LG G2 Signal Bars

[droider363]

Hi All:

Is it correct that the signal strength bars for the LG G2 on android 4.2.2 are solely for voice? The reason I ask is that I have one bar there (next to the 4G indicator). Using an app called Open Signal, my dBm is at -68, which I would think is close to max bars. Using another app called Network Signal Info, it shows my LTE dBm as -117. This is consistent with my old Samsung Droid Charge, where I could see both an EVDO and LTE dBm, which had those two values.

I also use a Wilson Signal Boost DT. That seems to make a big difference for my voice dBm, but has no impact on my LTE, which makes sense. In terms of real world performance, I experience dropped calls and sometimes have long delays to dial out. This is all from my home office.

Can anyone clarify what exactly is supposed to indicate my voice call quality? I would think the -68 dBm represents it, but my signal strength only shows one bar, and frankly, my real world performance feels like one bar (to make things more complicated, my old Droid Charge shows 3 bars with the same dBm levels). How the heck should I interpret everything? I also have a metric called 1X Signal Strength on my old Charge that shows -54 dBm.

Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I'm pretty sure the bars represent your voice signal (i.e., the CDMA signal). Are you sure the OpenSignal app is reporting your voice signal, or is it reporting your 4G LTE signal?

 

[droider363]

Welcome to Android Central! I'm pretty sure the bars represent your voice signal (i.e., the CDMA signal). Are you sure the OpenSignal app is reporting your voice signal, or is it reporting your 4G LTE signal?

The OpenSignal app is definitely measuring Voice, as it is labeled as such. It is using a 6 bar scale, and has me at 6 bars, which given my very low dBm, seems correct.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hmm, don't have an answer for you, sorry. I wonder if the phone's firmware defaults to reporting the native voice signal (hence the one bar), while the apps you're using can report the stronger signal from the booster?

 

[droider363]

Hmm, don't have an answer for you, sorry. I wonder if the phone's firmware defaults to reporting the native voice signal (hence the one bar), while the apps you're using can report the stronger signal from the booster?

If that was the case, I wouldn't mind, as that would mean I have no issues with my calls. Unfortunately, my calls feel more like 1 bar than 5 bars :-(

 

[JJ Jones]

There is a built in way to see both.
Settings>tethering and networks>mobile networks>network type and strength.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[droider363]

There is a built in way to see both.
Settings>tethering and networks>mobile networks>network type and strength.

Posted via Android Central App

Thanks - I was wondering where you could see the dBm built in on the G2. I currently show 117 dBm on 4G, that corresponds with one bar, and 65 dBm on 1X, that corresponds with 5 bars. This confirms that the signal bars I am showing are indicating the 4G signal. Is this normal? Is the 1X supposed to represent my voice signal strength? If so, why do I have trouble dialing out and dropped calls if I theoretically have 5 bars? Also, all literature I see on the net says the signal strength at the top is supposed to indicate voice quality, not 4G signal strength. Strange that my icons seem to contradict that.

 

[somnambulator]

turn off 4g. lte does voice as well.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[droider363]

turn off 4g. lte does voice as well.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

LTE does voice too? That seems to contradict all data that I've seen out there, but does explain the situation. So if I disable it, I will get the better reception from CDMA? How do I go about disabling LTE? I've searched Google but haven't found an answer.

Thanks

BTW - it sounds silly if Verizon/LG is forcing my phone to use a 117 dBm voice connection if a 65dBm voice connection is available.

 

[B. Diddy]

I don't think any service has launched VoLTE (voice over LTE) yet, although the big ones are currently testing it out.

 

[UJ95x]

turn off 4g. lte does voice as well.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

No it doesn't. None of the carriers have released any VoLTE capable devices

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[UJ95x]

LTE does voice too? That seems to contradict all data that I've seen out there, but does explain the situation. So if I disable it, I will get the better reception from CDMA? How do I go about disabling LTE? I've searched Google but haven't found an answer.

Thanks

BTW - it sounds silly if Verizon/LG is forcing my phone to use a 117 dBm voice connection if a 65dBm voice connection is available.

It does not at the moment. You can go into settings > more > mobile networks and select the option without LTE to disable it

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[somnambulator]

wow really? I thought voice lte was implemented like 3 years ago

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[UJ95x]

wow really? I thought voice lte was implemented like 3 years ago

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

No. I think Verizon and AT&T are supposed to be implementing it later this year

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[Ace4]

Verizon is not using voice over lte yet. As for the signal strength, lte will always be showing vastly lower strength, it's a completely different frequency so the noise level is different, which allows a lower strength signal to be effective.