I live in an area with very spotty reception, my Motorola G5S copes well but I'm after a new phone and finding reviews that particularly look at reception quality isn't easy.
Any thoughts please?
I've recently tried a Samsung Galaxy M31 and a Motorola G8 Plus but both are poorer regarding reception that my old Motorola G5S.
The phone must have GPS, this is essential and is one reason why I'm after a phone that's not too expensive but which can match up to the reception of my old G5S.
you can contact your service prodiver and ask them to build more cell site on your area ...
Or, far simpler, I could buy a phone which has as good a reception as my G5S, hence my initial query.
well you already nullify what you had said " I live in an area with very spotty reception "
blaming it to the phone having poor reception and not your area reception is incorrect way to approach this issue
And yet my G5S copes very well with the spotty reception so my reasoning is that other phones should be able to do the same. If one can manage it then why not other, even newer phones?
Related
So heres the story. I live in a house, and my bedroom is in the basement. I have no reception in 98% of the room. I literally have reception on one corner of my computer desk and one corner of my bed. Ive been getting around this by using tmobile hotspot service on blackberrys ive used in the past. Recently ive been using iphones, winmo, and android devices, none of which support the hotspot service. I just wanted to know if any of you guys have any suggestions for something that would help me get reception in my room. I see things on ebay but one costs 20, and another 600. I am just so confused.
The stickers some sell as an antenna booster are useless
I have bad reception on my house also (not as bad as you )
And to date I have not found a good cheap solution to improve signal
There are cellular repeaters, which recieve, then amplify cellular signals, but they're not terribly cheap and I've never used one, so I don't know if they work well or not. Plus, you need to make sure they support T-Mobile (they should). Good luck,
Dave
Just got in the new Samsung Nexus S from Sprint and I've noticed some major issues in reception versus the HTC Evo from Sprint as well. I'm seeing a 2+ bar difference in the exact location sitting next to the Evo on the same Sprint network.
Is anybody having this issue? Or does anybody know of a fix.
I have the latest firmware (suggested fix by Sprint) and have seen several complaints about it on other less developer friendly forums.
If I can't come up with a solution soon, I think I'll have to get an Evo. But if you guys can understand, I'd prefer to keep the phone that will get timely updates.
Thanks ahead of time for any suggestions!
You can't compare signal across different devices based on "bars". Check the actual signal strength in Menu > Settings > About Phone.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
I know you need dB... As soon as I can get the Evo next to me again for a comparison, I will post.
I'm a tech savvy guy, run a computer building company and build websites. I even develop some entry-level apps for a few clients (yes entry-level).
If one googles "spring nexus s reception," they'll find that this issue is quite common. I'm just curious as to whether it's hopeless or not.
I know I can petition for the Airave with Sprint and can at least get decent service at home.
It just seems peculiar to me that Google would endorse an inferior product. I live in a major Metropolitan area (DMA has it as a top 25 market - for those who aren't in the media business, that means it's one of the top 25 sized cities in the country). And this phone gets dismal reception.
Fact is, Evo does great in my house, Nexus S does not. I've heard some pretty bad reviews with the Galaxy S line of hardware so I'm figuring it's worth moving to the Evo.
To be honest, this phone is far superior (at the moment) with responsiveness and usability but if a phone can't operate well at being a phone, it's a waste of money. Especially if the hardware is inferior (phone-wise) to most of what HTC released a year ago. I love having a mini-computer in my pocket but I did aim at having a working phone.
Thoughts? Suggestions? School me? I will post the exact numbers when they again are available, until then, please only offer up friendly advice or questions. I am willing to try anything before taking this thing back.
You have not really described your issue. Do you have dropped calls or what?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
I'm having issues with the Sprint Nexus S reception as well. Although my home location on Sprint's coverage map lists my area from medium to strong with 4G available right around the corner from my house I have dismal reception with the Nexus S. I had a trial EVO for a few weeks and reception was much better in the same area. If I try to call the Nexus S I often go right to voicemail, I'm told calls out (when I can) are choppy, data signal is often listed as 1x as opposed to 3g. Is it just this particular phone? Should I go to a Sprint store to have it tested?
There is atl least one thread over at the Sprint Message boards about bad reception on the Nexus S.
At work we have a repeater and the signal still only shows at one or two bars most of the time but data speeds seemed fine to me and I had no problem with making and getting calls.
No one else is having this issue?
This isn't the first post about this subject. I understand and agree. I'm not 100% sure about this when it comes to cell phones but different companies with different radios will give you different signals. If this is the same as two way radios, there's no standard on say how much signal equals one bar on the meter. Even the programs that give the signal strength in numbers, aren't universally accurate. When it comes to received signal, its how you can hear it, not really what the meter says. That number can easily be manipulated. A receiver sensitivity can be adjusted too but there are things that are thrown out too. Crank up the receive and you get more noise than distinguishing signal and adjacent frequency rejection goes to crap. You can work the receiver to have good rejection and sensitivity but you are making it more deaf too.
What I'm getting at is don't always go by what the signal meter says and take it as 100% truth. It is a good indicator of signal but not absolutely 100% accurate.
I am sitting about twenty feet from my router and yet the meter is telling me 50% signal which I know is bull****.
are you up to date?
Yobye, are you on 2.3.4? I have heard the update fixes some people's signal/radio issues.
yobyeknom said:
I'm having issues with the Sprint Nexus S reception as well. Although my home location on Sprint's coverage map lists my area from medium to strong with 4G available right around the corner from my house I have dismal reception with the Nexus S. I had a trial EVO for a few weeks and reception was much better in the same area. If I try to call the Nexus S I often go right to voicemail, I'm told calls out (when I can) are choppy, data signal is often listed as 1x as opposed to 3g. Is it just this particular phone? Should I go to a Sprint store to have it tested?
There is atl least one thread over at the Sprint Message boards about bad reception on the Nexus S.
At work we have a repeater and the signal still only shows at one or two bars most of the time but data speeds seemed fine to me and I had no problem with making and getting calls.
No one else is having this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto on this. Have all the latest updates. Think it may be time to trade in for the Evo.
I am on 2.3.4. I brought home another Sprint phone from work - a Sanyo Taho and got about the same terrible reception despite the fact I'm in a Sprint Best Coverage area on their map. I miss and drop calls and can't get voice or data connection - send mms, etc from my home. I've contacted Sprint about the tower strength in my neighborhood.
I've searched all over the place for an actual comparison of cell phones and the antenna strength they have. Not how much reception they have, or if they lose signal depending on how you hold them, but how strong their internal antenna is.
Example, the Motorola Milestone, from what I understand has two antennas. Blackberry Torch has two as well. At least that is what I've picked up from bits and pieces around the internet. Not sure if accurate.
But, I know for a fact that the Motorola Milestone will have superior coverage compared to my Galaxy S Fascinate. At least -10dbm, and 5asu better. Which equals almost 2 bars. The Blackberry Torch as well. 3 bars better consistently. So, in this day and age of buying unlocked phones, surely there has to be a comparison somewhere to show which phones have stronger antennas, which ones have the two antennas, etc, etc.
And I just can't find it anywhere. Anyone have ideas?
Bravo!
That's a good wake up call
it's true a lot of people are forgetting the phone main function should be "to be a phone"
yet now in days when people talk or compare a phone, is more into competing power, and how entertaining it's
from personal experience i can say as a PHONE, the Moto Milestone XT720 has absolutely the best reception, vs Nexus S, I9000 and SGS2 i9100, HTC devices, etc
on 2nd place i'll put SGS2 T989 as good reception
3rd place goes for all the others phones
Any other response to this, on the spot, question?
Cheers !
K.
AllGamer said:
Bravo!
That's a good wake up call
it's true a lot of people are forgetting the phone main function should be "to be a phone"
yet now in days when people talk or compare a phone, is more into competing power, and how entertaining it's
from personal experience i can say as a PHONE, the Moto Milestone XT720 has absolutely the best reception, vs Nexus S, I9000 and SGS2 i9100, HTC devices, etc
on 2nd place i'll put SGS2 T989 as good reception
3rd place goes for all the others phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Few months later, and I still say the Motorola Milestone has the best reception I've ever seen.
Still looking for an answer to the original question though. Seems like no one has done any research on it and put together some information.
Virtually the same....
Mobile customers planning to do a cell comparison of phone reception strength are pretty much wasting their time.
The majority of cell phones today are so well designed and competitive that they virtually all deliver the same level of service. Users may notice a difference between carriers due to cell site positioning compared to their homes or offices. The closer the cell site is, the better your phone reception is going to be regardless of which cell phone you utilize. Doing a cell comparison phone reception strength of carriers can be a good idea...
AllGamer said:
Bravo!
That's a good wake up call
it's true a lot of people are forgetting the phone main function should be "to be a phone"
yet now in days when people talk or compare a phone, is more into competing power, and how entertaining it's
from personal experience i can say as a PHONE, the Moto Milestone XT720 has absolutely the best reception, vs Nexus S, I9000 and SGS2 i9100, HTC devices, etc
on 2nd place i'll put SGS2 T989 as good reception
3rd place goes for all the others phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cause everyone just uses texts now-a-days rather than calling
cpumaster said:
Mobile customers planning to do a cell comparison of phone reception strength are pretty much wasting their time.
The majority of cell phones today are so well designed and competitive that they virtually all deliver the same level of service. Users may notice a difference between carriers due to cell site positioning compared to their homes or offices. The closer the cell site is, the better your phone reception is going to be regardless of which cell phone you utilize. Doing a cell comparison phone reception strength of carriers can be a good idea...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, MOST cell phones are more or less the same within a general 'bar' or two. But there are a few that stand out, like the Motorola Milestone and the Blackberry Torch. I was just wondering if there are others that have similar exceptional antenna strength and reception.
I'd like a list like this to, The Nexus S is terrible.
I've noticed that out of all the phones I have had, Nokia's have the best reception. I still like Symbian over Android, but eh
Sent from my GT-S5830 using xda premium
Nokia and Motorola seem to have the best signal strength based on my experience regardless of the "antenna strength " indicator.
+1 for Nokia phones on sym.
the best signal phone are those with antenna in exterior, and those are safer for healthy.
The original Motorola Droid and my current Droid Razr Maxx have the best signal out of all the phones I've ever had. And I'm talking measuring the signal strength with programs not just by bars, as I found them to be inaccurate.
My HTC phones would have to be held a certain way or the signal strength would drop.
Motorola is best for me .
In my experience most Motorola phones have great antenna/signal strength.
For me Nokia always had best signal but nowdays what to do with their usless phones.
If I remember right when the Galaxy Nexus came out people were showing horrible signal strength across the board. So Samsung issued a 'fix' that changed what was previously 2 bars or something to show as 4-5 bars.
To bump this old thread again.
Consistently getting 2 bars would be fine. Probably good enough to call, and for sure good enough to text.
My problem is I get 1 bar maybe inside my home with the Galaxy S, while the Motorola Milestone gets 4 bars.
Is the Galaxy S2 better in terms of reception than the original Galaxy S? I want to upgrade phones anyways. It is a bigger phone than the original Galaxy S, so perhaps it has better reception.
Azure1203 said:
To bump this old thread again.
Consistently getting 2 bars would be fine. Probably good enough to call, and for sure good enough to text.
My problem is I get 1 bar maybe inside my home with the Galaxy S, while the Motorola Milestone gets 4 bars.
Is the Galaxy S2 better in terms of reception than the original Galaxy S? I want to upgrade phones anyways. It is a bigger phone than the original Galaxy S, so perhaps it has better reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try switching modems for galaxy S, I get 1-2 bars using JVU modem and 2-4 bars using JW4.
Mostly all Hi-End Motorola phones have the best antennas but if your a modder, stay away
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.
Hi
So I recently upgraded to the standard S6, and I've been experiencing very, very bad cellular signal reception. At places I would have good (or sometimes even great) signal with all the LTE phones I've owned throughout the last months (iPhone 5, Xperia Z1, Lumia 920), I'm getting very poor or even no signal at all. Not to mention mobile data basically not working at all.
As far as my research goes, I'm definitely not the only one experiencing issues like this. Even a friend of mine who bought the same S6 on the same carrier with the same contract has experienced similar issues. Though there seem to be a lot of "affected" phones, there isn't really much of a solution available online, so I figured one of you might be able to help.
Would really appreciate any tips and workarounds, or even some more people having issues like that with their S6's.
Cheers!
I've just purchased a Galaxy S6 and it is without doubt the worst phone for reception I have ever owned.
My 4G signal at my home on my old Galaxy S5 was always 3 to 4 bars on my S6 im lucky to get between 1 to 2 bars.
It would help if you told us where you live, what carrier you're with, what model s6 you have, is it carrier branded or international unlocked, have you talked to your carrier's customer service, etc. Without any info it just sounds like Samsung bashing.
I get less bars than with my moto x2014 but I get 4g+ instead of 4g and 4g+ is faaaaassssst
Mine is exactly the same signal bars as every phone i've owned but has much faster data and clearer calls.
I would say you either have a bad phone, bad network, or issues with a mobile mast in the area etc etc.
Comparing to past phones is useless because what worked yesterday might not work today. Intermittent issues anyone?
Mine is currently in repair for poor signal. I doubt they will fix it, I think they designed the S6 antennas extremely poorly.
Forgot to update this thread, sorry. I recently sent it in (ofc covered by warranty), and it is far better now, but still not quite as good as on the other mentioned phones, HSDPA is still pretty slow right now and I rarely get LTE. So if you're facing simmilar problems, even though I always hat to do it, I recommend you send it in to Samsung. Also, consider asking your carrier to give you a newer SIM-card since that could be a reason to from what I've heard.