People receiving your phone--how is the signal strength?

[jbsmart44]

What does the asu mean? On my DX my asu is always zero.

Sent from my DROIDX using Android Central Forums

 

[ptb127]

I am very much interested in this thread as I am going to jump ship from the i4s to an android.. I pre-ordered the SGIII but not until a few days ago so I have time left to decide if I want to cancel it. These signal strength tests will be VERY important to me so please keep them coming those who are lucky enough to have the device

 

[jroc]

*sighs* Like this is going to be a valid method of testing. We've had a bagillion blogs review this phone. Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, ATT. It doesn't matter. They all are using the same hardware on different frequencies. If there was a problem, we would have heard about it by now.

I can almost guarantee that the majority to none of them will go thru the specifics of testing reception like users that have these phones and care about signal and reception. Their method of testing will be about the same as ours...if they tested as specific as we would. Consumer Reports has labs setup for specific scenarios....thats totally different.

We just need to know what to test for, what to look for. It wont be prefect...but real world use does matter. We all dont spend most of our time in good to great reception areas. Most reviewers do....or so it seems. Most ppl in weaker reception areas can tell the difference between phones easily. Good example was the post about using the phone in a basement.

Most pro reviews spend very lil time on total call quality, and call quality period. It took a site like Anandtech to get to the bottom of the G Nex signal, bar issues. Some other sites followed up based on what Anandtech started. Sites like Anandtech and Consumer Reports were the few that went into detail about Antenna Gate and why it was a real problem.

You have a point about different frequencies. Thats why its good to compare phones on the same network. Even with 2 different networks...one network might have better or worse coverage in your area. Sprint sucks in my area....and AT&T might actually be better than Verizon in my area.

 

[PJnc284]

What does the asu mean? On my DX my asu is always zero.

Sent from my DROIDX using Android Central Forums

Believe reception drops off the closer to 0 you get.

As for signal strength, I'm not noticing it being any better than the Thunderbolt I have but also not any worse. Speedtests and signal strength are about the same in a known good coverage area. On the opposite end, my parents live in a relatively poor signal area that's also on the outskirts of extended lte coverage which makes my Thunderbolt flip out and eat the battery as it was constantly switching from 3G to LTE and no data. The GSIII seems to maintain 3G signal (although very low) and not even try to switch to LTE. Maybe the radio is slightly weaker or maybe the RIL is coded better but it's a definite improvement over the constant switching.

 

[WillC]

My numbers are -88 dBm 52asu. I've been out running around town all afternoon and have had no problems whatsoever maintaining constant 4G connectivity.

 

[kxs783kms]

*sighs* Like this is going to be a valid method of testing. We've had a bagillion blogs review this phone. Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, ATT. It doesn't matter. They all are using the same hardware on different frequencies. If there was a problem, we would have heard about it by now.

Most of the reviews I see, they're always using Wifi when comparing a phone that is on 2,3 or 4 different carriers.

 

[viper8u2]

well just got mine and the signal is 118, my nexus was 120 and my rezound is 99 or less.

I just tried making 3 calls and all of them dropped, shame as this phone is very nice but typical samsung crap antennas. I will see how things shake out but if it doesnt improve mine is going up for sale. I did not take off the plastic yet as I wanted to test it

 

[ptb127]

Ut oh.. Not good, not good at all.

well just got mine and the signal is 118, my nexus was 120 and my rezound is 99 or less.

I just tried making 3 calls and all of them dropped, shame as this phone is very nice but typical samsung crap antennas. I will see how things shake out but if it doesnt improve mine is going up for sale. I did not take off the plastic yet as I wanted to test it

 

[scott5626]

well just got mine and the signal is 118, my nexus was 120 and my rezound is 99 or less.

I just tried making 3 calls and all of them dropped, shame as this phone is very nice but typical samsung crap antennas. I will see how things shake out but if it doesnt improve mine is going up for sale. I did not take off the plastic yet as I wanted to test it

Thanks for the heads up...the crap signal seems to be overtaking those that are still in love with theirs or haven't gotten theirs yet and refuse to admit...it's a Samsung.

 

[rage151]

Believe reception drops off the closer to 0 you get.

As for signal strength, I'm not noticing it being any better than the Thunderbolt I have but also not any worse. Speedtests and signal strength are about the same in a known good coverage area. On the opposite end, my parents live in a relatively poor signal area that's also on the outskirts of extended lte coverage which makes my Thunderbolt flip out and eat the battery as it was constantly switching from 3G to LTE and no data. The GSIII seems to maintain 3G signal (although very low) and not even try to switch to LTE. Maybe the radio is slightly weaker or maybe the RIL is coded better but it's a definite improvement over the constant switching.

I have a Thunderbolt too...GS3 will be here Monday. If you have any more observations of GS3 performance compared to the TB, I'm interested in hearing them.

 

[fotd]

My old phone was a Thunderbolt running Gingerbread. Right before I powered it off, it was registering between -79 dbm and -91. It seemed to fluctuate a good bit.

The SGIII registered -109 but did not fluctuate. I have had problems recently with my Thunderbolt dropping all data connection for short periods of time. I'll find out this evening if the SGIII does better or not.

The SGIII automatically re-loaded my apps and did it very quickly. I did not do a speed test, but the speed appeared to be fast even for 4g.

I made one phone call and the call clarity was very good.

Of course, there appears to be a good bit of bloatware, so I am looking forward to rooting the phone.

My tbolt has been having dropped data too lately. I usually average around 85-92 at home and low 80's at work. The s3 hasn't gone under 100, been around 109 for the past few hours.....not having a great feeling so far.

 

[logan2k]

Been using the S3 at home for a few hours now on 4g and it doesn't receive a good signal at all. In fact, i've been getting network timeouts and failures intermittently and switching to 3G. Never had this when I had the Razr. Pretty disappointing. Called VZW who will have their tech support call me back, but not holding my breath at this point considering Sammy's reputation on radios.

 

[scorpiodsu]

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. But since it's Samsung I'm not surprised. It just seems like they can't get it right on Verizon's network. Doesn't appear to be issues with other networks which is why probably not anything shown in reviews. Well..... Will be keeping my eye on this thread. I appreciate the HONEST feedback and no apologist attitude.

 

[komatoez]

I took a couple of side by side comparison shots of my fiances RAZR MAXX (upgraded to ICS) next to my new S3. It is not what I expected to see at all. I gave both phones a chance to settle in and refreshed them both a couple of times before taking the pics.

 

[scott5626]

I took a couple of side by side comparison shots of my fiances RAZR MAXX (upgraded to ICS) next to my new S3. It is not what I expected to see at all. I gave both phones a chance to settle in and refreshed them both a couple of times before taking the pics.

Looks good to me...The only way I learn properly is by my own mistakes. I'm going to give the old S3 a whirl...if it works great, if it sucks...I'll be back to let you know.

 

[Premium1]

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. But since it's Samsung I'm not surprised. It just seems like they can't get it right on Verizon's network. Doesn't appear to be issues with other networks which is why probably not anything shown in reviews. Well..... Will be keeping my eye on this thread. I appreciate the HONEST feedback and no apologist attitude.

it is a recurring thing with samsung on most networks. Just check the forums and you will see the complaints.

 

[athensjohn]

My tbolt has been having dropped data too lately. I usually average around 85-92 at home and low 80's at work. The s3 hasn't gone under 100, been around 109 for the past few hours.....not having a great feeling so far.

My new SG3 was dropping the data connection a good bit this evening. It was frustrating. I rebooted the phone and the connection has gotten a great deal better. The connection has remained constant for several hours since I rebooted the phone.

 

[Premium1]

I took a couple of side by side comparison shots of my fiances RAZR MAXX (upgraded to ICS) next to my new S3. It is not what I expected to see at all. I gave both phones a chance to settle in and refreshed them both a couple of times before taking the pics.

crazy since moto is supposed to have such great radios. When I get my sgs3 monday I will let everyone know since I spend a lot of time in the basement of both my house and work and especially at work most phones have trouble keeping a signal inside. I will post results later in the week. If it holds decent I will keep it, if not ill box it up and wait for something else on verizon.

 

[scott5626]

it is a recurring thing with samsung on most networks. Just check the forums and you will see the complaints.

Very true...but if you look at Motorola (the king of radios) you will see issues of disconnecting and 3G to 4G issues. I have experienced those myself.

There's so much going for the S3 it's really tough to decide...do I tolerate the flaky reception for that awesome screen?...hmmm

 

[Premium1]

Very true...but if you look at Motorola (the king of radios) you will see issues of disconnecting and 3G to 4G issues. I have experienced those myself.

There's so much going for the S3 it's really tough to decide...do I tolerate the flaky reception for that awesome screen?...hmmm

I'm in the same boat, but if the phone doesn't work as a phone I can't overlook that. You never know when you will need to make a call or something happens and that pretty screen and all the bells and whistles wont do anything if it can't get any reception.