Anandtech - "Investigating the Galaxy Nexus LTE Signal Issue"

[Ken7]

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.

This was the same issue with my Samsung Charge, apparently nothing has changed. Not good.

 

[Ken7]

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

Forget what Andantech said, this is PRECISELY what I've been saying all along. When you read this quote from the article "Verizon has specifically said it's investigating the issue on the Galaxy Nexus, but we wouldn't expect miracles given their track record on this debacle. My DROID Charge review unit had the problem. The ThunderBolt obviously had the problem. My DROID BIONIC has the problem (the new update did not fix it), and now the Galaxy Nexus is suffering from it as well."

I had only a couple of posts ago mentioned the Charge and nothing was done with that (one of the reasons I ditched that POS). So now we confirm that there may well be no fix in the short term as Verizon continues to 'investigate" as they've been doing every since 4G launched.

As I said before, anyone reaching their return window must operate under the assumption this will not be fixed...certainly not in the short term. Wasn't fixed in the Charge, wasn't fixed in the Bionic, wasn't fixed in the TBolt...see a trend here? Still interesting to me that the Rezound seems to be largely free of this issue. I guess that's a phone that frequently tries to 'authenticate' with the network.

I will say this about the Nexus and its radio, the period of 'no data' is far less than what I experienced with the Charge.

 

[racedog]

The radio problem is not just limited to the LTE radio. I use the phone regularly from our RV where I work occasionally and we use as an addition to our house. I have an Asus Transformer in there and my wife will have her Dinc and I also have my old Tbolt. ALL of those devices are able to pick up the wifi from the house and run consistently. The signal is not strong but those three units are able to get signal and keep it. The GN is only able to get signal about half of the time, and saying half the time may be being generous. In the RV the GN shows a signal of -130dbm for the cdma radio but the dinc and tbolt are running at about -90dbm.

The GN shows some very definite radio issues and I'm hoping that they can be resolved soon because the thought of having to pick a Razr or Rezound is not a thrilling option for me. I really do love the GN screen and ICS but the before anything else the radios have to be usable. If I lived in a strong signal area I would probably be joining everyone else about loving the Nexus but the radio issue is a huge one for me.

 

[Ken7]

People complaining about having 3G when they used to have 4G - this is likely just due to the cutoff limit on 4G for each phone. The Moto's may very well be hanging on to that LTE signal until it reaches below a threshold (say 110dbm) while the Nexus is just switching over at a more conservative number (say 100dbm). Thats a software decision, and can be tweaked to Verizon's and Samsung's content.

People complaining about dropping calls when they did not before - thats a more concerning issue, and something that may not have as easy a fix. Will have to see.

Only that's not the case. I see 4G on the Nexus with a reading of -116dbm! So I don't know how much lower than they can write the software for the switchover point. I'm sure at these very low #s, there eventually is a S/N issue that makes the signal very unreliable. For all we know the phone is already programmed to switch at the lowest practical # for the included hardware.

 

[PowerThroughLove]

Although what you're saying is not the same, there are too many of these reports with 4G signal loss to assume the radio is not the issue. Nobody cares what the reported #s are when they KNOW they've had 4G reception in the same place with other phones and the Nexus reverts to 3G. With all due respect to Andandtech, there IS an issue with the phone's radio.

As has already been discussed in this very same thread, the LTE signal is equal across different phones. The only difference is the strength the switch over occurs at.

 

[PowerThroughLove]

Only that's not the case. I see 4G on the Nexus with a reading of -116dbm! So I don't know how much lower than they can write the software for the switchover point. I'm sure at these very low #s, there eventually is a S/N issue that makes the signal very unreliable. For all we know the phone is already programmed to switch at the lowest practical # for the included hardware.

What is the 3G signal in that area? Id assume the cutoff is a ratio, not a hard number.

 

[Ken7]

As has already been discussed in this very same thread, the LTE signal is equal across different phones. The only difference is the strength the switch over occurs at.

I disagree. We do not know that for sure. I'm sure there are a host of other possible explanations. I don't think the only explanation is the switchover point. As I've said, I get a reading of -116dbm and still have 4G. How much lower can they switch...really?

 

[Ken7]

What is the 3G signal in that area? Id assume the cutoff is a ratio, not a hard number.

That's exactly my point, who knows. You and I are not radio engineers and we truly have no clue about this stuff. But I do know as you continue to lower a signal's strength, your S/N ratio drops too. At some point there is simply too much 'garbage' in the signal to be useful. My fear is that the Nexus is already programmed to switch at a very low signal level and further 'enhancements' to that switchover point may not be possible.

 

[Kunji]

As has already been discussed in this very same thread, the LTE signal is equal across different phones. The only difference is the strength the switch over occurs at.

strength of receiver i assume you mean and the software number at which to do so. i believe what many here are saying are that they are dissatisfied with the receiver in the phone irregardless of the software cutoff to switch number. how does one explain the disparity in throughput when two different 4g phones are side by side whether wifi or 4g? 7<13 down is quite a difference but one i can live with but would rather not.

 

[bplewis24]

Just curious -- are you left handed? The CDMA radio is in the bottom left corner of the device (when you're looking at the screen), and the LTE radio is in the upper left corner. Wifi/Bluetooth is center right. All of this according to FCC docs. The Nexus is a pretty big phone. While you might be able to cover the CDMA radio during normal use, unless you're a freak, your hands won't come anywhere near that LTE radio.

Actually, it isn't the 4G radio I was getting signal degradation with. It was last night while holding the phone in my left hand (right handed) that I was able to go from 3 wifi bars to 1 wifi bar.

I did some 4G testing on the way to work this morning. I never leave the 4G radio on under normal conditions. I typically only turn on 4G when I want to stream video or browse the web. But today I left it on during my commute to work and during my first hour at work. The result was the following:

25 minute commute:
55% of time 3 bars.
25% of time 2 bars.
15% of time 4 bars.
5% of time 1 bar.

Those are all rough numbers from just checking down at the phone every 60 seconds or so. I also ran some speed tests (yes, I was breaking the law):

There is also one that I didn't include where I pulled down a whopping 29Mbps on 4 bars. I also want to stress that I never once lost connection. Then I came indoors and spent a couple hours periodically checking to see how it was connected, and it was on 4G all the time. So I took it to the bathroom near the very middle of the building to check coverage there:

So, for me, I haven't had much trouble at all today. I may do some testing at home, because that appears to be the only place where my phone has a very weak 4G signal, at least over the past couple of days.

Brandon

 

[Tom in Bristol]

Sooo...yesterday we learn from Anandtech that the Gnex is reporting LTE signal correctly and no others do it right, and today...VZW tells ComputerWorld that they "will adjust the signal strength indicator to more closely match other Verizon Wireless devices."

Verizon confirms software update coming to Galaxy Nexus - Computerworld

WTF???

 

[sc4fpse]

Sooo...yesterday we learn from Anandtech that the Gnex is reporting LTE signal correctly and no others do it right, and today...VZW tells ComputerWorld that they "will adjust the signal strength indicator to more closely match other Verizon Wireless devices."

Verizon confirms software update coming to Galaxy Nexus - Computerworld

WTF???

Seriously Verizon? Come on. There is a signal problem with this phone. It is NOT related to the number of bars displayed or the fact that the Nexus correctly displays LTE signal strength and not 1xRTT signal strength. DON'T "FIX" WHAT ISN'T BROKEN.

 

[oxymoron]

Click to view quoted image


Seriously Verizon? Come on. There is a signal problem with this phone. It is NOT related to the number of bars displayed or the fact that the Nexus correctly displays LTE signal strength and not 1xRTT signal strength. DON'T "FIX" WHAT ISN'T BROKEN.

Yeah, I literally shook my head in disbelief when I read that. Placebo. They're going to give everyone a sugar pill.

Awesome.

*customized tapatalk signature*

 

[Sippykipnip]

By doing this, they just shot themselves in the foot. There will be an influx of calls to tech support claiming they have x amount of bars, and that they lost voice and data. Be prepared Verizon!

 

[burwil]

I just got back from a Verizon store. Set a demo Rezound and my Nexus to CDMA (I'm giving up on 4G for now in my so called 'extended' area) and the Rezound was up to -10 dBm better as the signal fluctuated. Right Samsung.....you can pretend there is nothing wrong....and while you're at it you can pretend I didn't return your phone for an HTC device.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[Droid800]

Well, Verizon's response has me considering a return. I can't get a good signal in my house on the nexus.

 

[gene1138]

Ok so while at home and at my office I get about 2 bars and around -105dbm. And hadn't seen much better then that. But driving around today as a passenger I was checking my signal strength and was surprised to see 4 bars and -81dbm. I did see signal strength go down and go back up along the way. And now back home I'm back at -110dbm.

So is it really the phone or is it what I read somewhere on the forums here that VZ doesn't put LTE on every tower so most of us are just on the fringes of LTE signal.

 

[sc4fpse]

Engadget said it best:

This is just hilarious.

Verizon sidesteps Galaxy Nexus antennagate, claims signal indicator is to blame -- Engadget

Anyways, great to see that Verizon is going to completely screw up the signal strength numerically on this device. So much for this being a Nexus after all. I could live with the different battery cover. I could live with a few apps that are useful to people that we could disable immediately. But really, they're going to screw with the phone in this way too? Good God.

 

[anthony2558]

Yesterday i was reading that many people were experiencing the *22899 call where the phone would auto do that. I took my phone out of airplane mode cause I was at work, no cell communication allowed. My phone auto dialed the *22899. My PRL changed from 15098 to 52642. My phone thinks it in N.C. now via google maps. Is there a fix for this, anyone else with this prob? Im assuming that the phone should correct itself sometime...

 

[JoJoCal19]

I can say that my Nexus isnt experiencing signal issues. I put my wifes iPhone 4 in field test mode and she was fluctuating but averaging -73dbm to -76dbm and my Nexus stayed -80dbm to -83dbm. I also consider the iPhone 4 one of the best for reception from my experiences. This was with my phone in CDMA mode. We get pretty good coverave here.