Verizon Note 3 Reception Quality

jim2112

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Dec 7, 2011
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Does anyone have any signal strength comparisons on the Verizon Version of the Note 3? The reception is going to be different on phones built for each provider, AT&T, T Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, etc. I am on Verizon and have long awaited the arival of the Note 3, but I live in a rural area where I have to have a phone with good Verizon 4G reception. I originally purchased the Galaxy Nexus when it came out and loved it until I had to return it due to weak reception. My Rezound got much better reception and has served me well, but I really want to get this phone if the reception is good. As has been mentioned, bars mean little and the actual signal numbers or a comparison to a phone known for good reception like the Note 2 is a good comparison. Thanks guys, oh, and I'm very jealous of those of you who already have the Note 3.
 
My mistake, with all the Note 3 release excitement, I thought it was out by now.

I have been waiting for a long while and checking back on occasion. With all the posts on the note I guess there is a reason I haven't read a Verizon specific one on features.
 
Re: My mistake, with all the Note 3 release excitement, I thought it was out by now.

I love just about everything on this phone, (on paper) but it'll be returned if it has a radio as #^%#ty as my GNex.
 
I just received the Note 3 today, although I love the phone, I am disappointed in the signal strength compared to my HTC Rezound. The Rezound had 5 bars and a strong 4G signal at my work and the Note 3 has only 2 bars and goes back and forth between 3g and 4g.:(
 
That's not good will try mine for a few day and return it if I have too. I won't put up with a bad signal already left Samsung once due to that.

Posted via Android Central App
 
I just received the Note 3 today, although I love the phone, I am disappointed in the signal strength compared to my HTC Rezound. The Rezound had 5 bars and a strong 4G signal at my work and the Note 3 has only 2 bars and goes back and forth between 3g and 4g.:(

Are you on Verizon? I can't remember if the HTC Rezound was on other carriers
 
Yes I'm on Verizon. It's working pretty good right now on 2 bars and 4g, but I'm gonna have to see how it is in other places since I just activated it tonight at work.
 
I'll be comparing the dBM numbers between my note 2 and 3 tomorrow at the store. If the note 3 is worse than the 2 then I'm passing.

Posted via Android Central App
 
I doubt it can be worse than my galaxy nexus so I probably won't notice if the signal isn't up to snuff compared to Motorola or HTC devices.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4
 
I just received the Note 3 today, although I love the phone, I am disappointed in the signal strength compared to my HTC Rezound. The Rezound had 5 bars and a strong 4G signal at my work and the Note 3 has only 2 bars and goes back and forth between 3g and 4g.:(


Have you tried comparing dBm values instead of bars?
 
I don't have a Verizon version but I do have the Sprint version and after 4 days of use I feel like it's safe to say that the Note 2 has a better radio than the Note 3. As far as comparing decibels, I use Sensorly and my Note 2 always floated around the -107 area, sometimes better, sometimes worse. The Note 3 shows -110 or 111 much more frequently than the Note 2 did. Performance wise though, I can't really tell the difference. There are just too many variables. Last Sunday I was at my moms friends house and my buddy with his HTC One and my other friend with his Galaxy S4 (both on Sprint) were there too (was my bday! :-) ). We tested the Wifi and the HTC One won by a big margin. The connection at that house is around 10 MBits, we were one wall removed from the router and the HTC One got between 7 and 8 MBit whereas the GS4 consistently beat the Note 3 by a small margin averaging around 3 MBit.

I consider all these non scientific tests, and too me the difference in performance when not looking at Sensoryly or SpeedTest, between the Note 2 and 3 are not discernible. Also, the longer I use the phone, the better it seems to get, as if it slowly got to know its surroundings at what towers to hook up to. Would I return this phone and go back to the Note 2 or even the HTC One? Not a chance. I haven't had a dropped call, internet performance seems on par, and the whole phone just is so much faster than the Note 2 (Google Earth has never looked this smooth), add to that the new useful features and the much better screen along with the much better feeling hardware, and the Note 3 is a keeper in my book.

I know, it's Sprint vs Verizon version....but look at it this way, if I can live with and get pretty decent speeds on Sprint, you Verizon guys shouldn't have any problems.

Edit: And just as I finished posting this, the phone dropped down to 3G after getting 6 MBit on a Speedtest just a few minutes prior. I must say...I haven't seen the 3G symbol at my house in quite a long time, and I unfortunately get to see more of it here with the Note 3. Again....I never had stellar signal at my house to begin with, so I am using Wifi again, and it works fine in other areas I frequent. So yes, the radio is worse, I am not happy about it, but the rest of the phone is worth it. Maybe they will push a software update to make it better?
 
With both phones side by side, Verizon Note 3 was at Verizon 68-70 Note 2 was at 74-77.
 
My Note 2 is 78db & my Note 3 is 89db : ) 4 bars for both : )

Cheers, Jon
 
i took both the 2 and the 3 that i just got today down into my basement thats a dead zone . it first looked like the note 2 was gonna be just a little better but after about 30 min of messing with them they seemed about even . they both sucked LOL . both could maintain a call but neither could manage a data connection . the db readings was basically the same . sometimes identical sometimes all over the place. im headed out this weekend to some pretty marginal areas that will tell the tell.
 
When I changed phones last time I switched out the girlfriends phone first, then I actually had 2 phones both using the Verizon radio to compare. Comparing an AT&T Radio on a Note 3 to a Verizon Note 3 is not a valid test since each carrier uses a different radio inside the phone. My original Galaxy Nexus was a poor radio next to my Rezound at the time. I am hoping to get several VERIZON dbm signal level reports to get an idea of how the radio in the Verizon Note 3 works.
 

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