Hello everyone!
I received my Vibrant from the US a week ago and noticed that when 3G is on, the reception is 1/2 bars at most. While it's connected, the device gets hot in the top part and the battery drains like a F1 racing car.
I though I could see how good is the signal and it's about (-90) - (-100) dbm.
I never had reception issues with my previous phone that is 3 years old (HTC Touch Cruise) whose reception is quite good. My company's antenna is about 1 Km far and it's emitting 3G in the WCDMA 2100 MHz band.
Could any setting improve the reception to avoid heating and battery consumption?
Thanks a lot!!
You may want to try to set it to 2G only if you want a good battery life.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Maybe somebody knows an application that switches from 3G to 2G when the reception is not good. It might be very handy.
Also, I wanted to know what levels are acceptable in dbm for a 3G connection that doesn't drain the battery like crazy.
Thanks for your reply!
Related
Why is it that when I'm on wifi, my battery last longer vs while I'm on 3G?
Sent from my HTC Aria using XDA Premium App
Wifi uses less power, it's a different frequency, as you're much closer to the wifi device than you would be the 3G cell mast.
plus, 3G need to find signal, when you in a place where 3G signal is weak, it will drain more battery
Use it when you need it...
After serval Test while I was in school and at home I found out:
Edge with Datasync on is the worst! Battery drains in 4 to 5h
Hspda/Hsupa with a good connection is way better. Batterylife 7h
If you just turn if off it saves a lot of energy! Up to 36h
So what I am doing now: I turn the Mobile Network off when I see that little E in the top right corner because the connection is so slow anyway..
Specs of my Phone:
HTC Desire HD with RCMix3D KINGDOM v1.1
1370mAh Battery
For actual data transfer, it depends on how often and how much is being sent.
3G transfers faster, so if you're just going after 1 thing, it can be less draining than 2G, assuming full signal strength on both, because it's in use for less time.
Yes radio and signal strength affect the battery. Some radios work better than others in certain areas thus giving a better signal. If you are right next to a tower your phone will last a while. The phone always tries to get a better signal thus causing drainage.
Thanks dudes, good info
Sent from my HTC Aria using XDA Premium App
Hi everyone,
I dunno whether this have been posted, but I have discovered that, on the latest firmware 2.1.1.a.0.6 unrooted, when the phone set to wcdma/3g only the battery last so long.
After a day (24hrs) of standby and few sms, it has dropped to 75%.
Before I was on 2g/ both with wcdma preferable, 100% to 0% in 12 hrs only without doing anything.
could someone please try to see if it works the same for you.
Nope
because of different hardware and different software, i think it could be that.
i have used (before i jumped to android 2.3) 3G and it goes down too fast. this is the first time im seeing someone using 3G and saying it lasts more..! i have no idea!
I had to try locking the phone to 3G only just to test this, and now the phone goes from 100% to 75% in 11 hours. Not much difference from 3G/2G. 2G only is much better for battery life.
If your battery is zapped within 12 hours, you have some other problem.
after 3days6hrs, there is still 20% of juice left. few sms and about 20minutes of voice call during that period
incredible.
blackhawk1 said:
after 3days6hrs, there is still 20% of juice left. few sms and about 20minutes of voice call during that period
incredible.
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The difference probably has to do with network coverage in your area. I think picking one protocol over the other and not having the phone check both bands save on battery.
In my area, there's plenty of 3G coverage, and setting to 3g only, on my MiniPro 2 has saved on battery.
I suspect if you're in a good 2g coverage area, with spotty or bad 3g, setting to 2g only is probably better.
Mike
I have a stock Neo and found that battery life is nearly doubled when using 2G as cell standby use drops from 48-50% to 13-15% which I like.
I also have a -89 to -93dBm 10asu signal strength which believe is good.
But when on 2G there is no data connection, so does the Neo not have EDGE also is the phone faulty in respect to 3G data as I can only assume that is the cause of the poor battery.
2G normal uses less power, but if the 3G signal is stronger than the 2G one, I would use 3G as the phone has to use more transmit power to work with a weak signal.
John.
I've got working, but relativly slow 2g GPRS (EDGE?) data transmision. I hate 2g lags (much higher ping) and when it is possible I use 3g or wifi. Maybe your situation is caused by your mobile operator.
I asked the question on sony forum and it appears that all xperia have this problem of no or very poor 2G data connection whereas 3G is there but results in awfully poor battery life.
Just checked about mast location and I'm about approx 700m metres from the the mast.
I have just walked to the mast with the Galaxy W and Neo and both phone signal strength increased the same and at 100m they were -52dBm.
re op your comments still do not explain why the Galaxy W has twice the battery of the Neo when using 3G, my conclusion is that SE are rubbish at 3G.
From my walk I would also say that with a -70dBm that you are 200-300m from a mast, apart from the terraced houses (no high rise/flats ) it is level ground to the mast.
Just to add my phone on GSM only shows gprs not EDGE
Just realized that that thing I had to climb up to get to my front door is actually a Verizon Cell phone tower!
So, just noticed this condition today and thought I'd share. I have a Smart Action set up to enable my Home Wi-Fi based on location - Trigger is my location; Actions are to turn on Wi-Fi, turn off Data and Max Ringer.
While home this afternoon I just happened to look at my phone and noticed that my battery seemed to be dropping a little quicker than normal and my cell signal strength was max bars which NEVER NEVER happens at home - kind of on the fringe in my house and I'm lucky to get 3 on a good day. I checked network strength and my 4G was 2147483647 db. Gotta be a world record, right? oh wait . . . is more db bad?
Just got me wondering if, while on the fringe, the radio actively looks for a signal (like it does between 1X, 3G and 4G) and maybe gets stuck in some type of high output state. Would explain some of the intermittent hi-temp, unusual battery drain I experience occaisionally/intermittently. Just so we're clear - I'm not complaining at all about my Maxx battery.
Running stock .211 rooted.
jeff_roey said:
Just realized that that thing I had to climb up to get to my front door is actually a Verizon Cell phone tower!
So, just noticed this condition today and thought I'd share. I have a Smart Action set up to enable my Home Wi-Fi based on location - Trigger is my location; Actions are to turn on Wi-Fi, turn off Data and Max Ringer.
While home this afternoon I just happened to look at my phone and noticed that my battery seemed to be dropping a little quicker than normal and my cell signal strength was max bars which NEVER NEVER happens at home - kind of on the fringe in my house and I'm lucky to get 3 on a good day. I checked network strength and my 4G was 2147483647 db. Gotta be a world record, right? oh wait . . . is more db bad?
Just got me wondering if, while on the fringe, the radio actively looks for a signal (like it does between 1X, 3G and 4G) and maybe gets stuck in some type of high output state. Would explain some of the intermittent hi-temp, unusual battery drain I experience occaisionally/intermittently. Just so we're clear - I'm not complaining at all about my Maxx battery.
Running stock .211 rooted.
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Click to collapse
I thought after 120 db it actually means you've lost signal.....optimal is between 80 to 120....
I could be wrong
I saw that exact same thing on my Maxx the other day. I also noticed battery declining due to it. Not sure what it means though.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
squiggie said:
I saw that exact same thing on my Maxx the other day. I also noticed battery declining due to it. Not sure what it means though.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
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Click to collapse
It means your have no signal, and your battery is dying from your LTE radio trying to find signal. dbm between -80 and -120 is not optimal, that is the range where verizon techs will tell you that you may experience data connectivity issues. The lower the dbm the better signal you have, however most extended 4g service areas are at this quality. I have seen some locations, closer to the towers, where I have gotten signal around -60dbm, which gave about 38mbps down and around 16mbps up.
I ordered a sleek 4g signal booster from wilson electronics, which will get here tomorrow, and will let you guys know how much improvement I get in areas with different signal strengths.
i've seen it countless times on my razr. I think it's just a bug
No signal but my signal bars show as full? That makes no sense whatsoever. I think I have to agree that it is just a weird bug.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
I'll tell the truth. Wilson electronics sleek 4g-v is not going to improve SINR signal strength (that's what you need for better LTE speed), however it will improve RSSI signal, but this is not going to help for LTE. If you want a good LTE amplifier, you are looking to spend about $500 that includes outdoor, indoor antenna and SINR amplifier. SINR is more important then RSSI or DBM for LTE
Most of the time Wi-Fi is at 1-2 bars along with LTE.
Noticed this problem in Hong Kong,China and Taiwan. Various dim cards and various Wi-Fi routers.
poor LTE speed
desiregeek said:
Most of the time Wi-Fi is at 1-2 bars along with LTE.
Noticed this problem in Hong Kong,China and Taiwan. Various dim cards and various Wi-Fi routers.
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i m facing the same problem i have note 4 that is quite well than s6 edge in 3g and 4g
This could be the cause of some people's battery drain as their phones keep switching from LTE down to 3g. If this phone was better tuned for LTE it would be more battery efficient.
Not sure a software fix can do much about this. Its probably the antenna design, but we can live in hope!
My Wifi is fine.
However, I've been having poor 4G since day 1. I keep having 1-2 bars of 4G consistently at my workplace where my G3 did 3 or more bars.
The thing is, it does stick to 4G pretty well and not loose that 1-2 bars easily to downshift to 3G, so I am not too concerned. Voice calls and data speeds are also not affected. It's just that vidual indicator...
my wifi and data signals are excellent. haven't been to a spot where there's good lte signal
Always use device status to read signal in dBm.
Many phones' "signal strength meters" are far from accurate often showing much higher perceived signal than reality.
My S5 was like that.
This may just be corrected now in as much one bar for -112dBm (instead of three) is more accurate, relatively speaking.
A device should only show five bars if the signal level is very strong, say -65dBm.
Problem is most of the time people would never see five bars. Carriers don't like that.
Perhaps we need to change to an advanced "tech" mode where the signal strength readout is in "S" units with 9 being the reference and stronger signals show in "dB over nine". Like HF transceivers and CB radios (anyone remember those? )
I would be happy with -dBm on the status bar instead of a series of bars. iOS allows for it and it's accurate. Can't believe it's not baked into Android being it's the choice OS for techies.
Compared my Wifi download speeds to my iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 was faster. These 2 pictures are wifi download screenshots from iPhone 6
Here is the same location using my Galaxy S6 Edge
Hello, compared to Note 4 S6 really hurt my Edge captures the mobile network.