Related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2g5J4qPp54
A video clearly showing the cause of the 3G/Edge switching, and quite "WTF" at that
Does your phone do this?
(P.S. You can access Phone Info like in the video to see your signal strength by getting AnyCut from the Market -> Long press home screen -> Shortcuts -> AnyCut -> Activity -> Phone Info)
Easier way to access phone info:
Open up the dialer, *#*#INFO#*#*
Is this really all that suprising? I'd put money on the same thing happening with most phones with the antenna in a similar position.
Not had any noticable problems with 3G in the UK.
After watching all these videos I started freaking myself out about the 3g issue, but then I realized that 1. I never did any of this and wasn't constantly checking my G1 to see if I was on edge and 2. the only time that anything close to what happens in that video (for me at least) happens to me is if I'm somewhere with spotty 3g anyway. I'm sitting at my house right now where I get great 3g and if I cover the phone with my hands I lose maybe 8db at the most. I think the rumors of the 3g issue are greatly exaggerated.
If your in a poor 3g area it will do this. And like dude above said it'll do that on most phones. I remember getting my tp it had in the instructions Something about not covering the radio at the top of the phone (tps was at the top). Now I'm on horrible 3 g area and tested this and it did switch back n forth while doing that, but it also does it to my tp2 also, so it gonna happen on most phones in bad coverage, now when I'm closer to a tower it wont do that...
Any phone will act like that.. most I mean.
In my house I usually have around -97 through -101 dBm (with the phone on my desk, no hands).
What do you guys see as your average signal strength?
staulkor said:
Easier way to access phone info:
Open up the dialer, *#*#INFO#*#*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Typing that every single time you want to see the phone info is easier than tapping one shortcut?
Paul22000 said:
Typing that every single time you want to see the phone info is easier than tapping one shortcut?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or you can not download anything and just go to settings, about phone and status and get the same info....
Paul22000 said:
In my house I usually have around -97 through -101 dBm (with the phone on my desk, no hands).
What do you guys see as your average signal strength?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-70dBm to -79dBm no hands -77dBm to -81dBm in hand.
Not had any noticable problems with 3G at home...may loose 1 bar once in a while.
wow, i just tried the exact same test and got the same results and i am in a very strong 3g area (tempe)...
You are covering the antenna - of course you are going to see a loss of signal strength. If you are in an area where that loss causes you to bounce to edge then you are going to bounce to edge. This will happen with any phone although it is more noticeable with smartphones in my experience due to the lack of an exterior antenna (perhaps you'd see the same with bar style phones).
The N1 happens to have the antenna at the bottom of the phone (maybe not the smartest placement) whereas many other smart phones have it at the top of the phone. Whether or not you get the results in the video merely represent your relative signal strength in your area.
I've been trying to force myself to use my N1 with my left hand more then my right to keep the singal strength up...seems to be on the bottom right of the phone...
krohnjw said:
You are covering the antenna - of course you are going to see a loss of signal strength. If you are in an area where that loss causes you to bounce to edge then you are going to bounce to edge. This will happen with any phone although it is more noticeable with smartphones in my experience due to the lack of an exterior antenna (perhaps you'd see the same with bar style phones).
The N1 happens to have the antenna at the bottom of the phone (maybe not the smartest placement) whereas many other smart phones have it at the top of the phone. Whether or not you get the results in the video merely represent your relative signal strength in your area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's very natural to want to hold the phone at the bottom. So basically it's just bad design then?...
This strikes me as pretty much of a non-issue. Yes, human flesh is not very transparent to radio at these frequencies, so if you wrap a couple of centimeters of it around the antenna, you'll see a drop in signal strength. They have to put the antenna somewhere, so it's just a matter of putting your hand somewhere else. For myself, I hold the phone with my thumb on one side edge, my two middle fingers on the other side edge, and my index finger on the back next to the camera to press the earpiece against my ear. It feels very comfortable and quite natural that way, and it leaves plenty of air space around the antenna at the bottom. Holding it this way, I never have any signal strength problems or dropped calls.
There may indeed be some 3G/EDGE issues where the algorithm for when to switch isn't quite right; I can't tell about that because I only get EDGE inside my house and always get 3G outside my house, so I've never seen the flipping back and forth that seems to be the basis of most folks' complaints on this topic. I'm just not terribly impressed by an experiment showing that wrapping your hand around the antenna causes the signal strength to go down -- I mean, who'd have expected that? ;-)
Paul22000 said:
Well, it's very natural to want to hold the phone at the bottom. So basically it's just bad design then?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it is definitely a design that is not the most friendly, but the N1 is not the first phone to do it and likely won't be the last.
The video in question doesn't "show" anything new other than human flesh isn't very transparent to radio signals - anyone in a weaker coverage area can replicate the video while those in very strong 3G coverage areas (where you get a strong 3G signal not where the map says it's best) likely won't see any drop to edge unless they have hulk hands.
This doesn't appear to be any sort of newly discovered build issue (to be fair the manual that comes with the N1 states to avoid placing your hand/fingers on the bottom of the phone, with illustration on pg 12 ), rather it's a flaw in the design of the phone due to the location of the antenna and people's tendency to hold the phone covering the antenna.
@wmm and krohnjw
I'm just not terribly impressed by an experiment showing that wrapping your hand around the antenna causes the signal strength to go down -- I mean, who'd have expected that? ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but the N1 is not the first phone to do it and likely won't be the last.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The point isn't that [wrapping your hand around an antenna decreasing signal strength] is new information.
The point is, why does this happen so EASILY with the Nexus One?
And why has this phenomenon never appeared in the news so prominently for any other phone in the history of mobile phones, as it has with the Nexus One? THAT is the issue.
Also, the Motorla Droid has the antenna at the bottom (the bottom lip), does it not? Why doesn't that phone have any issues?
.... Why exactly are we placing the antennas at the bottom of any phone.. I mean you hold the phone on the bottom, like seriously? Is there a reason for this o_0
Paul22000 said:
And why has this phenomenon never appeared in the news so prominently for any other phone in the history of mobile phones, as it has with the Nexus One?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's probably because there actually was a problem with the software originally released with the N1 that caused it to switch between EDGE and 3G when it really didn't need to, and the resulting hue and cry about that over-sensitized people to this particular non-issue.
Paul22000 said:
And why has this phenomenon never appeared in the news so prominently for any other phone in the history of mobile phones, as it has with the Nexus One? THAT is the issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean like this phone?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN6265QQwhU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ0NkLqh3nU&NR=1
Just because you have some people *****ing loudly doesn't mean this is the first high profile phone that the issue has come up with...
Paul22000 said:
Also, the Motorla Droid has the antenna at the bottom (the bottom lip), does it not? Why doesn't that phone have any issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there could be a few things off of the top of my head (if it has the antenna at the bottom)
Motorola may have wired other surfaces to act as additional antennas (as apple claimed to do with the iPhone 3G) on the droid.
If they did not then it's entirely possible that the N1 may have poor automatic gain control set up currently while the droid appropriately boosts gain when the signal drops.
When I cover the back of the antenna and hold it covered the signal drops out of what should be "acceptable" after 10-15s. I don't lose 3G but there is a significant degradation in signal (down to -93 dBm to -95 dBm). Perhaps the ACG controls aren't allowing gain to be boosted high enough for the radio to get a stronger signal or the thresh hold of what is "acceptable" is set too low.
Ive had spotty 3g at my house since i got my phone. Most ive seen is 2 bars. Noticed tonight i left my phone on table and came back and i had full bars with 3g.
Picked up phone like i always and hold with left hand it drops to 1 to no bars. So i hold the phone with right hand i get stronger signal, left hand weak...
Im guessing the antenna is on the left bottom side of the phone apparently covering it up drops my 3g signal significantly, going from full to no bars just by covering left corner ...anyone else?
Not really complaining because i still connect 3g fine but i do drop to edge allot if im in certain rooms and phone calls never drop just curious of maybe a solution or whatnot
I looked on youtube and found this but you dont have to hold phone like this. just palm it with left hand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vefQ4I2wOXs
And sorry if posted already i could find anything on this here
Happens here too. Funny thing is that I have case on it. One thing those in the youtube comments are mixing up and not understanding is the signal strength. I wish they were more smart people in the world lol..
Anyway what I am getting at is that this happens with all Vibrants, it just depends on your current signal strength in dBm. For example, if I'm inside with around 4-5 bars, around -81dBm. Then when I grip it, the signal will go down by -20dBm or more resulting in two to three bar lost. Where as if I'm outside with around -51dBm and do the same thing. It will result in the same -20dBm but you won't notice it enough because the bars don't start to go down until around -89dBm or more.
* The lower the dBm, the better your signal.
* It was the same issue with Nexus One.
* The design of the phone is causing your hand to have more of an effect on it.
If anyone want to proove this case. Just get two Vibrants next to each other in the same area and do the hand thing.
Yea see i never noticed this with my N1 But yea what your saying makes scene.
Its not a big deal i still connect avr 1mbps with weak signal but found it odd
Yea same here. I do admit the signal is even more sensitive than my n1 was though. Oh well I guess this is just one thing we have live it until a better phone comes again.
Shouldn't 2.2 come with an updated radio and if so maybe it will help
It might make the radio use more power from my experience but this isn't a software issue. Though speaking of software, right now the dBm read out and bars are off by 5 or so dBm. So when we get the 2.2 update we should see the proper signal read out which will appear stronger and it should be more stable as well. Either way, our hands will still be able to affect the phone. Just like any other phone but more drastic with the Vibrant, N1 and iPhone 4.
The bars are generally useless and I don't think it's really an issue unless it's actually dropping the signal. I have zero bars of 3G all the time, and I still get full speed. The difference between zero bars and zero signal is rather large, IMO.
If the signal attenuation from holding it causes you to drop 3G altogether, well, I feel for you. It's never happened to me, and I've done all kinds of grip experiments to see if I could make the signal attenuate.
To go on, the Vibrant has the best radio of any phone I've ever used. The test for me is whether I can hold signal in my building's elevator. Virtually every phone I've owned (and most all my friends' phones) dropped signal as soon as the doors closed or shortly after. Prior to my Vibrant, the champ was my Blackberry 8820, which could hold signal for about two floors before cutting out. The Vibrant? It may drop to EDGE, but I still hold some kind of signal all the way down, which is amazing.
That something I notice the first day I got the Vibrant , did not have that issue with other previous phone in the same spot... if I put the phone in a table it gets full bars.. once I pick up the phone it goes back to 2 bars... the only way I get full bars is if a hold the phone just from the bottom.
I'm going to have a seizure if I see another one of these threads.
-81dBm is an obvious flaw and should be completely disregarded UNLESS you're off of JFD or anything based on JFD. This phones reported signal strength refreshes FAR more often than nearly all other Android phones on the market. Motorola on T-Mobile being the slowest to refresh any signal changes.
The bars are wrong and very inaccurate. Do a search. Update to JI2 or JI4.
heygrl said:
I'm going to have a seizure if I see another one of these threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another one of what threads?
Cut me some slack i rarely ask questions here and no one force you to click on this thread... but i do appreciate the info you gave.
Only thing i noticed when I went threw your post history is you replying to this question with threads with topic names not related to this problem.
And if you read my first post you would have seen
demo23019 said:
And sorry if posted already i could find anything on this here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and
demo23019 said:
Not really complaining because i still connect 3g fine but i do drop to edge allot if im in certain rooms and phone calls never drop just curious of maybe a solution or whatnot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... thanks for the info guys
I have created a new topic as I feel this one is important and don't want it to get lost in the ether.
I've noticed if you hold the phone in a normal way and it doesn't matter if its left or right hand the signal and WiFi will drop , when you change your grip signal goes back to normal .
IPhone problem on a HTC ?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Just picked up my phone. Full WiFi signal. Full mobile signal.
I can make wifi drop to 1 bar by holding the top half of the phone. Base of thumb on the volume control, top of thumb covering the power button and palm touching the camera. Releasing it, the signal will jump straight up. But who smothers their phone anyway?
Trifidw said:
I can make wifi drop to 1 bar by holding the top half of the phone. Base of thumb on the volume control, top of thumb covering the power button and palm touching the camera. Releasing it, the signal will jump straight up. But who smothers their phone anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I can simulate this as well. At least its not at the bottom where your more likely to hold it in a call
mancuk29 said:
I have created a new topic as I feel this one is important and don't want it to get lost in the ether.
I've noticed if you hold the phone in a normal way and it doesn't matter if its left or right hand the signal and WiFi will drop , when you change your grip signal goes back to normal .
IPhone problem on a HTC ?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not that simple. I'll bet there isn't a phone with an internal antenna that wouldn't drop a few bars anywhere when held in hand. Point is that the singal strenght in iphone 4 drops significantly more than in any other phone.
So does the DHD have the same antenna problem than iphone4? The only way to find out is to test in serval locations that will the DHD drop the signal when iphone 4 doesn't when the phones are held in hand. Comparing bars is pointless becouse it's calculated in so many different ways in various phones.
All phones suffer from this to some extent. The problem with the iPhone is that the metal part of the aerial is on the outside of the phone so that you are actually touching the aerial with your skin, which is why it's such as issue. At least HTC have a bit more design sense.
berek9999 said:
All phones suffer from this to some extent. The problem with the iPhone is that the metal part of the aerial is on the outside of the phone so that you are actually touching the aerial with your skin, which is why it's such as issue. At least HTC have a bit more design sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 The problem in iPhone 4 is due to the design of the phone - it uses the chassis as the aerial but the DHD is not designed to work in the same way.
I noticed that holding the TOP of the phone with your hand cupping the back causes WiFi signal to drop when in medium to low signal strength areas and also the Network signal to drop by up to 2 bars. Apple were keen to point out that many handsets have issues with signal degradation when holding the phone, however generally this is NOT while holding it at the bottom, the natural way of holding a phone.
So while the Desire HD will suffer a signal drop when held with your hand cupped around the top of the phone, it doesn't suffer the iPhone 'death grip' which imo is still a MAJOR issue with a handset that is perfect in many other ways. Put it simply, I've not dropped any calls with the DHD!!
Regards.
OMG I can't believe someone asking this question!
Next it will be someone reporting "Why can't I access the Apple app store on this device?!"
Your having a laugh aren't u ... hate Apple with all my might .. just concerned we would have same problems ! Hold my phone different so I don't
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
apprentice said:
OMG I can't believe someone asking this question!
Next it will be someone reporting "Why can't I access the Apple app store on this device?!"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a good question and one I was considering asking myself after noticing it while browsing in bed. I sleep at the opposite end of the house to my router and can easily cut the connection while holding the phone at the top.
I think with the current trend of slimmer phones the issue will be highlighted more frequently as it is now a necessity to make use of the phone casing in regards to signal transmission. It's a known fact that the DHD unibody is part of the functioning antenna, so it's not suprising that you can produce the effect when cupping the phone.
Thankfully HTC have placed the module in the top of the phone and not the bottom like our good friends in Cupertino!
Nothing here when I try the methods mentioned. The signal stays very strong. It's been flicking between H and 3G but that's nothing to do with the phone, pure T-Mobile thing.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
I have a desire z and just googled for this grip problem and found this thread.
I have quite a bit of trouble with my desire z, it drops two bars while calling. It even gets worse when you slide out the keyboard and start typing. The wifi and gsm/3g signal drops 2/3 bars!
This kind of sucks...
Has anyone had dropped calls due to this issue? If no, then there is no problem. Lowering the signal strength is normal, dropped calls aren't.
tkolev said:
Has anyone had dropped calls due to this issue? If no, then there is no problem. Lowering the signal strength is normal, dropped calls aren't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my device there is a little signal drop, but no drop calls at all!
"Drop calls" are a trade mark of iPhone4. ;-)
No dropped calls yet but 3g/hsdpa switches to gprs when holding it.
GiGi. said:
No dropped calls yet but 3g/hsdpa switches to gprs when holding it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's still a connection I know that it's slower and that's something you can feel unlike switching a voice call from UMTS to GSM, but it's not a drop. The higher frequency of 3G is more prone to signal attenuation and nothing can change that.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Hi all from Russia.
I have the same problem.
When the phone is on the table, the signal level WiFi and GSM 100% (A router in the half meter away from me)
Whenever I put it on your hand or touch the side cover, the level of WiFi drops to zero and GSM is not as critical, but falls to 2-3 division
I'm not saying if I go into another room, where the signal disappears altogether.(WiFi)
Do you think that this might be?
Bad soldering?
Waaa said:
Hi all from Russia.
I have the same problem.
When the phone is on the table, the signal level WiFi and GSM 100% (A router in the half meter away from me)
Whenever I put it on your hand or touch the side cover, the level of WiFi drops to zero and GSM is not as critical, but falls to 2-3 division
I'm not saying if I go into another room, where the signal disappears altogether.(WiFi)
Do you think that this might be?
Bad soldering?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check if the battery cover is closed properly. In the room where my WiFi router is, the signal drops 1-2 bars but it's still strong. I've read some reviews on 802.11n routers that claim the signal is actualy worse if you are too close to the router (can't check this myself as I am with a 802.11g router).
Dude, I checked a hundred times that damn cover
in the next room the signal disappears altogether, although on a different device everything is fine!
I tried to switch the router in different modes, the effect is the same.
Ok so yesterday (in Sydney, Australia) I returned my HTC Desire HD after I was facing poor reception when compared to 2 other phones used in the same room of the house. I did carry out the factory reset as suggested by HTC and also wiped the SIM cards clean. For the tests I used a Nokia 6120 and a Sony Ericsson k530i. I also used SIM cards from 3, Telstra and the one that came with the Desire HD from Vodafone. In all the tests the Desire HD had significantly worse reception (at least if the reception icons are anything to judge by).
Yesterday Vodafone replaced my Desire HD on the spot as I was within 28days of purchase. At first I seemed to think the reception was better on the new phone however this was with the phone laying on a box and not touching it. As soon as I picked up the phone reception became lousy again like my previous Desire HD. After reading comments from other users on this site regarding the antenna being in the cover plate at the bottom I tried holding the phone in different positions to see if this bottom cover plate really did affect things. The two videos linked to here show my findings using the brand new replacement phone I picked up yesterday. Also in the second video is shown if a factory reset or a gel case changes this isse.
Now that I've got a better understanding of what is causing this issue I will contact HTC again to see what they say about it. I'll keep you updated. Please post feedback on your phone including what carrier & country you are using and what ROM and radio version is loaded. Thanks
Here are the two videos I made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ljHtUMOH8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr16fGAVzQg
Okay I've contacted HTC in Australia and the person taking my call has looked at the two videos. He's said he has documented the issue and will forward the videos on to the HTC engineers to have a look at. Will let you know if they contact me with any updates. Feel free to contact HTC if you find similar issues with your phone. I would think the more people reporting this to HTC, the more importance they should place on trying to fix this issue.
Mine id exactly the same. I already noticed this since last week when I got it. Just dont hold it at the bortom.
are you part vampire or some thing
turn your lights on
put your phone in a case and your problems will be solved
Framedtrash said:
are you part vampire or some thing
turn your lights on
put your phone in a case and your problems will be solved
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AHEM. bit sounds like someone i know.. may be Stevey ..
But yes when reception is low, take your hand of the antenna at the bottom. I own a K530i too, where antennae is at back. I will get poor signal, if i hold it in particular way or if i keep it in cushion or so. but K530i antennae is ergonomic to hold but desire hd is placed right at where my palm holds it. this happens with WIFI too when i hold my fingers covering the side. but again its bearable. lets see how it holds in the long run.
At least the DHD, is ambidextrous. You can hold it with either hand just grip it in the middle. Compared to The iphone 4 which has crap signal when used by right handed girls. Lol lol lol.
Well, never had this problem even when I cover the bottom part the signal just drops 1 bar and that's it, no problems with the signal and whatsoever.
To the OP, just wondered what build no. and baseband is on your phone???
Originally posted by
Framedtrash are you part vampire or some thing
turn your lights on
put your phone in a case and your problems will be solved
Yesterday 07:02 PM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There problem is for an amateur like myself posting youtube videos is that if I don't decrease the exposure then you cannot see clearly the reception bars especially when I look at the backlit screen from the Sony Ericsson. I wanted to be sure most of all you can clearly see the what the phone screens are displaying.
Secondly please look at video 2 in the link it clearly shows how the Desire HD works in my experience in a case. Bascially a gel case solves nothing in my situation or at best maybe only delays by a few seconds the reception loss when holding the bottom.
Originally posted by nm8 To the OP, just wondered what build no. and baseband is on your phone???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please look at video 1. It clearly show the software information page in the video which shows the ROM verison, radio version, kernal version and baseband (or radio version) from the stock Vodafone Australia ROM that came preloaded as of yesterday January 23. I don't believe recent radio or ROMs fix this issue as SWIM loaded 1.72.405.3 with the latest radio his phone to try to solve this issue, that didn't fix it so SWIM then tried around 4 different radio versions including the latest "test" release from UK and still no significant improvement. I'd be happy to hear other's feedback on this and what ROMs and Radio versions they use and if any real improvement. I will make clear though that with my brand new phone, it is stock and unmodified.
I mean no disrespect guys when I say this, I'm happy to take constructive criticism and feedback just please have a look at the two videos first and consider everything explained and put forward before posting a quick response.
As I mention in the video this issue is not as bad with Telstra and 3 SIM cards in my room as they seem to have better reception and don't drop as many bars (but they still do drop bars) holding the phone in the "death grip". The worst is the included Vodafone SIM card which the phone is on a contract with and doesn't get completely full reception before holding the phone as shown. I would imagine that the same scenario would be replicated elsewhere. Find an area where you don't get full reception and see how much it drops when you hold your phone like I have in the video. Again this is going to most affect data while browsing the web ect rather than calls where you are likely to hold the phone differently.
I don't want to start a war or get people upset here. I love the Desire HD and Android. I've paid for a long term 24month contract and I plan on keeping my phone. I'm only just surprised to find out this issue and I hope HTC will take it seriously to try to find a way to help out with solving it. Take care guys. Again if anyone else wants to alert HTC to this issue I think they will be more likely to treat this with more importance. As present HTC Australia seemed to say they'd heard nothing about it and played it down a bit.
Ok, you say the recpetion is worse than your older phone are you actually measuring the recpetion or looking at the bars?. More importantly does it actually result in dropped calls? I believe the issues with the iPhone4 (and if apple are to be believed all phones in the world released before it) where that the bars are only a vague representation of signal strength and that if held wrongly it dropped calls.
I don't pay enough attention to the signal bars, but certainly my ability to make and recieve calls is no worse than my previous HTC Magic and better than my wife's iPhone 3g
Just tested on my phone and here are the results... If i push the bottom of phone to my palm the bars drop from 4 to 2, when holding it in such way that palm covers the bottom bars drop from 4 to 3.... When holding it normally i have full bars, so i dont really see a problem...
Just adding my 2 pence, prior to updating my Radio I would get low or no signal at home. Probably the only draw back of living in rural Wales.
Now after flashing the latest Radio 26.04.03.30_M, I get a solid 3 bars 90% of the time.
No new cell towers have been constructed, the locals would go mental! In essence what I'm trying to say is, try an update your Radio.
Ensure you follow all guides to the letter.
Still no response from OP, as to whether this has a detrimental effect on real world reception i.e dropped calls, so as to whether this is an actual problem at all!
Edit: I assume from the resounding silence, that there's is no actual real world effect?... Nothing to see here move along please!
^^ I'm sorry I cannot answer that question as ever since got the phone with this SIM card I've been waiting for Vodafone to get back to me to change over my existing phone number so I've put on hold to use this Vodafone SIM card to make any calls. I can't believe that many years after the Australia wide (I believe government) policy to be able to keep your phone number that Vodafone are making a stink about it being such an issue to swap my number over. So in short I haven't been using the new SIM card and only been using Wi-Fi because I want to wait till it's transferred to my old number. I would imagine holding the phone vertically as shown that web browsing on zero bars wouldn't be great. If someone could test this googling net speed test with the bottom held and then without the bottom held I would be most grateful. I would also guess that once I move to an area with even less reception that data would drop out completely. Again this is just my educated guess. Others will probably have more experience on this.
ghostofcain said:
Ok, you say the recpetion is worse than your older phone are you actually measuring the recpetion or looking at the bars?. More importantly does it actually result in dropped calls? I believe the issues with the iPhone4 (and if apple are to be believed all phones in the world released before it) where that the bars are only a vague representation of signal strength and that if held wrongly it dropped calls.
I don't pay enough attention to the signal bars, but certainly my ability to make and recieve calls is no worse than my previous HTC Magic and better than my wife's iPhone 3g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The bars cannot be trusted and that's why we have a little thing called FieldTest. Dial *#*#7262626#*#* and you can see the actual signal strength in dbm. When completely covered and the palm pressed to the antenna the signal drops 7-10 db which should not be a problem. I normally hold the phone a little higher, covering only a small part of the antenna and the signal drop is even smaller - like 2-3 db. That's for WCDMA, for GSM frequencies it should be even more negligible. Too lazy to test it though .
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
tkolev said:
The bars cannot be trusted and that's why we have a little thing called FieldTest. Dial *#*#7262626#*#* and you can see the actual signal strength in dbm. When completely covered and the palm pressed to the antenna the signal drops 7-10 db which should not be a problem. I normally hold the phone a little higher, covering only a small part of the antenna and the signal drop is even smaller - like 2-3 db. That's for WCDMA, for GSM frequencies it should be even more negligible. Too lazy to test it though .
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
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Click to collapse
It's about the same with GSM at least for me, which to be honest isn't a worry, so again I don't see this as being an issue in real world use
ghostofcain said:
It's about the same with GSM at least for me, which to be honest isn't a worry, so again I don't see this as being an issue in real world use
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Some side-by-side comparison with the iPhone 4
Signal strength with the iPhone is ~5 db worse than the DHD. Both phones laying on the table so no touching whatsoever. When touched (with just one finger) at the "sweet spot" (bridging the WiFi and gsm antennas) the signal on the iPhone drops like 15-20 db. Both phones are in WCDMA mode.
Again I normally hold the phone higher than the cover by the sides of the phone. Unfortunately with the iPhone my ring finger goes exactly where the most trouble is caused, but if you ask a certain someone that's because I'm holding it wrong
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
I read this a few days ago. It may prove useful repeated here.
http://m.gizmodo.com/5740076/giz-explains-why-your-call-dropped
Yoshi_523 said:
Please post feedback on your phone including what carrier & country you are using and what ROM and radio version is loaded. Thanks
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hello,
i am from austria europa and its the same
when i hold the handy with my fingers only on the top i have 4points
when i hold it with my right hand i have 4points sometimes 3
when i hold my handy with the left hand i have 2 points
i thought the last week.. why i have ever a problem when i call out from here ...never i had it with my nokia n80.
right now i know it..... super work from HTC... siro points for her
it was my last HTC handy for sure... also some others as
incoming call display doesn't indicate that a call is forwarded etc.... but thats an other story
tnx
cqf
Same here.
When I hold the phone with my right hand it drops 1 bar (around 6db in FieldTest)
When I hold the phone with my left hand it drops 2-3 bars (around 12db in FieldTest).
When it poor reception areas (around 2 bars signal) holding in the left hand it switches from 3G to 2G.
I think there is definitively a signal problem, especially for left handed people.
It would be nice to gather more impressions.
Have been using my N6P (on Verizon) for a few days now, and compared with my Moto X Pure, the signal on the N6P is really, really bad.... To the point that I might have to return the N6P and stick with the Moto.
Seeing there are many out there praising the N6P's cell reception, it's also possible there might be quality issues with my particular unit.
For those who like the cell reception on their N6P, could you try this simple experiment? Check if covering the visor area with your hand affects cell signal and data transfer speed? (You will inevitably cover part of it when holding the phone horizontally with both hands or just the left hand) On my phone, just loosely covering the visor area with my hand lowers signal by two(!!) bars, and lowers LTE data transfer rate from averaging ~16MBps to less than 10MBps.. In comparison, the Moto X Pure and even the iPhone 6s+ would give much more consistent reception regardless of the way you're holding the phone.
Moto X pureeee is the shizzle
I've been using my 6p for almost twelve hours straight since I received it on Verizon and it gets noticeably better reception than my moto x 2014 ever did. Lte in places the moto would lose signal in and streaming music at insane quality at the same time with no issues. (Yes, I have unlimited) maybe you do have an issue with your 6p!
Bestreception compared to previous devices
Sent from my Nexus 6P
I had to return a GS6 for this reason. Whatever phone I bought next had to be as good as or better than my M8. I was happy to see after comparing with a Signal Reception app that the 6P performs better than the M8. If you are having trouble I'd RMA it now. Poor signal is not an issue for the 6P.
Download "Network Signal Info" and compare the reading. Remember a lower figure is better. -70dBm is better than - 75dBM . Check both phones are on the same cell for a correct comparison.
I'm on Verizon and just came from a moto x pure to nexus 6p and mine has better signal strength and download speeds than the pure.
I also get better signal strength, and it holds onto LTE much longer than my Verizon G4 or Note5 did.
I'm on Tmobile. I get better reception everywhere compared to my Moto X 2014 Pure.
tacosrdelicioso said:
I've been using my 6p for almost twelve hours straight since I received it on Verizon and it gets noticeably better reception than my moto x 2014 ever did. Lte in places the moto would lose signal in and streaming music at insane quality at the same time with no issues. (Yes, I have unlimited) maybe you do have an issue with your 6p!
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That's good to know, thanks!
Could you try the little experiment with the covering the visor? Just hold the phone horizontally with both hands loosely covering the visor and the little plastic area at the bottom, and see if that has an impact on your LTE signal and data transfer speeds? (Since you're also on UDP I won't feel bad wasting your data
I have very good reception on my 6p, on Verizon. Try setting it to lte +cdma only
I'm on Verizon, coming from an HTC One M7, and the reception is exponentially better. Our house has been a signal dead zone for most phones on CDMA, with GSM carriers doing better. With the 6P my reception is clearer than the landline (VOIP) most of the time, and where before calls would deteriorate on the driveway I can now make pretty clear calls from the basement.
I tried your experiment and covered up the vizor - cell reception actually improved briefly the first time! I assume that was a coincidence because I've tried it a few more times, and tried both cell data and wifi and not seen that again.
Covering the vizor does appear to have an effect on the wifi signal, it deteriorates slightly, but (having turned of wifi to test) not on the cell signal/LTE enough to change the display.
So - my conclusion would be there's the possibility of covering the vizor causing interference, but it's not significant in this little test. (Phone has a Verus Case on it, for completeness of data )
sadboyzz said:
That's good to know, thanks!
Could you try the little experiment with the covering the visor? Just hold the phone horizontally with both hands loosely covering the visor and the little plastic area at the bottom, and see if that has an impact on your LTE signal and data transfer speeds? (Since you're also on UDP I won't feel bad wasting your data
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I got my signal to change from -90 to -93 cupping my hands around the visor. Data did slow down a little on the back go back tests. 55mbps down to 47mbps. Not really anything significant
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
tacosrdelicioso said:
I got my signal to change from -90 to -93 cupping my hands around the visor. Data did slow down a little on the back go back tests. 55mbps down to 47mbps. Not really anything significant
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
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Thanks for doing the test!
So from what I can tell, at least this does seem like a general issue and not a quality issue with my unit, but the weaker the signal in the area, the more noticeable the "horizontal grip" problem becomes. For me, gripping the visor area and the bottom plastic area lowers signal strength from ~-110dbM to ~-116dbM, and LTE speed from ~16Mbps to ~10Mbps, and it's consistently reproduceable every time.
Rainstalk said:
I have very good reception on my 6p, on Verizon. Try setting it to lte +cdma only
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Yeah, tried that and "Global", doesn't seem to make any difference.
sadboyzz said:
Thanks for doing the test!
So from what I can tell, at least this does seem like a general issue and not a quality issue with my unit, but the weaker the signal in the area, the more noticeable the "horizontal grip" problem becomes..
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I actually noticed this the very first day when I got the phone. I was at work where signal was either very weak or non existent, and I noticed anytime I was trying to surf the Web with my palm covering the bottom plastic area, the Web page wouldn't load until I moved my hand away and uncovered it. My first thought was "ruh roh, antenna gate".. But it only acted this way with very poor signal. When I'm anywhere with decent signal, this phone gets better reception than any other phone I've had.
I have to day I've had phenomenal reception with this phone. My Samsung phones sucked... And my G3 was much better... But this blows the G3 out of the water. My work is a cinder block fortress where cell signal goes to die.... But this phone gets 4g signal where no other phone of mine did.
Just a followup, turned out to be defective unit. The symptoms were subtle, I'd get wild signal fluctuations, from 3 bars to no bars for no reason. But what pushed me over the edge was that I was also getting random wifi disconnects. So I talked to customer support and Google sent a replacement with zero hassles, which has been working flawlessly so far.
Overall, I'd say signal wise it's on par with the Moto X Pure, which is also the best of all the phones I've used.
sadboyzz said:
Just a followup, turned out to be defective unit. The symptoms were subtle, I'd get wild signal fluctuations, from 3 bars to no bars for no reason. But what pushed me over the edge was that I was also getting random wifi disconnects. So I talked to customer support and Google sent a replacement with zero hassles, which has been working flawlessly so far.
Overall, I'd say signal wise it's on par with the Moto X Pure, which is also the best of all the phones I've used.
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Glad you got it worked out. My daughter takes soccer lessons at a place that is a steel building. It's a low signal area anyway outside the building but inside nobody gets service.... Att, sprint, Verizon... Nothing. Other parents with iphones, galaxies... My old G3. Nothing. Non of them really get a usable signal inside. Last night I was able to surf/Facebook/twitter... You name it. Everything worked. I've never had a usable signal like this on any phone I've ever used. For that alone this phone rules.
On T-Mobile here, signal has been good for me. At my work building it does seem to hold onto the LTE band a bit better than my M9 that keeps switching between LTE and HSPA+ so frequently that I have to set it to HSPA+ only. So I have seen a moderate increase in cell reception in the phone versus my M9. But I also have a GS6 and I'd say the cell reception is pretty close to that.
One thing I noticed kind of weird is that it goes to showing all bars when just at -97 dbm. That's probably a stock 6.0 thing that's with all phones on 6.0 version. But weird considering on the scale of dbm, that's on kind of the low end. That should really be like 2 out of 4 bars, or 3 out of 5 bars.
I can render Bluetooth completely useless gripping the visor area. But all phones do this if you can find the correct area to block. Usually things like cell signal and WiFi just degrade unless it's already borderline. All phones do this.
Sent from a 128th Legion Stormtrooper 6P