Signal Strength: is -85 to -92 bad?

[s1njin]

Just wondering if I'm setting myself up for excessive battery drain on a DROID given my signal at the house. I'm testing this by looking at the status screen of my VZW blackberry

My neighbor next door has a 3g ATT blackberry - he's getting -70 (solid) in my home.

???

 

[obutto]

-70 is terrific. -85 to -92 is like 1-2 bars. I have the same at my house. I can leave my phone on for about 30 hours IDLE and about 16 hours with moderate use. I don't think that -85 to -92 will drain your battery that hard. I have basically 1 to no bar 3G as well and I'm fine. What I noticed is that at a school where my connection was -105 I basically drained myself in 8 hours. So...I think 90-92 is fine, but once you start going 95+ it will start serious drainage.

 

[s1njin]

-70 is terrific. -85 to -92 is like 1-2 bars. I have the same at my house. I can leave my phone on for about 30 hours IDLE and about 16 hours with moderate use. I don't think that -85 to -92 will drain your battery that hard. I have basically 1 to no bar 3G as well and I'm fine. What I noticed is that at a school where my connection was -105 I basically drained myself in 8 hours. So...I think 90-92 is fine, but once you start going 95+ it will start serious drainage.

That's so odd - at my signal my bars read between 3 and 4. So I guess my meter is overly optimistic on this Blackberry?

Question - can you turn the Cellular radio off on a Droid and still maintain WiFi w/o going to sleep? I was thinking of linking my phone to Google Voice - if I can do the radio/wifi thing I can still get my texts and have my phone ring the house as well.

 

[obutto]

The -90 dBm measures 1X not 3G. Your 3-4 bars is probably your 3G signal, which is good. And if you have 3-4 bars 3G, then you should have no problem with battery draining. There should be no reason that you have to turn off your Cellular radio.

And no, your phone will not ring if you turn off your cellular radio aka go to airplane mode. Calling features depend on 1X not 3G/Wifi. I think Google Voice will work though

 

[s1njin]

The -90 dBm measures 1X not 3G. Your 3-4 bars is probably your 3G signal, which is good. And if you have 3-4 bars 3G, then you should have no problem with battery draining. There should be no reason that you have to turn off your Cellular radio.

And no, your phone will not ring if you turn off your cellular radio aka go to airplane mode. Calling features depend on 1X not 3G/Wifi. I think Google Voice will work though

Wow, I wish there was a way to know for sure what my 3G signal is w/ Verizon ... committing to a contract is a long time so I want to make sure I'm on the right network.

 

[obutto]

Wow, I wish there was a way to know for sure what my 3G signal is w/ Verizon ... committing to a contract is a long time so I want to make sure I'm on the right network.

Well you can try that out for yourself

If it doesn't work good, then just cancel your account and go back to whatever provider you had before.

You can try out our service for 30 days.

At Verizon Wireless, we stand behind our service. If you're not completely satisfied, you can cancel service within 30 days and pay no early termination fee if you return your device. A restocking fee may apply.

I mean you could always just use Wifi at home if your 3G is weak like mine. Basically everywhere else I have great connection, city, school, and basically everywhere I chill.

 

[dmodert66]

I am at -93 1x and 2 to 3 bars for 3G. I have never dropped a call in my house. I've been with VZW for 5 years now and the service EVERYWHERE (with uncommon exceptions now an then) has been fantastic.

I left AT&T after 5 years because we had to walk to our driveway to even MAKE a call! They kept telling me year after year "we are going to be putting a tower close to your house soon". That was all lies and BS. It's been 5 years since I dropped them, and still when people come over with AT&T, they have call problems (Dropped, no service, etc)...