Galaxy Nexus' true reception

[Big Ry]

It seems like the GNex is getting a bad rep for having terrible reception. I see so many people in the GN forums complaining that they "don't got no bars". Also there is a plethora of nexus bashing in the RAZR and rezound forums. Now I understand that some people just get bad phones...it happens. And yes, there is a know 3G/4G hand off issue that plagues all 4G LTE devices (as I understand it). However, in my personal experience, I get better reception (voice AND data) than both my D1 and D2. I am sitting here now in my room with zero bars, and I have absolutely no problems connecting to the internet. With my D1 and D2, I had to sit at the edge of my bed with my phone over my left knee to get internet (1 bar). I think too many people are blowing the whistle on this device without ACTUALLY testing it. Again, let me reiterate, I realize there are some people who actually DO have problem phones. But does anyone share the same experience as me? My reception may not LOOK good, but as long as it acts good I don't care.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[ex0rcist]

It seems like the GNex is getting a bad rep for having terrible reception. I see so many people in the GN forums complaining that they "don't got no bars". Also there is a plethora of nexus bashing in the RAZR and rezound forums. Now I understand that some people just get bad phones...it happens. And yes, there is a know 3G/4G hand off issue that plagues all 4G LTE devices (as I understand it). However, in my personal experience, I get better reception (voice AND data) than both my D1 and D2. I am sitting here now in my room with zero bars, and I have absolutely no problems connecting to the internet. With my D1 and D2, I had to sit at the edge of my bed with my phone over my left knee to get internet (1 bar). I think too many people are blowing the whistle on this device without ACTUALLY testing it. Again, let me reiterate, I realize there are some people who actually DO have problem phones. But does anyone share the same experience as me? My reception may not LOOK good, but as long as it acts good I don't care.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

I had to bring my gnex back for exactly that reason. My bionic and my girls rezound get 3 bars of 3g at my house... kinda a fringe 3g area... got my gnex. Was so pumped. Get to my house.. 1 or 0 bars... sometimes no 3g at all. Needless to say I was very dissapointed... and went back to my moto. Shrug ...moto just needs to unlocked this phone so i can have the best of both worlds.

 

[ænyoc]

I've noticed this too. At work, my OGD never got data and barely got voice... and that was largely dependant on the weather and where I was in the building. Almost every call was dropped. With my nexus, I have 4g fast enough to stream 720p youtube videos and haven't had a dropped call yet(at least, not from my end)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

 

[alboboy10]

Didn't they say that its not a reception issue but the indicator shows the wrong amount of bars. Cause to be honest I'm not understanding these reception issues. The only issue I have with my phone is it takes 3 hours to charge. And if I take it off the charger early it loses a lot of battery in a short time.

My complains end there though. GPS has been great (better than tb). Reception no problem. Best display on the market by far. Smooth. It has a million options. Its a nexus! Can't emphasize how great it feels to finally say I own a true android.

This phone is the best all around phone in the market. Just because of the fact that its a nexus we will get all updates before anybody else will.

 

[tgyberg]

I get all sorts of signal readings (it's in a state of constant fluctuation) but I always have fast 4G. I stopped paying attention to signal strength now unless I travel. Even then I've never dropped anything.

 

[Big Ry]

I had to bring my gnex back for exactly that reason. My bionic and my girls rezound get 3 bars of 3g at my house... kinda a fringe 3g area... got my gnex. Was so pumped. Get to my house.. 1 or 0 bars... sometimes no 3g at all. Needless to say I was very dissapointed... and went back to my moto. Shrug ...moto just needs to unlocked this phone so i can have the best of both worlds.

So, do you wish you had tested the nexus instead of returning it based on the indicator?

 

[Big Ry]

Didn't they say that its not a reception issue but the indicator shows the wrong amount of bars. Cause to be honest I'm not understanding these reception issues. The only issue I have with my phone is it takes 3 hours to charge. And if I take it off the charger early it loses a lot of battery in a short time.

My complains end there though. GPS has been great (better than tb). Reception no problem. Best display on the market by far. Smooth. It has a million options. Its a nexus! Can't emphasize how great it feels to finally say I own a true android.

This phone is the best all around phone in the market. Just because of the fact that its a nexus we will get all updates before anybody else will.

They did, but it seems like some people just blow that off.

The battery issue you're having...Ive had that with literally every phone Ive owned, even non-smart phones. I figured it was just the nature of lithium-ion batteries. The battery indicator gives false readings if removed from the charger before a complete charge, but eventually equalizes to the true reading in a few minutes. This has happened on dozens of phones over the years.

 

[hydro556]

They did, but it seems like some people just blow that off.

The battery issue you're having...Ive had that with literally every phone Ive owned, even non-smart phones. I figured it was just the nature of lithium-ion batteries. The battery indicator gives false readings if removed from the charger before a complete charge, but eventually equalizes to the true reading in a few minutes. This has happened on dozens of phones over the years.

The reason folks blow that off is because it is absurd, and was meant to trick people who lack knowledge.

Those with knowledge are comparing the GNex signal, in dbm, to other devices in the same location.

It has not been a deal killer for me, but is contributing to dissatisfaction for me. I hope it is/can be addressed soon because I really want to keep the GNex.

 

[ex0rcist]

So, do you wish you had tested the nexus instead of returning it based on the indicator?

Nah.. i was droping calls.. getting no network found messages.. while my bionic would pull 2100kbps... i was left no choice.

 

[Big Ry]

The reason folks blow that off is because it is absurd, and was meant to trick people who lack knowledge.

Those with knowledge are comparing the GNex signal, in dbm, to other devices in the same location.

It has not been a deal killer for me, but is contributing to dissatisfaction for me. I hope it is/can be addressed soon because I really want to keep the GNex.

If the GNex uses a different method to calculate signal strength, the reading will be different...:blink:

 

[Artimis]

The amount of bars doesn't mean anything so you can't go by that. You need to check the actual signal strength under settings -> about phone -> status.

I primarily keep my Gnex in 3G mode for battery life reasons...last night, I had my wife's Droid 3 in one hand and my GNex in the other.

My wife's D3 was bouncing between -94 and -95 dbm's but showing full bars.

My Gnex was showing a solid -93 dBm but only showing 2 bars.

My Gnex was getting a better signal despite the fact the number of bars were less. The amount of bars shown based on signal strength is at the discretion of the manufacturer. Obviously, Moto's definition of excellent reception is different than Samsung's.

So you can really gauge by simply looking at the number of bars.

 

[Big Ry]

Nah.. i was droping calls.. getting no network found messages.. while my bionic would pull 2100kbps... i was left no choice.

Now that sounds like a problem. I certainly hope you tried a data wipe and/or exchange before you reverted back to the bionic, but either way those problems shouldnt be happening. I definitely have not experienced those issues, but I know some people have.

 

[hydro556]

If the GNex uses a different method to calculate signal strength, the reading will be different...:blink:

I will take a shot at reasonable discussion, which can be tough if you let feelings get involved where they dont belong.

Denying the obvious does nothing to help those of us who wish to make the GNex as great a device as it can be.

Not getting 3g service or 4g service in areas where older technology does well, is not indicative of a device with good reception. It is that simple. Instead of irrational denial of what appears to be a fairly widespread issue, how about we focus on getting Google and Samsung to address it.

I love my GNex, but need the mfg's to address a few issues. Before Jan 15.

ETA- I dont care if I show zero bars. I just want it to have phone and data service in all places (and hopefully more) that my previous device did.

 

[Big Ry]

I will take a shot at reasonable discussion, which can be tough if you let feelings get involved where they dont belong.

Denying the obvious does nothing to help those of us who wish to make the GNex as great a device as it can be.

Not getting 3g service or 4g service in areas where older technology does well, is not indicative of a device with good reception. It is that simple. Instead of irrational denial of what appears to be a fairly widespread issue, how about we focus on getting Google and Samsung to address it.

I love my GNex, but need the mfg's to address a few issues. Before Jan 15.

ETA- I dont care if I show zero bars. I just want it to have phone and data service in all places (and hopefully more) that my previous device did.

Well, I didn't start this thread to argue with anyone. As I said, I know people have had problems. I'm not denying that anyone has. It was my understanding that the problem lies in the method Samsung uses to calculate signal strength, whereby nullifying any comparison to other devices. If this is the case, then there are numerous people who have returned a device based on a "false" reading. I was curious as to how many people actually TESTED their phones by using data and making calls in areas that would typically be troublesome with other devices. That was the entire point of this thread. I get better signal strength in those areas, so I can't get Samsung and Google to address an issue that I do not have.

 

[adr3nalin3]

I just want to add that I usually sit at 1 bar of 4g (I usually don't get higher than -90 dbm), but I've hit 30mbps. I'll post a screenshot in a bit.