I happen to live in an area where I seldom get a signal stronger than 60% outside my home. Within my home, I run between 10% and 30% signal. Due to this I tend to get a lot of dropped calls. I have reported this "valley" in my city as being in a weak signal area for AT&T. Most of it began with 3G. I have now resolved that I should purchase a signal amplifier with an omni antenna that can be installed in my attic that would have about a 35-40 foot cable running to the inside unit. As I understand it, that should closely resemble an outside signal.
Anyone have any suggestions on home cell phone amplifiers that will handle multiple calls simultaneously? It obviously is not totally an AT&T issue because I have several friends on differing networks that have the same problem in my house.
Any help would be appreciated.
EVO Brethren,
My signal will bounce from 4 bars to NONE and back to 2 then 4. Apparently it does so during calls too because I can't talk more than a few minutes before it'll drop. At work it'll bounce from 2 to NONE all day which just drains my battery like mad.
I'm using the latest radio and have tried reflashing it. I'm pretty sure this has always happened even on the older radio. Is Sprint service really this terrible or is there something I can do to fix this?
I can't help you with your problem, other than to say that it won't happen when you are within good service coverage.
I have the same hyperactive signal bar inside my home where I get terrible service (3 bars max when the moon is just right). The signal with jump to full bars and then drop to one or zero.
I would assume that it's the radio trying to boost your signal by cranking up the power. It probably works for a second before the phone realizes that to maintain more than 3 bars of service, the radio would require a nuclear reactor to power it, and therefore promptly lowers the power to the radio.
I have no idea, thats just my guess. When I'm in great coverage it has no problem holding bars, bad coverage - crazy dancing routine.
I've seen posts that discuss the data issue, but not with detailed meter readings. I've been here with the Epic4g and my Verizon Samsung Droid Charge side by side, both using 3G. Generally, the Charge reads around -98 dBm and the E4G reads around -101 dBm, but they both fluctuate. At almost the same signal strength (and sometimes the exact same) the Charge's data is perfectly usable, fast even, yet the E4G is completely unusable. It will make clear phone calls without dropouts, but data is a no-go. I realize they are different networks, but isn't dBm dBm? I've taken the E4G around to a few areas and i've noticed that data starts to become usable around -91 dBm. I also see it sometimes fluctuate back and forth rapidly from -106 dBm (no bars) to -64 dBm (full bars) sitting totally stationary.
On occasion when i'm in the house (normally around -101 dBm) i'll notice the E4G lose service altogether, and every time it comes back it's at -64 dBm (full bars) for around 5 seconds before reverting back to -101 dBm. So unless the signal meter is giving false readings, this phone is actually capable of great reception???
The reason for the tedious post is that i'm trying to decide if it's worth exchanging for another one. I want to believe that either I got an exceptionally bad one and that the exchange will be worth it, or that the data/reception issue really is software related and will be fixed, therefore making it worth forfeiting my 14 day return period. I bought it through Letstalk.com, so unless I let them hold $600 as ransom money, they won't cross ship an exchange (understandably). This means possibly 2 weeks without a phone which would be really difficult, but worth if it I scored one that functioned even a bit better. I was going to leave Verizon specifically for this device and I really want it to work out.
TIA
I am not one who has run into the LOS just yet, and here's to hoping I don't.
However... I do have terrible signal pretty much inside anywhere. Outside or in the car I have had pretty decent signal everywhere I have gone. However whenever I am inside pretty much anywhere I get 0-1 bar at best, and often even roaming does not function.
Is anyone else experiencing anything like this?
Is there any development for fixes for improved signal/antenna? Is this even possible?
Thanks a lot for everyones time.
That sounds pretty bad. I did notice that the Epic 4G Touch's signal strength is often 1-2 bars lower than the Evo and Evo 3D. This does include inside locations, so I've resorted to using Google Voice for texting and Groove IP for phone calls when I have Wi-fi.
Maybe take the phone to a store that has the same phone in stock and compare signal strength?
I just got this phone a few days ago switched from Verizon and this thing is always roaming im outside at a dog park and its roaming this cant be sprints service im guessing horrible signal strength.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
thedeadletters said:
That sounds pretty bad. I did notice that the Epic 4G Touch's signal strength is often 1-2 bars lower than the Evo and Evo 3D. This does include inside locations, so I've resorted to using Google Voice for texting and Groove IP for phone calls when I have Wi-fi.
Maybe take the phone to a store that has the same phone in stock and compare signal strength?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bars are not a comparison of signal strength between phones you have to look at dbs
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2
I just got the phone a couple days ago and I was having the same issues inside my house. I could not even get the xda app to load. I took out the default proxies and it has helped, at least it feels like that to me.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
This is a well known issue that's been talked about since its release. Hopefully it will be on the list of things they try and fix in they first OTA update along with LOS and Android OS
Not saying this applies to everyone, but I figured out why the particular E4GT I was testing had such jumpy signal levels. I was doing side-by-side comparisons with an Optimus S using menu->settings->about phone->status.
It appears the E4GT has very little granularity with signal strength reporting. It only goes by increments of 5 dBm, whereas the Optimus reports signal levels at a granularity of 1 dBm.
For E4GT, -106 dBm = 0 bar, -101 dBm = 1 bar, -96 dBm = 2 bar, -91 dBm = 3 bar - 86 dBm = 4 bar, -81 dBm = 5 bar, and -76 dBm = 6 bar.
Problem in my main test area is the signal is somewhere between -93 dBm and -98 dBm according to the Optimus S. Whereas the Optimus S can react to small changes in dBm with equally small changes in reported signal strength and "# bars", the E4GT tends to like jumping from -91 dBm to - 101 dBm and back. It only reports certain discrete levels and it appears to be rounding up and down (based on side-by-side signal comparison to Optimus S) They both go up and down at roughly the same time, but Optimus S does it smoothly over time. E4GT just does the signal change reporting very abruptly with 5-10 dBm jumps.
Second thing I noticed is hand and phone positioning really affect the signal strength. The antennae/transmitter appear to be at the bottom hump on the phone. If I place my hands over that area holding the phone normally I can go from 3 bars (-86 dBm) down to 0 bars (-106 dBm). Data starts getting very iffy at -106 dBm but still kind of works, just real slow. If I hold the phone in the middle or near the top, I almost always get the same or better signal. I also found the phone gets the best signal when it is held flat, rather than perpendicular to the ground. In fact the best signal I get is when I'm not holding the phone at all, and instead lay it flat on the table.
Again, I'm not saying every phone behaves this way nor am I saying this explains everyones' signal issues. I'm just relaying my experiences.
BTW the signal levels when laid flat on a table side-by-side to the Optimus S is very comparable, almost the same (minus the lack of granularity). However when I'm holding both phones, the E4GT has generally 5 dBm worse signal, sometimes 10 dBm if I'm holding normally and covering the bottom of the phone.
That is very interesting sfhub.
I really hope the OTA has some bearing on these issues. I really wish it would come out sooner than later. I have another week or so to decide to keep this phone or not and really don't know regardless of if an OTA is released whether i will keep it or not.
There is a lot to like and a lot to drive you crazy about this phone.
Hello,
I normally get 3/4 or 4/4 bar of signal inside my apartment. I have had LTE for a few months.
However, last few days, I get no signal inside my apartment. If I just walk out front to the sidewalk, I would get the signal back.
What gives?
I have not dropped my phone or any such thing. Firmware is all up to date.