Signal Drops to 1 bar.

[rem_kujawa]

What do you guys think I should do? I can be a my house with 2-3 bars and then it drops to 1. It only does it in my area but sprint says its my phone, I don't belive them. Should I do anything or just not care?

 

[IAmSixNine]

Can you provide us more details? Are there any other sprint phones you can bring side by side and see if they drop as well? Have you noticed if it happens in a small area, like a room, or a wider area, like the entire house, or is it a few blocks?
If sprint says its your phone sounds like they are willing to give you a replacement, if so this might give you an opportunity to get a replacement. If you want to go that route.

 

[rem_kujawa]

My wife's phone is always just a 3bars and never moves. I have had a few of these evos and they all have done it. I have been calling advanced tech support and told them that it is the worse after a storm. I am only .8 miles away from my sprint tower and I can drive to it with in 100 yards and it goes up to 5. I just think its the tower that's week. In other towns I do not have this issue. Is it that the evo's radio is more sensitive and I can see it fluctuations more? When it drops to 1 it only stays there for maybe 30seconds. Should I just let it be. It never really drops calls and the data is usually around 1.2MB 3G.

 

[roothog]

I see similar effects, but I just assumed it was Sprint... they're not known for having a great network. I see my signal bounce around rapidly between 0 bars and 3 bars while the phone is just sitting on a table. I don't think I've ever seen a signal stronger than 3 bars (of 6 possible bars), even though the online Sprint maps claim that I'm in an area with their strongest signal.

 

[roothog]

the data is usually around 1.2MB 3G.

Whoa, seriously? I only get 200kbps on my 3G connection.

 

[rem_kujawa]

So should I just let it go then? yeah on the map I am in the best spot too. Mine normally sits between 3-4 and when I pick it up it drops to 2-3. But it does drop to 1 bar fairly often.

 

[roothog]

So should I just let it go then?

*shrug* I don't really know. All I can say is that your experience sounds similar to mine. Bigwrigg had a good point: is it possible to compare signal strength between the EVO and a different Sprint phone at the same location? I'm not able to make that comparison, but I'd be interested to hear what people who can compare might see. I switched to the EVO and Sprint from another carrier, so when I see a weak signal, I don't know if it's Sprint or the phone.

 

[rem_kujawa]

I do my wife has a rumor 2 on the sprint network and it just sits at 3 bars maybe 2 but that only displays 4. Do you think the radio might more sensitive and shows it more accurately?

 

[PM-Performance]

weird your wife's works fine and yours not. Logically that would point to a radio problem with your phone if they side by side

I was gonna say chalk it up to house structure until I read that part.
Depending on how the building was built, it can kill wireless signals. I get almost no reception in part of my building at work (just so happens to be in my damn office) lol
I watch the signal bounce and go roaming all day and TWS varied from %3-75% hahaha

That consistant 1.2MB 3G is amazing though. I usually get 200's and sometimes will see 1.* M speeds, but gotta be outside and moon aligned with the sun type deal haha

 

[rem_kujawa]

Are phones display the same amount of bars, its just that mine drops to 1 every now and then.

And it does not do it everyday. I think the EVO has a more accurate radio. My palm pre also did this too. My first EVO did in fact have a bad radio and it just said no service. But I still will have Sprint test this one on Thursday and let you know.

 

[CoryBantic]

Make sure your not holding the phone wrong. If the problem persists, buy a case for it, the water in your body along with the magnetic pull of Saturn coupled with gravity is the reason for your signal attenuation! J/K, in all honesty though, I would suggest that it could be your phone, if you're not dropping calls, or getting kicked offline when surfing on your phone then I think you're okay. I've actually read in other forums (this one's the best though!) that if you take it to a Sprint Repair Center, they can fix the radio there.

 

[rem_kujawa]

I just got off the phone with my local sprint repair tech and he said this is normal for a CDMA network and that I probably would notice it more during peak times because of traffic on the cell tower. I think that smart phones with a fast OS and processor would display it faster and more accurate that a dumb phone. That seems to make sense because last night after 10 or so I didn't have a problem. Well anyways I still will have it tested but I doubt there is anything wrong.

 

[its_miller_time]

Ugh, bars mean nothing (as already pointed out many times...)

You need to know what your -dBM is. That is a true measure of signal strength. On your EVO, type #*#*4636*#*# and then go to Phone Info and look at the signal strength. Anything around -60 to -80 is decent. The "lower" (-60 is higher than -100), the worse your signal is...

Use that as a measure...

 

[rem_kujawa]

That's what I was saying the phone is not the transmitter, it is the receiver and the cell tower it the transmitter. If I can see that dBM's are indeed fluctuating then it is not the device that is the problem it is the tower. I keep telling them that it is worse after a larger storm but they seem to not believe me.

 

[oddlou]

If you're not dropping calls and have great 3g speeds, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Let it go and enjoy your great speeds.

 

[rem_kujawa]

If you're not dropping calls and have great 3g speeds, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Let it go and enjoy your great speeds.

Thanks but I got that, that's really not my question anymore.
If the dBM is fluctuating it points towards a tower/network issue because all the device is doing just reading that number and reporting it.

 

[akarol]

What do you guys think I should do? I can be a my house with 2-3 bars and then it drops to 1. It only does it in my area but sprint says its my phone, I don't belive them. Should I do anything or just not care?

You're holding it wrong.

-Steve

 

[rem_kujawa]

well I fired up the palm pre and enter the hash code ##debug# and found my signal strength in dBM and set it next to my evo and the both were fluctuating with in 2dbm's. So I got on the support line and asked for advanced tech support and told them once again storm has rolled through and its acting up again. After about 20 minutes on the phone she came back and told me that she could see those fluctuations coming from my tower and that she marked my location for their engineers to look at. Just goes to show you if you educate yourself it will pay off.

 

[Kedar]

Yeah, always look at dBM and not bars...
And surprised a Sprint rep marked your location. Pretty neat.

 

[rem_kujawa]

Yeah, always look at dBM and not bars...
And surprised a Sprint rep marked your location. Pretty neat.

Thanks for the help guys and girls.
One a side note this was the first time I have touched my pre since the evo, man its tiny and feels like a toy.