Anandtech - "Investigating the Galaxy Nexus LTE Signal Issue"

[Droid800]

I don't think you understood what I was saying, though I probably didn't word that as well as I could have. The problem with the signal, as I put it, is probably a problem with the baseband/radio. The device is accurately displaying LTE signal strength, at last. This is a good thing, even though it may break some hearts. The problem is that the Galaxy Nexus is dropping LTE and switching back to 3G in many areas where other devices (my Thunderbolt included) had NO problem at all. The boiler room in my office? Thunderbolt would pull down 18 Mbps on LTE in there. The Galaxy Nexus? Reverts to 3G. REGARDLESS of the dBm indicated by the device on either 3G or LTE, the Galaxy Nexus is not staying on 4G LTE in many places where other handsets had absolutely no problem at all. Again, that's ignoring what any signal strength may have said, as we've already established that it was all smoke and mirrors.

Alternatively, in easy-to-read list format:

1. The dBm discrepency on 4G LTE was never a "problem" -- the Nexus is just accurately reporting LTE signal strength. This is GOOD.
2. The signal strength "bars" were like the points in Whose Line is it Anyway on all devices before the Galaxy Nexus - they didn't matter. Now they do. This is GOOD.
3. IGNORING WHAT THE BARS SAY/SAID ON BOTH THE GNEX AND OLDER DEVICES, the Galaxy Nexus is having a hard time keeping a 4G LTE connection in many places where older devices remained connected to LTE and had impressive speed tests with no data problems at all. This is VERY VERY BAD.

Read the comments on the first page of the article. The author says that this isn't an issue, but rather how the radio itself is programmed. Basically, that the radio was specifically programmed to default to 3G at a certain signal level, which is, for whatever reason, lower than previous devices. But that in and of itself isn't a problem with the radio, or a problem with it staying connected. Its how the radio's software was written, and how Samsung/Verizon intended it.

 

[sc4fpse]

Read the comments on the first page of the article. The author says that this isn't an issue, but rather how the radio itself is programmed. Basically, that the radio was specifically programmed to default to 3G at a certain signal level, which is, for whatever reason, lower than previous devices. But that in and of itself isn't a problem with the radio, or a problem with it staying connected. Its how the radio's software was written, and how Samsung/Verizon intended it.

Haha, and I guess I ninja'd you with my edits. I saw that bit, and that makes me a little more relieved. Assuming there isn't just poor radio hardware preventing anyone from doing so, they could easily change the software to allow weaker 4G LTE signals to be accepted by the device before it automatically switches back to 3G. Other than the aforementioned battery life issue, I can't see why they would intend for the device to behave this way.

I, for one, would love to see a connection option -- prefer battery life, the cutoff threshold is a higher dBm figure. Prefer 4G LTE, cutoff threshold is a lower (more negative, that is) dBm figure.

edit: All-in-all, I'm really ridiculously happy that the Galaxy Nexus is reporting accurate LTE signal strength. If I understand everything correctly, this should enable Sensorly (and other applications) to begin mapping LTE signal strength, rather than just LTE coverage.

 

[anon(394005)]

Dropped calls are a 3G issue. If people are dropping signal its because the coverage isn't there, or the radio is attempting to handoff to 3G, but struggling. (and that is an issue the author admits he could not test)

New radios are coming in 4.0.3. Be patient.

Just a clarification; on Verizon voice calls (as well as texts) use 1x and are NOT dependent on 3G or LTE. The fact a phone loses the basic signal for voice calls speaks to a greater signal issue with the phone, especially when most other phones do not experience the same issue when used in the same areas. The million dollar question is can it be fixed with software or is it a hardware issue?

 

[nkd]

Well here is the deal if dbm is anything to go bye than yes lte signal on nexus is around 10-15 less than razr. 3g signal however is much closer. I have not had any drop backs to 3g yet from 4g. I am in a good coverage area.
I am not complaining but I will take any improvement as a plus.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[milan03]

Well here is the deal if dbm is anything to go bye than yes lte signal on nexus is around 10-15 less than razr. 3g signal however is much closer. I have not had any drop backs to 3g yet from 4g. I am in a good coverage area.
I am not complaining but I will take any improvement as a plus.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

You shouldn't be worried about dBm comparison between RazR and Nexus. Motorola uses their own Category 2 LTE baseband chipsets which will max out under 50mbps. Everyone else including Samsung uses Category 3 LTE baseband chipsets that can go up to 100mbps but are limited by Verizon's 10Mhz channels to 73.6mbps. Real world peak speeds up to 70mbps, easily 50+mbps all day long here in NYC.
So as long as your LTE performance isn't affected you shouldn't be worried about the dBm reports.

 

[mitra88]

Haha, and I guess I ninja'd you with my edits. I saw that bit, and that makes me a little more relieved. Assuming there isn't just poor radio hardware preventing anyone from doing so, they could easily change the software to allow weaker 4G LTE signals to be accepted by the device before it automatically switches back to 3G. Other than the aforementioned battery life issue, I can't see why they would intend for the device to behave this way.

I, for one, would love to see a connection option -- prefer battery life, the cutoff threshold is a higher dBm figure. Prefer 4G LTE, cutoff threshold is a lower (more negative, that is) dBm figure.

edit: All-in-all, I'm really ridiculously happy that the Galaxy Nexus is reporting accurate LTE signal strength. If I understand everything correctly, this should enable Sensorly (and other applications) to begin mapping LTE signal strength, rather than just LTE coverage.

If Brian's point is completely accurate that there really isn't signal strength difference, then I will be able to stay more hopeful about the upcoming update.

 

[sc4fpse]

Well here is the deal if dbm is anything to go bye than yes lte signal on nexus is around 10-15 less than razr. 3g signal however is much closer. I have not had any drop backs to 3g yet from 4g. I am in a good coverage area.
I am not complaining but I will take any improvement as a plus.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Go ahead and read the Anandtech article one more time. With the RAZR on LTE, the dBm figure in About > Status > Signal Strength is NOT LTE, rather, it's 1xRTT. On the Galaxy Nexus, this is not the case. The figure there is LTE. That's why it's significantly less than the RAZR or other devices. The Nexus is the first phone on which Verizon isn't trying to pull a fast one on us.

In reality, the LTE signal strength on the RAZR and the Nexus are so close that any difference is negligible.


Now, does anyone understand where Brian's conclusion that LTE signal strength reporting is correct on not only the Galaxy Nexus but Android 4.0 in general came from? I see plenty of evidence supporting the Nexus claim, and I agree with him entirely there, but I'm a bit perplexed as to where the Android 4.0 mention came from and how he concludes it's Android 4.0 that "fixes" this.

 

[Droid800]

Just a clarification; on Verizon voice calls (as well as texts) use 1x and are NOT dependent on 3G or LTE. The fact a phone loses the basic signal for voice calls speaks to a greater signal issue with the phone, especially when most other phones do not experience the same issue when used in the same areas. The million dollar question is can it be fixed with software or is it a hardware issue?

I meant to edit that part. Yes, calls are over CDMA. But it will be fixed with the newer radios.

 

[burwil]

Glad those guys are so smart at Anandtech. Maybe they can explain to me why my time without a signal was 28% on the Gnex and 3% on the DroidX. Each sitting a foot or so from each other. CDMA only.

 

[Droid800]

Go ahead and read the Anandtech article one more time. With the RAZR on LTE, the dBm figure in About > Status > Signal Strength is NOT LTE, rather, it's 1xRTT. On the Galaxy Nexus, this is not the case. The figure there is LTE. That's why it's significantly less than the RAZR or other devices. The Nexus is the first phone on which Verizon isn't trying to pull a fast one on us.

In reality, the LTE signal strength on the RAZR and the Nexus are so close that any difference is negligible.


Now, does anyone understand where Brian's conclusion that LTE signal strength reporting is correct on not only the Galaxy Nexus but Android 4.0 in general came from? I see plenty of evidence supporting the Nexus claim, and I agree with him entirely there, but I'm a bit perplexed as to where the Android 4.0 mention came from and how he concludes it's Android 4.0 that "fixes" this.

Android couldn't process the difference (or display it properly) prior to 4.0. It isn't a samsung or Verizon add-on for 4.0, but rather a change in function itself with the OS. (Google didn't hasn't talked much about it yet, because the only 'official' unveiling for 4.0 and the GN they had was for the HSPA+ version)

 

[Droid800]

Glad those guys are so smart at Anandtech. Maybe they can explain to me why my time without a signal was 28% on the Gnex and 3% on the DroidX. Each sitting a foot or so from each other. CDMA only.

Don't post here if you're not going to bother reading the damn article. He said specifically that he was discussing LTE only.

 

[mitra88]

Glad those guys are so smart at Anandtech. Maybe they can explain to me why my time without a signal was 28% on the Gnex and 3% on the DroidX. Each sitting a foot or so from each other. CDMA only.

Provided that the article from Anandtech is correct about the signal strength displaying method difference, the real reason of many users' complaints about losing signals in REAL LIFE may have something to do with signal handsoff in GN's baseband, especially between CDMA and LTE.

 

[bplewis24]

Now, does anyone understand where Brian's conclusion that LTE signal strength reporting is correct on not only the Galaxy Nexus but Android 4.0 in general came from? I see plenty of evidence supporting the Nexus claim, and I agree with him entirely there, but I'm a bit perplexed as to where the Android 4.0 mention came from and how he concludes it's Android 4.0 that "fixes" this.

Thinking of it logically, the only difference would have to be software related when you're talking about reading the signal and displaying the signal differences. So it's coming from the operating system, not the nexus hardware.

Brandon

 

[sc4fpse]

I just didn't think it was a limitation before, rather, a decision that Verizon made in order to make their network look better than it really was. Guess that wasn't exactly correct?

 

[Iceman0803]

I believe the patch will fix the stability of the 4G jumping around. When I spoke to the Verizon rep, she said that is what most of the calls (27) at the time were about.

So far I'm happy with the phone, just want my case!

Maybe... This Is Why Your Verizon Galaxy Nexus (Or Other 4G LTE VZW Phone) Is Losing Its Data Connection

 

[nkd]

Lol sitting at home right now I lost signal completely three times for about 2 mins. The smart people at anandtech can come and tell me why it never happened with razr. I am in the heart of 4g coverage. Never ever dropped signal at my house with razr. I am keeping this phone, but signal problems are real. Anandtech can do their investigation, they are more than welcome to come to my house and witness it. I Lost signal again as I was typing this. This Happened for the first time today.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[ace0187420]

Yeah the signal issues are legit for sure

 

[nkd]

They are. I am at time without signal 5%. It was 0 with the razr. It recently started happening to me. So seems to happening at random. If Verizon listens to anandtech nothing would get fixed lol.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[ace0187420]

Yeah mine is always 1 bar or 2 at most and the dbm is always over 100 and i lose signal frequently.

 

[ace0187420]

They are. I am at time without signal 5%. It was 0 with the razr. It recently started happening to me. So seems to happening at random. If Verizon listens to anandtech nothing would get fixed lol.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

The razr was that much better for you?