Database Users

reception sucks!

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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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??
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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
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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

Signal Strength Booster?

I get poor reception on my Incredible whereas my parents get great reception on their phone. A little googling and this popped up:
http://www.onlyincredible.com/incredible-booster.html
is this legit at all? i'm not a technical guy so I have no idea.

I call bull****. They used to sell these things for regular cellphones. They didn't work then, either.

slorange said:
I call bull****. They used to sell these things for regular cellphones. They didn't work then, either.
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I was thinking the same thing but trying to be hopeful ya know? I really need some signal boost. I average around -90 dBm

If you're desperate, it's not like $2 is a huge sacrifice for a likely useless piece of plastic. I don't know I usually get between 80-100dBm at my house and i have no complaints about the service... The bars don't necessarily tell the whole story. 85dBm is 5 bars on my 6bar signal meter, so keep in mind that bars don't necessarily tell how mcuh signal you have. With the stock 4 bar meter, I would never have 4 bars at my house; usually 1 or 2; sometimes 3.

Jes7er said:
If you're desperate, it's not like $2 is a huge sacrifice for a likely useless piece of plastic. I don't know I usually get between 80-100dBm at my house and i have no complaints about the service... The bars don't necessarily tell the whole story. 85dBm is 5 bars on my 6bar signal meter, so keep in mind that bars don't necessarily tell how mcuh signal you have. With the stock 4 bar meter, I would never have 4 bars at my house; usually 1 or 2; sometimes 3.
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I go by the dBm and just sitting my room I can go from -85 up to -120
I always thought that it would be normal for my dBm to be in the -60 range. Am I wrong or is -80 to -90 okay?

I get -91 to -106 in my room and I have good enough signal to do anything I want. Also my friend bought one of those for his Eris and thinks it actually hurt his reception but I can't imagine there's a difference with or without it
morph3k said:
I go by the dBm and just sitting my room I can go from -85 up to -120
I always thought that it would be normal for my dBm to be in the -60 range. Am I wrong or is -80 to -90 okay?
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Sent from my Incredible using XDA App

If you want something to boost your signal this is one of the only things I've found that will actually do it..... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE
They are normally priced at $120 but can be had for $15. I bought one and currently use it in both my vehicle and home. It will boost the signal for me from around -105 dbm in my house to around -90 dbm, but I've seen it get as good as -81 dbm. I plan on buying another that way I don't have to keep moving it around.
They say it works within a 6 ft radius of the plug but I've found that you need to be a little closer than that to it.

-80dbm is the best signal possible. Also, cdma signal fluctuates. Don't expect it to stay at a consistent number. Unless you're having issues with dropped calls or slow data, I wouldn't spend another second concerning yourself over it.

Thanks for this... now would two of these work better then one?
androidtrkdr said:
If you want something to boost your signal this is one of the only things I've found that will actually do it..... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE
They are normally priced at $120 but can be had for $15. I bought one and currently use it in both my vehicle and home. It will boost the signal for me from around -105 dbm in my house to around -90 dbm, but I've seen it get as good as -81 dbm. I plan on buying another that way I don't have to keep moving it around.
They say it works within a 6 ft radius of the plug but I've found that you need to be a little closer than that to it.
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Sent from my Incredible using XDA App

patches152 said:
-80dbm is the best signal possible.
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How do you figure this?
I've seen my signal get better than -80 dbm.

patches152 said:
-80dbm is the best signal possible. Also, cdma signal fluctuates. Don't expect it to stay at a consistent number. Unless you're having issues with dropped calls or slow data, I wouldn't spend another second concerning yourself over it.
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I know people here don't take bars for much, but why is -80 only 2/5 bars if it is all i can expect? I've only had a couple dropped calls so you are probably right that i shouldn't worry about it.
androidtrkdr said:
How do you figure this?
I've seen my signal get better than -80 dbm.
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I've never seen mine better than -78 unless it was some weird fluctuation for a second

0 would actually be the best possible. But it can never happen, so, meh.
As far as highest signal strength possible, I've been in the -30's before. That's the highest I've ever seen.

Same, -32 was my best
dpwhitty11 said:
0 would actually be the best possible. But it can never happen, so, meh.
As far as highest signal strength possible, I've been in the -30's before. That's the highest I've ever seen.
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Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

Your head absorbs wireless signals.
So, use the speakerphone more often, or better yet, use a good quality Bluetooth ear piece so the phone can sit near a window still.

morph3k said:
I know people here don't take bars for much, but why is -80 only 2/5 bars if it is all i can expect? I've only had a couple dropped calls so you are probably right that i shouldn't worry about it.
I've never seen mine better than -78 unless it was some weird fluctuation for a second
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keep in mind that CDMA phones with VZW use two radio frequencies. one is voice, the other is data. so the "bars" and 3G doesn't do much to specify which of those two network connections its representing. my guess is that it's representing data strength, not voice.
-80dbm is the "best" signal strength i've ever seen a verizon wireless cell phone have. and that's based on other phones, such as blackberries, winmo, etc...i'm not sure if it gets any lower than that on CDMA networks. i know my WI-FI, when at the strongest, is usually -40 or -60 dbm.
for example, sitting at home my signal is -84 dBm, and that is pretty much full strength
also, the value we are discussing is how "loud" the signal is. take into consideration that network traffic will also impact service in varying ways.

What do all you atrix users think about the cell radio/signal?

i know with my droidx, i got fabulous cell reception and signal. Motorola is known for it. when i had my samsung with the same provider, i had crappy signal..
what do you think? good cell signal?

Mine is fantastic. One dropped call, and I was in a tunnel.

-95 dBm instead of -110 on my HTC Hero (I live in a terrible signal area)

For me the signal is terrible when go to my office. Most of time no signal.

I'd changed from telco companies and all they worked perfectly I got no complains about it.
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I've noticed a small increase in reception from my iPhone 3G, but not that much of a difference. In some of my classrooms, I used to get no signal on my iPhone, but I get one to two bars on my Atrix. I haven't been reverted to EDGE yet, though, so I'm not complaining.

Works fine for me

Works well for me. Got crappy reception in my office, but that has been consistent between phones, so no biggie.

No dropped calls and I lose signal in one building I rarely go into but it has a sheet metal roof and walls and no one gets reception in it.
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I'm quite satisfied, I've been in a road trip with a guy whose phone was an iphone and our reception was the same or even better

I've been getting better signal on my Atrix then I got on my iPhone 4 especially in areas with weaker signal.

Im haven't had a single dropped call since I got my atrix compared to the lg expo I had previously. I must say that I've had such good reception I'm impressed!
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Signal is great everywhere than my office building. I'm very happy with the call quality, which beats my nexus one's.
Sent from my Bell Atrix using XDA App

I am very impressed with the reception I get with this phone. I too live in a terrible area when it comes to cell coverage and this phone seems to be doing a better job than the past 4-5 devices I've used.
Most samsungs were close to unusable where I live.

At work I have a very poor signal indoors (-100 to no signal). With my BB 8900 if I walked out to the door I could make a voice call. However with my Atrix I kept dropping calls after 30 sec or so. I got a microcell to fix that problem.

I am having a reception issue. My Motorola Atrix shows 3 or 4 bars and suddenly drops to 1 or no service for a second and goes back up to 3 or 4 bars.
I live in NYC and never had this problem with my Samsung Captivate. Most of the time the phone does not even show the full 5 bars, mostly 3 or 4 and occasionally 5

Signal Power

Can the signal power be increased or sensitivity increased on the phone in any way. Have tried all the radios on CM10.1. 0.24 works best but still very weak signal compared to other android phones on same network in same location.

Wild Thing UK said:
Can the signal power be increased or sensitivity increased on the phone in any way. Have tried all the radios on CM10.1. 0.24 works best but still very weak signal compared to other android phones on same network in same location.
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i'm thinking on returning my nexus 4 because of bad reception... does this affect all nexus 4? i notice other phones on the same network and same location have much more reception signal

blizard80 said:
i'm thinking on returning my nexus 4 because of bad reception... does this affect all nexus 4? i notice other phones on the same network and same location have much more reception signal
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I am on my 3rd RMA and second sim, no difference, its a hardware/software issue I think

Signal Strength?

How is 4g signal strength compared to other devices?

Hmmmm, I know it's not an exact science, but no one has an opinion? I work in a fringe reception area and am hoping to continue using phone for tethering personal laptop.

I think it's as good or better than my m7 was and I live in a very rural area.
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using XDA-Developers mobile app

It's pretty good, slightly weaker than my S7 Edge by a very small amount. I did notice that occasionally when holding it a certain way, the signal can drop anywhere from 1 to 7dBm. It's hard to reproduce but I never expeirenced that on my S7 Edge. WiFi is solid.