Database Develop

WCDMA signal horrible

I've flashed my phone countless of times now over the past months and one thing I was hoping for would be better signal strenght for WCDMA mode... I live in Switzerland and my provider is sunrise. Whenever I'm using WCDMA mode the signal is just horrible. Mostly 1 bar or sometimes dropping to zero. 3g and H works most of the time, but the signal is bothering me.. I've tried different modems etc.. but nothing seems to change.. Does anyone else have this problem?? what can I do about it? GSM has full bars most of the time and that's why it's so weird.
also worthy to note is that people hear an echo sometimes when they're talking to me both in GSM and WCDMA mode.

it would be great if someone knows how to solve this problem...

have you been on your providers website to check the coverage in your area ? they could be a fault on their part affecting your signal strength
Im on Vodafone UK and i have terrible 3g signal, I can only use 2g/GSM otherwise my phone doesnt recieve 1 bar of signal - bit of a bummer when you have a smart phone and unlimited internet
Finally, How was your signal before you flashed ? when the phone popped out of the box ? was it still poor then ?

Improving GSM signal strengh and 3G speed

Hi all,
I live in Germany and had a Motorola Milestone 2 before. On my new beloved Droid 3 which I imported and unlocked for usage with Vodafones network I noticed signal issues with both EDGE and 3G. So I searched for a soultion and found a thread about the Droid 2 Global which is said to have a not so well GSM signal too and offers a solution for this.
After adding these lines to my build.prop I have noticed a HUGE improement of signal strengh and data transfer speeds.
Code:
the code is (much thanks goes out to Zeppelinrox and his v6 supercharger script):
ro.ril.hsxpa=3
ro.ril.gprsclass=12
ro.ril.hep=1
ro.ril.enable.dtm=1
ro.ril.hsdpa.category=28
ro.ril.enable.a53=1
ro.ril.enable.3g.prefix=1
ro.ril.htcmaskw1.bitmask=4294967295
ro.ril.htcmaskw1=14449
ro.ril.hsupa.category=9
Please test it and tell me if it works for you too!
This is the original Droid2Global thread: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...acking-tweaking-3g-settings-radio-driver.html

According to the thread you linked it was added to local.prop , not build.prop?

I'm also guessing he meant local.prop
So anyways, added it to the file, rebooted, and everything still works.
It's too soon to say if anything improved at all. Not more bars than before the reboot anyways.

Hi,
yes I know that in THAT case it was added to local.prop, but while looking around I saw that these "tweaks" are pretty old. On a CM page those lines were added to the build.prop so I put them there, too.
PLEASE report if you notice any improvements.

Ok i see. So you were correct after all. I will change it and report back
Edit: Changed it in my build.prop this time, and rebooted, but not much has changed for me.
I'm on the Vodafone network in The Netherlands.

OK, would you say that it would be better to put those lines in the local.prop then?

Nope, i'm saying neither of them are doing anything for me
But i did some searching for the changes you mentioned, and one of the articles said it could take up to 3 reboots before it takes effect.
There was no mention of signal though. Just speed.

Well, I just tested this. And it seems to have resulted in better signal reception. At least for me, so thank you for digging it out!

I tested it too but it doesnt work for me. Maybe it depends on the carrier you´re on. (I use E-Plus)

I tried to edit both Local.prop and Build.prop, I had no problem with editing Build.prop...
but for Local.prop, it resets to default as soon as I reboot my Droid 3, is this the reason why I have not experienced any improvement?
Thanks.

You could also use Network Info II or some sort of signal checker off of market to get a numeric before/after measurement of your cell signal. I'm interested in the results.

@Moderator: Please move this topic to general! Thanks!

i found no difference in the dbm of my signal strength after this, and in all honesty unless you do a large number of speedtests before and after (i'm talking 20), any differences you see will probably be within the margin of error

onethreeteeh said:
i found no difference in the dbm of my signal strength after this, and in all honesty unless you do a large number of speedtests before and after (i'm talking 20), any differences you see will probably be within the margin of error
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I figured, too bad

Is anybody else's phone hanging around in 3G even if the singal strenght is ~109db (or no signal bar) and no more mobile internet is possible, but at 2g the signal would be great? It takes just too long to switch and its burning battery like hell meanwhile.

I did notice that too...

I'm on a dext while motorola fixed my hardware keyboard again .. it has the same problem, poor battery life, low 3g signal but no 2g signal at all. Probably related to my provider but i did notice thatwith the last swap phone they gave ne (desire z) it had at least 2 bars better reception and 3-4 times the battery life. Didn't measure the dbm for any hard numbers when i had it. Shame

Willis111 said:
I'm on a dext while motorola fixed my hardware keyboard again .. it has the same problem, poor battery life, low 3g signal but no 2g signal at all. Probably related to my provider but i did notice thatwith the last swap phone they gave ne (desire z) it had at least 2 bars better reception and 3-4 times the battery life. Didn't measure the dbm for any hard numbers when i had it. Shame
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you trying to get 2G signal on Bell Canada? If so - no GSM phone will ever pick signal - Bell does not have 2G network - only 3G.

Willis111 said:
I'm on a dext while motorola fixed my hardware keyboard again .. it has the same problem, poor battery life, low 3g signal but no 2g signal at all. Probably related to my provider but i did notice thatwith the last swap phone they gave ne (desire z) it had at least 2 bars better reception and 3-4 times the battery life. Didn't measure the dbm for any hard numbers when i had it. Shame
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a DZ and my Droid 3 is crossing the Atlantic sea right now, I can compare them easily the next week.
After the poor battery experience with the milestone 1 I decided to keep the DZ, to see if the droid 3 is usable.

I added the code to build.prop and after reboot it remained.
But I didn't noticed an improvement in signal strength. :-(
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

(Q)HTC one low signal bars UK EE/Orange

i recently unlocked, rooted and s-off my htc one, on stock i used to get around 5/4 signal bars and now i only get two/three.
im currently running trickdroid 7.5 rom 4.2.2.
so im looking for a radio which would work for orange/EE in the UK.
please can someone help, or point me into the right direction

this is the one for the 4.2.2 firmware
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42139108&postcount=18404

Are you sure that it is not the same level? Don't be fooled by the bar looking different, remember that it might show 2 bars of LTE but that could still be better than 5 bars of H+ (as an example).
So if you used to get 5 bars of 3G but your now getting 2 bars of H or H+ then you are better off even though its less bars.
Please do not take this as me treating you as if you are stupid, I am not, I have come across a lot of people recently who thought the same, and it turned out to just be a different type of signal.

fixed
okk i just flashed 1.29.401.12 Radio and it's back to normal.
i found it here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2245615

Lennyuk said:
Are you sure that it is not the same level? Don't be fooled by the bar looking different, remember that it might show 2 bars of LTE but that could still be better than 5 bars of H+ (as an example).
So if you used to get 5 bars of 3G but your now getting 2 bars of H or H+ then you are better off even though its less bars.
Please do not take this as me treating you as if you are stupid, I am not, I have come across a lot of people recently who thought the same, and it turned out to just be a different type of signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the input but!
i never said i was using my data connection,

Same principle applies even with data off.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Lennyuk said:
Are you sure that it is not the same level? Don't be fooled by the bar looking different, remember that it might show 2 bars of LTE but that could still be better than 5 bars of H+ (as an example).
So if you used to get 5 bars of 3G but your now getting 2 bars of H or H+ then you are better off even though its less bars.
Please do not take this as me treating you as if you are stupid, I am not, I have come across a lot of people recently who thought the same, and it turned out to just be a different type of signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I have 5 bars when set to "GSM" only but 2-3 when set to "GSM/CDMA" .. that's as good?
I'm being serious btw, I normally set mine to just GSM as I seemed to have more signal but if there isn't any point then I won't bother lol ..I'm in the UK btw and on a network that doesn't support LTE (I think)

AllAboutTheCore said:
So if I have 5 bars when set to "GSM" only but 2-3 when set to "GSM/CDMA" .. that's as good?
I'm being serious btw, I normally set mine to just GSM as I seemed to have more signal but if there isn't any point then I won't bother lol ..I'm in the UK btw and on a network that doesn't support LTE (I think)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can confirm the 'type' of signal you are getting at any time in the menu > settings > about part of the phone.
Your phone will automatically switch to whatever the best signal is available at any time, you don't really need to change your GSM/WCDMA settings, unless you really want to force it away from 3G connections (again this does not mean you have to have data turned on).

Cool, I'm not too fussed about what data type it uses as I rarely have data turned on, I just naturally assumed that by switching it from GSM'CDMA Auto to just GSM, meant that I'd have better reception, being that the signal bars went from 2/5 to 5/5 ... You learn something new everyday lol
EDIT: I checked my signal, and I mean my reception, not the data connection type, when switched between GSM/WCDMA Auto and GSM Only and there is a huge difference. I found this guide:
dB Signal - A basic guide
-50 to -60 (very strong, near a cell tower)
-60 to -70 (extremely good, rare)
-80 to -85 (normal downtown)
-90 to -95 (getting on the weak side)
-95 to -98 (weak, dropping calls)
-98 to -100 (bad, hard to stay connected)
-100+ (basically no usable signal)
When I set my phone to GSM Only I hover around -70, which is good, when I switch to GSM/WCDMA Auto it is a different story. I know it changes and finds the best signal, which I might add drains more battery on an already power hungry beast, but I was hovering at -100 which is terrible and often calls were dropping or people were saying it was engaged when infact I hadn't used it.
It's clear to me that in my case, GSM Only is the far better option if I actually want to use my phone to make calls ... Data speeds I'm not arsed about so EDGE is just fine with me.

Updated to 4.3 Firmware and have less signal bars? Read This!

I've seen some people post regarding less/lower signal bars when updating to the new radios which come with 4.3 and you have LTE.
At first I said "WTF" but then I realized... the bars are now sort-of working as intended...
Let me explain,
If you're connected to LTE, the bars are now based off your LTE signal strength. I noticed even at roughly -110 to -100 I only get one bar. I believe the bars start going up dramatically once you have a signal strength greater than -100 (for example, -95db, -85db) And we all know -130db is the cutoff before we lose LTE.
I figured this out once I turned the phone to "CDMA only" to test. Once on "CDMA only" I had almost full bars, (-70-75db for 3G/1x)
To conclude, if you're on LTE and only have 1 bar, you most likely/probably have great cell phone coverage as that 1 bar is determining signal strength for only LTE. When connected to LTE, you're also still connected to 1xRTT which is used for voice. LTE is only used for Data at the moment.
If you really want to test your cell phone coverage, you can get one of those programs to tell you both your 1x signal and 4G signal simultaneously.
Edit: I forgot to mention, Considering the LTE radio and 1x/3g radio are seperate, you're going to get mixed results depending on signal penetration through walls, trees, etc. From what I've seen so far, as of right now 1x/3g penetrates a bit better than LTE. But, really depends on your surroundings

Thanks for the info. Someone else tipped me off about this, and a few SpeedTest checks confirmed it. In fact, 1 bar with the 4.3 ROM produced slightly better results than the 4.1 ROM with 5 bars.

ED2O9 said:
Thanks for the info. Someone else tipped me off about this, and a few SpeedTest checks confirmed it. In fact, 1 bar with the 4.3 ROM produced slightly better results than the 4.1 ROM with 5 bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, which makes sense because when connected to LTE on 4.1 the 5 bars are based off your voice coverage, not LTE strength.

Still seems kind of dumb. I'd rather know what signal I have to make a phone call rather than what kind of data I can expect.

Thanks for info !
Sometimes just 1 bar but internet working well, but 4-5 bars it is not working/slower !

[Q] Cell reception indicator constantly flips between "no reception" display and bars

[Q] Cell reception indicator constantly flips between "no reception" display and bars
I'm using the Xperia Z3 Compact on TMobile's network in the US.
About 1/4 of the time when I turn on the display the phone indicates that it has no cell reception:
1) The phone shows no bars of reception, and a red X over the bars
2) The lock screen reads "Emergency calls only"
However, within a second or two the phone appears to acquire an excellent signal and I get a full 3-4 bar display. All of the areas in which I use the phone are marked as "Excellent" on TMobile's coverage maps.
This also happens intermittently while I'm using the phone. I'm not sure if it's actually losing the signal or if it's just a software issue. I've never had it drop a call or cut out while I'm talking.
I'm getting only acceptable battery life from the phone (about 25% at the end of the day) despite light usage and conservative app installation, even though this phone has a reputation for excellent battery life. My theory is that this might have to do with the phone constantly disconnecting from the network and then having to re-aquire a signal.
Anyone else had this experience with the Z3C?

Hey mate.. I posted the exact same issue a couple of months back. I was experiencing this exact same issue.
I've had my LTE disabled for about a month now and haven't had a single drop.
Not sure if LTE is a dealbreaker but since my device is a business line, I can "suffer" with better battery life and slower internet if I'm not dropping calls. I've considered trying a ROM with updated radio firmware but figured I'd wait to see what the current Lollipop update does ('ll re-enable LTE once I install it and see if it repeats the same behavior) for my phone before trying a 3rd party system.
Hope this helps

sh0nuff said:
Hey mate.. I posted the exact same issue a couple of months back. I was experiencing this exact same issue.
I've had my LTE disabled for about a month now and haven't had a single drop.
Not sure if LTE is a dealbreaker but since my device is a business line, I can "suffer" with better battery life and slower internet if I'm not dropping calls. I've considered trying a ROM with updated radio firmware but figured I'd wait to see what the current Lollipop update does ('ll re-enable LTE once I install it and see if it repeats the same behavior) for my phone before trying a 3rd party system.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Really gratifying to know that it's not just my device. Seems like there's a strong possibility this is the issue since I'm on a MVNO that's only been on this LTE network a few months. I've flipped the device into GSM only mode and we'll see if it helps.

Dumb question how do i flip it into gsm?

qylie said:
Dumb question how do i flip it into gsm?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Settings>More>Mobile Networks>Preferred Connection type> GSM only
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app

Thanks!!!

I'm having the same issue as you have described. For now I've set the phone to 3G prefered. Looks instantly better. Signal strength is also better.
Provider: Simyo (KPN network) - The Netherlands
Edit - Issue solved:
I switched from the Lollipop Baltic ROM to the Lollipop KPN carrier ROM for The Netherlands. The switching is gone for me. Battery life drastically went up.

Any update on this? I just started experiencing this issue out of no where about 2 weeks ago. I'm not rooted or anything, can't afford to due to job security requirements and such.