Signal Stregnth? dbm? What does it all mean?

[pontoon78]

Sorry if this has all been discussed already but here are my questions ...

I've been reading alot of conversation about signal strength on the Dinc and I just plain don't understand. My 3G keeps lighting on and off and my bars go from zero to two. I thought since I'm on Verizon I was always going to get full bars. Especially since my BBerry always had them and my friend's Droid X has full bars when I have one tops. I'm going to assume I'm missing something and just dont know how to read it.

Right now I have one bar and -92 dbm, I don't even know what dbm means, can someone please explain it?

Also, my speaker when talking keeps going in and out, is this a speaker problem or is there a setting I can tweak?

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the help.

 

[eckster]

Not sure so much about all this signal strength stuff. However, I do know that my blackberry used to have 4-5 bars in my office whereas my incredible has between zero and 2 bars. Yet I seem to be able to make/receive calls no problem and connect to the internet. What is also strange is that I hover around -76 dbm +/- a few.

According to this article about apples problems

AnandTech: First look at Apple iPhone 4.0.1 signal bar fix - Jul. 15, 2010

it would appear that I should have 4-5 bars (as I did with my blackberry). Perhaps the incredible is also miscalculating the signal strength? I know that the iphone uses GSM and we are on CDMA, but the strength of signal should be comparable in terms of number of bars.

I am also wondering if the low signal strength is causing the phone to search harder for the network or expend more energy searching for a network and affected the battery life.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Yea I would love to know the answer to this as well. I just got my incredible the 14th and got rid of my LG scoop that I have had for 3 years now. It always had 4 or 5 bars with Alltel/Verizon. Now my incredible does not... weird.

 

[Krzr93]

Well it isn't like the Incredible has a bad signal because my signal strength is -67 dBm. If you look at the top of the link you posted up above, -67 dBm is good.

Either way, I would just ignore the bars because all phones have a different equation for calculating the bars. I can see how the Incredible's bar formula is off because I have never dropped a call yet.. No matter how much bars I have.

The best thing to do is just focus on the dBm.

Also: (DeciBels below 1 Milliwatt) A measurement of power loss in decibels using 1 milliwatt as the reference point. A signal received at 1 milliwatt yields 0 dBm. A signal at .1 milliwatt is a loss of 10 dBm. (Simplified: The high the dBm, the better. Keep in mind our dBms are negative. Therefore, -67 is better then -100)

 

[Coop#AC]

Wikipedia on dBm: dBm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Your incredible shows a different number of bars for the same signal that your BB did most likely.

I've got my BB curve right next to my incredible, and they both have a signal right around -80dbm The BB however shows 5 bars and the incredible shows 2. Does this mean the incredible has a weaker signal? No. Signal is the same, they just have different visual indicators of signal.

You can either get used to the difference or install an app that displays the signal more to your liking. Real Signal does this, you can specify how many bars you see for a specific dBm level.

 

[tony bag o donuts]

you want a number closer to zero with dBm's.
Bars are just a interface that the phone manufacturer uses.

I have less bars but a stronger signal with my inc than I did with my BB

 

[silentbobdrummer]

in my apt, I average between -100 to -105 dBm and and my DInc shows one or zero bars. I can still make calls and use data (though I usually have WiFi turned on in the apartment). My old phone hovered between one and two in the apartment.

 

[PvilleComp]

All of the above are correct. Signal is everything; display is nothing. The lower the number (technically larger because they are negative numbers) the better your signal is. Don’t get hung up on the bars. The iPhone update is all about bars, they are now displaying them more accurately, and larger, rather than unbelievable 5 bars all the time.

 

[pounder001]

I'm having an issue with a weak signal and horrible reception on my Dinc (side by side vs. my Storm1, the Storm is constantly at -70 to -73, Dinc -98 to -103) I have a trouble ticket in w/VZN Tech support and one in with HTC.
HTC responded that there is an issue that they are working on but no ETA, I'm within my 30 days so I'm moving to a phone without a signal issue.

 

[brergo#AC]

I use Real Signal and display both "Main/CDMA" and "EVDO". I often notice that the EVDO signal is significantly lower than the CDMA signal. There is sometimes a 10 point or more spread between the two (ie: CDMA will read -80 and EVDO will read -90).

Does this mean that there are 2 separate radios receiving 2 separate signals from the cell tower? And regardless of the that, why such a significant difference between the two?

If I understand correctly CDMA carries the voice and EVDO the data?

Any clarification would be appreciated.

 

[PvilleComp]

I'm having an issue with a weak signal and horrible reception on my Dinc (side by side vs. my Storm1, the Storm is constantly at -70 to -73, Dinc -98 to -103) I have a trouble ticket in w/VZN Tech support and one in with HTC.
HTC responded that there is an issue that they are working on but no ETA, I'm within my 30 days so I'm moving to a phone without a signal issue.

Have you done the roaming update?

*228 option 2