-75dBm a generic signal level?

[milan03]

So I've been testing LTE here in NYC pretty much since the Thunderbolt's launch day, done my fair share of "node hunting", and I've found a dozen of perfect locations where I'm literarily a few feet away from DAS or the actual eNodeB.
In those situations, I would normally get signal level as low as -25dBm and certainly lower than -51dBm on my ThunderBolt, Rezound, or UML290 AirCard.
Visiting those same locations with my Galaxy Nexus I seem to be hitting the threshold of -75dBm for any signal that's the same or better. I've been testing within LTE environment so I can't speak of 1x or EvDO, but this is rather strange. Simple SIM card swap from GN to my other devices show signal in the -30dBm range.

I'm curious to hear your experiences in the similar environment.

P.S. the data performance is pristine so this thread is simply about signal reading under the optimal conditions.

 

[jafels]

ive only ever seen my gnex read under -75dbm twice...once in a verizon store on 3g and once in harrisburg pa on 4g. Usually it seems -75 is the best it can do.....regardless of how good the data is.

 

[milan03]

ive only ever seen my gnex read under -75dbm twice...once in a verizon store on 3g and once in harrisburg pa on 4g. Usually it seems -75 is the best it can do.....regardless of how good the data is.

Are you 100% positive that in Harrisburg you weren't actually on 1x/3G?

 

[jafels]

i am positive i was on 4g in Harrisburg.......i know because i was in the passenger seat of my brothers car specifically staring at my phone like an idiot looking at signal strengths and then running speed tests.....i was surprised to see it read lower than -75dbm because that had been the first time i ever saw a reading below it.

 

[milan03]

i am positive i was on 4g in Harrisburg.......i know because i was in the passenger seat of my brothers car specifically staring at my phone like an idiot looking at signal strengths and then running speed tests.....i was surprised to see it read lower than -75dbm because that had been the first time i ever saw a reading below it.

Was it super low or still around -71dBm range?

 

[Premium1]

I got a -73 one time but that was the lowest I got.

 

[nkd]

Even comparing 3g signal on nexus and droid razr, i get around -78dbm on razr at my house and on galaxy nexus I never get any better than -93dbm, however it is pretty consistant at that and I doesn't get any worse and with the razr it was -80dbm at my house consistant.

That was 3g to 3g signal comparison as razr always displays the 3g signal in signal info menu, from what the reports are saying. But with razr I never had random dropouts in data, with nexus sometime it would go from 2 bars to no bars and no data and reconnect and would do it every few hours or so.

That usually happens on 4g, 3g signal never has issues. If the data dropouts were every 4 mins I would be done with this phone. My replacement from amazon gets here on tuesday and I will see if it is my phone or not.

The best i have gotten is -75 like others have said, that was in the middle of the town.

 

[jafels]

Was it super low or still around -71dBm range?

It was -66dbm if i remember correctly

 

[milan03]

It was -66dbm if i remember correctly

I think GN is not even reporting the regular SNR, just plain Field Strength. That might be why, but nonetheless it's so confusing.

 

[Ken7]

In the N.Y./L.I. area I've never seen better than -75dbm.

 

[azdmelani]

I am in NYC and have -77dbm at the moment

 

[Droid800]

So I've been testing LTE here in NYC pretty much since the Thunderbolt's launch day, done my fair share of "node hunting", and I've found a dozen of perfect locations where I'm literarily a few feet away from DAS or the actual eNodeB.
In those situations, I would normally get signal level as low as -25dBm and certainly lower than -51dBm on my ThunderBolt, Rezound, or UML290 AirCard.
Visiting those same locations with my Galaxy Nexus I seem to be hitting the threshold of -75dBm for any signal that's the same or better. I've been testing within LTE environment so I can't speak of 1x or EvDO, but this is rather strange. Simple SIM card swap from GN to my other devices show signal in the -30dBm range.

I'm curious to hear your experiences in the similar environment.

P.S. the data performance is pristine so this thread is simply about signal reading under the optimal conditions.

The dBm for anything except the nexus is not for LTE, it's for 1x.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[milan03]

The dBm for anything except the nexus is not for LTE, it's for 1x.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If that was only true when it comes to AirCards that are set to LTE only mode... Still seeing -51dBm on my AirCards.
Another example is LG Revolution. It's the only LTE phone that shows both 1x and LTE dBm: http://images.anandtech.com/doci/4450/DSC_0734.jpg
Same thing, getting under -75dBm in ideal weather conditions.

It's much more than that...

 

[MegaSoundwave76]

I figure that if my GNex can make calls, send texts, get on Facebook, surf for porn on the web and cook me a ham sandwich, then signal strength is just fine.

 

[MBSMD]

EVDO 3G at my home hovers at -93 dBm on my GNex, while another phone I have gets -87 at the same exact location.

I think the radio in the GNex just plain old sucks.

Thankfully, with VZW, all you need is the minimalist signal to make a call.

 

[Droid800]

EVDO 3G at my home hovers at -93 dBm on my GNex, while another phone I have gets -87 at the same exact location.

I think the radio in the GNex just plain old sucks.

Thankfully, with VZW, all you need is the minimalist signal to make a call.

-87 compared to -93 is no difference. Your signal will exactly the same.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MBSMD]

-87 compared to -93 is no difference. Your signal will exactly the same.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Is not every 3 dB difference a double (or half) change in power? A 3 dB decrease is 50% of the power.

-93 dBm should be substantially less than -87 dBm (6 dBm difference).

 

[LegendsCrazy]

Noob question, please forgive. What should we be seeing in signal strength? I've been around -100 dBm to -101 dBm (39 asu) pretty consistently. Is that bad?

 

[Cory Streater]

i am positive i was on 4g in Harrisburg.......i know because i was in the passenger seat of my brothers car specifically staring at my phone like an idiot looking at signal strengths and then running speed tests.....i was surprised to see it read lower than -75dbm because that had been the first time i ever saw a reading below it.

Was it super low or still around -71dBm range?

I got a -73 one time but that was the lowest I got.

Highest, not lowest. For example, -73 is greater than -80.

 

[milan03]

Since most (all) of us are seeing the same exact values, it leads me to believe that they're representing the actual bars... I've never seen a value other than these 6 generically quantized:

-120 (0 bars), -113 (1 bar), -100 (2 bars), -93 (3 bars), -83 (4 bars), -75 (5 bars or better).

If anyone has more insight on this, please chime in. All I know, I can't wait to get the next OTA, which I'm hoping will offer standard dBm values.