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

[AndroidOne]

Mine picks up everything fine. Locks my location quicker than my evo, holds wifi, 4g and cell signal just as good.

+1

Not to sound like a fanboy but my copy of the Nexus seems to be doing very well with 3G/wifi - in fact the wifi radio is most certainly better than my Evo. I have experienced no problems with call signal/quality, downloading, web surfing or streaming in either 3G or wifi.

My only three issues so far with this phone are the low volume of the "loudspeaker", the low visibility of the hardware buttons while outside and the screen brightness being a little low for my taste when on auto.

 

[mdmogren]

So yesterday after not being able to connect to a WiFi access point that was like 20 feet away from me outdoors in open space I went to Sprint and Best Buy to complain and do comparisons. Didn't really lead to anything other than a ton of testing. Ever since I left Best Buy my 4g signal has been better than ever. Maybe there was a tower issue in my area? Maybe it will go back to crappy again? Who knows. Seems intermittent for one reason or another.

Phone calls: I'm having a VERY strange issue with phone calls. It will ring a couple times, then say missed call, then start to ring again for the same call. Sometimes I even answer right away, it says "call ended" immediately and then starts to ring again. Anyone else see anything like this? Makes it pretty hard to answer the phone when it happens...

 

[BlackHawkA4]

So yesterday after not being able to connect to a WiFi access point that was like 20 feet away from me outdoors in open space I went to Sprint and Best Buy to complain and do comparisons. Didn't really lead to anything other than a ton of testing. Ever since I left Best Buy my 4g signal has been better than ever. Maybe there was a tower issue in my area? Maybe it will go back to crappy again? Who knows. Seems intermittent for one reason or another.

Phone calls: I'm having a VERY strange issue with phone calls. It will ring a couple times, then say missed call, then start to ring again for the same call. Sometimes I even answer right away, it says "call ended" immediately and then starts to ring again. Anyone else see anything like this? Makes it pretty hard to answer the phone when it happens...

Google voice intergration? Another post I just replied to. If gmail rings sometimes it gets screwing before getting to your phone depending on your service and what not. Google will actually be sending it to voice mail and the delay to your phone will be ringing an emtpy line.

Turning off ringing Google will cut that delay if your not using it.

 

[Kloneicle]

Apprently its seeming like they could be aware of it. Just bought a case at the local sprint store and the guy that sold me the phone asked me how it was doing I told him about the signal issues and he said a update should be out in a couple weeks. That they were aware of it.

Don't stop hammering there forums thoe, the more people the quicker it gets here.

 

[mdmogren]

Google voice intergration? Another post I just replied to. If gmail rings sometimes it gets screwing before getting to your phone depending on your service and what not. Google will actually be sending it to voice mail and the delay to your phone will be ringing an emtpy line.

Turning off ringing Google will cut that delay if your not using it.

I do have google voice integration turned on, but I also had it turned on on my Pre without this issue. Makes sense that it would be caused by gv tho, it's definitely had some issues.

 

[hpilot]

+1

Not to sound like a fanboy but my copy of the Nexus seems to be doing very well with 3G/wifi - in fact the wifi radio is most certainly better than my Evo. I have experienced no problems with call signal/quality, downloading, web surfing or streaming in either 3G or wifi.

My only three issues so far with this phone are the low volume of the "loudspeaker", the low visibility of the hardware buttons while outside and the screen brightness being a little low for my taste when on auto.

I agree about the screen brightness in auto. I wish there was a way to change the bias for auto.

 

[scuba_steve]

Thanks

I would just like to thank everyone for all of the detailed info in this thread. Seriously. Great info.

My Palm Pre Minus is still just fine, but I find that I am starting to get antsy for a new phone...and I have been tempted by the NS4G...but even before these issues were reported, I was reluctant given that it seems like a step backwards from an Epic 4G in almost every respect...except thinner, pure google, and NFC. These radio issues put the nail in the coffin for me.

I won't buy one with these issues banking on some future patch...and while I wait, I expect that the Evo 3D will hit the streets. Frankly, I'll probably just wait for a Galaxy S2 at this point. Google really had to deliver a quality product given the dated specs...and it looks like they didn't. I can get a reliable wifi signal instantaneously anywhere in my house with my Pre...and it's not a small house. Amazing that something so basic slipped through testing.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

I would just like to thank everyone for all of the detailed info in this thread. Seriously. Great info.

My Palm Pre Minus is still just fine, but I find that I am starting to get antsy for a new phone...and I have been tempted by the NS4G...but even before these issues were reported, I was reluctant given that it seems like a step backwards from an Epic 4G in almost every respect...except thinner, pure google, and NFC. These radio issues put the nail in the coffin for me.

I won't buy one with these issues banking on some future patch...and while I wait, I expect that the Evo 3D will hit the streets. Frankly, I'll probably just wait for a Galaxy S2 at this point. Google really had to deliver a quality product given the dated specs...and it looks like they didn't. I can get a reliable wifi signal instantaneously anywhere in my house with my Pre...and it's not a small house. Amazing that something so basic slipped through testing.

I came from an epic and this is anything but a step backwards from it. Minus some wifi issues I'm having I have no issues compared to the list I had with the epic

 

[FocusFreak]

These radio issues put the nail in the coffin for me. I won't buy one with these issues banking on some future patch...and while I wait, I expect that the Evo 3D will hit the streets.

If you are thinking the 3D wont have issues on launch, you are crazy. EVERY new phone has some issues at launch. The Evo 4G not only had worse reception problems than the Nexus, it had screens falling off, light leak issues, grounding problems and didnt even display at 30fps. A fix was released for all of these issues within 2-3 weeks that fixed them and a year later, its one of the most successful phone ever. New phones have issues that need to be fixed, deal with it.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

If you are thinking the 3D wont have issues on launch, you are crazy. EVERY new phone has some issues at launch. The Evo 4G not only had worse reception problems than the Nexus, it had screens falling off, light leak issues, grounding problems and didnt even display at 30fps. A fix was released for all of these issues within 2-3 weeks that fixed them and a year later, its one of the most successful phone ever. New phones have issues that need to be fixed, deal with it.

Well said sir.

 

[Wiley_11]

Personally I doubt these issues will still be a problem 2 weeks from now. As soon as it's resolved I'll be racing to the Sprint store.

 

[oxeneers]

Hey guys,

I don't believe these "issues" really detract from the experience this phone offers. I live just outside San Francisco, so I may be in the minority, but the only issues I have are speed issues. The phone "only" gets 3mbps on 4G whereas my EVO and EVO Shift used to get like 8-9mbps+ down.

This phone is so thin and feels so great in the hand that it's perfect for me. I only notice any signal issues when I'm on 4G. On 3G, it is constantly 5 full bars and even on the rare occasion the phone slips to 1X, it still stays full bars and quickly goes back to full 3G service.

There will definitely be a patch in the future. Google / Samsung / Sprint are just investigating, I'm sure.

 

[STL 314]

Signal is horrible I get 1-2 bars on 3G and 1 bar on 4G

 

[MrEvan]

Google / Samsung / Sprint are just investigating, I'm sure.

Hey everyone, I work on the Android team down in Mountain View, and we are investigating indeed. Thanks for all the reports. I met Phil yesterday in SF and told him that my team really appreciates AC. I'll post an update here as soon as I have one.

 

[scuba_steve]

If you are thinking the 3D wont have issues on launch, you are crazy. EVERY new phone has some issues at launch. The Evo 4G not only had worse reception problems than the Nexus, it had screens falling off, light leak issues, grounding problems and didnt even display at 30fps. A fix was released for all of these issues within 2-3 weeks that fixed them and a year later, its one of the most successful phone ever. New phones have issues that need to be fixed, deal with it.

There is one HECK of a difference between light leak issues and basic radio issues.

It's a phone. It's primarily a device for communications. Thus, radio issues are fairly prominent issues...and it apparently has them. And such issues in what could at best be referred to as a slight evolution of an already marketed device?

All phones have "issues" because we tend to nitpick. Frankly, I have always found light leak issues to be exactly that type of nitpicking. Baisc radio issues are not nitpicking...and no, not every phone has such basic issues. My Pre had 99 problems at launch, but wifi and 3G connectivity were not two of them.

Regardless, I am not buying a phone on a promise of a future fix. If they fix it in 2 weeks, great. If I am still looking, I'll consider it, but then we'll just be two weeks closer to far better phones that are already on the horizon.

$0.02

 

[Wiley_11]

I just went to AC Nexus S forum for the first time since Saturday. I was looking for signal issues and and found nothing. Sounds like the issues are with Nexus S 4G only. That place is deader than a doornail compared to Nexus S 4G forum.

 

[gabbott]

There is one HECK of a difference between light leak issues and basic radio issues.

It's a phone. It's primarily a device for communications. Thus, radio issues are fairly prominent issues...and it apparently has them. And such issues in what could at best be referred to as a slight evolution of an already marketed device?

His point was that the EVO 4G also suffered from reception issues. So it had some radio issues at launch as well. Wifi in particular was pretty noticeable, but updates came and resolved it. The same should come with updates for the Nexus.

 

[tomkat101]

The NS4G I have is working flawlessly. wifi is ridonculously fast, 4g is pretty decent in my area, 3g is 5 bars. coming from an evo and this phone feels snappier, looks cleaner and the updates are already coming... maps, books, flash 10.3, streaming netflix app, gv has already had some integration/migration update, the epic didnt get an official ota for 2.2 till when, last month... anyway gettin off topic... the ns4g is have is fantastic, no issues to report yet.

 

[Jerzey McNasty]

The NS4G I have is working flawlessly. wifi is ridonculously fast, 4g is pretty decent in my area, 3g is 5 bars. coming from an evo and this phone feels snappier, looks cleaner and the updates are already coming... maps, books, flash 10.3, streaming netflix app, gv has already had some integration/migration update, the epic didnt get an official ota for 2.2 till when, last month... anyway gettin off topic... the ns4g is have is fantastic, no issues to report yet.

same here. flawless.

 

[Wiley_11]

Great to hear positive feedback. I was all set to get NS4G this week but I'll give them a little time to work on signal issues. :'(