Related
My house has terrible reception in general (T-Mobile!), but I've never had a phone drain THIS quickly due to searching for signal.
I've set it to 2G only (I only get EDGE at my house anyway, THANKS OBAMA) and it seems to be helping.
Is the Nexus 5 or Kit Kat in general aggressive with searching for 3G/4G signal in anyone else's experience?
Like I said, other phones haven't had this issue.
Cheers
Sent from my Nexus 5
Ajfink said:
My house has terrible reception in general (T-Mobile!), but I've never had a phone drain THIS quickly due to searching for signal.
I've set it to 2G only (I only get EDGE at my house anyway, THANKS OBAMA) and it seems to be helping.
Is the Nexus 5 or Kit Kat in general aggressive with searching for 3G/4G signal in anyone else's experience?
Like I said, other phones haven't had this issue.
Cheers
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have terrible signal too and standby time is horrible. I'll try using faux kernel and report back.
I have same setup as you except my network settings are set to LTE even though there is no lte in my area. Not saying i have great battery life, but it isnt 49% looking for signal.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
I have this SAME problem, and the signal on my phone is terrible compared to my last LTE phone.
same problem at work...... I dont know how 1 place can go from lte to 4g to edge all with in a small building with 1 floor. First day while being at school i got 3 hours screentime on lte, today at work i got like 1.5 hours.
27% over 12 hours with one bar seems just fine to me..
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Mine reacts different with st att. I get 1 bar of lte in my home when I force lte. If I do auto switch gsm/lte it opts to 3 to 4 bars of hspa, which of course I prefer at home on Wi-Fi.
I've used tmobile for most of my smart phone life and always used tasker to switch to edge when connected to Wi-Fi. Saved a lot of battery. So your experience has been what I normally get.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
I have T-mobile as well and my house is in a bad spot. I found that with my note 2 I could use the dialer debug codes to manually set the phone to what ever freq and service I wanted. I found this to greatly help my battery as the modems for T-mo are particularly bad at determining the correct type of service to use and needlessly killing battery.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
At least I'm not alone. It's just annoying to have to switch to 2G only when I go home. -.-
Sent from my Nexus 5
Are you guys using wifi while at home? If not then you really should. It generally makes the data modem go into a lower power state if wifi is connected saving battery. Thats how it is on my VZW galaxy nexus.
blackhand1001 said:
Are you guys using wifi while at home? If not then you really should. It generally makes the data modem go into a lower power state if wifi is connected saving battery. Thats how it is on my VZW galaxy nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do use WiFi at my house.
Sent from my Nexus 5
I have full data bars in my area. If I turn WiFi off and just use data the battery drains significantly faster.
I am new to T-Mobile, I was with Verizon and my house on Verizon barely gets LTE. My galaxy nexus never got LTE but with T-Mobile my Nexus 5 has 3-4 bars of LTE. So I've been using LTE lately and my battery life has been great. I get 5 + hours screen on time with LTE.
Of course Verizon says my area has great 4g service too but anybody who has came to my house either gets 1 bar of LTE or 3g on Verizon. Trying to acquire a signal will of course eat battery though but I will tell you what I am very happy with T-Mobile so far, a lot better then I expected.
I am happy with the battery life and signal strength where I live and travel to.
I noticed this issue today as well... hoping for a solution...
kgptzac said:
I noticed this issue today as well... hoping for a solution...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said, manually switching to 2G-only when you're in the affected area removes the problem, but you'll need to switch it back to LTE when you go anywhere with a better connection time. Settings > More > Mobile Networks > Network Mode.
If you're worried about battery life. There's a few things you can do. I found that turning off my "Ok Google" hot word detection increased battery life immensely. Also try turning off Google Now sometimes. I realize that the highlight of this phone more or less was Google Now, but if you don't need it for a certain period of time, turn it off. Doesn't hurt to try.
Try out Faux kernel also. On his test 7 (I think he just put out test 8) I was on track to get 60 hours of standby time. I'll try and dig up the screenshot..hopefully I didn't loose it one of my many wipes..
ZenithHammerhead said:
Try out Faux kernel also. On his test 7 (I think he just put out test 8) I was on track to get 60 hours of standby time. I'll try and dig up the screenshot..hopefully I didn't loose it one of my many wipes..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean Franco? Faux kernel is only on 002 beta 2, Franco's is on test build 8.
I had this problem and I sent my phone back and got a new one. The new phone doesn't do it at all just got a day and a half with over 4 hours screen time. I think some of the nexus 5's are a bit dodgy.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
D3_ said:
Do you mean Franco? Faux kernel is only on 002 beta 2, Franco's is on test build 8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Sorry, I had flashed both kernels and decided on Franco for now because it seems he's had the most progress so far. He also received his own device today so he should be able to get even more things done!
Looking forward to both of their kernels!
kurnis said:
I have this SAME problem, and the signal on my phone is terrible compared to my last LTE phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. It looks like my N5 gets 5-8 dBm worse signal than my N4.
I have been using my N6 for the past couple of days and the battery life has been quite disappointing for me so far. It seems the biggest culprit for me is the poor signal in my area leading to a huge amount of drain from Cell Standby. Even when idle, my battery drains quickly. I lose 1% every few minutes without even turning my screen on and about 10% over an hour. As of now, my device has been on for 2h 49m and 24% of that time has been without signal.
I understand that poor reception is causing the radio to constantly look for a signal but my Moto G and Nexus 5 are in the exact same environment and fair much better when it comes to battery life. Anyone else experiencing this insane battery drain? At this point I'm debating sending the device back, getting a refund, and dealing with the bloated and Touchwiz filled Note 4. It's a bummer because I absolutely love this phone otherwise. The screen, build quality, WiFi signal strength, and audio experience make this phone an absolute delight but the battery drain might be a deal breaker for me. Thankfully I still have a couple of weeks to make up my mind on whether or not I'll be keeping the phone or returning it and going for another phablet. Thanks to the N6, I can no longer return to a phone with small display.
As I mentioned earlier, I am not having this issue with my Moto G or Nexus 5 and both devices have excellent idle battery life.
Battery stats: http://i.imgur.com/Qmx3vkh.png
Detailed Battery stats: http://i.imgur.com/Qmx3vkh.png
Cell Standy: http://i.imgur.com/gvSbxLp.png
I have noticed the same thing with my device. Might not be to the extent you are experiencing because the cell coverage is a little better but cell standby is one of the main causes of my battery draining.
dleonard1122 said:
I have noticed the same thing with my device. Might not be to the extent you are experiencing because the cell coverage is a little better but cell standby is one of the main causes of my battery draining.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This seems to be an issue with Lollipop and people with the Nexus 5 are also experiencing this. There is a thread over at /r/android discussing this issue.
I absolutely love this phone and I will be holding out for a patch as long as I can. This phone is so awesome though.
I don't have this issue with my new N6 or my N5 on lollipop. I have very strong signal though in my area.
I would like to point out though it's not that bad considering your without service for over 20% of the time at that point.. From that it looks like you'll have a12 hour day.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
godsafk said:
IAnyone else experiencing this insane battery drain?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, my N5 running LRX21O has the same since I activated my N6. In my case (Wi-Fi only) I can just turn off the mobile radios.
I actually already started a thread about this. At first I thought it was a sprint issue turns out to be widespread.
TwelfthMan said:
I actually already started a thread about this. At first I thought it was a sprint issue turns out to be widespread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for letting me know about your own thread discussing the same issues, I have posted there as well. :good:
This cell standby drain reminds me of eclair and froyo days. I believe the temp solution for this was to briefly put it into airplane mode. Then turn mobile network bank on. It would sort of reset the existing bug. Anyone remember this from way back when?
posted while using my note 3
hasbrobot said:
This cell standby drain reminds me of eclair and froyo days. I believe the temp solution for this was to briefly put it into airplane mode. Then turn mobile network bank on. It would sort of reset the existing bug. Anyone remember this from way back when?
posted while using my note 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember it well I had the Eris. But I think it's different today. I think it's a reporting issue not a signal loss issue. Imo
Ahh... memories, I had the eris as well. Actually 5 of them, ha ha. Man android has come along way.
posted while using my note 3
Just a thought.. try changing it from LTE preferred to 3G. I'm not saying to use this as a permanent solution but just try it out. I was in the -90 to -103dB range in signal on LTE and it would randomly crap out entirely for a few seconds every couple minutes (at best). I have no idea why - didn't have that issue on my older galaxy S3. Anyway, switching to 3G suddenly gave me fantastic reception (at least in terms of signal strength).
If it helps you - that might be the cause of your battery drain: poor signal.
Me too I've switched to 3g and I'm my nexus isn't constantly looking for a 4g signal
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
I just did 12 hours in a hospital where my S3 couldn't make it much past lunchtime. I'm at around 15 hours now and have 70% left. Full time on 4G.
pifsworld said:
Me too I've switched to 3g and I'm my nexus isn't constantly looking for a 4g signal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did this too which helped a ton.
Also flashing the latest modem in fastboot also appeared to help.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/ref-nexus-6-modem-collection-t2969380
Like others have mentioned, forcing it to a specific network mode will typically save power, especially when you kill something as power hungry as LTE.
From the regular system menu, you only have the options to set "preferred" LTE/3G/2G, but this does not actually disable LTE or 2G when you select 3G.
From the dialer, enter *#*#4636#*#*, select phone information, scroll down to "set preferred network type" and choose "WCDMA only". With this, it will actually turn off the LTE and GSM radios.
Hey -
I'm having issues with call quality (other side says I'm breaking up, calls dropping, etc.).
When I compare my signal strength, I'm usually 6-10 dbm lower signal strength than my wife's Galaxy S5. I also compared it to my son's G3, and had a similar variation in signal strength.
Do I just have a bad phone, and should I swap it?
I'm worried that if I swap it, I end up with a refurb that has a partially used up battery for my brand new phone.
Thoughts?
Jim
jbresee said:
Hey -
I'm having issues with call quality (other side says I'm breaking up, calls dropping, etc.).
When I compare my signal strength, I'm usually 6-10 dbm lower signal strength than my wife's Galaxy S5. I also compared it to my son's G3, and had a similar variation in signal strength.
Do I just have a bad phone, and should I swap it?
I'm worried that if I swap it, I end up with a refurb that has a partially used up battery for my brand new phone.
Thoughts?
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I take it you have a US Nexus 6 XT-1103? What carrier do you have, are you on a stock/custom rom, rooted. stock/custom kernel, what radio are you using?
jbresee said:
Hey -
I'm having issues with call quality (other side says I'm breaking up, calls dropping, etc.).
When I compare my signal strength, I'm usually 6-10 dbm lower signal strength than my wife's Galaxy S5. I also compared it to my son's G3, and had a similar variation in signal strength.
Do I just have a bad phone, and should I swap it?
I'm worried that if I swap it, I end up with a refurb that has a partially used up battery for my brand new phone.
Thoughts?
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first off, they are completely different devices with completely different hardware. so you cant compare the n6 to the ither devices when looking for issues. secondly, the n6 antenna is supposedly a little shorter than samsungs, which could have slightly worse signal reception, if you live in or near the country (as opposed to being in a city).
jbresee said:
Hey -
I'm having issues with call quality (other side says I'm breaking up, calls dropping, etc.).
When I compare my signal strength, I'm usually 6-10 dbm lower signal strength than my wife's Galaxy S5. I also compared it to my son's G3, and had a similar variation in signal strength.
Do I just have a bad phone, and should I swap it?
I'm worried that if I swap it, I end up with a refurb that has a partially used up battery for my brand new phone.
Thoughts?
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be clear, when you say "6-10 dbm lower" you actually mean higher? Like your phone is 100 and hers is 90.
Sorry - should have provided more details:
1. It's a Verizon Nexus -not sure what that translates to for a model number.
2. By higher dbm, I mean that if I'm seeing -107 dbm on my phone, my son's LG3 and my wife's GS5 are seeing -96dbm. I guess the point is, both my wife and son can complete a call standing in the same location where I cannot.
Jim
N6 vs Note 4 dbm
This is by no means concrete proof, just showing that the radios in the Nexus 6 are no slouch...
jbresee said:
Sorry - should have provided more details:
1. It's a Verizon Nexus -not sure what that translates to for a model number.
2. By higher dbm, I mean that if I'm seeing -107 dbm on my phone, my son's LG3 and my wife's GS5 are seeing -96dbm. I guess the point is, both my wife and son can complete a call standing in the same location where I cannot.
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What radio are you running? Im running the M preview radio and it seems to be a little stronger than then 98r(verizon stock model radio) ones.
mademan420 said:
What radio are you running? Im running the M preview radio and it seems to be a little stronger than then 98r(verizon stock model radio) ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am running the stock Verizon ROM. I loaded the M radio last night, and I'm not seeing a noticeable difference in signal strength or call quality.
Jim
jbresee said:
I am running the stock Verizon ROM. I loaded the M radio last night, and I'm not seeing a noticeable difference in signal strength or call quality.
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As @simms22 and @gee2012 said, there are several factors involved. I will admit, the Note 4's in-call sound quality is better than the N6's imho but by no means have I ever had problems with calls on it. I will admit, it does seem lower, but I found a thread yesterday that would increase the in-call volume. I applied it but havent actually tested this yet.
Updated: Im also running a 5.1.1 stock based ROM LYZ28E
As Apple once said, "you're holding the phone wrong." Notice the change in dBm while holding the phone normally (with the hand covering the bottom of the phone) and when you hold the phone just by the top edges.
stevemw said:
As Apple once said, "you're holding the phone wrong." Notice the change in dBm while holding the phone normally (with the hand covering the bottom of the phone) and when you hold the phone just by the top edges.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, Steve, I do notice a drop of a few dbm's when I take the bumper case off. But my tests with other phones are with them sitting side by side, not touching. And the dbm measurements are not really the issue. The issue is that calls on my N6 suck, but the LG3 and S5 are great in the same location.
In case you hit this thread with a search engine - here's another thread with people who are experiencing reception issues:
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/f7b51bd9bf?page=6
Ok -
Took the phone back to the Verizon store. I set my phone next to the display model - mine showed 1 bar, the display showed full bars.
The tech took my phone and turned off Advanced Calling, and my signal strength matched the display model. I'm going to play with it at home, but it looks like there is an issue with advanced calling and the N6.
jbresee said:
Actually, Steve, I do notice a drop of a few dbm's when I take the bumper case off. But my tests with other phones are with them sitting side by side, not touching. And the dbm measurements are not really the issue. The issue is that calls on my N6 suck, but the LG3 and S5 are great in the same location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the antenna is on the rim of the N6.
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/5b145d5570
In regards to the iPhone 6, or Note 4? I am wondering if the device has good signal in fringy locations? Does it hold onto LTE in weak areas?
+1
MattMJB0188 said:
In regards to the iPhone 6, or Note 4? I am wondering if the device has good signal in fringy locations? Does it hold onto LTE in weak areas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This^
Every Samsung phone I've had has horrible service. Defaults to 3G when in my pocket and the signal strength is never as good as other brands of phones I've had ( Motorola, Apple, HTC). The only variable being different is the name brand, I've always been on Verizon and lived in the same place. My note 3 always defaulted to 3G, I can count the number of times my iPhone has defaulted to 3G on one hand( not just looking at signal bar strength). I really want the note 5 but if the signal strength is worse or similar( I'm especially worried about the aluminum material used) to other Samsung phones I won't get it. Even if you have the best phone in the world it's only as good as the cell reception.
Thanks in advance.
I can't speak in terms of the note 4 or iPhone, but my previous phone was a Galaxy S4. In my daily life, I definitely notice that the Note 5 has WAY better signal strength than the S4. I used to sit at this bench, but I couldn't use any internet there (not even 3G!) so I stopped. However, my note 5 is picking up LTE 3/4 bars in an area where a 2013 flagship phone couldn't pick anything up . Definitely an upgrade. Sprint btw.
desertboy83 said:
This^
Every Samsung phone I've had has horrible service. Defaults to 3G when in my pocket and the signal strength is never as good as other brands of phones I've had ( Motorola, Apple, HTC). The only variable being different is the name brand, I've always been on Verizon and lived in the same place. My note 3 always defaulted to 3G, I can count the number of times my iPhone has defaulted to 3G on one hand( not just looking at signal bar strength). I really want the note 5 but if the signal strength is worse or similar( I'm especially worried about the aluminum material used) to other Samsung phones I won't get it. Even if you have the best phone in the world it's only as good as the cell reception.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah this is what I was afraid of. Should be getting the device today. I had read it wasn't the strongest in the signal department, which is why I asked.
zingo1zang said:
I can't speak in terms of the note 4 or iPhone, but my previous phone was a Galaxy S4. In my daily life, I definitely notice that the Note 5 has WAY better signal strength than the S4. I used to sit at this bench, but I couldn't use any internet there (not even 3G!) so I stopped. However, my note 5 is picking up LTE 3/4 bars in an area where a 2013 flagship phone couldn't pick anything up . Definitely an upgrade. Sprint btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what I wanted to hear. Thank you for clarifying this information.
So???
MattMJB0188 said:
Yeah this is what I was afraid of. Should be getting the device today. I had read it wasn't the strongest in the signal department.
So how is the signal strength? Are you on Verizon?
On a unrelated note ( pun intended). How is the speakerphone compared to iPhone 6? Another shortcoming of my note 3 was the weak speaker.
Thanks fellow xda'er.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i live in a rural area and while in the house i barely get 3g and occasionaly switch to the roaming tower. outside lte and was able to stream spotifiy for 3 hours while cutting the grass without problem. coming from a note 2 it's a huge improvement (used get 1x out there or 3g with no throughput). my n6 on verizon is pretty much the same, but i get a slightly better lte signal in the house by the only window where i can catch it - the note 5 sprint does the same, but just not as strong.
On t-mobile its amazing. I have super strong signal and even gets me through old dead zones near my house without dropping calls. so color me impressed. I would say its MUCH MUCH better than the note 3, I was always loosing signal bars when driving but night and day from work to back now, no more dropped calls/dropped internet
We know how much you like to stream, ahem, "videos", and so cellular data is mega-important. Rate this thread to express how you think the LG V20's LTE performs. A higher rating indicates that it's fantastic: throughput is excellent and signal strength is top-notch.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add.
Unfortunately, the signal strength is really poor for me
Good signal for me, Lte slows down to less than 2Mbps down while my s7 is doing 34Mbps avg. Im on at&t.
Not enjoying the quality I'm getting, even at home. 2 bars average, and this is in the Dallas area.
Worse than my Note 3, so I don't blame AT&T.
Glad to know I'm not the only one with speed issues. I was thinking there was something wrong with my phone.
I have issues indoors at my job but my Note 7 was the same way too at my job
A lot better than my Note 7. I tested this morning because I am finally getting around to setting up the phone the way I like. It tested at 80/16 which the Note 7 would only speed test at 23/12. This was at home.
Saw a report that the S7/Edge got an update to support 4x4 MIMO and 256QAM down and 64QAM up
Also supposedly the V20 supports this but hasn't been turned on for us (seriously WTF)
http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/1...-mimo-256qam-technologies-faster-data-speeds/
From I what I have read on Reddit from posts by Qualcomm engineers, the LG v20 does not support mimo. It lacks the additional anttenas for mimo, though it does support 256 QAM. I was tempted to get the s7 edge, but AT&T doesn't support MiMo or have any plans of implementing it in the near future.
I'm always at 1 or 2 bars. I often get "no service"
Most of the time I get 0 bars with an X, or full bars with 4G but no LTE, where i used to get LTE with my previous phone, I think this phone has a weak antenna
I need some kind of hardware mod. Anyone know where is the antenna in the phone?
deathhall said:
Most of the time I get 0 bars with an X, or full bars with 4G but no LTE, where i used to get LTE with my previous phone, I think this phone has a weak antenna
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the opposite experience, I get better service with this phone. Maybe yours is defective.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
I'm with the 1-2 bar group. My Nexus 5x and Samsung S8 are guaranteed to have 2 more bars than my V20, no matter where I go. I also get the spinning circle near the signal meter indicating it's searching. I've downloaded several apps to confirm my suspicion that this phone's antenna(s) suck. I like the phone, but signal is important when it affects your ability to communicate, not to mention drain on battery.
I think a phone of this size shouldn't be any of bad reception, especially with so many metal contacts within its cover, which must act as antenna.
i have really bad / unreliable reception.
i rooted the phone.
might it be a firmware problem? could i flash it? i believe the firmware that was linked in the instructions was for canada... i'm in europe germany
right now i've got the Alpha Omega ROM installed.
Purchased an AT&T version of the v20 off Ebay h910. What I have learned is the antennas are in the polycarbonate end-caps. GPS would not work for me at all on a clear day outside. Found a thread on the Internet that identified the problem, some replacement end caps do not have the antenna contacts in them. Google "becareful_buying_the_top_plastic_bezel_of_the_v20" for the thread on the fix. I found an additional thread on fixing the call reception but it did not work for me, search "v20-signal-issues". Hope this helps as I spent hours and hours trying things until I found the gps fix. The GPS is in the top end cap confirmed, the 3g is supposedly the 3rd contact in the bottom end cap but can't confirm.
I still have yet to identify my horrible signal strength. The antenna connectors on mainboard were just there with no plugs. Imma check tomorrow if my phone has this stuff in top and bottom caps.
McQueefus said:
Unfortunately, the signal strength is really poor for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya for me too. I have an h910 with dirty santa US996 Super V20 ROM. I don't live in the US so I don't get proper network with Optus here in Australia.
nirvikkhanal said:
Ya for me too. I have an h910 with dirty santa US996 Super V20 ROM. I don't live in the US so I don't get proper network with Optus here in Australia.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why anyone would use a phone intended to be used in the US in another country doesn't make sense
Sent from my LG-H910 using XDA Labs