Signal Strength Issues - AT&T, Rogers HTC One X, Telstra One XL

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.
Click to expand...
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

Related

Antennagate on the Captivate

When i had my blackberry, i had full bars at my place, with this phone, i only get 2-3 bars. I also managed to reproduce signal strength issue while holding the bottom back of the phone with the CASE ON. The bar goes down 2-3 bars. Although calls didn't drop, data slowed down. I hope it's just poor calculation on the signal and a fix is on the way. Were you guys able to reproduce this issue or at least have less bars than your previous phone?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
My Captivate holds calls through areas that my BB Bold 9700 always dropped. Bars are not relevant, it's holding up the call that counts.
I did notice that I get fewer bars shown on this phone than my old iphone. My old iphone would show 1-2 bars in my living room. This phone shows no bars and if I leave the living room it goes to no signal icon. But I did a speedtest with no bars being shown and I got 1.2Mbps down speed and 148kbps up speed, so thats pretty decent. But you're right, I dont think the antenna in this phone is as good as in some other phones. Even sitting at my desk at work I barely get a signal, showing only one bar, where my old phone got 5.
derek4484 said:
I did notice that I get fewer bars shown on this phone than my old iphone. My old iphone would show 1-2 bars in my living room. This phone shows no bars and if I leave the living room it goes to no signal icon. But I did a speedtest with no bars being shown and I got 1.2Mbps down speed and 148kbps up speed, so thats pretty decent. But you're right, I dont think the antenna in this phone is as good as in some other phones. Even sitting at my desk at work I barely get a signal, showing only one bar, where my old phone got 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wandering around XDA today -- thought I'd offer my 0.02c.
Remember if you compare against an iPhone that the recent adjustment to the display of the signal bars will show less bars than before. Also, AFAIK every mfr displays them differently anyway...
aikeru said:
Just wandering around XDA today -- thought I'd offer my 0.02c.
Remember if you compare against an iPhone that the recent adjustment to the display of the signal bars will show less bars than before. Also, AFAIK every mfr displays them differently anyway...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, especially since Apple said they "were completely wrong in calculating signal strength and the number bars to display". Seems they can make the bars whatever they feel like. I would go by the dBm before any bars.
cellgeek said:
My Captivate holds calls through areas that my BB Bold 9700 always dropped. Bars are not relevant, it's holding up the call that counts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This^ Unless you're dropping calls, I wouldn't worry about it.
derek4484 said:
I did notice that I get fewer bars shown on this phone than my old iphone. My old iphone would show 1-2 bars in my living room. This phone shows no bars and if I leave the living room it goes to no signal icon. But I did a speedtest with no bars being shown and I got 1.2Mbps down speed and 148kbps up speed, so thats pretty decent. But you're right, I dont think the antenna in this phone is as good as in some other phones. Even sitting at my desk at work I barely get a signal, showing only one bar, where my old phone got 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The iphone had vastly inflated bars to hide its poor reception. Thats what made the iphones antenna problems appear to be even worse.
k2snowboards88 said:
The iphone had vastly inflated bars to hide its poor reception. Thats what made the iphones antenna problems appear to be even worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QFT. Apple faked bars... Enough so to where it showed as many as 2 bars more than what it should have.
Everyone does this to some extent, and being the open platform that Android is, I'd suspect they're probably going to be the most accurate as far as bar representation.
I wish carriers would just start putting the signal level there instead.
The signal strength reporting on this phone isn't very granular. It's basically the same as the bar indicator. 5 bars is -51 dBm, 4 is -81 dBm and 3 is -97 dBm. My tests with all signal strengths so far in terms of download speeds in 3 locations in Manhattan are identical. I'm getting ~3mps down and ~300 kbps up (AT&T please fix this!).
Is anyone reporting dropped calls or data slowdowns due to signal loss?
This phone updates the single faster then anyphone I have ever owned. I *think* most phones a buffered a little but this phone, My girlfriend was driving the other day and I was watching the bars change constantly.
Since I got this phone on Saturday, I have rarely had full bars even when driving through town. But I haven't had any problems with performance so far. Still, it bothers me because I want to be sure that I don't have a lemon as other people I know have been getting full bars.
I can hold my samsung captivate between my butt cheeks and i get full bars, i just had to say it, cause now that the icrap4 has the anntennaassgape, everyone thinks there device will have it to, its not the smartphone scene's fault that apple doesn't know how to design high end smartphones...
adamandro12 said:
Since I got this phone on Saturday, I have rarely had full bars even when driving through town. But I haven't had any problems with performance so far. Still, it bothers me because I want to be sure that I don't have a lemon as other people I know have been getting full bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That just means this is the only phone you've owned that displays bars correctly...
I went from 5 bars (3GS) down to 2 bars (on the Android).
Simple fact is that Android's representation of bars is closer to what it should be.
rafyvitto said:
I can hold my samsung captivate between my butt cheeks and i get full bars, i just had to say it, cause now that the icrap4 has the anntennaassgape, everyone thinks there device will have it to, its not the smartphone scene's fault that apple doesn't know how to design high end smartphones...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahaha. I couldn't agree with you more.
I'm referring to other captivate owners who have told me they get full bars.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
adamandro12 said:
I'm referring to other captivate owners who have told me they get full bars.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only way I'd trust something like that, testing if you've got reception issues, is having them side by side.
Oh good, I thought I was the only one with this problem just got the mine and I notice the signal would change constantly thinking of returning it .

[Q] Signal:Iphone 4 vs Inspire

Ok so I love the inspire, big screen is awesome compares to the iphone 4. I'm just wonder if anyone here have both phone and find that the iphone 4 get better reception than the inspire? Where I live for some reason, I get a low signal with att but on the iphone 4, at least it will hold a constant signal where I can make and receive calls and text ect, with the inspire, the signal would go in and out, i would get like miss call alert and stuff when the phone doesnt even ring. Now I've try flashing a couple of different radio but they all dont really improve anything. Anyone can suggest a radio firmware that get good signal? I dont care about battery life. Btw im on leedroid rom and tried the suggested radio, no good either.
delete post
Yeah I am having the same issue. I have an iphone 3g and 4 as well as many other htc,samsung,palm smartphones. Of them all the inspire has the weakest signal all things being equal. Kinda disappointing. I honestly think it has something to do with the crap ass cover on the bottom,aka one of the antenna's. I plan to experiment this weekend and see if something cant be done. I am on the stock radio but have tried many different roms and tons of playing in the build.prop to no avail,except exponentially increased data speeds.
maybe there are just some bunk inspires out there. I dont get too many dropped calls and my data is ok, but compared to every other phone I have its sub par.
It could be the 4g reception is not as strong I also came from iPhone 4 and I noticed the reception in some spots on the inspire is not as good but I am happy over all
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
No experience with an iphone 4, but I can definitely say it's not quite as strong as the captivate I came from, but not to the point that it's worth switching back.
That's not really my problem though, the audio quality on it is pretty bad, talking on the phone itself it's not too bad, but while talking on my bluetooth headset the "gsm hiss" is extremely pronounced at all times.
I came from a craptivate, and here in Los Angeles County, USA, my signal with the Inspire 4g is way better than my craptivate... and it spends less time scanning for a signal too than the samsung!
You should compare dBm of each phone because HTC uses a different range with their bars. At -89dBm HTC will switch to 3 bars, -109dBm will be near zero bars, etc. But apple uses completely different range. So the only way to know for sure is compare dBm numbers.
Newer radios give approximately a 10 db increase over stock.
Bars mean nothing. If you are not comparing db you're doing it wrong and inaccurately.
I used the phono app on the inspire and the reading on it is always worst than the iPhone, I really think it's the antenna design on the inspire. Newer radio works better? Is it the new one that leak from the gingerbread rom? I might have to try that, if I can get 10db more and lose a bit of battery life then I'll gladly do it, I really like this phone but at the end of the day if I can't use it as a phone, it's no good to me
Radio thread.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=877295
I am not having any speed issues at all with the Inspire.
It does seem to switch between GSM and WCDMA a little more frequently but speed is the fastest I have ever had on a mobile device without WIFI on.
I just did a quick test again because I am getting very annoyed at the poor signal of this phone. I have an aria here next to me. The aria is at -91db and the inspire in the same spot is at -103-105db, obviously the higher the worse it is. Also the aria is more stable in that it goes right to -91 and stays there while the inspire takes some time to settle, and never really settles completely like the aria. I did experiment with the antenna but could never get the signal any better than the cover despite my best efforts.
I have not given up yet. I will try a different radio as I have only used the stocker since the beginning. 10+db's is a hell of a difference in my opinion, and in real wold experience the difference is painfully obvious. I dont even want to get into how much better the signal is on my dumbphone.
Try radio 12.41.60.19_26.06.04.14_M, I was having a ton of dropped calls on the stock radio, that fixed it.
I have a weaker signal but I drop significantly fewer calls then I did when I had an iphone 4.
Sent from someplace using something to send it.
romeo0119 said:
Ok so I love the inspire, big screen is awesome compares to the iphone 4. I'm just wonder if anyone here have both phone and find that the iphone 4 get better reception than the inspire? Where I live for some reason, I get a low signal with att but on the iphone 4, at least it will hold a constant signal where I can make and receive calls and text ect, with the inspire, the signal would go in and out, i would get like miss call alert and stuff when the phone doesnt even ring. Now I've try flashing a couple of different radio but they all dont really improve anything. Anyone can suggest a radio firmware that get good signal? I dont care about battery life. Btw im on leedroid rom and tried the suggested radio, no good either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both and just compared them. I held them side by side and observed the signal bars and both were identical with two bars showing. I moved them apart about 10 inches...still holding them in hand.. and the signal is 1 bar each. I laid them down side by side and saw that the Inspire had 3 bars, the iPhone 4 had 2 bars. I moved them about 3 inches and now the iPhone has 3 bars and the Inspire has 1 to 2 bars. I moved them to a different spot about 1 foot away and separated them by about 5 inches and they both show 2 bars consistently.
From what I'm seeing, I would say they both have identical signal strength quality. At one point I did see 4 bars on the iPhone 4. So I moved the Inspire to where the iPhone 4 had 4 bars...exact same position and place...but it stuck with 3 bars and never showed the 4.
stickbo said:
I just did a quick test again because I am getting very annoyed at the poor signal of this phone. I have an aria here next to me. The aria is at -91db and the inspire in the same spot is at -103-105db, obviously the higher the worse it is. Also the aria is more stable in that it goes right to -91 and stays there while the inspire takes some time to settle, and never really settles completely like the aria. I did experiment with the antenna but could never get the signal any better than the cover despite my best efforts.
I have not given up yet. I will try a different radio as I have only used the stocker since the beginning. 10+db's is a hell of a difference in my opinion, and in real wold experience the difference is painfully obvious. I dont even want to get into how much better the signal is on my dumbphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is pretty weak. Have you laid both on a table so that your hand is away from the antenna not causing attenuation? Just as a baseline test.
That's exactly how I did it. Layed it on a my wooden dining room table in the middle of an empty room. I even moved away so as to keep my body from being a shield/conductor. Same sim card to by the way.
as for the iphone 4, they calculate their bars differently than htc does. Apple is notorious for giving more bars per db than other makers, they took some heat over it a while back, remember antenna gate.
I am gonna try to switch to the radio listed above and see what happens. I love this phone too much to give up that easy.
Yeah dBm is the best thing to look at. All I can say is keep doing more tests and see if you can find any more info. Maybe different locations. It is possible for the phone to use 2 different cell sites in same exact spot. So install the app antennas and record which towers on the map your phone is using.
My inspire gets probably between 2-3 bars in my area. Compared to my Cappy before i rooted would get 2bars at the most and i would lose a signal in alot of places.
Stop quoting how many bars you get. It is a meaningless comparison.
If you aren't comparing db you are doing it wrong.

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?
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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

Data dropping

My phone has dropped data randomly two times this morning. I could only get it back by doing a switch to airplane mode. Anyone else with this problem? Is this a phone issue that I need to get a new one?
Sent from my HTC One X
Mine has dropped several times. when coming to and from work. It seems to always happen when it connects to wifi. when i leave work and its wifi, i lose all signal entirely.
I don't use wifi though that's the thing. I called ATT and they said it may need a new simcard......which this was. So I swung by and got one and the lady at the store said that my phone may be going bad! LOL wow I love how they train their people.
YES. Most definitely, this is the same problem I'm experiencing. I had another thread posted about how the 4G icon was lit but there was no signal. The icon now seems to be a little more accurate...But still.
At home I switch on WiFi so I don't run up my data but if I look at the settings for mobile network the status underneath in gray text keeps showing that it connects and disconnects. Endlessly. The phone isn't moving. My wife has signal on her iPad and iPhone (I know those are 3G).
I have to turn on airplane mode and then off...Then mobile network on and it seems to help a little. However it's still super spotty.
This is pretty much only indoors but I don't know. I'm going to go around town and try it out. On their coverage map I'm in a big zone of LTE coverage. Outside I have seen 30Mbps on LTE using speedtest.net app. So I don't know. I thought it was very odd given the houses here in CA don't exactly have super thick insulation and every other cell phone (Sprint, my wife's on AT&T, etc.) seem to be AOK. It's just this new One X that just can't stay connected to the 4G.
Going under settings > about > network ...
I see my signal strength....some readings are...
-109 dBm 4 asu
-101 dBm 6 asu
-107 dBm 2 asu
I have no idea what values I should be seeing - what is considered good?
Mobile network type says HSPA. Service state says in service. Icon up top is 4G with one bar. If I turn off WiFi I could not load a web page or anything. That's what annoys me. I usually see like 2 bars and that's fine...But if I see the damn bars and the 4G icon....I sure as hell expect the data to work, even if a little slower.
It's just SUPER flaky. Again outside seems to help but to be honest I haven't sat and watched it. For all I know it could be connecting and disconnecting over and over outside as well but just have a stronger connection when it is actually "on."
I'm annoyed and speechless. I'm not in the boonies. I've never experienced anything like this before. I'm actually at my desk in front of a window. Uh...WTF?
Just picked up lunch and watched the data while on the trip.
This phone is unusable. It's gotta go back. Well, I guess it's welcome back Sprint. Sooooo disappointed.
All I got was HSPA. The only time I get LTE and those fast 30Mbps down is at night time. AT&T is such a joke and their network is NOT ready for this phone.
I'm in Palo Alto, CA. It's not the middle of no where. This is embarrassing. Either that or somehow I have a defective phone or SIM card or something I have no clue here...It's really really bad and I'm obviously not the only one.
3 days and it's been horrible, the only reason why I didn't notice sooner is because I've been using the phone on WiFi most the time.
tom_m said:
Just picked up lunch and watched the data while on the trip.
This phone is unusable. It's gotta go back. Well, I guess it's welcome back Sprint. Sooooo disappointed.
All I got was HSPA. The only time I get LTE and those fast 30Mbps down is at night time. AT&T is such a joke and their network is NOT ready for this phone.
I'm in Palo Alto, CA. It's not the middle of no where. This is embarrassing. Either that or somehow I have a defective phone or SIM card or something I have no clue here...It's really really bad and I'm obviously not the only one.
3 days and it's been horrible, the only reason why I didn't notice sooner is because I've been using the phone on WiFi most the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how fast is the HSPA you're getting?
1-3.56Mbps down and 0.04-1.03Mbps up.
Out on the street downtown.
Best I've ever had was at night on LTE 30Mbps down and like 17Mbps up.
All to the same test server. Trying servers several states away it varied, sometimes I'd even see 20Mbps down to a far away server.
Again this is all WHEN I'm actually connected to the data network.
The thing just can't hold a connection. Constantly dropped.
edit-- ok so right now same time of day, servers, etc. Sprint's 3G is a little slower, but at least I'm not getting dropped.
and on a side note, i got a REALLY helpful lvl1 tech support lady on the phone. much better experience than i thought. there was an issue in the area before. but basically i'm going to give it another shot. if no good tomorrow, swap for a new phone. they'll call me back friday and we'll see... crossing my fingers.
Any update on this? I've got a new One X and work night shifts twice a week. I've notived tonight that the data drops when the phone is idle and obviously nothing pushes.
There's got to be a way of turning this off. I can see why HTC would call it a feature, but there has to be a flag or a switch somewhere....

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Categories

Resources