Database Users

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.

[BUG] Signal Strenght Indicator

so here i got 3 Android phones
all sitting on the same spot
2 of them (SGS / XT720) shows 3 or 4 bars signal strength, but SNS only shows 1 bar, 2 at best.
however a quick test using 3G speedtest confirms the same download/upload speed as the 2 other phones.
and there's no problem calling even when it only shows 1 bar.
Can any body confirm this?

Go to settings > about phone > status and post the signal strength of each of them (should be in dBa). If they're the same, then ya either the SGS phones are overinflating their strength or the Nexus is reporting lower than it should.
AllGamer said:
so here i got 3 Android phones
all sitting on the same spot
2 of them (SGS / XT720) shows 3 or 4 bars signal strength, but SNS only shows 1 bar, 2 at best.
however a quick test using 3G speedtest confirms the same download/upload speed as the 2 other phones.
and there's no problem calling even when it only shows 1 bar.
Can any body confirm this?
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your prolly just holding it wrong
*sarcasm*

slowz3r said:
your prolly just holding it wrong
*sarcasm*
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I c wut u did thur!
Touche, good sir, touche.

SGS -97 dBm 8 asu
SNS -107 dBm 5 asu
XT720 -84 dBm 7 asu
does that mean anything to you guys?

AllGamer said:
SGS -97 dBm 8 asu
SNS -107 dBm 5 asu
XT720 -84 dBm 7 asu
does that mean anything to you guys?
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seems like it is displaying signal strength wrong, I believe it is the farther from 0 the better the signal
im at -75 and full bars 3G

anyways... that's what i'm saying the actual usage is good, and 3G speed is good
but the bar indicator is always like in 1 bar or 2 bar... which is kinda wrong

AllGamer said:
anyways... that's what i'm saying the actual usage is good, and 3G speed is good
but the bar indicator is always like in 1 bar or 2 bar... which is kinda wrong
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try restarting your phone? so it re-associates itself with the network

that would have been the first thing i do when i try to nail a bug
that's why i wanted to hear the experiences from the rest of you
just trying to find out if this is a bug specific to my phone, or if it's something that is affecting everyone

-97db with three bars displayed here.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

The farther it is from 0 in the negative, the worse the strength is. The best strength I've ever seen on an android phone was -69. Worst is in the -100's so it looks like the Nexus is actually getting worse signal, not just reporting worse...maybe an antenna problem =(

dinan said:
The farther it is from 0 in the negative, the worse the strength is. The best strength I've ever seen on an android phone was -69. Worst is in the -100's so it looks like the Nexus is actually getting worse signal, not just reporting worse...maybe an antenna problem =(
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quite the opposite, 0 is just a reference point, the farther from zero the better

Mine is -101 with 2 bars.

I'm not sure where you're getting this from, but you're saying -100dbm is better signal reception than -70dbm? If that's the case then the signal strength reporting is completely reversed... as I have full bars in my apartment and it shows -72dbm, and at work I have 1 to 0 bars and it says -101dbm. It's been like this for all of my phones.
Also speed tests at home give me 500k/s down and 50k/s up while at work I only get 60k/s down and 20k/s up...
slowz3r said:
quite the opposite, 0 is just a reference point, the farther from zero the better
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AllGamer said:
SGS -97 dBm 8 asu
SNS -107 dBm 5 asu
XT720 -84 dBm 7 asu
does that mean anything to you guys?
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Click to collapse
It seems like the SNS is getting far worse ACTUAL reception than the other two phone.
-107 is very bad comparing to -97 and -84.
Are all 3 phones on the same carrier?

clubtech said:
It seems like the SNS is getting far worse ACTUAL reception than the other two phone.
-107 is very bad comparing to -97 and -84.
Are all 3 phones on the same carrier?
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XT720 and SNS both are on Wind 1700/2100
SGS is on Fido 850/1900

AllGamer said:
XT720 and SNS both are on Wind 1700/2100
SGS is on Fido 850/1900
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That's interesting as there is a huge difference between the SNS and the XT720.
-84dbm means very good reception and -107 is at the end of the workable spectrum (at -113 you basically can not place calls).
I am also noticing very bad reception on my SNS but i thought that it is due to T-Mobile's crappy network. i have no other T-mobile device to compare it with though so i start to wonder if its the Nexus S that has crappy reception or T-mobile.
Try to do more tests in other locations with the XT720 and the SNS and see if you always see such a huge difference when both devices are in exactly the same spot.
I am interested in your findings.

And as for your initial question, there is no bug in the signal indicator as -107db is very bad signal so the indicator is correct.

Okay please allow me to clear up some misunderstanding in this thread...
First of all, dBm is a logarithmic measure of signal strength with respect to 1mW. So, a smaller (i.e. more negative) reading means that you have lower signal strength.
Just to give an example: -50dBm is a much better signal than -100dBm.
Alright, so now let's move on to the next issue: You can't compare signal strength on two phones which are running on different networks. Why? It's possible that you have a strong signal from Fido and a weak signal from Wind, or vice-versa. If you want to compare the RF capabilities of two phones, you should make sure that they are connected to the same network and even the same cell (you can check the service menu to make sure that they are on the same cell).
And finally: The Settings>About Phone>Status is usually not a very accurate measure of signal strength, since they are rounded off to some pre-determined list of values (So for example, if it is jumping between -100 and -110, it might actually be jumping between -104 and -105). You should instead go to the phone's service menu (i.e. you type in some code into the keypad) where you will get an exact measurement.

My friend happened to have the XT720 while I have SNS, and we happened to be at a same location where my SNS can't maintain the connection (only able to connect at one room spot with 0 bars and unable to hear a thing due to choppy voice when I tried to check voicemail) and XT720 still got 2~3 bars anywhere in the room and able to make phone calls. We are both from same carrier. We left our phone on table side by side without touching it. So despite the bars on phone nor the signal number in setting menu, real life experience tells me XT720 does have better reception than SNS sadly D: I was embarassed that night when other friends laughted at my supposely better phone

Antenna DBM strength

Can any one give an antenna signal strength DBM wise? Whats the signal strength when you receive full signal bars.

I wish I could help but I want to know the same. Preferably someone coming from a nexus or gs2 and familiar with what they used to get. Hoping gs3 has better radios

stkiswr said:
I wish I could help but I want to know the same. Preferably someone coming from a nexus or gs2 and familiar with what they used to get. Hoping gs3 has better radios
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The questions as framed are really about how the manufacturer (and carrier?) define "bars" -- which is mostly a marketing concept invented differently by different vendors to obscure scientific facts. We might as well call them "unicorns." FWIW for comparison, my current phone, a Samsung Epic 4G, reports "bars" mapped to the following dBm values:
0 bars = -106 dBm
1 bar = -101 dBm
2 bars = -96 dBm
3 bars = -91 dBm
4 bars = -86 dBm
5 bars = -76 dBm
6 bars = -65 dBm
In my testing, I have not seen values reported between these intervals.
So it would be interesting to see how the marketing-driven designers have defined "bars" on the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III, if only to translate that into common units that are not marketing gibberish.
Another question generally relevant might be this, to describe the receive sensitivity of the radio: After translating "bars" to dBm, what is the worst dBm reading you can experience and still have the phone function. Or perhaps plot lots of Speedtest results at various dBm readings of strength.
Note that reported strength -- whether stated as "bars" or dBm -- has nothing directly to do with transmit strength, and all this is about two-way radio communication.

Well my signal at home is crap so I can tell you 1 bar is -100 through -102...
And I keep getting a data roaming pop up even with the roaming guards turned off, annoying, anyone else dealing with this?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA

I don't care about bars. More so dBm if can. I have a nexus and a razor Max on Verizon. I was with sprint. I'm looking to get opinions

Kegacide as far as your raining pop us go into settings and networks and start disabling and enabling so that you don't get those anymore. Same w gs2 and all Samsung sprint phones

stkiswr said:
Kegacide as far as your raining pop us go into settings and networks and start disabling and enabling so that you don't get those anymore. Same w gs2 and all Samsung sprint phones
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I turned off the roaming guards for everything, even turned them on, then off again when the pop up came up and I clicked for show again....
Even still the data roaming signal keeps showing up in my notifications bar, which is two problems, one my bad connection, and two the annoyingness of the pop up...
What do you mean start enabling and disabling things, like what?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA

Honestly you guys are silly all non Motorola cdma devices perform identical on sprints network. The inconsistencies you guys see is sprints network not the devices.

kegacide said:
I turned off the roaming guards for everything, even turned them on, then off again when the pop up came up and I clicked for show again....
Even still the data roaming signal keeps showing up in my notifications bar, which is two problems, one my bad connection, and two the annoyingness of the pop up...
What do you mean start enabling and disabling things, like what?
Sent from my SPH-L710 using XDA
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If it seemed gauge I'm sorry. Been a while since I been on sprint but you can unchecked/disable some of those boxes and the data roaming will not pop up. I have done it since the epic 4g.

kegacide said:
Well my signal at home is crap so I can tell you 1 bar is -100 through -102...
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What phone were you using before at home? I gather you had good radio performance with it there? Was this with Sprint or a different carrier?

Galaxy S5 dBm data reception compared to HTC One M8 on Verizon

Reception is important to me since where I work I can not hook my phone up to wi-fi and reception can be very spotty. I am trying to gather some numbers regarding the M8's dBM numbers for reception compared to the S5.
If any one has the ability to compare the data dBM reception at the same time, with both phones next to each, will you please report your numbers.

giper54 said:
Reception is important to me since where I work I can not hook my phone up to wi-fi and reception can be very spotty. I am trying to gather some numbers regarding the M8's dBM numbers for reception compared to the S5. If any one has the ability to compare the data reception regarding dBm will you please report your numbers.
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Reporting for S5: -78dbm 62 asu. (by the way, this is with a 8,500mah Zero Lemon battery installed.)

Kprice8 do you have an M8 to compare numbers?

giper54 said:
Kprice8 do you have an M8 to compare numbers?
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No, I do not, the one guy who has one at my Office is out today, unfortunately. But I thought I would toss my number out there for compare standard to extended battery as well, should you decide to get an S5 and want an extended battery.
Good luck. :good:

I went to a Verizon store and the S5 had a little better reception about 1-2 dBM better. M8 dBM seemed to fluctuate a little more, while the S5 was pretty stable.

N910C questions

Hi I bought the N910C for At&t, after doing some research online I know that asu is usually dbm+140. It is accurate on my old GS4 it getting -100dbm 40asu. On the other hand my note 4 is getting weird numbers like -101dbm 6asu and the difference is 95 and not constant.
I am worried if I got a defect phone or it how N910C works on antenna formulas. Please help I am debating whether should I return the phone...
thanks

I observed the same readings... but I had no problem with downloads and uploads...

xdm9mm said:
I observed the same readings... but I had no problem with downloads and uploads...
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-83 TO -87 dBm AND 15ASU ...on LTE . I am guessing it all comes down to wich tower your phone is connected, distance from it, load...etc I really do not think your readings are subject to change of device., but it never hurts to test another phone on the same carrier and see what are the signal readings and if it is a constant reading. Good luck

.IC3M4N. said:
-83 TO -87 dBm AND 15ASU ...on LTE . I am guessing it all comes down to wich tower your phone is connected, distance from it, load...etc I really do not think your readings are subject to change of device., but it never hurts to test another phone on the same carrier and see what are the signal readings and if it is a constant reading. Good luck
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Yeah so I'm guessing this is the type of reading from N910C? As I have tried testing out S4 in same room same band, on LTE:14 it getting 100/40, and my Note 4 910c getting the other way around just confuses me haha...