What's your speed like RIGHT NOW?

[McDroidBurger]

 

Middle of the day and still smoking along nicely. Can't wait for LTE.

 

Download my free Android app, Tito's Rants.

 

Edited March 22, 2012 by McDroidBurger

[4ringsnbr]

Yeah, EVDO stays relatively steady into the nineties, then halves between -100dBm and -104dBm. Then -106dBm and beyond is no mans land. Sometimes it works OK, sometimes its worthless.

 

Unless you're on Sprint in Baton Rouge or NOLA, then EVDO is worthless even at -63 dBm!!

 

I'm eager to see how everyone reacts at CTIA in May. Last time I was in the quarter, AT&T guys couldn't connect at all and my Sprint phone timed out trying anything on EV-- I loaded a VZW PRL, jumped on a EV channel in PCS B block and was running 1.5 mbps while everyone else was dead in the water.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Well finally herd back from Larry at sprint forums...evidently the bandaid patch that was scheduled for my tower to be done on the 20th and since removed completely from network.sprint.com...has been reset to "under review"....sweet! Lol

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

[pyroscott]

Scott, what is your LTE dBm?

 

So I ran 2 separate speed/dBm tests. One from the couch and one from the deck (12 feet away from the couch) and here are the results.

Yeah, the second result was still LTE... as I said before, better building penetration my eye.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[4ringsnbr]

So I ran 2 separate speed/dBm tests. One from the couch and one from the deck (12 feet away from the couch) and here are the results.

 

Yeah, the second result was still LTE... as I said before, better building penetration my eye.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

That tool won't tell you your LTE signal strength. On the GNex while you're on LTE, you have to go to SETTINGS/ABOUT PHONE/STATUS to see your actual LTE signal strength. LTE still confuses most of the 3rd party apps.

[S4GRU]

So I ran 2 separate speed/dBm tests. One from the couch and one from the deck (12 feet away from the couch) and here are the results.

 

Yeah, the second result was still LTE... as I said before, better building penetration my eye.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

Although we cannot see the LTE dBm there, we are seeing an illustration how LTE is much more affected by a reduction in signal than EVDO is. Although the 700MHz signal is certainly penetrating your home, there is significant loss of signal that is occurring. And subsequently your speeds drop significantly. This is something that is also happening to Sprint LTE in FIT testing.

 

I saw one map where they super imposed speed test results over a site map over a FIT area. It was done in a "heat map." Lighter colors were faster speeds and darker colors, slower speeds. You could easily pick out the towers because the area around them was an island of super fast LTE speeds. Around 20Mbps - 30Mbps. Then in between sites they changed to various shades of darker colors.

 

At urban spacing, in between towers it would drop to 6Mbps. That's probably where Sprint will advertise LTE speeds, because of that. However, in rural areas that can be much farther from the site, given LTE steady drop in speed across signal degradation, the speeds can be much lower.

 

So even though 700MHz gets a lot of praise for propagation characteristics, especially distance, there will be no substitute for being close to that tower for screaming LTE. Kind of like how you need to be near the tower for good 2500 service.

 

Robert

[pyroscott]

 

I assumed the dBm readings were LTE and the program just displayed evdo... here are updated speed tests

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[S4GRU]

LTE signal at -107dBm and you are getting 4.03Mbps? You cannot complain about that. Sho 'nuff!!! I just cannot believe that Samsung has a -107dBm signal at 2 bars in the strength indicator. That is a little ridiculous.

 

Robert

[Euphorian]

I never had any real big problems with Sprint in my area...

These are 3G speeds only.

 

Edited March 23, 2012 by Euphorian

[4ringsnbr]

LTE signal at -107dBm and you are getting 4.03Mbps? You cannot complain about that. Sho 'nuff!!! I just cannot believe that Samsung has a -107dBm signal at 2 bars in the strength indicator. That is a little ridiculous.

 

Robert

 

They changed the bar mapping on GNex at 4.0.4 to always map the CDMA/eHRPD signal even when you're on 4G like all the other VZW LTE handsets. The only way to know your LTE signal is to go into the settings menu while you're on LTE. ICS defaults the bars to match the data connection but so many people complained about signal issues with the GNex versus other LTE phones (all pre-ICS with 3G bar mapping even on 4G) that Verizon decided to make the bars map like other phones with 4.0.4. And if it is like my MAXX, the 3G bar mappings are not based upon RSSI but rather Ec/Io ratio. I've never seen my CDMA/eHRPD signal drop below -89 dBm anywhere I've gone so far, but when you get into the -80s, the bar mapping fluctuates with the Ec/Io ratio only.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

 

They changed the bar mapping on GNex at 4.0.4 to always map the CDMA/eHRPD signal even when you're on 4G like all the other VZW LTE handsets. The only way to know your LTE signal is to go into the settings menu while you're on LTE. ICS defaults the bars to match the data connection but so many people complained about signal issues with the GNex versus other LTE phones (all pre-ICS with 3G bar mapping even on 4G) that Verizon decided to make the bars map like other phones with 4.0.4. And if it is like my MAXX, the 3G bar mappings are not based upon RSSI but rather Ec/Io ratio. I've never seen my CDMA/eHRPD signal drop below -89 dBm anywhere I've gone so far, but when you get into the -80s, the bar mapping fluctuates with the Ec/Io ratio only.

Yeah I don't really like that there personally...they are 2 different networks so they should show the signal separately...hope sprint doesn't do this with up coming LTE devices...

Why would you not show the LTE signal on screen?

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

[4ringsnbr]

Although we cannot see the LTE dBm there, we are seeing an illustration how LTE is much more affected by a reduction in signal than EVDO is. Although the 700MHz signal is certainly penetrating your home, there is significant loss of signal that is occurring. And subsequently your speeds drop significantly. This is something that is also happening to Sprint LTE in FIT testing.

 

I saw one map where they super imposed speed test results over a site map over a FIT area. It was done in a "heat map." Lighter colors were faster speeds and darker colors, slower speeds. You could easily pick out the towers because the area around them was an island of super fast LTE speeds. Around 20Mbps - 30Mbps. Then in between sites they changed to various shades of darker colors.

 

At urban spacing, in between towers it would drop to 6Mbps.

 

Robert

 

Yet more reasons why EVDO rev. B in a 3 carrier setup giving a solid 14.7 mbps connection would be a better fit in places than a 5x5 LTE carrier occupying the same bandwidth (including CDMA guard bands -- 4 carriers with 19.6 mbps downloads for a full 5x5 without guards). Not only does it have more handset support, but it also is less susceptible to degraded speeds with path loss. I figured as much since LTE, like WiMax, is an OFDM technology that does show that kind of signal quality degradtion-- even when using the same 16 QAM modulation. Now if you have a 10x10 or bigger space, LTE is certainly the way to go, despite the battery drain.

Edited March 23, 2012 by 4ringsnbr

[4ringsnbr]

Yeah I don't really like that there personally...they are 2 different networks so they should show the signal separately...hope sprint doesn't do this with up coming LTE devices...

Why would you not show the LTE signal on screen?

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

It was just the way pre-ICS kernels were setup-- they weren't designed for LTE/4G. ICS was and everyone with GNexs freaked when it had fewer bars in 4G than their old Thunderbolts and Droid Charges did. That's why Verizon made it "lie" with the 4.0.4 upgrade. That upgrade also did some things to try to help the GNex's non-Qualcomm CDMA baseband try to perform better.

Edited March 23, 2012 by 4ringsnbr

[Sgt. Slaughter]

It was just the way pre-ICS kernels were setup-- they weren't designed for LTE/4G. ICS was and everyone with GNexs freaked when it had fewer bars in 4G than their old Thunderbolts and Droid Charges did. That's why Verizon made it "lie" with the 4.0.4 upgrade. That upgrade also did some things to try to help the GNex's non-Qualcomm CDMA baseband try to perform better.

 

You lost me there....

 

I'm talking about not liking how it doesn't show your 4G signal & your CDMA signal at the same time next to each other...

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

[4ringsnbr]

You lost me there....

 

I'm talking about not liking how it doesn't show your 4G signal & your CDMA signal at the same time next to each other...

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

Oh-- well I don't know of any phones that will show two different cellular signal bars as a built-in function. I mean-- it will show your wifi signal next to your cellular signal if you're on wifi of course, but I've never seen any stock device show a separate 4G and 3G signal bar. There used to be an app-- I think it was called Real Signal that would show 1x and Ev signal bars independently in the status bar-- and I'm sure somebody will make something similar for LTE, but I hate bars anyway-- I want a numeric signal strength. Bar mapping varies from carrier to carrier, manufacturer to manufacturer, model to model, ROM to ROM-- it's meaningless really-- it's all relative. For example, most Sprint handsets will show 5/6 or more bars at -79 dBm. On my MAXX, I only show all bars below -60 or so and when I get below -80 dBm, the bars can be 1 - 4 based upon Ec/Io ratio only.

[McDroidBurger]

Oh-- well I don't know of any phones that will show two different cellular signal bars as a built-in function. I mean-- it will show your wifi signal next to your cellular signal if you're on wifi of course, but I've never seen any stock device show a separate 4G and 3G signal bar. There used to be an app-- I think it was called Real Signal that would show 1x and Ev signal bars independently in the status bar-- and I'm sure somebody will make something similar for LTE, but I hate bars anyway-- I want a numeric signal strength. Bar mapping varies from carrier to carrier, manufacturer to manufacturer, model to model, ROM to ROM-- it's meaningless really-- it's all relative. For example, most Sprint handsets will show 5/6 or more bars at -79 dBm. On my MAXX, I only show all bars below -60 or so and when I get below -80 dBm, the bars can be 1 - 4 based upon Ec/Io ratio only.

 

My EVO 4G will show 1X signal next to my 4G signal but not 3G to my knowledge.

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Tab 10.1 via tapatalk

 

Edited March 23, 2012 by McDroidBurger

[MacinJosh]

Oh-- well I don't know of any phones that will show two different cellular signal bars as a built-in function. I mean-- it will show your wifi signal next to your cellular signal if you're on wifi of course, but I've never seen any stock device show a separate 4G and 3G signal bar. There used to be an app-- I think it was called Real Signal that would show 1x and Ev signal bars independently in the status bar-- and I'm sure somebody will make something similar for LTE, but I hate bars anyway-- I want a numeric signal strength. Bar mapping varies from carrier to carrier, manufacturer to manufacturer, model to model, ROM to ROM-- it's meaningless really-- it's all relative. For example, most Sprint handsets will show 5/6 or more bars at -79 dBm. On my MAXX, I only show all bars below -60 or so and when I get below -80 dBm, the bars can be 1 - 4 based upon Ec/Io ratio only.

 

All HTC devices on Sprint show separate 3G and 4G signal bars.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Oh-- well I don't know of any phones that will show two different cellular signal bars as a built-in function. I mean-- it will show your wifi signal next to your cellular signal if you're on wifi of course, but I've never seen any stock device show a separate 4G and 3G signal bar. There used to be an app-- I think it was called Real Signal that would show 1x and Ev signal bars independently in the status bar-- and I'm sure somebody will make something similar for LTE, but I hate bars anyway-- I want a numeric signal strength. Bar mapping varies from carrier to carrier, manufacturer to manufacturer, model to model, ROM to ROM-- it's meaningless really-- it's all relative. For example, most Sprint handsets will show 5/6 or more bars at -79 dBm. On my MAXX, I only show all bars below -60 or so and when I get below -80 dBm, the bars can be 1 - 4 based upon Ec/Io ratio only.

 

Umm I'm pretty sure my EVO will show its 4G as a separate signal bar...

Makes sense to do it that way because your 4G signal has zero to do with your cell signal but still valuable to know so you have idea of how strong that signal is for data itself...

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

[4ringsnbr]

All HTC devices on Sprint show separate 3G and 4G signal bars.

 

Oh-- I had an EVO 4G for almost 2 years, but never saw 4G operate so I didn't know that... I always thought Sprint 4G was just a myth...

[McDroidBurger]

 

Oh-- I had an EVO 4G for almost 2 years, but never saw 4G operate so I didn't know that... I always thought Sprint 4G was just a myth...

 

Still is a myth haha. It is like finding the Easter bunny. Haha.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Tab 10.1 via tapatalk

[digiblur]

 

Umm I'm pretty sure my EVO will show its 4G as a separate signal bar...

Makes sense to do it that way because your 4G signal has zero to do with your cell signal but still valuable to know so you have idea of how strong that signal is for data itself...

 

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

 

If you move to ICS it won't show separate signal bars for 3g and 4g anymore.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

 

If you move to ICS it won't show separate signal bars for 3g and 4g anymore.

 

Well when the 3D gets its upgrade ill see about that...if that's the case it'll absolutely blow as that's the most redic thing I've herd...makes no sense at all...

 

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[McDroidBurger]

I like having both bars personally, but to each their own.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Tab 10.1 via tapatalk

[MacinJosh]

I like both signal bars too. Easier to work with

 

Sent from Josh's Evo Shift 4G using Forum Runner

[Sgt. Slaughter]

I like having both bars personally, but to each their own.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Tab 10.1 via tapatalk

I like both signal bars too. Easier to work with

 

Sent from Josh's Evo Shift 4G using Forum Runner

 

Yeah this is a big shock to me personally as I always thought they showed them as separate on all devices like we do now....

 

 

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