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How is your 3G reception on the Vibrant? I just purchased a Vibrant as a replacement for my aging and bluetooth handicapped G1 and I am disappointed with the 3G reception.
T-Mobile's coverage in my area is moderate, and the G1 has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors, and may even flop back to 2G. It is fairly consistently on 2G in my home at 2 bars and at work I can only get 1 bar of 2G with this phone and spend the majority of the time with no signal at all.
I sat down and did some comparison between the Vibrant and the G1 and have found the following:
1. *#*#4636#*#* menu shows significantly worse signal levels on the Vibrant than on the G1, often times showing 0db and 0asu in the same location I am seeing -89db to -101db 3G on the G1.
2. The service menu on the Vibrant indicates a signal level which on 3G is fairly consistently 8db better than the one shown on the info menu. Interestingly, 2G signal levels as shown on the service menu seem fairly spot on with those shown from the info menu in Android.
3. The service menu 3G signal levels on the Vibrant seem consistent with those that I see on the G1 with a variation of perhaps only a couple of decibels.
That said, it seems interesting that battery usage on the Vibrant seems to indicate nearly 60% of its time with no service under cell standby when I get 0% in the same location with the G1. I am wondering if the time being recorded here is in fact the time spent with 0 bars being displayed even if the phone does, in fact, have a signal.
It is apparent that there is at least a software issue with the display here, as has been concluded in prior threads. However, ignoring the bar display I am wondering what others feel of the signal coverage with their Vibrant versus their old phone?
Does anyone have any experience with any of Samsung's other phone offerings? Do you think Samsung will post a radio update for this phone or possibly release one along with the GPS Fix/Froyo update in September?
I work in a position which requires me to be on-call a certain times during the year, and I can't really afford to have a phone that camps out at 60% no signal. I am really looking for reasons to keep this phone, as I like it otherwise, but practically, I need a phone that is going to receive phone calls. Any objective indications anyone can give that Samsung will continue to support this device may help sway my decision to keep it. My 14 days will be up on Thursday, so I need to make a final decision about keeping this phone before then.
Also, do any developers think that modifying the handling of the signal display in Android will cause a change in the amount of time the phone spends acquiring signal between 3G and 2G, or is this something that is purely handled within the radio firmware? If this is changeable, is this something that can be included in a future custom rom?
No coverage issues with mine.matches my mt3g in pretty much every location.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I made a call in the BOONDOCKS of NC, in an old river mill with 22 inch brick walls... NOBODY else was able to place a call other than me (all the big networks and nice phones).
I have pretty crappy 3g service here in new rochelle when at home the phone keeps fluctuating between 0-4 bars for 3G and the data speeds very inconsistent. Sometimes it even falls back to EDGE! This is pretty lame, i called t-mobile about it and they said there nothing they can do! If i am unhappy i should return the phone.
I live in NYC...
That is really all I have to say.
3-5 up speeds
constant 3g connection
The bars on the phone are funky though they look like there are none but you can still make calls. Its just the software is off just like the battery percentage.
Rishikesh said:
I have pretty crappy 3g service here in new rochelle when at home the phone keeps fluctuating between 0-4 bars for 3G and the data speeds very inconsistent. Sometimes it even falls back to EDGE! This is pretty lame, i called t-mobile about it and they said there nothing they can do! If i am unhappy i should return the phone.
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If you're at home why aren't you on WiFi?
Seriously it's the most puzzling thing ever. 3G or not, I wouldn't be using it at home. Are you trying to replace your ISP with your phone or something?
You should do a search. Are you aware of the fact that -0dBm is impossible? The bars are off on this phone and the G1 is mediocre overall. It can hold on to a 3G signal for longer because your hand isn't blocking the antenna but the antenna itself is truly mediocre in fringe areas. Move your hand away from the bottom hump on the Vibrant. A lot of questions you're asking.. you're answering yourself.
I am not all too impressed with 3G coverage here at my home, but I mostly blame the network at my location and not necessarily the phone. TMO has spotty coverage near my house....period, and I live less than a mile from the tower. I have a Blackberry 9700 and it has similar issues with 3G. I've called and complained and they give me the usual "you're green on the map...return the phone....blah blah". I was closer to downtown Dallas yesterday and the phone had full bars and never got higher than -80dbm. Speedtest app showed about 3mbps downloads on average. I wouldn't say it was stellar but it's nothing like at home either. Only thing is my phone never automatically drops from 3G to E unless I am making calls. Once again the Blackberry 9700 does the same thing.
However, I am not completely convinced the phone isn't to blame either. I had a week with the new Motorola XT720, aka AWS Motoroi/Milestone that Magenta is/was rumored (who knows?) to get, and if Moto hadn't skimped on the CPU/RAM/screen/app memory of that phone I would have kept it instead of this Vibrant. That phone seemed to get much better 3G signal and HSPA was excellent compared to the Vibrant. I'm lucky if the Vibrant gets HSPA here at all. Overall network performance just seemed faster. It was quite obvious when I powered up the Vibrant the first time that 3G coverage is going to be an issue at my home with this phone.
FWIW my wife has an iPhone 3G which gets great 3G coverage here at the house on ATT. So I borrowed her SIM to test after I unlocked the Vibrant and it didn't make much difference. It did get 3G which I didn't think was technically possible until I saw that this phone has 1900 3G support as well as AWS. I do think the bars and definitely the battery indicators are not accurate whatsoever. I use Battery Indicator Pro and it's definitely obvious Samsung needs a software re-work.
Just because you live within 1 mile of a tower doesn't mean it's 3G or that there isn't something in the way of it's signal and your house.. I live within 1 mile of a tower and it's not 3G. It's supposed to get 3G soon.
heygrl said:
If you're at home why aren't you on WiFi?
Seriously it's the most puzzling thing ever. 3G or not, I wouldn't be using it at home. Are you trying to replace your ISP with your phone or something?
You should do a search. Are you aware of the fact that -0dBm is impossible? The bars are off on this phone and the G1 is mediocre overall. It can hold on to a 3G signal for longer because your hand isn't blocking the antenna but the antenna itself is truly mediocre in fringe areas. Move your hand away from the bottom hump on the Vibrant. A lot of questions you're asking.. you're answering yourself.
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Click to collapse
Maybe I don't have WiFi in my house?
Maybe I would love to reduce my monthly expenditures by the $60 I throw away to Comcast?
I am well aware of the fact that -0dbm is impossible. This is simply what the phone is displaying. I also agree that the G1's reception is mediocre, but this phone seems worse than the G1. Blocking the antenna with my hand doesn't seem to make much difference on either the Vibrant or the G1.
I asked for objective answers to my questions which basically boil down to the following:
1. Do you think Samsung will provide support for the software on this phone (including the radio) over the long term ie. do you think there will be upgrades in this department?
2. Do you think this is something custom rom developers can address purely via modifying the OS?
Thanks for your snarky comments, but if you haven't got any objective input into the situation maybe this thread is not for you.
equid0x said:
Maybe I don't have WiFi in my house?
Maybe I would love to reduce my monthly expenditures by the $60 I throw away to Comcast?
I am well aware of the fact that -0dbm is impossible. This is simply what the phone is displaying. I also agree that the G1's reception is mediocre, but this phone seems worse than the G1. Blocking the antenna with my hand doesn't seem to make much difference on either the Vibrant or the G1.
I asked for objective answers to my questions which basically boil down to the following:
1. Do you think Samsung will provide support for the software on this phone (including the radio) over the long term ie. do you think there will be upgrades in this department?
2. Do you think this is something custom rom developers can address purely via modifying the OS?
Thanks for your snarky comments, but if you haven't got any objective input into the situation maybe this thread is not for you.
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Click to collapse
You're asking questions that we can't answer. Do we work at Samsung? No. Would stock Android fix this? Maybe.
It seems worse than the G1 because based on your comments the bars are having an affect on what you deem to be "worse". I've had tons of T-Mobile phones including the G1 and the Vibrant is not considerably worse than any. INFACT it will hold on to a 3G signal for longer than most. My CLIQ displayed 3 bars as -105dBm. Accurate? NO.
has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors,
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Click to collapse
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having any disconcernable change you're not doing it right
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
heygrl said:
You're asking questions that we can't answer. Do we work at Samsung? No.
It seems worse than the G1 because based on your comments the bars are having an affect on what you deem to be "worse". I've had tons of T-Mobile phones including the G1 and the Vibrant is not considerably worse than any. INFACT it will hold on to a 3G signal for longer than most. My CLIQ displayed 3 bars as -105dBm. Accurate? NO.
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having much of a change at all you're lying or not doing it right.
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
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I know that nobody here is working for Samsung but there are plenty of people here who have developed for Android, and the question I am posing is if this is something that can be addressed in a custom rom.
I think my original post makes it clear that there is obviously a software issue with bar display, but I am wondering if this software issue is also causing the Android OS to force a switch to 2G in an instance where the G1 with a properly functioning display would keep 3G. ie, the phone is switching to 2G early because it thinks it only has -111dbm when it in fact still has -103dbm. I am not clear on whether this functionality is performed within the OS itself or purely within the radio firmware.
My hands are rather large, so holding the G1 basically covers the entire rear of the phone. The antenna is near the top of the phone whereas the antenna on the Vibrant seems to be on the bottom. Though holding both phones in various positions seems to have little effect on the received signal strength so far as I can tell.
The time spent without signal in cell standby I believe to be erroneous. I think it is tallying up that time any time there are zero bars, even if the phone still has a signal. This makes it very difficult to objectively compare the 2 phones. If the OS is in fact driving the switch from 3G to 2G this may explain my poor access in fringe areas as the phone will be constantly flapping between the two. If the functions that drive this behavior are within the AOSP source this could easily be something we can fix in a custom rom even without Samsung's help, even if a radio update would be ideal.
heygrl said:
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having any disconcernable change you're not doing it right
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Click to collapse
I can wrap my hand around the phone (Vibrant), either top, center or bottom and I do not see any change in either reception, call quality, network throughput or number of bars.
heygrl said:
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
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Click to collapse
It is perfectly understandable that if he has good reception with a G1, an older phone, he expects at least a similar level or reception with a newer, higher end phone. WiFi would be considered a workaround.
I just received my Vibrant on Monday and it's sadly replacing my amazing Nexus One. I've noticed that the Vibrant antenna is AWFUL. Where I received 4-5 bars on the N1, I'm getting 1-3 bars now and it even goes down to Edge once every few hours.
Like the OP, I've been monitoring the db levels and they're frequently around -95 through -107. While my calls don't actually drop, the quality does get worse. I'm also getting many 3G connection errors when trying to browser or download apps from the Market. It's quite disappointing. The phone is made of plastic as well, so I'd imagine that the antenna reception should be better.
Being that there are only 2 pages on this particular thread, does this mean it's a fluke and others' phones are ok?
allen099 said:
I just received my Vibrant on Monday and it's sadly replacing my amazing Nexus One. I've noticed that the Vibrant antenna is AWFUL. Where I received 4-5 bars on the N1, I'm getting 1-3 bars now and it even goes down to Edge once every few hours.
Like the OP, I've been monitoring the db levels and they're frequently around -95 through -107. While my calls don't actually drop, the quality does get worse. I'm also getting many 3G connection errors when trying to browser or download apps from the Market. It's quite disappointing. The phone is made of plastic as well, so I'd imagine that the antenna reception should be better.
Being that there are only 2 pages on this particular thread, does this mean it's a fluke and others' phones are ok?
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Click to collapse
4-5 bars on a phone with a 4 bar scale?
Stop looking at -dBm on the Vibrant, it's not accurate.
If you don't want the phone to switch to EDGE lock it on 3G.
heygrl said:
4-5 bars on a phone with a 4 bar scale?
Stop looking at -dBm on the Vibrant, it's not accurate.
If you don't want the phone to switch to EDGE lock it on 3G.
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Click to collapse
How do you lock it on 3G?
javacody said:
How do you lock it on 3G?
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Click to collapse
This worked for me (copy/paste and remove spaces in http):
h t t p://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7438987&postcount=7
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7438987&postcount=7
Thanks. 3G is spotty at best in the Des Moines Area, so I'll leave well enough alone.
So, in follow up to this, I had downloaded and installed RF signal tracker from the market and went driving around until I found a tower. It seems that via Android OS the best signal strength received was -81dbm and that was sitting right next to the tower. The phone stayed locked at -81dbm for a few miles down the road so I suspect this is peak signal on this phone which should really be something like -65dbm. I think this pretty much confirms that there is indeed a software issue with the signal display.
I also took some time looking at Android code and found that the bars are driven on GSM/UMTS by asu as follows:
if (asu <= 2 || asu == 99) iconLevel = 0;
else if (asu >= 12) iconLevel = 4;
else if (asu >= 8) iconLevel = 3;
else if (asu >= 5) iconLevel = 2;
else iconLevel = 1;
So figuring up the dbm values from these, I went ahead and created a new asu scale which is adjusted -8dbm from "normal" since this seems to be the worst case of the mismatch between the phone firmware and what Android is reporting and applied that within the market app Real Signal to try and get an apples to apples comparison of signal bars between this phone and the old G1. Unfortunately, the degree if miscalibration means we can't set a negative ASU so we don't get any meaningful display on Real Signal until we hit the 3rd bar. In doing this if I go to a moderate overage area I am seeing the bars I would expect.
After my little drive with RF Signal Tracker its actually pretty clear that discrepancy is really more like -15dbm, which adjusting the figures should mean that this phone in reality gets slightly better reception than the old G1.
It seems we should be able to workaround this in a custom ROM by doing one of the following:
1. Modify getGsmSignalStrength() to add the -15dbm to the returned signal strength value(hackish).
2. Modify the vendor RIL to compensate for the -15dbm offset when on UMTS. (Probably the proper solution).
I'm not clear on whether the vendor RIL code gets posted to AOSP...
equid0x said:
How is your 3G reception on the Vibrant? I just purchased a Vibrant as a replacement for my aging and bluetooth handicapped G1 and I am disappointed with the 3G reception.
T-Mobile's coverage in my area is moderate, and the G1 has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors, and may even flop back to 2G. It is fairly consistently on 2G in my home at 2 bars and at work I can only get 1 bar of 2G with this phone and spend the majority of the time with no signal at all.
I sat down and did some comparison between the Vibrant and the G1 and have found the following:
1. *#*#4636#*#* menu shows significantly worse signal levels on the Vibrant than on the G1, often times showing 0db and 0asu in the same location I am seeing -89db to -101db 3G on the G1.
2. The service menu on the Vibrant indicates a signal level which on 3G is fairly consistently 8db better than the one shown on the info menu. Interestingly, 2G signal levels as shown on the service menu seem fairly spot on with those shown from the info menu in Android.
3. The service menu 3G signal levels on the Vibrant seem consistent with those that I see on the G1 with a variation of perhaps only a couple of decibels.
That said, it seems interesting that battery usage on the Vibrant seems to indicate nearly 60% of its time with no service under cell standby when I get 0% in the same location with the G1. I am wondering if the time being recorded here is in fact the time spent with 0 bars being displayed even if the phone does, in fact, have a signal.
It is apparent that there is at least a software issue with the display here, as has been concluded in prior threads. However, ignoring the bar display I am wondering what others feel of the signal coverage with their Vibrant versus their old phone?
Does anyone have any experience with any of Samsung's other phone offerings? Do you think Samsung will post a radio update for this phone or possibly release one along with the GPS Fix/Froyo update in September?
I work in a position which requires me to be on-call a certain times during the year, and I can't really afford to have a phone that camps out at 60% no signal. I am really looking for reasons to keep this phone, as I like it otherwise, but practically, I need a phone that is going to receive phone calls. Any objective indications anyone can give that Samsung will continue to support this device may help sway my decision to keep it. My 14 days will be up on Thursday, so I need to make a final decision about keeping this phone before then.
Also, do any developers think that modifying the handling of the signal display in Android will cause a change in the amount of time the phone spends acquiring signal between 3G and 2G, or is this something that is purely handled within the radio firmware? If this is changeable, is this something that can be included in a future custom rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't done any detailed tests but I can state that in real world use, I am not happy with my Vibrant's reception. My G1 was very noticeably better at getting and holding 3G and Edge connections in the same locations where my new Vibrant won't.
Next to a tower on GSM(GSM/GPRS/EDGE) you should see -51dBm at the most with Android. W-CDMA is different because they really don't use -dBm to determine signal quality. They use power/noise.
I got the Motorola Photon last week because it was only $99 dollars which is an amazing price for this amazing phone. I was going to get the LG Marquee because it was a 3G only device I believe and last time I got a droid from sprint they had the $10 dollar surcharge for premium data only for 4G capable device, regardless of the fact that there is no 4G in my area. Needless to say I read recently that Sprint is going to be shutting down or re-purposing their Wimax towers and moving to LTE, I think this is a great idea, but my question is, will my Photon be able to use LTE when it is available or will I have to get a new phone when they switch to LTE? Compared to Verizon, the data connection is a joke. Its very slow, luckily when Im at school they have wireless N wifi, and at home I have wifi. I would like to eventually not have to use wifi and be able to do stuff as simple as searching the market without having to wait 5-10 seconds for a page to come up. I used that 3G supercharger, and it is better then it was, but randomly drops the connection and goes to roaming now, that doesn't really matter though. Another comment I have on the Photon, is the phenomenal battery life. I didn't update my phone with the leaked software that was suppose to fix some battery issues, but I don't have any. I easily go 14 hours a day using it as an mp3 player, etc, and usually have around 60% battery power left then it takes like less then an hour to fully charge. Call quality and reception is about a million times better then my Samsung transform. Motorola has made me a believer in good phones. I'll never purchase another Samsung cell phone again, that's for sure. The only thing that could make this phone better would be LTE.
Welcome to the club. There's several threads on LTE, so check those out but there's no conclusive answer that I've seen. Battery life and reception are great with this phone so if you ever do have a problem, look for a rogue app.
Lol The club. I like that. Anywho I was looking around in the mophos build.prop file and it actually said some stuff about LTE, thats pretty cool. Maybe this phone is already prepared to switch to LTE in a future system update.
I think(read: I'm uncertain if)the Photon has the necessary 800mhz radio in it for sprints future rollouts(rev. a, rev. b, 1xAdvanced or whatever is gonna use it).
I'm actually trying to determine this as well, for certain, since this phone has amazing radios in it as far as the reception is concerned. I dont care too much about the LTE radio but I'd like to be able to use the revised 3G band. I've been thinking of getting the Photon and moving away from my Nexus S 4G only because of what I've heard about its ability to pull down a signal.
HSPA+ is the minimum foundation for LTE so if sprint layered their network the Photon would work fine because that is the Gsm Transceiver it has.
Thats what I was thinking! Sprint just needs to HTFU and cut out wimax and give us the better LTE network. Lol I bet all the new samsung phones will be **** out of luck though! That will be hilarious when the new GSII's are useless! Samsung blows
Hey all,
Im a sprint evo 4g owner, and am considering the razr maxx from verizon. Where I live here in maine, verizon has the best signal, and network reliability of all service providers.. or so I hear anyway...
On sprint, I roam prolly half the time, and anyone that has had sprint knows roaming speeds blow goat nads When I'm roaming and have full signal, I max out at 128kbps... Verizon guys I know out here get 1mbps +/- with 1-2 bars, add in the multiple dropped calls for seemingly no reason, and... I'm about done..
The evo has been a great phone, had it almost 2 years now, I rooted a lil over a year ago, and have pretty much got the full use out of it, considering its limitations from the network its on..
Guess what I wanna know from you guys is...
How is the network? Drop calls often for no reason? Data speeds pretty consistent?
How is verizons customer service? I've heard pretty horrible things about it, but never had any use myslef... I've found Sprint customer service to be great...
How is this phone in general? It has a huge battery so thats another plus... Even with my rooted evo running custom kernels/roms etc, the battery life leaves much desire... I see on verizons page that the maxx has up to 21.5 hrs talk time.. Thats about 3x what the evo was advertised for... Does it improve even more with custom roms/kernels?
Wifi hotspot and tethering.. I assume once I root, this will be easy enough, just like the evo?
Hdmi... does it work? Sprint shipped the evo with a useless hdmi out port... lol
Google voice... I will not be paying for text messaging, as I use gv for most texting now, does it play nice with the maxx? Also, how about sip calling? I have no signal at all at my house, so I use the wifi for gv, and sipgate, and just forward my calls to the gv #
I guess thats about it guys... I'm sure I'll think of more later, but I pretty much have my mind made up, unless some one points out that some of the thing I asked about simply wont work,,,
Thanks in advance
I actually just moved to a razr from Sprint last month. The speed difference is night and day. Customer service/support so far has been good. No complaints.
The network? 4g rocks. voice calls, never seem to drop. I have coverage in many places where I didn't before. Sound quality is about the same as sprint.
I have the razr, not maxx, so I can't speak to the size on it. I love the razr so far. HDMI out does work on the razr, so I'm assuming it does on the maxx as well. And yes, easy to root and do what you want to it
Motorola phones have the best signal strength of any phones, in addition to Verizon's network which is quite good.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW
Thanks for the replies!
4g wont matter much for me, as there is no lte in maine yet... Sprint does have wimax in select few spots here, and last year when I first tries it out, I was getting speed test result of 13mbps down, and 8mbps up, In those same places I now get get results of 1mbps op/down (I assume there is more use now), pretty weak considering thats what a good 3g speed should be... and dont even get me started on 3g speeds, or consistency... I notice huge changes while im sitting in the same place...
I never had good luck with motorola phones in the past (tho its been about 7-8 years since I've owned 1) But I hear they have come a long way, and they do hold signal better, or at least show your actual signal better...
I guess... really, I already know the network is gonna be better... cant b any worse, thats for sure... I just wanna make sure I'll be able to use the phone for the things I really need it for... ie:
Google voice - Heard mixed reviews of it with this device, some say it works fine for texting, some say not at all... are the "not at all" ppl just stupid? lol
Same with sip calling - does verizon prohibit it on their network, or block me from downloading the needed apps from the market? I know there are ways around that, but I like the idea of simplicity, which is why we own smart phones in the st place
Rooting; from what ive read, is not terribly difficult, although maybe a bit more involved than rooting my evo, so not too worried about that...
WiFi hotspot - I have no intentions of paying the $30/mo verizon wants for this service, as I hardly use it, but I need it to work when I do use it, and hell... If I'm paying for 10gb/mo of data, I'll use it however the hell I want ... This just as simple as the evo? (usually this feature is cooked into rooted roms on the evo)
Also the battery life - The only reason I'm even considering this device is the 21.5 hrs talk time, and huge 3300mah battery... So is it that great?
I guess those are the major things, the rest is prolly gonna be mostly based on opinion.
I am using the groove IP app. It is in the market. Yah Google brought it back. It let's you use voip with your Google voice. Call quality isn't too bad.
Yes the battery life is amazing. I can get 8 hours with crazy insane use and 4g on or be a tad more conservative by sticking to 3g and get 10-12 hours heavy usage. With texting over 3g with an app and browsing with juice defender I made it to 30% in 17 hours.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
trekie4ever said:
I am using the groove IP app. It is in the market. Yah Google brought it back. It let's you use voip with your Google voice. Call quality isn't too bad.
Yes the battery life is amazing. I can get 8 hours with crazy insane use and 4g on or be a tad more conservative by sticking to 3g and get 10-12 hours heavy usage. With texting over 3g with an app and browsing with juice defender I made it to 30% in 17 hours.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Wow!! that is unreal!! Even with my evo rooted, and me limiting and monitoring apps, etc... I'm lucky to get 4-5 hrs of heavy usage!!
As for the voip... I am using voice+ from play store now... Used to use gv callfree, but that was removed a while ago... call quality isnt too bad, but there is at least a 1sec delay... this could just be not enough cpu or ram causing that tho...
IMHO... wait to switch. This phone has been top of the tier list so long, it's run is bound to end soon. I advise waiting for something better, it should only be a month tops. even if if the GSIII isn't your cup of tea.
A quick look at coverage charts shows just how INSANELY more coverage you could get with verizon over sprint.
Like you, in my area Verizon has the best coverage and even amongst the verizon phones I've had (including a V3m Razr, EnVtouch and my current Razr Maxx) the Maxx is HANDS DOWN the best at reception night and day over the touch (which was one of the better reception wise), my envtouch wouldn't work till the very top of one hill on my drive to/from work and my Maxx works at the bottom of that hill in the valley several hundred feet lower (300-500 approx) and is intermittent in the valley itself, but NONE of the phones I've seen have had ANY service in that valley, and we don't even have 4G here yet.
I literally am amazed with all the places were this phone works, even at work where we have a small desktop cell repeater (single room style) my maxx works from atleast 50% further away from the repeater then my envtouch did.
It's a bit batter hungery but this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ndroid&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd is great for VOIP using your google voice number.
Wifi Tether is great for rooted phones to share the connection and works right out of the box without having to configure ANYTHING.
And if you download matt's DroidRAZRutility rooting is a BREEZE, literally hook up phone set it into USB debugging mode and click the choice for rooting, phone will reboot twice (IIRC) and about 5 minutes from when you started it, its done.
[TSON] said:
IMHO... wait to switch. This phone has been top of the tier list so long, it's run is bound to end soon. I advise waiting for something better, it should only be a month tops. even if if the GSIII isn't your cup of tea.
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Click to collapse
Ya... no samsung products for me... I had the moment from sprint... WOW... what a p.o.s. lol Then they moved me to the Cant remember what it was called, but it wasnt much better.
The other thing is... I really dont wanna wait... I dont see naything all that much better coming fro a while.. Maybe a droid whatever 1.5ghz dual core, but I dont see that being a whole lot better than a 1.2...
Idk... Anyone else think I should wait?
Dont see any great things coming from sprint any time soon, they got their heads stuck up their arses with the i-crap...
daniel644 said:
A quick look at coverage charts shows just how INSANELY more coverage you could get with verizon over sprint.
Like you, in my area Verizon has the best coverage and even amongst the verizon phones I've had (including a V3m Razr, EnVtouch and my current Razr Maxx) the Maxx is HANDS DOWN the best at reception night and day over the touch (which was one of the better reception wise), my envtouch wouldn't work till the very top of one hill on my drive to/from work and my Maxx works at the bottom of that hill in the valley several hundred feet lower (300-500 approx) and is intermittent in the valley itself, but NONE of the phones I've seen have had ANY service in that valley, and we don't even have 4G here yet.
I literally am amazed with all the places were this phone works, even at work where we have a small desktop cell repeater (single room style) my maxx works from atleast 50% further away from the repeater then my envtouch did.
It's a bit batter hungery but this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ndroid&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd is great for VOIP using your google voice number.
Wifi Tether is great for rooted phones to share the connection and works right out of the box without having to configure ANYTHING.
And if you download matt's DroidRAZRutility rooting is a BREEZE, literally hook up phone set it into USB debugging mode and click the choice for rooting, phone will reboot twice (IIRC) and about 5 minutes from when you started it, its done.
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Click to collapse
Exactly what I was hoping to hear! I dont need the next best thing... I just want something that works where/when I need it to, and having 3g everywhere I only have 1x now, is gonna be huge for me... It opens a whole new sales region for me....
I won't go to any other carrier until they offer unlimited data or at least reasonably priced tiered plans. I love paying $110 a month for unlimited for my wife and myself. It would be over $180 on Verizon.
I made the switch from the evo 3D to the RAZR and I'm one happy guy! Service here in northern Virginia is excellent compared to sprint,as well as 4g data speeds that top out at 20 something Mbs!!! No dropped calls,nothing so far! Call quality is crisp and clear. Now onto the phone....this is actually my first Motorola phone after the original RAZR ha! Build and quality wise its real good and durable,the only downside is (coming from a line of HTC phones) boot loaders are a complete ***** lol. Other than that,everything is A1 for me. I pay around $80 per month,I have the 420 or something min plan+6gb data plan + my men's wear house discount lol. Anything else you need to know,feel free to ask! This RAZR forum is one of the few that doesn't have as much trolls,haters,*****yness and empowering individual false personalities like the other forums had In short.....make the switch,you will not regret it!
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
ali87va said:
I made the switch from the evo 3D to the RAZR and I'm one happy guy! Service here in northern Virginia is excellent compared to sprint,as well as 4g data speeds that top out at 20 something Mbs!!! No dropped calls,nothing so far! Call quality is crisp and clear. Now onto the phone....this is actually my first Motorola phone after the original RAZR ha! Build and quality wise its real good and durable,the only downside is (coming from a line of HTC phones) boot loaders are a complete ***** lol. Other than that,everything is A1 for me. I pay around $80 per month,I have the 420 or something min plan+6gb data plan + my men's wear house discount lol. Anything else you need to know,feel free to ask! This RAZR forum is one of the few that doesn't have as much trolls,haters,*****yness and empowering individual false personalities like the other forums had In short.....make the switch,you will not regret it!
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
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Click to collapse
that reminds me, If you've ever served in the military, bring your military ID to you local verizon and you can get something like 10-20% discount (can't remember exactly) off your monthly bill, something we just learned about when we were getting are Razr Maxx's activated.
If data and minutes bang for your buck is a major point I should also mention Straight Talk has an option now where you can take any cell that works on AT&T and put there sim card in it and have unlimted everything for 45 bucks a month, you might want to think about that if AT&T service is good enough in your area.
my wife and I both have the razr maxx and we regularly get 2 days out of the battery w/ moderate usage.. lots of texting, web use (4G for me at work).. streaming Slacker radio for 8 - 10 hrs while at work (to be fair, I cache the music to my sd card on wifi at home so I don't eat up my 4gigs)...
The battery life on the maxx is sick.
Been a long time sprint user and ROM flasher. Company moved to Verizon and I got the maxx until sgs3 drops. Great battery, development doesn't seem as active as the sprint devices were.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using XDA
nothing to worry about it,razer has fine signal every where in global
Sent from my xt912 using miui v4 XDA(中国cn)
it's hard to say sucks about the barttery cause it depends on how you use your phone
Sent from my xt912 using miui v4 XDA(中国cn)
Just wanted to update on this...
I made the switch! And tho its only been less than 24hrs... I can already say I wont be looking back. The drive home from the verizon store was enough in itself to sell me on verizon, and this device! I get full signal 3g now, in places I either had no signal before, or a crappy roaming signal that was no reliable. I was actually able to stream pandora in my garage for a full 3 hrs!! My sprint evo wouldnt have even made thru one song... Aside from the unreal battery life (took off charger at 5pm yesterday, and still at 80%) the device dosent really seem any better than my evo was, but the difference in the network is night and day!
Anyway... thanks a lot guys! And once I get used to this phone, I will be in here looking to root it, and get rid of all this verizon bloat...
Scionero said:
I won't go to any other carrier until they offer unlimited data or at least reasonably priced tiered plans. I love paying $110 a month for unlimited for my wife and myself. It would be over $180 on Verizon.
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Click to collapse
This was my big concern... I only get 5gb/mo... But... I never used more than 4 w sprint (mostly cuz their network is slow slow its almost impossible). so I will be keeping an eye on the data usage. From what the customer service rep said... verizon is changing their data rate plans, and tho no one really knows what they are changing, its pretty safe to say, they will be offering more data for the $... (I hope), and I will just change my data plan next month...
I have a Motorola photon from sprint which is almost the same as the razor. I'll say this about Motorola.... awesome phones right out of the box. Change the launcher to go launcher of launcher pro and the speed difference of the phone is night and day. Motorola does not want you unlocking the boot loader and running custom roms and to be honest there isn't any need to.
Root the phone through adb method and apply the water drop mod and download nebtop so you can use web top without a dock. I bought a $30 Bluetooth keyboard off amazon... its pretty nice when travel sling on the bike or just surfing the web in bed on the flat screen.
PS Google just bought Motorola so hopefully the development side of Motorola phones picks up soon.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Hope it has improved signal over the S3 and no dreaded Message Not Sent when I in full 3g/4g coverage..
I'm hoping the global radio in the Note 2 is outstanding... as this maybe my next phone.
Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD
Its Samsung so I'm sure the signal will still be lacking compared to moto and HTC. I hope they figured it out as this looks like an awesome phone. Going to wait and see how it ends up before buying.
It probably won't be as good as a Moto phone, however, it may be similar to HTC phones and other Samsung phones. And for anyone saying HTC has a much better signal than Samsung, I've had 3 Samsung phones now, and I have had service places that a DInc2 showed service but couldn't do anything, and have also had reported signal as good as other HTC phones in the same location. I would imagine that the service on the Note 2 would be similar to the SGS3 on VZW.
Agreed hope its improved over the S3
imnuts said:
It probably won't be as good as a Moto phone, however, it may be similar to HTC phones and other Samsung phones. And for anyone saying HTC has a much better signal than Samsung, I've had 3 Samsung phones now, and I have had service places that a DInc2 showed service but couldn't do anything, and have also had reported signal as good as other HTC phones in the same location. I would imagine that the service on the Note 2 would be similar to the SGS3 on VZW.
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Click to collapse
You're all over the note 2 forums imnuts! Does this mean you will be picking one up? :thumbup:
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
magneticzero said:
Hope it has improved signal over the S3 and no dreaded Message Not Sent when I in full 3g/4g coverage..
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Click to collapse
I've never had a problem with by reception at all. I usually always have full bars on 4g if not 3 bars
Tap'n
techgov8 said:
I've never had a problem with by reception at all. I usually always have full bars on 4g if not 3 bars
Tap'n
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Click to collapse
Same here. I've been incredibly surprised by the good reception I've had with the S3. It's not quite up to Motorola standards, but it's pretty close to HTC and much better than any other Samsung phone I've had on Verizon. My only complaint has been that it tends to stick with 3G in weak 4G areas more than my recent devices from Motorola and HTC. But I'm guessing that was done on purpose in an attempt to avoid drops when switching back and forth.
I'm always hoping for an improvement, but if the reception is as good as the reception on the S3 has been for me, I'll be happy.
mypantsaretorn said:
You're all over the note 2 forums imnuts! Does this mean you will be picking one up? :thumbup:
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Click to collapse
I have three stipulations, but it pretty much all hinges on one, and that is the phone must be unlocked. Without that, I don't really care about to much else.
imnuts said:
I have three stipulations, but it pretty much all hinges on one, and that is the phone must be unlocked. Without that, I don't really care about to much else.
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Click to collapse
All other Verizon LTE devices with global capabilities have been unlocked for GSM use, as well as for LTE use (although Verizon's LTE bands aren't widely used). I'd expect the Note 2 will be the same.
Anyone knows of a review or reviews comparing Samsung radio receiver sensitivity?
I had never found one, it seems like reviews are written by by newbie reviewers with master degree in English, Communication, or Comp-sci. None of them ever worked with front end radio receivers even just for once in their whole life and completely ignorant of them.
This is a huge problem that I have with my GSIII, I get terrible reception, I'm currently living in the country and my friends with the RAZR Maxx get 4g while I can barely hold onto 3g and going into the basement is absolutely zero service. It's terrible. I had better reception with my Galaxy Nexus than I do with the GSIII. I wish something could be done.
AndrewH05 said:
This is a huge problem that I have with my GSIII, I get terrible reception, I'm currently living in the country and my friends with the RAZR Maxx get 4g while I can barely hold onto 3g and going into the basement is absolutely zero service. It's terrible. I had better reception with my Galaxy Nexus than I do with the GSIII. I wish something could be done.
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Click to collapse
Sounds like you have a defective unit as I haven't heard of anyone that got worse reception with the SGS3 than they did with the Galaxy Nexus.
imnuts said:
Sounds like you have a defective unit as I haven't heard of anyone that got worse reception with the SGS3 than they did with the Galaxy Nexus.
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I bought the phone from a friend, he bought it and decided he preferred Motorola phones, so I got it cheap. Not sure if Samsung would still honor the warranty or not? And yes, I got way better signal with the Nexus in generally every place I frequently go, much more consistent. That's my ultimate worry about the Note II, if it's just like the GSIII then I'm not sure I want it.
AndrewH05 said:
Unfortunately, I bought the phone from a friend, he bought it and decided he preferred Motorola phones, so I got it cheap. Not sure if Samsung would still honor the warranty or not? And yes, I got way better signal with the Nexus in generally every place I frequently go, much more consistent. That's my ultimate worry about the Note II, if it's just like the GSIII then I'm not sure I want it.
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Click to collapse
Why do you think your friend sold it cheap..ha ha jk. Sounds like a defective one. Or you may need a new SIM card. Sg3 signal is much better than gnex. Good luck
AndrewH05 said:
Unfortunately, I bought the phone from a friend, he bought it and decided he preferred Motorola phones, so I got it cheap. Not sure if Samsung would still honor the warranty or not? And yes, I got way better signal with the Nexus in generally every place I frequently go, much more consistent. That's my ultimate worry about the Note II, if it's just like the GSIII then I'm not sure I want it.
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Click to collapse
I also wanted the new Samsung note mainly for the screensize and I also noted the problems you encountered which is very common with Samsung phones.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4686/samsung-galaxy-s-2-international-review-the-best-redefined/11
"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."
The quoted note above meant the the reviewer had little experience with signal processing and didn't know typical "compressed dynamic range" signal processing usage.
In the last 30+ years "compressed dynamic range" signal processing is use to bring actual usable dynamic range above spurious background noise for processing. ie, typical hacks avoiding the problematic spurious background noise instead of fixing unwanted spurious background noise problems causing lack of sufficient signal sensitivity.
I have an upgrade starting today, have original gnexus that came out almost 2 years ago. I love the phone but the signal is horrendous 3g/4g doesn't matter.
This phone looks great, to be honest not sure what phone to get, I don't care about rooting or upgrading rom's just don't have time for that need a phone that works.
Between the ones I have.. Ive got a 515.09 and .10 and both on LTE here average around -86-90 dbm , 3-4 bars all day
Sitting at -89 on my Note 3 right now, in my area I don't really notice a difference in signal
NeoMagus said:
Between the ones I have.. Ive got a 515.09 and .10 and both on LTE here average around -86-90 dbm , 3-4 bars all day
Sitting at -89 on my Note 3 right now, in my area I don't really notice a difference in signal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so not major differences? Maybe i just got a bad gnexus, but I did exchange a few times right now sitting at -93 to -103 in 3g with 2 bars
with 4G I have one bar with -111
I just know compared to my daughters iphone she has much better signal then my gnexus, so I know something is up with this phone.
How is the camera on the note3 compared to gnexus? Is it better at least? I know it a cell phone, but gnexus camera was hit and miss.
I've never had an issue with the signal on either of mine .. might be a fringe area as well .. chances are though if its bad with the 515 it'll be bad with the Note.
Camera wise, jmo but I dont really like the Note 3's camera. Shots dont turn out well on mine often I liked how fast the GNex instantly snapped shots and I do prefer AOSP over TW
NeoMagus said:
I've never had an issue with the signal on either of mine .. might be a fringe area as well .. chances are though if its bad with the 515 it'll be bad with the Note.
Camera wise, jmo but I dont really like the Note 3's camera. Shots dont turn out well on mine often I liked how fast the GNex instantly snapped shots and I do prefer AOSP over TW
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Thanks really torn, would have liked to just go to nexus 5 but I am stuck with verizon.
Choices really s4, note3, LG G2, or htc one or i guess that new htc max
Out of those any idea which has the best signals? I know this might be wrong forum to ask about other phones but not sure where to ask
Motorola phones are generally regarded as having good radios, but I personally haven't used one since the Bionic
The note 3 is the greatest phone on the market.
Signals are amazing.
Camera is amazing.
Battery is amazing.
Screen is amazing.
Speed is amazing.
It's only flaw is the lack of AOSP.
And if you ask most of us here, you will find that many of us agree AOSP on this device is a Downgrade.
You lose out on so many features.
With that being said.
You'd be a fool to buy any other current phone for Verizon.
(Maybe the exception for the LG G2)
I just got the note 3 and had come from the thunderbolt. Signal was better on the bolt unfortunately but when the signal is good man does the note fly.
Edit: 3g is always strong but when you get stuck on 1 to 2 bars on 4g the phone will just sit there sometimes.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
barrackOBAMA said:
The note 3 is the greatest phone on the market.
Signals are amazing.
Camera is amazing.
Battery is amazing.
Screen is amazing.
Speed is amazing.
It's only flaw is the lack of AOSP.
And if you ask most of us here, you will find that many of us agree AOSP on this device is a Downgrade.
You lose out on so many features.
With that being said.
You'd be a fool to buy any other current phone for Verizon.
(Maybe the exception for the LG G2)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After several devices, and trying CM variants since I dunno.... CM8 or CM9, I am worm out on AOSP. The signal specifically is always worse on AOSP than stock Touch wiz.
OP, I've been through the Fascinate, Charge, GS3 and now the Note 3. It seems to me (at least in terms of Samsung radios) that they finally got it right. I get better signal with the N3 than the GS3 which wasn't very old really. Both wifi and 4G. In places where I used to barely get any signal or the sporadic 1xRtt data I get a marginal 3G signal. That's good for the place I test it weekly which is like a Faraday cage. Most people in class with me have zero signal. For reference on AOSP on my GS3 I would have nothing there, zero, even texts fail there.
Last night I did a test with the wifi radio. I walked outside my place nearly 100 ft and was STILL getting usable signal using the 5ghz band of my router (Netgear WNDR3700) which to be fair has a lot to do with that test. I could have switched to the 2.4ghz band for improved range but in between these two apartment buildings I am probably picking up on 30 routers at once so 5ghz gives me much better SNR. It's noticeably improved over the GS3 as far as wifi.
All in all I am very happy with reception considering it's a Samsung. I put it nearly on par with coworkers Motorola Razr Maxx and similar handsets. Keep in mind I am in a very well established heavily covered LTE market metro area. You I think you still have a 14 day trial period with Verizon, why not give it a try.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
I was in a similar situation - loved the GNexus, other than poor signal as well as battery life. Stock ROM, also no time/interest in flashing ROM's, or even rooting.
The GN3 is a breath of fresh air. The battery life is incredible. I've only had it a month, and haven't done significant traveling, but the signal has just never been a problem. When I've tested it, it's been as good as my wife's Galaxy S4, which was clearly better than my GNexus.
The browsing experience with Chrome is also incredible - it seems as fast as my desktop loading pages and responsiveness (the GNexus wasn't bad, but this is dramatically faster). The display is gorgeous, and I love the size.
By a stroke of good fortune, it seems to work better with my BlueAnt S4 (visor-mounted bluetooth speaker device). It also works quite well with S-Voice, for truly hands-free operation when driving (I use Car Home Ultra with it).
So yes, for me at least, it simply works without me having to do much other than customizing appearance and apps. I have no regrets at all in going to the GN3 from the GNexus.
Probably best for the sticky here ...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2466108