Help Can Software REALLY help our reception???

[rockokma]

15 dbm more compared to my incredible ALL the time. 3g stuck most the time. Can a software update really do something for this?

Also, I can never pick up 4g in an "Extended 4g area" with mobile roaming turned ON. Is this normal for Verizon or maybe there is a glitch that mobile roaming isn't working?

edit: I really don't want this to be a debate. I want someone to give some facts. Thank you.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I had the Samsung Fascinate for the last year. The reception was ok when I first picked it up. After a few updates the reception became very poor where I lived in Georgia and downright horrible where I live in Colorado. We are talking -75 (Georgia) changed to -85/-90 (Georgia after update) and then to -99/-105 (Colorado). After I loaded the Gingerbread update a week or so ago the reception improved by leaps and bounds. So my -99/-105 became -79/-84. All of these changes took place due to software updates.

 

[saulback]

I had the Samsung Fascinate for the last year. The reception was ok when I first picked it up. After a few updates the reception became very poor where I lived in Georgia and downright horrible where I live in Colorado. We are talking -75 (Georgia) changed to -85/-90 (Georgia after update) and then to -99/-105 (Colorado). After I loaded the Gingerbread update a week or so ago the reception improved by leaps and bounds. So my -99/-105 became -79/-84. All of these changes took place due to software updates.

I had the droid charge previous to the gnex. I don't have number to back it up, but after updates, the signal improved greatly. I know i don't have any facts, but the manufacturers do make updates to the radio firmware.

 

[rockokma]

Wow, that's 20dbm difference. Let's hope this happens soon. I'm really thinking about picking up a rezound and paying $35 just to see if I could get 4g at my house with it. Obviously not getting it with the nexus.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Well 4.1 is in testing and people who have had it said that it improved reception by a considerable amount. 4.0.2 was out for a month before they finally sent it out the day before launch. Since 4.1 has been in testing for a few weeks I have feeling it should be sent out in a week or two......hopefully.

 

[litrekid]

I hope it is a good improvement. I can get a good signal here at work but it is very inconsistent. Anywhere from -80-120. Constantly up and down.

 

[red66charger]

Well 4.1 is in testing and people who have had it said that it improved reception by a considerable amount. 4.0.2 was out for a month before they finally sent it out the day before launch. Since 4.1 has been in testing for a few weeks I have feeling it should be sent out in a week or two......hopefully.

OTD, have you picked up a GNex yet? I know you had a Rezound for a while, I'm interested to know what your experience with reception is between these two devices. I'm very close to exchanging my device to a different Nexus, but perhaps I should wait it out.

 

[rockokma]

Remember, we do have until the 15th of january to return because of the holiday return policy.

Let's hope they get it fixed before the 15th or I might be going for the Rezound on the 13th to check out the difference in 4g stability.

 

[OfTheDamned]

OTD, have you picked up a GNex yet? I know you had a Rezound for a while, I'm interested to know what your experience with reception is between these two devices. I'm very close to exchanging my device to a different Nexus, but perhaps I should wait it out.

Of course! I picked mine up on release day.

It is kind of a mixed thing with the comparison. I was seeing better dBm results with the Rezound, but I am getting better speeds over 4G and wifi with the Nexus.

Rezound: Average of around -88 dBm and 6 Mbps down with speed tests over both 4G and wifi.
Nexus: Average of around -95 dBm and 8 Mbps down with speed tests over 4G and 10 Mbps over wifi.

I never dropped a call on either.

Honestly, I still have the option to return my Nexus and get the Rezound. I'm going to wait and see what an update might do and if one comes before 1/15.

 

[magpullin]

My Thunderbolt received several updates to the radio and the last one I got made a noticeable difference. Both battery and 4g were better. Call signal seemed better too, but I never had a problem with that anyway.

My Gnex runs about 10dBm over the Bolt, but I have not noticed any issues yet. My download speeds on 4g are much better with the Gnex though (running them side by side yesterday).

 

[Sandroidfan]

It seems that Samsung phones are very conservative on signal bar display for data rate. So your actual download speed might be just fine than what it suggests. I can't wait to test mine nest week.

 

[Appleanche]

Am I the only one not noticing any differences? My OG Droid has about the same reception everywhere and that was pretty good.

 

[I Saw OJ]

Am I the only one not noticing any differences? My OG Droid has about the same reception everywhere and that was pretty good.

I'm seeing the same thing. My droid would get around 3 bars in my apartment for 3G, and now my SGN is getting around 3 bars of 4G. There is no comparing the actual download speeds however.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I'm seeing the same thing. My droid would get around 3 bars in my apartment for 3G, and now my SGN is getting around 3 bars of 4G. There is no comparing the actual download speeds however.

Bars aren't really the issue. Because the bars you are seeing is more or less a software interpretation of your signal it isn't a clear sign of the signal you are receiving. Remember the old At&t "More bars in more areas" slogan? It really meant nothing because the actual signal reading could be manipulated by the software to show more bars no matter how bad your signal actually was. With Samsung it has been said that their phones show poorer bars even when receiving the same signal as another phone. Not sure how accurate that is, but I know from experience that other Samsung phones I've had in the past can show very low bars while having the exact same signal as other phones.

The real measure of signal is dBm (Found in Settings > About Phone > Status on most Android phones) and ASU. dBm is an abbreviation for power ratios in decibels of the measured power referenced to one milliwatt. It is used in all sorts of things like radios, phones, fiber optics, etc. With a wireless network the max you would ever really see in -10 dBm to -30 dBm, but that is just a max level and probably not anything anyone ever sees in the real world. Int he real world -60 dBm is pretty much perfect signal. The way it normally works is that the software interprets the dBm and displays bars on the screen. A typical comparison of dBM to bars will go something like this:

1 Bar = -102 to -120 dBm
2 Bars = -93 to -101 dBm
3 Bars = -87 to -92 dBm
4 Bars = -78 to -86 dBm
5 Bars = -40 to -77 dBm

This shows that the higher the number (remember these are negatives we are dealing with so -1 > than -5) the better the signal. However, depending on the phone your actual number of bars may vary. With some phones you will get full bars even above -87 dBm.

ASU is normally referred to as Active Set Update and is typically a value that is in proportion to the signal strength measured by the phone. ASU is also normally used in handover (when you phone switches from one tower to another) as well as the speed in which it will update your location (ever wonder why your shown in another town on some apps?). It can be converted to dBM by dBM = -113+(2*ASU) However, it has been said before that ASU actually means something different on Android. Some say that it stands for Android Signal Unit instead.

So what my rather long winded post is trying to say is, don't trust your bars all the time. Trust your actual signal.

 

[nj02vette]

Software (or more technically firmware) can have a HUGE impact on radio performance, either good or bad, if the software is the issue.

If it's a hardware issue, no amount of software in the world can help. Look at the infamous "your holding it wrong" iPhone poor antenna design, for instance.

I don't believe there is anything inherently wrong with the hardware in the GNex. Many have compared it to the Charge, and I don't know if it uses the exact same internals. However, the only anecdotal evidence that I can present is that while the "bars" and signal show slightly less than my Moto Droid X, I haven't had any issues with calls, with WiFi, or with 4G. Speed test shows 35Mbps down, 13 up, so no complaints here.
Similarly, for whatever reason, Amazon app store purchases on my DX took FOREVER to download. I'm talking like 15-20minutes for an Angry Bird level update. My Xoom and Nook Color, didn't take too long. But the GNex flies.
So technical aspects aside, I currently don't have any issues with reception. Now maybe that's because I am in a good reception area, and possibly other areas my phone would be acting up too. We will see.

 

[Premium1]

I had a thunderbolt before the nexus and at first the thunderbolt was awful and through updates it got a lot better both in reception and in other areas. Supposedly 4.1 really helps with the radio and supposedly are already testing a new radio for the 4.0.3 that should help.