[Q] Are my signal strength issues radio related or carrier related - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I just switched carriers and find that when I am indoors I get very low signal strength if any ay all. When I am in class, especially ones without windows, my phone can not find my carriers network. This was never a problem with my old phone and I usually would get 3 or 4 bars even in lecture halls with no windows or classes in the basement. I am with Moblicity (Ontario) and some times when I search for networks when mine isn't available Rogers (one of Canada's largest carriers) shows up but sometimes not so I can't determine for sure if the issue is Moblicity or not.
My radio is KD1 and I'm running Oxygen 2.2.2 with Netarchy 1.4.0, though I was having these issues on stock rom and kernel. Can any one with more experience on Moblicity let me know if the issue is their network.

I'm pretty sure the KD1 radio is a i9020t radio version and that matters because the 3g frequency used by those carriers has known issues penetrating walls. As for the signal issues, I'm not so certain. In the past there were phone manufacturers that were known for having better signal than other (read: Nokia) and I still think its true. What I mean is my signal with Samsung devices has never been as good as I've seen in other devices. Perhaps its all in my head but I don't know. Have you tried other radios?

kenvan19 said:
I'm pretty sure the KD1 radio is a i9020t radio version and that matters because the 3g frequency used by those carriers has known issues penetrating walls. As for the signal issues, I'm not so certain. In the past there were phone manufacturers that were known for having better signal than other (read: Nokia) and I still think its true. What I mean is my signal with Samsung devices has never been as good as I've seen in other devices. Perhaps its all in my head but I don't know. Have you tried other radios?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
KB3 searches and finds available networks much faster than KD1 but doesn't solve my problem

Then I'm guessing your issue lies in the signal strength of the nexus s on its own. To be honest no smart phone I've owned could match the signal of my old dumb nokias and I don't think you're going to find an easy solution
Sent from my Nexus S MV from the XDA Premium app.

The signal loss that I'm getting seems a bit extreme though. I take 5 steps into Walmart and I can no longer find my carriers network

Hmm. That is extreme. So you've tried kd1 and kb3. Personally I had the best signal on kb3 but I'm on kf1 now. Maybe try that?
Sent from my Nexus S MV from the XDA Premium app.

Related

[Q] Lousy Signal: Anyone Else?

Just checking to see if anyone else with an Inspire on AT&T has experienced a signal dropoff in the last two or three days. One day I'm pegged at 4 bars WCDMA, now I can't seem to get out of GPRS/Edge. Seems it coincides with the rollout of the update. Anyone else getting crappy reception in the last few days?
No good reception
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Reception is all right for could always be better, still waiting for AT&T to get the 4g ball rolling
Folks, I'm looking for those of you who have had LOSS of signal in the last week. Please no "mine sucks" or "mine is ok" kind of posts, i only want to hear from those of you who have had a change.
Does anyone know how to check the status of AT&T's cell towers? Is there a website that will show where they are and what their operational condition is?
You can call att and tell them where you are. They will give you information on the towers in your area.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA Premium App
Signal is crappy, but hasn't changed in the last few days. You should call AT&T and check with them
Well, just as I was about to call AT&T to find out what the heck might be going on, I now see my signal is very strong again, but with UMTS as the network type, though I'm showing 3G in my notification bar.
So, is UMTS the new 4G network and they were just changing the tower over the past few days?
They have been updating towers all over...So to answer your original question, yes I have experienced some bad signal at times, but has returned to a good signal after they finished updating whatever they were working on....
WC
maybe this explains my many dropped calls in the last few days..
Wild Child said:
They have been updating towers all over...So to answer your original question, yes I have experienced some bad signal at times, but has returned to a good signal after they finished updating whatever they were working on....
WC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you showing for network type?
Actually it depends on where Im at in my house...i can move 15 ft and itll pick up an Edge signal....then switch to H+,which is still just 3G for now until LTE network is up and running...Ive only seen 3G once or twice since Ive had the phone...Also just a side note...Im on an unrooted, untampered with 1.84 ROM...Based on your posts, your rooted and using a custom ROM, issue may not be the phone or the towers, may be the ROM your using,unfortunately with the way ATT provisioned this software...you may have issues with certain things using custom ROMS....
WC
Wild Child said:
Actually it depends on where Im at in my house...i can move 15 ft and itll pick up an Edge signal....then switch to H+,which is still just 3G for now until LTE network is up and running...Ive only seen 3G once or twice since Ive had the phone...Also just a side note...Im on an unrooted, untampered with 1.84 ROM...Based on your posts, your rooted and using a custom ROM, issue may not be the phone or the towers, may be the ROM your using,unfortunately with the way ATT provisioned this software...you may have issues with certain things using custom ROMS....
WC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that using the Custom Roms are the main issue. Many of the custom roms are using Stock Kernals and Radios. <- those are the two main contributing factors to cell strength and battery life.
I run MIUI on stock kernal now, with the new ATT Radio .26.06.06.30_M and have no issues. Denver CO Area and run full bars or -70 to -87 dcb at almost all times. Great download speeds.
Incorrect to a point....if provisioning isnt correct in the rom then there will be issues, att is trying to be slick in a lot of ways these days...
xKrisx said:
I doubt that using the Custom Roms are the main issue. Many of the custom roms are using Stock Kernals and Radios. <- those are the two main contributing factors to cell strength and battery life.
I run MIUI on stock kernal now, with the new ATT Radio .26.06.06.30_M and have no issues. Denver CO Area and run full bars or -70 to -87 dcb at almost all times. Great download speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When i use Stock roms my signal is steady on H+ n a lil bit on Edge but mostly on H+.
On custom roms i stay on Edge.. H is rare or just dont stick
n yes im using the stock kernal n radio
Update: turns out they were working on the tower(s) in my area. Signal back to normal. Thanks for everyone's feedback.
this happened to me last month, and now today is happening again lol. seems like they are working on towers a lot recently in my area. if i go to another city i get full bar H constantly...oh wells hopefully they will finish all the tower work soon.

[Q] doubts about radio

Hi, im from brazil. i have some problems with network signal.
in places where friends of mine from the same network operators (vivo)
have a full 3g signal, i cant even get an edge. but in open spaces i get a good signal. im on CM7 nightlys,
baseband I9020XXKB3,
and my build is GRJ22.
signal on -95dbm now.
my questions are:
can i solve this problem by flashing a new radio such as XXKD1?
what really is the function of the radio?
does the contry that im on now request a diferent radio?!
thx for the attention?
Radio effectiveness differ from user to user. Depending where you are. What might be a good radio to me might be bad to you n vise versa. Unfortunately you will have to try them by yourself and judge.
For me kd1 gives me a better reception but slightly more battery drainage than kb3. Some users reported better data speed. Try it out and see.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
thx for the attention man!
i'll try them all.
another thing, do you know if the radio already comes with the ROMs
or i would have to flash it always apart?

Best Radio Baseband for Canada?

I've tried every radio baseband so far except UCKE1...I'm currently using KC1 after extensive testing it seemed to be the most consistent in poor reception areas and on average a little faster than either KB3 or KD1.
Anyone else in Canada have other basebands they prefer? I'm on Wind which I'm sure probably makes a difference compared to Rogers/Fido/Bell/Telus.
Griphn said:
I've tried every radio baseband so far except UCKE1...I'm currently using KC1 after extensive testing it seemed to be the most consistent in poor reception areas and on average a little faster than either KB3 or KD1.
Anyone else in Canada have other basebands they prefer? I'm on Wind which I'm sure probably makes a difference compared to Rogers/Fido/Bell/Telus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where did you find the basebands? and which model are you using, cause when i go to about phone... mine is unknown soo i need to find one that works again >.< and is your nexus s the i9020a model? and i dont even know how to get a different baseband....
Your able to get 3G on multiple basebands?
I can only get 3G with one: UCKD1.
Only limited to this one.
You can find basebands Here
Heeter

Radio advice/help needed!

So I recently got an Inspire, coming from a Vibrant. I have T-mobile service. On the Vibrant, in the same location, I had superb cell signal. On this Infuse, it's more than terrible.
I know it's designed to be an ATT phone, and the internal hardware won't pick up certain T-Mobile bands, but I have also had a couple other unlocked phones that got better signal than this.
I can literally set the Vibrant down on the table with 3-4 bars of service, and the Infuse next to it with Emergency Only or an X (no signal). In other random spots I can get a couple bars, but very spotty. Sometimes I'll have a couple of bars, and literally not move an inch and lose signal. That's frustrating!
I know I can't get 3g-4g speeds. Not an issue with me, I use wireless, but I do want to figure out how to make and receive phone calls.
I unlocked using Ace, and let it run for a few days before making any other changes. Today I flashed Android Revolution HD 6.3.3, and then flashed the recommended radio about an hour later. (used the fastboot method described in the radio's readme, the RIL was included in the Rom)
So my signal is slightly better, but only barely. Still very unreliable.
I guess my hope is, to gain some insight as to how the radio even works, so I can start to learn the differences in them, and find one that works better.
Is there any hope that I will find one that is suitable?
Can anyone recommend radios/a solution?
I also wonder, since the Desire has compatible radios, and they are used in Europe, if they may pick up T-Mobile USA signals better.
Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your help and advice!
P.S. I know its been discussed before, however, I've read hours and hours worth of posts, and in the end I decided asking was definitely worth it. Ya'll are smart!
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA
Radios react differently for everyone cause they are actually based on regions as to where your at. But there are positive responses on the .03 , .28 and .30 radios. Give them a shot and try them out each for about a few days and see how they work for you. Development section has a radio thread you can get them from.
Just remember flash radios at your own risk, they are a little riskier than flashing roms. Good luck

[Q] Signal drop/No service

Just wondering if any one else gets this, sometimes my signal just drops out and I get no service.
Then it comes back it does not happen all the time, I live in a big city Leeds infact so signal is quite strong.
Just wondering if it could be a fault with the phone?
Thanks
I've noticed it happens to me too.
Tony_YYZ said:
I've noticed it happens to me too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering if its my device because I live in the city and the signal is excellent around here, my other phone HTC sensation never had this problem. Was concerned it could be software/hardware problem possibly.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
bassist9 said:
I was wondering if its my device because I live in the city and the signal is excellent around here, my other phone HTC sensation never had this problem. Was concerned it could be software/hardware problem possibly.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's likely the radio software.
Tony_YYZ said:
It's likely the radio software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right I see could this possibly be fixed in next update you think?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
bassist9 said:
Right I see could this possibly be fixed in next update you think?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is definitely possible.
I'm on AT&T and have the correct APN settings and have called AT&T with my IMEI. I have significantly worse signal than with my HTC One X. I am not comparing bars to bars, but rather where the signal drops completely. In places where I had low signal but still connected I now have nothing.
Straight talk using at&t Sim and notice radio drops..
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
T-Mobile on stock ROM i had my first signal drops.
I was fine (or at least never noticed them) from the time i got my phone (day one) without any drops here in orlando.
Drove over to Tampa/Venice Beach area this past weekend and noticed some drops. Had about 6 drops according to my battery stats in 2 days. i had good to excellent coverage the entire time except when it would drop comlpetely (outline of signal bars)
would connect in a couple seconds, but i noticed over night, it would drop for a pretty large amount of time (like 10-15 minutes at a time.)
Mmm defo seems like were all having the same issues, wonder what it could be
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I had this issue too, and here's how I fixed it:
By default LTE is enabled, meaning the phone will periodically scan for a LTE network. If you're in a big city, you're likely to find one. Your phone will attempt to connect. However, it fails, meaning it will have to rescan the HSPA bands to connect back. That results in a few seconds of no service. Why can't it connect to LTE? Because by default, the APN is not the LTE APN, for Rogers at least. I'd assume AT&T would be the same. You can test this by dialing *#*#4636#*#*, selecting phone info, and selecting LTE only. You'll see that there is no service. I tested this in an area I knew had great LTE coverage, and that led me to the conclusion that it's LTE causing the signal drops.
So how to fix? Simple, just change your APN to the LTE APN for your carried. To do that go to Settings -> More -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names. If you're experiencing this issue on Rogers, change the APN field to ltemobile.apn. If you're on another carrier, you'll have to search for their LTE APN configuration.
After doing this your phone should start connecting to LTE again, and you won't get those annoying signal drops.
PaulGoogle Employee
Nov 20
A few days ago I let you know that we'd be reaching out on email to some of you for some additional bug report data. I'd like to thank everyone who responded to our email -- the bug data you sent in has been helpful to us in tracking this down.
This is looking like a software issue on our side, and we're investigating a fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So yeah the next update will probably fix the issue. It's not so bad in the meantime, Lightflow sill notify you that your nexus has lost signal, and you still get the internet and incoming calls.
We're not alone. Supposedly Google is "aware" of the issue.
i've hcanged my setting from '4g' to '3g' to see if i notice a difference (hopefully will) then when 4g is released or i get a 4g sim, can move it back up
Yes, I'm having issues too. The real problem is the fact that I have a Wilson cell booster in my home (supposed to have up to 5000 square foot range) and my n4 had full bars most everywhere inside. With my n5 It shows 1 to 2 bars if I'm lucky and quite often drops to none! The only way to get full bars Is to stand right under the indoor antenna. Not impressed, and I sure hope this is fixable!
sent from my next gen N7
I hate to revive a dead thread, but I was wondering if people were still having problems. Once or twice during the day that I can see I will lose signal for a few seconds only to have it reconnect. Running 4.4.2 so the latest update did nothing to help the problem as far as I can see and I have messed with my APN settings. On AT&T. The Google thread seems to have a lot of different problems on the same thread, and it is a bit unclear if people are still having this problem. This is very annoying for such an otherwise spectacular phone. Thanks and sorry again for reviving the thread... :fingers-crossed:
gidgiddonihah said:
I hate to revive a dead thread, but I was wondering if people were still having problems. Once or twice during the day that I can see I will lose signal for a few seconds only to have it reconnect. Running 4.4.2 so the latest update did nothing to help the problem as far as I can see and I have messed with my APN settings. On AT&T. The Google thread seems to have a lot of different problems on the same thread, and it is a bit unclear if people are still having this problem. This is very annoying for such an otherwise spectacular phone. Thanks and sorry again for reviving the thread... :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, there have been several threads on the issues associated with this (emergency calls only, missed calls, no signal,etc.). Ongoing and unresolved for some.
wideasleep1 said:
Actually, there have been several threads on the issues associated with this (emergency calls only, missed calls, no signal,etc.). Ongoing and unresolved for some.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the speedy reply. Hope Google gets on this fast. I also have LTE connection issues which has plagued both this and my original device so I am pretty sure its a radio issue. The phone loves to stay on HSPA+ even when there is a decent LTE connection: it's last in the pack to connect to LTE and first to disconnect when compared to others on AT&T.
gidgiddonihah said:
Appreciate the speedy reply. Hope Google gets on this fast. I also have LTE connection issues which has plagued both this and my original device so I am pretty sure its a radio issue. The phone loves to stay on HSPA+ even when there is a decent LTE connection: it's last in the pack to connect to LTE and first to disconnect when compared to others on AT&T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My N4 with a combo radio sticks to LTE a tad better than my N5 with stock radio. Sadly, morrislee hasn't fiddled and combo'd N5 radios, and I'm not sure they've been tested and sussed out like the N4 radios. Citing the fact some with issues have flashed all the radios so far with minimal success means we wait for Qualcomm, after Google kicks them in the you know where.
wideasleep1 said:
My N4 with a combo radio sticks to LTE a tad better than my N5 with stock radio. Sadly, morrislee hasn't fiddled and combo'd N5 radios, and I'm not sure they've been tested and sussed out like the N4 radios. Citing the fact some with issues have flashed all the radios so far with minimal success means we wait for Qualcomm, after Google kicks them in the you know where.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully Google kicks hard and fast . Multiple times if needed. Thanks again for the speedy and enlightening replies. Much obliged.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

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