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dbm's explained?

Bartles

Newbie
Dec 29, 2011
14
8
I have read lots and lots about dbms on here. I'm not sure exactly what they are. Im guessing its signal strength that your particular phone radio is able to muster in. I am very curious about this because it seems to be the best and perhaps only tool to see how are Gnexus' are demonstrating performance. Its also the major area of turmoil with the Gnex.

So anyone that could simply school me on this would be great. Is a lower number better. And maybe we could list in this thread very cleanly some measurements about the signal strength. Not to be redundant, but rather to more effectively gather imput to see whats going on. Short and sweet.

What would be amazing perfect dbms, and what would be unacceptable??
 
Lower is better.

However they say the nexus is the only phone to read true lte so their dbm signal is lte.

You cant compare it to the rezound/razr any other 4g because their dbm readimg is suppose to be actually 3g.

I dunno. Hope that helps. Even tho i dont think that is reason the nexus has crappy signal. I think its the radio
 
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I've read that, butI saw that the lg revolution has dual indicators.
DSC_0734.jpg
 
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However they say the nexus is the only phone to read true lte so their dbm signal is lte.

You cant compare it to the rezound/razr any other 4g because their dbm readimg is suppose to be actually 3g.

When the Nexus is forced to CDMA-only mode (either to conserve battery or when the 4G LTE signal is too weak to use), then it will show the 3G dBm value which can be compared to any other VZW phone.

I've read that, butI saw that the lg revolution has dual indicators.

Kewl, I didn't know it did that.
 
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I had read about this phone for a while and couldn't wait to get it. When it was finally released for Verizon I placed an order for three of these for my family. While waiting for them to arrive I started reading all of these posts about how bad the reception was and I started to wonder if I'd done the wrong thing by buying them. I live in a fringe area that had a -120 signal reading on the Droid Eris that I was using and thought if the Nexus is that bad there's no way I'd be able to place a call. The phones finally arrived and while still @ -120 no dropped calls, 3g works fine & I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Maybe I'm just lucky or maybe people are to hung up on numbers. Bottom line..... Who cares about the numbers? The phone either works for you or it doesn't. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction, take it back.
 
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I had read about this phone for a while and couldn't wait to get it. When it was finally released for Verizon I placed an order for three of these for my family. While waiting for them to arrive I started reading all of these posts about how bad the reception was and I started to wonder if I'd done the wrong thing by buying them. I live in a fringe area that had a -120 signal reading on the Droid Eris that I was using and thought if the Nexus is that bad there's no way I'd be able to place a call. The phones finally arrived and while still @ -120 no dropped calls, 3g works fine & I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Maybe I'm just lucky or maybe people are to hung up on numbers. Bottom line..... Who cares about the numbers? The phone either works for you or it doesn't. If it doesn't work to your satisfaction, take it back.

Well said!

I seem to be experiencing the same thing. At home Im supposed to be on the fringe of 4g coverage but can't receive it on the nexus. My 3g signal always shows 1 blue bar at -120 and it connects decently. I am on wifi at home unless experimenting with the connectivity.

Not sure how I came up with what Im about to explain, but Im pretty sure It came from a solid source. Whenever I explain getting a signal to someone, I always tell them the advantage of the verizon cdma (voice call) verse gsm is that with verizon, even if you have 1 bar you are connected, and that connection is as good as all other connections regardless of bars. That is the beauty of cdma, your either on of off, no gsm distinctions such as poor quality or static related to your bar strength.

Im guessing that data connections are altogether different, and 4G even more so.
 
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Um, higher is better. -75 dBm > -120 dBm.

Just be sure to compare LTE to LTE when comparing between phones, which is pretty difficult since most other phones don't report LTE signal strength.

There are a few apps in the market to help with this endeavor. Sensorly will display 3G and LTE signal strength at the same time, so that one doesn't have to switch to 3G to compare the Nexus signal levels to any of the other phones. However, I have noticed that sometimes the app reports slightly different numbers from what can be seen in Settings > About Phone > Status.

Some have reported that if used on any of the other 4G phones, it also reports LTE signal strength. I can't confirm this myself, but it's worth a try if one is interested.
 
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You mean test the signal at your closest VZW store where they boost the signal? :p

Do they have signal booster at VZW stores?
BTW, mine doesn't need it to function as phone.

edit: ok, I guess you were sarcastic before. I'm not suggesting anyone with other phone should have got Gnex, just to clarify. Just wanted to say not everyone is having reception issue.
 
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You mean test the signal at your closest VZW store where they boost the signal? :p

If they boost the signal in the stores then they don't a good job in my store. Signal levels in the store are about the same as most places in my city read and the best levels are NOT found in my store, not even close.
 
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Do they have signal booster at VZW stores?
BTW, mine doesn't need it to function as phone.

If they boost the signal in the stores then they don't a good job in my store. Signal levels in the store are about the same as most places in my city read and the best levels are NOT found in my store, not even close.

Hmmmm, perhaps I was too glib. I don't know for sure that they do that. People have suggested it, and I assumed it was similar to how electronic stores show perfect TV reception even on junky tuners.
 
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