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This is my 3rd samsung device, coming from htc which seems to have better radios and antenas.
I get one bar constantly i doors at any location and the minute im out doors signal goes to 3 bars ...with one bar i cant even get an app to download or google site to load, even in good coverage areas but when im outdoors its a bit better.Considering the well documented issue wiyh sprints slow data speeds.
Is there a tweak or hack or is this just how samsung phones are?
Ive edited my proxy address and ports with the evo msl hack still no difference??
Is it the weak radio with one constant signal bar, or weak data speeds that cause the lag
This phones crazy sometimes the speeds are decent from area to area most time indoors i cat even get an app to downlod and you have to constantly cleaer ram for anything to halfass function right.
Any mods any tweaks being looked into ?
IMO
Photon has great radio/antenna.
Evo has good radio/antenna.
Epic Touch has average radio/antenna.
Evo Shift and Evo 3D have mediocre radio/antennas.
sfhub said:
IMO
Photon has great radio/antenna.
Evo has good radio/antenna.
Epic Touch has average radio/antenna.
Evo Shift and Evo 3D have mediocre radio/antennas.
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Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
The bars dont really make a difference. You have to check the dB. I have perfect signal from -65 to -71 (4 bars). But sometimes, i have 2 bars and -65 dB, the bars are not always correct. -106 dB is no signal at all.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
reply
Where do i go in the device to check the db?
I realize what your saying, its just odd im in a bad signal area at home to begin with cause of aluminum siding and the area is a dead zone especially for gsm devices, but my htc evo is the only device i could ever get to load pages or function inside my home location, ive had 3 samsung devices they all have weak signal bars where 3g drops completely inside ,but its weird cause the minute i get out into open area the phone loads google like a snap, its just i never lost signal with htc, thats why i wondered if its just the quality of the samsung radio/antenas or something else? this is not the first time ive read blogs about samsung radios being mediocre!
Maybe its something ill have to deal with, thats why i asked origianly if theres a tweak to boost signal, ive tried the msl edit hack on the proxy addresses, that dont boost signal much , it just speeds up the data speeds by a small margin, well at least on the evo it did.
lojak29 said:
Where do i go in the device to check the db?
I realize what your saying, its just odd im in a bad signal area at home to begin with cause of aluminum siding and the area is a dead zone especially for gsm devices, but my htc evo is the only device i could ever get to load pages or function inside my home location, ive had 3 samsung devices they all have weak signal bars where 3g drops completely inside ,but its weird cause the minute i get out into open area the phone loads google like a snap, its just i never lost signal with htc, thats why i wondered if its just the quality of the samsung radio/antenas or something else? this is not the first time ive read blogs about samsung radios being mediocre!
Maybe its something ill have to deal with, thats why i asked origianly if theres a tweak to boost signal, ive tried the msl edit hack on the proxy addresses, that dont boost signal much , it just speeds up the data speeds by a small margin, well at least on the evo it did.
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Settings>About phone>Status>Signal Strength
I loooooove the phone super fast videos buffer with ease hands down the best phone i had and ive went through a evo evo 3d photon and iphone 4 BUT the signal and bars (maybe i should say lack there of) is a bit of a issue for me with the photon i had full bars 95% of the time now is there anything i can do to increase it or is it a phone issue
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Get used to it. Lots of threads about this.
I got the Epic Touch 4G today and I have the same exact concern. Great phone but signal strength is not good in weak coverage areas. My Photon pulls a good signal everywhere, even in weak coverage areas. I might be returning this Epic Touch 4G. I'll give it a few days and see.
Don't let the signal bars fool u. They can be programmed differently. The epic touch might show one bar while the photon shows four bars but they have the same signal strength. To find the signal strength on the epic touch its under settings, about phone, status, and then look for signal strength. Compare that number to the photon's number.
Sent From My Evo Killer!!!
musclehead84 said:
Don't let the signal bars fool u. They can be programmed differently. The epic touch might show one bar while the photon shows four bars but they have the same signal strength. To find the signal strength on the epic touch its under settings, about phone, status, and then look for signal strength. Compare that number to the photon's number.
Sent From My Evo Killer!!!
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Click to collapse
-76 dbm 0 asu
I dont know much about sig stregth reading is that good?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Do we even know what those bars are measuring? I have the feeling that some phones measure 2G and some measure 3G...2G (voice and text) being a far strong signal. I seem to recall from my Evo4G days that the stock rom measured 2G and CM6 measured 3G and this caused an endless amount of complaints about signal strength regardless of the fact that nothing was actually any different.
Or how about how when I went from stock, which uses 6 (?) bars and on 00001.PRL I get 3-4 bars...but on Starburst which uses the AOSP 4 bar meter I'm at 4 bars almost constantly?
My point? Ignore the bars. If you aren't looking at the signal strength in dbm you aren't looking at anything particularly useful. If the phone works for you then I'd say things are likely fine. On standard Sprint PRL (which oddly hasn't been updated in almost 2 or 3 months?) I get 0-2 bars on stock ROM...the phone and data still work almost perfectly.
and -76dBm? that's fantastic. The closer you can get to 0 the better.
My photon drops calls in the same areas my ET4g does, I don't think there's much of a difference in signal strength personally between the phones.
Yeah don't pay attention to the bars. Ill have 1 or 2 bars and make crystal clear voice calls with no dropped calls and send texts and data works fine so....if that all works, then what is there to worry about?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
I have compared a photon to my epic touch and while the photon had two more bars the signal strength was the same. Running speed test shows similar results as well.
lafester said:
I have compared a photon to my epic touch and while the photon had two more bars the signal strength was the same. Running speed test shows similar results as well.
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Same here, my buddy has a Photon and while it does roam less often, it also shows the same dbm while showing 2-3 more bars. If I have any service at all I can call, text, and browse with my Epic Touch. My Evo Shift would drop service at my parents house and show 40% time without signal....this phone never loses service when I visit them.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
rruss said:
-76 dbm 0 asu
I dont know much about sig stregth reading is that good?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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-76 is good. -65 is the best signal strength. Just compare those numbers to that if the other phones. Ignore the signal bars uptop.
Sent From My Evo Killer!!!
Hi Guys,
I recently upgraded myself from Wildfire to Galaxy Nexus...
But the signal strength i got in my Galaxy Nexus is weaker than Wildfire..
This i am not sayin only by looking at the Signal Bars,,but also while talking in calls, i can realize that.
Is there any mods or any workarounds for this..
Cheers!!!!!!!
You can try flashing a different radio and see if it helps. Theres no perfect radio so its kinda trial and error, but some people are able to find a "best" one for them.
Aside from that, the GNex isn't known for having the best radio hardware ever, although I've never personally had issues.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
martonikaj said:
You can try flashing a different radio and see if it helps. Theres no perfect radio so its kinda trial and error, but some people are able to find a "best" one for them.
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I can see only one radio.. Can you suggest me some radios.. Thanks!!!!
Don't just compare the signal bars, they two phones have different ranges. You have to compare dBm between the 2 phones to know. My nexus shows no signal where my other phones show bars, yet both phones have same signal.
Is there an app to check the dBm i am having?
RogerPodacter said:
Don't just compare the signal bars, they two phones have different ranges. You have to compare dBm between the 2 phones to know. My nexus shows no signal where my other phones show bars, yet both phones have same signal.
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agree with this. bars show no useful information, it was put there for 'average folk' to have something to know if they can make a call or not, it is not a way to gauge from one phone to the next as they use different measurement methods. Not to mention each phone places it's antenna in a different location so you also should not be holding the phone when collecting signal data for comparison.
I personally have used an iphone 3 and htc inspire 4g and my gnex lets me get text messages and also maintain phone calls in areas of my apartment that the other two phones could not so I am quite happy. I didn't do dbm measurements on the iphone but on the inspire on average i would get 2-4dbm better signal strength on my gnex in areas i spend most of my time (bed, computer, work).
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...led#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwNCwiY29tLmx1bC5nc20iXQ..
should work for measuring if you dont run cm10 or akop and can change the meter in the status bar
Hi i just came form S2 to S3 and my signal is real bad
i use to get 4 bars in my house now i get 2 bars at work i use to get 3 bars now i get 1 bar with S3
I have Blazer rom rooted LG8 modem ?
i still have the s2 and i get 5 bars with S2 and i get 3 bars with S3
Can someone advise me or help me how to get a better signal cause this is killing me
Thanks
My signal is better/stronger with the GS3 than the GS2 was. Maybe it's just capacity grew when the S3 came out and made your area more congested?
Ascertion said:
My signal is better/stronger with the GS3 than the GS2 was. Maybe it's just capacity grew when the S3 came out and made your area more congested?
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thanks but i have my S2 and it pulls 5 bars easy good signal
S3 is half of what S2 is pulling don't know what to think ?? I hope there is no defect in MODEM or ANTENNA in S3
Signal bars on custom ROMs are meaningless. I've only got one bar and I'm still pulling in 1.2 Mb per second. In other words there just as strong as the s2 just not display properly.
saj070 said:
thanks but i have my S2 and it pulls 5 bars easy good signal
S3 is half of what S2 is pulling don't know what to think ?? I hope there is no defect in MODEM or ANTENNA in S3
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Look in settings > About Phone > Status and tell me if the -dBm signal strength is the same on both devices. The lower it is, the better connection to the tower. Both phones may be programmed to display different bars when it reaches a certain dBm level.
Ascertion said:
The lower it is, the better connection to the tower.
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The higher it is (closer to 0), the better.
Really. I question this because my s2 never did this good and if you remember was plagued with los as well as just plain bad radio, GPS was mediocre,and Wi-Fi was bad. Honestly a barn door or a flip phone do better for reception. Hell even after the los got fixed it was typical to see 3%t. W. S.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Ascertion said:
Look in settings > About Phone > Status and tell me if the -dBm signal strength is the same on both devices. The lower it is, the better connection to the tower. Both phones may be programmed to display different bars when it reaches a certain dBm level.
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Thankyou all for the reply
here the signal info
S3 - -87 dBm 4 asu
S2 - 78 dbM 8 asu
Don't know what it really means
saj070 said:
Thankyou all for the reply
here the signal info
S3 - -87 dBm 4 asu
S2 - 78 dbM 8 asu
Don't know what it really means
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Click to collapse
-75 is decent connection. Its what I get which is half bars for me
Sent from a Galaxy SIII presented by Sprint.
Thanks all i think signal strength is the same now but S3 is not showing the bars correctly
2 bars on S3 is the same as 4 bars ob S2 cause my download and upload speed are very close.
SO conclusion is signal strength on S3 is not showing the correct reception bars highlighted.
OH well thanks for all your help
saj070 said:
Thanks all i think signal strength is the same now but S3 is not showing the bars correctly
2 bars on S3 is the same as 4 bars ob S2 cause my download and upload speed are very close.
SO conclusion is signal strength on S3 is not showing the correct reception bars highlighted.
OH well thanks for all your help
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Click to collapse
There is no such thing as "correctly" displaying bars. Bars are undefined. They just show whatever the OEM marketers and designers want them to show. We might as well call them unicorns. It is never valid to compare "bars" across different devices, or sometimes even across different firmware on the same device. About all you can be reasonably sure of is that on any given device with a given firmware, more "bars" should represent a stronger signal than fewer "bars."
The dBm signal strength readings are standard units and useful insofar as you understand what they are measuring.
Be aware that on the current GS3, both the bars and the dBm display for RSSI under Settings -> About device -> Status are based on the received signal strength (RSSI) for the 1x CDMA voice/text connection, not the data connection, although that should be similar. And if you ever want to measure signal strength for an LTE data connection, the only place to find that is in hidden DEBUG menus.
Try a different modem. I found the LG8 modem to not be very good.
MadFlava said:
Try a different modem. I found the LG8 modem to not be very good.
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Unless you ever want to get a decent LTE connection, for which LG8 is basically a requirement.
boomerbubba said:
Unless you ever want to get a decent LTE connection, for which LG8 is basically a requirement.
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Most of us dont have LTE yet. I didnt see the OP note that he was in an LTE area.
LTE is supposed to be coming here. I hate to flash back to that sorry modem but I guess I should.
"
S3 - -87 dBm 4 asu
S2 - 78 dbM 8 asu"
Forget the bars. The above means that your GS2 is indeed getting better signal than the GS3.
As others have suggested, try different radios (there are currently 4 to choose from). I tried earlier versions, but my phone works best with LG8.
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
mrdrprofjeremy said:
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
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Click to collapse
I work in Downtown Denver and have a very similar problem downtown, but not out in the suburbs. My Sprint store has given me a couple of explanations.
1) The buildings block the signal. There are areas of downtown, particularly by the tallest buildings, where occasionally I will drop my cell signal completely
2) In a higher concentration area signal is reduced due to more people using that signal (I don't understand how this one affects signal strength, but that's what I was told)
How is your signal outside of the downtown area? Did you update Profile and PRL after flashing? Ever dropped the phone?
Xiutehcuhtli said:
I work in Downtown Denver and have a very similar problem downtown, but not out in the suburbs. My Sprint store has given me a couple of explanations.
1) The buildings block the signal. There are areas of downtown, particularly by the tallest buildings, where occasionally I will drop my cell signal completely
2) In a higher concentration area signal is reduced due to more people using that signal (I don't understand how this one affects signal strength, but that's what I was told)
How is your signal outside of the downtown area? Did you update Profile and PRL after flashing? Ever dropped the phone?
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Click to collapse
Well, I live about 14 miles west of downtown, and even there, I don't get full strength signal. As I said, I don't ever remember seeing more than 3 bars of signal. I update the PRL and Profile after every flash, and just today I dialled ##72786# to see if the hands free activation would do anything but no luck. I've also encountered moments where I'll be at home (again, I normally have data coverage and a few signal bars) and suddenly, I'll get an alert notifying me that I'm roaming.
mrdrprofjeremy said:
Well, I live about 14 miles west of downtown, and even there, I don't get full strength signal. As I said, I don't ever remember seeing more than 3 bars of signal. I update the PRL and Profile after every flash, and just today I dialled ##72786# to see if the hands free activation would do anything but no luck. I've also encountered moments where I'll be at home (again, I normally have data coverage and a few signal bars) and suddenly, I'll get an alert notifying me that I'm roaming.
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Click to collapse
That happened to me the other day. I was at work and I got roaming pop up. Really weird since that never happened before and because my 4G is so strong. 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up.
mrdrprofjeremy said:
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
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Click to collapse
This has been an issue on every LG Sprint phone with Android I have used. I am not sure what causes it but the bars on the screen never show full strength. That doesn't mean it isn't working though. I have heard it is just how LG worked the rom to show signal.
jonny4 said:
That doesn't mean it isn't working though. I have heard it is just how LG worked the rom to show signal.
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Let me first start off by saying this is the furthest from the truth. If it shows a weak signal its because this phone has a weak signal.
This is my 3rd day with this phone and as much as I raved about it on a couple of threads, weak signal is definitely one of the negatives.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app
shook187 said:
Let me first start off by saying this is the furthest from the truth. If it shows a weak signal its because this phone has a weak signal.
This is my 3rd day with this phone and as much as I raved about it on a couple of threads, weak signal is definitely one of the negatives.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app
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How can it have weak signal if when I get this I am getting 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up?
Dr. Mark said:
How can it have weak signal if when I get this I am getting 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up?
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Dude the LTE radio has nothing to do with the phone signal. Two separate radios.
This phone just has weak radios. Now the question is, is it a software or hardware issue? my bet is software but then again I'm not an engineer
Edit
Funny thing is open signal maps gives me an 85dbm reading yet in settings it shows 94 dbm
bizzshow26 said:
This phone just has weak radios. Now the question is, is it a software or hardware issue? my bet is software but then again I'm not an engineer
Edit
Funny thing is open signal maps gives me an 85dbm reading yet in settings it shows 94 dbm
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I just discovered if you switch the network setting from LTE/CDMA to CDMA my signal bar gets full.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app
I don't have an issue with 3g I get great 3g signal my issue is with lte. Lte has bed in my area since late August early September and I've had the s3 evo lte and the iPhone none of them have had an issue picking up or holding lte the lgog does.and I think it all boils down to the phone not recognizing the correct signal and thinking its weaker than it truly is. In my house and through my town I would never drop lte On the others this phone barely holds it. I've been 100 yards from a cell tower and the phone won't go below 84dbm when I know the signal strength is stronger
I installed the Network Signal Info app on several phones in my store and the LGOG registered about 9db worse consistently compared to the SGS3 or Evo LTE
About the same thing I've seen with this phone I'm hoping its a quick fix for lg with the next update. I was really hoping that zv9 would come with a new radio