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[Q] Signal Strength Issues

Hello everybody. I have a small question for all Nexus S owners.
Does anyone else's signal strength bars fluctuate all the time? For instance mine goes from 3/4 bars to 1/4 to 0 bars and then back to 2/4 bars all within a couple of minutes in the same location.
I plugged my SIM into my BB Bold 9700 and it stays consistent at 4/5 bars. My signal db is like -103 dBM 5 asu as I type, on UMTS at the moment. EDIT: Now -111 dBM 1 asu in the very exact same spot. Wait. Now it is -97 dBm.
Does anyone else experience this or could it be my sole device? Or possibly my SIM card?
If it is a Nexus S thing, what other phone is recommended from Rogers?
Thanks for your time.

If it helps, I'm running stock Android 2.3.3.
Also is the Galaxy S Captivate from Rogers the other best phone they got on Android?

I had an evo, and it had much better signal strength and had far less dropped calls and connected much quicker to the internet. Maybe theres something in the PRL we can change or its just a hardware issue. but the nexus s 4g isn't on the same level as the evo 4g when it comes to signal strength

as stated before it's a radio issue. hopefully we will get a software update soon.

fixxxer2008 said:
as stated before it's a radio issue. hopefully we will get a software update soon.
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And where exactly was this stated? If you could post a link to a thread or something, I'd appreciate it.

fadentales said:
I had an evo, and it had much better signal strength and had far less dropped calls and connected much quicker to the internet. Maybe theres something in the PRL we can change or its just a hardware issue. but the nexus s 4g isn't on the same level as the evo 4g when it comes to signal strength
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Thanks for your experience. So it seems that it is a widely experienced issue. How do people live with having their phone have poor reception?

Nook000 said:
And where exactly was this stated? If you could post a link to a thread or something, I'd appreciate it.
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HERE and HERE. And I guarantee an Internet search will reveal more.
good day.

chopper the dog said:
HERE and HERE. And I guarantee an Internet search will reveal more.
good day.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the links.
It seems like the situation is not nearly as bad in Toronto, Canada (I was in Windsor for a while). But even in Windsor, if I set my phone to 2G, it gets 4/4 bars all the time. Note that the phone's reception is worse than my iPhone or BB Bold in Toronto too.
So is it only the 3G portion that is broken? And is it FOR SURE a software issue?

chopper the dog said:
HERE and HERE. And I guarantee an Internet search will reveal more.
good day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, but those are Sprint users. People keep comparing against the EVO, but how do know if the EVO just flat out has better antennas/reception. I've compared my Nexus S i9020a to my 2 other phones, the Motorola Milestone and the iPhone 3GS (oh let's not forget my ancient Nokia N82). The Nexus S is crap and is worse than the iPhone 3GS in terms of SNR. In fact it's about as bad as the iPhone 4 with death grip issues. The death grip isn't really an issue for the NS, but damn the reception to begin with SUCKS.
My question is how can you say it's a radio issue for sure? This means you know that for certain it's a software fix.
Perhaps the antenna for the Nexus S isn't good to begin with. Another benchmark I did was GPS Status on my Motorola Milestone and my former Nexus S. Both of those phones locked quickly WITHOUT SIM, meaning they use GPS only and no aGPS. The signal was strong even indoors. While sitting at my desk my Nexus S is absolutely horrendous and takes forever to lock. Even when I scoot to the window it gets barely enough signal to lock. My N1 locked anywhere in the house with great signal without SIM. This perhaps says that the Nexus S has weaker antennas overall compared to similar phones. Maybe it's a radio issue like you say, but honestly, how can you be certain it's software and NOT hardware?
Anandtech's review mentioned the Nexus S drops HSDPA down to 3G UMTS a lot, and sometimes EDGE. Why is this? Could be radio, but I notice the H and 3G switching a lot during low signal. There's more than enough people saying the signal is bad. I almost want to say everyone attributes this to radio because they're optimistic there's a fix. Sometimes you have to admit certain features of the phone just aren't strong
i.e. the N1 earpiece. no matter how much you boost it, you'll just get tinny sound, and in no way does it compare with the SGS or Motorola Droid phones.
- the iphone speaker. people say each iOS revision boosts it, but at the end of the day, the Motorola Droid phones are like boomboxes compared to the iPhone
- The NS just has bad reception. Maybe we should just admit that and move on. There's only so much radio updates can do at this point unless you're saying Samsung totally screwed it up as badly as the Captivate/Fascinate/Vibrant GPS issues.

How's the reception on this phone? Wifi, bluetooth, 3G, 4G

Phone looks great, but i figure with the antenna's on the back of hte phone like that there's bound to be some "death grip" issues.
I see one thread on this forum about this issue, but since the community has grown since then i figured i'll ask again.

Compared to my previous phone (Galaxy S), the reception is better in all regards except for wifi. Although wifi is comparable, covering the antenna with your hand causes an instant and noticeable degradation in signal strength. If you're not close to your router, this signal loss is enough to drop the connection.

smacman said:
Compared to my previous phone (Galaxy S), the reception is better in all regards except for wifi. Although wifi is comparable, covering the antenna with your hand causes an instant and noticeable degradation in signal strength. If you're not close to your router, this signal loss is enough to drop the connection.
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Click to collapse
Damn, that's a little messed up..
I dont use wifi that much, but still....

any other opinions?

My girlfriend had just got her sensation yesterday and usually I'm the one to get all the new gadgets I've had the mytouch 4g, g2 4g the evo 4g and now shift and we live in a apartment and all the tmobile phone I've ever had sucked but that phone has the best connection I've ever seen or used in my house for some reason she's getting way faster speeds and of course she wouldn't let me flash anything to it like new radios or anything lol oh yea and she's also using the phone without a case
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

smacman said:
Compared to my previous phone (Galaxy S), the reception is better in all regards except for wifi. Although wifi is comparable, covering the antenna with your hand causes an instant and noticeable degradation in signal strength. If you're not close to your router, this signal loss is enough to drop the connection.
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Click to collapse
This. This describes the reception perfectly.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

All the reception on this phone is amazing for me. Way better than my G2 and Nexus S! Especially data and Wi-Fi reception. I never lose a 3G/4G connection and at work where I don't have signal I really on Wi-Fi calling and it works perfectly for me (My G2 used to always cut off and drop calls).

GSM reception is excellent. Better than HTC of the past. The G2/MT4G have atrocious reception especially on 4G. GSM reception is better than my Galaxy S, 3G/4G seems to trade off with the Galaxy S picking up on a weak HSPA signal more often.
WiFi reception is horrible in landscape. Fine in portrait with no hands over the top half.

zoltrix said:
any other opinions?
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I have to concur with my peers. GSM is great here in southern California, but even as I type this...I'm in portrait because landscape will cause my WiFi to drop. This only happens when I'm not next to my router...so pretty much dies all the time. I already went through 3 phones all with the same death grip, which HTC is just looking into the cause. That's what one rep told me from their USA tech support. Hope this helps
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G

Everything has been fine for me. I haven't noticed any death grip issues with WiFi in portrait or landscape.

Cover the top of the phone and I lose WiFi, cover the bottom and I lose 2/3/4g. Thus when I hold the phone sideways I lose almost all signal.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

Thus far I have not had any deathgrip issues like most others complain about however compares to the BlackBerry I came from the radios receive much less signal side by side. Don't get me wrong I love the phone and features but signal is poor in my opinion and with my job I am around cell sites all day so I know what I should expect

Mine's just really bad when it comes to receptions -___- I get no wifi at all no matter how close I am to my router, once I cover it when on landscape mode. && how I see these people having reception when I'm on Bart(underground) I use to have full bars with my cliq down at bart, but with my sensation I don't get any service at all down there.

Jimx2 said:
Mine's just really bad when it comes to receptions -___- I get no wifi at all no matter how close I am to my router, once I cover it when on landscape mode. && how I see these people having reception when I'm on Bart(underground) I use to have full bars with my cliq down at bart, but with my sensation I don't get any service at all down there.
Click to expand...
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Sounds like you have a bad device

s
cellsitetechstl said:
Thus far I have not had any deathgrip issues like most others complain about however compares to the BlackBerry I came from the radios receive much less signal side by side. Don't get me wrong I love the phone and features but signal is poor in my opinion and with my job I am around cell sites all day so I know what I should expect
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Click to collapse
Blackberry uses a different scale to determine the amount of bar, the -dBm reading goes all the way down to -120. Android only goes down to -113 even though the actual signal can be lower than that, to -121dBm. A Galaxy S with Touchwiz can show you the real -dBm reading after -113 on Android (no bars) with it's field test mode.

yeah fortunately i do not rely on my phone for field testing we use test sets working on the antennas and lines. and we work with a remote test center that runs NRPM testing for diversity issues. (we work primarily AT&T UMTS technology work in the midwest)

wifi issue is the worst, drops in and out constantly from wifi to mobile network. dont ever use a case in your house you will lose wifi 90% of the time. dont listen to these fan boys

Hamsteriel said:
Cover the top of the phone and I lose WiFi, cover the bottom and I lose 2/3/4g. Thus when I hold the phone sideways I lose almost all signal.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
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I was having the same issue for a while, but it seems to have worked itself out.

I've not had a problem with Bluetooth or WiFi, but the 2g and 3g reception is erratic wherever I go. This is on Vodafone UK.
Have tried my sim in my old HD2 and I get a much more stable signal.

just went to Bell to talk about the HTC Sensation. I asked if the lady heard anything about reception issues with the Sensation because of its design.
She said she hasn't heard of anything but she likes the new galaxy s 2 because, and i quote: "the pixels are faster even though they're the same speed"
I said "oh yea? " and left.
the responses in this thread seem to be 50/50. i guess ill need to hold one myself to test
anyone want to have input on this vs the sgs2?

What's the reported signal strength of the One S compared to other phones?

There have been a few reports that the One series has poor reception.
For example my HTC Desire constantly has about 7-9dB** lower signal than my old Nokia N79 - I was hoping that the new One S would have better reception, but the forums are complaining about fewer "bars" of signal strength. Unfortunately the latter is meaningless because "bars" are uncalibrated and signal level is highly dependent on exact position and whether the unit is held in the hand or not.
Rather than hearsay, I would like to know if One S owners could do a comparison with their old phone to see if it is much worse.
Using the *#*#4636#*#* code if you could report the signal level (dBm) and the connection mode (3G, 2G, GSM whatever) between your One S and old phone when lying in the same position on the desk*
*holding it in your hand, or putting it somewhere else in the room or changing the connection type or changing the carrier will all invalidate any meaningful comparison.
**
+3dB is a doubling in received power and +10dB is a 10x increase in received power, likewise -3dB and -10dB are halving and one tenth the power, so it's a significant difference.

OK, here's some evidence for you. HTC One S with Three UK monthly contract sim inserted and Motorola Defy+ with Three UK PAYG sim in. Both phones laid on desk in similar position with nothing to interfere with them.
HTC One S -105dBm (4ASU)
Motorola Defy+ -89dBm (12ASU)
This is pretty much what I've been getting with Network Signal app.
Incidentally, if I put the sim out the One S into the Defy+ then I still get -89dBm as you would expect as both sims use Three UK network. I can't put the PAYG sim into the One S as it's not a micro sim.
Pretty much damning evidence. Does mean the One S loses signal a lot faster when signal is marginal. Doesn't seem to be a great difference when signal is strong between the 2 which is a PITA when trying to show the problem in the Three shop If I go to York later I'll re run the test's and report back. I'm not sure where to go from here. I'll contact HTC support and see if they show any interest. Not overly hopeful of getting any where with Three customer support?

Richy101 said:
Pretty much damning evidence. Does mean the One S loses signal a lot faster when signal is marginal. Doesn't seem to be a great difference when signal is strong between the 2 which is a PITA when trying to show the problem in the Three shop If I go to York later I'll re run the test's and report back. I'm not sure where to go from here. I'll contact HTC support and see if they show any interest. Not overly hopeful of getting any where with Three customer support?
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the data point. I'd say it's valid to take them to the Three shop, put them side by side and say look, there's a 16dB difference. (strictly speaking the noise figure of the receiver should also be known, but this is set in the GSM/UMTS specs and should be less than a dB or two difference).
It's been my belief that Nokia and Motorola have the best antenna engineers - all the Nokias I've owned have had great signal reception, despite the fact that the number of base stations was much lower in the late 90s early 2000s.

I cannot compare to old one, I got micro sim and dont have adapter yet (comming from ebay).
I found that I got alot lower signal, thought as I mvoed to micro sim I changed carrier...
Question - how much signal is needed for "OK", and at which point its to weak?

Stiflerlv said:
Question - how much signal is needed for "OK", and at which point its to weak?
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According to OFCOM the mimum signal level is -110dBm (including some fading margin).
At that level you will get very slow data speeds - I consider anything less than -90dBm as pretty low.
I was in the Vodaphone store and they had SIMs in a One X, One S and Wildfire S - all of these were within a few dB of eachother - unfortunately my (roaming) HTC Desire would not connect to Vodaphone.de, so I couldn't get a 4th reference point.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/3g_rollout/statement/statement.pdf
Currently I'm mostly interested in 3G reception - if this is poor then the phone will spend a lot of time (and battery) looking for signal, loosing contact, toggling back and forth between 2G and 3G etc. However, need to consider that 3G can exist on both 900 and 1800MHz in Europe. If poor antenna design is the culprit then this may only effect one of the bands, meaning that certain users have great signal, whereas others report poor reception.

aza314 said:
According to OFCOM the mimum signal level is -110dBm (including some fading margin).
At that level you will get very slow data speeds - I consider anything less than -90dBm as pretty low.
I was in the Vodaphone store and they had SIMs in a One X, One S and Wildfire S - all of these were within a few dB of eachother - unfortunately my (roaming) HTC Desire would not connect to Vodaphone.de, so I couldn't get a 4th reference point.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/3g_rollout/statement/statement.pdf
Currently I'm mostly interested in 3G reception - if this is poor then the phone will spend a lot of time (and battery) looking for signal, loosing contact, toggling back and forth between 2G and 3G etc. However, need to consider that 3G can exist on both 900 and 1800MHz in Europe. If poor antenna design is the culprit then this may only effect one of the bands, meaning that certain users have great signal, whereas others report poor reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mainly need this for calls (not so much data) so till 110 Im still ok?
I often get 100+ :/ Lowest I have seen is 90. Returning the phone hoping its glitch

Stiflerlv said:
I mainly need this for calls (not so much data) so till 110 Im still ok?
I often get 100+ :/ Lowest I have seen is 90. Returning the phone hoping its glitch
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Click to collapse
At -110dBm you have very little margin. As long as you aren't walking around the house it should be ok.
But it really depends on the coverage in your area.
NB: the numbers are dBm and negative i.e. a -90dBm signal has a hundred times more power than a -110dBm signal:
10^((-90dBm-(-110dBm))/10) = 100

aza314 said:
At -110dBm you have very little margin. As long as you aren't walking around the house it should be ok.
But it really depends on the coverage in your area.
NB: the numbers are dBm and negative i.e. a -90dBm signal has a hundred times more power than a -110dBm signal:
10^((-90dBm-(-110dBm))/10) = 100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice, comparing to my old HTC Tattoo and test simcard I got from carrier, Its around 15-20 dBm better signal for Tattoo...
Im gonna go for warranty I guess

Bump. Like to hear how it compares with other phones on the T-Mobile USA network.
Thanks in advance.

I was just going to create a new thread on this topic until I found this. I would have to say the reception on the one s is considerably worse than other tmobile phones. Today I traveled to an area with generally poor reception and my wife's blackberry bold 9900 had 1 bar of 4g while my one s had an "x" for not signal at all.
When I used my galaxy s2 in the same exact area i used to get at least 2 bars of 4g. It actually worries me that i get zero reception while our other phones were still on 4g, not even edge.
Can this be fixed with a radio software fix or is this a hardware issue? Im pretty pissed because I want to like this phone so much.
What are the experiences of others?

On tmo us, I'd have to say that my signal is the same as it was on my g2x. I'm either in an area with awesome signal (work), or an area with practically no signal (my 100 year old house).
I wouldn't call either situation dramatically different than the last few phones I've had.

Mike,
On one hand, I did some testing with a galaxy s2 and found ours to be comparable usually, but on the other, there are signal drops issues and the days switching so there still is something odd here.
I also hope to have it fixed by a radio update than a hardware one...
I also like this phone much except for its network issues.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA

Well, HTC wanted my phone back in for investigation. Duly sent it back and it was pretty much turned round within the day. All they have done is load the latest software version which in truth if I'd not packaged it up on Monday could have done myself. I believe Three UK released the update on Monday anyway?
Network connection seems to be slightly better but not by a great deal. I'm not sure what I expected from HTC. If it's hardware there seems to be little knowledge of a problem with them and firmware/software they'll only have the latest versions and hope for the best. I'll just have to see how it goes for the time being. I always have the option to sell it and look for something else.
Not right impressed with HTC's packaging back of phone. I stupidly wrapped it in bubble wrap and put it in a box to dispatch. They simply found a box and chucked it in it so it was free to rattle about all the way home. As a result it has picked up a chip of the coating on it's top edge - unless it was done on the work bench. Certainly wasn't like that when it went as use a Case-Mate Tough cover. Not overly upset about that but should I mention this to HTC? Seems a bit of a poor do

I finally get my HTC One S TODAY! As soon as I do, I will do a comparison. I work for T-Mobile (until my call center closes), so I have a bunch of phones to compare with and test against.

I don't have another (working) phone to compare, but my circumstances make that moot anyway. I have the international One S on AT&T, and since the phone lacks the UMTS 1900 I expected to get lower than usual signal compared to my Desire (A8182, RIP), but hoped that most areas have been upgraded to 850 by now.
Anyway, at work (inside concrete block building with metal structure roof) I am getting between -107 and -88db, (with 10 asu?) depending on where in the building I am. In a larger city I usually get between -30 to -18db, But I do not live or work in a large city.
Even so, so far battery life is way over expectations. currently on 53 hours on a single charge, with 23% battery remaining.

I always get 3/4 bars like my Amaze.

mmceorange said:
I don't have another (working) phone to compare, but my circumstances make that moot anyway. I have the international One S on AT&T, and since the phone lacks the UMTS 1900 I expected to get lower than usual signal compared to my Desire (A8182, RIP), but hoped that most areas have been upgraded to 850 by now.
Anyway, at work (inside concrete block building with metal structure roof) I am getting between -107 and -88db, (with 10 asu?) depending on where in the building I am. In a larger city I usually get between -30 to -18db, But I do not live or work in a large city.
Even so, so far battery life is way over expectations. currently on 53 hours on a single charge, with 23% battery remaining.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In another thread the box of the tmobile version says it has the 1900 UMTS band. You may be better of with an unlocked tmobile version.

Just tried at a TmoUS store. My HD2 had about -63dB, HOS on display had only -75~-79dB. Disappointed.

motionUS said:
In another thread the box of the tmobile version says it has the 1900 UMTS band. You may be better of with an unlocked tmobile version.
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Click to collapse
I am sure you're right, but I like the look and feel of the "MAO" much much more than the gray/blue. If T-mobile (or better yet, Telus) gets the black version I will likely switch.

jjmai said:
Just tried at a TmoUS store. My HD2 had about -63dB, HOS on display had only -75~-79dB. Disappointed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means absolutely nothing. You don't even know if they are connecting to the same cell site.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA

Signal Strength Issues

Anyone else experiencing a weaker signal with the AT&T One X versus other phones? I've had a Samsung Captivate and Lumia 900 at my work desk over the past ten months and have gotten 3-4 bars on HSPA+. With the One X, I only get one bar, and can't even send/receive text messages.
I'm in the middle of the first floor on a five story building... I would understand not getting a strong signal here, but the fact that my Captivate and Lumia 900 both worked fine in this same location makes me think something's up.

Actually, this phone has better signal than any other phone I've had.

I get a better signal than other phones. My bigger frustration is that it shows full bars when I have no data connection, or zero bars when everything is streaming just fine...

My signal is terrible. There is.no LTE in my area, but my HSPA sucks. I read something that said the antenna is on the bottom left of the phone, and sure.enough, when I hold it there I get 1 bar all the time. When checking battery usage stats I see lots of yellow and gray under Mobile network signal. Surprisingly thoug, my battery life is great, and I don't drop many calls.
Also, my speed tests are carp. Consistently getting 1-4 mbps down.

My phone had HORRIBLE signal. Nothing anywhere. Texts weren't making it out, and if they did it would be in multiples. Forget about MMS. And it got worse to the point where I was dropping every single call. Also was missing some Google Talk events. So I just exchanged it and got a new SIM card this morning.
In my office I was getting 0-1 bars, with the new one I'm at a pretty solid 3 bars. And so far no odd sms/mms/notification problems. I've already flashed the updated ROM, and rooted it. (the last one was flashed/rooted also) Doing a Titanium restore now...

americasteam said:
Actually, this phone has better signal than any other phone I've had.
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Click to collapse
Same here. As good as or probably better than my last phone. It could have to do with your area. I am well covered by 4G LTE; perhaps other networks are not as well received by the phone's antennas.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

Is the radio in this device really that bad?

so long story short I am looking at ditching sprint where I have an EVO LTE. Trust me when I say I am used to crap reception and data speeds. I was reading the thread full of other people who have came from sprint and most seem happy but... I read a lot of comments from long time Verizon users saying things like " I have to contort like a monkey to get a message to go through". Are these just spoiled Verizon users that don't know how good they've got it? Or is coming from sprint a waste of my time? Thanks for any and all input.
PS: Verizon has LTE all over my area, sprint has not announced any LTE anywhere near me. Is the LTE utilized for voice and text? Will this help?
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

Im sure others have problems, but mine has been great. Not a single issue to speak of. Been running CM10 for 2 months now.

Gordon Ramsay said:
so long story short I am looking at ditching sprint where I have an EVO LTE. Trust me when I say I am used to crap reception and data speeds. I was reading the thread full of other people who have came from sprint and most seem happy but... I read a lot of comments from long time Verizon users saying things like " I have to contort like a monkey to get a message to go through". Are these just spoiled Verizon users that don't know how good they've got it? Or is coming from sprint a waste of my time? Thanks for any and all input.
PS: Verizon has LTE all over my area, sprint has not announced any LTE anywhere near me. Is the LTE utilized for voice and text? Will this help?
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO radio problems here.... I think a lot of people with problems may be on the border of having coverage where they are...? I have FULL bars no matter where I go in Michigan (except in Walmart) LOL I have LTE coverage too and it's been a solid performer and I may drop a call here and there but nothing out of the norm... Just my personal experiences...:good:

My .02
Go to a verizon store, put a rezound side by side to a samsung galaxy s3 and compare the dbm and asu and u will see how terrible the signal is . My phone is constantly at least 20 dbm less than the rezound .
It feels like i am back to sprint or tmobile since i got my device, constant data drops, phone call break ups and 4g/3g handing off is terrible .
Btw this is my 4th sim and second samsung galaxy s3 trial now , still reception in comparison to any htc phone is horrible.
Htc put their 4g antennas on the back cover which i think makes them practically immune to low signal issues.
Its a pretty phone , but if u want a device that actually communicates with satellites and cell towers, then get a real phone . not this one .
waiting for htc dlx

Mine has been completely fine.
Currently not being productive on my S3.

I came from Sprint at the beginning of the month. On Sprint it had gotten so bad that I was on 1 bar 90% of the time in the middle of the New Orleans area. I gave up waiting for it to get better and installed Roam Control so I could force it to roam on Verizon. Forced roaming only gets you 1x data, but it gave me full signal which prevented dropouts and draining the battery.
Now I'm on Verizon with the S3 and have no signal issues. I don't think I've ever seen less than 3 bars. The signal starts might be lower than other phones based on other people's experience but I wouldn't know because I haven't had any problems to make it worth checking. I think it really depends on your area. If your current phone is rooted, you could try Roam Control to get an idea of what the signal strength will be like, although you'll be stuck on 1x data.

I too was scared by the reports in various threads that these devices have horrible radios. We switched to Verizon from ATT because ATT doesn't work at all at my office (searching for reception).
I haven't been looking at dBM or anything but from a functional standpoint I haven't had any issues. There are some areas where before I was getting 4-5 3G bars on my ATT iPhone4 where the SGS3 bounces between 1-3 bars 4G LTE. It's always disturbing when you see 1 bar of reception, but the phone operates well even getting 4-5Mbps in speedtest. If you look at bars (I know not really accurate) and whether or not I can browse, call, etc. the SGS3 compares favorable to the wife's iPhone5. In fact there were a couple places where I was getting 1-2 bars 4G and the iPhone5 dropped to 3G.

Her are some screen shots of my signals after an update last night. These are the best I've gotten on both and better than anything I saw on my Rezound.
Currently not being productive on my S3.

Never had an issue with signal on my S3. You also need to realize that the most vocal people are those that have an issue. For every 1 person posting about an issue there a dozens that have no problem at all.

Signal on my s3 is great its 100 times better then gnex was and about on par with my old droid RAZR.

dwyw42 said:
I came from Sprint at the beginning of the month. On Sprint it had gotten so bad that I was on 1 bar 90% of the time in the middle of the New Orleans area. I gave up waiting for it to get better and installed Roam Control so I could force it to roam on Verizon. Forced roaming only gets you 1x data, but it gave me full signal which prevented dropouts and draining the battery.
Now I'm on Verizon with the S3 and have no signal issues. I don't think I've ever seen less than 3 bars. The signal starts might be lower than other phones based on other people's experience but I wouldn't know because I haven't had any problems to make it worth checking. I think it really depends on your area. If your current phone is rooted, you could try Roam Control to get an idea of what the signal strength will be like, although you'll be stuck on 1x data.
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This doesn't work, each manufacturer measures it slightly differently. You have to use a third party app to compare phones that are not the same model.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Yes, it is. My GS3 consistently drops in places where my Rezound and iPhone work without a hiccup.

I actually just switched from Sprint to Verizon last week and love it. My gs3 has great reception and the network is very fast. I get a consistent 30 mbps down all over my area. With Sprint I was lucky to get 500 kbps
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The Nexus was the worst for reception. The S3 is a close second. It seems to be people in some parts of the country don't notice the issue - possibly because they don't use their phone much or because they have towers that use different technology than the towers in the areas I travel. I spend a lot of time in Los Angeles, Vegas and Dallas. I can be at 4 bars one second and no bars (drop the call) and go back to 4 bars the next.
I was on Sprint and the HTC EVO 3D had that same issue even though the EVO didn't. I did always get crap data speeds on Sprint though. Some phones get great signal like the Motorola - so the question is - which is more imporant to you - the PDA or the phone. I use about 3000 minutes per month so I notice quickly when there are issues with a phones reception. My data speeds on the S3 are much better than I had on Sprint.

No the radios are not bad.
Excellent service, all the time here. In fact, I've never seen my phone with less than 3 bars, anywhere I go. And I travel a lot.

Yes the radios are very bad.....although improving. With the HE radio I finally have seem -99 dbm at my house although most of the time it is around -105. This is much improved compared to the original radio where I saw on average -110. I still drop calls in areas where I never have before. The poster that stated that HTC's have better signal are definitely correct. My wifes old rezound normally saw -80 to -85 at my house and never dropped calls anywhere. My old Thunderbolt was the same. Funny thing is that no matter what direction I go from my house, once I am a minute away I get full reception.....no matter what way I go. The radios don't do a good job of reaching out for the signal. The range is bad. Those stating that they are happy with their radios are probably in areas that don't have any weak spots. I'm holding out for newer radios cause every release seems to be a small step in the right direction.

ercDROID said:
Yes the radios are very bad.....although improving. With the HE radio I finally have seem -99 dbm at my house although most of the time it is around -105. This is much improved compared to the original radio where I saw on average -110. I still drop calls in areas where I never have before. The poster that stated that HTC's have better signal are definitely correct. My wifes old rezound normally saw -80 to -85 at my house and never dropped calls anywhere. My old Thunderbolt was the same. Funny thing is that no matter what direction I go from my house, once I am a minute away I get full reception.....no matter what way I go. The radios don't do a good job of reaching out for the signal. The range is bad. Those stating that they are happy with their radios are probably in areas that don't have any weak spots. I'm holding out for newer radios cause every release seems to be a small step in the right direction.
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Same exact thing here! You took the words directly out of my mouth.
Sent by one of my many Anthromorphic Personifications

Here are the results of a real world test that I just did with a co-workers HTC Thunderbolt compared to my SG3:
Both phones on 4g and side by side
HTC dBM -66
SG3 dBM -92
I think the results are pretty clear. Nothing else really needs to be said about the quality of the SG3 radio......it is not as good as the competition. If it was close by a few dBM then it would not be of concern to me. A 26 dBM difference is huge!
Because of this difference in signal strength he was able to have much faster download speeds. I was 17 down compared to his 27 down.