Has anyone else in this forum come across problems with signal strength? There is a thread in the Moto forum where this has been discussed in greater detail. The general consensus seems to be that the Z4 shows a signal about 10 or more dB weaker than other phones, such as the Z2 force. I can confirm this from my own experience and I'm posting here in hopes that a developer might have an idea for a solution, assuming the problem is not simply a bad antenna design, but a matter of control settings for the radio. It is extremely annoying to be at a remote location and have someone with a Z2 sitting next to you being able to watch videos online, while you cannot get any connection with the Z4. Both phones are with the same carrier (T-mobile), but the signal strength issues have also been reported on the Verizon network, so it does not appear to be carrier related, but rather a phone issue.
Looking forward to any response.
I have the same issue. Signal strength is awful. I feel like I have 3G or no signal on a regular basis. All in places where 4G wasnt an issue before. Streaming music cuts out randomly on roads I've been driving for years.
Yes I have experienced this as well, unfortunately this i believe is the result of getting a mid-range SOC. From what I am seeing here the Z2 uses an 8 series SOC, which is a flagship SOC and the chip itself is better radio modulation for stronger signal strength. The mid-rang 6 series in the Z4 dose not have as good modulation and there for less powerful signal strength compared to the 8 series chips. Our only hope is to cross our fingers for a firmware update to improve this a little bit, other wise we are stuck with what we have.
At least that is what I am reading when I look at this chart here > https://www.qualcomm.com/products/mobile-processors
I do not believe that the quality of the received signal depends in any significant way on whether the Z4 uses a flagship, or a mid-range SOC. The data throughput will be better on the flagship chip (at least in theory, depending on real-life available bandwidth), but the sending/receiving part of the radio should perform in the same ballpark, as far as the signal quality is concerned. Otherwise, the usability of all mid-range phones with that chip set would be affected (and budget phones would probably be useless).
I have done some extensive testing, at different times of the day, different weather conditions, different locations. I have tested both signal strength , and data speed, both downstream, and upstream.
In a nutshell, at a distance of about 3500 feet from the tower I'm logged into, I consistently get weak LTE signals, between -105dB and -110dB best case, but wildly fluctuating, to the point that the phone can barely hang on to the connection. At exactly the same conditions, I get good 3G HSPA+ connections at -87db to -89dB signal strength, and fairly stable. Although LTE should be considerably faster, the downstream and upstream speeds I get with HSPA+ are in the same range, or sometimes even slightly better, which comes as no surprise, as the phone struggles to keep the LTE connection.
As to the reason for this behavior, I still suspect that the antenna design has to do with the poor reception. I will try to narrow this down further, if I can.
Long story short, I still hope that there is a way to program the radio differently, such that it works with a higher gain (making up for the antenna?), better maintaining LTE connections. For the time being, I will continue to switch between LTE and 3G, depending on location. That way, I can at least maintain a connection. However, I do not consider that a solution, just a crutch.
I've had to go back to the Z3 for better cell reception.
I love my Moto Z4 (XT1980-3 amz), but I don't think the coverage or strength is the best - I feel like I get no coverage more often than my previous phones, a Google Pixel and a LG G4 (H815-TW).
Really the only times I have problems with reception, is when I am on a train - going through a cutaway, entering the city loop, or is absolutely packed (as well as half the trip on country trains). These are slightly more common since I have been on the Moto Z4, (Doesn't happen as often now I am with Telstra though, but never had Telstra on my Pixel or G4).
Coverage in Melbourne with the Moto Z4 is generally great, and same with around towns in West Gippsland (Country Areas), which you would expect as I am not with Vodafone.
I am now on Telstra, but until last week was on Optus - in Melbourne, Australia
Related
Has anyone noticed that Android phones universally have pretty bad WiFi reception? I've owned three (HTC Magic, HTC ChaCha, and currently Galaxy Nexus) and all of them have had roughly the same signal range--there is one spot upstairs in my house where I cannot get any WiFi on any of these phones while I can get a pretty decent signal on my iPad and iPhone 4. My Galaxy Nexus even shifts between three and four bars when about three meters away from the router.
Are Android manufacturers being cheap with their WiFi chips or what? Has anyone had similar experiences compared to, say, Apple devices?
Indeed
I have nothing to add but you are absolutely right. I had Motorola Milestone which has a good wifi reception, but even so worst than my laptop. So I changed to Atrix, which has a reception a bit worst than Milestone and now my Galaxy Nexus cannot even catch the smell of wifi signal. I'm so disapointed.
Maybe they used the NFC technology to the wifi chip. Maybe I need to use the phone about 4 inches away from access point. Oh yeah I will try this next time.
What are the chances that the wifi signal meters are inaccurate, remember antennagate. Do you notice speed differences between the iOS devices and android devices. Try running something like speedtest on both devices. Also try to see the distance until the device drops the signal. These will be better indicates of the real signal, unless iOS allows dBm signal levels.
Laptops usually get a better wifi signal than my Android devices. In the same test area I'm getting -65dBm on my laptop and around -80dBm on my Droid 3. Laptops have room for larger and more powerful antennas where as small devices don't.
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?
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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.
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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
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Click to collapse
nice, comparing to my old HTC Tattoo and test simcard I got from carrier, Its around 15-20 dBm better signal for Tattoo...
Im gonna go for warranty I guess
Bump. Like to hear how it compares with other phones on the T-Mobile USA network.
Thanks in advance.
I was just going to create a new thread on this topic until I found this. I would have to say the reception on the one s is considerably worse than other tmobile phones. Today I traveled to an area with generally poor reception and my wife's blackberry bold 9900 had 1 bar of 4g while my one s had an "x" for not signal at all.
When I used my galaxy s2 in the same exact area i used to get at least 2 bars of 4g. It actually worries me that i get zero reception while our other phones were still on 4g, not even edge.
Can this be fixed with a radio software fix or is this a hardware issue? Im pretty pissed because I want to like this phone so much.
What are the experiences of others?
On tmo us, I'd have to say that my signal is the same as it was on my g2x. I'm either in an area with awesome signal (work), or an area with practically no signal (my 100 year old house).
I wouldn't call either situation dramatically different than the last few phones I've had.
Mike,
On one hand, I did some testing with a galaxy s2 and found ours to be comparable usually, but on the other, there are signal drops issues and the days switching so there still is something odd here.
I also hope to have it fixed by a radio update than a hardware one...
I also like this phone much except for its network issues.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
Well, HTC wanted my phone back in for investigation. Duly sent it back and it was pretty much turned round within the day. All they have done is load the latest software version which in truth if I'd not packaged it up on Monday could have done myself. I believe Three UK released the update on Monday anyway?
Network connection seems to be slightly better but not by a great deal. I'm not sure what I expected from HTC. If it's hardware there seems to be little knowledge of a problem with them and firmware/software they'll only have the latest versions and hope for the best. I'll just have to see how it goes for the time being. I always have the option to sell it and look for something else.
Not right impressed with HTC's packaging back of phone. I stupidly wrapped it in bubble wrap and put it in a box to dispatch. They simply found a box and chucked it in it so it was free to rattle about all the way home. As a result it has picked up a chip of the coating on it's top edge - unless it was done on the work bench. Certainly wasn't like that when it went as use a Case-Mate Tough cover. Not overly upset about that but should I mention this to HTC? Seems a bit of a poor do
I finally get my HTC One S TODAY! As soon as I do, I will do a comparison. I work for T-Mobile (until my call center closes), so I have a bunch of phones to compare with and test against.
I don't have another (working) phone to compare, but my circumstances make that moot anyway. I have the international One S on AT&T, and since the phone lacks the UMTS 1900 I expected to get lower than usual signal compared to my Desire (A8182, RIP), but hoped that most areas have been upgraded to 850 by now.
Anyway, at work (inside concrete block building with metal structure roof) I am getting between -107 and -88db, (with 10 asu?) depending on where in the building I am. In a larger city I usually get between -30 to -18db, But I do not live or work in a large city.
Even so, so far battery life is way over expectations. currently on 53 hours on a single charge, with 23% battery remaining.
I always get 3/4 bars like my Amaze.
mmceorange said:
I don't have another (working) phone to compare, but my circumstances make that moot anyway. I have the international One S on AT&T, and since the phone lacks the UMTS 1900 I expected to get lower than usual signal compared to my Desire (A8182, RIP), but hoped that most areas have been upgraded to 850 by now.
Anyway, at work (inside concrete block building with metal structure roof) I am getting between -107 and -88db, (with 10 asu?) depending on where in the building I am. In a larger city I usually get between -30 to -18db, But I do not live or work in a large city.
Even so, so far battery life is way over expectations. currently on 53 hours on a single charge, with 23% battery remaining.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In another thread the box of the tmobile version says it has the 1900 UMTS band. You may be better of with an unlocked tmobile version.
Just tried at a TmoUS store. My HD2 had about -63dB, HOS on display had only -75~-79dB. Disappointed.
motionUS said:
In another thread the box of the tmobile version says it has the 1900 UMTS band. You may be better of with an unlocked tmobile version.
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Click to collapse
I am sure you're right, but I like the look and feel of the "MAO" much much more than the gray/blue. If T-mobile (or better yet, Telus) gets the black version I will likely switch.
jjmai said:
Just tried at a TmoUS store. My HD2 had about -63dB, HOS on display had only -75~-79dB. Disappointed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means absolutely nothing. You don't even know if they are connecting to the same cell site.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
We know how much you like to stream, ahem, "videos", and so cellular data is mega-important. Rate this thread to express how you think the OnePlus 2's LTE performs. A higher rating indicates that it's fantastic: throughput is excellent and signal strength is top-notch.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add.
As a dual sim user I'm severely disappointed. If you're using a single sim the phone works fairly well. If you use dual sims whichever one is not set as the data sim will be lucky to receive calls and when you do it is garbled and unusable. This is my only issue with this phone.
WiFi or data seems like stopping transfers(delay or pause)
Phone becomes a bit warm when using cellular data not so on Wi-Fi. Nothing alarming though
This is going to be an area I will be paying close attention to, I spend a lot of time in remote areas so I will be keeping my old faithful s5 in my vehicle just in case it doesn't perform like I hope it will
I used to have an iPhone 6 and I am weekly in an area where I can only get one bar with LTE. With nothing going on I regularly stream movies/anime. I have since went from the iPhone to zenfone 2, I could get a signal but only 4g and barely. So I returned it and I've now had the OP2 for a few months and at first it will pick the(stronger but not faster) 4g connection but by manually changing to "LTE only" in the hidden menu I get the same connection as the iPhone. Just need to change it back when done or else no phone calls.
Overall it's satisfactory as I am able to do what I want to do, would just be nice not to go through the extra hoops to do so.
For a phone I was quite worried about it's doing well so far, usually in my living room I'm at 1 bar LTE signal, the OPT is sitting on 3 bars.
Will still need to see how it performs in remote areas.
If you use this phone outside major cities in Australia, you will definitely need to be on Telstra.
Can't get any mobile data what so ever with any network other than telstra, even in major regional towns.
Not really a surprising discovery, telstra are the only real choice outside the capital cities in Australia.
muqtaliff said:
Phone becomes a bit warm when using cellular data not so on Wi-Fi. Nothing alarming though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem I am facing same problem but difference in only it is heating up too much on Cellualr Data and Wifi both.
bad signal strength on oneplus 2
compared with my htc butterfly 2 and another low-end android, one plus 2 running latest Oxygen OS has serious connectivity issues. I compared the signals strength using same sim card in same location (including being connected to the same tower) and One Plus 2 keeps dropping the connection and has really poor signal strength. I have tried the *#*#4636#*#* and tried different network modes, but none of them are helping. Its a real disappointment that the basic feature of this phone is screwed up.
I have tried with CM13 as well. Any ideas if this is a modem version issue?
Phone probably due to metal frame have worse signal, for sure it has worse than my previous phone that already wasn't good on it.
Is there a work around to fix the poor network signal receiver of this phone? This is the great let down of oneplus 2.
Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk
brainscollector said:
Phone probably due to metal frame have worse signal, for sure it has worse than my previous phone that already wasn't good on it.
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Click to collapse
Oneplus one too has weak signal, though it has no metal frame. Something is seriously wrong with oneplus phone signal receiver! The company should fix this issue once and for all instead of rolling out one software after another which didn't resolve the problem at all.
As the title says, I've tried almost every provider in my City. The signal strength is aweful compared to other phones in the same vicinity. Even the 4G speeds are really slow.
I've compared the speed and signal strength using the same sim card on different phones...my Nexus 6 and OP5T.
I know you need to sacrifice something when you buy a budget product, but sacrificing on network quality is something that is unacceptable by any standard.
Agreed! Very poor network reception in Redmi note 5 pro
From bangalore, had no issues whatsoever (using airtel atm). Maybe it varies device to device? Which it shouldnt anyway... Hopefully its a software issue
mrcreativity said:
As the title says, I've tried almost every provider in my City. The signal strength is aweful compared to other phones in the same vicinity. Even the 4G speeds are really slow.
I've compared the speed and signal strength using the same sim card on different phones...my Nexus 6 and OP5T.
I know you need to sacrifice something when you buy a budget product, but sacrificing on network quality is something that is unacceptable by any standard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know whether this will help you or nor but I figured out following step and that certainly fixed my low 4g speed issue on my phone, I was getting no more than 200-300 kbps regardless of place or time. I searched a lot and came across many nonsense fixes but they plainly just don't work.
In APN settings remove all APNS and and make new one, name it whatever you want and in "APN" write "jionet" and save. Don't write or change any other settings.
Regarding network, I haven't noticed or experienced any issue.
I have the same -90 dbm at/near my bedroom with my Note 5 Pro and Moto X4 and it occasionally dips in and out but when in voice calls it is stable.
I assume some units are faulty cause mine isn't having these kinds of trouble. Maybe another software update should make the fix
mrcreativity said:
As the title says, I've tried almost every provider in my City. The signal strength is aweful compared to other phones in the same vicinity. Even the 4G speeds are really slow.
I've compared the speed and signal strength using the same sim card on different phones...my Nexus 6 and OP5T.
I know you need to sacrifice something when you buy a budget product, but sacrificing on network quality is something that is unacceptable by any standard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this issue also, i fixed the issue of the network speeds as i did the same types of tests. Phone reception in general might be improved using different baseband versions, modem files as they effect the internet speed your battery life and phone reception. This is a link to the post where i provided what i did for this.
There's lots of posts on the internet about it, and all sorts of suggestions just lucky i decided to try it.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-5-pro/help/slow-4g-speeds-connectivity-issues-t3849804
Alister. said:
I had this issue also, i fixed the issue of the network speeds as i did the same types of tests. Phone reception in general might be improved using different baseband versions, modem files as they effect the internet speed your battery life and phone reception. This is a link to the post where i provided what i did for this.
There's lots of posts on the internet about it, and all sorts of suggestions just lucky i decided to try it.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-5-pro/help/slow-4g-speeds-connectivity-issues-t3849804
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What should I or any customer jump through hoops for a basic function of a phone...which is making calls!!! There is always a price to pay and with cheap Chinese phones like Xiaomi.
OnePlus is a Chinese company too, and they have made compromises in areas that can be compromised as far as a phone is concerned. This obsession with having the fastest processor and phone at the cost of call and signal quality is beyond comprehension.
mrcreativity said:
What should I or any customer jump through hoops for a basic function of a phone...which is making calls!!! There is always a price to pay and with cheap Chinese phones like Xiaomi.
OnePlus is a Chinese company too, and they have made compromises in areas that can be compromised as far as a phone is concerned. This obsession with having the fastest processor and phone at the cost of call and signal quality is beyond comprehension.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No customer should have to jump through hoops, that's a choice. You buy it find it doesn't work to your expectations you sell it. Or you decide to do what i did and work around it all choice. Tho i do believe it's ridiculous situation all the same. There's not many other 18:9 phones with 636 and 4000mah dual sim phones for Australia that match what i want.
I did find this explanation of phones modems or the baseband. There the same thing control reception strength, 4G, 3G speed, battery drain.
With radio firmwares beware of upgrading them without having seen a test of the version on your network.
Sometimes new radio firmwares add features for some network providers that result in worse bandwidth, disconnections and other disagreement if you use them on another network. Network operators don't provide phones with such broken firmwares (they wait for the next version or just provide the same radio firmware forever) but if you install them yourself it's a risk you take.
Radio firmware is the modem, so companys like Samsung or phones sold from Carriers probably test the modem properly works for most networks, and doesn't update them constantly or makes sure they work. With Xiaomi there not in Australia so don't no if other Chinese phones from overseas end up working without network issues because they don't test it in Australia other Xiaomi phones have this issue also but not all do.
I did buy an Oppo Find 7 years ago and that had baseband, modem issues also i couldn't even get clear reception inside my house for a basic phone call something a 50 dollar phone would of done right, i had to go outside to talk, lots of people online had same issue no modem fixed it, i got rid of it in the end. Waste of money.
Just taking normal OTA updates from Xiaomi while using MIUI will update the modem, baseband radio firmware file, automatically for you on custom roms you do it yourself, if you see how that guy suggests not to update it as new ones can introduce problems, well with a company like xiaomi that isn't sticking with one modem that's tested and functional and constantly updating it. Good luck with that just seems these chinese companys aren't following a process other companies use. The modem is just software updates but it's like a driver so video card and graphics driver for example, so i don't think it's a hardware issue so much as a software problem.
Hello, this is my first topic on this board about my first Chinese phone. I had various iphones and android, but always brand ones. Now I received the Chinese phone and I like it a lot, but there is one issue...
Wifi signal is too GOOD. It is annoying. Signal does not drop going out of my house or moving to the next flat with different router (I live in one flat and work in another flat) so the phone picks up relatively poor wi-fi signal from another flat and does not drop it for the new one, as it has too good of the reception.
1) I am just wondering, could this be a health and safety hazard? Presumable Chinese manufacturers don't give a damn about it, that is why popular brands have weaker reception.
2) Is it possible to adjust how strong the device reception of Wifi is and or how quickly it drops network for the better reception.?
The biggest problem is, it seems I am one of the few who has this kind of issue, as if I try to search for it, I only get results how to improve the reception, not how to reduce it...
Many thanks in advance.
Ram