Related
I am running Cyanogenmod 7.1 on my Dinc2. In the process of downgrading the ROM to get S-Off, I had to flash a new radio (0622). I then flashed 0722 and finally 1111.
With the 1111 radio, I'm seeing dBm readings that are finally comparable to my old Moto Droid. If I take both phones to different locations in my basement, they show approximately the same dBm reading. Sometimes the Droid is slightly lower, sometimes the Dinc2.
But what throws me is the signal strength indicator. On the Droid, it shows 3-4 bars consistently (stock ROM). On the Dinc2, it has never shown more than 3 and usually shows 0-1. The Droid, in the same location and showing about the same dBm, shows a solid 3 bars.
What gives? I assume the dBm is the reliable indicator, is that right? Do I just learn to live with showing no signal and hoping that there really is, or is there a way to get the signal strength indicator to show a more meaningful number of bars, comparable to what the Droid is showing?
Thanks in advance!
dBm is the actual measurement of the signal strength your phone is getting. The bars are a more graphical friendly way of showing this. How the phone/OS determines the number of bars is a mathematical algorithm.
Honestly the bars are incredibly misleading and shouldn't be taken to heart. I've had my phone perform the same with 1 bar as it does with 3. dBm is a more accurate representation of your phones signal.
dbm is what you need to be concerned with. Where I live, I get an awful signal and my dbm's hover at 102-104. I might get 1 bar, but not all the time.
Thanks, guys - very helpful. If I had known that such issues could arise when changing the OS, I would have taken some measurements using the stock Dinc2 OS + radio for comparison. As it is, I didn't even know I was flashing a new radio until the deed was done... all part of the fun.
cyboreal said:
Thanks, guys - very helpful. If I had known that such issues could arise when changing the OS, I would have taken some measurements using the stock Dinc2 OS + radio for comparison. As it is, I didn't even know I was flashing a new radio until the deed was done... all part of the fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may be misspeaking here but I believe the radio does not get impacted by whatever ROM you flash unless it states in the ROM it has whatever radio built in. So if you flash a radio it should stick between ROMS.
So I've been dealing with a radio issue on my S3 for a while now. At home, all is good, at work it sucks. However, the degree of suckage has varied lately and from what I can tell it seems to do with the ROM. Emphasis on seems because I really don't know. Thus this thread.
I used to run one of Freeza's stock leaks. I had a weak signal at the office, but it was livable. Lately however I'm been trying various AOSP 4.2.2 and they seem to be getting a much weaker signal. Of course it could be that stock just has me faked out and the signals are about the same, just the status bar icon throwing me off.
I've also noticed that location apps that use network location (not GPS) seem to be finding locations in my general vicinity, but most are 40-50 miles away from me. Maps is fine though. Probably irrelevant, but thought worth mentioning.
Yesterday I updated to MB1 to see if that made a difference. Nope. So today I decided maybe I needed a PRL update. So, to keep it simple (in my view) I did a nandroid then flashed Freeza's Full Odex MB1 so I could get the PRL via Sprint. What's interesting is that before I even did the PRL update, the signal was dramatically better. I went ahead and did the PRL update, then restored my nandroid to the ROM I preferred.
When back in the ROM the signal was weak again. So I ask, is it possible this is an issue with the CM 10.1 builds? Could it just be the ROM (carbonrom). Could it be a 4.2.2 issue?
Thanks.
AOSP shows the truer signal, stock roms add a little to what the actual signal is and the indicator in the status bar is always greater than your actual reception, if you look around this has been asked and answered many many times...
CNexus said:
AOSP shows the truer signal, stock roms add a little to what the actual signal is and the indicator in the status bar is always greater than your actual reception, if you look around this has been asked and answered many many times...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks more like AOSP shows your signal bars + signal strength as whatever you are currently connected to (LTE rather than showing voice service), whereas Touchwiz will show your signal strength and bars based upon your voice reception.
I don't know where you people are getting this information that Touchwiz based roms are intentionally lying about the signal. The only confirmed thing for anything like that is the 1x vs 3G deal. Can you provide a source for your claim?
CNexus said:
AOSP shows the truer signal, stock roms add a little to what the actual signal is and the indicator in the status bar is always greater than your actual reception, if you look around this has been asked and answered many many times...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so any difference I think I'm seeing or experiencing is likely just my weak mind being hallucinated upon by those wicked status bar icons?
respectagain said:
It looks more like AOSP shows your signal bars + signal strength as whatever you are currently connected to (LTE rather than showing voice service), whereas Touchwiz will show your signal strength and bars based upon your voice reception.
I don't know where you people are getting this information that Touchwiz based roms are intentionally lying about the signal. The only confirmed thing for anything like that is the 1x vs 3G deal. Can you provide a source for your claim?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Decompile the apk and you'll find the code that adds to the shown signal. Speed tests also show equivalent speeds.
respectagain said:
It looks more like AOSP shows your signal bars + signal strength as whatever you are currently connected to (LTE rather than showing voice service), whereas Touchwiz will show your signal strength and bars based upon your voice reception.
I don't know where you people are getting this information that Touchwiz based roms are intentionally lying about the signal. The only confirmed thing for anything like that is the 1x vs 3G deal. Can you provide a source for your claim?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both Touchwiz and AOSP report signal correctly. The issue is that Touchwiz will show you 6 bars for a -80dBm threshold, whereas that's an average signal (yes, it's usable, but CDMA can range from -65 to -120 dBm, so -80 is good, but not perfect.) AOSP tends to be more accurate in signal strength reporting. This doesn't mean signal is work on AOSP, it just displays less signal because that's your actual signal strength.
One of the other differences in aosp and twiz signal is the actual number of displayable bars. Some twiz roms show 6 bars and all aosp roms only show 4. So theres 2 extra bars on twiz so 3bars is half signal on twiz and 2 is half on aosp, 4 bars on twiz is 3/4 signal and 3 bars is the aosp equivalent. That will trick the eye into seeing a difference in signal strength as well. The best way to check is settings > about phone > status then look at the dbm and compare them instead of comparing bars. Twiz doesn't add as much extra to the bars as sense but it does add a hair bit and also doesn't show the difference between 1x and 3g, it always shows 3g. Now sense roms (at least back in the og evo days) would lie right to your face and show you 3 bars of 3g when you have -100dbm of 1x >_<
I like to break stuff!
-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
One of the other differences in aosp and twiz signal is the actual number of displayable bars. Some twiz roms show 6 bars and all aosp roms only show 4. So theres 2 extra bars on twiz so 3bars is half signal on twiz and 2 is half on aosp, 4 bars on twiz is 3/4 signal and 3 bars is the aosp equivalent. That will trick the eye into seeing a difference in signal strength as well. The best way to check is settings > about phone > status then look at the dbm and compare them instead of comparing bars. Twiz doesn't add as much extra to the bars as sense but it does add a hair bit and also doesn't show the difference between 1x and 3g, it always shows 3g. Now sense roms (at least back in the og evo days) would lie right to your face and show you 3 bars of 3g when you have -100dbm of 1x >_<
I like to break stuff!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those sense roms. Yeah half the time i would have super slow data speeds and be like "why, it says full 3G bars?!?"...then I flashed my first rom and learned what 1x was
Such a disappointment in HTC from that point on
I have been trying to figure this one out for ages!!!
Can anyone answer why TW roms report signal strength different from AOKP. (I don't mean 4G vs LTE or faster or slower speeds) When I have a TW rom installed, I can go virtually all day and have no reported signal loss, but if I have a AOKP (all source android for that matter) installed and I use the phone in the exact same place I have as much as 50% time without signal while the whole time I actually have signal as I use the phone. On the TW rom, signal almost never goes less than one bar but yet I can have no signal at all, but if it is like that for any amount of time then it will show no signal, but the AOKP will show no bars but still have signal and yet it still reports as no signal.(maybe there is a different scale for signal strength) This doesn't just on my phone, as I have 3 that I tested on with the same result. There is no problem with signal as I have said and the phone works fine during this time unless signal is lost totally. Some say TW has faster DATA and BETTER signal, I have never experienced either, both seen just as fast, which is why I wonder if sammy does it on purpose with some code or if AOKP has a smaller scale in which to report the strenght, hench my issue.
Have searched but not found anything,
scotteb said:
I have been trying to figure this one out for ages!!!
Can anyone answer why TW roms report signal strength different from AOKP. (I don't mean 4G vs LTE or faster or slower speeds) When I have a TW rom installed, I can go virtually all day and have no reported signal loss, but if I have a AOKP (all source android for that matter) installed and I use the phone in the exact same place I have as much as 50% time without signal while the whole time I actually have signal as I use the phone. On the TW rom, signal almost never goes less than one bar but yet I can have no signal at all, but if it is like that for any amount of time then it will show no signal, but the AOKP will show no bars but still have signal and yet it still reports as no signal.(maybe there is a different scale for signal strength) This doesn't just on my phone, as I have 3 that I tested on with the same result. There is no problem with signal as I have said and the phone works fine during this time unless signal is lost totally. Some say TW has faster DATA and BETTER signal, I have never experienced either, both seen just as fast, which is why I wonder if sammy does it on purpose with some code or if AOKP has a smaller scale in which to report the strenght, hench my issue.
Have searched but not found anything,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you actually check the signal dbm or just compared with the signal bars?
The signal bars are just images, therefor, you could set it to show 1 bar and actually have full signal db.
Compare their dbm and you'll see if there's actually a difference.
Another thing, keep in mind that every phone is built differently and one could have 3bars of signal while the other has 4bars, both phones running the exact same thing.
BWolf56 said:
Did you actually check the signal dbm or just compared with the signal bars?
The signal bars are just images, therefor, you could set it to show 1 bar and actually have full signal db.
Compare their dbm and you'll see if there's actually a difference.
Another thing, keep in mind that every phone is built differently and one could have 3bars of signal while the other has 4bars, both phones running the exact same thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no sir same number of bars. i bet if others checked theirs would probably be the same. touch cell standy by under battery in settings
scotteb said:
I have been trying to figure this one out for ages!!!
Can anyone answer why TW roms report signal strength different from AOKP. (I don't mean 4G vs LTE or faster or slower speeds) When I have a TW rom installed, I can go virtually all day and have no reported signal loss, but if I have a AOKP (all source android for that matter) installed and I use the phone in the exact same place I have as much as 50% time without signal while the whole time I actually have signal as I use the phone. On the TW rom, signal almost never goes less than one bar but yet I can have no signal at all, but if it is like that for any amount of time then it will show no signal, but the AOKP will show no bars but still have signal and yet it still reports as no signal.(maybe there is a different scale for signal strength) This doesn't just on my phone, as I have 3 that I tested on with the same result. There is no problem with signal as I have said and the phone works fine during this time unless signal is lost totally. Some say TW has faster DATA and BETTER signal, I have never experienced either, both seen just as fast, which is why I wonder if sammy does it on purpose with some code or if AOKP has a smaller scale in which to report the strenght, hench my issue.
Have searched but not found anything,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed the same. On TW I show 3 bars and on AOKP I show 1 bar. I believe it's just as you said the signal image reads off the dbm and AOKP might be set to show 1 bar off -108dbm with TW is set to show 3 bars
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium
Aosp bases roms show signal more accurate then TW based OEM roms. We even found that att had changed some images early on to show more bars then what you were really getting.
Wayne Tech S-III
zelendel said:
Aosp bases roms show signal more accurate then TW based OEM roms. We even found that att had changed some images early on to show more bars then what you were really getting.
Wayne Tech S-III
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe for some folks it's just showing up like that.
But in my area, TW ROM's get me faster & better signal than ANY AOSP ROM. Hands down, flat freaking true. I've tested it with speedtest and speakeasy.
TW consistently gets me a better signal and about 20% faster download speed than any AOSP ROM since the ICS to the current 4.2.2 ROM's.
And not just on one phone either. I've had three S3 warranty phones (don't ask. lol). They all behaved the same way.
I've done "scientific" (as best as I can) tests and it's been very consistent like this. TW just gets a better signal I figure, which = faster download speed. I don't know how else to explain it.
I should also state that I'm on the edge of LTE area. AOSP ROM's usually give me about 1 or 2 bars and 5-12 mbps download speeds.
When I get closer to downtown, I get 30+ mbps download easily.
TW ROM's give me 12-18 mbps where AOSP struggles to reach 12 mbps. In the same exact location on my desk.
The speed is something else completely. That has nothing to do with the amount of bars shown.
Wayne Tech S-III
How can touchwiz provide better coverage when the modem is the same regardless of the ROM on the phone?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app
FabC87 said:
How can touchwiz provide better coverage when the modem is the same regardless of the ROM on the phone?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well to be honest it has to do with 2 things. One is how the software talks with the hardware. Second as I stated above. There have been times the carrier have flat out lied about how many bars you have. We found this when ripping the apks apart and there instead of being 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 bars they removed the 0 and 1 bars and replaced them with the pngs for 2 bars.
zelendel said:
Well to be honest it has to do with 2 things. One is how the software talks with the hardware. Second as I stated above. There have been times the carrier have flat out lied about how many bars you have. We found this when ripping the apks apart and there instead of being 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 bars they removed the 0 and 1 bars and replaced them with the pngs for 2 bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya its weird, as long as it shows 1 bar, then it will not register signal loss, but soon as that bar disappears, but still with signal, it will register as loss of signal. When there is no signal there is a diff icon, so then and only then should it report as a loss..... I would like to fix but so far I have found nothing concrete, just options.
I think CM shows the true signal bars whereas TW shows the fake one.
Capt said:
I think CM shows the true signal bars whereas TW shows the fake one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup that was proven long ago.
Wayne Tech S-III
scotteb said:
Ya its weird, as long as it shows 1 bar, then it will not register signal loss, but soon as that bar disappears, but still with signal, it will register as loss of signal. When there is no signal there is a diff icon, so then and only then should it report as a loss..... I would like to fix but so far I have found nothing concrete, just options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of times if it shows no bars yet you still have signal ie. Still able to text, call, surf Web it's because you're transitioning from 4G to H+ or whatever the transition maybe.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium
drock212 said:
A lot of times if it shows no bars yet you still have signal ie. Still able to text, call, surf Web it's because you're transitioning from 4G to H+ or whatever the transition maybe.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium[/QUOTE
Well I have found some info, I am going to try this and based upon the results, I will post back so that anyone that wishes to modify their rom (if it works) will be able to do so.
The problem that I am referring to has nothing to go with the transition from 3g,h,h+, or lte for that matter. connection does not change, problem happens when you are in an area that has a lower signal, thus being able to USE the phone even though there are no bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems that my LTE signal strength is very inconsistent on CyanogenMod (M11 or nightly 10/26), but not on Sense or GPe. I noticed this a couple days ago before I did a full conversion to GPe, but even after doing so, the issue persists on CM. 3G/HSPA+ signal works as expected, but once I turn on LTE, I can bounce around from full bars to nothing within seconds. I also noticed that my signal strength often shows up as 2147483647 dBm 255 asu. This is obviously way out of range for signal strengths, so it might be a clue as to what's going on. The changes in signal happen so quickly that I have not been able to thoroughly test to see if it affects real world usage, or just the appearance. Does anyone have any insight on this?
You've answered your own question. Use something different. ?
KJ said:
You've answered your own question. Use something different. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using 3G isn't really an answer. In fact, I would like to know if this occurs for anyone else, or any other reason this may be happening, so that I can make a more effective bug report to the Cyanogen team.
Sent from my One M8 using Tapatalk
Sorry, I meant use another rom. ?
Didn't see a thread covering this, so I figured I'd start one.
One issue that has plagued my Pixel 2XL is severely diminished LTE signal strength on Android 10. I first encountered this on beta 5, and again on beta 6. My signal dbm's were 10-15 less than on Pie, and the signal indicator was rarely, if ever, above 1 bar. My signal would fluctuate wildly based on location, and would rarely hold steady. Speed tests confirmed things. Extremely frustrating. It was such a problem that I eventually opted out of the beta program and rolled back to Pie before the official release of Android 10. Since then my signal strength has returned to normal and been steady and solid. I have not updated to official Android 10 yet, and keep hoping that this issue will be resolved through a monthly security patch. So far, from what I have been able to gather, this issue has not been fixed. There are several different threads covering this issue, as well as official issue tracker threads with Google:
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/13566467?hl=en
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/141578664#comment86
https://forums.androidcentral.com/g...237-low-signal-quality-after-10-update-2.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixe...el_3_weak_signal_on_verizon_after_android_10/
I am having this issue on my 2XL, on AT&T, however this issue persists across devices and carriers, and doesn't seem to discriminate. As with most things though, there are plenty of folks who say they are not effected by this in the least.
So my question here is this:
Has anyone noticed a decrease in signal strength on Android 10 on the Pixel 2XL?
LTE? 3G? WiFi?
Fluctuating signal? Dropped calls? Poor data speeds?
I'd really love to update to 10, and the latest December patch, but am extremely hesitant to do so, based on what I have personally experienced and read in the above threads.
Any input, opinions, personal anecdotes are welcome. Thanks in advance.
I haven't had any issues with LTE signal as you described, but I have had problems with WiFi signal regularly dropping. After some research, I found that the issue was with Android and my router which puts out a 5ghz and 2.4ghz signal - Android 10 would drop the signal when switching between the two. My solution for home was to turn off the 5ghz channel on my router and my issues with WiFi went away.
I don't use WiFi away from home frequently enough to see if this signal issue has persisted on other connections, hoping for a fix in the December security patch.
I am running Android 10, rooted with Magisk. Clean installed about two weeks ago and the issue was apparent from the get-go. Never had anything like this in Pie.
I can't say for sure on the LTE side as I never checked numbers prior to updating to A10B5, however signal strength barely shows on the indicator. Tower is 4 blocks away. My wifi is terrible and there appear many variations across Pixels. No solutions here but appears to be a widespread problem. FYI.
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/13670154?hl=en
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl/help/android-10-broke-wifi-t3965367
gbarayah said:
I haven't had any issues with LTE signal as you described, but I have had problems with WiFi signal regularly dropping. After some research, I found that the issue was with Android and my router which puts out a 5ghz and 2.4ghz signal - Android 10 would drop the signal when switching between the two. My solution for home was to turn off the 5ghz channel on my router and my issues with WiFi went away.
I don't use WiFi away from home frequently enough to see if this signal issue has persisted on other connections, hoping for a fix in the December security patch.
I am running Android 10, rooted with Magisk. Clean installed about two weeks ago and the issue was apparent from the get-go. Never had anything like this in Pie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UPDATE:
Last night, I received and flashed the OTA update. I went into my home route and turned on the 5ghz channel again and the WiFi issue immediately returned for me. So, sadly no fix in the December patch and at least in my experience, this is limited to 5ghz connections. For now, I've reverted by home WiFi back to 2.4ghz and it's working fine.
gbarayah said:
UPDATE:
Last night, I received and flashed the OTA update. I went into my home route and turned on the 5ghz channel again and the WiFi issue immediately returned for me. So, sadly no fix in the December patch and at least in my experience, this is limited to 5ghz connections. For now, I've reverted by home WiFi back to 2.4ghz and it's working fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the update on the WiFi side of things. Sucks that that hasn't been fixed yet, after months of it being a known issue.
Just out of curiosity, how is your LTE signal strength on the December update? Dbm's and signal bars appear to be normal? Any dropped calls or slower than usual data speeds?
The WiFi issue sucks, but at least it can be worked around for now. There is no substituting for poor signal and connectivity though, and that is still a deal breaker for me moving forward.
Thanks in advance for any input, I appreciate it.
slider112 said:
Thanks for the update on the WiFi side of things. Sucks that that hasn't been fixed yet, after months of it being a known issue.
Just out of curiosity, how is your LTE signal strength on the December update? Dbm's and signal bars appear to be normal? Any dropped calls or slower than usual data speeds?
The WiFi issue sucks, but at least it can be worked around for now. There is no substituting for poor signal and connectivity though, and that is still a deal breaker for me moving forward.
Thanks in advance for any input, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there has been a change with my LTE signal strength, I certainly don't notice it. I haven't had any dropped calls or slow data speeds.
gbarayah said:
If there has been a change with my LTE signal strength, I certainly don't notice it. I haven't had any dropped calls or slow data speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, good to know. Not to beat a dead horse here, but in general, do you notice less signal bars on 10 than previously on Pie? On the betas, I rarely showed more than 1 bar at any given time, and dbm's were less across the board as well. Frustrating. I realize bars don't mean everything, obviously, and the only way to truly measure signal strength is by looking at the actual dbm's. Maybe something in the Android 10 code changed the way signal bars are calculated relative to dbm's?
slider112 said:
Thanks, good to know. Not to beat a dead horse here, but in general, do you notice less signal bars on 10 than previously on Pie? On the betas, I rarely showed more than 1 bar at any given time, and dbm's were less across the board as well. Frustrating. I realize bars don't mean everything, obviously, and the only way to truly measure signal strength is by looking at the actual dbm's. Maybe something in the Android 10 code changed the way signal bars are calculated relative to dbm's?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I haven't noticed a change in bars or dbm's since the update. I live in the city and so my service signal has always been strong - no change since upgrading to 10. I should note that I didn't update to 10 until about a week or so ago and when I did, I did a clean flash and then rooted with Magisk. I have since updated to the December security patch, again with no change to my cellular signal.
gbarayah said:
No, I haven't noticed a change in bars or dbm's since the update. I live in the city and so my service signal has always been strong - no change since upgrading to 10. I should note that I didn't update to 10 until about a week or so ago and when I did, I did a clean flash and then rooted with Magisk. I have since updated to the December security patch, again with no change to my cellular signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, appreciate the responses. It's actually good to hear that things are normal on your end. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the complaints, and in the process not hear about those who have no issues at all. So strange how this bug seems to randomly effect people, across carriers and various Pixel devices. Some are majorly effected, some not at all. Would love to update, but it's a roll of the dice that I'm not sure I'm willing to take.
I’m wondering, why can’t/don’t you merely update to 10, try it out and see how things go for about a week, and if it’s not a good experience for you, merely roll-back using the Full Factory Pie/9 image?
In any case, I am under Verizon and haven’t noticed any lowering of network signal or performance. I do experience some need to re-initialize the wifi – but, to be fair, I had that issue in Pie – but maybe not as frequent.
Either way, many/most have a good enough positive experience that it’s simply at least worth a try; at least on a temporary basis. But, again either way, good luck and hope this helps…
simplepinoi177 said:
I’m wondering, why can’t/don’t you merely update to 10, try it out and see how things go for about a week, and if it’s not a good experience for you, merely roll-back using the Full Factory Pie/9 image?
In any case, I am under Verizon and haven’t noticed any lowering of network signal or performance. I do experience some need to re-initialize the wifi – but, to be fair, I had that issue in Pie – but maybe not as frequent.
Either way, many/most have a good enough positive experience that it’s simply at least worth a try; at least on a temporary basis. But, again either way, good luck and hope this helps…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response, I appreciate it. I am probably one of the few Pixel owners out there who are still running completely stock and unrooted, and I also never bothered to unlock the bootloader. So needless to say, having the ability/option to flash back to the factory image for PIe, should things go sideways, would take some work. I'll probably update at some point, but I have had literally zero issues on PIe. It runs flawlessly for me, and always has, so the thought of introducing potential problems makes me a bit hesitant. Just wanted to try to see how widespread this signal issue was., that's all.