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Hi guys, I just got my Incredible S yesterday, and I absolutely love this phone!! The only problem so far is the fluctuating signal bars. I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed here, but it seems to me that when I hold the phone...my signal gets weaker. When I put the phone on down..the signal gets stronger. Does a rubber or silicone case help as far as limiting signal interference?
Are you talking wifi signal or 3g signal?
mrHD2 said:
Are you talking wifi signal or 3g signal?
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Click to collapse
I'm talking about 3G/H. It's such a shame. I really liked this phone, but designing the antenna on the battery cover is a huge flaw. What were they thinking?!!??
I also have the signal strength fluctuations. I have tried everything: changing the SIM card, changing operators (Swisscom and Sunrise), changing settings GSM alone, WCDMA alone, and GSM/WCDMA auto, and soft reset. The only thing I have not yet tried is a hard reset.
I wonder if somebody else has the same problem? The consequence of this problem is that often times the quality of the calls is lousy and/or the calls are dropped.
Please help me..
Have to say, my signal level is dreadful compared to my bog standard Nokia mobile phone in low signal areas, I get no signal on my Inc S while 2 or sometimes 3 bars on my Nokia. It's really spoiling an otherwise brilliant device. One thing I was wondering is if changing radio from the 22_M to the 27_M might help, anybody know what the difference between them is ?
and, data does not work over 50% of the time on gprs, but fine on hsdpa/3g/edge, don't know if that's also down to poor signal reception ?
I had the same problem with my IS. when the internet connaction GSM/WCDMA auto i had many unexeptable call ends. I put the internet connection to GSM only and every thing is ok. Acording to info i have the problem is in some operaters new software when the network type changes the telefone cannot change it normaly.
After visiting other fora, I have a crucial question to ask: is the reception problem (fluctuating bars, dropped calls, WiFi disconnecting) a generalised problem, or, rather, is my phone faulty, and therefore should I have it repaired?
HTC update the radio module immediately....
atn_chargers said:
Hi guys, I just got my Incredible S yesterday, and I absolutely love this phone!! The only problem so far is the fluctuating signal bars. I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed here, but it seems to me that when I hold the phone...my signal gets weaker. When I put the phone on down..the signal gets stronger. Does a rubber or silicone case help as far as limiting signal interference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also believe that the desire s has this same problem they are similarly designed devices now running with very similar software.
even though at times signal can be great without moving it can drop to nothing and I'll lose all signal, which I believe has caused me miss several calls as they've gone to voicemail rather than ring on the phone.
I'm hoping that an upgrade to the phones radio will fix/improve this over time (the optimistic outlook)
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
signal
its the antenna design =Fail , put it flat on a desk and dont hold it and watch your signal go up pick it up and its like an hour glass going down
I am now arriving at the conclusion that sound quality and dropped calls (and bars fluctuating) can be explained by a connection problem when using GSM/WCDMA Auto. The problem disappears when using GSM Auto. Any views?
Same here, but it is better on "wcdma only" either. I'm suspectinig it has issues only when switching between wcdma and gsm
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 ?
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
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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
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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
I have performed many APN, ROM, and baseband experiments and have successfully routed out every variable contributing to signal loss on data, voice, drop call, and signal blackout. I can produce a full detailed on this if anyone wants. Will just take me some time to collect all my data.
To the limits of not be a Dev nor a coder I believe the issue is with how the phone handles frequency changes based on signal strength or data. There must be a code or script that tells the phone to switch to a lower band if the primary band is below a certain strength. If there is it can be changed to allow the band to be switched more effectively automatically if any of the Lowe bands exceed the primary bands signal strength beyond a certain tolerance. Thus insuring a constant signal strenght between all 3 bands that can be used automatically. The function is allready there and in use but it needs to be found and hacked.
This is where the Devs we rely on come in. The above is all theory and is the limit of my knowlage of how it works. Its the Devs that can take this idea and realise it. I am fairly sure this is the direct cause for the majority of our in call problems. I would be more than happy to vigorously test this and offer full reports if given the chance. If I'm wrong and I'm barking up the wrong tree here let me know please. I want to help but I really don't want to lead anyone the wrong way.
Thanks
[BUMP]
Developers (you know who you are) . Trying my best to help on this but it needs to be confirmed at minimum. Really need someone with more knowlage on this.
Thanks in advance oh wise and powerful developers. Consider your posteriors kissed. Lol
Thanks for taking the initiative on this. I have a couple questions:
How did you collect your data? (Not looking for a detailed answer, just a quick rundown)
Did you use a control?
So, im a little confused on what your looking for exactly. Are you asking if there is a way to hot switch the base bands on the fly automatically when signal strength is low?
I am interested to see what you have, but want to fully understand what your looking for.
Colbur
The majority of my data is notes. As a control I used the stock baseband, stock rom. Completely cleaned the phone of any app and used it solely for phone called during the day. I noted the signal strength changes when traveling in and out of various coverage zones. 2g 3g 4g . Made note of how long it took to change then moved again. Seemed very erratic in how the phone decides what signal to use. Couldn't seem to understand why in some cases it would stay on a 4g band when a 3g was twice as strong in the dame spot.
So after changing roms and apn's I cunducted the same experiment with the same average results. Used the same rout and time in stops.
Changed baseband same rom. Same experiment. Got the same average.
Changed baseband and rom again. Again same results.
I think the problem is how the phone decides what band is best at any given time. If its set to pic a band with a higher data rate then it would stick on 4g even though a 3g signal is much stronger. How often it changes is also an issue. Polling to often will drain the battery and depending on how the variables are set it will swing rapidly across bands while in use. It would be great to crack open the files that decides this so we can tweek it to fit our geographic location better.
An update
This specific behavior is in direct relation to the Baseband. While the APN is dealing with credentials the baseband in our case determines the hand shake and frequency from quadrant to quadrant when rolling past towers .
The other eminent and probably the most important is the refresh rate of the network. The more frequent its set to refresh the more it uses battery . If its set to low then you loose signal more often.
Cab121 said:
An update
This specific behavior is in direct relation to the Baseband. While the APN is dealing with credentials the baseband in our case determines the hand shake and frequency from quadrant to quadrant when rolling past towers .
The other eminent and probably the most important is the refresh rate of the network. The more frequent its set to refresh the more it uses battery . If its set to low then you loose signal more often.
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Click to collapse
I'm assuming that this is going to be for a particular region as where I am, I never have experienced the issues with the phone as others have.
Detailing your region and the exact method you used to test this would be a good idea as well, that way others in different regions can test it out and see if they get the same results.
From what I notice on my phone (CM7.2+, v21E), when the signal strength goes below -110dB on 3G, it switches to 2G. My phone is the P920 so there's no 4G. I think using empirical data with hard numbers is better than using the number of bars as a gauge, since according to the P920 service manual:
In 3G
4 bars: over -88dBm +-2dBm
3-4 bars: -88dBm +-2dBm
2-3 bars: -96dBm +-2dBm
1-2 bars: -104dBm +-2dBm
0-1 bar: 110dBm +-2dBm (at this point it switches to 2G mode automatically)
In 2G
4 bars: over -91dBm +-2dBm
3-4 bars: -91dBm +-2dBm
2-3 bars: -99dBm +-2dBm
1-2 bars: -103dBm +-2dBm
0-1 bar: -105dBm +-2dBm
As seen from the above, there's a pretty large range between each bar of signal so numbers are better I think. Furthermore when you factor in the fact that dBm is calculated in logarithmic form, an increase of -10dBm (-80dBm --> -90dBm) would mean a 10000 fold decrease in performance.
This is fantastic data and a great post. What are you using to log your signal data?
Been using a few maps but I'm uncertain of there accuracy .
The LG stock rom only allows you to use the bars as a gauge of your signal strength. I'm using CM atm, it allows you to display your signal strength in dBm instead which is very helpful for things like this.
Hi,
I have my O4X since Feb in India. My room is in corner of my house so reception is generally on weaker side. But I have noticed that my O4X has weaker reception as compared to other phones, even cheaper Chinese android phones get better reception than this.
Coming back to problem, using same network sim in both my O4X and my Xolo (cheap android phone), at same place at same time I get 3 out of 4 bar of reception in Xolo, whereas my O4X shows either no bar or just a single bar out of 5 bars. I tried different operators, different sims but this reception scenario remained same, all are 3G network sims. While on 2G network I don't really see any issue with reception. I am getting insane as to what is causing this issue, I have noticed this thing since day one, with ICS, JB, now I am at CM 10.1.
Is this a common issue with this phone? Does it have weaker radio/reception? Or is it with my handset only? Shall I give it in for repairs? What you guys suggest?
Thanks in advance for all the suggestions that will come my way..
I am from India too. I think you are using any phone cover, maybe. It makes problems. For me it happens. I always remove my phone's cover when using net. Also, there are some network frequency that receives low signal. I am using Reliance 3G. I am in west bengal state. In my house west bengal network works well. In my friend's house kolkata specific signal receiveing is well. Also, in his L5 kolkata network's frequency works out well and in my 4X wb is better. When he came to my house he has no signal reception in wb network but I was using it well and I got to his house I had no signal or bad signal reception in Kolkata network.
In short everything is device specific but our device has better network reception. You can try to set network manually.
Subhajitdas298 said:
I am from India too. I think you are using any phone cover, maybe. It makes problems. For me it happens. I always remove my phone's cover when using net. Also, there are some network frequency that receives low signal. I am using Reliance 3G. I am in west bengal state. In my house west bengal network works well. In my friend's house kolkata specific signal receiveing is well. Also, in his L5 kolkata network's frequency works out well and in my 4X wb is better. When he came to my house he has no signal reception in wb network but I was using it well and I got to his house I had no signal or bad signal reception in Kolkata network.
In short everything is device specific but our device has better network reception. You can try to set network manually.
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I do use a mobile cover, will try it without that. I have used Reliance 3G, Airtel 3G and MTNL 3G all in this phone and generally notice a weaker network as compared to other phones at the same place using same network. I have also noticed lately that generally it gets a normal signal when its kept on bed but as soon as I touch my phone signal drops significantly, sometimes from 3-4 bars to 1 bar immediately. And as soon as I take my hand off of it signal improves.
Well, I am not sure what to do now, will try to use without cover and see. Else it will go for repairs. Only reason I havent sent it for repairs yet is because of unlocked bootloader, will have to relock it and flash to stock before I do. Thanks for the suggestion though.