Just moved from EVO 4G to Epic Touch few days ago and started getting wi-fi problems in places where EVO didn't had any so I decided to compare them side to side using "wifi analyzer" from the market. There are 3 near by network that my laptop can pick up and connect - 1 my own and 2 neighbors. Evo sees only 2 of them and can connect to both. Epic touch only sees 1 (my) 90 percent of the time. Wifi analyzer also shows consistently lower db signal levels there. I will try to attach some snapshots of both running side by side. Is there a way to see signal strength of 4g in dbs?
For 3G/cell signal (pull up the menu, scroll down and select About Phone, then select Status. On this screen you will be able to see your signal displayed in dBm) Epic Touch consistently gives a signal strength lower by about 5-7dbm comapred with EVO - That kind of sucks - when you get a newer phone you'd expect a better signal. The difference is marginal for the phone signal, but could mean reception vs no reception in some situations.
I get only one bar on wifi but when I do speedtest it shows me whole 20mbps down and 2 mbpsfrom my time Warner internet.my evo only used to show me 8mbps tops.so it doesn't matter how many bar?
Agreed. I haven't played much into this whole bad wifi signal reception on this phone because even though it only shows half the bars. Transfer speeds are right where the evo 3d was even tho it showed full wifi reception
sent from my DAMN phone!
bars are graphical representation of the signal strength, however each manufacturer decides what signal strength in dbm each bar represents, so there is no point to compare bars unless you are looking at two identical devices. for HTC all bars may mean 60dbm and for samsung it could be 65dbm. It is much more precise to access the actual numerical signal strength. comparing dbm to dbm is like comparing apples to apples
data transfer speed is also not a criteria for comparing signal strength, both phones have different wifi chipsets - newer chipset can achieve some times faster speeds even when signal level is lower then the one on the older chipset.
This is like comparing 802.11G vs 802.11N - the later will be faster even if the signal level is lower, however once you reach the marginal point of where it does not see the other party at all, the quality of the chipset will not matter, you will simply be unable to connect. and the older one with better reception will still work fine.
I've just tested the wifi throughput at the same spot as I was measuring wifi signal strength in the first post, the difference is huge - EVO is 1.7Mb on the down link and EPIC Touch is 0.384Mb consistently.
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With my Epic, i'd always get 2 out of 3 bars for wifi in my room.. i'm only getting 1 bar for wifi in my room
Hmm, I guess i'm the only one
have you noticed difference in speed between the two?
I'm on the fence right now as to whether to go trade the MoPho in for a Sammy. Last Sammy I had was the Moment, so you can understand the hesitation...lol.
yeah i did notice the fact that my bars are lower than usual
it's on par with my previous E3D's and NS4G, not like that's any compliment.
This thing is killer at locking onto even a weak 3G signal though.
I noticed it too, I usually have 3 bars wifi with my old epic 4g but now on 2 to 1 bar?
I am as well... I had to go right beside my router to even connect.
I wonder if there is a battery-chugging mode like on the E3D...I'm not sure if that was HTC's idea or not. Hard to tell, looked like a optional stock component. It helped a ton, but, at the expense of your battery.
bars dont really tell you much...
this has been well documented that cellphone manufacturers are always changing how many bars = how many dB.
It's annoying, to say the least.
If I am not mistaken the epic 4g only had a wireless G card where epic touch 4g has an N card. If you are broadcasting both aka your router has N and G then its going to auto connect to the N signal. N is faster but has a shorter range.
Zzim said:
If I am not mistaken the epic 4g only had a wireless G card where epic touch 4g has an N card. If you are broadcasting both aka your router has N and G then its going to auto connect to the N signal. N is faster but has a shorter range.
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Almost everything you just said is incorrect. The Epic 4G supports 802.11N, and one of the primary functions of 802.11N besides increased speed is increased range. Every new standard of 802.11 focuses on improving both of these.
Mine seems to be as good as the EVO
I am having the same issue... Sitting in my living room I have full signal with my Evo... 1-2 bars with the SG2.
Sent from my Epic 4g Touch using XDA Premium
Mine is showing 1bar and my wifes EVO is show 3 so I did a speedtest and the results are amazing 18down 4up for the E4GT and I didnt waste my time testing the EVO.
Same here, used to get three bars in this room with OG Epic, now only 1. Not worried about it though because the up/down speeds are right on.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Someone already said this here but I think it needs to be restated. Just because you only have x amount of bars means next to nothing. Do a speed test and see what the difference is. Different companies will show different amount of bars for different amounts of signal strength (which can be very misleading). What really matters is your signal strength in dB, not your bars. If your EVO gets the same down and up speed as your E4GT, you probably have similar signal strength with your wireless connection regardless of how many bars you see.
mine is a lot better than my nexus s. about 4x better in fact.
Same here
But i did a sppedtest and it is a great connection 18 up 8 down these bars dont mean much
Same here. I'm one room over from my router and I only have 1-2 bars. My EVO3D has full.
I think they put the wifi radio in the bottom... When i cup it the signal goes down
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
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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+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
For those of you with the verizon version of the nexus how is signal strength (4g, 3g and call) compared to otther phones (such as razr and rezound). Over at phandroid folks seem to be saying that 4g is a real issue (very weak signal) and perhaps a few dropped calls.
The Razr definitely had better signals overall. I always had full 3G bars and strong 4G at work. Now I have 2 bars of 3G.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
really bad compared to my droid charge. Almost -20dBm less wherever I go
Any other happy owners of the verizion version care to chime in ?
Its definitely worse then the Droid X, but it looks much worse if you just compare bars. I compared them side by side:
Droid X - full bars, 90dBm
Galaxy Nexus - 2 bars, 93dBm
I have a Charge and will be getting the Nexus tomorrow. I will do some side by side comparisons. It would be nice to hear more comments from others...
Looks like a bar less but so far reception hasn't suffered.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Coming from the Rezound, the signal is terrible on the Nexus.
At my house I used to get full bars and 4G on the Rezound, I now get 2 bars max and 3G only.
I can get a 4G signal for a couple minutes after rebooting but it never stays.
-100 to -120 dBm ans 2 to 23 asu.
Everything else is great about this phone.
I've only had Verizon for a week, but I have a different experience than most here.
I got the Rezound last Friday and got the Nexus early this morning. With the Rezound I couldn't maintain 4G at my desk at work beyond 1 bar (it could hold 1 bar, but moving from my desk would drop me to 3G)...but I dropped in on work today (even though I'm on vacation) and at my desk I was blasting 3 bars of 4G.
At home it's about the same. Either way, it's better than AT&T =P
i dont know about DB (which is really the only thing that matters) but in a low signal area of my office building i show less signal than my droid incredible did.. again this is only bars NOT db... not sure the difference there.
Ive only had the Nexus today but so far signal has been great 3/4 bars all day and lightning speeds. I get the speed in my sig (+/- 5/10Mb/s) at my house.
The difference between db and bars is that db has meaning and bars do not. So any comparisons of I had x bars on this and x bars on this have no real meaning as they are not a set measurement.
In myexperience, I'm seeming to hold a solid 4g signal slightly better than my thunderbolt did. Never had real trouble with signal in general with either here to judge performance in low signal areas. However, I would have issues getting 4g at all at home with the thunderbolt while I haven't had any yet on this tiny sample size of one evening...
Razr had excellent signal and call quality in my house (friends phone) not quite as good compared to my wifes Htc Evo on sprint.
I had just got done playing with the Rezound for 4 weeks until i switched to the Sgn today, Rezound and Sgn are about even in this area of Wi... Signal is basically zero in my house, matches the Rezound dead even.
I have faster 3g internet (Sgn) than my wifes Evo on 4g with Sprint. But i dropped calls with the Rezound where the Evo and Razr held strong...
Dont quite understand the towers up here, I have faster internet than sprints 4g service, But signal and call quality are better on my wifes Evo on sprint
Razr has better signal and call quality compared to the Rezound and Sgn...
Sorry if this is confusing, Im sleep typing.
I'm actually a bit confused as to whether the signal is awful or just not super duper. From the mobiletech review it sounds passable but some folks seem to be having a miserable experience.
I have an EVO 4G and I've switched back and forth between AOSP ROMs and Sense ROMs. The problem is my 4G will show full bars but the connection is terrible and the speed slows down. For example, on CM7 2 bars of 4G is faster that 3 full bars of 4G. What's the deal?
Bars are never a true way to tell how much signal you have. Every rom has different ways they calculate the amount of bars. Get an app that shows you the actual signal strength in decibels.
yeah there are plenty of apps out of the market that will give you the actual signal like the last post said in decibls. Your 4g tower might have just been down and sprint got rid of wimax so they might not be in a hurry to fix it. I have also noticed in cm7 my bars are always less anyways.
Now just remember wimax isnt like 3g! 3g goes out much further and can cover a lot more area. but with 4g think of it as a wifi network it is really strong at the source but when you get further away it will drop speeds and bars sugnificantly.
If I helped please hit thanks!
I've noticed lately my Zenfone appears to prefer a stronger 2g signal over a weaker 4g signal, and it's quite frustrating when I know the 4g is available and adequate even though it is weaker. Is there any way to tweak how the radio chooses which signal to use, and make it prefer a faster signal type (ie 4g, 2 bars) over a stronger one (ie 2g, 4 bars)?
I could very well be completely mistaken about how this works... Please don't hesitate to let me know if I'm just being an idiot about the whole thing, haha.