Who will give us side by side, cross device, radio stats?

[KSmithInNY]

The title says it all. Samsung has a history with poor radios and given my current abysmal 3g speeds and no LTE announcement, the radios are make or break for me.

Rules:
1- must have 2 active devices
3- All devices used should be Sprint devices
2-All devices welcome even samsung v samsung
3- Please dont use/mention "bars". While bars give a general idea of reception, anyone including carriers, OEMs, and developers can easily adjust the params for how many bars display at which dBm
4 - grab a few side by side dBm numbers with the devices sitting flat. Signal may fluctuate so give them a couple of seconds to level out.
5- New rule - no stats of devices on an air rave fem to cell.

How:
On the phones go to menu>settings>about phone>status and look at the signal strength dBm. Thats your true signal, bars aside. Also for those who arent aware, think of this like golf, a lower dBm is a better score. Because the numbers are negative, think the closer to 0 the better. I seem to recall perfect reception being around -79 while terrible being around -100

Thats it. True signal strength, measured in industry standard, accross devices.

1. Epic 4G running FROYO
Epic 4G running GB
SGS3 stock
2. Both Epics got a consistent reading -76. SGS3 got -86. Moved the Epics and SGS3 and the SGS3 stayed at -86 and the Epics jumped to -86

 

[ZiggSVO]

The title says it all. Samsung has a history with poor radios and given my current abysmal 3g speeds and no LTE announcement, the radios are make or break for me.

Rules:
1- must have 2 active devices
3- All devices used should be Sprint devices
2-All devices welcome even samsung v samsung
3- Please dont use/mention "bars". While bars give a general idea of reception, anyone including carriers, OEMs, and developers can easily adjust the params for how many bars display at which dBm
4 - grab a few side by side dBm numbers with the devices sitting flat. Signal may fluctuate so give them a couple of seconds to level out.
5- New rule - no stats of devices on an air rave fem to cell.

How:
On the phones go to menu>settings>about phone>status and look at the signal strength dBm. Thats your true signal, bars aside. Also for those who arent aware, think of this like golf, a lower dBm is a better score. Because the numbers are negative, think the closer to 0 the better. I seem to recall perfect reception being around -79 while terrible being around -100

Thats it. True signal strength, measured in industry standard, accross devices.

1. Epic 4G running FROYO
Epic 4G running GB
SGS3 stock
2. Great signal. Got full bars on all devices.....kidding lol
Both Epics got a consistent reading -76. SGS3 got -86. Moved the Epics and SGS3 and the SGS3 stayed at -86 and the Epics jumped to -86

3. Not sure what the asu means but epics had 0 and SGS3 had 1

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[KSmithInNY]

ASU is a slightly different way of measuring cell signal. It's not as commonly used, and I don't completely understand the logic behind it.

It is slightly concerning that the older sammys, which have weaker radios as far as standards go, actually had a better dBm than the SGS3. Hopefully we get more stats to compare. I'd love it if someone had a Motorola to side by side as they are the current champs.

 

[Skunkape60]

ASU is a slightly different way of measuring cell signal. It's not as commonly used, and I don't completely understand the logic behind it.

It is slightly concerning that the older sammys, which have weaker radios as far as standards go, actually had a better dBm than the SGS3. Hopefully we get more stats to compare. I'd love it if someone had a Motorola to side by side as they are the current champs.

Wish I would have seen this earlier. Disconnected an epic and ns4g and delivered my daughter's gs3 to her this evening. Won't get another chance until after the holiday week.

____________
Just Flash It !!!

 

[kronium]

I've noticed the 3G is flakier than my S2. Wifi strength horrible as well compared to S2. Ugh... Other than that and that, the flimsy home button, and the lack of search key, the phone is pretty good.

Any chance custom roms may help out 3G and WIFI signal strength?

 

[KSmithInNY]

I've noticed the 3G is flakier than my S2. Wifi strength horrible as well compared to S2. Ugh... Other than that and that, the flimsy home button, and the lack of search key, the phone is pretty good.

Any chance custom roms may help out 3G and WIFI signal strength?

Nope. Best case an OTA introduces a new baseband that works a little better but this was my fear. Samsung just can't win the radio game.

 

[silverthornne]

Also for those who arent aware, think of this like golf, a lower dBm is a better score. Because the numbers are negative, think the closer to 0 the better.

Thanks for explaining this; played with a few ROM's on my Epic 4G that displayed signal strength as dBm and I couldn't figure them out.


Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[illiniah]

Decibels (dB) are a relative measure, appending the "m" for milliwatt (1/1000 of a watt) makes dBm an absolute measure. Without going into technical detail, 1 milliwatt is 0 dBm. Positive dBm indicates greater than 1 mW and negative numbers indicate less than 1 mW.

30 dBm is 1,000 times more than 1 mW or 1 Watt or 0 dBW.
-10 dBm is 10 times less than a 1 mW or 0.1 mW
-20 dBm is 100 times less than a 1 mW or 0.01 mW
-30 dBm is 1,000 times less than 1 mW or 0.001 mW
-60 is 1 million less
-90 is 1 billion less

The higher the number the stronger the received signal is. You should not confuse received signal strength with the receiver sensitivity. This is not the proper place to describe RF and receiver theory, but if I will try to jump in if I see anything needing clarification.

 

[radiohawk]

Is this a Samsung Mobile only method? Sporting EVO 3D, and can find no such status, or dB reading.

 

[KSmithInNY]

Is this a Samsung Mobile only method? Sporting EVO 3D, and can find no such status, or dB reading.

Nope, industry standard. HTC may have hidden it from about phone>status though ... I wouldn't know. I think apps in the market could also work if needed

 

[silverthornne]

HTC doesn't hide it (at least not in the EVO LTE).

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[eyecon82]

i dont have my sgsII activated anymore, but the radio and gps are already much better...its very noticeable

 

[Paul627g]

I would love to get some comparison on wifi too... Having come from the Epic 4g my WIFI was very nice.... Then I moved over to the NS4G and my WIFI blows... 3g has never really been too much of a problem on my phones along with GPS, I've been one of the lucky ones that got the better of the batch on those subjects....

 

[eyecon82]

I would love to get some comparison on wifi too... Having come from the Epic 4g my WIFI was very nice.... Then I moved over to the NS4G and my WIFI blows... 3g has never really been too much of a problem on my phones along with GPS, I've been one of the lucky ones that got the better of the batch on those subjects....

wifi is much better than epic touch 4g...i have both side by side and the SIII shows full 3/3 bars, while my epic touch 4g shows 1/3 bars

 

[Jaggrey]

I noticed when comparing my friend's S3 with my EVO LTE that the signal strength was better on mine by at least 3-4 dbs consistently. Too bad I didn't have my Photon anymore to compare to it.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[codeda]

my sg3 says - 88
Boyfriends og evo fluctuated a bit. When I first opened it said -89 then -82 and rested at -87.
Though I should say at the movie theater Friday I noticed I was roaming and I've never roamed at that theater before with my og evo. Something I'm keeping an eye on, but no other problems so far.

 

[hoovhartid]

So I have an S3 and a Optimus S Side by side. I placed them on a table inside, then outside, then down the street, Then in my room...etc. For the most part, they were always within one or two numbers of each other. Sometimes the S3 would be better (like in the pic) sometimes the Optimus S...but never by more then 2-4 dBm. I had them both in the low -70's and the high -90's with the average being in the high -70's. Overall, I have been happy with the performance of my Optimus S in the last year+ I have had it, so I am happy that I have similar signal strength in my S3.

not so easy to read...but the S3 = -86 while the Optimus S = -89

Some other info
Place = South Florida, Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale

Optimus S
Baseband = LS670MVD
Build # = ThundeRom-V1.8.2

Samsung Galaxy S3
Baseband = L710VPLEN
Build = IMM76D.L710VPALEN

Thats it. True signal strength, measured in industry standard, accross devices.

C'mon over to the dark side, lunch box...we'd love to have ya

 

[jfenton]

The WIFI on my S3 is very good to say the least. Since I upgraded my router at home, no occurrences at all of connect / disconnect on 2.4 and 5 just screams...even downstairs.

 

[geauxlsutigers]

I just picked up an EVO LTE for myself and my fiancee got a SGS3. The EVO absolutely kills the SGS3 in terms of radio reception, I had a Photon before this and my fiancee had a SGS2. The EVO's performance is very close to the Photon while the SGS3 is not even close. GPS has been good on the SGS3 compared to the SGS2 though.

3G:
EVO: -72dBm
SGS3: -90dBm
Can't believe the difference is that big, both phones next to each other.

WiFi:
Not sure how to measure dBm on that but there is a huge difference not just with range, speeds are quite a bit faster with the EVO.

I like both phones but the EVO has superior radios, performance and software IMO. I think my fiancee is returning the SGS3 tomorrow and may get an EVO LTE or wait for the Photon LTE or iPhone 5.

 

[deadday]

EVO: -82
S3: -91

I was told the S2s had GPS issues, so i was leery, but it worked fine all day