Official Signal Strength and Reception Thread

[Ken7]

Re: low signal strength?

Except the charge did get better, as did the thunderbolt and many other phones through updates.

Not entirely accurate. Many are still reporting that the Charge had no better reception after the update. I can tell you my buddy has a Charge and he's having the same radio issues he did prior to the update.

Anyone promising a fix is just not telling the truth. We hope there is a fix, we have our fingers crossed there is a fix, but there is NO guarantee there will be a fix that works.

 

[Ken7]

Re: low signal strength?

Yes, the Charge did improve some, I'd say about 50% after we got the GB update. Still though, I'm in a solidly "red" 4G zone at my house and only get 4G on the Charge about half the time (only got it about 1/4 of the time before the update).

I see people bringing up that after release updates come out that improve the radio. Well, I can see that for the first 4G phone, but now that we all know about this, why wouldn't Verizon already have the updates installed to make the phone work better now? Do they have to act like every phone is the first 4G phone?

Bingo! I've thought exactly the same thing. But in fairness, one of the mods had mentioned that the 4.0.2 update actually compromised the radio on the Nexus to some degree. But it's hard to believe with 3 companies involved, that nobody catches these issues. Let's face it, radio sensitivity is not exactly a 'minor issue'. You'd think that with any update they'd test to make sure that that aspect of performance was not negatively impacted.

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

Bingo! I've thought exactly the same thing. But in fairness, one of the mods had mentioned that the 4.0.2 update actually compromised the radio on the Nexus to some degree. But it's hard to believe with 3 companies involved, that nobody catches these issues. Let's face it, radio sensitivity is not exactly a 'minor issue'. You'd think that with any update they'd test to make sure that that aspect of performance was not negatively impacted.

I would assume that is why they are said to be testing a new radio for the 4.0.3 update.

 

[kklier]

Re: low signal strength?

I would assume that is why they are said to be testing a new radio for the 4.0.3 update.

Who said they are testing a new radio in 4.0.3? I have not seen proof, but I would like to.

Android Developers Blog: Android 4.0.3 Platform and Updated SDK tools

 

[mitra88]

Re: low signal strength?

I would assume that is why they are said to be testing a new radio for the 4.0.3 update.

As a matter of fact, ICS 4.0.3 OTA update and GN baseband update are going to be most likely two separate works. GN baseband is only specific to GN, while ICS 4.0.3 is more about the OS framework. However, many previous OTAs of smartphones, according to the history, included the revised versions of the baseband. So, with this ongoing issue of the signal strength of GN, I would naturally expect some amount of work on the GN baseband along with ICS 4.0.3 OTA. If it doesn't, of course, I will be deeply disappointed just like others.

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

As a matter of fact, ICS 4.0.3 OTA update and GN baseband update are going to be most likely two separate works. GN baseband is only specific to GN, while ICS 4.0.3 is more about the OS framework. However, many previous OTAs of smartphones, according to the history, included the revised versions of the baseband. So, with this ongoing issue of the signal strength of GN, I would naturally expect some amount of work on the GN baseband along with ICS 4.0.3 OTA. If it doesn't, of course, I will be deeply disappointed just like others.

Well when p3 got 4.1 he said it made the signal much better over 4.0.2 so since that is in testing now I would assume they would push 4.1 and add the 4.0.3 stuff in rather than having two separate updates. Maybe they will do it as two updates who knows.

 

[bplewis24]

Re: low signal strength?

Sitting side by side with my bionic. Bionic=4-5 bars ; nexus =0-1 bars. How is that possible? Is this a software or hardware issue on the nexus? Should i be concerned ? Is this a bug that can be fixed. Thoughts?

Wifi at 5 feet: Nexus 5 waves, Bionic 5 waves
Wifi at 25 feet: Nexus 4 waves, Bionic 3 waves
Wifi at 50 feet: Nexus 2-5 waves, Bionic 2-4 waves.

I call it a wash.

3G/4G in random areas today: Anywhere between 2 and 5 bars, with it averaging 2-3 bars.

What matters though, is performance and actual signal strength. I wonder if the icon is just messed up, or if the signal strength is really that low. When I was at 2-3 bars of 4G, I was still pulling down 12Mb with 52ms of latency. On 5 bars, I was pulling down 14-15Mb with 50ms of latency. I didn't check the signal strength in the settings to verify, but I bet Anandtech will when they finish their review. As long as it still performs great and there is no strain on the batter, that's all that matters to me.

My Nexus wipes the floor with the Bionic when it comes to rendering web pages and actually scrolling. It isn't close.

Brandon

 

[mitra88]

Re: low signal strength?

Bingo! I've thought exactly the same thing. But in fairness, one of the mods had mentioned that the 4.0.2 update actually compromised the radio on the Nexus to some degree. But it's hard to believe with 3 companies involved, that nobody catches these issues. Let's face it, radio sensitivity is not exactly a 'minor issue'. You'd think that with any update they'd test to make sure that that aspect of performance was not negatively impacted.

In fact, I would consider it natural for manufacturers to have hard time optimizing the LTE baseband software for their phones, yet. Even after an year of LTE service announcement, each major manufacturer only has been able to announce two LTE capable phones so far (Charge, GN from Samsung, Bionic, RAZR from Motorola, Thunderbolt, Rezound from HTC, Revolution from LG), and as far as I remember, all of those first models have suffered a lot with their earlier version of basebands. Even Motorola.

People also should not forget that VZW LTE service is still evolving. The software which runs VZW LTE towers is still being upgraded very frequently. These frequent upgrades sometimes have caused troubles on existing LTE network and its phones before, and had to put phones go through a revison of baseband sometimes to match it. As the other forum member had mentioned, even highly skilled devs suffer with this LTE baseband programming. So, for me, it would be weird to expect a 4G baseband software of the newly announced phone to be perfect from the beginning.

 

[mitra88]

Re: low signal strength?

Well when p3 got 4.1 he said it made the signal much better over 4.0.2 so since that is in testing now I would assume they would push 4.1 and add the 4.0.3 stuff in rather than having two separate updates. Maybe they will do it as two updates who knows.

Of course, P3Droid or other devs should be able to make some significant improvements like that, even before an OTA from Google!!! I also love his works!!!!

My previous post, on the other hand, was talking about Google's OTA.

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

Of course, P3Droid or other devs should be able to make some significant improvements like that, even before an OTA from Google!!! I also love his works!!!!

My previous post, on the other hand, was talking about Google's OTA.

4.1 was the update he received from google which improved the radio. I know devs will most likely have a fix for any issue but it looks like google already had a better radio/update in the works.

 

[will54880]

Re: low signal strength?

This is not acceptable.

 

[Lodingi]

Re: low signal strength?

This is not acceptable.

Ouch. I agree. That's a big hit.

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

This is not acceptable.

Do you even have a nexus? Your profile says infuse.....

 

[mikestorm]

Re: low signal strength?

Just adding my two cents. My wife has a Sammy Droid Charge (GB).

Side by side comparison
Nexus 4G -103 to -109dBm range
Charge 4G - 79 to -84dBm range
Nexus 3G -93dBm
Charge 4G -84dBm

I have new respect for my wife's Charge. I'm hoping a radio update will address our issues.

 

[jcochran1977]

Mine isn't near that bad guess I can't complain at all

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[Deathshead]

Re: low signal strength?

I live up in NE PA in the mountains and work in NJ. I'm in "extended network" most of the time around my home. (its Cellular one, a local carrier)

Coming from a launch day Droid x and comparing the 2 while driving and streaming the XM satelite radio app the Nexus seems to do a much better job with the weak signal strength up here. However the service strength here is hit or miss on a daily basis.

I do notice that the signal bars on the phone can be somewhat confusing. alot of time I will no zero bars but can still make calls, stream audio, etc.

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

I live up in NE PA in the mountains and work in NJ. I'm in "extended network" most of the time around my home. (its Cellular one, a local carrier)

Coming from a launch day Droid x and comparing the 2 while driving and streaming the XM satelite radio app the Nexus seems to do a much better job with the weak signal strength up here. However the service strength here is hit or miss on a daily basis.

I do notice that the signal bars on the phone can be somewhat confusing. alot of time I will no zero bars but can still make calls, stream audio, etc.

I think the bars may not be properly displaying signal right now.

 

[Ken7]

Re: low signal strength?

I would assume that is why they are said to be testing a new radio for the 4.0.3 update.

What do you mean a 'new radio', that's hardware. I assume you mean new firmware for the radio. It would be nice if they could slip new radio hardware in via an OTA update.

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

What do you mean a 'new radio', that's hardware. I assume you mean new firmware for the radio. It would be nice if they could slip new radio hardware in via an OTA update.

Sorry meant radio baseband/firmware whatever you want to call it.

 

[Ken7]

Re: low signal strength?

As a matter of fact, ICS 4.0.3 OTA update and GN baseband update are going to be most likely two separate works. GN baseband is only specific to GN, while ICS 4.0.3 is more about the OS framework. However, many previous OTAs of smartphones, according to the history, included the revised versions of the baseband. So, with this ongoing issue of the signal strength of GN, I would naturally expect some amount of work on the GN baseband along with ICS 4.0.3 OTA. If it doesn't, of course, I will be deeply disappointed just like others.

I still remain concerned that this could be a hardware issue. Hopefully this is not the case.