Develop Bugs

Co-worker Pantech Breakout catching 4G signals better than my Gnex?

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.
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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
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^^^^^+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
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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
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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
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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
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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).
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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".

My Gnex doesn't get 4G anyhow.

Hello, I'm having trouble using 4G at home.
My friend's Verizon Razr has 2 signal bars of 4G LTE when my Galaxy Nexus only has 2 signal bars of 3G.
LTE is enabled on my phone and I've used 4G elsewhere so I know it works sometimes.
Can anyone help me with this? Thanks!

Try flashing the leaked radios

wayneb02 said:
Try flashing the leaked radios
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I actually used that one using Clockwork Recovery mode. There is no difference as far as I can tell.

dilxadon said:
Hello, I'm having trouble using 4G at home.
My friend's Verizon Razr has 2 signal bars of 4G LTE when my Galaxy Nexus only has 2 signal bars of 3G.
LTE is enabled on my phone and I've used 4G elsewhere so I know it works sometimes.
Can anyone help me with this? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into the "about phone" menu for both devices and see their actual dBm and network state. There is a known difference between the Galaxy Nexus and other Verizon phones. When on 4G, the Nexus will actually show the 4G signal in bars. The other devices often show 4G even when they're not connected, and when they are connected their bars show their 3G signal.
That being said, the Galaxy Nexus is often reported to just have raw signals lower than the competition. But the above statement should be something that's kept in mind when comparing the two.

martonikaj said:
Go into the "about phone" menu for both devices and see their actual dBm and network state. There is a known difference between the Galaxy Nexus and other Verizon phones. When on 4G, the Nexus will actually show the 4G signal in bars. The other devices often show 4G even when they're not connected, and when they are connected their bars show their 3G signal.
That being said, the Galaxy Nexus is often reported to just have raw signals lower than the competition. But the above statement should be something that's kept in mind when comparing the two.
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Thanks! I will check and see if this is the case.
Is there anyway to tell if it's really 4G from the phone?

[Q] Are Issues Resolved in 4.0.4 Update?

I've been interested in a Verizon GNEX [CDMA] since launch, but have held off purchase due to the following reported issues:
1) inability to call out or hold a call from areas where other phones can
2) inability to establish or hold a data connection from areas where other phones can
3) slow handoff from 4G to 3G to 1x
4) data connection remains in 1x or 3G in a strong 4G area until restart
5) poor battery life due to constant hunting for signal
6) random reboots
7) microphone cuts out during phone call
8) loud screeching sound during phone call
9) low speaker volume
10) ringtone volume not separate from notification volume
These issues have been reported to persist through multiple handset exchanges. From what I've read, the handoff issues (#3 and #4) appear to be resolved in the leaked 4.0.4 update and this has improved battery life (#5). Is this true?
For those of you who have experienced any of the above issues and installed the leaked 4.0.4 update, can you confirm these issues are resolved? Have any of the other issues you've experienced been resolved by this update?

I have a Galaxy Nexus GSM which was originally yakjuxw (if it matters), bought in Sweden in December 2011. Never had ANY of the issues you're mentioning. The only issue I had was that the phone got pretty hot, but with custom roms and especially Franco Kernel my phone is 10x better than stock in all aspects

Thanks, @Eddie!
I should've been more specific. As I understand it, the GNEX GSM is more robust than the GNEX CDMA.

I can confirm that 3,4 & 5 are fine in 4.0.4. I've not experienced either of your two 6s (you have two issue #6s in your first post) along with 7 either, however I don't use the phone much for voice calls.
I'll have the phone in Norcross GA next week which has poor Verizon coverage and will compare it with my DX to evaluate 1 & 2.

Thanks, @Sleuth! What a nice guy!
I live in an area that gets marginal 3G reception. The Nexus would be my first 4G phone. My concern is that it may not be able to function as a phone at my house if the radios have reception inferior to my present phone. That is the reason why I'm most interested if items #1 and #2 are resolved with the 4.0.4 update.

dstrakele said:
Thanks, @Sleuth! What a nice guy!
I live in an area that gets marginal 3G reception. The Nexus would be my first 4G phone. My concern is that it may not be able to function as a phone at my house if the radios have reception inferior to my present phone. That is the reason why I'm most interested if items #1 and #2 are resolved with the 4.0.4 update.
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4.0.4 radios supposedly fix most of these issues
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

That's the rumor. I'm interested in the reality...
I'm also very interested if the microphone dropout during call (i.e. those you're speaking to can no longer hear you) and loud screechng noise during call (possibly feedback?) issues are resolved (items #7 and #8). Those definitely affect the phone conversation experience.

dstrakele said:
I've been interested in a Verizon GNEX [CDMA] since launch, but have held off purchase due to the following reported issues:
1) inability to call out or hold a call from areas where other phones can
2) inability to establish or hold a data connection from areas where other phones can
3) slow handoff from 4G to 3G to 1x
4) data connection remains in 1x or 3G in a strong 4G area until restart
5) poor battery life due to constant hunting for signal
6) random reboots
7) microphone cuts out during phone call
8) loud screeching sound during phone call
9) low speaker volume
10) ringtone volume not separate from notification volume
These issues have been reported to persist through multiple handset exchanges. From what I've read, the handoff issues (#3 and #4) appear to be resolved in the leaked 4.0.4 update and this has improved battery life (#5). Is this true?
For those of you who have experienced any of the above issues and installed the leaked 4.0.4 update, can you confirm these issues are resolved? Have any of the other issues you've experienced been resolved by this update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I experience # 2,3,5,8 and 9. Hoping the next update will fix it. But dude they minor issue that you will probably won't run into and I'm sure Google is working hard at it .
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

I don't have ANY of these issues on my present phone. To experience them on a new upgrade flagship phone that I'm paying a premium price for would be unacceptable.
There's no need to wait or hope. The 4.0.4 update is already out, available for installation for those who root and ROM their phones (as I would do if I had these issues). That's why I posted this question in this forum.
My only question is simple - are these issues resolved or not?

I just picked up the LTE G Nex (I've owned the GSM version for a few months) and must admit that the reception on it is noticeably worse than my old Verizon LTE phones (Thunderbolt and Droid Charge). I am on the deodexed version of 4.0.4.

So far, my coverage in Norcross GA has been identical in terms of signal strength. They must've just added LTE to the existing towers. However, I am getting 4G coverage here so I'm getting much better data throughput than I ever had. Not too many people here using the 4G service yet so the spectrum is pretty much open.
I'll be here a few more days and will get more opportunity to compare. I'd like to see a 3G handoff happen...
Slightly OT, but the GNex GPS hardware is way superior to the DX. I actually got a lock inside the Avis parking structure

Buddy Revell said:
I just picked up the LTE G Nex (I've owned the GSM version for a few months) and must admit that the reception on it is noticeably worse than my old Verizon LTE phones (Thunderbolt and Droid Charge). I am on the deodexed version of 4.0.4.
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Actually its the same. The Nexus uses almost the same exact radio chip set. Reason you think signal is worse is because the Droid Charge displayed signal bars based off of your 3g coverage, not lte.Put your nexus into 3g mode and I can almost guarantee you your signal bars will go back up to a comparable level of your charge
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Samsuck said:
Actually its the same. The Nexus uses almost the same exact radio chip set. Reason you think signal is worse is because the Droid Charge displayed signal bars based off of your 3g coverage, not lte.Put your nexus into 3g mode and I can almost guarantee you your signal bars will go back up to a comparable level of your charge
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Explain. Why? They both LTE phone's
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Dxtra said:
Explain. Why? They both LTE phone's
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Android prior to 4.0/ICS was not able to separately display 4G/LTE signal bars in the notification area. LTE phones on Android 2.x are actually showing you their 3G signal strength even when you are on 4G.
The Galaxy Nexus and Droid Charge use virtually identical LTE and EV-DO radios. Any signal differences between the two would be very minor and a result of antenna design at most.
Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue

bullhonkie said:
Android prior to 4.0/ICS was not able to separately display 4G/LTE signal bars in the notification area. LTE phones on Android 2.x are actually showing you their 3G signal strength even when you are on 4G.
The Galaxy Nexus and Droid Charge use virtually identical LTE and EV-DO radios. Any signal differences between the two would be very minor and a result of antenna design at most.
Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I remember reading that. But I thought that Verizon/Google was going to change how the Nexus displays signal strength to match other LTE phones like the Droid Charge, though. I'm on 4.0.4.

bullhonkie said:
Android prior to 4.0/ICS was not able to separately display 4G/LTE signal bars in the notification area. LTE phones on Android 2.x are actually showing you their 3G signal strength even when you are on 4G.
The Galaxy Nexus and Droid Charge use virtually identical LTE and EV-DO radios. Any signal differences between the two would be very minor and a result of antenna design at most.
Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So in that case is safe to say Verizon's LTE is to blame here. Has anyone done a speed test side by side. If we get the same results well there's your answer and if we don't we know who to blame.
Edit - here's a speed test comparison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC30ufP93vk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

bullhonkie said:
Android prior to 4.0/ICS was not able to separately display 4G/LTE signal bars in the notification area. LTE phones on Android 2.x are actually showing you their 3G signal strength even when you are on 4G.
The Galaxy Nexus and Droid Charge use virtually identical LTE and EV-DO radios. Any signal differences between the two would be very minor and a result of antenna design at most.
Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5254/investigating-the-galaxy-nexus-lte-signal-issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just got a microSIM adapter so I decided to test this out. I did Speedtests in the exact same location in my house and swapped the microSIM from my G Nex into both my Droid Charge and Thunderbolt. Speedtest numbers in the same locations were faster with my older LTE phones (around 6-7 up and 2.5 down) vs. my G Nex (around 4 up and 2 down). Also, I had to toggle my GNex's network mode to get it to 4G because it initially was only on 3G in this location. This poor reception is frankly the only thing I dislike about my LTE G Nex.

Buddy, what's your baseband? FA02?

Sleuth255 said:
Buddy, what's your baseband? FA02?
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Yeah, I'm using the deodexed version of 4.0.4 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1481613 including the radio that comes with it.

Sleuth255 said:
I'll be here a few more days and will get more opportunity to compare. I'd like to see a 3G handoff happen...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that is the key. From what I've read, the GNEX works great in strong 4G areas. I don't believe my home location will be so fortunate.

Getting low signal on Gnex yakju

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

Radios on my GNex suck

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.