I have downloaded both Real Signal and Signal Status from the market. I keep having issues with my data not working(it's been ongoing since I got the phone.), so I wanted to know what my actual dBms were. But for some reason, on both apps, the highest evdo reading I get is about -3 and the lowest is about -30. But I don't know what that means in terms of real signal as everything I can find on google and that I understand, it should be between -60ish and -115ish but I have never seen those numbers on the evdo side. Am I wrong? I understand that it is the same dBm as 1rxtt, and I know they are different tech, but I would think it would be similar any way. However, I don't know antenna tech at all. So that's why I posted the question here. I have done a google search with no real relevant results, but I didn't search XDA specifically, as I thought if there were any relevant results they would have popped up in my google search. And all the relevant postings that I came up with said the same as my assumption. That signal should be between -60ish and -120ish.
Thanks again for all the help, you guys are awesome.
1 bar ~ -102 to -120 dBM
2 Bars ~ -93 to -101 dBM
3 Bars ~ -87 to -92 dBM
4 Bars ~ -78 to -86 dBM
5 Bars ~ -40 to -77 dBM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to hunt down that chart (Granted it was for a BB, however I would imagine the info would still roughly apply to any device), but I was not able to locate any real description of bars vs dBM. However, from what I've read before, just because you have a lower dBM (IE: -40) doesn't really mean you're going to have full bars/better service. I could be wrong, but from most of what I've read over time showed it was only a very vague correlation.
Do you get intermittent loss of data where only the right arrow under the 3G icon is active? That happens to me frequently as well and I have to go in and out of airplane mode to reconnect. Some of us think Blur causes it.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Granted, I only kept the stock rom for about 3 days before I installed a custom, blur-less rom. However, I seem to recall having some data issues while using the stock rom. I donno if it was part of blur or something else causing it. However ever since I've flashed to a new rom I havent had a single issue.
I've been having issues with data like this, too. I have put an Airplane toggle widget on my home screen just for this. I am near Fort Collins, CO, but I guess it looks like people may have narrowed it down to ROM issues and not location or Verizon.
Maybe they'll fix it when they roll us out to Gingerbread.
silverfang77 said:
Do you get intermittent loss of data where only the right arrow under the 3G icon is active? That happens to me frequently as well and I have to go in and out of airplane mode to reconnect. Some of us think Blur causes it.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. It happens quite frequently, and an airplane toggle usually fixes it.
-Gilgamesh- said:
Granted, I only kept the stock rom for about 3 days before I installed a custom, blur-less rom. However, I seem to recall having some data issues while using the stock rom. I donno if it was part of blur or something else causing it. However ever since I've flashed to a new rom I havent had a single issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have wondered myself if it wasn't blur issues. It freezes all the time, and fiancees Ally doesn't have the freezing problem and general laggyness. And I know hers only has a slow 600 Mhz processor and is just a budget smartphone.
-Gilgamesh- said:
I was able to hunt down that chart (Granted it was for a BB, however I would imagine the info would still roughly apply to any device), but I was not able to locate any real description of bars vs dBM. However, from what I've read before, just because you have a lower dBM (IE: -40) doesn't really mean you're going to have full bars/better service. I could be wrong, but from most of what I've read over time showed it was only a very vague correlation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then should it be possible for me to hit single digits? I don't recall ever having a lower signal than -30 and it stays typically in the -8 to -20 range. When I was at about -100 cell service, I was at about -8 to-10 evdo. So something still must not be right with my phone. right now I am at -76 cell and -2 to -4 Ev.
I am seeing the same thing on my phone. I have ~87dBM cell service, and ~7dBM for evdo. I have always understood Verizon's voice and data network to be separate, I suppose this just goes to confirm that.
Here's a way to confirm if it's a problem with Blur, as opposed to VZW's network. Is there anyone who had this problem on the D2 with the stock ROM and then had the problem completely disappear (or at least reduce in frequency) after switching to Liberty ROM, or one of the others?
All my issues dried up when I flashed a custom rom.
I work in the industry. A -80 is generally the number you want to shoot for as far as having a good usable signal. Anything higher would be even better. Although once you get past -50 or so the signal is kind of hot and may cause issues. Anything lower is a bad signal (-90/-100) and would also cause issues.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
I had 3g issues with the droid 1 and cyanogen but Never with blur or liberty/droid 2 from the same house. I have noticed some "cell standby" signal loss on liberty but never really bad like some cyanogen builds..don't overclock and see if that helps.
Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk
Related
I hate to say it but I am having 3g issues. By that I mean no 3g and one to two bars. Usually I have perfect reception.
Sent from my ADR6300 using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
i've noticed on the incredible that my displayed signal strength isn't as strong as it is on my droid. haven't noticed a difference in call reception or data speeds though...yet.
Eris users have noticed the same thing as you bzbz when compared to the Droid. Could be the cpu or something else HTC vs Motorola.
i've noticed on the incredible that my displayed signal strength isn't as strong as it is on my droid. haven't noticed a difference in call reception or data speeds though...yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed the same thing but my download/upload speeds are just as fast if not faster. I gave my Droid to my mom and took her upgrade so I have both side by side, off WiFi downloading a movie and the Incredible is actually 20-50kbs faster than my old Droid and yes the Droid is over clocked with petes 1ghz kernel.
I have had the Incredible for a couple of days, and I've noticed a lower displayed signal strength than I'd see on my Droid in the same locations.
But I've not experienced any reception issues, and my internet speed seems the same or faster.
This is what I expected. We all know that you can't count on those reception bars to compare different phones, and also that Moto tends to have better radios/reception than everyone else anyway. As long as you're phone's radio is close to Moto's in the ability to make/receive calls, then normally you're not doing bad.
well it's good to know that the signal strength concern may be more of a "cosmetic" issue than a legitimate performance issue.
daftlush said:
I hate to say it but I am having 3g issues. By that I mean no 3g and one to two bars. Usually I have perfect reception.
Sent from my ADR6300 using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how is the quality on said reception? Other people's replies seem to indicate good quality even with less bars.
BzBz said:
well it's good to know that the signal strength concern may be more of a "cosmetic" issue than a legitimate performance issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This...
It is definitely cosmetic, the newest radio i have installed on my eris does the same. The reception on my eris is better then my friends with the older radio, but he has more 3G bars.
designerfx said:
how is the quality on said reception? Other people's replies seem to indicate good quality even with less bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may just be the way HTC displays the signal. I know on the Touch Pro 2 and Touch Pro, the signal indicator frequently shows incorrect (lower) signal strength but works fine.
I compared signal strength between my BB Curve 8330 and my new Incredible.
In spite of the indicated signal strength being lower on the Incredible, the dBm was the same. It's only one location and one user, but I suspect it's not an actual signal strength issue.
i used my incredible all day. i work in a downtown area with many tall building surrounded and i still got a good 3g signal and speed.
from Boston.
the 3G speeds on my incredible are slower that my 2G G1 running on AT&T. i get les than 200 kbps downstream. My friend with a droid standing in the same room will get aound 1100 Kbps. What gives??
if you are haveing a tough time with a signal.. I update my roaming towers... I had an issue today where I couldn't get much.. I did *228 option 2 and it updated my roaming towers and have had no problems since... sometimes you need to do that with a new phone so it knows exactly what towers to look for
tried the *228 to update. Update was successful but no improvment. still have very slow data speeds and terrible call quality. reception stays about around -100 dBm
I'm also noticing what appears to be poor reception. I was getting better reception with my Droid than I am with Incredible. I've tried the *228 last night and this morning but that hasn't helped. Hopefully there will eventually be some kind of software fix for this. I'm seeing other threads on other sites with the same kind of complaints so I don't think it's a select few who are experiencing this issue.
hoop762 said:
the 3G speeds on my incredible are slower that my 2G G1 running on AT&T. i get les than 200 kbps downstream. My friend with a droid standing in the same room will get aound 1100 Kbps. What gives??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your speed will depend on what tower your connected to. on my Eris, I've gone from 1mbps/0.70mbps in New York, NY to 2mbps/2mbps in West Haven, CT. It's not the phone. The newer radio on the Incredible will show less bars, but your signal strength will be fine .(dBm)
My phone keeps dropping 3G my droid never has done this in the location the incredible is. I will go into airplane mode then back out and I will have 3g again
Over at Androidforums there is a thread going regarding reception issues. On page 2 is some help in running a debug on the phone that will give you dbm levels and some other info. I'm not sure how to use the info the debug gives but perhaps it may be of some use to someone here.
The link is http://androidforums.com/htc-incredible/70223-weak-signal-strength.html
rckeystone said:
Over at Androidforums there is a thread going regarding reception issues. On page 2 is some help in running a debug on the phone that will give you dbm levels and some other info. I'm not sure how to use the info the debug gives but perhaps it may be of some use to someone here.
The link is http://androidforums.com/htc-incredible/70223-weak-signal-strength.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to go into field test mode like this guy said, all you need to do is from the home screen > menu > setting > about phone > network.
Here you will see signal strength (typical between -100 to -80dBm) the closer to 0 you are the better your signal is (ie: 80dBm > 90dBm)
Hope that clears up some confusion. I've tested both the motodroid and the incredible side by side in a location with low signal and can say that my incredible gets better signal than the droid, even though the "bars" don't indicate as such.
my signal always stays at -81, is that a good thing?
im a new android and 3g user
So I just recently took a trip from northern California to Tennessee and had some interesting results with the Froyo radio. For reference I own the ATT-version Nexus One and have data roaming enabled.
When I used the phone before Froyo radio I had many problems with the 3G switching to Edge and back when needed which caused random data dropouts. Even turning the phone off and back wouldn't force the phone to switch connections to Edge when needed which would make me very frustrated in times of need.
On my trip I found something very interesting, not only did 3G and Edge switch almost perfectly, but Edge performed MUCH faster than before. While it isn't as important now in a world of 3G coverage, when I was on the "edge" of civilization I still got surfing speeds that were not far behind that of 3G speeds. My browsing, and most importantly Google Maps usage rarely suffered a performance hit despite where I was or what type of connection was available to my phone.
There was a difference between performance; 3G would act like Comcast and Edge would be a little behind, but in terms of actually surfing the Internet the extra 2-5 seconds it took to load up a desktop webpage didn't make a difference.
Technically the bandwidth speeds were much different. 3G performed from 1 to a max of 2 megabits down and .3-1 megabits up, while Edge showed speeds of 300-500 kbps down and 100-200 up.
One thing I did notice throughout the trip is the Nexus One's signal meter did not report correctly, there were times where it showed no signal and I had super fast connection, and also times when it would show full or near-full bars and there was no connection.
Hope someone finds this info useful!!! I'm very happy with the coverage my Nexus One gets with the Froyo radio now!
I have always found that my nexus holds calls and has fast data showing zero bars. One reason I've always loved the nexus
Just a point of clarification, EDGE has a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 473.6 kbits/s for 8 timeslots.
In real world conditions EDGE should have throughput of 236.8kbit/s with 4 timeslots(which is what most carriers employ).
Dan
Wonder if there's and app/mod to replace the signal bar with the actual signal #s?
Hey Sellitus, what else did you find working/not working on that trip?
I am considering a longer drive (SF to NY) and want to know about battery life, apps that were really handy, and which weren't.
SiNJiN76 said:
Wonder if there's and app/mod to replace the signal bar with the actual signal #s?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey that would be nice. just like how cyanogen puts the battery percentage, it would be nice to have the dBm level of signal overtop of the signal meter.
RogerPodacter said:
hey that would be nice. just like how cyanogen puts the battery percentage, it would be nice to have the dBm level of signal overtop of the signal meter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The dBm and signal bar IMO opinion are rather pointless in regards to data. Having a very poor 3G signal will always be faster than a full GPRS signal.
Also, a signal meter in terms of DB would jump around quite a bit...
sprinkles said:
Hey Sellitus, what else did you find working/not working on that trip?
I am considering a longer drive (SF to NY) and want to know about battery life, apps that were really handy, and which weren't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well for ATT I hit data roaming quite a few times, and although it worked on edge pretty quickly during those times it would randomly drop when the R was showing randomly. I think what happened a lot on the trip is when I was out in the middle of nowhere bouncing between towers would cause random dropouts, but they were usually no more than a few seconds.
I don't remember which apps specifically though a few also did not like the trip, but most would hang and resume in a few seconds after data was reconnected even if the signal strength showed it was connected the entire time with signal. Sometimes Google Maps hung, though it was rare and I noticed it more because I used it near constantly on the trip.
If I were to give advice to anyone looking at a cross country trip, buy a map or get offline GPS maps to help. We bought a map and it proved valuable at times, though we rarely needed it.
I wonder if the "enable data while roaming" setting had anything to do with that. Maybe an internal bug.
torchedlh said:
Also, a signal meter in terms of DB would jump around quite a bit...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know how a number jumping around would be any different than a graphical signal meter jumping around. The iPhone has had this hack for a long time where you can replace the signal meter with the dBm reading. Though I've never owned the iPhone, but seen it on friend's iPhone before.
I know I'm often going into the android settings to look at my dBm reading, didn't jump around too much for me to see.
I've been having some reception issue lately with AT&T around my hometown (usually its quite good),so I did some googling, and found plenty of info on radio signal, and how to interpret -dBm, but I'm still baffled by the ASU. I really couldn't find much, just some random post on a random forum that left me with some questions:
In a 3G network your cell phone tries to open three channels to three radios so they can locate you and hand you off properly.
Those three channels make up you ACTIVE SET.
ASU is ACTIVE SET UPDATES or the rate at which your phone is able to update its location to the towers/radios.
This rate is affected by signal strength, load, and probably a lot of other factors that I haven't puzzled out yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can anyone shed some more light on this? Usually at home I have 2 bars of HSDPA, somehwere in the -90s dBm, and anywhere from 4-8 asu.
I believe there is a bug in the signal strength indication on the Fascinate, the one that shows the signal strength in -dBm.
You can see the signal strength of the cell signal on the Menu, Settings, About, Status screen. Or you can place a widget on your Home screen. There are several widgets available, I'm using Mobile Signal Widget.
I have a network extender, which basically creates a cell tower right in your home. With my Motorola Droid, I used to get signal strengths down to about -50 something and 60's in indicated signal strength. I can hold both of our Fascinates right next to the network extender's antenna and they will read no better than -86 dBm. So far I've seen signal strengths from -86 dBm to -106 dBm (terrible).
I believe there is a bug in the software (Baseband) on the Fascinate. Previously, I thought the hardware (antenna/radio) wasn't very good, but now it may be software related.
Has anyone seen a signal strength stronger than -86 dBm on the Fascinate?
That's a good point. Mine has never gone below -86dbm either. It fluctuates between -86 at it's best and -106 at it's worst.
Ill keep an eye on this with my phone
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
I have no experience with cell phone radios so take this with the appropriate helping of salt.
Most radios have input protection that attenuates any signals greater than a set maximum level to prevent damage to the radio. I'm guessing the Fascinate reports it's receive signal level post input protection. It appears you just discovered this threshold for the Fascinate. Honestly, -86 dBm is plenty of signal, anything more is just for show
Again, I'm only speculating here.
Martian21
Interesting theory. I have emailed Verizon support as well. Hopefully, I will get a technical response and not a canned response from them.
With mine, it only fluctuates in -5dBm increments lol. I thought it was a litle wierd. I've seen -86, -91, -96, -101, and -106 lol.
As far as what the OP is talking about, my BB Tour (alltel) is the same way. It won't ever display anything lower than a -80.
Anyone else have a consistently high TWS(Time Without Signal) percentage? Mine almost never goes below 50%, and I've seen it up in the 80s. I think my battery life is really suffering from this. You can see yours in Settings > About Phone > Battery Use > Cell Standby. I've tried a few "fixes" that I've found through researching the issue on other android phones in general, but haven't seen any results.
shazbonk said:
Anyone else have a consistently high TWS(Time Without Signal) percentage? Mine almost never goes below 50%, and I've seen it up in the 80s. I think my battery life is really suffering from this. You can see yours in Settings > About Phone > Battery Use > Cell Standby. I've tried a few "fixes" that I've found through researching the issue on other android phones in general, but haven't seen any results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking about this the other day. Is it possible "time without signal" is simply a poor translation? The reason I ask this is when taking my phone off the charger overnight, I went directly to this setting to see what it reported. The phone reported having been unplugged for 2 minutes and already showed 5% TWS. I had been looking at the phone the whole time and didn't see it drop at all. What I did see is it going from 3G w/ arrows to 3Gd. So maybe this percentage isn't time without signal but rather time not active (i.e. 3G d).
I agree w/ the 3g d, I did not update to DI01 yet and it said I have 20% TWS throughout the day, but the phone didnt make a no service sound.
On my drive home everday I pass a Verizon owned tower.
I've stopped at a liquor store about 200 yards away from it and they maximum signal my Fascinate would pull down was -86dBm (4 bars as well).
My Cell Standby is usually around 11%.
Battery life of my Fascinate is very good.
xliderider: Any news/word from Verizon on this? What kind of Network Extender do you have? Got a brand/model #? Been thinking of picking something up like this.
So it isn't just my phone. My Fascinate goes from -86 to -106 as well. I had my Droid and Fascinate sitting next to each other, both reporting 4 bars. I went into status, and my Droid's signal strength was -77. The Fascinate was at -86. It's gotta be capped.
You're holding it wrong.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
You are probably right. With 4 full bars I can't get better than -86
I've been having the same problem...I was told by Verizon that it just has a "weaker" antenna. I go throughout the day with about 20% TWS. Never had that with my other Verizon phones.
do you get dropped calls or otherwise poor service?
I am returning my incredible due to dropped calls (while at home) using Verizons network Extender. I have had the incredible since April 29th (I believe that was the first day it was released). I have had the signal boosted twice by Verizon but still can't get close to 40' without dropping. One thing I noticed on the incredible while in the same room with the Extender is it would read let's say a -86dbm before placing a call then when placed and on the Extender network the signal would automatically go to -56dbm (stronger signal than -86dbm) and then back up after my call. What I saw was the Extender wasn't active until you make a call... Having said that, I am hoping the Fascinate will be better than the inc was... I will let you know when the Fascinate gets to me Wed or Thursday.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Got the Facinate a day early : )
So far it is defiantly working better than my Incredible on my verizon network extender!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Mines 0%
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Sounds like it could have the same problem that affected the Vibrant. It NEVER showed higher than -81dBm, and would often reflect no signal (-0dBm is spectacular but it really means no signal within the Android system). Now with the update it reflects up to -51dBm like it should for GSM/WCDMA with Android and doesn't drop to -0dBm anymore. This of course effected the bars, often dropping to no bars or 1. Now after it's been fixed, plenty of bars and proper -dBm readings.
I am sitting right next to someone with an older Droid 1 and they have 4 bars of signal strength while my Fascinate blinks between 1 and 2 bars. Is this normal?
The signal strength is definitely weaker on the Fascinate that it was on my D1. Not happy about it... Moto has always had the best reception IMO.
Have you done any side by side speed test?
I have the DX and I'm having the 3g->1x problem, and even when I'm on 3g it's garbage compared to a co-workers Eris. I'm thinking about switching to the Fascinate... but idk if it's any better.
I'm kicking around the idea of adding a second line to test it out or something to give it a shot.
matthewsh said:
I am sitting right next to someone with an older Droid 1 and they have 4 bars of signal strength while my Fascinate blinks between 1 and 2 bars. Is this normal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The comparison is useless unless you're looking at numbers, not bars. Bar scaling can vary.
Sent from my Fascinate using XDA
Not all phones are created equal, and this is an instance. However if you want to look at it from the other point of view, the Fascinate is pumping much much less radiation into the side of your head when you are using it
I'm in the same boat as the OP, my wife has a droid 1. Her phone gets more bars than me, but our speed tests are identical.
You really need to compare actual signal levels, not bars.
Menu -> Settings -> About Phone -> Status.
Signal = Lower number is better (i.e. -78 is better than -95).
So you mean higher number is better...
NKT said:
You really need to compare actual signal levels, not bars.
Menu -> Settings -> About Phone -> Status.
Signal = Lower number is better (i.e. -78 is better than -95).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Well yes. But you'd be surprised how many people are confused by negative numbers
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
In my case the DX is definitely the worse off the of the 2. I spent at least an hour testing speeds with the speedtest app and tethered, the Eris beat the DX every single time by a large margin, say 20%. The DX ALWAYS showed more bars but was still much slower.
Really starting to erk me...
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Edit: Did another side by side of the signal strength using the method posted above, DX is down by 3-4 db on average. No voyeur that is a big difference or not, then again in my case it is.
minr necro here
ive just got a fascinate, got the wife a d2
i noticed the sf will go from 91-106 and the d2 stays @ 93
side by side, not moving
can a software update fix this?
love the phone, but when i tether it loses connection because its unstable
the d2 does not, or hasnt yet
I have testest my dx against my girlfriends sf and the SF Always beat it.
I have not once dropped a call and the interwebs never fails , yet my phone is on 1-2 bars and then no bars.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
The DJ05 update fixes the signal strength reporting, and the changes will likely be in the Froyo update when it gets here. As far as I know, the only problems are with the display and reporting of the signal, not the actual connection.
imnuts said:
The DJ05 update fixes the signal strength reporting, and the changes will likely be in the Froyo update when it gets here. As far as I know, the only problems are with the display and reporting of the signal, not the actual connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 to the signal display being the only problem. I routinely make and receive calls with no bars, and my data connection RARELY goes to 1x. DJ05 seems to help, but I don't know that it fixes it completely. Coming from an iPhone (signal? what signal?) and then a Droid X (Droid 1x? Droid X Doesn't?) this phone is head and shoulders above either.
My fascinate seems to have abnormally high time without signal. Right now it is reporting 60% time without signal (Cell Standy is at 15% of battery use overall). Sometimes I have weak signal at my house or in certain spots at work, but very rarely do I go without a signal.
Is there some setting that I should look at? Or is my signal really that bad and I just never noticed it before since this is my first smartphone that actually reports this information?
Thanks!
It's probably the prl list which tells your phone what towers it can talk to. Try running the *228, option 2 to update the list and see if it helps. Also, do you live in a former alltel area? That can complicate things as well. There may be an extra setting in the mobile network menu that you can change to improve reception.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
garywojdan81 said:
It's probably the prl list which tells your phone what towers it can talk to. Try running the *228, option 2 to update the list and see if it helps. Also, do you live in a former alltel area? That can complicate things as well. There may be an extra setting in the mobile network menu that you can change to improve reception.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume that *228 options 2 is just to update the roaming lists? If so, I have run *22899 (which just runs it automatically), but I can try that again since I haven't done it since rooting and installing new ROMs and kernals.
As far as being in a former Alltel area, I am not sure, I am in the Binghamton, NY area. In my mobile network menu there is only two options; Home and Automatic. It is currently set to Automatic.
How do i know if I live in a former alltell area, and if i do how can I improve my signal?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
No other suggestions and/or ideas?
Our radio sucks. Its a known issue with the phone. Put the Fascinate side by side a Droid X or Droid 2 or Droid Eris or Droid Incredible or Droid 1 or ..., you get my point, and you'll see that the Fascinate always has about half the signal strength that all the other phones have. I had >1% TWS while I was on Sprint with my Epic, but I switch to Verizon (which is supposed to have better service) and I get 33% TWS all day.
I have the same problem I get anywhere between 60-70% without a signal at home.
When I go to bed at night I lose about 25%. I called up verizon they sent out a site team and got back to me, supposedly I am on the fringe edge of where tower is, and nothing they can do and that is why it is marginal, even though my other phones work fine like my old blackberry.
It turns out the 3G needs a lot more signal, and my phone is constantly searching which is draining.
Only way I can remedy this is at home only use Wifi, and never have 3G. I do that now and only lose about 4% battery at night.
It appears the antennae really stinks compared to other phones. Maybe an update will fix it but I doubt it.
I regularly commute from the metro nyc area to long island, and I can verify that the phone has an obvious quirkiness in the cell phone reception. While I have anywhere between -109 to-96 dbm if signal strength in rural long island, I have full bars in the city. while that sounds normal, the reception drops tremendously as data is being accessed. The radio sucks and there is nothing we can do about it baring some engineering work or radio tweaking that is hard to test in the dev community. Flashing radios run a higher risk of bricking than your run of the mill custom rom.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
ludevious said:
I regularly commute from the metro nyc area to long island, and I can verify that the phone has an obvious quirkiness in the cell phone reception. While I have anywhere between -109 to-96 dbm if signal strength in rural long island, I have full bars in the city. while that sounds normal, the reception drops tremendously as data is being accessed. The radio sucks and there is nothing we can do about it baring some engineering work or radio tweaking that is hard to test in the dev community. Flashing radios run a higher risk of bricking than your run of the mill custom rom.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same exact thing I work in NYC and get full 4 bars..while I live about 40 miles north of the City. I usually get anywhere from -96 to -101 at home and -86 in NYC
Unfortunately, that doesn't sound off for your area. According to Verizon's coverage map, Binghamton is right on the northern edge of a rather sizeable no-coverage zone extending out of Pennsylvania. Also, the cellreception.com ratings from other people in that area are quite low.
That, combined with -- as other people have mentioned -- the Fascinate's seemingly sub-par radio means I don't doubt the 60% number is accurate. The Fascinate definitely doesn't receive a signal as strongly as other phones, I can attest to that -- my Droid 1 received a steady (if not strong) signal in some places my Fascinate goes in and out (or just out) of service. It's frustrating, and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do about it. I just hope it's a firmware issue that Samsung can fix -- and actually fixes -- rather than subpar hardware.
Falcyn said:
Unfortunately, that doesn't sound off for your area. According to Verizon's coverage map, Binghamton is right on the northern edge of a rather sizeable no-coverage zone extending out of Pennsylvania. Also, the cellreception.com ratings from other people in that area are quite low.
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That area, VZW has a roaming agreement with Sprint or some other carrier as I was up in that large "uncovered" chunk this past summer and had service the entire time.
Falcyn said:
Unfortunately, that doesn't sound off for your area. According to Verizon's coverage map, Binghamton is right on the northern edge of a rather sizeable no-coverage zone extending out of Pennsylvania. Also, the cellreception.com ratings from other people in that area are quite low.
That, combined with -- as other people have mentioned -- the Fascinate's seemingly sub-par radio means I don't doubt the 60% number is accurate. The Fascinate definitely doesn't receive a signal as strongly as other phones, I can attest to that -- my Droid 1 received a steady (if not strong) signal in some places my Fascinate goes in and out (or just out) of service. It's frustrating, and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do about it. I just hope it's a firmware issue that Samsung can fix -- and actually fixes -- rather than subpar hardware.
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Hmm never knew about that site cellreception thanks for that!
I just checked and now I see why I have barely any coverage, I am about 30 miles form verizon nearest tower.
Interesting thing is there is a sprint tower about 1 miles west of me...hmm
I always thought about switching to Sprint for cheaper and better phones I am tempted to return this and do that
For what it's worth, I've gone to 0% time without signal since updating to DJ05, but I still see non-trivial "Cell Standby" battery usage anyway. Usually around 15% after a day of use. Not sure if that means something is whack in DJ05 and the 0% is bogus or if it means that "Cell Standby" power usage actually has very little to do with that value. Not knowledgeable enough. It might be worth your time to try DJ05 if you haven't already.
There is also the hidden menu that lets you configure CDMA and GSM stuff, but I tried those (while on DI01) and *anything* I did in there just made it worse. I read somewhere that the radio may be looking for GSM services which shows up under "Cell Standby". My intent was to change the radio to CDMA only, but again, changing it from the default "WCDMA Preferred" just made things worse for me.
That second part was kinda meaningless .. lol, sorry. My reason for posting was to point out that my "Time without signal" dropped to 0% by installing DJ05, but didn't seem to have an appreciable affect on "Cell Standby".
djp952 said:
For what it's worth, I've gone to 0% time without signal since updating to DJ05, but I still see non-trivial "Cell Standby" battery usage anyway. Usually around 15% after a day of use. Not sure if that means something is whack in DJ05 and the 0% is bogus or if it means that "Cell Standby" power usage actually has very little to do with that value. Not knowledgeable enough. It might be worth your time to try DJ05 if you haven't already.
There is also the hidden menu that lets you configure CDMA and GSM stuff, but I tried those (while on DI01) and *anything* I did in there just made it worse. I read somewhere that the radio may be looking for GSM services which shows up under "Cell Standby". My intent was to change the radio to CDMA only, but again, changing it from the default "WCDMA Preferred" just made things worse for me.
That second part was kinda meaningless .. lol, sorry. My reason for posting was to point out that my "Time without signal" dropped to 0% by installing DJ05, but didn't seem to have an appreciable affect on "Cell Standby".
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I think that Cell standby is battery used by the cell radio when it's not in use. Time without service is battery used by the radio when not in use and looking for service.
djp952 said:
For what it's worth, I've gone to 0% time without signal since updating to DJ05, but I still see non-trivial "Cell Standby" battery usage anyway. Usually around 15% after a day of use. Not sure if that means something is whack in DJ05 and the 0% is bogus or if it means that "Cell Standby" power usage actually has very little to do with that value. Not knowledgeable enough. It might be worth your time to try DJ05 if you haven't already.
There is also the hidden menu that lets you configure CDMA and GSM stuff, but I tried those (while on DI01) and *anything* I did in there just made it worse. I read somewhere that the radio may be looking for GSM services which shows up under "Cell Standby". My intent was to change the radio to CDMA only, but again, changing it from the default "WCDMA Preferred" just made things worse for me.
That second part was kinda meaningless .. lol, sorry. My reason for posting was to point out that my "Time without signal" dropped to 0% by installing DJ05, but didn't seem to have an appreciable affect on "Cell Standby".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I am on DJ05 and did not make a difference. Out of curiosity before Dj05 what % were you getting without signal?
I am an Epic owner, same phone, sometimes same problem. One of the things I do is called the airplane toggle trick. It works for me, don't know what it might do for you.
My phone goes to 50% standby when I boot or turn off and on for any reason. To fix this, I turn off DRM in Running Services and do this trick.
Turn Airplane Mode on for maybe 30 seconds, then turn back off. This resets the radio.
This returns mine to 0%, so might try this.