Hi all, I recently just upgraded from the HTC Rezound to the One M8. Overall I like the phone but as far as signal strength goes, it seems like a downgrade from the Rezound. My phone is stock and has the latest updates. I even did a factory reset after the last one. I troubleshooted with tech support and they recommended I return the phone. I went to Verizon the other day and got a new SIM card. The sales person told me that the Rezound's back case was pretty much one giant antenna and that's why my M8 seems like it doesn't get as good of service. I'm used to 3-4 bars of 4G inside my house now I get 1-3 bars of 3G with the occasional 1-2 bars of 4G inside. Is there anything I can do to improve this or is this just how it's going to be?
Unfortunately, the only thing I can recommend for you is to mess around with the APN settings, which should be just fine since it was sold straight from Verizon. Some phones get better reception than others. In my experience, my unlocked M8 is getting MUCH better reception than my G2, but I'm on AT&T.
The number of bars don't mean anything. Literally, there is no standard to what they symbolize. And while you would think that HTC has kept it (what the number of bars symbolizes) somewhat constant between the 2 phones, there is no guarantee of that. Much better to look at Settings>About>Network, and look at Signal Strength in dBm. The larger the value, the better the signal. Keeping in mind the value is negative, so a "larger" value actually means a smaller absolute value (drop the negative). -80s to -90s is decent signal. -110s is call-dropping bad.
Assuming you really do have poorer signal on the M8, if you are not on the latest software version, you might update (as updates typically include new radio software) but the difference will probably be minor at best. Or you can s-off and try an older radio. But it might mess up other things to do so (and again, I wouldn't expect a huge improvement, if any). And you can only flash a Verizon radio (GSM radios are not compatible with the Verizon version). Plus these types of mods void your warranty, and I'm not sure you want to go there or not.
Related
I just got my VZW Galaxy Nexus this last week and I've been experiencing signal issues. Often when check my phone, it will have no signal at all which can take some time to come on, and then its sometimes even longer before I get a data connection of any kind. I am in Lincoln, NE so I have 4G here which works great when it works. Is this a common problem with these phones? I rooted and installed CM9 that day I got it so I want to determine if I have bad hardware that needs to be exchanged or bad software that can be fixed. I found the 4.03 leaked radio on the boards here and flashed it, which has seemed to help some but I still have issues. What is everyone's experience with VZW and the GNex?
Common problem seems to be the complaint of a longer "connect to network" time, both on startup of the phone and if data is lost or switched down from 4G to 3G
The consensus seems to be that its a s/w issue that can be corrected.
Oddly enough, I was standing in the middle of our local shopping mall with no bars, yet did a Google search for "Verizon Wireless" (go figure, right?) and it came right up....no it wasnt cached. Just shows that our bar readings may be inaccurate, so who knows what else might be inaccurate. I also had my phone right next to a demo GNex at the Verizon store, and the demo was showing 2 or 3 bars of 3G, while mine had 1 bar of 4G......so which is better, 1 bar of 4G or 3 bars of 3G? Judging from app download speeds, Id rather have 1 bar of 4G anyday.
I have seen some comments about the bars in the status being in accurate, however when mine has no bars it seems to be that way. I am unable to use the internet, text or call which is an issue for me.
I also should note that I use JuiceDefender to control my data connection. While this should have no bearing on my phone/text connection, I am wondering if it may have some affect on the 4G connection even after I have the screen on for a bit.
I have 4g disabled and haven't had any issues. I'd try disabling it, restart and see if it happens again. Make sure its still disabled after restart.
I've been having big time issues with mine. Lots of time I go to pick up my phone and it has service, decent service, but won't connect to data. Once I'm connected it is not an issue but if I'm on wifi at home, and turn it off, it just doesn't want to connect unless I reboot.
Rooted and tried a new radio. A little better but still has been doing some weird things.
shoman24v said:
I've been having big time issues with mine. Lots of time I go to pick up my phone and it has service, decent service, but won't connect to data. Once I'm connected it is not an issue but if I'm on wifi at home, and turn it off, it just doesn't want to connect unless I reboot.
Rooted and tried a new radio. A little better but still has been doing some weird things.
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How long have you had yours? My biggest question that I'm trying to answer right now is if I have subpar hardware. Since the phone is only a week old I know I could return it to stock and easily get VZW to give me a new one. This may not be the case two months from now however.
jst07 said:
How long have you had yours? My biggest question that I'm trying to answer right now is if I have subpar hardware. Since the phone is only a week old I know I could return it to stock and easily get VZW to give me a new one. This may not be the case two months from now however.
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I've had it since it's been released. The newer leaked radio is better, but it also does weird things too. I don't know if this is because I'm in a 4G town or what.
I don't get 4G where I live, but my buddies with a Bionic and Rezound do here at my house, albeit it's very sketchy for them.
Thing is, I'll have good 3G signal if I'm driving, but for some reason (at least with the original radio) it wouldn't connect. Still testing.
So far the newer radio has been better, but hasn't fixed my issue.
at my house it sucks a few blocks down or anywhere else its rock solid so i just wifi at home better for battery anyway
I hit dead zones where i really shouldnt be. Downgraded from 4.03 to 4.02 and the jury is still out. Might be overall software issue like OP said.
shoman24v said:
I've had it since it's been released. The newer leaked radio is better, but it also does weird things too. I don't know if this is because I'm in a 4G town or what.
I don't get 4G where I live, but my buddies with a Bionic and Rezound do here at my house, albeit it's very sketchy for them.
Thing is, I'll have good 3G signal if I'm driving, but for some reason (at least with the original radio) it wouldn't connect. Still testing.
So far the newer radio has been better, but hasn't fixed my issue.
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Sorry to hear you're having the same problem, but I am glad to hear this sounds like a correctable software issue and not isolated bad hardware. Hopefully VZW will make some improvements to their LTE network and get some radio updates for us soon. I'm in the same boat as you, the 4.03 leaked update was a definite improvement, but a far cry from being a total fix.
As for when my data connection is working...holy hell is LTE fast. I'm clocking it in at 12-16Mb/s, which is killing even my home cable connection. I was confused as to why something seemed slower when I was at home using wifi. I disabled my wifi altogether since I'm lucky enough to have an unlimited data plan still.
Big issue
I have replaced three verizon Galaxy nexus's....all of which, each day i switched...i was either on the phone with a tech dude or (2 of them) one on one at the verizon corporate store.
All of them confirmed that there is a reception issue.
I reside on long island...specifically in the nassau area...4 towers around me..its HEAVILY 4g and 3g...3g is lower than 1mb...i actually never reached 1mb.
ever rep said its 'odd' and 'seems wrong'
now i love this phone...the one i have now..no different then the others..and unfortunately im waiting for the one i mailed to reach them ..to switch yet again.
the problem is..idk if i can handle this issue (4g drops to 3g and has to manually move back which takes forever..and very very slow pick up on any of them)
i want to believe this can be solved by a radio update..but judging by the insane amount of tries i have (every type on every version 4.0.1, 4.0.2 and 4.0.3 with kk6..there is no improvement,
im praying its a software..im waiting..and i have a feeling come january 15th...when everyone who has the phone is officially locked in it and loses the worry free exchange..is when verizon or samsung will actually admit whatever problem this is.
what kills me is i left tmobile for this (7+years) all nexus's ,,all unreal connections with free tethering and $65 a month (tax included)...my wife took my plan...and i took hers (she is grandfathered into unlimited data)
Now she has a sgs2...clocking in at 12mbs at home..ON AVERAGE...with fasstt radio switching...mine is unbelievably unstable sometimes can hit that but averages at 6-8. and in this house my wife got amazing connections on her previous 4g phone. very odd stuff, hers to the 4th one being the lucky one!
go figure!
I really wish this phone was more reliable with its signal, and hopefully VZW will get it taken care of. I'm debating about calling in to talk to a tech, but I'm not sure if I even want to because I don't expect anything to be done, and I don't want to swap phones for another one with the same issue. At the same time, I think I'd rather have this phone with some issues over the Rezound or Razr (once you go ICS, you can never go back)
guys .I have poor reception with htc onex .
The reception is exactly the same as sensation .
how is your reception ?could you please compare your reception with onex and your previous phone ?
I have a DHD as well as the One X. Both get poor reception in my house, so I have a Vodafone Sure Signal to boost it. But without the SS, I would say that the One X is very similar to the DHD, both vary from "no signal" to 3 bars out of 5. The signal fluctuates so rapidly that it's hard to do decent comparison, even with the phones side by side, but neither goes above 3 bars, and most of the time I have 1.
Worth bearing in mind, though, that the DHD is 18 months old and has had several radio updates in that time. I can't be sure now, but I think reception in the house was worse when I first got it. Hopefully the One X will see radio improvements as well in future firmware updates.
Thanks for reply.so its not only me with poor receptions
Well, I live in a bit of a mobile black spot. There's good signal just up the road, on very slightly higher ground. I've tried sim cards from all the main UK networks and they're all about as bad as each other. So it's not really the phone's fault - my brother's iPhone has the same problems when he's here.
But to answer your original question about comparing this to my old phone, the One X is about the same as my DHD, and I have hopes it may improve as HTC release newer radio software.
I'm lucky that work provided a Sure Signal (femtocell) device to get round the problem, as I'm sometimes on call and need to be reached on my work mobile.
mine is much worse than my DHD on T-Mobile (UK - 1800Mhz)
I purchased a Galaxy Nexus from Verizon shortly after release and I ended up returning it due to connection issues. The signal was very weak in areas where I normally have a good signal strength. This was causing some missed calls. Also, I had troubles staying connected to my wifi from the bedroom when every other wireless device I own had no such issue.
I am not overly impressed with SGS3 and I find the $399 no contract Galaxy Nexus to be very attractive. I am considering giving the GNexus another try but I don't want to go through the hassle if I am going to have the same issues.
Finally, my question is, will I have a better connection with the non-Verizon version of the phone purchased directly from Google either due to it being a different version or due to updates since I last tried it with Verizon shortly after release?
I enjoyed the phone other than the issues I mentioned above. I am currently back with AT&T and off contract since I returned the Verizon phone. Thanks in advance for your opinions.
Kirk
Well I didn't get a response here, but I ordered mine from google yesterday. Hoping for the best and will post what differences I see in case anyone is interested.
Honestly don't think the WiFi will be drastically better. They're pretty much the same, although I've never particularly had issues on my GSM model.
Hope it works out.
The GSM doesn't have cell signal issues like the Verizon one. But wifi will be the same. I've found the wifi range to match my atrix for distance from router. I ignore the bars and just read the signal dBm and its fine.
I've had my GNex for a little over a week now. At home and at work, I get great signal for GSM/3G, and Wifi is excellent, as long as it's 2.4GHz. 5GHz works, but is weaker due to higher frequencies not penetrating walls as well.
Out and about, it's a different story. MANY business that I go to will have ZERO signal indoors, and I will have to go outside to do something as simple as a Yelp check-in. GPS also falters pretty seriously. I upgraded to 4.0.4 as soon as I could. My phone is rooted, but has the stock ROM. My Captivate got a MUCH better signal than the GNex, and was about to ask if anyone knew a way to boost the signal. My battery life is phenomenal, but I would gladly sacrifice some of it to be able to get a usable signal inside a building made of something other than wood.
UPDATE: After I did a bit of research, I determined that the GNex that shipped from Google had the XXLA2 radio on it, which is odd since it's a phone that's only sold in the US. I did a bit of research and changed the radio to UGLC1. If I'm right, the European baseband won't do anything on 850MHz, but the NA Baseband will. I'll test it out and report back here. If I'm right, then shame on Google for shipping a phone with the wrong radio!
Archpope said:
I've had my GNex for a little over a week now. At home and at work, I get great signal for GSM/3G, and Wifi is excellent, as long as it's 2.4GHz. 5GHz works, but is weaker due to higher frequencies not penetrating walls as well.
Out and about, it's a different story. MANY business that I go to will have ZERO signal indoors, and I will have to go outside to do something as simple as a Yelp check-in. GPS also falters pretty seriously. I upgraded to 4.0.4 as soon as I could. My phone is rooted, but has the stock ROM. My Captivate got a MUCH better signal than the GNex, and was about to ask if anyone knew a way to boost the signal. My battery life is phenomenal, but I would gladly sacrifice some of it to be able to get a usable signal inside a building made of something other than wood.
UPDATE: After I did a bit of research, I determined that the GNex that shipped from Google had the XXLA2 radio on it, which is odd since it's a phone that's only sold in the US. I did a bit of research and changed the radio to UGLC1. If I'm right, the European baseband won't do anything on 850MHz, but the NA Baseband will. I'll test it out and report back here. If I'm right, then shame on Google for shipping a phone with the wrong radio!
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Let me know how that goes. Definitely interested!
RogerPodacter said:
The GSM doesn't have cell signal issues like the Verizon one. But wifi will be the same. I've found the wifi range to match my atrix for distance from router. I ignore the bars and just read the signal dBm and its fine.
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Actually...there are quire a few threads on XDA where GSM users DO have issues
adrynalyne said:
Actually...there are quire a few threads on XDA where GSM users DO have issues
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OK then it definitely doesn't seem as wide spread as the cdma one. Solid signal for me personally.
RogerPodacter said:
The GSM doesn't have cell signal issues like the Verizon one. But wifi will be the same. I've found the wifi range to match my atrix for distance from router. I ignore the bars and just read the signal dBm and its fine.
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What would you consider adequate dBm?
OK, I've had my GNex for a little while now and I can definitely say that I'm happier with GSM version. I have none of the signal issues that I had with the Verizon version. Thanks to all that replied!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Hello,
I am looking to get feedback from users on Verizon's CDMA nexus running 4.0.4. I am wondering if the signal quality has been improved? Obviously signal is important to me, and I live in an area that would have signal issues if I don't stay in the beaten path! I like the idea of a pure nexus device; however, it is not worth it if I can't make or receive phone calls.
Thank you for any input!
Verizon In New England Area
I've been running the unofficial 4.0.4 radio for month now in New England. For the most part I get great 4g and a decent 3g coverage when 4g drops. At home it will usually stay in 4g. Sometime it will drop to 3g when it's in my pocket or I'm in the middle of the house. I use it a lot for 4g hotspot seeing I'm on the unlimited plan. At work because it's a huge medal building, it will drop a lot more. We even have cell towers for Verizon on the roof. But I believe at that point I'm too close. With this phone I've noticed that it very rarely drops down lower than 3g giving me bad data connection. This is only my second 4g phone, having the Lg Revolution before. I'm trying to revive the revolution for my wife so she can use the 4g hotspot too. But now I've just flashed the 4.0.4 official radio and I'm going to see how it does. I'll let you know.
I get 1 bar on this new VZW GN, where my CDMA iPhone 4S gets 3. Since this VZW GN came with 4.0.4, I'm not sure what it used to be like.
HTH
I would say get a Motorola RAZR if signal strength is important to you...I live in Jersey and commute to New York, and I've had this phone since launch on VZW...signal strength is not it's forte and has not improved one iota...I've tried every radio that has leaked out, and a bevy of custom roms to boot...no improvement...I'm extremely bummed...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
My decision
Well...I wanted to post what I ended up deciding and if I am happy with it or not after a few weeks.
I went with the Verizon Galaxy Nexus.
My previous setup was US Cellular on a Motorola Electrify!
As expected, the signal quality was less than the Electrify; however, most of the signal issues are while I am driving. Where I used to drop out once; I now drop out twice on the same stretch of road. This is only for about a minute though.
My job has 7 different locations with one out in the middle of no where. I have service at all sites which was the biggest decision factor. I do not regret the decision I made 3 weeks later.
I was a bit concerned about the speaker volume, but volume+ fixed that.
The phone quality is great IMO. I have found nothing lacking on the phone except the signal. I was a bit iffy on the camera, but It is better than my Electrify 8mp camera. Plus ICS.... enough said on that.
Hey! Sorry for the title, I don't know if it's clear. But anyway, I already know that Nexus's signal is a known hardware problem, but I don't know if mine qualifies as one of the them.
I'm from Venezuela and my Nexus was bought directly from the Play Store, so it's OEM and it's the GSM vesion. Since I got it I have noticed bad reception mostly in my house. I usually get about 1 bar and sometimes it even drops the connection (with 17h on battery, it showed "Time without a signal: 58%" in Cell Standby). In other parts of the City, I get very good reception, just not in my house. But yesterday I tried with another Sim Card, from another carrier, and the signal was strong (HSDPA:8, by the way, not EDGE)!
Considering what I wrote, what do you think that means? Is my Nexus just bad? Is it my carrier? Although I don't think it is as there are 3 different phones (one BlackBerry, one Nokia and one Sony) with the same carrier and none of them has this problem.
I'm running stock Jelly Bean, by the way.
It means that one carrier has better coverage at your house... and the problem is exaggerated by the GNex not having the best radios in the world.
I guess that's it! I might change of carrier, since this is somewhat anoying, and I even thought of buying another Nexus and see if it was a hardware problem, but I think it is what you say.
Thanks!