Nexus 4 Signal Strength Fluxuations - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Does anyone have a problem with their Nexus 4 signal strength?
I have Bell Canada, which is supposedly has the best coverage in Canada, I live in the suburbs of a relatively large city and I often see no bars at all. I'm sitting on my couch right now and the signal strength is ranging from -97 dBm to -110 dBm.
Do 2.4 Ghz band devices interfere at all? I have bunch of portable phones and 2 routers, so maybe this is related?

Nexus 4 on T-Mobile
I am in Portland OR in an area of good signal according to T-MO but my nexus rarely shows any signal bars inside my house. This is my 3rd N-4. T-Mo says they have great signal in my area.... so what gives with this signal thing?

My reception has been wonky ever since the 4.2.2 and baseband update.

ccgabe said:
I am in Portland OR in an area of good signal according to T-MO but my nexus rarely shows any signal bars inside my house. This is my 3rd N-4. T-Mo says they have great signal in my area.... so what gives with this signal thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get 1-2 bars in my house usually between 95-105 db, outside I get low 80's and full or near full at all times. Even though my bars inside top out at 2 I have still managed to pull up to 13 Mbps but thats on a sunny day. Didn't see any results above 9 Mbps today. I live on the outskirts of a not so major city so I can't really complain. One minute I'm pulling 10 Mbps and the other I'm only getting like 200 Kbps though, but it's all good enough for what I need it for and I can't complain since its only $30/month. I just transferred from Virgin Mobile after their "upgrade" resulted in me and many other of their customers losing data for the last 3 weeks and to this date its still not fixed! Their "3G" speeds were atrocious, I've pulled higher speeds off of T-Mobiles 2G network.
I hear a lot of us who are on 4.2.2 and baseband .48 have had issues so I'm thinking its either a major software issue with the radio firmware that hasn't been addressed yet in any revision or it could be a major hardware issue as well as I flashed .27, .33, and .48 and noticed no differences. I had to set my phone to WCDMA Only to get it to maintain a good connection, otherwise HSPA/HSPA+ would just cut out after 2 minutes of use and revert to 2G or have no data at all for 5-10 minutes. After switching to WCDMA Only this problem went away completely and I haven't lost a signal since. For whatever reason it picks up more adjacent towers as well on this setting.

I have that kind of problem also though I notice it only when the signal is weak.
It goes from -99dbm to -111dbm with no reason. My other phone (Defy) keeps a good -97 at the same spot without any fluctuation.
I will try to switch to wcdma only.

Related

AT&T Nexus one still has reception issue?

Just wondering what peoples experiences are.
I just got the AT&T Nexus One. I also have 2 G1's from Rogers that get AT&T 3G that exhibit amazing signal quality. The signal strength is stable and doesn't jump all over the palce.
So. Down to it.
I had the T-Mobile Nexus One and bought a T-Mobile sim card to test performance for my self. Performance was horrible. It didn't matter if I put my hand over the back of the phone or not, the T-Mobile Nexus one would randomly go from 3 bars, to nothing, then hit Edge and bounce back again. Totally unusable.
Now I have the AT&T nexus one. Speeds are impressive here in Salt Lake City. Got 3Mbit down, and 1.6Mbit up. How can you complain.
However... the signal is still all over the place. Although it hasn't dropped to Edge, it shows 4 bars, then 2 bars, and even no bars, and back again... all over the place.
Overall the speeds are way better than T-Mobile, and AT&T's 850mhz signal is known to penetrate buildings better and travel farther, but I am still seeing some wildly varying signal strength's, seemingly at random. It does indeed affect speed tests too. One minute speeds are at 3mbit, then next, 1mbit. Not bad really, but still indicative of the issue on the T-Mobile Nexus One.
So what are you're experiences???
-James

4g speed increase and signal strength

With the new PRL update did everyone get increased signals and speeds?
My personal best at home and at a location I am very familiar with was 5.5 Mbps and I thought that was more than good enough.
Well today I tested and my bars increased in my home office by 1 or 2 bars(up and down) and I just got over 11.50 Mbps!
Nice job Sprint. Anyone else get much better results lately through the radio update and PRL change?
I don't get 4g in my house, but I did notice a speed increase with my 3g coverage. I'm in a weak signal area and got around 200-400 kbps with the old prl, and now with the new prl I get 500-700 kbps.
abanh said:
I don't get 4g in my house, but I did notice a speed increase with my 3g coverage. I'm in a weak signal area and got around 200-400 kbps with the old prl, and now with the new prl I get 500-700 kbps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't complain about double right?
I also did notice my 3G speed increased as well. I am fortunate to have 4G as now I have a tethering solution wirelessly and USB for PC and MAC
I hope Sprint continues down the path they have been going lately and get a foothold of the 3.5G(4G) market. I am liking their Customer Service and their speeds along with their phones. They are finally understanding the game.
Yeah, I see better signal and 3g speeds with the new prl. Lakeland,fl
Sent from my EVO!
I drive by the Sprint Campus in Overland Park, KS everyday and I have full 4G bars. I have never get over 3.5 and it's really annoying and with all the latest updates it now doesn't go past 1.8...
It's funny though because my 3G speed has in fact increased. Ok, well not so funny because I want the 5+ 4G speeds other's seem to get.
Before 2.2 I used to get spotty 4G coverage at my house with about 5mbps down/1mbps up but didn't notice any issues with battery. Now with 2.2 I consistently get 4G at my house and get about 7-8mbps down/1mbps up, but the battery life is horrible! I left 4G on this morning when I unplugged my phone from the charger around 9AM with 100% battery, its now close to 1PM and I have hardly used to phone (just checked some emails) and I am down to 20% in 4 hours. Anyone else seeing this as well??
Oh yeah, I've noticed a huge increase. Before I wouldn't go past 4MB, now I am getting Over 8MBs! Pic for proof here
I live right in the city of Seattle just northeast of downtown and in a very old building with thick brick walls. I could only get 2 or 3 bars of 3g and could not get a 4g connection at all. when I updated to froyo rooted Rom, and the radio to the 7.28 and wimax to 26023, I can now get 3 bars of 4g!
the 3g signal did not change, but after thinking wimax indoors would never happen due to the structure of my building, surrounding tall buildings, the wavelength used for 4g, and a tiny dead zone a block from my apartment, I am very pleased and surprised.
and no, I did not discover some new magical hotspot of reception inside my apartment - I checked every square inch to find the best reception for tethering in the past and set the phone at the exact same spot, on top of my 2nd window's curtain rod.
this happened before I updated the PRL, but now with the updated PRL it still works the same, so maybe it was partly the radio too?

Signal strength issue

I received my XT1053 T-Mobile Moto X this past Thursday and have been having signal issues since then.
People I've spoken to notified me that voice quality they heard was choppy, although I heard them fine.
I also noticed that I've been getting anywhere from -95 to -105 dBm, while my old phone and other phones receive -65 dBm to -75 dBm around the house.
These numbers are within my house and outside my house.
I'm running unrooted/all OTAs. Safe to assume something wrong with this particular phone?
Edit: When I set to network type to GPRS (2G), I'm getting a good -58 dBm. When I put it back on LTE I'm getting -100 dBm again.
So when I'm on LTE its just not connecting to the closer tower?
xal33x said:
I received my XT1053 T-Mobile Moto X this past Thursday and have been having signal issues since then.
People I've spoken to notified me that voice quality they heard was choppy, although I heard them fine.
I also noticed that I've been getting anywhere from -95 to -105 dBm, while my old phone and other phones receive -65 dBm to -75 dBm around the house.
These numbers are within my house and outside my house.
I'm running unrooted/all OTAs. Safe to assume something wrong with this particular phone?
Edit: When I set to network type to GPRS (2G), I'm getting a good -58 dBm. When I put it back on LTE I'm getting -100 dBm again.
So when I'm on LTE its just not connecting to the closer tower?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the same problem on 3 moto x's. I think its only the tmo version that has this problem since no one else is complaining about it.
EDIT: Maybe not the same problem. Mine happens on HSPA and EDGE as well. It looses signal completely for hours.
The way an LTE signal strength is measured is not the same as 2G or 3G, that can explain quite a large db difference. Voice calls don't use LTE right now, your phone will switch back to HSPA/WCDMA/2G for voice.
Im on a dev edition verizon phone. Ive noticed Im getting average 103 dbm lte where as my other phones are at about 97. Voice 3G is about 85db which is good. Wondering if there isnt something wrong.
Steve-x said:
The way an LTE signal strength is measured is not the same as 2G or 3G, that can explain quite a large db difference. Voice calls don't use LTE right now, your phone will switch back to HSPA/WCDMA/2G for voice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right. It does switch to HSPA+ and signal strength does increase back to -60 dBm while I'm talking.
So the phone shows 2 bars while I'm not on a call is simply because signal strength is measured differently and it doesn't take into account the different network type?
I wonder why two different people on two different days told me they were hearing me pretty choppy (I heard them fine) and I even had a dropped call, all within like 3 days of owning the phone, with pretty much no issues that I can remember with my previous phone (it was an HSPA+ phone).
I'm not sure what to do...
xal33x said:
You're right. It does switch to HSPA+ and signal strength does increase back to -60 dBm while I'm talking.
So the phone shows 2 bars while I'm not on a call is simply because signal strength is measured differently and it doesn't take into account the different network type?
I wonder why two different people on two different days told me they were hearing me pretty choppy (I heard them fine) and I even had a dropped call, all within like 3 days of owning the phone, with pretty much no issues that I can remember with my previous phone (it was an HSPA+ phone).
I'm not sure what to do...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe turn off voice privacy in phone settings.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
I agree with the poster that LTE is just measured differently.
I have the N5, HTC One, and Moto X and they are both usually is the 90s or 100s for LTE. The X is usually 5-10 dbm better than either the N5 or One.
Best reception phone Ive had thus far :laugh:

Weak cellular signal strength

What do you guys think about the cellular strength. Mine loses lte signal and switches to 3g where my other devices keep the lte signal (with reasonable speed). It's about 5-15 dbm more than the other phones. The 3g signal is good tho.
I also experienced this, wanna know is this normal or my phone is defective.
Haven't noticed a difference myself but I have only had the phone for a couple of weeks now. I also flashed to the UK firmware and live in a major metro area . Oddly enough my house is always a dead spot no matter what phone I use. The Tmobile 4G LTE Cellspot fixes that for me at home though so I can't really comment otherwise.

signal bars at Zero?! is this normal?

Hello guys! I don't know what's going on but since I have this device almost every time the signal bars are at zero. Anyone having this issue?
Yep, this phone has terrible reception. Although, the signal bars don't necessarily reveal how strong the signal really is. Indoor reception is worse than outdoor. I have one or even no bars inside my house, but I can still get lte+ speeds. As soon as I walk outside I have full bars, and not much difference in download speed. I have missed more calls with this phone than any other phone I've had though. Really bummed cuz this phone is so close to being the best phone I've ever had.
atrix_noob said:
Hello guys! I don't know what's going on but since I have this device almost every time the signal bars are at zero. Anyone having this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(On T-Mobile network) At home phone shows more than half of bars, at work, outside and in most places phone shows at least half of the bars. I did see no bars couple of times in few places, but it didn't create any issues. Comparing it to other phones and if dB signal is to be believed, then it is safe to assume that Essential has about -6 to -8 dB less than devices from leading manufacturers.
Airwolf79 said:
Yep, this phone has terrible reception. Although, the signal bars don't necessarily reveal how strong the signal really is. Indoor reception is worse than outdoor. I have one or even no bars inside my house, but I can still get lte+ speeds. As soon as I walk outside I have full bars, and not much difference in download speed. I have missed more calls with this phone than any other phone I've had though. Really bummed cuz this phone is so close to being the best phone I've ever had.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I agree. The reception on this phone is super weak
Charkatak said:
(On T-Mobile network) At home phone shows more than half of bars, at work, outside and in most places phone shows at least half of the bars. I did see no bars couple of times in few places, but it didn't create any issues. Comparing it to other phones and if dB signal is to be believed, then it is safe to assume that Essential has about -6 to -8 dB less than devices from leading manufacturers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree I have a Note 8 and on tye Essential the signal is much weaker.
atrix_noob said:
Hello guys! I don't know what's going on but since I have this device almost every time the signal bars are at zero. Anyone having this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll get this on certain stretches of highway. It will go to no bars, then bars with no internet. I set to airplane mode and then I'll get bars and LTE again.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
cfclay said:
I'll get this on certain stretches of highway. It will go to no bars, then bars with no internet. I set to airplane mode and then I'll get bars and LTE again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, sometimes even if I have no bars at all the service seems to function properly. Maybe it's a software related thing.
Right now I'm at zero bars but the LTE keeps working fine. Idk what is going on lol
I live in a fringe area of Verizon. This phone is no weaker than my old Samsung S4.

Categories

Resources