OK, so I know there have been a few threads regarding DInc's signal strength, and the reading of the bars vs. the actual dbm. I just want to share with you my opinion, and see if there is a consensus. If there is we, need to start documenting this with VZW, so that a fix can be put out sooner than later (see below).
Obviously, my bars don't represent the dbm, but I think there's more to it than just an improper bar reading.
I have a Moto Droid, and my wife has the incredible, and we'll trade phones every so often for what ever reason. She's a teacher, and what really caught my attention is that her battery on the DInc, would only last about 4 hours when she had the phone at her school. When she would take my Moto Driod the battery lasted all day, and by all day I mean it was at 50% by 4:00pm.
The DInc, outside of her school (weekends), would last exactly the same as the Moto Droid in or outside of her school building. So I had her start paying attention to the signal, and sure enough, the DInc, spent the majority of it's day, searching for a signal, bouncing between 1x to EV 1 bar to no signal. At this point I was confident that the majority of the battery drain issue had to do with the phone constantly searching for a signal. Her dbm ranged form -82 to -102 at her school, and -74 to -101 at home. My Moto Droid gets -65 to -89 at my house, and close to the same reading at her school, but never once has the Moto Droid lost the signal or dropped to 1x, so the Moto Droid's battery doesn't drain as fast.
Which brings me to the next issue, dropped calls. I knew that the DInc couldn't hold a signal at her school, so the dropped calls were expected, even though the Moto Droid did not drop any calls. What I couldn't figure out is why I getting dropped calls on the DInc outside of the school. And I would make a call while watching with the dbm screen and watch the signal go from -70's to -100's. After a lot of head scratching and research I found this video on youtube.
YouTube - HTC Droid Incredible signal strength issue
I didn't think it was true. Surely, there isn't a hardware issue with this phone. But I tried it out, and sure enough, when I held the phone at it's base, the signal dropped by -20 dbm. SO I watched while I made calls and and as I was in a call, I could see the signal drop and the call became more echoey.
So I concluded that when I was in an already low signal area, and I made a call and held the phone by it's base, I would eventually drop the call.
Never had any of these problems with the Moto Droid.
So I called HTC yesterday, and I didn't have to argue with them at all. When I told the lady I had an incredible and was experiencing signal fade, she quickly told me that HTC was aware of it and they were AWARE that the signal fade was contributing to the battery drain. The engineers have identified it, and that they are working on a fix that will eventually be an OTA. But I tried to explain to her that if there is a signal fade issue being caused by the radio antennas location or them being faulty, a software fix wouldn't correct it. She went on to tell me that they are confident that they will be able to fix it with a OTA, but haven't confirmed the fix yet, so she could give a date as to when the OTA was coming out. She also mentioned that VZW was completely aware of the situation.
Which brings me to today. I went to my VZW store today, and the techs thought I was crazy. Not only were they unaware of the any signal or battery drain issues on the DInc, they also had no idea what HTC was talking about.
Guys, I'm here to tell you that this signal fade/battery drain issue is bigger than just a misreading of the bars on the screen.
-Your DInc is losing battery life because of the signal.
-There is a software issue causing an improper reading of the bars.
-The radio signal is affecting the dbm readings.
I tested the three DIncs in the store, and they all jumped between -62 to -104 at any given time. The tech even admitted that there was a signal booster near by, and amazingly, the DInc was the only phone not getting 4 bars.
We need to start addressing this with the VZW in the masses so they can coordinate HTC and get this corrected right away.
I for one, am planning on having my wife's DInc replaced with a newer model after June in hopes that the reason for the delay was a hardware update that results in the correction of the signal. I'm sure the OTA will fix the bars, but no OTA is going to fix the radio antenna.
I had a DInc on order to be here on the 26th of June to replace my Moto Droid, but I canceled that order this morning.
If you think I'm wrong, just give HTC a call and hear it form the horses mouth.
Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but the only way they'll fix this is if we join together.
Obviously, my bars don't represent the dbm, but I think there's more to it than just an improper bar reading.
I have a Moto Droid, and my wife has the incredible, and we'll trade phones every so often for what ever reason. She's a teacher, and what really caught my attention is that her battery on the DInc, would only last about 4 hours when she had the phone at her school. When she would take my Moto Driod the battery lasted all day, and by all day I mean it was at 50% by 4:00pm.
The DInc, outside of her school (weekends), would last exactly the same as the Moto Droid in or outside of her school building. So I had her start paying attention to the signal, and sure enough, the DInc, spent the majority of it's day, searching for a signal, bouncing between 1x to EV 1 bar to no signal. At this point I was confident that the majority of the battery drain issue had to do with the phone constantly searching for a signal. Her dbm ranged form -82 to -102 at her school, and -74 to -101 at home. My Moto Droid gets -65 to -89 at my house, and close to the same reading at her school, but never once has the Moto Droid lost the signal or dropped to 1x, so the Moto Droid's battery doesn't drain as fast.
Which brings me to the next issue, dropped calls. I knew that the DInc couldn't hold a signal at her school, so the dropped calls were expected, even though the Moto Droid did not drop any calls. What I couldn't figure out is why I getting dropped calls on the DInc outside of the school. And I would make a call while watching with the dbm screen and watch the signal go from -70's to -100's. After a lot of head scratching and research I found this video on youtube.
YouTube - HTC Droid Incredible signal strength issue
I didn't think it was true. Surely, there isn't a hardware issue with this phone. But I tried it out, and sure enough, when I held the phone at it's base, the signal dropped by -20 dbm. SO I watched while I made calls and and as I was in a call, I could see the signal drop and the call became more echoey.
So I concluded that when I was in an already low signal area, and I made a call and held the phone by it's base, I would eventually drop the call.
Never had any of these problems with the Moto Droid.
So I called HTC yesterday, and I didn't have to argue with them at all. When I told the lady I had an incredible and was experiencing signal fade, she quickly told me that HTC was aware of it and they were AWARE that the signal fade was contributing to the battery drain. The engineers have identified it, and that they are working on a fix that will eventually be an OTA. But I tried to explain to her that if there is a signal fade issue being caused by the radio antennas location or them being faulty, a software fix wouldn't correct it. She went on to tell me that they are confident that they will be able to fix it with a OTA, but haven't confirmed the fix yet, so she could give a date as to when the OTA was coming out. She also mentioned that VZW was completely aware of the situation.
Which brings me to today. I went to my VZW store today, and the techs thought I was crazy. Not only were they unaware of the any signal or battery drain issues on the DInc, they also had no idea what HTC was talking about.
Guys, I'm here to tell you that this signal fade/battery drain issue is bigger than just a misreading of the bars on the screen.
-Your DInc is losing battery life because of the signal.
-There is a software issue causing an improper reading of the bars.
-The radio signal is affecting the dbm readings.
I tested the three DIncs in the store, and they all jumped between -62 to -104 at any given time. The tech even admitted that there was a signal booster near by, and amazingly, the DInc was the only phone not getting 4 bars.
We need to start addressing this with the VZW in the masses so they can coordinate HTC and get this corrected right away.
I for one, am planning on having my wife's DInc replaced with a newer model after June in hopes that the reason for the delay was a hardware update that results in the correction of the signal. I'm sure the OTA will fix the bars, but no OTA is going to fix the radio antenna.
I had a DInc on order to be here on the 26th of June to replace my Moto Droid, but I canceled that order this morning.
If you think I'm wrong, just give HTC a call and hear it form the horses mouth.
Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but the only way they'll fix this is if we join together.