Hello out there in Phone Land,
I just finished comparing a Siemens PC Pocket Phone to a Motorola V66. I tested the PC Pocket Phone in the exact same locations as the Motorola V66.
Surprisingly the V66 always showed more signal strength. For example the V66 showed 3 bars, the PC Pocket Phone showed 1 bar.
Testing in several areas the results were always similar, the V66 showed more signal bars. In Atlanta, Georgia, August is a good month to really do testing. With high humidity and 90 f, the green leaf foliation absorption of RF is very high.
OK, so much for measured signal strength...what about calls? In areas where the PC Pocket phone showed 1 bar or less, calls could not be made. With two bars, calls were made, but the audio was in and out.
In these same areas, the V66 made solid calls with no audio dropout.
While there are many software and os tweeks, has anyone been able to control the output power, or improve the antenna? It is not clear whether the basic dynamic range of the PC Pocket Phone is equal to the V66 or whether the antenna configuration on the PC Pocet Phone is the weak link.
Since I live and work in an August weak signal area, any tweaks or ideas are appreciated. By the way, I tested 3 different PC Pocket Phones...they were all equal. One was an early model while the other two were of July of 2003 manufacture.
B C N U All,
G Tinker (an rf and digital kind of guy)
1 bar
I regularly have one bar at my home, UK.
I can make and receive perfectly fine. No fading, or static. For this reason I pay no attention to the signal bar. I feel that this roulette with the ppc is just the way it is. Perhaps I am like you one of the unlucky few?
I also use a nokia 6310i, this is getting on for two years old, but still outshines my XDA on signal. But calls seem no different in most cases..
I look forward to receiving my ericcson t610 next week. It has been out of stock in a lot of places, hopefully this is a good sign for what appears to be a popular phone. How will the t68 successor fair in the real world though...
Related
Hello everyone,
Since getting my SX56 last week and I've upgraded the ROM and the Radio Stack...
Upgraded the ROM to PW10A1-ENG-4.00.05
and the Radio Stack to RA.20.10
I'm using this SX56 on Rogers AT&T in Canada (Mississauga) yet I cannot seem to get any good signal strength for my phone. It's always displaying the antenna image with only the smallest strength bar beside it and most often there are NO strength bars appearing.
Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.
Some times the PPC indicates weak signal, but the point is: do you face problems making or receiving phone calls ?
Yes. I do experience problems with dropped calls, poor reception and broken conversations. There have even been a number of times when it was unable to complete a call.
The problem here, is that this SX56 is new to me, so I'm not sure what the expected performance level should be, because I haven't had anything to compare it to.
My previous Motorola T720 was experiencing similar issues with poor reception and broken conversations, but not to this extent.
I think that the antennas seem to just do a poor job. I can sit in my office with 2 phones side by side (a nokia, and the sx56) and the nokia shows a half signal and has no problems receiving or making calls. The sx56 on the other hand either has 1 or no bars and goes into random searches for signal. I love the device, but their antenna is seriously lacking
no I love my sgs2 and so does every that holds it, ive a major issue that i thought was caused by switching from orange uk to o2 uk, but as it happens i have full signal when the phone is rested down... however when i pick it up it drops signal... more often than not the signal completely drops out as does the call and sometimes it just goes down to 1 bar... does anyone else have this problem? ive tried my o2 sim and my orange sim its the same for both... is it possible i have a defective handset ? weak radio ???
heres my quick vid to show you what i mean, apologies for the video quality... filmed on my bb9700
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VthdB4V3D8&feature=channel_video_title
well the GSM and 3G antenna looks to be located in the bottom, back part of the device. so this seems like the exact place your hand would be covering when holding the phone, so i can easily see some significant signal attentuation happening with this phone.
i dont know where the antenna was located on the original galaxy s. but all phones i own always have attentuation. not much you can do about it i'd guess.
Applies to all wireless devices - signal transmits worse through your hand than through empty air. Rules of the universe.
However, I can't seem to replicate what you're seeing. In order for bars to drop, I have to block the entire bottom of my device using both hands. Holding it in one hand doesn't seem to be causing a drop for me.
But again : air > hand for signal transmission.
RogerPodacter said:
well the GSM and 3G antenna looks to be located in the bottom, back part of the device. so this seems like the exact place your hand would be covering when holding the phone, so i can easily see some significant signal attentuation happening with this phone.
i dont know where the antenna was located on the original galaxy s. but all phones i own always have attentuation. not much you can do about it i'd guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right, quick start guide shows the location of the antenna. If you look at the back of the device, the antenna is in the lower left hand corner, opposite the speaker.
When holding the device in your right hand, it should rest in your palm.
Actually holding the device in my right hand doesn't seem to be affecting my signal though, for some reason. I might just be in an area with good signal though (3 bars of h+, stays at 3 bars when holding it in 1 hand, drops to 1 bar when covering the device completely with 2 hands, and then changes to edge with full bars).
I just tested with my S2 and I had no problems whatsoever.
See my youtube channel (../user/Poppefieke) Can't post links yet.
I have some other S2 video's there too
i think sampullen who has been posting quite a few vids on youtube is going to cover this now too, see i hold my sgs2 in my left had for holding when im surfing etc but also when im on calls...
its good to hear some of you cannot replicate this, maybe mines faulty might try to exchange for a new 1 just to be on the safe side
OMG!
can more people confirm if this is real?
is it as bad as the antenna-gate issue from apple or no where as bad
Hey (samjpullen) here
I have been doing the tests like Sticky and have been getting some rather conflicting results to say the least.
I am not in the best area for Orange so i get a weak signal most of the time, when i do the test infront of my iMac and extra screen with the TV, Sky (you know the drill) on it seems to drop down from H with 1 bar, then down to 3G then down to G and then it can jump onto the Edge network (rathe strange)
But when i do this same test in other rooms e.g bathroom, other bedroom, even downstairs with the tv etc on it is fine!
So my guess is that it might be my rooms location and maybe all the electrical equipment within a small space.
AllGamer said:
can more people confirm if this is real?
is it as bad as the antenna-gate issue from apple or no where as bad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im hoping no where near as bad and im hoping that i was the only affected, one chap has placed a video reply to mine showing he doesnt have the issue which is good news, lets hope more can confirm im rather a 1 off and that if i replace this unit all will be well...... fingers crossed
cheers sam,
btw ppl follow sam on twitter, guys good!!!
Was utilizing my home wifi signal to connect to a web site, but it would time out and not connect. Check and saw the wifi signal strength indicator with only the bottom dot illuminated. My laptop, right beside me, had all five bars illuminated. Switched the phone from wifi to data and it connected right away.
I ha e the same issue! But I am rooted. Is there any kind of a fix out there?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Same. It's weaker than the Infuse i have
The international SGS2 doesn't like D-Link routers. I don't know if the AT&T version's the same. There's less range with a D-Link for some reason and it wreaks havoc on the battery. It likes Netgear routers.
Wifi is weaker than my captivate was, but the GPS is really good. I got a solid lock in some pretty dense woods while on a hike. Whereas my captivate got awesome wifi but crap gps. I wonder if its a trade off with the antennas.
How's the signal on a 2Wire router from ATT for DSL service?
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G using XDA app
Same issue here. My captivate had a much better reception. I checked at home and at school. Both places it had only one bar in the signal while being only 35 feet away from the router with only one wall in the way. It looses signal when further away while my laptop still has it. I'm connected on 802.11n in both places so maybe its something with that?
I also see lower wifi signals compared to iPhone 3gs.the difference isn't huge but definitely noticeable.
I noticed that too. It is weaker than my ex 3GS iPhone as well.
Weaker? Indicator?
Has there been any test on SIGNAL STRENGTH versus the number of bars? I don't mean to take a page out of ANTENNA GATE, but just having a fewer number on the display, doesn't actually indicate poorer reception.
For the guy with the 3gs, can you measure with something like speedtest.net? Since transfer speed descrease respective to signal strength, this seems like a good test.
I just bought a SGS II and would really like to know if the indicator is accurate and comparable to other devices and it does have a weaker antenna.
Thanks.
I didn't wanna make a new thread but same here. Wifi is pretty weak on this phone . Fairly disappointed at that.
To beat a dead horse, I am always at 1 or 2 wireless bars versus my IP4 being at full wifi bars. Not sure how its effecting the actual browsing though.
I will say that my GS2 consistently shows less bars than my iPad and previous iPhone 4(1 or 2 compared to full).... BUT I have yet to have a single issue browsing or accessing anything and speed is still excellent. So it could just be a display issue.
My only problem with that is that if I do really have a bad signal and have a crappy connection I'll never really know - because I'll aways asume the connection is good even though it's reporting low strength.
I've sometimes had my GS2 show extremely weak wifi signal even when sitting right next to my router - but the wifi still works just fine, inconsistently with the displayed signal strength.
So if it's showing weak but working fine, don't worry.
Entropy512 said:
I've sometimes had my GS2 show extremely weak wifi signal even when sitting right next to my router - but the wifi still works just fine, inconsistently with the displayed signal strength.
So if it's showing weak but working fine, don't worry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can agree with this. My router is located very close to my phone and sometimes my phone shows only 1 bar of signal but the overall performance is still snappy and quick. no worries
I'm coming from a iPhone 3G. While the SGSII displays less bars it also seems to pick up wireless signals that my iPhone never detected (free wireless downtown).
Also at home in some rooms it shows less than full while my iPhone always showed full but I never noticed it being slow. I think it just displays differently.
From AnandTech
Referring to Cellular connectivity:
"In addition, Samsung makes the mistake of going with a signal bar visualization with very compressed dynamic range. Since the whole iPhone 4 debacle, I’ve seen something of a trend towards a strict linear scale (which makes more sense), but SGS2 definitely doesn’t go that route. It’s not a huge deal however, just something to be aware of. I’m willing to overlook that issue considering that getting the real story on connectivity is no harder than dialing *#0011# and looking at the real number."
Referring to Wifi:
"As with every other radio, we have to do the receive sensitivity dance and make sure nothing is broken. I tested the SGS2 alongside an SGS 4G at my house with both an Airport Extreme (5th Gen) and WRT54G-TM boosted to 184 mW. SGS2 WiFi reception on 2.4 GHz is darn near identical to the previous generation.
There’s something deceptive about this however, and it’s that although Samsung has chosen to go the usual compressed-dynamic-range route with cellular bars, the WLAN bars seem to be more linearized. Thus where I’m used to seeing every other smartphone show max (until you’re right about to fall off), the SGS2 actually doesn’t lie to me and shows fewer bars. Until I ran around and looked at RSSI in dBm, I suspected SGS2 had WLAN sensitivity issues where there don’t appear to be any. One small thing I did notice is that SGS2 (and BCM4330) seems to only connect at long guard interval (eg 65 Mbps maximum for single stream, 20 MHz channels), where SGS1 and BCM4329 connected at 72 Mbps short guard interval."
I've noticed that my recently bought St18i is kinda strange during calls.
After just 30 sec I get headache and warm around the ear exposed to the call.
This thing didn't happen with Htc diamond 2. I just can't use the cell close to the ear.
Previously I used to get this kind of sensation after at least 1h of continous call.
Instead with this phone it's enough just 30 sec..!
So I was wondering, does anyone here have experienced this kind of issue?
Hello,
That depends on the band you are using and how far is the tower.
The higher the band and the more far is a tower - the more power it will emit.
These days you should always use wired hands-free device as we are getting more and more electrostatic load and various power wavelengths.
I doubt your unit is emitting more, they all undergo checks and tests, unless you bought it from black market Indian makers.
It's natural that the phone and the area around it will get warm during calls, but it should not be cause of headache.
All our cells and atoms are vibrating, we always disturb it with various types of frequencies going trough our body.
Take care.
Well I'll make more investigations about this matter, I want to check it with EMF meters.
Who knows whether an EMF meter is enough or it's needed also a gauss meter...
I have a Ray in USA (unbranded st18a) and I don't have these issues. The phone doesn't even get warm on two hour phone calls. Worth noting is I have excellent reception where I am usually. The phone really shouldn't get warm, especially enough to feel against your ear!
i know this have been discussed before but there is still no solution.
here s my problem: wifi signal drops suddenly when i hold my phone. ive done sevral speed tests. These tests confirm that holding the phone results in a really bad wifi quality. I ve tried eveything.
does anyone have any ideas? even if its hardware moding
thx
+1
Sad to say, in my tests, by tightly holding the phone, especially at the bottom right, the signal strength reduced by about 20dBm.
Sent from my XT910 using XDA
this really sucks since this phone is pretty good and so far its the only BIG problem i found. and no solutions....
Must be a random problem. I have the RAZR and RAZR Maxx and neither has this problem.
For me, on 2.3.6 wifi signal was low, especially taking phone by bottom, but on ICS, both t-mobile ics and latest eu ics, wifi signal is very improved. Hand issue remains, but signal is for me stronger.
well i guess im just going to wait for stock ics update and hope it improves but im guessing the problem wont disappear since this is clearly a hardware issue. and if this is random then im very unlucky
When software fixes a radio that software usually just makes the signal-strength meter show signal that's not really there.
There are apps on Play that "fix" all kinds of radio problems by installing signal-strength icons with the low-strength indications set inaccurately. It *looks* like more signal, but it's the same low signal you had before.
Signal strength has almost nothing to do with reception anyway. Signal/Noise ratio is what's important, and there's no meter for that. One bar of signal in a very RF-quiet area, is much better than five bars in a computer data center.
"Caveet emter, I reckon!"
- Mark Twain
I have no wifi issues with this phone. The GNex however was unusable at 30 feet from a high-powered Hawking WAP, or an Apple Airport Extreme WAP.
If you have a plastic case, try removing it. Some cases are made with recycled plastic and are infused with conductive material that can act as a Faraday Shield, blocking part of the signal. Easy test, costs nothing but a few seconds...
yea i already knew about the plastic thats why i bought a rubber case. I have to say it helped a little but didnt fix it. the problem is still there.
thx
Haven't seen any problems with my wifi, although I mainly use the 3G simply because I have 4 GB of data a month and I will never use that much when I'm out around town.
If the problem occurs when holding it a certain way wouldn't the simplest solution be to not hold it that way, also be very aware of any metals between you and the router as metals block radio signals, how old is your house, if old enough maybe lead paint, unlikely but just throwing all possibilities out there.
thx for your help. i didnt only test this at home and as for holding the phone im used to hold it like i hold all phones and its pretty annoying if i always have to hold it differently if i want to use the internet
Have you tried the free Play Store app, WiFi Analyzer?
This will help you find out what works/doesn't as it provides more sensitive strength measurements from the chip. It's handy anyway, since it shows WAPs that you aren't connected to. yet.
It's quite possible that your antenna wire bounced off the connector. An insignificant drop of an inch could do that if it was never seated correctly. It would likely operate in a degraded capacity as a result. If you're OK with cracking the case open, that's something quick to check.
How long have you had this phone?
I have never heard anyone complain about the Razr's WiFi reception, so I suspect this is something unique to that phone right there. What is your idea of poor reception? 100 feet, inside, is the practical limit. 300 feet in an open field. Metal wall studs, sheet metal siding, all of these will stop radio waves dead.
marawan31 said:
thx for your help. i didnt only test this at home and as for holding the phone im used to hold it like i hold all phones and its pretty annoying if i always have to hold it differently if i want to use the internet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get that, just trying to "cover all the bases" as they say.
Giblet535 said:
I have never heard anyone complain about the Razr's WiFi reception,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you haven't been listening. The RAZR is universally acclaimed to have the worst WiFi reception of ANY device since 1999.
im ok with opening it... i actually opened it a couple of times and removed the battery but idk what to look for since nothing is labeled i dont even know where exactly is the wifi ship and antenna. i tested this as close as 6 feet from my router when i leave it on the table i get full wifi signal and speed test at max then i hold it and try... wifi signal goes down and speed test at 3/4 max speed...
thx
It's possible that I have an extraordinary phone then. I decided to compare.
My phone is seeing -60dbm from the Hawking extender that I'm closest to, which is about 20 meters away, behind three stick-frame (pine 2x4 studs, sheetrock) walls. The reading varies dramatically, depending on where I put it on my desk. So let's see what some other WiFi devices do...
My MacBook reads -58dbm. My iPad2 reads -59dbm. An HP Envy 15 reads -65dbm. And a Moto Atrix2 WCS (With Cracked Screen) reads -61dbm.
A transfer of 200MB ("random" data created via linux: 'dd if=/dev/random of=200mb.dat bs=1048576 count=200' so that compression algorithms don't skew the results):
Razr (6.12.79 ICS Black Widow): 9s
MacBook (Lion): 6.5s
iPad2: 10s
HP Envy 15 (Ubuntu 11.10): 7.5s
Moto Atrix2 WCS: 10s
I didn't repeat the test, and that is a busy WAP, but the results are what I expect for battery-operated devices. I also expected the ipad, atrix and razr to lose the race, since they have relatively slow storage systems, which have inherently poor write performance on files of this size (200MB won't buffer at all).
The WiFi cable will look like a white or black wire with a gold junction on the end where it meets the motherboard. I would expect that if you've had the phone open, you would definitely notice a wire hanging loose! I doubt that's the problem, but that wire is a coaxial shielded cable - like on cable TV only really tiny - and you can do all kinds of DIY replacement antenna stuff eg, adding an external jack so you can "beam" WiFi a mile away using a hacked Pringles potato chip can.
I actually think the problem might be RF noise in your environment. Florescent lights (CFLs), computing equipment, HVAC compressors, and motors can effectively "jam" WiFi signals, causing packet transmission failures to increase rapidly as the distance from the WAP increases.
We have a Fluke RF analyzer here, and our WiFi setup is quite good as a result.
Does anyone know if the Razr is unusually susceptible to RF noise? Maybe noise that the Razr generates from the motherboard/CPU/radios/BT? I'm not equipped to test that.
---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 AM ----------
Do you have other devices to compare the Razr to?
Did you try pointing all the rubber duck antennas on the WAP straight up?
I just checked an iphone, another ipad, another Razr, and a Dell laptop, and my boss's Razr was technically the winner on signal strength and transfer speed, but let's call it even. There are too many variables, and statistically significant benchmarking is beyond the scope of a forum comment.
The Razr has typical WiFi performance in this environment.
Thank you very much for your post. I did try with the desire z and the evo 3d which are doing jist fine wheather i hold them or leave them on the table: both signal and speed test are amazing compared to the razr (if i hold it). If you could tell me where the wifi ship and antenna are located (a pic maybe) it would be great because when i open the razr all i can see are metal plates everywhere probably for cooling. I dont understand what you mean by pointing all the rubber duck antennas on the WAP...
Thx again
I haven't had a Razr open yet. Even after dropping mine from a motorcycle and watching it slide into a ditch with an inch of water in it. Tough li'l bastards...
The WiFi antenna cable and connector are probably under one of the metal shields.
Most WAPs have 1, 2, or 3 "rubber duck" antennas that you can move to maximize the signal lobe pattern. You can use the WiFi Analyzer app to adjust them, but be prepared to walk a lot...
Others are just a box. The only one of those that *I* know of that works well is the Apple Airport Extreme. The Netgear Wireless-N HD, which is very highly rated, is a P.O.S.: it has a narrow, elongated lobe pattern, and if you're in that narrow lobe, it works REALLY well. If not, you'll be lucky to connect to it. Two people standing 10 feet apart, and one can have great service while the other can't even get an IP address.
The fact that you have other devices working well, and you sound like you've done this quite a bit, I'm guessing you have a problem inside the phone itself.
I manage about 200 phones here, and I haven't heard one word of complaint about WiFi. 3G/4G service? Yeah, lots of complaints about 3G/4G from people out in the woods or working in a valley.
These also work well as a WAP (tethering). We have a few of the Personal WiFi devices - a handheld that converts 3G/4G to WiFi for up to five users - but most people prefer this phone for that.
My old DroidX has a better WiFi antenna, but that's an exceptional phone with only one core: I spit on it. Ptui.