Official Signal Strength and Reception Thread

[mattywalnuts]

Re: low signal strength?

Located on the west side of Manhattan, activated my Nexus 10 minutes ago.

Droid 2: 68 dbm 0 asu
Nexus: 86 dbm 54 asu (both 4G and 3G)

4G indicator 3 out of 4 bars (i know this isn't a true indication of signal quality)

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/1...ter&utm_campaign=Feed:+DroidLife+(droid+life)

Looks like verizon is working on a fix for the signal issues.

 

[sc4fpse]

Re: low signal strength?

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/1...ter&utm_campaign=Feed:+DroidLife+(droid+life)

Looks like verizon is working on a fix for the signal issues.

Droid Life is smart to point out the ambiguity of the statement -- either they have found the cause of the problem and are currently fixing it, or else they are only just now going to start looking into the issue. Being Verizon, my guess is definitely the latter of those two. And Lord knows that if this is going to be a Verizon update, we'll be well into next year before we hear anything more about this update.

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

Droid Life is smart to point out the ambiguity of the statement -- either they have found the cause of the problem and are currently fixing it, or else they are only just now going to start looking into the issue. Being Verizon, my guess is definitely the latter of those two. And Lord knows that if this is going to be a Verizon update, we'll be well into next year before we hear anything more about this update.

I would assume verizon would look into it and tell google to issue the update since the first 4.0.2 came from google and before the gsm versions. Plus if you check out the android site for google where to report bugs, there are many reporting this issue on there also, so that may help with getting the update faster since both verizon and google know about the issue.

 

[nkd]

i have a gnex that i traded a razr in for. before that i had a droid 1. my wife now has a rezound. i am a speedtest and gps freak. i can with all confidence say that the gnex does not have the same signal strength. speedtest are much slower as are the signal strengths. gps works great outside in the car (yea, that's where it should,,,but is is nice to check numbers and addresses in a building sometimes). i suppose i have to come to terms with what i'm willing to accept for example 7mbps down instead of 13 or having to look up buisness phone numbers a different way rather than google maps when i'm in a building. just to give you a practical example: i was in jcpenney when for the first time i almost dropped a call (fading in and out) so i checked the gps just for kicks and there was none. took my wife's rezound and got immediate gps lock and was able to get around 11mbps 4g and the gnex got .16 mpgs on 3g. the op has a valid point in that none of the reviews said anything negative about signal or gps. some review gave this phone the highest since the iphone. why is this? this is a phenomena that warrants investigation but i digress. like many here i'll more than likely keep this phone but let's be real.

Why compare 4g to 3g?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[Premium1]

Re: low signal strength?

For those thinking that the nexus is the only phone with data connectivity issues that isn't the case. Look at the latest update for the razr. http://www.androidcentral.com/droid...a-and-camera?utm_source=ac&utm_medium=twitter

 

[sc4fpse]

Re: low signal strength?

I would assume verizon would look into it and tell google to issue the update since the first 4.0.2 came from google and before the gsm versions. Plus if you check out the android site for google where to report bugs, there are many reporting this issue on there also, so that may help with getting the update faster since both verizon and google know about the issue.

Perhaps, but I'm not sure if baseband-only updates would come from Google or Verizon. I'm inclined to say Verizon, simply because it's their network and they would be the ones that have access to everything needed to test the radios.

For those thinking that the nexus is the only phone with data connectivity issues that isn't the case. Look at the latest update for the razr. http://www.androidcentral.com/droid...a-and-camera?utm_source=ac&utm_medium=twitter

"Data connectivity issues" is pretty broad and ambiguous. To say that the RAZR has connectivity issues on par with those of the Nexus isn't really accurate. Yes, all phones have some sort of connectivity issue. But the Nexus and RAZR are night and day. Unfortunately, the Nexus got the short end of the stick.

 

[Stelv]

For those thinking that the nexus is the only phone with data connectivity issues that isn't the case. Look at the latest update for the razr. http://www.androidcentral.com/droid...a-and-camera?utm_source=ac&utm_medium=twitter

My girlfriend has the razr. No signal issues with it at all. Its been solid since day one.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[bplewis24]

Re: low signal strength?

Located on the west side of Manhattan, activated my Nexus 10 minutes ago.

Droid 2: 68 dbm 0 asu
Nexus: 86 dbm 54 asu (both 4G and 3G)

4G indicator 3 out of 4 bars (i know this isn't a true indication of signal quality)

What is "asu" anyway? I've never heard of it before.

Brandon

 

[wigsby]

Re: low signal strength?

GN with LTE or = -120dBm, 99asu

GN on 3G = flip flopping between -100dBm, 1asu and -93dBm, 2 asu

DX = flip flopping between -89dBm, 0asu and -93dBm, 0asu

Ok the dB part I got. But what role does the asu play?

Noticed this earlier in the thread and checking my Galaxy Nexus I see the same readings, Varying between -93 and -120 dBm in 3g only area with LTE turned off. Still getting data but speed test says .2 Mb to .4 Down and Up. Good Verizon 3G coverage here and was expecting better speeds. Did do a little better outside of town earlier today.
Phone is updated to 4.0.2 Baseband 1515.09V.EK05 / 1515.EK02 Build ICL53F
Last voice call was noticeably weak and seemed to fade off at times but connection was sustained. Haven't noticed a lot of other voice problems but haven't made many phone calls either.
Also finding that screen rotation is slow to non-existent when using apps that are supposed to work with it. Located in NW Michigan

 

[iBowToAndroid]

Re: low signal strength?

"Data connectivity issues" is pretty broad and ambiguous. To say that the RAZR has connectivity issues on par with those of the Nexus isn't really accurate. Yes, all phones have some sort of connectivity issue. But the Nexus and RAZR are night and day. Unfortunately, the Nexus got the short end of the stick.

Connectivity has been a problem on every 4G phone so far. I think Android Police had the best explanation as to what's probably going on with that. As far as signal strength though, you just can't compare Sammy and Moto - that's the real night/day comparison.

 

[Iceman0803]

Re: low signal strength?

Connectivity has been a problem on every 4G phone so far. I think Android Police had the best explanation as to what's probably going on with that. As far as signal strength though, you just can't compare Sammy and Moto - that's the real night/day comparison.

Posted this in another thread but it's relevant in this one too. This Is Why Your Verizon Galaxy Nexus (Or Other 4G LTE VZW Phone) Is Losing Its Data Connection

 

[jim2112]

Article on signal strength comparison.

Article on signal strength comparison.

How To Measure Cell Signal Strength on Android Phones - Tested



The signal bars displayed at the top of the screen are never going to be your best bet for determining signal, no matter what phone you're using. Android also covers a large swath of very strong signal with just the highest bar indicator. In case you're not familiar, signal is usually measured in dBm. dBm is the power ratio in decibels of the radio power per one milliwatt.

A signal of -60dBm is nearly perfect, and -112dBm is call-dropping bad. If you're above about -87 dBm, Android will report a full 4 bars of signal.

 

[dcdttu]

3G Reception Issues Compared to Other Phones

I have had the Nexus since launch day, and have had a lot of trouble with 3G voice / texting. 4G obviously doesn't handle voice/txt, and it happens whether I have my phone in 4G or 3G mode.

I live in Austin, and Verizon's coverage is great here. When I got the Nexus, the first call I made dropped, and it's pretty much been downhill from there. Call quality is horrible, garbling up and cutting in and out when I'm on the phone with a land line. Drops happen about once a day....

So I got my Nexus and compared it, in 3G mode only, to 3 other phones (2 Droid Charges and a Stratosphere). The results confirmed what I was thinking: 3G reception is 10-20dBm lower than the other phones consistently, in multiple locations. Almost everywhere I go, I am on the edge of losing my 3G service. I usually leave 4G off because of the issues the phone has handing-off the signal between the different networks.

I was super excited about getting this phone and was at Best Buy the second they opened to get it. Now I am really disappointed in the reception, and can't keep it past the return date of January 15th if it doesn't have good reception / call quality.

Anyone else do a 3G reception test with other Verizon phones? What did you find?

 

[wunderkinder]

Re: 3G Reception Issues Compared to Other Phones

I found the same thing when comparing my OG Droid with my Nexus. With both devices side-by-side, the OG Droid shows a stronger signal (-75 on the OG Droid vs. -90 on the Nexus).

Would the amount of power being used by the radio affect the signal strength? I am wondering they reduced the power to the radios in order to extend battery life. My wifi signal shows up as weaker on my Nexus when compared to other wifi devices.

 

[Blitzdroid]

Re: 3G Reception Issues Compared to Other Phones

I find it the same in boston area as my old 3g phones.

The dbm signal seems worst but i stop beleiving that. Websites load quicker and thats all i care.

 

[jbresee]

Re: 3G Reception Issues Compared to Other Phones

I came from an OG droid to the Nexus. I'm in a 3g only area.

I could care less about the number of bars displayed in the UI, but the droid never dropped a call here, and the Nexus has frequent drops.

More interesting is the data issue. The Nexus appears to stop sending and receiving data, and the airplane mode off / on trick doesn't restore it. The only thing that works is a cold reboot.

 

[jafels]

Re: 3G Reception Issues Compared to Other Phones

My Nexus actually shows a stronger signal than my og droid at home (-75 dbm for the Nexus to -83 for the droid). And I seem to get better 3g reception at my work which for my droid was a blackhole and would constantly drop to 1x...with my Nexus Im getting 2 to 3 bars and -93 dbm at work. It amamzes me the difference in experience people are having. I do not live in a 4g area but live very close to an extended coverage area. when I hit the very edge of the extended coverage my phone almost immediately switches to 4g and when I leave that area it hands back off to 3g very well. When I get closer to the actual 4g coverage area I get a decent signal (-95 dbm)....and I cant tell you what I get in the 4g coverage area beause I have not taken the gnex their yet....but I imagine it would be much better than out on the fringes.

 

[BiNGE]

Re: 3G Reception Issues Compared to Other Phones

Saw no issue with the GN compared to HTC Incredible. Not that 3G is great in my area, but it's no worse because of this phone. The physical antenna in the GN is nicely engineered. If you are having serious problems get an exchange or ask a L2 tech to push a PRL update to your SIM.

 

[ohiomoto]

Re: 3G Reception Issues Compared to Other Phones

You guys might want to read this really good piece on signal strength as the GN reports and displays it differently: AnandTech - Investigating the Galaxy Nexus LTE Signal Issue

That said, I think my Palm Pre Plus performed better on the CMDA than the Nexus or the Fascinate I was using with ICS. It never dropped calls and did a better job keeping the buffer full for apps like Pandora and Slacker. (I've been testing the GN in CDMA only to see if it helps with battery life.) On the other hand the GN on 4G makes up for lost data in a hurry so it things like Pandora work better on the GN on 4G than they do on 3G. I think when the LTE network matures, it will be great.