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How many of you have had dropped calls on the Captivate?
I haven't had any, and I got my Captivate on the 16th. (2 days before launch from BestBuy).
I am coming from an iPhone 3G/3GS/4 and had many dropped calls.
What I am implying is that AT&T's network isn't totally crap (as most people suggest). I believe it is due to the iPhone that people think at&t's network is crap.
So the question is:
1. Does the Captivate have an exceptionally great antennea?
2. Has at&t network suddenly gotten better(since July 16th)?
3. The iphone 3G/3GS/4 have a horrible antennae?
4. Any combination of the above 3?
I've been with AT&T since before Cingular bought the old AT&T.
AT&T does not have a bad network. They suffer from terrible PR, relatively poor customer support (due to their new training with the new AT&T as I didn't have problems with Cingular), and allowing Apple to produce its phone the way they did.
The iPhone has had a poor antenna design since the beginning.
The people who have problems with AT&T, I can guarantee 70%+ have iPhones.
Thanks for confirming what I just learned. I have had iphones for a long time, and just dealt with the dropped calls thinking it was at&t sh**y network. I really like Apple products, but they don't know how to make a phone.
All my friends still think its at&t even though I tell them I haven't had a dropped call yet on this Samsung.
Yeah.. I try and tell my mother that all of the time.
She just got rid of her iPhone 2g.
Her eyes have just been opened hahaha
I have been with ATT/Cingular since .. oh.. 1998?
I've had many phones, some that would drop calls, usually from being out of ATT towers in massively rural areas, or driving past the towers too fast..
I got the eternity when it came out, killed 2 (6 months on the dot, both times) and they gave me an impression which I promptly notices it's screen starting to die at 6 months-ish. They dropped calls only when I was 1) out of decent service 2) driving too fast past a tower in close proximity as it tried to switch carriers.
This puppy? Not even a crackle.
I had a Fuze (Touch Pro) most recently (new ROM, Radio, etc) and it dropped calls quite frequently.
I think I may have had one dropped call so far but it was in my office which gets poor signal anyways. I had many more on my last phone but I'm not quite ready to say AT&T is so great. Maybe this phone has a better antenna.
Thanks for all the replies. I am trying to convert a few of my friends, but the general stigma is "Android Sux" They don't even know about the OS, all they know is their sister/cousin/friend has some crappy Backflip, so All android is crappy.
Oh well I will be plenty happy with my calls staying connected, while they complain about their dropped calls because of AT&T's network.
For me to leave the iPhone was exceptionally hard, because I have 3 Macs, and AppleTV, iPod Touch, and Airport Extreme. I have spent Thousands of dollars on apps from the app store along with Movies. I just had enough with the dropped calls.
wpb2 said:
How many of you have had dropped calls on the Captivate?
I haven't had any, and I got my Captivate on the 16th. (2 days before launch from BestBuy).
I am coming from an iPhone 3G/3GS/4 and had many dropped calls.
What I am implying is that AT&T's network isn't totally crap (as most people suggest). I believe it is due to the iPhone that people think at&t's network is crap.
So the question is:
1. Does the Captivate have an exceptionally great antennea?
2. Has at&t network suddenly gotten better(since July 16th)?
3. The iphone 3G/3GS/4 have a horrible antennae?
4. Any combination of the above 3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had a single dropped call. Voice quality seems higher than on iphones. (Can't vouch for other androids)
I have had the captivate since day one, no drop calls, i would have had at least 2-3 by now with my old iphone 3g. I have been with AT&T/cingular in both New Orleans 8 years and San Diego 10 years the iphone was the worst followed by the 82** (Htc tilt). The captivate is one of the better phones.
I also haven't had any dropped call issues like I did with my old iPhones in the same places. My N1 has also been fantastic without dropping, so I'm more apt to blame poor design of the iphones
I've been with Cingular/AT&T for 18 years & moved to the Captivate from a Razr. My Razr was very good, but the Captivate is better. I'm happy to have switched to a smart phone & glad I waited for the Captivate.
Sorry, but I have to laugh at all you iPhone (iCrap) users complaining about dropped calls. Obviously, I'm not a fan of the iPhone - but, that's another story.
I have been with ATT/Cingular/ATT since 1993. My first, second, third, and fourth devices were all Nokias (3 & 4 were WM device which I customized by using XDA resources), 5th was a BB Curve (for only a few months as I didn't like it either and gave it to my wife when the G1 came out). I bought the G1 within weeks of it's release from Craigslist.
Except for device #2 I have NEVER had an issue with dropped calls - AND, I work patrol for a Sheriff's Office - so, I'm mostly in RURAL areas. I would receive/make/retain calls in areas that my co-workers had no signal at all. Many of them had iPhones and complained about dropping calls... I used to think they were somehow on T-Mobile's network (which used to be horrible in my area).
My wife never had dropped calls with her BB Curve.
My G1 and now the Captivate NEVER drop calls. As much fun was made of the G1 - it worked like a charm within the limitations of it's hardware (ram/rom/camera).
The device plays a HUGE role in the number of dropped calls. My second Nokia device was only kept for a short while b/c of that issue. The third and later devices had NO ISSUES at all with dropped calls. If there was ANY signal there was no problem.
I have had over 20 dropped calls in the two weeks I have had the phone. I don't know what the issue is. I have avoided all death grips that I have read about. I think I'll take it into the ATT store tomorrow to see what's going on since I seem to be the only one. Any other suggestions?
I haven't dropped a call yet, but I never dropped one with my iPhone either. I actually had dropped calls with my nokia phones though, which is surprising because generally I have good service with them.
I haven't had a dropped call yet, and I'm not anticipating many. I, like many others in this thread, have been with AT&T for the last 14+ years, and despite heavy phone usage, in all that time, I've probably had 30 dropped calls total, if that. I went through several incarnations of Nokias, then onto Motorolas, a Sony-Ericsson, back to Nokia, a Samsung Omnia, and now the Captivate.
There was a brief, month-long period where I had concurrent TMobile and AT&T accounts, during which I tested out the HTC HD2 (after waiting months for its release), and when I compared the signal of the TMo phone and the AT&T phone, it was no contest - AT&T won everywhere I took it. When I was on the California coast, TMobile had no signal, while AT&T had a full 5 bars. That was the clincher. I returned my beloved HD2 and dropped TMobile like a hot potato.
Maybe I've just gotten really lucky, but AT&T's network has been great for me. Yes, their customer service is ridiculously poor, but in terms of functionality, their network is as good as I could hope for. I, too, suspect that the people who complain about their calls being dropped are just on crappy devices. Either that, or I've just been uncommonly lucky the last decade and a half.
Mantooth said:
I have had over 20 dropped calls in the two weeks I have had the phone. I don't know what the issue is. I have avoided all death grips that I have read about. I think I'll take it into the ATT store tomorrow to see what's going on since I seem to be the only one. Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem only when the call goes over 2mins, it some how likes to auto update time and date, call get drop, time is updated.... looks like it was a radio error with switching bands between voice and data
uncheck the auto time and date updates and see if it fixes the problem
why do ATT have to molest every damn good phone
The only device I ever dropped calls on was my iPhine 3g, and I've been on AT&T since it was Cingular. Haven't dropped a single call since getting rid of it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Never had a dropped call.
Call quality may be decreased, but no dropped call here.
I have also been an AT&T/Cingular customer for over a decade. The service where I live has never been good, I'll say that. I got an iPhone 4 and could barely talk on it here without it dropping. My old 2.5G iPhone worked pretty well, with maybe a dropped call ever other day. My captivate is right in the middle. Better than the iPhone 4, but at least one dropped call a day.
I have had much better success with this phone than others with dropped calls but still do occasionally get them. Anyone know of a way to enable a notification sound that the call has ended?
Was on a call last week and kept talking for probably 30 seconds after it had dropped off.
They all are saying AT&T is evil, I'm crazy blah blah vampire emergency blah...
OMG WHAT HAVE I DONE????
Seriously. All Cellular carriers in the US are evil. Just in different ways. Why all the AT&T hate? Where's the gotchas?
Are they paying for your phone or wireless bill?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
mesasone said:
Are they paying for your phone or wireless bill?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto. Plenty of people have legitimate reasons to complain about AT&T (dropped calls, lack of coverage, etc) but plenty of people have never had a single issue with them. Personally I just switched to AT&T for the Captivate (formerly with T-Mobile) and I've been happy so far. I get at least the same if not better coverage and my bill is actually cheaper thanks to a 21% discount from my employer.
it's fashionable to hate at&t. If you listened to these people, at&t would have worse coverage than tmobile. Anyone who's ever owned both outside of a major metro area knows that's a joke.
AT&T issues are market-based and are not universal. If any of your "friends" are iPhone 4 users, their problems are universal.
i dont have any real complaints with service anymore (one perk of the iphone)
but i dont think ive had one single interaction with att that they didnt mess up (ex. adding a line and putting a messaging block on the whole account. wtf?)
I was one of those that had trouble with at&t. I had each iPhone generation, and all 3g versions would drop calls. Now I will say I worked for apple retail at the genius bar for this time period, and it was all to frequent in terms of customers complaining. I bought the hype that it was at&T's sucky network causing all the issues.
Then the iPhone 4 hit. I had one. Returned it due to lack of satisfaction with he fix for the search grip as well as the proximity sensor issue. I immediately went and got the captivate.
I haven't dropped a single call since. Not one. Even in areas that were guaranteed to drop on 3 successive generations of iPhone. I have yet to have any issue.
That tells me something.
That I will not go back. No matter what.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
id10terrordfw said:
I haven't dropped a single call since. Not one. Even in areas that were guaranteed to drop on 3 successive generations of iPhone. I have yet to have any issue.
That tells me something.
That I will not go back. No matter what.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same, my wife and I were disgusted with our iPhone 3Gs, both dropped calls and limited customization, and poor performance with the iOS 4 update. It was so bad we thought it was AT&T's network and were contemplating on switching carriers. I decided to try out the Captivate, and it's been awesome.
And your buddies are jealous, that's all
id10terrordfw said:
I was one of those that had trouble with at&t. I had each iPhone generation, and all 3g versions would drop calls. Now I will say I worked for apple retail at the genius bar for this time period, and it was all to frequent in terms of customers complaining. I bought the hype that it was at&T's sucky network causing all the issues.
Then the iPhone 4 hit. I had one. Returned it due to lack of satisfaction with he fix for the search grip as well as the proximity sensor issue. I immediately went and got the captivate.
I haven't dropped a single call since. Not one. Even in areas that were guaranteed to drop on 3 successive generations of iPhone. I have yet to have any issue.
That tells me something.
That I will not go back. No matter what.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My experience is similar. I have had at&t for years.i never had a problem with them until I had an iphone. The three I had dropped calls constantly. Now I have the captivate and at&t is great again.
thanks all. You'll never get a die hard apple fanboi to admit the iphone problems are problems with the phone. Thanks for the positive stories
Yeah, when I had my first gen iPhone, I occasionally dropped calls and just generally had bad quality. I figured it was AT&T's infamous network. I almost switched carriers, but I was prepaid at that time and had built up nearly a 500 dollar balance on my account, so I didn't want to lose that. So, I gave the Blackberry Bold (9000) a try - turns out it was the iPhone all along. I got great reception and fantastic call quality on my Bold.
I haven't made many calls with my Captivate - frankly, the voice/phone portion of my cellphone is fairly low on my priorities - but while it doesn't really seem to quite be up to the level of my Bold, it's still far ahead of my iPhone.
Same story here.
Had a WinMo phone for years (HTC Hermes) then switched to iPhone, started dropping calls, and losing data. It wasn't too big, and at about the same time I moved into a basement apt. I chalked it up to all the concrete that I could not talk on the phone when home. We moved again, and on my commute to and from work there were 3 spots that would lose signal EVERY time. Calls would drop, Pandora would stop playing, etc. Then I got my HTC Aria, same commute, far fewer dropped calls, then my Captivate (day 30 of my Aria return window) and haven't dropped a call since on the commute. AT&T having network issues? I think not.
I am giddy at the chance of a Verizon iPhone, so all the people complaining about AT&T will see that the iPhone on any network sucks.
I've had at&t for years, because until recently it was all we had I'm my area that was any count at all. Recently Verizon has moved in, and I did consider switching because of hardware choices. But I waited it out, and decided to go ahead with my Captivate, and I'm loving it. My friends all have iPhones and so did I. I never had the problems that they seem to have, but I'm happier now anyway being away from the tyranny of Steve Jobs.
Sent from my GT-I9000-Captivate using XDA App
i had to switch to at&t because of work. i do a lot of international travel and at&t's list of countries is about 5x bigger than any other carrier for reduced roaming rates. and GSM is more universal and i didn't want verizon's blackberry offerings.
i had minor issues with call drops, but that's because i'm usually in large metal/concrete airplane hangers.
so far though, no issues with captive. even with one bar, no call quality issues either in the states...or as of so far hong kong.
oh and my entire office but 2 others have iphones and i got nothing but flack for not getting one. glad i didn't
I have been with ATT since 1998 and the only issues I have ever had with dropped calls was with the following phones since the Cingular/ATT Merger: Nokia N-Gage QD, Motorola V551 *just close to my house*, Motorola V3 *close to my house and when the phone was at the end of its life*, Samsung Sync *bought it used of fleabay worst cell ever*, Nokia N55 *would drop in typical black hole areas*, Motorola Razr2 *POS never could get a good voice call on it no matter what area I was in*, Blackberry Curve 8300 *dropped calls in blackhole areas*, BB 8310 *same as 8300*, BB Bold 9000 Same as the previous BBs, and now the Captivate *same as the BB in terms of dropped calls which equals about 2 dropped calls in the past 5 weeks or so*...
Now funny thing when I talk to a couple of my friends who actually have the iPhone, they drop randomly and it is pretty funny where I dont have the issue with my Captivate. Even my friend who is also a snake breeder *boas, pythons and other snakes*, told me today he likes his iPhone 3G besides the dropping call issue and asked me how Android is treating me, I said I love it and not going back to BB...
HTH,
Charlie
Gunny, wtf Re you doing here in the ATT phone section? Shouldn't you be in the Hero section? >¦(
LOL
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger Gee Bees.
LOL notasimpleway. Got tired of having an out of date phone and super slow EVDO.
K...
Well I had an Infuse (HSPA+) and as a lot of people have said, it has a weak antenna and I just sold it. I have a Nokia phone from T-Mobile (dumb phone; unlocked) and it pulls in such great signal. It's a 3g phone(?) though, but we all want/have 4g phones nowadays, right? (I know HSPA+ isn't real 4g, but I my point still stands) The Nokia was a Nokia N... something (can't remember... too lazy to look. ) and in some spots of my house, it easily pulls in five bars consistently and usually constantly stays on 3g while my Infuse was almost always on EDGE and even in some cases, GPRS. That's how bad it was. I'd get lucky to get three bars anywhere in my house with the Infuse, but with the Nokia, I can easily pull 3-5 bars. I know bars don't always mean everything, but with this phone, texts DO go through all the time (and quickly) and call quality is almost always perfect whereas the Infuse constantly dropped signal. The Nokia's kind of a 3g phone (I say that and there was a question mark early on in this post), but occasionally gets "3.5g" (which is most likely HSPA+). Normal 3g is HSUPA while enhanced (HSPA+) 3g is HSDPA. My question is can HSPA+ phones connect to AT&T's HSUPA towers? Or are the 3g towers all one tower? This sounds so basic even to me, but I'm just checking because I'm supposed to be getting a Galaxy S2 soon and I'm hoping its signal is almost (if not, the same) as good as the Nokia phone I'm using. And will I know if it's on HSUPA? The Nokia was usually on 3g, but occasionally said 3.5g and that must mean I don't have a lot of HSPA+ coverage in my area, right? AT&T's maps SAY I'm supposed to have a lot of HSPA+ coverage here though. I trust that the Galaxy S2 will have stronger signal strength?
Tl;dr: If I were to get a SGS2 or even a LG Thrill or Nitro (Definitely not getting them... they're just examples. No one has ever really said these LG phones have weak antennas along with the SGS2 save for wifi, but I don't really care about that.), would they get good HSPA+ signal like how the Nokia N- something gets good 3g signal or what? Not sure if this makes any sense still...
Other unimportant crap and thoughts to self: I used to think AT&T had horrible coverage (because I'd get lucky to get a decent signal with the Infuse), but after using this Nokia, it's the only reason I've convinced myself to get a different phone instead of switching to Verizon, which I KNOW is reliable. I was very impressed with the signal I was getting in the Nokia phone and was quick to decide to sell the Infuse and use the nokia as a temp until I get a SGS2. I saw some SGS2 vs Infuse vids and the SGS2 always had better signal. A lot of people have also said the Infuse had a weak antenna and the SGS2 was only weak on wifi, which I really don't care about at all. Definitely can't wait to get the SGS2 though.
Anybody that used to have a Verizon S4 now with an M8 notice any difference with radio (data and phone) reception? The S4 is average and not a standout for signal reception. I would expect the S5 to be like the S4 for reception.
New device pixie dust can bias opinion until the pixie dust effect wears off, but hoping for some obectivity
m8 has better signal then my note 3 and i thought note 3 had about the same maybe slightly better then s4
I'm feeling like i get a stronger single on the M8 than the S4. Granted the LTE signal isn't that strong out here but the M8 maybe adds another bar for me.
HTCs radios are superior to Samsung's period end of story. HTCs hardware and build quality are superior end of story. Now Samsung makes the bomb tv's though!
^ What he said.
I'm coming from the S3 on Verizon. My phone would die after 5 hours in my house due to terrible reception. I can now make it 1.5 days with moderate use in my home without having to charge it. I can even send text messages from my couch now. Weee
-T
A little off topic and it's by no means scientific...but I'm in a very good LTE area and in the basement my DNA still gets 1-2 bars of LTE...the M8 only gets 3G..and if I force LTE only...no connection on the M8.
So I'd say my DNA has better signal reception...but then again I'm getting a new replacement M8 tomorrow as this one randomly reboots all the time...so I'll reserve final judgement until I have a proper working M8
The M8 has a better radio, with support for AWS bands so that it can connect to Verizon's LTE-A network. Faster speeds + less people using the network = profit for us
xShin said:
The M8 has a better radio, with support for AWS bands so that it can connect to Verizon's LTE-A network. Faster speeds + less people using the network = profit for us
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S4 also has AWS support.
i always found the best antenna on Motorola phones followed by HTC, then samsung. In my basement I get good signal with the maxx i had, sketchy signal with my s3 and s4, and acceptable signal from the m8.
bakemcbride21 said:
A little off topic and it's by no means scientific...but I'm in a very good LTE area and in the basement my DNA still gets 1-2 bars of LTE...the M8 only gets 3G..and if I force LTE only...no connection on the M8.
So I'd say my DNA has better signal reception...but then again I'm getting a new replacement M8 tomorrow as this one randomly reboots all the time...so I'll reserve final judgement until I have a proper working M8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My son has the DNA and is also better than my S4 for reception.
travisryans said:
^ What he said.
I'm coming from the S3 on Verizon. My phone would die after 5 hours in my house due to terrible reception. I can now make it 1.5 days with moderate use in my home without having to charge it. I can even send text messages from my couch now. Weee
-T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S3 and S4 both have awful power efficiency in bad signal areas. Battery sucking demons, so I turn the data radios off in weak signal areas to avoid a hot running, battery drained device.
Apparently the M8 and S5 are both much better in this regard, but Samsung is not known for radio reception as a strength.
bakemcbride21 said:
A little off topic and it's by no means scientific...but I'm in a very good LTE area and in the basement my DNA still gets 1-2 bars of LTE...the M8 only gets 3G..and if I force LTE only...no connection on the M8.
So I'd say my DNA has better signal reception...but then again I'm getting a new replacement M8 tomorrow as this one randomly reboots all the time...so I'll reserve final judgement until I have a proper working M8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. Came from DNA, and it kept a better signal in some areas.
Sent from my HTC One M8!
U WOT M8?
BFirebird101 said:
This. Came from DNA, and it kept a better signal in some areas.
Sent from my HTC One M8!
U WOT M8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps the metal is limiting somewhat, in spite of the plastic strips?
Not exactly what you're looking for, but coming from a GNex to the M8, the M8 has better reception. Not MUCH, but better. My M8 still goes down to 3G sometimes when I know I'm in a 4g area (and where I've previously had 4g, like sitting at my desk at work), and in my house I still only get 2-3 bars of 4g. When I'm walking the dog though, the signal appears to be better. I used to get 1 bar if I was lucky, now I'm usually getting 2-3 bars.
LTE just has very poor signal penetration as compared to actual 4G, so if you're inside a building, the signal won't be fantastic.
That being said, Samsung's radios have definitely gotten better in the last few years, but Motorola and HTC are definitely still better (Motorola more so, I believe).
I'd have to say the opposite of what most are, I finally copied over all my data to my M8 from my S4 and both phones are sitting next to each other on a table, and the S4 was getting 3/4 bars, when I took out the SIM and put it in the M8, the signal now shows 1-2 bars. All the time only one phone's radio was on at a time, so there's no interference between the 2 phones.
I've always had poorer signal with Samsung phones. Even including wifi.
Apple and Motorola phones have always treated me well.
From my observations, this M8 is on par with any other phone I've ever owned. Wifi reception is great even in my backyard (no signal with any samsung phone ever). Cellular reception is always good as well.
levilib said:
I'd have to say the opposite of what most are, I finally copied over all my data to my M8 from my S4 and both phones are sitting next to each other on a table, and the S4 was getting 3/4 bars, when I took out the SIM and put it in the M8, the signal now shows 1-2 bars. All the time only one phone's radio was on at a time, so there's no interference between the 2 phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The actual dB signal showing rather than bars is usually the best measurment. I noticed the M8 seemed a few dB points weaker than the S4, but only tested 15minutes in that regard (I mainly tested with game emulators). Not a good sample. Concern I have is the metal design, but the plastic strips provide a window. iPhone 5 is metal too and has good signal.
Never got these numbers with my s4 with my
ch0use said:
I'm feeling like i get a stronger single on the M8 than the S4. Granted the LTE signal isn't that strong out here but the M8 maybe adds another bar for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bars mean nothing. It's a non-standard way of representing the signal. Better to see the dBm reading.
ocman40 said:
HTCs radios are superior to Samsung's period end of story. HTCs hardware and build quality are superior end of story. Now Samsung makes the bomb tv's though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I had traded my Galaxy Nexus for a Rezound because of this. I would have a Samsung if HTC wasn't available though. Also, all of my TVs/monitors are Samsung.
BFirebird101 said:
This. Came from DNA, and it kept a better signal in some areas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just chiming in here to say that I've noticed the same thing with my HTC One max. My DNA was an absolute champ, and very possibly my favorite phone I've ever owned. The reception was fantastic, I don't recall seeing 3G on that for the entire year that I used it as my daily driver.
Moving to the metal One max, however, I am dropping into 3G on a daily basis. I contacted HTC support about it, and they said it shouldn't be happening that frequently where I live (Chicago suburbs) so they sent me a warranty replacement. It behaves the same way. I've tried replacing the SIM card as well, and nothing has improved the data reception.
My wife still uses her DNA daily, and she doesn't experience the same issues that I do, so I have to assume it's the metal case on my One max, or something else hardware-related.
I gotta vent. It's driving me nuts! My girl has my Droid DNA - and just like me when I had it, she gets at least 3 bars of LTE at home. I'm lucky to get ONE BAR of 1X on my M8!!! It's ridiculous! I can barely send text messages from home. They sit there for several minutes with the 'sending' icon. It's so choppy, people are even receiving double or triple text messages. How can one HTC phone have such incredible signal and a newer one have such terrible signal!?
When I get a chance, I'll take a look at the actual signal dB numbers. Regardless of the numbers, though, this phone's service sucks. Other than that, I absolutely love this phone.
aol8mydog said:
I gotta vent. It's driving me nuts! My girl has my Droid DNA - and just like me when I had it, she gets at least 3 bars of LTE at home. I'm lucky to get ONE BAR of 1X on my M8!!! It's ridiculous! I can barely send text messages from home. They sit there for several minutes with the 'sending' icon. It's so choppy, people are even receiving double or triple text messages. How can one HTC phone have such incredible signal and a newer one have such terrible signal!?
When I get a chance, I'll take a look at the actual signal dB numbers. Regardless of the numbers, though, this phone's service sucks. Other than that, I absolutely love this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's much better than my GNex, but that's not saying much (it had notoriously bad reception). I've only noticed going down to 3G once, which is great for me.
aol8mydog said:
I gotta vent. It's driving me nuts! My girl has my Droid DNA - and just like me when I had it, she gets at least 3 bars of LTE at home. I'm lucky to get ONE BAR of 1X on my M8!!! It's ridiculous! I can barely send text messages from home. They sit there for several minutes with the 'sending' icon. It's so choppy, people are even receiving double or triple text messages. How can one HTC phone have such incredible signal and a newer one have such terrible signal!?
When I get a chance, I'll take a look at the actual signal dB numbers. Regardless of the numbers, though, this phone's service sucks. Other than that, I absolutely love this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the signal on M8 is much worse than on the DNA (I have access to both), but only at certain angles of the M8.
M8 has a complete solid metal back, which is completely opaque to microwave and radio waves. When you turn the M8 correctly, it gets a better signal. Not by very much but better.
I get the same service I've always had. Full LTE and AWS. Something is wrong with either something that you may have flashed or your phone is defective. Send it back.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using xda app-developers app
You may want to exchange your device, my reception is on par or even better than the Note 3 that I just sold.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Coming from a sgs3... The reception is awesome.
Sent from my HTCM8
My service seems the same if not slightly better in some areas as my old razr HD and razr that my girlfriend has.
sfreemanoh said:
It's much better than my GNex, but that's not saying much (it had notoriously bad reception). I've only noticed going down to 3G once, which is great for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im with you man. I also came from a GNex, and it seems like a lot of other have too.
Its crazy how much better the reception has been with the M8. I had trouble getting any 3G or 4G in my new house with my GNex, even outside. With my m8, I get an average of 3 bars of 4G. And the difference is like that everywhere I go including work. I don't know how I lasted that long on the GNex. I guess I just got used to the crazy bad reception.
That being said, I have always heard that most Motorola phones have some of the best reception. And this was always the case with my older motorola flip phones (E815) also. But I stopped buying motorola phones after the original Droid X bootloader was locked down like Fort Knox, and they said all their newer phones were gonna be like that.
EDIT:
To the person that just sold the NOTE 3. That phone is just like the GNex was. Awful reception. My dad had the phone for two days and returned it. We looked up reviews and saw tons of people complaining about the reception. Which is funny because the Note 2 had a solid reception. My brother uses it and gets great service, as well as all the reviews. Samsung must have dropped the ball on the Note 3 antenna.
I agree with the OP. This handset has noticeably lower signal strength than my old HTC Rezound, and the one my wife currently uses as her personal phone. My M8 is only slightly better than the GNEX she has as a company-provided work phone. Disappointing, actually, as the M8 is a phenomenal device in most other regards.
To be honest though, I've not experienced a single dropped call, as of yet. But, I see data switching to 3G quite regularly. I'm still on the stock ROM, only S-OFF and rooted.
Just to add that coming from the DNA to the M8, I have been extremely happy with reception.
My DNA would consistently drop out at certain points in the city (minneapolis) but my M8 has been solid.
To be honest, I really don't pay a lot of attention to bars, so I couldn't say if I have the same, more or less bars with the M8, but I haven't had any issues with connectivity.
Freedom First said:
I agree with the OP. This handset has noticeably lower signal strength than my old HTC Rezound, and the one my wife currently uses as her personal phone. My M8 is only slightly better than the GNEX she has as a company-provided work phone. Disappointing, actually, as the M8 is a phenomenal device in most other regards.
To be honest though, I've not experienced a single dropped call, as of yet. But, I see data switching to 3G quite regularly. I'm still on the stock ROM, only S-OFF and rooted.
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Click to collapse
If your M8 is only slightly better than a gnex, you have a defective M8. G-nex has the worst reception of any phone I've ever owned, by FAR.
For me in New Jersey, where LTE practically covers the entire state, the M8 gets good reception but my DNA definitely got better reception.
At work in Newark..And I work in a glass building...DNA would be between 96-98 dBm and my M8 is between 102-105.
I'm assuming that's the aluminum casing. Don't get me wrong, reception is great but in marginal signal areas like at home in my basement, dna would hold LTE where M8 will drop to 3g and sometimes 1x
hxdrummerxc said:
Im with you man. I also came from a GNex, and it seems like a lot of other have too.
Its crazy how much better the reception has been with the M8. I had trouble getting any 3G or 4G in my new house with my GNex, even outside. With my m8, I get an average of 3 bars of 4G. And the difference is like that everywhere I go including work. I don't know how I lasted that long on the GNex. I guess I just got used to the crazy bad reception.
That being said, I have always heard that most Motorola phones have some of the best reception. And this was always the case with my older motorola flip phones (E815) also. But I stopped buying motorola phones after the original Droid X bootloader was locked down like Fort Knox, and they said all their newer phones were gonna be like that.
EDIT:
To the person that just sold the NOTE 3. That phone is just like the GNex was. Awful reception. My dad had the phone for two days and returned it. We looked up reviews and saw tons of people complaining about the reception. Which is funny because the Note 2 had a solid reception. My brother uses it and gets great service, as well as all the reviews. Samsung must have dropped the ball on the Note 3 antenna.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, my mom's GS3 had similarly crappy reception to my GNex, and Samsung's radios have never had the best reputation, but I heard they've gotten somewhat better. But I guess maybe they reverted back to their old ways with the Note 3...
Don't forget though, while the DX had a locked bootloader (I had a DX as well, it was actually my Android gateway device), it also had a great development community. So with some awesome dev's, even a locked bootloader doesn't mean the device won't be awesome.
Coming from multiple devices such as the Gnex, DNA, Note 3 and now the M8, I think there's more to it than just moving from one phone to another. Yes, HTC is known for better radios than Samsung and having the Note 3 before the M8 I personally witnessed the M8 produce better reception. But I think the issue also stems from the added LTE frequencies that have been added to newer handsets. For example my Note 3 before the AWS roll out performed very good, but once the roll out hit NYC and I started to check if I was connected to band 4 in my handset I began to notice my service between LTE, 3G and 1X fluctuate a lot. At work where I was constantly connected to LTE band 13 before and don't ever remember having 3G, the phone began to connect only to 3G.
Purchasing a new phone such as the M8 that has support for AWS but is weaker may be the result. The Droid DNA only supported Verizon LTE Band 13.
When I'm at work where my DNA had great LTE reception, my M8 seems to be OK - only slightly less signal. I think the problem is worse when the LTE signal is marginal like at my home. It seems that's when the difference is very noticeable. At home, I'd be lucky to get LTE on my older phones (Thunderbolt and Rezound) but the DNA was awesome. LTE all the time at home. I think I was spoiled.
You probably got a defective device, because mine gets signal everywhere I couldn't before.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Signal
I went from a GNex to an X, and noticed a great signal reception different. I thought the X had great reception, and held with Motorola's reputation for good radios. My M8 has a lot better reception than the X did, far none. Spots where I would have ~1 to 2 bars of 3G, I now have at least 3 at all times. The 4G radio boundary seems to be a lot better than the X had as well. I would agree with what was previously stated, and say you have a defective unit.
Coming from a g2 I consistantly see -5 db better with this device in the same locations.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
The M8 appears to have similar signal reception to the S4. My son loves the M8, so no chance of an objective view there. The new device pixie dust is too strong
I find the following based on comparing:
DNA > i5s > M8/S4 Both the DNA and iPhone 4s have better reception than than the equal M8 & S4. Still not tested the S5 and will not unless they get a 32gb model. That would be my phone.
The worst phone recpetion device I ever owned was the Nokie N600. It was AWFUL and made the GNEX seem like a DNA on steroids. I grew to really "hate" Nokia after that device. Their Windows Phone love solidifies the "hate".
Something quite a few people here are not taking into account is that the M8 is utilizing Verizon's AWS band, whereas the Rezound/DNA are not. Your M8's signal bars are more than likely displaying AWS signal(assuming your area has AWS this will be the case). On a Rezound, your signal bars reflect your 1X signal...which will always be extremely high in most areas. On a DNA you will be seeing the normal LTE band.
If you're trying to compare to older devices like the Rezound, you need to launch a voice call on your M8 before even giving a second thought to the signal bars. To address the DNA...you won't really be able to compare the two devices since the DNA doesn't support the AWS band at all...unless you live in a non-AWS area.
If you do the appropriate comparisons, the M8's signal is great. I hope this helps clear up a lot of the misunderstanding going on in this thread. :good: