"Signal bars" fluctuation when in hand.

[steam374]

So when ever I put my hand over the bottom of my EVO 3D (Side where the buttons are) I lose like 3 bars of service, I was just wondering if this is just my device or everyone's does that? Any clarification would be very much appreciated thanks .

 

[EarlyMon]

According to Open Signal Maps, if I cup both hands around the bottom of the phone (and only then) I get a 6 asu drop in signal (not 3 bars).

I couldn't get there with any single hand hold.

 

[steam374]

According to Open Signal Maps, if I cup both hands around the bottom of the phone (and only then) I get a 6 asu drop in signal (not 3 bars).

I couldn't get there with any single hand hold.

So for example if i hold my phone in landscape mode with both my hands on both sides of the phone i drop around 3 bars of signal. I also drop 3 bars of signal if i were to hold the bottom of the phone with one hand.

 

[EarlyMon]

I must be doing wrong. I can't get more than a 3 asu drop in landscape unless I cover up part of the screen and nothing in portrait with one hand.

The app I mentioned is free in the Market. Please confirm your phone isn't tower hopping and let us know your initial and ending signal numbers in asu rather than bars, thanks.

 

[marctronixx]

question is, does your data service suffer? forget what the pretty graphical signal meter says...

 

[steam374]

I must be doing wrong. I can't get more than a 3 asu drop in landscape unless I cover up part of the screen and nothing in portrait with one hand.

The app I mentioned is free in the Market. Please confirm your phone isn't tower hopping and let us know your initial and ending signal numbers in asu rather than bars, thanks.

Ok so I downloaded the app and went to the maps tab and in does look like my phone is hopping from one tower to the other but only in between two. Just not that often.

Edit: it only hops when i put my hand over the bottom while holding it in landscape mode

 

[steam374]

So when I put my hand over the bottom I drop 3-4 asu

 

[EarlyMon]

Ok, so I guess some drop can happen and if it's enough to cause tower hopping then it might be noticeable on use results.

Holding kinda normally, how good is your signal?

I'm about 19 asu at 1834 meters from my tower.

 

[steam374]

Ok, so I guess some drop can happen and if it's enough to cause tower hopping then it might be noticeable on use results.

Holding kinda normally, how good is your signal?

I'm about 19 asu at 1834 meters from my tower.

Right now I'm at around 9 asu and I am 2271 meters away from my tower.

 

[EarlyMon]

After you go to Map in Open Signal Maps, then main page, tap i in lower right corner.

9 asu is way low. Please see http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/361044-official-solution-3g-issues-3d.html

 

[steam374]

Ok so when i go upstairs in my house and onto the deck I get around 14 asu and now it says I am 1303 meters from my tower. As I said before my phone signal hops depending on where i am in my house .

 

[TheFrigz]

i have 9 asu and im only 1070m away from the tower..that hardly seems alright..

 

[EarlyMon]

Maybe depends on tower quality of maintenance or other interference in your area.

Signal strength like that isn't helping your battery life.

 

[TheFrigz]

yeah but my battery life's been great..i'm usually at about 50% after 22ish hours off the charger.

 

[EarlyMon]

Wow! My Evo and my buddy's Epic had unhappy battery life under lower signal conditions. Nice results on that!

I'm close to that with kinda light use and way happy.

 

[TheFrigz]

yeah i would also describe my use as being kinda light..i just make sure wifi is on instead of 3G whenever possible, and my wifi is awesome..and when i'm not using data at all i usually turn it off completely..that's how i get such good battery life

 

[IAmSixNine]

Thanks EarlyMon, i forgot about Open Signal Maps. I had it on my EVO 4G and EPIC. I need to put that on my 3D today..

 

[marctronixx]

off topic a bit,

but with this open signal app, do you guys share background data or no?

 

[EarlyMon]

At first I was paranoid but now I just let it share.

I have it set for minimal background sharing over wifi.

 

[IAmSixNine]

I found an area between where i work and live with no signal data info. I am going to leave my device on with minimal sharing and see when or if the info gets updated. Hopefully it will.

 

[jerofld]

Also off topic. Ironically, cupping my hands around the phone increases my phone's signal strength by 3 bars. But that's only at work where we have about 500 pieces of various test equipment around my work station. Wifi also improves when I cup my hands, so I chalk it up to interference and my hands can filter it a bit.

 

[RiverOfIce]

Interference related to hands varies by how many towers are near you, the position of the phone in 3d space, and the placement of the antenna.


IF you have 1 tower in the area and you move the phone so the screen is facing that tower and cover the back of the phone, that will drop the signal strength on any phone, the 4.3 inch screen blocks most radio signals. In those cases, if you rotate the phone 180 degrees so the back of the tower is facing the phone, you will see only a slight drop in signal.

If you are in a verizon and sprint cross over area that has been miss managed, or you are near a wireless broadcast system, that is using, often illegally, like a PA, you can cup the phones back, which will increase the signal strength.

This will happen with all phones, depending on the tower coverage, phones locations and physical bodies.

However, this is not the same has the iphone 4 problem which was simply shorting out the radio by physical touch.