Signal strength

[RapidTurtle]

I've been having some issues with dropped calls lately. We got my wife a galaxy s9+ last month, and comparing that to my V30, she seems to be getting a much better signal. On average, the S9+ seems to be getting 10 to 12 better on dbm. She has 4 to 5 bars, and in the same place I am getting 1 to 2 bars. Also I downloaded an app called LTE discovery, and her phone connects to band 12 and 2, where as the V30 is always on doesn't go over to band 12. This is an AT&T phone, and on their network. Wondering if there is something wrong with my V30, or is this normal?

 

[Mike Dee]

I've been having some issues with dropped calls lately. We got my wife a galaxy s9+ last month, and comparing that to my V30, she seems to be getting a much better signal. On average, the S9+ seems to be getting 10 to 12 better on dbm. She has 4 to 5 bars, and in the same place I am getting 1 to 2 bars. Also I downloaded an app called LTE discovery, and her phone connects to band 12 and 2, where as the V30 is always on doesn't go over to band 12. This is an AT&T phone, and on their network. Wondering if there is something wrong with my V30, or is this normal?

Normally I say don't use bars as a comparison but that's a huge difference. The band issue doesn't sound right but I'm not an expert. I would contact AT&T but get a real tech not a CSR.

 

[racedog]

I had two V30's and thought they were great phones until I got an S9+. Sitting side by side the S9 received a substantially better signal. But, the big thing was that the TMO maps kept telling me that the new band 71 was active in my area and had been for a few months, but, using LTE Discovery it constantly showed me on band 2. When I downloaded LTE Discovery to my s9+ it showed the 9+ was receiving on band 71 and pulling in a great signal.

I had two V30's and neither picked up the new band 71 so I also got my wife an S9
and when it arrived, sure enough, it picked up band 71 just fine.

In some areas it might not be a big deal but in our rural area the difference in signal and call quality and data speed is very significant.

I doubt that I will ever trust LG again.¹

 

[RapidTurtle]

I had two V30's and thought they were great phones until I got an S9+. Sitting side by side the S9 received a substantially better signal. But, the big thing was that the TMO maps kept telling me that the new band 71 was active in my area and had been for a few months, but, using LTE Discovery it constantly showed me on band 2. When I downloaded LTE Discovery to my s9+ it showed the 9+ was receiving on band 71 and pulling in a great signal.

I had two V30's and neither picked up the new band 71 so I also got my wife an S9
and when it arrived, sure enough, it picked up band 71 just fine.

In some areas it might not be a big deal but in our rural area the difference in signal and call quality and data speed is very significant.

I doubt that I will ever trust LG again.¹

This is the same thing that I am finding. Just really noticed it when my wife got the Galaxy phone. I did call and they forced my V30 to 4G for calls, but when they did that, I lost the ability to have Wifi calling turned on. I called them back, had them switch the phone back to normal. The rep did say that my weak signal didn't seem right, and decided to send me out a warranty replacement V30. Hopefully it is better, but in reading a few posts on AT&T forums, it seems that some other people are complaining of a weak signal with this phone.

 

[gray2018]

I would say the signal with this phone I've had is about the same as when I had my G6. So so. One REALLY annoying issue is when I am on Wifi at my job since their is no service most places, when going back to a spot that there is service such as 4G or LTE, there is a delay in the phone connecting to it. I have to restart the phone to get it to connect.

I think Samsung though honestly is better with reception. I had a Note 8 for a short time before the V30 and the reception on it was just better. Full bars most of the time. Both on T-Mobile.

 

[RapidTurtle]

Got the replacement phone last night, and it does seem better. Signal in Dbm hovers right around the wife's Galaxy. The old phone was on average 10 dbm weaker.
You really can't judge signal by the number of bars you have. At 102 Dbm the galaxy shows full bars, where the V30 has 2-3 bars. Most consumers wouldn't know to check about phone and signal in Dbm, so it might help LG out to adjust their meter a little more in their favor.
Anyway, I'm back to being a happy V30 owner...

 

[Rukbat]

If they adjusted the bars to show 4 at -110dbm, you have room for only 1 more bar. If you mean adjust downward, I've had good signals with -117dbm, a little less than 1/4 the signal of -110dbm, and I wouldn't want one bar at -110 - that would give me no bars with a usable -117dbm, leading me to think that I had no signal when I did. It is a problem. With GSM (or CDMA), you're not really seeing signal strength in the bars, you're seeing signal quality, and what quality gives you how many bars, and what quality gives you usable signal, vary by frequency, congestion, buildings (multipath can render a cellphone useless at -90dbm), so think of it as "if you have bars you have signal" - but there's no indication of how good that signal is unless you use something like LTE Discovery - and understand what you're looking at. (Remember, maybe 95% of people using cellphones have no idea of how they work, what goes on or anything but what they see. And a signal that varies by 50db [at the edge of "going digital" to standing 25 feet from the tower, or a few feet in front of an antenna face] can't be accurately described in 5 bars. A 10db difference in signal quality [which is the resolution for 1 bar] is ten times the signal quality. And in some phones, even though it's not supposed to work that way, that could be the difference between not working and not being able to find a dead spot.)

 

[RapidTurtle]

Thanks for that explanation. I meant that LG should adjust their bars up a little. Samsung shows full bars at the 102 - 105 DBM, LG only shows 2 or 3 at that DBM.

 

[anon(881307)]

I had to purchase a Samsung phone lately because of the same problems with LG ..I had a V10 and V20 that just started dropping calls and not receiving calls so my wife and I had to find another phone..Im on Verizon and is 4 miles from a tower and get only 2 bars.I am so sick of phone companies talking about how good the camera is..screw that!!!!..I bought it to make phone calls not to take pictures..want pictures go buy a damn camera.
They need to put better antennas on these phones not everyone lives in a city where the signal is strong.
Really Really Sucks!!!!!no more Let's for me.

 

[RapidTurtle]

So far, my replacement V30 seems fine. It stays within 1 or 2 dbm's of my wife's S9+, and doesn't drop calls anymore.

 

[Jones4]

How is it holding up?

 

[RapidTurtle]

I had to purchase a Samsung phone lately because of the same problems with LG ..I had a V10 and V20 that just started dropping calls and not receiving calls so my wife and I had to find another phone..Im on Verizon and is 4 miles from a tower and get only 2 bars.I am so sick of phone companies talking about how good the camera is..screw that!!!!..I bought it to make phone calls not to take pictures..want pictures go buy a damn camera.
They need to put better antennas on these phones not everyone lives in a city where the signal is strong.
Really Really Sucks!!!!!no more Let's for me.

Motorola is notorious for great antennas and crappy camera's. You can pick them up on the cheap...

 

[LilSweetLin]

Sorry to bump this thread after so much time has passed, but the signal strength on the V30 is one of the chief reasons I ended up selling it two weeks after getting one off of Swappa, and using it on T-Mobile. I did so somewhat reluctantly, because I absolutely LOVED the quad DAC paired with my Sony 100 ohm impedance headphones. I also loved the battery life I was getting. The best I achieved was 8:46 SOT with 32 hours off the charger. That was with screen resolution set to max, 25% brightness indoors, AOD enabled and location toggled on periodically at high accuracy.

It literally sipped battery. I could go 45 minutes on a full charge before it would drop to 99%; even in standby mode, it would take 90 minutes to drop a percentage. But there's no excuse for me not to have full bars of reception at home, where I'm exclusively on Wi-Fi and am in the same area as my modem. When out and about in spotty signal areas, I'd get none, where my aging Nexus 6P still gets a bar or two. The FM radio app was essentially useless, as my local stations came in all static. This, coupled with LG's crappy theme/ customization options were enough for me. I really miss the quad DAC, and I'm eyeing the V40, but I don't know whether I can trust LG at this point.

My options to upgrade are few, between the V40, Note 9, or the Mate 20 this year. If I don't, I'll be waiting another year for the crop of 5G-enabled phones.

 

[wmurch3]

Sorry to bump this thread after so much time has passed, but the signal strength on the V30 is one of the chief reasons I ended up selling it two weeks after getting one off of Swappa, and using it on T-Mobile. I did so somewhat reluctantly, because I absolutely LOVED the quad DAC paired with my Sony 100 ohm impedance headphones. I also loved the battery life I was getting. The best I achieved was 8:46 SOT with 32 hours off the charger. That was with screen resolution set to max, 25% brightness indoors, AOD enabled and location toggled on periodically at high accuracy.

It literally sipped battery. I could go 45 minutes on a full charge before it would drop to 99%; even in standby mode, it would take 90 minutes to drop a percentage. But there's no excuse for me not to have full bars of reception at home, where I'm exclusively on Wi-Fi and am in the same area as my modem. When out and about in spotty signal areas, I'd get none, where my aging Nexus 6P still gets a bar or two. The FM radio app was essentially useless, as my local stations came in all static. This, coupled with LG's crappy theme/ customization options were enough for me. I really miss the quad DAC, and I'm eyeing the V40, but I don't know whether I can trust LG at this point.

My options to upgrade are few, between the V40, Note 9, or the Mate 20 this year. If I don't, I'll be waiting another year for the crop of 5G-enabled phones.

8 hrs SOT? Sorry but there is no way. I have been disappointed with the battery life of this phone. I feel like I take it off the charger and it drops 5 percent in like 10 minutes. I am not a super user by any means and I refuse to do anything special to save battery life.

I have an essential ph-1 as a backup and it gets way better battery life than this phone. Probably because it has Android pie already. I may see pie on the v30 in..oh..never.

 

[LilSweetLin]

8 hrs SOT? Sorry but there is no way. I have been disappointed with the battery life of this phone. I feel like I take it off the charger and it drops 5 percent in like 10 minutes. I am not a super user by any means and I refuse to do anything special to save battery life.

I have an essential ph-1 as a backup and it gets way better battery life than this phone. Probably because it has Android pie already. I may see pie on the v30 in..oh..never.

Whether you believe it or not, it's true. I'm not a heavy user by any means. I don't do anything graphics intensive like gaming, and I don't mess about with camera settings. I only take the occasional point-and-shoot photo. All I do is talk, text, listen to my music, browse the web, watch YouTube and forums.

The device I had was manufactured in February of this year, whatever that's worth. I make a point never to be an early adopter of a device, because I don't want to be a beta tester who discovers the kinks. But like I said, lack of good signal was my major issue.

 

[RapidTurtle]

Sadly, I'm going to get rid of the V30 when I can get an S9+ on the cheap. I do really like the phone, but my wife's S9+ blows the V30 out of the water when it comes to signal strength. Getting home from a cruise a few weeks ago, coming into Manhattan, the V30 was rocking 1 bar, and the S9 was at full bars. I think the Samsung must have more bands, or is better at picking up the strongest one.

 

[LilSweetLin]

Sadly, I'm going to get rid of the V30 when I can get an S9+ on the cheap. I do really like the phone, but my wife's S9+ blows the V30 out of the water when it comes to signal strength. Getting home from a cruise a few weeks ago, coming into Manhattan, the V30 was rocking 1 bar, and the S9 was at full bars. I think the Samsung must have more bands, or is better at picking up the strongest one.

Yeah, it wasn't that much better for me here in Queens. I keep fighting tooth and nail to keep from going back to a Samsung phone, but Samsung seems to be the only viable option as far as getting the most for your money. Now it's just a question of whether I should wait for 5G, or go with a Note 9 or S10+ next year. The quad DAC is the one thing that keeps me interested in the V-series. I'm torn.

 

[DFranch]

Is this carrier specific? I don't have any signal issues with my Verizon V30.

 

[LilSweetLin]

Is this carrier specific? I don't have any signal issues with my Verizon V30.

That's a good question and one I considered when thinking about moving over to an AT&T prepaid plan. Right now I'm on T-Mobile's $50/10GB LTE plan. AT&T offers a $50/8GB LTE plan, but goes to $40 if you sign up for auto pay. To put things in perspective, I doubt I even use over 3GB of data in a given month, so I'm obviously paying for more than I need. I was offered a $5 monthly discount on my bill last month, however, so my bill comes to a about $42 dollars after taxes.

I tend to turn WiFi off when out so it doesn't run in the background while on LTE. It's just weird that the antennas would be so bad on a phone that likely wasn't part of the initial batches with a February 14, 2018 manufacture date.

 

[RapidTurtle]

I'm on AT&T so maybe Verizon version is better.