Radios suck

[nter88]

Not only does 4g suck so does 3g and 1x and bluetooth. I upgraded to 4.0.4 about 1 month ago and they still suck. Constantly going from 3g/4g and back. I live in north jersey, work in the city and take the bus daily. 3G service is horrible and 4g barely connects for seconds at a time. I compare almost daily with a thunderbolt and its not even close with regards to consistency.

 

[dmmarck]

Not only does 4g suck so does 3g and 1x and bluetooth. I upgraded to 4.0.4 about 1 month ago and they still suck. Constantly going from 3g/4g and back. I live in north jersey, work in the city and take the bus daily. 3G service is horrible and 4g barely connects for seconds at a time. I compare almost daily with a thunderbolt and its not even close with regards to consistency.

If you live in North Jersey it sounds like you have a hardware problem.

Also, you flashed the OTA leak or something else? If something else, I'd double check to make sure you have the radios.

It wouldn't hurt to flash a 4.0.4 radio package, just for the sake of being exhaustive.

Lastly, this is like the 8 topic on this .

 

[turdbogls]

Yup, i am sick of writing this:
"make sure you have the 4.0.4 radios...4.0.4 system has nothing to do with signal strength"

we get it, the radios suck. get a different phone, or live with the problem. sorry but it has to be said.


on that note, go to settings>about phone>make sure your baseband ends with "fa02"
these are the 4.0.4 leaked radios. i have had great success using them...much better than the stock 4.0.2 radios.

if you still have an issue, it is either your location (probably not b/c of the thunderbolt comparrison) or a hardware issue.

FWIW, my TB had slightly better signal than my nexus does...but i still get LTE where my TB got LTE.

 

[zer0vette]

my radios are fine, great signal. upgrade to latest radios, if that doesn't work there is some other problem going on, either with hardware, or your location.

 

[Freegoo]

He says he is 4.04 in the second sentence guys.

 

[turdbogls]

He says he is 4.04 in the second sentence guys.

4.0.4 system and 4.0.4 radios are 2 completely different things and can be run independently of each other.

 

[dmmarck]

4.0.4 system and 4.0.4 radios are 2 completely different things and can be run independently of each other.

This. That's what I asked what was installed.

 

[Mr.Gadget]

So, what is the solution for this? I have my Nexus in a box and ready to ship back to Amazon due to signal issues. I rooted (and since unrooted), and ran CM9 which was awesome, but I still had 4G and signal problems.
The current Droid RAZR Maxx that I am using is spot on all the time using my old SIM from the Nexus.

 

[dmmarck]

So, what is the solution for this? I have my Nexus in a box and ready to ship back to Amazon due to signal issues. I rooted (and since unrooted), and ran CM9 which was awesome, but I still had 4G and signal problems.
The current Droid RAZR Maxx that I am using is spot on all the time using my old SIM from the Nexus.

CM9 and other roms do not come with the 4.0.4 radios unless they blatantly say they do. I know for a fact the official CM9 does not.

When roms "come" with the radios, they are usually (99% of the time) in the form of a separately flashable zip. You flash the rom, flash GAPPS (if applicable), flash the radios/bootloader (or just radios) zip, then reboot.

Many users, myself included, have had fantastic success with the new radios. Others have not. For more information on my thoughts and radio changing in general, please see the Hitchhiker's Guide located in my signature.

The signal will not be as strong as the RAZR/MAXX's, but it will be improved (it was for me), and even better, switching networks will be a LOT faster (at least for me and some others). Again, each experience is an individual experience, but you can only know what your experience will be like if you try.

 

[bworley50]

4.0.4 Radio works great for me.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

4.0.4 radios are phenomenal. End of story. This is getting really annoying to read user error left and right when someone claims they flashed 4.0.4 ROM.

I have 4G in the kitchen, where my thunderbolt used to cut out and switch back to 3G.

 

[oxymoron]

I'm good with the FA02 radios, but it may be placebo. I noticed an improvement immediately upon flashing AOKP, which was not placebo. Only had the old radios for a day before flashing FA02... so I don't know if it would have lasted.

Anyway, I'm another satisfied customer of the leaked radios. Faster handoffs, and improved signal. Additionally, no urges to throw my device

*customized tapatalk signature*

 

[turdbogls]

I'm good with the FA02 radios, but it may be placebo. I noticed an improvement immediately upon flashing AOKP, which was not placebo. Only had the old radios for a day before flashing FA02... so I don't know if it would have lasted.

Anyway, I'm another satisfied customer of the leaked radios. Faster handoffs, and improved signal. Additionally, no urges to throw my device

*customized tapatalk signature*

the only signal improvements you should see when flashing a ROM is how it is displayed in the notification bar. before 4.0.4 source built ROMs my phone would display zero or 1 bar for 4g....after using 4.0.4 source built ROMs (AOKP B29 and later i believe) my signal displays 1 to 2 bars of 4g...however my actual signal in DBM's hasn't improved at all. that was just one of the things they changed in the 4.0.4 update so people would stop complaining about their signal so much...they displayed it like other phones display signal.

either way, 4.0.4 leaked radios were a great update...and i simply cannot wait for this OTA to finally Roll out for a couple reasons.
1. i get new radios most likely...i dont really have any issues with my radios right now...but better radios are better radios and i will take that all day long.
2. i get to stop seeing these "my radios suck" threads all over the place.
and 3. i get to watch people try and get their nexus' back after they swapped them for the Razr/rezound....lol

 

[oxymoron]

Yeah, I remember the whole debacle when anandtech outed them in the fact that the update didn't actually improve signal, only the way it was displayed.

Good times on the forums

*customized tapatalk signature*

 

[gregs1213]

You guys are just trying to make yourself feel better about your purchase. I tried doing that, but I can't lie to myself any longer.. I flashed the 4.0.4 radios a while back, they still suck..

 

[oxymoron]

*customized tapatalk signature*

 

[turdbogls]

You guys are just trying to make yourself feel better about your purchase. I tried doing that, but I can't lie to myself any longer.. I flashed the 4.0.4 radios a while back, they still suck..

quit complaining and get a new phone.

dont have to do any convincing to myself....the radios work MUCH better than stock for me....in my location.
best phone i have ever owned....wether i purchased it or not.

 

[rbess1965]

Morning,

I have a question. I asked it on another link but wanted to cover both places. It is about the term, 'New Radio' or 'upgraded to the latest radio'. When someone is talking about a better radio with an upgrade or custom rom, what exactly does that mean? I understand sensitivity and oscillation soft pot settings but every wireless device has a logic section and an rf section with an antenna tuned to the operating freqs. Some settings may be tweaked a little but the original working parameters are very tight and tuned to that antenna. I just don't see how anything can be changed enough to improve a bad RF section. My opinion is either a company builds good RF sections or they don't. Everything else seems like a marketing smoke screen. What are these people doing to create a new/better radio in these phones? Are there any techs out there that can explain this to me?

Thanks in advance.

 

[oxymoron]

I mostly agree, there is only so much that can be done via software to a radio. I think that small amount of tuning is in the updated radio firmware, and also the length of time before switching to another network, and the authentication that must take place for it to connect. I have seen an improvement in -dBm since switching to the updated radios (both 3G/4G). Not sure if anything changed with bluetooth/wifi. The major gripe I had before updating wasn't signal strength however, it was data dropping completely. Sometimes it could be reconnected to data by toggling CDMA/LTE to CDMA and back to CDMA/LTE, sometimes by toggling airplane mode, and sometimes not without a reboot. As I understand it, this was all due to an authentication issue.

Verizon 3G/4G Authentication Woes

Mods - remove link if that's not allowed.

p.s. A Motorola radio in this phone would be delicious.

 

[Mr.Gadget]

Yup, i am sick of writing this:
"make sure you have the 4.0.4 radios...4.0.4 system has nothing to do with signal strength"

we get it, the radios suck. get a different phone, or live with the problem. sorry but it has to be said.


on that note, go to settings>about phone>make sure your baseband ends with "fa02"
these are the 4.0.4 leaked radios. i have had great success using them...much better than the stock 4.0.2 radios.

if you still have an issue, it is either your location (probably not b/c of the thunderbolt comparrison) or a hardware issue.

FWIW, my TB had slightly better signal than my nexus does...but i still get LTE where my TB got LTE.

I just re-rooted and installed CM9 nightly 4.0.4 but my baseband shows:
I515.10 V.EK05 / I515.EK02
Where can I grab the newest radio? I didn't see it in the Hitchhikers Guide...

Edit: got it. Now how do I do the radio update? Thanks!