I received the update yesterday. 4G connection is better but I'm still only getting 2 bars. I live 500m from tower and the other tower is 800m or so. Camera works better and hissing is gone. However the LG and Thunderbolt both got full bars even though they weren't working as they should and Verizon swapped for the Bionic and this is my Second Bionic.
Strange thing is when I'm talking on the phone I get full 4G bars but off the phone I get 1-2 bars. Speeds are fine and when I run Open Signal it shows 86% signal strength and -69 to -71 dBm and 21asu.
Called Verizon and they turned me over to Motorola and they said the update hasn't been released yet but what up date did I get then?
It shows 5.5.893.XT875.Verizon.en.US.
So is my bar graph off or is there something else going on?
Was it pushed to your phone or did you do it manually?
OTA was avaible for download this morning so i installed.
Bars really mean nothing for 4g. Two bars is just as strong as four.
I was showing usually 3-4 bars bars before the update and had sporadic speeds when tested. Now I'm 2-3 bars and stable.
I wouldn't stress. Does your phone run fine? You said your signal strength was the same. Don't worry.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
Ok thanks. Phone has been better since up date and its the only thing that i noticed.
Related
So if we have root finally can someone tell me if there is any way to resolve the signal strenght problem?? It looks like Droid 3 has different perception of signal strenght than my Motorola Milestone... When my milestone has signal about -83dB it has all 4on4 bars of signal strenght, and on Droid 3 -80dB means 2x4 bars...
the problem is when the signal is around -90 dB... Milestone has than 2on4 bars and Droid 3 has 1on4 bars or is Out of service...
Is there any file in the system that manage D3's perception of signal???
Hope You can help me somehow...
When I got this phone I wondered about that myself. But I never had any issues with calls.
I'd say a new rom might be the answer, but hey...
This sounds like the same issue with Droid 2 Global. Try switching to 2G and see if bars "increase" so to say. On D2g it is more of a cosmetic issue, even Cyanogenmod ROM for that phone applies fix, so bar count is displayed properly.
Edit: on Motorola XT860 this works normally (compared to D2g it seems to get better reception too). For non-Verizon users, I strongly recommend this version over the US D3
To which setting do you put your "Set preferred network type" under *#*#4636#*#* ?
Mine is set to "GSM Auto (PRL)"
Also, TELUS doesn't have a 2G network, so I can't test that option.
My phone is rarely at 5x5, mostly 3x5 or 4x5. My previous Milestone almost always had 4x4.
You can also check your signal strenght over time if you check your battery stats and click on the graph at the top of your screen.
The first bar should be Green, yellow, red or gray depending on your signal strength.
mikenius said:
So if we have root finally can someone tell me if there is any way to resolve the signal strenght problem?? It looks like Droid 3 has different perception of signal strenght than my Motorola Milestone... When my milestone has signal about -83dB it has all 4on4 bars of signal strenght, and on Droid 3 -80dB means 2x4 bars...
the problem is when the signal is around -90 dB... Milestone has than 2on4 bars and Droid 3 has 1on4 bars or is Out of service...
Is there any file in the system that manage D3's perception of signal???
Hope You can help me somehow...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had 3 replacements, first for out of service, then also screen and vibrate issues. All had the loss of service even with lots of towers near me. Usually a reboot fixes it but it's getting very annoying . Had a high level ticket opened with them and eventually was written off as a droid 3 issue and closed. They just don't want to help.
SX86 said:
To which setting do you put your "Set preferred network type" under *#*#4636#*#* ?
Mine is set to "GSM Auto (PRL)"
Also, TELUS doesn't have a 2G network, so I can't test that option.
My phone is rarely at 5x5, mostly 3x5 or 4x5. My previous Milestone almost always had 4x4.
You can also check your signal strenght over time if you check your battery stats and click on the graph at the top of your screen.
The first bar should be Green, yellow, red or gray depending on your signal strength.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am with Rogers and signal indicator is most of the time on 5 bars. I've seen it go down to 4, usually indoors, very seldom down to 3 or 2. I am yet to see 1 bar only or no bars at all (which wasn't at all unusual on my D2G
In that case, it must be a phone model vs cell towers (Bell/TELUS, Rogers) issue.
leobg said:
This sounds like the same issue with Droid 2 Global. Try switching to 2G and see if bars "increase" so to say. On D2g it is more of a cosmetic issue, even Cyanogenmod ROM for that phone applies fix, so bar count is displayed properly.
Edit: on Motorola XT860 this works normally (compared to D2g it seems to get better reception too). For non-Verizon users, I strongly recommend this version over the US D3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to change it to 2G only and it works and it shows 4/4 bars... however I use internet so 3G/HSPA is my preffered network and on 3G it shaws usually 1-2 bars and from time to time it drops the signal... It has to be software problem because when I change it to GSM Auto PRL from GSM only and it was at 2G showing full range it stays at 2G but shows 2 bars... so another MOTO bug... :/ but i would like to find out how to change it...
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.
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 !
Loving my Z3c so far, but I'm having one weird issue.
My APN settings are correct and I'm getting LTE, but I noticed that I was only getting two bars at home and my dBm was super high compared to my other phones (I normally get full bars with every AT&T phone at home). I rebooted the phone and it came back at full bars, with a really low dBm. Today, I went to work and after I came home, it was down to two bars again with a high dBm. I toggled mobile data off and on and it returned to full bars and low dBm.
Here's what I THINK is happening: I believe that at home, it gets on the 700mhZ LTE network and all is fine, but at work, it gets on 1700. Then it gets stuck on 1700mhz and stays that way until I toggle the connection off/on. It still gets LTE and decent speeds, but the dBm is high and the bars are low. I don't have any other phones that do this.
Does anyone know if there's a way to disable certain bands. On the LG G3, you can turn off LTE bands that you don't want in the phone menu. I'm wondering if there's a way to disable 1700 so this won't happen. Also wondering if anyone else on AT&T is experiencing this. I'm stock, not rooted.
Thanks!
Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk
I have noticed that with 5.1 while I normally got just 1-2 bars at home of signal I am now getting 3-4 and better speeds. At first I thought I was now getting Band 12(tmobile) but LTE Discovery says that I'm still on Band 4.
Anyone else seeing this?
knitler said:
I have noticed that with 5.1 while I normally got just 1-2 bars at home of signal I am now getting 3-4 and better speeds. At first I thought I was now getting Band 12(tmobile) but LTE Discovery says that I'm still on Band 4.
Anyone else seeing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I am in a very weak signal area, I am definitely getting a better LTE signal. But voice/calling (GSM) is worse on AT&T. Where I could make a call previously, on a very weak signal, now I get nothing.
Just finished flashing 5.1 and setting it up - and I'm definitely getting higher single indicators for LTE now (T-mobile Band 4) - I rarely used to get 1 bar in my house, but now it constantly shows 2-3 bars. Whether the coverage is actually improved is yet to be determined...
5.1 is definitely giving me a better radio signal in my house as I usually only had 0 to 1 bars. Now i'm getting 3 to 4 bars and my messages are sending without without delay now. I'm on AT&t.
@OP
Not for me!
Disconnecting
I'm getting better "signal" on 5.1 (more bars) However my lte speeds are horrible now Was 15-20 mbps and now its consistently 3-5 mbps on Tmobile.
Indicators can be changed to always look good. Actual signal probably didn't change.
mzrdisi said:
Indicators can be changed to always look good. Actual signal probably didn't change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
Its showing 3-4 bars of LTE in my house now, where before lucky to have 1.
But dbms are literally the same for me at least.
At work, inside thick concrete walls, inside of more thick concrete walls...I used to be able to keep a solid 4G signal. Now it barely keeps connected, and when it does it never goes off of EDGE. I'm on TMO btw.
I think I'll be switching back to the last radio. Not impressed with this new one from the 5.1 update.
Another thought is the transition from LTE to HSPA might be improved. I wasn't able to make a phone call in my basement at my desk. Now after the 5.1 update I was able to call and hold a conversation in the same spot.
SuperMan(Alex) said:
@OP
Not for me!
Disconnecting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me. Signal is worse, drops down to edge.
updated mine yesterday. i had 0-1 bars, now i have 3-4 in my home
SuperMan(Alex) said:
@OP
Not for me!
Disconnecting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me Too
The 47E radio is the best radio so far (for me at least).