Hello Everyone!
So my boss and I both have SGNs (Verizon, LTE version) and we were sitting down at work, showing off different apps and whatnot when my boss noticed that he had less bars than me.
*It should be noted that the room we were in has horrible reception to begin with.*
-My phone had 1 3G bar with a signal strength of -100dBm and 1asu
-His phone had no bars (just a grey triangle. it didnt even say 3G) with a signal strength of -120dBm and 99asu
The only difference between our phones is that mine is rooted and unlocked (but no roms or anything) and his is completely stock.
We moved to different rooms and noticed that mine generally had better signal strength.
I am wondering if anyone else has noticed something like this? Is his phone possibly defective? Or is this type of thing normal?
You might have different hardware versions. Even if you had the same hardware versions no 2 phones are exactly alike. Just not possible.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Usually normal.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Thanks guys.
While I am here can anyone tell me what "asu" stands for?
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First i switched to verizon from att and got a razr and i used to get full bars signal on it but i switched it for the nexus and now i only get one bar or two if im lucky
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
pumasmedina7 said:
First i switched to verizon from att and got a razr and i used to get full bars signal on it but i switched it for the nexus and now i only get one bar or two if im lucky
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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You can thank the people who complained their signal bar was reporting too strong. Seriously. (Well, that and the fact that Motorola has the best radios.)
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Just to support a fellow Gnex owner. I had a sony x10 and yeah, it definitely pulled in a signal much better than my Gnex.
you cant compare motorola radios to samsung. Moto makes the best radio on a phone with the exception of blackberry while samsung makes one of the worst. But i find that samsung has improved since the captivate. This is the only thing i really missed about my Atrix.
Combination of 3 things here.
1) The signal displayed on the Galaxy Nexus is the actual signal strength, whereas the RAZR likes to be generous with holding onto signal bars and over-display your actual strength.
2) On the Galaxy Nexus, when connected to LTE, the signal bars show your actual LTE signal strength (as reported by the phone settings). The RAZR will show your 3G signal strength in bars, even when connected to LTE. The best way to compare signals between the two is look at the Settings > About phone > Status, and compare specific dBm's.
3) The RAZR (and most Moto phones, honestly) just have better radio hardware. They blow Samsung out of the water.
do you have any connectivity issues? dropped calls? low data speeds?
if not then why do you even care how many bars you have? would you be happier if it always displayed full bars no matter what??
Different manufacturers use different algorithm to determine the graphical representation of signal strength in dbm. The actual performance is what matters.
If you do have problems then it might be your radio. What radio are you using right now?
ArmanUV said:
do you have any connectivity issues? dropped calls? low data speeds?
if not then why do you even care how many bars you have? would you be happier if it always displayed full bars no matter what??
Different manufacturers use different algorithm to determine the graphical representation of signal strength in dbm. The actual performance is what matters.
If you do have problems then it might be your radio. What radio are you using right now?
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Yes to all your questions. Is a fact, the GN reception sucks. Places where you get 2 bars of LTE on any other phone, on the nexus you'll drop to 3G.
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Dxtra said:
Yes to all your questions. Is a fact, the GN reception sucks. Places where you get 2 bars of LTE on any other phone, on the nexus you'll drop to 3G.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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I don't have cdma so I can't comment on that. my gsm gnexus has decent reception, dare I say better than my iphone 4.
Have you tried the new 4.0.4 radios?
Hi, recently i upgraded to Codename 1.4.0 -4.0.3 CDMA and noticed improvements... Phone has better signal strength and actually works faster after upgrade.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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
Getting only 2 signal bars on Galaxy Nexus on maguro yakju device. Is there a fix for this?
bump
Maybe you are in a bad reception area?
Swype'ed on my CM10 Galaxy Nexus
Nah I plugged it in the same place as my old phone. But my old phone is getting minimum 4 signals. What else could be the problem?
Mike556 said:
Nah I plugged it in the same place as my old phone. But my old phone is getting minimum 4 signals. What else could be the problem?
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you are comparing apples to oranges. Different phones display 'bars' at different signal levels. Also different phones have different radios etc etc. This is the nature of cell phones.
you need to look at the actual db levels. bars mean nothing.
Signal Strength- -91 dbm max with 4 bars
Usually it shows 2 bars only and sometimes no bars at all
Not sure what you are looking for, seems fine to me. Are you using a case on your phone? Some cases use a metallic color paint and this drastically reduces signal. Otherwise I'd say don't worry about it.
If you are rooted, go to the market and download the app GetRIL, then run it and match your RIL to your baseband, seems to help signal strength a bit, I constantly have 3-4 bars all the time.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I've always got lte the house with no bars on ics now that I got the ota I'm getting 4 -5 bars which is awesome being my apt sits between two towers. I'm a happy camper.
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You know, I've seen a lot of people post about how, with the JB update, they're getting better 4G signal. I don't think we really are. There is a spot outside my workplace where I pick up 4G, and I have a work-provided LTE hotspot. The hotspot shows the same number of bars that it always has, speed tests on each device are the same as the were with ICS, but my LGOG now shows 4-5 bars, instead of one. To me it seems like LG just changed the way that the phone reports 4G signal strength, and nothing else.
Yes they fix the signal bar. I never or rarely had bars but now I do. More than my other old lte phones. A full 4-5 bars I've never seen consistently on this phone until now with jb.
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cowfodder said:
You know, I've seen a lot of people post about how, with the JB update, they're getting better 4G signal. I don't think we really are. There is a spot outside my workplace where I pick up 4G, and I have a work-provided LTE hotspot. The hotspot shows the same number of bars that it always has, speed tests on each device are the same as the were with ICS, but my LGOG now shows 4-5 bars, instead of one. To me it seems like LG just changed the way that the phone reports 4G signal strength, and nothing else.
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I was always under the assumption on Sprint phones the signal bars were really indicating 1x and not data. Also I vaguely remember Android API not having a real method to display LTE signal strength, CDMA being RSSI and LTE being RSRP. Unless that change recently?
Seems that my Radios on my Verizon GNex are getting worse. I can set the phone down on the table in my house and watch the signal go from 2 bars 4g to 1 bar 3g to no signal then to 1 bar 4g. My wife's Motorola RAZR has 3 bars 4g solid. I am really getting tired of this. The luster has faded. Don't really want to go to a RAZR and wondering if a S4 is any better.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Wasn't there a big debate on this before and signal bars mean nothing.
If you compare actual -db, you might find they aren't that different. Motorola has strong radios though I've heard.
This was a big ordeal back in the day where Verizon and At&t actually increase the bars display and also display 4G all the time, even when not.
So basically your phone may be accurate and your wife's is lying. Check -db and play with upgrading your radios.
Also you are supposed to update your roaming profiles on Verizon occasionally. I think its like **2424 or something. It downloads all the most recent tower information. Could be a new tower that your phone doesn't know about.
Lots to think about.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
^^^ Excellent reply!
Agreed, the only way to find the best radio for YOU is to play with them. Not everyone has the same experience with a particular one. It depends on the market you are in.
When we say play, we mean test it for a couple of days in routine situations not a 30 minute test to see if both your phone and your wife's phone retain the same amount of "bars". But even then, as player911 stated, bars are just a graphical representation of signal quality. Different phones have different thresholds for different representations. Inspect the Signal strength in About Phone -> Status. The lower the "dBm" the better your signal quality.