Database Info

G2X Reception

I Live and work in areas that should be 4G according to T-Mobiles coverage map. At work, I'm lucking to even receive a 2g signal and never get a 4g signal at all. At home, I can only get 4g if I select WCDMA Only and don't touch my phone.
I've noticed that my 4g (WCDMA) signal seems to range from -70dBm to -109dBm. As far as GSM I don't know what a good signal is, but I know I loose my signal at about -98 dBm. Interestingly enough, it will go from -85 dBm to -101 dBm in GSM just from me picking it up.
I'm wondering if my phone is getting good reception and if exchanging it might help the problem, but I have no numbers to compare this to. Does anyone get a better WCDMA signal than -69 dBm or have a good signal strength over -109 dBm. Does anyone know what a good signal should be?
I have seen some threads on reception but there are never any numbers to quantify this. To see your signal strength go to phone settings; about phone; status; signal strength.
Any input is appreciated.

There is an app to test for towers and reception . I found I'm not close to one.
Figures.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Thanks,
I have Open Signal Maps installed. Lots of good info. According to the app, I'm a 217 meters from a tower. It actually shows 3 towers within a quarter of a mile. Maybe it's signal overload....

snake8b said:
Thanks,
I have Open Signal Maps installed. Lots of good info. According to the app, I'm a 217 meters from a tower. It actually shows 3 towers within a quarter of a mile. Maybe it's signal overload....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have to agree. This thing can get great to little signal. It seems to have trouble with the in between.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

I also have horrible reception with this phone.... my sga4g had a solid full bar 4g signal all the time.. I thought maybe having my g2x rooted and running a custom rom might have something to do with it so I unrooted and went back to stock... but still no good... my phone can sit in one spot and I watch the signal go up and down 4g 2g .... so I locked it to wcdma only .... It stayed on 4g bars still go up and down but now it will just lose network connection... I called Tmo support today and supposedly I'm in an area that has great 4g coverage .... so they say they put in a service order and to stay on 2g for 72 hours and then pull my battery, put it back in and see what happens... love the g2x but starting to regret giving the wife my sgs4g...
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

swuln said:
I also have horrible reception with this phone.... my sga4g had a solid full bar 4g signal all the time.. I thought maybe having my g2x rooted and running a custom rom might have something to do with it so I unrooted and went back to stock... but still no good... my phone can sit in one spot and I watch the signal go up and down 4g 2g .... so I locked it to wcdma only .... It stayed on 4g bars still go up and down but now it will just lose network connection... I called Tmo support today and supposedly I'm in an area that has great 4g coverage .... so they say they put in a service order and to stay on 2g for 72 hours and then pull my battery, put it back in and see what happens... love the g2x but starting to regret giving the wife my sgs4g...
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
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Mine does pretty much the exact same thing inside the house and I'm also in an area that should have good 4G coverage. I think the radio is just bugged and hopefully the update(s) will fix that. Good thing the phone has wifi calling.

Interesting. I was looking for a phone number today to call T-Mobile, but their site wasn't working (kept getting no connection). I wonder what staying on 2g is supposed to do. Let me know how it turns out.

I have the same issue! Constant switch between 4G, E and x!
I talked to T-Mobile and they worked on the towers or so they say! It's gotten a lil bit better signal, but not much and not sure if it's because a custom rom!
Thinking about doing an exchange!
Would an UPDATE FIX THE RADIO? Or is it faculty hardware?
.....

htc2364 said:
I have the same issue! Constant switch between 4G, E and x!
I talked to T-Mobile and they worked on the towers or so they say! It's gotten a lil bit better signal, but not much and not sure if it's because a custom rom!
Thinking about doing an exchange!
Would an UPDATE FIX THE RADIO? Or is it faculty hardware?
.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could be faulty hardware, but it could just be a software glitch in the radio baseband/drivers. If a radio update doesn't come with the initial software fix, I'm pretty sure the Gingerbread update should include one.

I too have TERRIBLE reception with the G2x. I'm coming from the HTC G1 and in spots that I used to get great reception with that phone, my G2x bounces all over the place from 4G to NO signal. It's driving me insane that it doesn't stay constant. I thought maybe it was just the towers in my area so I put my SIM back in the G1 and it never lost signal. I put the SIM back in my G2x and set it in the same spot as the G1 and it lost signal twice and toggled back and forth from 2G to 4G within 5 minutes. Hopefully there will be a radio update to fix this issue and that it won't be faulty hardware.
I absolutely LOVE this phone even with the flaws.. i just hope they fix the flaws soon.

I get pretty good reception, though at work I tend to bounce back from 4g and E, but I'm in a building that kills reception. Personally, I think it's the modem. I bet once we start getting newer modems, it's will stop this, but probably at the cost of battery life. My old vibrant got about the same reception, so I don't think it's hardware.

The Tmo tech told me to stay on 2g because my phone seems to be keeping a good consistent 2g signal... its just in the 4g that it doesn't hold a good signal.... I also kept bringing up if she thought that maybe a software upgrade might fix the problem but she didn't even acknowledge that I said anything about it .... I also told her that I read somewhere that for some reason T-Mobile should have given me the sim card that came with the g2x and she said that wouldnt make a difference because i just switched sims when i bought the sgs4g a few months ago and she then gave me free wifi calling...
Sent from my LG-P999 "2G" using XDA Premium App

Replacement Phone
Just an update. I went ahead and got a replacement phone to see if it fixed the problem. The new phone behaves identically. Also, a Samsung 4G user just moved into my office building and he gets 3 bars, which is what i get till I pick the phone up. The thing that bothers me the most is that it will loose so many dBm (bars) when I pick it up.
Does anyone know if a phone cover will fix this issue.

Any chance we will get better signal on this phone in the future???

Let me start off by saying that this is by far the best phone I've ever had feature wise and this thing is smooth and quick, but my signal strength is no where near as good as my thunderbolt was. I live just outside of Pittsburgh and the signal has always been great here. Since I got this phone, I have noticed many spots where I have no signal at all where I previously had a good signal. Do you guys think there's any chance that Samsung will release something that gives us a better signal. That's my only gripe.

In settings>about phone what is your baseband version?

Vrlg1

Certain ROMs tweak signal settings to get better results.
-Need to figure out how to do something with your phone? Check out this Guide
-Did my rantings somehow help you? Hit the thanks button [email protected] :silly:
-Sent from my Synergized SIII

Brian Gove said:
Certain ROMs tweak signal settings to get better results.
-Need to figure out how to do something with your phone? Check out this Guide
-Did my rantings somehow help you? Hit the thanks button [email protected] :silly:
-Sent from my Synergized SIII
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried all the different ROMs and so far the signal has been subpar on all

Likely, yes
ercDROID said:
Do you guys think there's any chance that Samsung will release something that gives us a better signal. That's my only gripe.
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Click to collapse
There is a distinct possibility that we will see at least one more baseband released for this device. Snapdragon wasn't in the original concept for the S3. It might very well have been a little rushed.
The VRALEC baseband that was used during early development has been leaked.
The VRALF baseband shipped with the first phones out the door (like mine).
The VRALG baseband shipped with the second batch of phones and as I understand it was rolled into the OTA update that I would have received if I'd chosen to live within Verizon's little corral for this device.
This thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1788313
was the first "modification" I rolled onto my phone (or any phone for that matter) and it did help me pick up 1X coverage where I didn't have it before. The thread indicates that each phone might respond a little better or worse to a given baseband depending on its own manufacturing variances. You might give the older (VRALF) baseband a whirl and see if it yields an improvement for you. As with everything Odin... proceed at your own risk =)

That shipped on my phone. Tried it for a while but not long enough. I know that in my house the signal strength was the same but not sure how it was in some of the weak areas. I might give it a try. Can't hurt.

My signal has been all over the place but I haven't dropped any calls. I have been running root66 and haven't had any problems but now I'm CleanROM for the past two days so we will see.

thunderbolt as far as I remember reports RSSI and S3 is reporting RSRP which is a proper way of reading LTE signal values, but it's ~20dBm lower. My signal is much better on S3 than let's say GNex.

Yea I would hope with the phone updates, it gets us new ones. Complain enough and they might just listen to us.

Signal is great on my device. Have not been anywhere where there was no signal...must be the area maybe?

droidstyle said:
Signal is great on my device. Have not been anywhere where there was no signal...must be the area maybe?
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Do you always have stable 4g?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium

blestsol said:
Do you always have stable 4g?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
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Yes its rock solid never pulls less than 10mb down from anywhere in my city...even gets good 4g in the surrounding areas. I have only found 2 areas in a 50mi radius that it switches to 3g.

the signal on my S3 is worse than my fascinate. A phone, which, was known for having bad reception.
samsung just seems to have horrible radio in their phones. The guy one cube over at work gets 1-2 bars of 1x on his bionic, I get nothing

jtiger12 said:
the signal on my S3 is worse than my fascinate. A phone, which, was known for having bad reception.
samsung just seems to have horrible radio in their phones. The guy one cube over at work gets 1-2 bars of 1x on his bionic, I get nothing
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I disagree, i had a fascinate for well over a year...

I can confirm bionic signal > SGIII
jtiger12 said:
the signal on my S3 is worse than my fascinate. A phone, which, was known for having bad reception.
samsung just seems to have horrible radio in their phones. The guy one cube over at work gets 1-2 bars of 1x on his bionic, I get nothing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i traded up from a bionic and indeed get weaker signals with the SGIII from the same locations (including some dropped calls).
Solution: purchased a Samsung Network extender for Verizon Wireless of ebay for my home. Now 4-5 bars
Its stupid I had to do that since I live in a major city (pop>600,000)

hollywoodo said:
i traded up from a bionic and indeed get weaker signals with the SGIII from the same locations (including some dropped calls).
Solution: purchased a Samsung Network extender for Verizon Wireless of ebay for my home. Now 4-5 bars
Its stupid I had to do that since I live in a major city (pop>600,000)
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Click to collapse
Motorola has the best radios, this is nothing new...however part of the reason the gs3 gets better battery life is because of reducing power to the radio and wifi antenna. As already stated signal is no issue for me, i could care less if it had twice the signal. It does seem to be a issue for other folks, so hopefully a new radio version will roll out or some crafty dev will figure out a way to increase voltage to the radio(if even possible) at the expense of battery life.
---------- Post added at 10:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------
On a side note i just compared signal with my mother inlaws moto razr, -101db on the razr vs -107db on my gs3.

VRBLI5

Not recommended to flash the modem unless you are in a good 4G area. I clean flashed AOKP M1 ROM flashed VRBLI5 modem . While in good 4G area had no problems as soon as I left (I am a truck driver) my signal and data started acting up. No data or 1x data signal also cell signal very week and a few dropped calls. So I flashed the VRLAHE modem now I got 3G back signal also better.
I think that VRBLI5 is optimized for 4G but this is just my experience.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Thanks for the heads up.

No problem ever since I flashed back to VRALHE modem an hour ago l had no problems with my signal or data. Good 3G n 4G n cell signal. Glad to help.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Excellent. I will check this out.

Lehocki said:
No problem ever since I flashed back to VRALHE modem an hour ago l had no problems with my signal or data. Good 3G n 4G n cell signal. Glad to help.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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Playing Devil's advocate here, could the bad signal just have been a really crappy area? I'm in the northeast and I know parts of Maine I fluctuate considerably and lose signal all together. Other phones do the same so I know it's not my S3.

So tempted.. I already DL the file!
¤ Sent from The Third Galaxy ¤

"Playing Devil's advocate here, could the bad signal just have been a really crappy area? I'm in the northeast and I know parts of Maine I fluctuate considerably and lose signal all together. Other phones do the same so I know it's not my S3."
Not really as soon as I flashed "HE" modem signal and data returned to normal. As I said I'm a truck driver and in the past year and a half since I got my first android phone there were only 4 or 5 occasions my 3G dropped to 1x and that was only in PA and WV in the mountains. Where I was now in IL on an interstate it should not have happened. VZW has the whole USA covered with 3G. A couple months ago I was driving through WY not a town in a 80mile radius and still had 3G. Believe me I was pleasantly surprised.
Sent from my GT-P3110 using xda app-developers app

New modem is working great for me. Did a speed test and got 28 down and 3 up on the extended network.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Worked fine for me too while I was in a good 4G area the problems started once I left the city. As I mentioned it is probably optimized for 4G . If you are and stay within the city that has 4G you probably not going to c a difference between HE and I5
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Lehocki said:
Worked fine for me too while I was in a good 4G area the problems started once I left the city. As I mentioned it is probably optimized for 4G . If you are and stay within the city that has 4G you probably not going to c a difference between HE and I5
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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I usually stay on 3g until I step out of my house or until I go to town. I haven't noticed a difference thus far in my area. I was also in a extremely strong 4g area when I flashed and it changed to 3g without a problem and has the same service I have always had. I'm personally running Paranoid android 2.52.
Sent by one of my many Anthromorphic Personifications

The new radio reflects a better signal for me...all phones act different, so this alarm topic is just your experience.

Lehocki said:
Not really as soon as I flashed "HE" modem signal and data returned to normal. As I said I'm a truck driver and in the past year and a half since I got my first android phone there were only 4 or 5 occasions my 3G dropped to 1x and that was only in PA and WV in the mountains. Where I was now in IL on an interstate it should not have happened. VZW has the whole USA covered with 3G. A couple months ago I was driving through WY not a town in a 80mile radius and still had 3G. Believe me I was pleasantly surprised.
Sent from my GT-P3110 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's kinda messed up about your trip thru WY, the parts Maine that don't have any coverage from Verizon have plenty of towns lol.

well i hate to be that guy but i.think your issue is on your end
... lastnight the club where i shoot trap has no lte. my device usually will drop data there. this is the first time i had solid 3g and it even switched down to 1x but data never dropped! also lte signal seems improved aswell. imo this is the best radio to date.

this radio has been an improvement for me. in my office i am lucky to get 3g. this new radio has given me a steady 3g signal all day so far

New radio is working fine for me as well.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Just wanted to add my experience as well. After 24 hours using this radio, I can say that signal is much improved on 1x with data off and LTE had never been this fast for me. Pulled 48 down 20 up this morning here in Hollywood.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

On the official release of Miui which has had many reports of data issues. Flashed new radio yesterday, I am in a fringe 4g area, and the handoffs from 3g to 4g seem to be much better for me. Previously after moving into a 3g area, I would have to go into airplane mode in order to get 4g back, now it seems to be switching on its own.

I wish someone would explain the whole rpm thing. Does it need flashed with the modem? Does it need flashed everytime we change the Rom? Do we even bother flashing it if we are not on the stock Rom? Why has there never been an rpm zip with every other modem?
We need answers!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

xsteven77x said:
I wish someone would explain the whole rpm thing. Does it need flashed with the modem? Does it need flashed everytime we change the Rom? Do we even bother flashing it if we are not on the stock Rom? Why has there never been an rpm zip with every other modem?
We need answers!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok now bear with me...lol I have been extensively doing some research on this topic. It seems RPM has to do with power management for the radio. This was implemented on the G7 update. I had no clue because I never take OTA's...In order to see the signal improvements the rpm file should be flashed with the latest radios. However nothing negative will occur by not flashing the RPM.zip. I believe this was an attempt to help fix ril issues with data handoffs and spotty 3g signal.
So if you flash just the I5 radio and dont notice any improvements or even worse signal try flashing the rpm.zip and I can about gurantee an improvement will be noticed. I can not believe how much better the 3g to 1x signal and data handoff has improved!! Anybody is more than welcome to chime in and correct me if this is incorrect. There is not much info on this topic as I spent a couple hrs putting bits of information together to come up with this conclusion...hope it helps!

I flashed this new modem/radio,and frankly, I see 4g on my phone more now than I did with the G1 that was on it previously. Everything else works as good, possibly better than before, though I did not take any measurements before flashing.

[Q] Is NS4G 4G coverage horrible or is it just me?

So I'm probably late to the party. I downgraded from EVO3D to the NS4G sense the design is just a bit more convenient.
I've own the EVO4G and EVO3D and both had pretty good 4G coverage throughout my area. While I was outside I would usually get 4G.
However, sense switching to the NS4G, my coverage seems to always be on 3G and rarely on 4G. My reception also took a hit as well.
I've tried updating the PRL/Profile but nothing seems to help.
Just the phone or just MY phone?
TIA

nyczwillz said:
So I'm probably late to the party. I downgraded from EVO3D to the NS4G sense the design is just a bit more convenient.
I've own the EVO4G and EVO3D and both had pretty good 4G coverage throughout my area. While I was outside I would usually get 4G.
However, sense switching to the NS4G, my coverage seems to always be on 3G and rarely on 4G. My reception also took a hit as well.
I've tried updating the PRL/Profile but nothing seems to help.
Just the phone or just MY phone?
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Ru stock?
Or on a rooted ROM?
If so what ROM and kernel?
But overall, signal strength has been an issue on this phone....
Vs Nexus S4G using tapatalk2

I'm on stock rom, just rooted for tether.
Wish I knew!

[Q] Terrible reception

Lately i have terrible reception in NYC, signal keeps dropping, i am running liquid-smooth with lightning zap kernel. wanted to know if i can try old baseband UVLF4 or is that just for gingerbread Thank in advance

tzvblsm said:
Lately i have terrible reception in NYC, signal keeps dropping, i am running liquid-smooth with lightning zap kernel. wanted to know if i can try old baseband UVLF4 or is that just for gingerbread Thank in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using T989UVMC6. its for a different phone but works better than the latest one for the blaze better data better calls not near as many dropped calls. I have been running this baseband for a long time now thanks to henslo !! read this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2245277

woodyjlw said:
I have been using T989UVMC6. its for a different phone but works better than the latest one for the blaze better data better calls not near as many dropped calls. I have been running this baseband for a long time now thanks to henslo !! read this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2245277
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto. Was running the updated Blaze baseband and was getting crap reception in my house on EDGE, where the signal is typically pretty good. Updated to T989UVMC6 and now EDGE is extremely strong, and I can pick up a weak 3G (and occasionally H+) signal, which is something I've never been able to do.

namaui said:
Ditto. Was running the updated Blaze baseband and was getting crap reception in my house on EDGE, where the signal is typically pretty good. Updated to T989UVMC6 and now EDGE is extremely strong, and I can pick up a weak 3G (and occasionally H+) signal, which is something I've never been able to do.
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Click to collapse
I have two Samsung Galaxy S Blaze's and my main one is H+ most of the time 3G rarely and EDGE Never...My second Blaze is EDGE most of the time 3G rarely H+ rarely.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium