Getting irritated with the nexus.

[Liderc]

Well, golly. That was very informative, thanks! I haven't had any signal issues with mine.

Nor have I, but it's nice to understand why the dBm and bars show differently than other LTE devices.

 

[catfisher]

I changed from using signal bars to showing actual signal strength. Seems that service is pretty good most of the time. It appears the bars did lie. Mist of the time I am -85 dbm or less. -93 isn't out the question but it isn't the norm.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

 

[WookieClaws]

Also in case no ones mentioned it, the Thunderbolt only shows bars and dBm signal for 3G, not 4G. The Nexus is the first phone to actually show a 4G signal, which is why the bars show lower and the dBm show higher.

This isn't an excuse for those who are dealing with a poor signal with the Nexus, or losing data, but simply an explanation for why your other 4G device showed more bars/lower dBm in the same locations.

Thanks, very helpful!!

 

[jroc]

Nexus isnt the first to show a true LTE signal, and it isnt the latest. The LG Revolution was the first. G Nex was next, LG Spectrum the latest AKAIK. And both LG phones shows both phone and data reception:

dbm's explained? - Android Forums

View attachment 49081

After this whole signal, bar mess thats the way it should be for every LTE phone from now on. And I think Sprint phones show them separately. I remember the Nexus S showing both in the status bar.

 

[jntdroid]

I'm going to be lazy for a second because I've never read up on this... are y'all saying that the signal bars on my Razr Maxx, even when in 4G, don't represent the actual 4G signal strength?

sent from my phone

 

[jroc]

Yea...according to articles its showing the phone reception. Which IMHO it should since these are phones first. If a phone is gonna put priority on a signal, I want it to be the phone signal. I guess whoever uses the phone less and the data more would want the data reception to be accurate.

What I did notice in pics of the ICS leak for the RAZR is in Settings/About Phone/Status it showed both phone and data reception.

 

[jntdroid]

Interesting, since the 4G/3G icons clearly switch based on the signal strength indicated in the bars. Well, let me rephrase - maybe they don't switch based on that, but when my 4G bars get down real low is when it'll switch to 3G. And voice doesn't go over 4G yet right?

 

[jroc]

If you mean VoLTE. No, not yet.

The 3G/4G icons switching you mention is interesting. I never really sat down and watched to see....but I asked this a few months ago....does the bars switch on the fly to match when the phone is in 1x, 3G and 4G? No one really answered this. I think according to that Anandtech article most phones just show the phone reception even on 4G.

 

[jntdroid]

I'll try and pay even closer attention, but I'd swear that my phone only switches to 3G when the 4G bars are real low; and I could've sworn I've literally watched them drop and then watch it switch to 3G - like if I'm walking into my office building where I can't get 4G.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems to throw a wrench into that whole thing - unless voice reception plays a part in data signal somehow. I don't know enough about it all, and again maybe I'm wrong in how I'm perceiving it!

 

[Liderc]

If you read the study you'll see that the Razr only shows 3g/1x. You can even download an app that will show you the 4G dBm, it will be a difference of around -10-15dBm than 3G on average.

I couldn't remember the APP that showed all the dBm's, but I downloaded it back when I first got the Nexus to test out the theory and my Nexus showed the 4G signal/bars, while my 3G signal would show much stronger on the APP. I then did the same thing with my cousin's Bionic and it showed 3G dBm in the about phone settings and 3G bars, while his 4G signal dBm showed on the APP around -10-15 dBm difference.

I think the Droid charge also shows the 4G dBm, but it's bars show the 1x.

Like I said, check out the study posted earlier, it explains it in detail and you'll see why there's such a difference in dBm and signal bars.