androidcentral.com/spr...ifi-tethering-crashes-data-28.html#post947827

Post #277. The users there mentioned getting an email from Google about it. I have heard same from a couple of the Android developers working at Google via phone chat. No ETA on the fix tho.
 

redtooth

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I would be very interested in the following if anyone owns both an EVO 4G and a Nexus S 4G.

Compare the devices side by side both running the "Network Signal Info" app available in the market. This app will show you a nice graph of your signal strength over time for both EVDO and WiFi.

Alternatively, compare the devices side by side using the "Real Signal" app available in the market to just compare CDMA and EVDO signals.

Both of these will show the actual dBm and use the same number of bars to represent signal. If the Nexus S truly has an issue, it would be very evident using this type of comparison. If possible, a video of this would be great so others can actually see the issue.

I have done this on 3g a few times at work with both an EVO and a Epic. Most tests my nexus is about half the speed there phones are (ping, down and up). This has been done many many times in the google forum if you would like to check it out its mostly on the first 2 pages
Nexus S 4g Signal issues - Google Mobile Help
 

wstevens

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I have done this on 3g a few times at work with both an EVO and a Epic. Most tests my nexus is about half the speed there phones are (ping, down and up). This has been done many many times in the google forum if you would like to check it out its mostly on the first 2 pages
Nexus S 4g Signal issues - Google Mobile Help

I'll check out the Google forum for sure... but it sounds like you were comparing speed tests. What I am interested in is an actual signal comparison in dBm using the same app (Such as Network Signal Info) on the Nexus S as well as a different device such as the EVO 4G.
 

redtooth

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http://forum.androidcentral.com/spr...ifi-tethering-crashes-data-28.html#post947827

Post #277. The users there mentioned getting an email from Google about it. I have heard same from a couple of the Android developers working at Google via phone chat. No ETA on the fix tho.

"I have already been on the phone with both Sprint and Samsung. They have been aware of the issue for a couple of days. Google also emailed me that testing is going on. So please stop posting the same stuff everyday saying they aren't acknowledging it. They are aware, but not every single person in that company is going to know yet. So enough be patient or return the phone. Simple as that"
I guess I did not interpret that to be “testing a fix”. I understood it to be they are doing some testing, like looking into it to see if there is a problem. I hope you are correct. This was the last thing I read form anyone at Google.

Hey all,

Thanks for posting all this useful information folks. We are still investigating and doing some side-by-side tests of our own so stay tuned. No need to continue posting your coordinates and speed stats. Thanks for your continued patience.

-Ry Guy
 

redtooth

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I'll check out the Google forum for sure... but it sounds like you were comparing speed tests. What I am interested in is an actual signal comparison in dBm using the same app (Such as Network Signal Info) on the Nexus S as well as a different device such as the EVO 4G.

Ok I can try it for you tomorow. Should be able to do it on a few different phones too. Alot of people I work with have sprint.
 

wstevens

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Ok I can try it for you tomorow. Should be able to do it on a few different phones too. Alot of people I work with have sprint.

Thanks, I would appreciate it. Again, I would recommended comparing the devices using either "Network Signal Info" or "Real Signal" both available in the Android Market.

"Network Signal Info" is probably the best one to use as it will compare the raw dBm values of both your Sprint 3G connection as well as your WiFi signal strength. If there really is a signal issue affecting the Nexus, it should be very obvious using this type of comparison.
 

Richard1864

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-101 dBm 0 ash
Prl is P:01115

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

I have the same PRL. I have -76 dBm 0 asu. I am in Baltimore MD, in a house.

Wonder what the difference is....

Anyways, using Ookla's Speedtest.net app, my current speeds are:

Indoor Outdoor
4G 2560 kbps down 985 kbps up 2516 kbps down 987 kbps up
140 ms ping 140 ms ping
3G 1047 kbps down 246 kbps up 1306 kbps down 269 kbps up
204 ms ping 206 ms ping
WiFi 8702 kbps down 3534 kbps up 395 kbps down 719 kbps up
22 ms ping 115 ms ping

My signal strength did not change from above. I am using a Netgear N600 Gigabit dual band wireless router. I have NO airave in the house. The nearest tower is about 2.5 miles from me.

Do these test results help anyone?
 

fixxxer1022

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im gonna lay low for awhile on the issue. ive got till the 11th to return my phone if i have too. i know i used to troll alot on xda but im pretty passionate about things i want done. until we see an official tweet or something from sprint or samsung i won't believe they have even looked into this. i appreciate the mods & gbhil coming in here and defending some of us. it's a great phone and i never bashed it. i want this addressed just like most of you do. i only made that video to give the users an insight as to what many believe is the problem.
 

wirelessness#AC

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Is it normal for the 4G radio to disconnect/reconnect every time a Wi-Fi connection is connected/disconnected? That's what mine does...

On my Evo the 4G connection just flaps back and forth from connected to disconnected if it is connected to Wi-Fi.
 

Richard1864

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Is it normal for the 4G radio to disconnect/reconnect every time a Wi-Fi connection is connected/disconnected? That's what mine does...

On my Evo the 4G connection just flaps back and forth from connected to disconnected if it is connected to Wi-Fi.

It seems to be normal. My EVO used to do that, and my NS4G does too.