Poor signal in buildings

[marc9569]

I used to have Verizon and whenever I went into a building, I had good service. Now, on T-Mobile, I have no service, but if I do get a weak signal, it is only EDGE (2G) talk/text and no data. I live in a fairly good HSPA+ 42 area, also. Is this a common issue? Is this a known issue with the Nexus 4, or is T-Mobile just not good in buildings? If it is the Nexus 4, what can I do to make the signal stronger?

 

[Bob Coxner]

I used to have Verizon and whenever I went into a building, I had good service. Now, on T-Mobile, I have no service, but if I do get a weak signal, it is only EDGE (2G) talk/text and no data. I live in a fairly good HSPA+ 42 area, also. Is this a common issue? Is this a known issue with the Nexus 4, or is T-Mobile just not good in buildings? If it is the Nexus 4, what can I do to make the signal stronger?

Lower frequencies penetrate building walls better than higher frequencies. Lower is better than higher.

Verizon and AT&T mostly use 700 and 850MHz (and a little 1700/1900/2100)
TMobile uses 1700 and 1900MHz (and a little 2100)
Sprint uses 800 and 1900

Cellular frequencies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[tacosrdelicioso]

Lower frequencies penetrate building walls better than higher frequencies. Lower is better than higher.

Verizon and AT&T mostly use 700 and 850MHz (and a little 1700/1900/2100)
TMobile uses 1700 and 1900MHz (and a little 2100)
Sprint uses 800 and 1900

Cellular frequencies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This. I enjoy my service in bindings on at&t net10..

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[howarmat]

Yep this is why i couldnt go with tmob and had to choose att/straight talk. Wish tmob was lower frequency because the speed is much better out and about but no signal at all inside at work

 

[gnr_2]

I used to have Verizon and whenever I went into a building, I had good service. Now, on T-Mobile, I have no service, but if I do get a weak signal, it is only EDGE (2G) talk/text and no data. I live in a fairly good HSPA+ 42 area, also. Is this a common issue? Is this a known issue with the Nexus 4, or is T-Mobile just not good in buildings? If it is the Nexus 4, what can I do to make the signal stronger?

I have Sprint and have horrible service in my house and no service in my Federal government office bldg. But, my physical therapy office has an iPad on Verizon and can't get it to work ever and they don't have wifi. They are in a typical multistory curtain glass office bldg but surrounded by other office bldgs. At least I can understand a signal not perpetrating my 150-year old 12" brick walls or the limestone/concrete govt bldg, but the glass left me perplexed. Especially when it was the Verizon signal. (For the record, my Sprint phone worked nowhere in the bldg, even in the lobby standing next to the doors but I've grown to expect it. I'd be frustrated if on Verizon and this occured.)

Sent from my totally awesome Sprint Galaxy Nexus, even if I don't know all its secrets yet.

 

[Bob Coxner]

Tinted glass can have a definite affect on cell phone signals. Propagation of Radio Waves (802.11)

Properties of media

The weakening of signal strength is largely due to the properties of the medium that the wave is passing through. Here is a table showing attenuation levels for different materials:

Materials Degree of attenuation Examples
Air None Open space, inner courtyard
Wood Low Door, floor, partition
Plastic Low Partition
Glass Low Untinted windows
Tinted glass Medium Tinted windows
Water Medium Aquarium, fountain
Living creatures Medium Crowds, animals, people, plants
Bricks Medium Walls
Plaster Medium Partitions
Ceramic High Tiles
Paper High Rolls of paper
Concrete High Load-bearing walls, floors, pillars
Bulletproof glass High Bulletproof windows
Metal Very high Reinforced concrete, mirrors, metal cabinet, elevator cage

 

[gnr_2]

Tinted glass can have a definite affect on cell phone signals. Propagation of Radio Waves (802.11)

Properties of media

The weakening of signal strength is largely due to the properties of the medium that the wave is passing through. Here is a table showing attenuation levels for different materials:

MaterialsDegree of attenuationExamples
AirNoneOpen space, inner courtyard
WoodLowDoor, floor, partition
PlasticLowPartition
GlassLowUntinted windows
Tinted glassMediumTinted windows
WaterMediumAquarium, fountain
Living creaturesMediumCrowds, animals, people, plants
BricksMediumWalls
PlasterMediumPartitions
CeramicHigh Tiles
PaperHigh Rolls of paper
Concrete High Load-bearing walls, floors, pillars
Bulletproof glassHigh Bulletproof windows
MetalVery high Reinforced concrete, mirrors, metal cabinet, elevator cage

That explains it then. And the plaster on my brick walls at home is NOT helping the situation one bit either.

Sent from my totally awesome Sprint Galaxy Nexus, even if I don't know all its secrets yet.

 

[zxcv106106]

That explains it then. And the plaster on my brick walls at home is NOT helping the situation one bit either.

Sent from my totally awesome Sprint Galaxy Nexus, even if I don't know all its secrets yet.

I'm on T-mobile, and I live in the basement. Imagine that...

 

[Tall Mike 2145]

It totally depends on the structure and the overall environment.

In the town I live in, there's a Bob Evans. In the parking lot, you can get 5 bars from Sprint, and absolutely ZIP reception inside the building. With T-Mobile, I get 2-4 bars inside. Also, in the next town over from me there's a TigerDirect store where there's ZIP reception with Sprint once you're literally 3-4 feet into the store, and I get 3-5 bars on T-Mobile. Then, there's a Walmart to the north of me which in particular (others in the area are fine) I get no T-Mo reception in at all. *shrugs*

I wouldn't put too much faith in what you hear in terms of ifs and could-bes and maybes on the Internet because there's just too many factors in play that you can't account for. That's why I started up a thread elsewhere for signal reception in S.W. Florida on T-Mobile. I'm trying to post what I find so that others can get a sense of what will or won't work for them.

Oh, and btw... FGCU has mediocre out-door T-Mo reception, and no in-door reception in a couple of the buildings I checked out the other day (I'm not a student there yet, but will be in the fall). However, their on-campus WiFi kind of makes up for it.

Just be grateful that smart phones give you an additional avenue to deal with cell reception issues that dumb phones do not.