Help antenna/reception

daveydog · May 2, 2011

ok keeping this specifically about antennas.. I have tried both the TB and the INC 2, and in 3g only area and on network extender even, the TB gets nearly full bars and the inc 2 gets zero to one. Now I get the idea that the bar indicator may not necessarily be accurate, etc... but anyone have thoughts on it? Why would the TB get better reception?

My Inc1 was the same way, zero to one bar and call quality was so so... even on network extender. Not great. So I tend to believe my bars.

Kori_Tamashii · May 2, 2011

My Inc2 is also this way. Never seems to get more than 1-2 bars.

cheesehead007 · May 2, 2011

I have a Droid X and DInc2 sitting side-by-side on my desk at work. Both are hovering between -80 and -83 dBm, showing three bars consistently.

At home, I'm in a marginal (~100dBm) signal area, and have had no issues with call quality or drops yet. Happy so far.

kramerica · May 3, 2011

I am also massively curious about reception/antenna. I loved the 1st Inc, but the biggest issue I had was receiving service. It was not specific to an area, it was specific to STATES. I travel fairly often in the midwest and this was the worst phone I have ever had in that regard. All other aspects of the phone were AMAZING!

I currently have the X, which has been my favorite Droid to date, but the one issue I had with it is the size. It's just a little too big. But, I'm looking at phones for the woman as she has the Fascinate which I am not a fan of and I think she is finally coming around. My humble opinion of course.

Anyone in the Michigan area have a comment about this phone's reception? Or having trouble with reception in their neck of the woods?

nate.kelmes · May 3, 2011

During the majority of my day i'm in a glass and cement office building - 6th floor. I too receive 2 to 3 bars when i'm at my desk, which is about 30 feet from a wall of exterior windows. I have about 3 cell towers within sight and i'm sure at least one of them is a Verizon tower. I suspect that i'm not getting full bars because of the age of this building and the amount of cement used, and probably other building materials that block radio waves, but I haven't had any issue with reception. Only place I lose reception is in the elevator on my way down to the lobby and it's only for a brief moment between the 2 and 3rd floors.

I haven't had any issues with reception except where one would normally not get reception anyways.

kramerica · May 3, 2011

nate.kelmes said:
During the majority of my day i'm in a glass and cement office building - 6th floor. I too receive 2 to 3 bars when i'm at my desk, which is about 30 feet from a wall of exterior windows. I have about 3 cell towers within sight and i'm sure at least one of them is a Verizon tower. I suspect that i'm not getting full bars because of the age of this building and the amount of cement used, and probably other building materials that block radio waves, but I haven't had any issue with reception. Only place I lose reception is in the elevator on my way down to the lobby and it's only for a brief moment between the 2 and 3rd floors.

I haven't had any issues with reception except where one would normally not get reception anyways.

Interesting. I would literally not have service in metro areas driving down the highway, streets, etc. I had tried 3 different phones and know that there were a PILE of threads and support tickets going on all over the internet and even had received a response from HTC acknowledging the issue. Like I said, I really, really, liked the phone, but when you can't use the phone, it's not a phone.

Thanks for the response!

TheXFactor · May 3, 2011

kramerica said:
I am also massively curious about reception/antenna. I loved the 1st Inc, but the biggest issue I had was receiving service. It was not specific to an area, it was specific to STATES. I travel fairly often in the midwest and this was the worst phone I have ever had in that regard. All other aspects of the phone were AMAZING!

I currently have the X, which has been my favorite Droid to date, but the one issue I had with it is the size. It's just a little too big. But, I'm looking at phones for the woman as she has the Fascinate which I am not a fan of and I think she is finally coming around. My humble opinion of course.

Anyone in the Michigan area have a comment about this phone's reception? Or having trouble with reception in their neck of the woods?

I also had this issue with the original Dinc. I travel upstate NY 4 days a week and noticed my signal would fluctuate constantly. I never drop calls, but data would cut out occasionally. When I had the DX, never had reception signal issues. So I know it's not the area I'm in that is causing the problem. However, the DX felt like a brick in my pocket.

kramerica · May 3, 2011

TheXFactor said:
I also had this issue with the original Dinc. I travel upstate NY 4 days a week and noticed my signal would fluctuate constantly. I never drop calls, but data would cut out occasionally. When I had the DX, never had reception signal issues. So I know it's not the area I'm in that is causing the problem. However, the DX felt like a brick in my pocket.

Do you have the Inc2 now?

TheXFactor · May 3, 2011

kramerica said:
Do you have the Inc2 now?

No. I went back for the third time to verizon and did my due-dilegence on the phone. Can't get myself to pull the trigger (I hate that saying).

There's just something about the Inc 2 that just doesn't give me that wow factor. I'm sure it's a fine device for some, just not for me. It's just an average android device. I can't see wasting an upgrade or worse, paying full price for it.

kramerica · May 4, 2011

Interesting. That is the one last thing I have to do. Go check it out for myself and mess with it a little. Reading about it helps a ton, but you have got to have that "wow" factor like you said. I loved the Inc but again, reception is the biggest drawback to it.

Anyway, appreciate the comments.

TheXFactor · May 4, 2011

kramerica said:
Interesting. That is the one last thing I have to do. Go check it out for myself and mess with it a little. Reading about it helps a ton, but you have got to have that "wow" factor like you said. I loved the Inc but again, reception is the biggest drawback to it.

Anyway, appreciate the comments.

Hey no problem. I guess I'm missing what I got from the original Dinc. If the Inc 2 had come out before the Inc 1, I probably wouldn't think it was missing something. I just don't want to be stuck on last years technology for 2 years.

When the original Incredible came on the scene it definitely had that wow factor.

VA5oh · May 5, 2011

My signal is also very finicky. I go to no bars to 4 bars depending on what end of the couch Im sitting on. However, I've had no issues with sending or recieving texts, downloading apps, or call quality. Have not dropped a call or had issues with hearing people on the other end. I hope this doesnt become an issue eventually and wish I could figure out why he signal strenght fluctuates so much.

kramerica · May 5, 2011

VA5oh said:
My signal is also very finicky. I go to no bars to 4 bars depending on what end of the couch Im sitting on. However, I've had no issues with sending or recieving texts, downloading apps, or call quality. Have not dropped a call or had issues with hearing people on the other end. I hope this doesnt become an issue eventually and wish I could figure out why he signal strenght fluctuates so much.

Can I ask what area of the country you are in and if you have any issues outside of your home? In the car driving down major highways, etc.?

VA5oh · May 5, 2011

kramerica said:
Can I ask what area of the country you are in and if you have any issues outside of your home? In the car driving down major highways, etc.?

I live in a decent sized city in southeast VA. I've had no issues outside my home. I spend most of my time in a vehicle,mainly in the city, and I've had no issues there either. I do have family that live about an hour away that I'll be visiting next week that live in a rural area and Im real curious as to how it behaves out there. As much as I hated my blackberry, I've never had a issue with signal and reception with it.

kramerica · May 5, 2011

VA5oh said:
I live in a decent sized city in southeast VA. I've had no issues outside my home. I spend most of my time in a vehicle,mainly in the city, and I've had no issues there either. I do have family that live about an hour away that I'll be visiting next week that live in a rural area and Im real curious as to how it behaves out there. As much as I hated my blackberry, I've never had a issue with signal and reception with it.

Great and thanks! Will be curious to hear about the rural portion (i.e. smaller city sizes and more suburban vs metro areas.

Timaphillips · May 5, 2011

I just updated from an Droid 1 and my signal is exactly the same as it was, 94dBm.

daveydog · May 6, 2011

ok so been watching this for 5 days now... my bars fluctuate so much that they are just not an indicator of anything... I've seen zero bars with a -60dbm, etc... and really the dbms fluctuate a lot too... but haven't dropped any calls.

I went into vz, and put it next the tb and monitored their reception... the inc2 was consistently at -88dbm and the tb was consistently at -74dbm. What was interesting to me, was if I held my inc2, the signal stayed the same.... but if I held the tb, it dropped to -88dbm (hovered around that). Did this over and over and with both tbs in store.

I wish the bars were more accurate, I hate placing an important call with zero bars. especially when wifey's iphone has 5 bars. (accurate bars or not, her phone has stellar connectivity).

kramerica · May 6, 2011

Thanks for watching. That would drive me nuts. We are picking one up tonight for the Ms as she was trying a Fascinot, uh, Fascinate (sorry, just my weak opinion).

dandxg · Sep 15, 2011

daveydog said:
ok keeping this specifically about antennas.. I have tried both the TB and the INC 2, and in 3g only area and on network extender even, the TB gets nearly full bars and the inc 2 gets zero to one. Now I get the idea that the bar indicator may not necessarily be accurate, etc... but anyone have thoughts on it? Why would the TB get better reception?

My Inc1 was the same way, zero to one bar and call quality was so so... even on network extender. Not great. So I tend to believe my bars.

This is my first smartphone and HTC with IN2. I am on my 3rd in 1 month and the signal strength sucks. I can count on my 2 hands the number of full signal and I live in Denver Metro. I wish I had seen this thread before. May try and make VZ switch to something more reliable. Bells and Whistles are great but above all need reliable service.

jgraham5481 · Sep 16, 2011

We all know why it does this, the antenna isn't necessarily a poor design as it is a new design, built in to the back cover of the phone. One can mod the back cover, and it sounds silly but it does work, use a little foil or copper. If you have a Dinc2 with the standard battery cover, note how it has the gold coloured strip at the bottom of the door. The extended battery covers have an actual cavity where our antenna is and I think may have a better antenna, I mean if my ghetto foil trick helps, then anything must be an improvement. Is there anybody out there that has an OEM extended battery cover that might be able to note reception differences??? Since the covers are cheap, if the extended one is better we could get those and make all the difference. Oh and for those who think I'm lying about the foil mod, here's proof positive of improved connectivity, this was on 3 of 4 bars on 3g note the up and down speeds

CharlaineC · Oct 22, 2011

can you post a pic of what you did so i can understand better

ChristineO · Oct 30, 2011

I agree - Jgraham5481 can you please post a picture of your antenna modification - or explain better how you did it? I used to get great reception at work with my Eris - and with my Dinc2 I can barely even use my phone at work. Go figure.

Help antenna/reception

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