Just got a GN, switching over from a Droid Charge. My dbm signal on the charge consistently hovered between -80 and -90, but with the gn, it's hovering between -96 and -103. This is the recipe for a huge battery suck. What's going on here?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Same here but I didn't know a stronger signal takes more battery?
~bjames23
Galaxy Nexus CDMA
Bugless Beast
LeanKernel 1.35oc kernel w/custom voltages
It's negative. The number is smaller. Thus weaker signal.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
A weaker signal takes more battery. As the dbm gets higher, your signal is getting lower. And it's not linear. For every -3dbm, there is a 10-fold signal drop. This is very significant, and will crush your battery.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Stockmoose16 said:
A weaker signal takes more battery. As the dbm gets higher, your signal is getting lower. And it's not linear. For every -3dbm, there is a 10-fold signal drop. This is very significant, and will crush your battery.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is between -97 and -99 all the time and my battery lasts all day (7am - 11PM) with "normal" use. I think everyone is really to hung up on all these numbers which probably aren't accurate anyway (especially download speeds).
I just went for a five minute walk underground and got between -55 and -89. No problems here!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Stockmoose16 said:
Just got a GN, switching over from a Droid Charge. My dbm signal on the charge consistently hovered between -80 and -90, but with the gn, it's hovering between -96 and -103. This is the recipe for a huge battery suck. What's going on here?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically what you're seeing between the Charge and Galaxy Nexus is that in "about phone" the Charge is showing your EVDO signal, whereas the Nexus is (properly) showing your LTE signal.
It may also have slightly lower signal, but most of the time people are being confused by the 2 different sets of software not reporting the same radio's signals.
---------- Post added at 11:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 AM ----------
sishgupta said:
I just went for a five minute walk underground and got between -55 and -89. No problems here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP is talking about the LTE Nexus though. You're Canadian so I'm assuming you're on the HSPA+ one
martonikaj said:
OP is talking about the LTE Nexus though. You're Canadian so I'm assuming you're on the HSPA+ one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah true...my mistake.
I'm stuck on 3g at work, don't know the DbM but I am in the basement... upstairs I get a strong signal 4 bars max speed around 21 Mb/sec(Indian school|7th st) in Phoenix. At home in Mesa a stone's throw or 10 miles away I get 2 bars of 4g and max dl speed of 7 Mb/sec
Stockmoose16 said:
Just got a GN, switching over from a Droid Charge. My dbm signal on the charge consistently hovered between -80 and -90, but with the gn, it's hovering between -96 and -103. This is the recipe for a huge battery suck. What's going on here?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm assuming you're talking about LTE. All Verizon 4G LTE phones before the Galaxy Nexus displayed their 1xRTT (voice) signal strength instead of the actual LTE signal strength, leading you to believe that you had really strong LTE signal a lot of times. This wasn't actually the case. The Nexus, however, is the first phone to properly display true 4G LTE signal strength. The difference you observe is because the Charge is displaying 1xRTT signal strength and the Nexus is displaying LTE signal strength. The tower you are pulling the 1xRTT signal from apparently does not have LTE antennas on it, and so your LTE signal is coming from further away.
If you're actually talking about just 3G signal strength... then yikes!
Related
So, an older gentlemen I work with just picked up a Pantech Breakout from VZW - FREE after mail in rebate. He had absolutely no idea how to interact with device so I decided to give him a hand. I was actually pretty impressed with this Android 2.3.3 budget buy but I knew how vastly superior my Galaxy Nexus was compared to his. When I was showing him side by side some of the differences between GB and ICS, I noticed he had 2 bars of 4G and I only had two bars of 3G. I double checked to make sure CDMA/LTE was selected and gave it reboot.....NOTHING.
What a joke. Thoughts?
Its just telling you it has a better signal. According to VZW the Nexus just more accurately displays it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Why wouldn't you toggle airplane mode? It's faster than a reboot.
Pacifik said:
Why wouldn't you toggle airplane mode? It's faster than a reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know.
I guess a more definitive test would have been a speedtest. We'll see what kind of results that yields.
Smokeey said:
Its just telling you it has a better signal. According to VZW the Nexus just more accurately displays it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^^^+1
Your phone is just being honest. his phone not so much....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
Keep in mind custom UI overlays usually inflate signal..
Wow.. r u guys serious.. I returned my GN because the signal issue is real..
I suppose you are correct in a way, the GN can only report what it can obtain, which is absolutely nothing in terms of signal strength.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW
the only well to tell who has the best signal is to look at the dB
Jay A whY said:
Wow.. r u guys serious.. I returned my GN because the signal issue is real..
I suppose you are correct in a way, the GN can only report what it can obtain, which is absolutely nothing in terms of signal strength.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one said the signal issue wasn't real.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Zepius said:
the only well to tell who has the best signal is to look at the dB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is incorrect.
The signal strength displayed in settings for most phones don't show LTE - Nexus does, so you won't be looking at the same thing.
Also @OP, please stop comparing bars, the only thing it represents is that 1 bar is worse than 2 bars to its own kind that is also using the same skin.
His Nexus is only getting 3G, not 4G!
That sucks. I would flash the 4.0.3 radios.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
guyhoang said:
His Nexus is only getting 3G, not 4G!
That sucks. I would flash the 4.0.3 radios.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it would appear that guy was the only one who clearly understood the op's post...
Yeah it is absolutely crazy dealing with this signal issue. I am sitting here in the same location that I have 4-5 bars of 3g on my razr and literally have no bars on my nexus. Wtf?! Both set to cdma only. Using 4.0.3 radios.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
epphllps said:
Yeah it is absolutely crazy dealing with this signal issue. I am sitting here in the same location that I have 4-5 bars of 3g on my razr and literally have no bars on my nexus. Wtf?! Both set to cdma only. Using 4.0.3 radios.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read that the 4.0.3 baseband had 3G radio issues. You might want to flash the official 4.0.2 baseband to see if your signal improves.
Kunji said:
it would appear that guy was the only one who clearly understood the op's post...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is actually not clear at all if the other phone was in 4G.
Like in:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
RAZR still shows 4G icon even when sitting in 1x/EVDO.
draugaz said:
It is actually not clear at all if the other phone was in 4G.
Like in:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
RAZR still shows 4G icon even when sitting in 1x/EVDO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You beat me to it. . Basically you must make sure you are comparing apples to apples. You should use the db measurement for signal strength and not bars. You can not currently compare the GNex 4g signal to any other phone because ICS is the on version that can show your 4g signal in db. All previous versions lie.
The issue the OP had with not being able to lock on a 4g signal is a different matter. As the previous poster has stated, the pantech may not have had a 4g signal. Speed test may shed light on this. Personally I have not experienced that yet so maybe an issue with just his phone? If not then perhaps I have not noticed it when it happened to me. I'll try to monitor it more. I sit near the edge of a 4g signal so at home I'm always on wifi. It takes way to much juice to stay locked into 4g at home but it does stay locked. I can kill the battery in about 4 hours near the rear of my house with a mostly idle phone in 4g. I have to monitor it more when I'm not at home.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Oh yeah Anand Tech is definitely comparing apples to apples.. The Bionic is one of the worst phones in locking in and staying on a 4G signal.. There is a reason why the Bionic and GN was delayed. Crappy radios!
The GN would be the best phone out if it wasn't for its signal issues. I hate to be sound like the glass is half empty but it is a shame one must tweak the radio for a better signal. I'm still hoping that the GN is software correctable . I really like what the phone has to offer in regards to development. Only time will tell, good luck GN users!
Sent from my ADR6425LVW
draugaz said:
It is actually not clear at all if the other phone was in 4G.
Like in:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
RAZR still shows 4G icon even when sitting in 1x/EVDO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you reading about the RAZR showing 4G icon while not in 4G? I have a similar issue with my Droid Charge where I will have a 4G icon but no data connectivity at all (not 3G/1X even).
PeterDLai said:
Where are you reading about the RAZR showing 4G icon while not in 4G? I have a similar issue with my Droid Charge where I will have a 4G icon but no data connectivity at all (not 3G/1X even).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically most phones with carrier/manufacturer involved skins will make it linger and display the 4G icon even when its cutting in/out. Mostly because people will freak out if their connection is changing all the time. The handoff between LTE and CDMA is really slow, so they just make it show 4G expecting it to come back to 4G soon when it drops.
The Nexus is showing your actual connection with no sugar coating.
PeterDLai said:
Where are you reading about the RAZR showing 4G icon while not in 4G? I have a similar issue with my Droid Charge where I will have a 4G icon but no data connectivity at all (not 3G/1X even).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For example, look here, the second photo in this article:
http://images.anandtech.com/doci/5254/EVDOvsLTE_575px.jpg
Motorola is in EVDO mode, but the icon in the status bar says "4G LTE".
I have the Verizon LTE Nexus. Curious about battery drain between CDMA only vs LTE/CDMA ?
Let's say phone is sitting on my desk, in 3G only it shows half bars, then switch to 4G it shows full bars.
If phone just sits there, screen off, does the battery drain more on 4G ? Or it doesn't matter at idle when not touching/using the phone ?
Obviously if you are in a poor 4G area battery will drain higher due to it looking for the LTE network right ? But in Chicago and burbs, LTE seems pretty solid, especially at my office area, full bars on 4G.
Opinions ?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
i think the phone will use more power at 4G idle even with full bars, simply because LTE chipsets are still far too new and not yet mature. CDMA has been tweaked for years and is more power efficient.
give LTE a few years for chipsets to get smaller, and more power efficient.
The last LTE phone I had was the bionic and in the Chicago area where LTE is plentiful I had no problems leaving it on all the time. Your mileage may vary of course but by Wrigley I didn't notice too much drain
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
VZW Galaxy Nexus next to HTC 4G LTE Phone look at signal strength difference.
Verizon should pull these phones until they have a fix. At my house my VZW 4G LTE Hotspot had full strength and friends VZW Iphone had full bars 3G.
My VZW Galaxy Nexus had 1 LTE bar sometimes but mostly 2 3G Bars.
Needless to say it went back. How dare they sell this defective phone?
Then they had the audacity to charge me a restocking fee after 2 days. The phone line is defective.
All I can say is I just cancelled my FIOS and my LTE Hotspot and returned this phone and will NEVER deal with Verizon Again.
I can't post a link to the image but if you go to nothingelseleft .com /2.jpg you will see a picture of the Nexus vs an HTC right next to it.
HTC 4g lte? And can you post pics of actual signal strength? Bars are not a good indicator
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Welcome to old news as of December 2011.
Lets pull a phone from Sprint, and lets compare to it to a phone on Verizon for signal differences.
Sounds like a good idea to me, how bout you guys?
And for the love of GOD, look at actual performance, not bars. Even dbm can be dressed up to look nice by manufacturers. Bars don't mean crap. HTC added an update to the Dinc2 that added a 5th signal bar. So tell me, do you think it has better reception with that 5th bar?
scoobdude said:
HTC 4g lte? And can you post pics of actual signal strength? Bars are not a good indicator
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nothingelseleft .com /2.jpg I cannot post the image.
In fact can someone more senior post my pic of the signal strengths?
nothingelseleft .com /2.jpg
Finally, pic for the lazy.
My Bad one on left was Wifi affecting the dBM, but I did try other phones in store and saw much better dBM still big differences but maybe not that big. Took a picture of this one as it was adjacent.
All I know is performance at my office is far worse than other VZW LTE phones, performance at home is unacceptable 1 bar LTE sometimes but usually 2 3G whereas a VZW Iphone is solid 4 bars 3G
njcobra10tha said:
My Bad one on left was Wifi affecting the dBM, but I did try other phones in store and saw much better dBM still big differences but maybe not that big. Took a picture of this one as it was adjacent.
All I know is performance at my office is far worse than other VZW LTE phones, performance at home is unacceptable 1 bar LTE sometimes but usually 2 3G whereas a VZW Iphone is solid 4 bars 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Horrible test.
Rezound = Gingerbread
Nexus = ICS
ICS is the first verison of Android to natively read LTE DBM and separate from EvDo. What you reported on the Rezound was EvDo DBM.
PS--Wifi doesn't affect DBM.
Why horrible test, I couldn't keep a 4G connection at my house but VZW LTE Hotspot was solid and fast. At work I have 2 bars and it keeps flipping to 3G whereas Thunderbolts stay solid 4 bars 4G. Phone has problem and VZW confirmed the problem!
adrynalyne said:
Horrible test.
Rezound = Gingerbread
Nexus = ICS
ICS is the first verison of Android to natively read LTE DBM and separate from EvDo. What you reported on the Rezound was EvDo DBM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already explained why that test/screenshot was horrible. It went over your head, so I see no reason to explain further.
I could let you read about it, I guess.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
In the same place where my Thunderbolt dropped signal as much as my Nexus does:
I can live with that being on a fringe area.
njcobra10tha said:
Phone has problem and VZW confirmed the problem!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only "problem" Verizon ever confirmed was that the Nexus didn't cheat enough on signal. They "fixed" the issue in the leaked 4.0.4 build.
Oh and to prove that the Galaxy Nexus handles bars and signals differently between 3G and LTE:
This is without moving the phone an inch, 3G and 4G just to back up adrynalyne's info.
I would kill for LTE that strong...
Verizon gives me just a small taste of LTE.
adrynalyne said:
I would kill for LTE that strong...
Verizon gives me just a small taste of LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Luckily that is at my desk at work, I actually get a bit stronger at home (Which technically isn't in 4G according to Verizon's "Coverage Maps").
miketoasty said:
Luckily that is at my desk at work, I actually get a bit stronger at home (Which technically isn't in 4G according to Verizon's "Coverage Maps").
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't even get a taste at home. I get a signal that is around for about 3 seconds. They mock me.
Which is sad because I have a tower next door, but I guess because it is owned by ATT, they will lease for 3G but not LTE.
WHOA no need to be nasty. First off NOTHING goes over my head so thanks very little for the insult. I re-read it and get it. I was pumped up and upset that I wasted hours at lunch and now I temporarily lost my cell # until it can be ported back to T-Mobile hopefully within 24 hours.
Perhaps that test is not an accurate comparison but the fact is that I can't maintain a 4G connection at my house and the 3G is too slow and is only 2 bars. The phone is subpar and VZW admits it. When I spoke to Technical support they said there is a fix coming.
adrynalyne said:
I already explained why that test/screenshot was horrible. It went over your head, so I see no reason to explain further.
I could let you read about it, I guess.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
In the same place where my Thunderbolt dropped signal as much as my Nexus does:
I can live with that being on a fringe area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
njcobra10tha said:
WHOA no need to be nasty. First off NOTHING goes over my head so thanks very little for the insult. I re-read it and get it. I was pumped up and upset that I wasted hours at lunch and now I temporarily lost my cell # until it can be ported back to T-Mobile hopefully within 24 hours.
Perhaps that test is not an accurate comparison but the fact is that I can't maintain a 4G connection at my house and the 3G is too slow and is only 2 bars. The phone is subpar and VZW admits it. When I spoke to Technical support they said there is a fix coming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is tech strategy to get you off the phone and out of their life.
Techs don't have ETAs on fixes or patches. 'Soon' could mean a day, or 6 months. So no, Verizon hasn't admitted to a problem.
Do I get worse readings than my other devices? Sure. Does it equate to worse performance? Not for me. Sorry it does for you. I ignore signal readings and bars.
adrynalyne said:
I don't even get a taste at home. I get a signal that is around for about 3 seconds. They mock me.
Which is sad because I have a tower next door, but I guess because it is owned by ATT, they will lease for 3G but not LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just get a Rezound! You will be fine.... until it get's ICS.
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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