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Poor Signal Strength & Dropped Calls - Galaxy Nexus

Let me first reference this related thread:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...-seeing-signal-bars-completely-disappear.html

I am having very poor signal strength with my Galaxy Nexus. At home I get only 1 bar even if I go outside. I am not far from a tower. Downtown, if I go into a building, I get no signal. My calls are often dropped to the extent that I cannot even make a phone call. I Googled this and there are many others with the same complaint.

I finally called Verizon support and after numerous tests, they sent me a new sim card. It made no difference.

I have discovered that in order to see 4G I have to turn off Wi-Fi.

One person said this phone has known problems with its poor radio and to insist Verizon exchange it for a RAZR Max.

Any thoughts or help?

I had the same problems. my nexus would work at my home on and off and when i went on vacation it was horrible. I got another sim, same thing happened. Got two replacement phones, same problem. Then they sent me razr maxx. The Maxx was perfect! long battery great reception everywhere I was. Then I did the ICS update and the reception went to hell, still was better then nexus but wasn't as great and the battery wasn't as great most likely due to looking for signal more often. Samsung and google need to get their act together! ICS isn't what was promised. Sure it you live in San Francisco where there are towers everywhere The NExus and ICS razr will work great! but I travel! F them!
 
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I had the same problems. my nexus would work at my home on and off and when i went on vacation it was horrible. I got another sim, same thing happened. Got two replacement phones, same problem. Then they sent me razr maxx. The Maxx was perfect! long battery great reception everywhere I was. Then I did the ICS update and the reception went to hell, still was better then nexus but wasn't as great and the battery wasn't as great most likely due to looking for signal more often. Samsung and google need to get their act together! ICS isn't what was promised. Sure it you live in San Francisco where there are towers everywhere The NExus and ICS razr will work great! but I travel! F them!

My RAZR Maxx is still great with ICS. I wonder if the GNex ever got ICS and if it improved the signal strength issues?
 
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I traded in my GNex for a RMaxx through Verizon. The RMaxx does not have the signal strength issues of the GNex. The battery life is great with the huge capacity battery.

I think he's confused cuz you said you wonder if the g nex ever got ICS.

It came with ICS already installed. Maybe you mean 4.0.4? If so it already got updated to that.
 
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I think he's confused cuz you said you wonder if the g nex ever got ICS.

It came with ICS already installed. Maybe you mean 4.0.4? If so it already got updated to that.

Sorry for the confusion. I had already posted that I swapped my GNex for a RMaxx several posts ago. About 10 days ago, my RMaxx was upgraded to ICS 4.0.4. You are correct in that I was wondering if the GNex received the update and if it had any effect on signal strength. Did it?
 
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Sorry for the confusion. I had already posted that I swapped my GNex for a RMaxx several posts ago. About 10 days ago, my RMaxx was upgraded to ICS 4.0.4. You are correct in that I was wondering if the GNex received the update and if it had any effect on signal strength. Did it?

Well it certainly changed the number of bars. As for it actually improving strength, I have no clue. I don't have signal issues in the first place so I wouldn't be the one to ask.
 
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Sorry for the confusion. I had already posted that I swapped my GNex for a RMaxx several posts ago. About 10 days ago, my RMaxx was upgraded to ICS 4.0.4. You are correct in that I was wondering if the GNex received the update and if it had any effect on signal strength. Did it?

Wasn't any difference for me, I still get as many dropped data and calls as before.
 
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I think there is a hardware problem with the GNex radio, particularly the CDMA. I am very happy with my RAZR Maxx.

I bought my Nexus at launch. The 4G reception is not great since Day 1. I live in NJ (Verizon is based in NJ!!!) and is in a strong 4G area. I can get 20-25 Mps down from a guest room in my house, but in other rooms I would lose 4G from time to time, and it would take a while before I can get 4G back, even airplane mode toggle would not bring it back immediately.

At work it's much worse. I would say 80% of time I would have 3G only. Of the 20% time where it's on 4G, if I pick up the phone and start typing, soon it would fall back to 3G. I have no problem getting 4G at the parking lot, so I know it's the building not the 4G coverage.

Last week I finally give in and bought a Maxx from CL and put my Nexus on eBay. Man it's night and day. At work 95% of the time I have 4G. No problem when holding the phone. Even if it's 3G, a 5 second airplane mode toggle would bring 4G back. Consider the ICS update just made the Maxx a world phone, it's truly the best phone for me right now on Verizon's LTE network.
 
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I think there is a hardware problem with the GNex radio, particularly the CDMA. I am very happy with my RAZR Maxx.

I didn't have too much trouble even before the update. After 4.0.4, I see noticeable improvement in 4G connection quality, radio hand-off. But 3G strength got just marginally better and call quality seems unchanged. Also it doesn't quite seem to help those of us plagued by one way mid call muting issue.

So I agree with you that CDMA radio seems like the main problem rather than LTE radio in verizon Gnex. In launch days of Gnex, I thought LTE radio from Samsung is the cause of most reception issues. But 4.0.4 addressed mostly LTE data issues, not so much on CDMA issues with voice. Further update might help, but I'm not holding breath on it.

BTW, GS3 seems to have much better call quality and data connection than Gnex based on early user reviews/reports. I guess Qualcomm S4 modem chip in it is doing a lot better job on CDMA than Via modem in Verizon Gnex though GS3 antenna could be better too. It would be like heaven if Gnex had that radio but it didn't happen.:(
 
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Verizon switched me to the Nexus after I was having trouble with Mobile Hotspot on the Rezound. I love this phone, how it feels, the screen, the UI, but man the signal is just terrible. I know it's not the area I live in because the Rezound was phenomenal in terms of 4G. Never had a dropped call once and I've had several already on this Nexus. =(

I was trying to find hope that I could keep this phone but it doesn't sound like it. I might have to switch back to the Rezound and just let go of MHS. No use in Mobile Hotspot with this Nexus if there is no data to share! =(
 
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So I am at a crossroads myself. I don't believe exchanging for a third device will "fix" my problem. I'm not even sure 4.5 will fix the problem, and I think that could have something to do with the delay of the update. However the those who have flashed AOKP or AOSP (again, I have NO idea what any of that means) seem to feel it does address the issue. So I'm holding steady waiting for the OTA. At the same time, I am waffling between attempting to hack my phone (which I think I just proved would probably be a bad decision) or reactivate my Thunderbolt until the OTA update comes. I'm also looking at rumors for releases later this year with an eye towards replacing this GNex. One thing is for sure...I LOVE ICS! I also really, really like many of the features of the GNex (except the meh camera). But the poor data connectivity really negates a lot of the good about the device...for me.

I was rooted and flashed several ROMs and radios attempting to find the "sweet setup" that did not drop calls. I had the issue before I rooted, and I had the issue while I was rooted. AOKP or AOSP didn't make a difference. I have talked to several people who did exchange phones, and some took 3 exchanges to get a solid one. This is my first exchange (coming today via overnite) and I am hoping and praying that it only takes me one.

I love my Gnex. I am an "apple hater", although I did love my touch, but that is about the business practices. I have recommended the iPhone to many people, as it fits them. To each their own. I love being able to setup my phone MY WAY. Thus, android for me.
 
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So....for what its worth, I got my replacement phone yesterday. It is a .10 made in china on july 06. The first thing I did was to install NoSignal that I found in the play store. 21 hours and it has not signal once! My old phone would lose signal at least once an hour. The phone is slower, and the quadrant score proves it, but maybe a liquidrom would fix that!
 
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Happy to say my GSM nexus gets great reception

I have the unlocked GSM version bought. I have serious issues with signal similar to what is described by the OP. The original ICS build it was bad and would drop calls sometimes. I installed jellybean and its great but the signal strength is really bad. Most of the times it goes completely. If you have the pin lock set, the phone will lock and ask for a pin momentarily and then release the lock a second after it regains signal. If you disable the pin lock, it will just loose signal. Even when i am in known strong territory, it still goes blank. I have not gotten any Jelly bean updates yet. But i am almost sure that its a software problem. If an update dont fix it I will have to go back to ICS, its a shame. I love jelly bean.
 
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So....for what its worth, I got my replacement phone yesterday. It is a .10 made in china on july 06. The first thing I did was to install NoSignal that I found in the play store. 21 hours and it has not signal once! My old phone would lose signal at least once an hour. The phone is slower, and the quadrant score proves it, but maybe a liquidrom would fix that!
Link to the app? Search for NoSignal brings up some app that tells you where dead zones are. Not very useful.
 
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Link to the app? Search for NoSignal brings up some app that tells you where dead zones are. Not very useful.

It's actually called No Signal Alert. And it is the first thing I put on each replacement phone I receive. It happens a lot more than you realize and this app tracks it.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...mNvbS5zbWFydGFuZHJvaWRhcHBzLm1pc3NlZGNhbGwiXQ..

Be warned, though, turn off the notifications in the app and just check it manually from time to time. Otherwise your phone will be going off every few minutes.
 
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Once again, I am so pleased with my change from the GNex to the RAZR Maxx. All signal problems were resolved. With the upgrade to ICS it is now a world phone. The battery life is amazing.

Although the 4G signal was weak on the GNex, it was the CDMA signal that was very poor often reading -120 (the lowest reading). To read the CDMA I used to go into settings and turn off LTE. Unfortunately, with the ICS upgrade I do not have an option to turn off LTE. It seems like I recall an app posted somewhere to do this. Anyone know what it is?
 
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As a new galaxy nexus owner who has a samsung stratosphere as well, and ended up with 2 galaxy nexus phones with another coming from ebay soon, here are my results with this phone.

1) 3g signal reports slightly weaker than other phones. My droid 2 global can get into the -8x dbm in my house sometimes, but usually -93 or so. My stratosphere gets -93 to -96dbm, while the galaxy nexus, one of them gets -93 to -100, and once in a while into -8x but I can only know this because it shows 3 bars, for a second, it never lasts long enough to get back to the phone signal status.

2) The gnex can get great lte reception, and when it has a good signal strength it is amazing, but weak signal is a real downfall for it. My stratosphere can get lte in lots of places on the fringe, where the gnex can't find it, and then where the gnex is on the fringe for coverage, the stratosphere has no problem pulling good lte speeds, the gnex struggles to get 5mbps.

this was all done running the same radios on both gnex phones, and 1 sim card swapped between all 3. In the end I can say I also lose signal more at work, especially with the weakest of my gnex phones. Oddly enough though, even with extremely weak 3g signal, it appears to load things faster and better than my stratosphere ever did, which makes me wonder if the signal is really any weaker, or if it is just reporting more accurately as some have said.

I only wish that both gnex phones were running the same android version. one had JB while the other is stuck on ICS since it has a glitch that refuses JB roms at this point sadly. Oddly enough ICS reports LTE as band 14 and showed signal strength in 3g signal measures, while the JB gnex showed it as band 13 which I know is correct, and showed in the more proper new signal calcuation system.
 
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As a new galaxy nexus owner who has a samsung stratosphere as well, and ended up with 2 galaxy nexus phones with another coming from ebay soon, here are my results with this phone.

1) 3g signal reports slightly weaker than other phones. My droid 2 global can get into the -8x dbm in my house sometimes, but usually -93 or so. My stratosphere gets -93 to -96dbm, while the galaxy nexus, one of them gets -93 to -100, and once in a while into -8x but I can only know this because it shows 3 bars, for a second, it never lasts long enough to get back to the phone signal status.

2) The gnex can get great lte reception, and when it has a good signal strength it is amazing, but weak signal is a real downfall for it. My stratosphere can get lte in lots of places on the fringe, where the gnex can't find it, and then where the gnex is on the fringe for coverage, the stratosphere has no problem pulling good lte speeds, the gnex struggles to get 5mbps.

this was all done running the same radios on both gnex phones, and 1 sim card swapped between all 3. In the end I can say I also lose signal more at work, especially with the weakest of my gnex phones. Oddly enough though, even with extremely weak 3g signal, it appears to load things faster and better than my stratosphere ever did, which makes me wonder if the signal is really any weaker, or if it is just reporting more accurately as some have said.

I only wish that both gnex phones were running the same android version. one had JB while the other is stuck on ICS since it has a glitch that refuses JB roms at this point sadly. Oddly enough ICS reports LTE as band 14 and showed signal strength in 3g signal measures, while the JB gnex showed it as band 13 which I know is correct, and showed in the more proper new signal calcuation system.

To get CDMA signal strength (phone) go into settings and turn off LTE.
 
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Hi,

I have signal and 4GLTE issues with my GNexus. What can VZW do for me at this point? I purchased my phone January 2012 and I am still under contract.

Any suggestions or thoughts. Greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

maybe ask them for an SGS3? your phone has had a bunch of problems, from what I've seen on the forums.
 
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