Official Signal Strength and Reception Thread

[xxtdxx]

I bought a GN back when they came out in December and aside from the awful battery life the signal was awful. The wife and I went to her parents' house in the Phoenix area (not even on a fringe LTE area) and I could hardly hold a 3G signal. Hand-off was awful. Broke down and bought a new GN this past week and haven't lost a signal yet. Even in areas where my bionic would struggle to hold on to LTE my GN is able to hold 2 bars. Love it.

 

[Johnly]

I bought a GN back when they came out in December and aside from the awful battery life the signal was awful. The wife and I went to her parents' house in the Phoenix area (not even on a fringe LTE area) and I could hardly hold a 3G signal. Hand-off was awful. Broke down and bought a new GN this past week and haven't lost a signal yet. Even in areas where my bionic would struggle to hold on to LTE my GN is able to hold 2 bars. Love it.

Finally...

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

I bought a GN back when they came out in December and aside from the awful battery life the signal was awful. The wife and I went to her parents' house in the Phoenix area (not even on a fringe LTE area) and I could hardly hold a 3G signal. Hand-off was awful. Broke down and bought a new GN this past week and haven't lost a signal yet. Even in areas where my bionic would struggle to hold on to LTE my GN is able to hold 2 bars. Love it.

I have had similar experiences. While the bars on my GN are consistently lower than what I see on my Bionic, the one thing that I can say is that I do not drop calls, or lose signal completely, as I do quite frequently on the Bionic.

 

[Masheen]

I installed redemption rom by Lou in which both the ROM and kernel are build from the 4.0.4 aosp source code. My reception increased by 10-20 dBm and the wifi lte hand off is exceptional. Check it out @ RootzWiki. He is an aosp purist. His rom is butter. You won't have this experience on any other rom. Not liquid not aokp not cm9. It has a great stock ics feel. His enhancements are great. Cheers.

 

[Mr.Gadget]

I just received my replacement Nexus.
Step 1, boot
Step 2, unlock
Step 3, root
Step 4, going for the Redemption ROM if I can find it. This one shipped on 4.0.2 with the older radios
I THINK... So far, it already looks better, but time will tell.

 

[dousenator]

I am eligible for upgrade and I am attracted to the Galaxy Nexus but I am reluctant to pull the trigger because of this alleged signal/reception issue. I cannot get a handle on what is going on and how it may or may not relate to my area. I have read reviews and forums and I have become extremely confused by all the information and talk about this. It seems that a lot of what people have posted has regarded situations in LTE coverage areas or on the edge of coverage areas and related to switching between LTE and 3G. I live in northern New England where there is no LTE coverage and will likely not be any LTE coverage for years (there is a lot of land up here with no coverage whatsoever). Can anyone tell me if these issues have been problematic in 3G-only areas? I appreciate any clarification that can be provided.

 

[KillerQ]

Thanks for the reminder....

I have had SIM swaps (sounds dirty) help with other problems in the past, but haven't tried it yet. I'll go have the SIM swapped at lunch.

Any advice on how to gauge instantly if this fixed it? I mean, are there any settings or stats you checked right away? (besides from the signal bars, of course....). I won't hesitate to ask for another SIM swap while i'm still there if I don't have any indication of the issue being fixed with the first swap....


Thanks in advance, and I'll reply when I get it done....

Thanks,

Matt!.

 

[dmmarck]

If anyone else had the "reboot into activation" issue, I think I found the culprit.

Background - I'm on the 4.0.4 radios, rooted, rommed, etc. etc.

For about a month or so my phone would randomly reboot into activation. Ordinarily I'd write this off as a random reboot issue, but the "activation" part bothered me. So I decided to pay closer attention, and here's what I found. Keep in mind, absolutely no scientific methods were used here, simply observation and relentless OCD.

When switching networks, e.g. WiFi to 4G, etc., there appears to be a "force signal" type thing going on in the background. When you're switching networks using something that's a "heavy" data user, like 90 million Chrome tabs, Spotify, etc., it appears that because the app is demanding or using a heavy amount, the device will reboot in order to force the signal to take. Much like is recommended here and elsewhere ("rebooting your phone should turn the bars from grey to blue, etc."), the phone seems to have a mind of its own.

Does that necessarily solve this issue? Not at all. However, it gets to the point where I could literally force it, and to me, being able to reproduce it is much more reassuring than having no idea what is going on.

 

[KillerQ]

Update...

Just swapped SIM cards.... got a few signal drops right after, but since then, it has been a bit stronger than usual.... If it keeps acting up, i'll swap again on the way home....

Also, the rep looked in is system and advised that an update for the Gnex was to be rolled out in May by Verizon...


Thanks,

Matt

 

[dmmarck]

Update...

Just swapped SIM cards.... got a few signal drops right after, but since then, it has been a bit stronger than usual.... If it keeps acting up, i'll swap again on the way home....

Also, the rep looked in is system and advised that an update for the Gnex was to be rolled out in May by Verizon...


Thanks,

Matt

Yeah, if they look even further it was supposed to happen in Jan, Feb, March, and April too unfortunately

 

[KillerQ]

Hey all,

Ok, still having issues. I called tier II tech support and she was very aware of the issue. She also added that her coworker at the tech center also had the same exact problem and it was 100% fixed after swapping oit new SIMS several times.

She advised to keep swapping SIMS to see if that works for others as well.


I'll try again later,

Thanks,

Matt!

 

[KillerQ]

**UPDATE**

Hey all,

Ok, so after swapping units again, my third unit seems flawless. No signal drops or anything like that and it's been hours since i first powered it on. With my last two units, the signal drops would start within several minutes of powering the unit on, and would repeat every 7 or 8 minutes.

Here's a tip to help with headaches.... Verizon will make these swaps under warranty, and if you order by late afternoon, the phone will be at your house by the middle of the next day. At least that's how it worked here in Detroit. And don't bother setting your phone up like you like it until you find the working unit - don't waste your time, lol.

That's all, I hope this sheds some light....


Thanks,

Matt!

 

[Mr.Gadget]

My replacement still occasionally loses signal several times a day but only for a minute or two. I'm using Liquid ROM with 4.0.4 radios. Can you let us know how yours is after a few days?
Mine is way better but not the way it should be. I've never owned a phone that loses all signal like this. Sometimes I can't even place a call!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[luke31]

I really don't think that this is some hardware problem. There is often a lot of variability when it comes to software problems (trust me, I came from the bionic), so that would explain why some people have the signal loss and others do not. I flashed AOKP and the 4.0.4 radios and, while the problem is still there, it does not happen as frequently, and the signal returns much quicker. I think it will completely be fixed by the next software update, so I'm not sending in my phone just yet. Besides, I've heard horror stories about the certified like new devices, and mine is otherwise perfect. Also, I've heard of people getting a replacement, saying everything is fine, and the signal loss issue returning in a few weeks. So yea, just my thoughts.

 

[swhite237]

Turning off 4G fixed the problem for me. I would bite the bullet and buy it–worst case scenario you return it and get another phone.

 

[luke31]

Yep I'm running it in CDMA and it works flawlessly right now. I'll just wait patiently for a fix. Even with 3G its an amazing phone.

 

[Mr.Gadget]

Just a quick update from the Los Angeles area: dropped all signals multiple times yesterday and today.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

Just a quick update from the Los Angeles area: dropped all signals multiple times yesterday and today.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I haven't noticed any downtime on my end. I'm in the Los Angeles area too.

 

[Mr.Gadget]

I was in Beverly Hills and Woodland Hills today. I think it is the phone again. 3G- only seems solid, but hit the 4G and it gets dicey. General signal strength is bad in Woodland Hills. Beverly Hills had sold 5-bar 4G (but hey, that's Beverly Hills) lol

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

I was in Beverly Hills and Woodland Hills today. I think it is the phone again. 3G- only seems solid, but hit the 4G and it gets dicey. General signal strength is bad in Woodland Hills. Beverly Hills had sold 5-bar 4G (but hey, that's Beverly Hills) lol

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I haven't had any problems... I've been in the Long Beach area as well as the Inland Empire, and Anaheim over the past couple of days.