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Verizon GS3 signal reception thread

data issues related to dbm #'s?

  • high dbm, data works fine

    Votes: 53 68.8%

  • high dbm, data does not work

    Votes: 17 22.1%

  • other: explain in comments

    Votes: 7 9.1%
  • Total voters
    77
Skeeter125 said:
but like many have said, they are only saying it's bad because of the #'s and there has only been 1 or 2 reports of it actually affecting the use of the phone. At least for me numbers do not really matter unless it is constantly dropping and looking for signal which so far does not seem to be the case. I hope others get similar results but if everyone is just going off of the numbers then yes it is lower than most phones but its more than just numbers.
Click to expand...

For me, I didn't pay any mind to numbers. I tried phone calls and streaming from the same app.
The Motorola is a 4g and never dropped once. The S3 broke up several times and I had to restart the audio stream.
Believe me, I love the S3. What a nice phone, but the signal reminds me of the issues my Thunderbolt had. It just dropped signal too much.
 
Ken7 said:
Man, I just don't like the trend I'm seeing here. :(

What was your prior phone and how did it do?
Click to expand...

Razr. Not a single issue.

Honestly, I'm already regretting buying this phone if this is going to keep up.

Im consistently getting 1 bar with -116dBm
 
BlueIce5249 said:
Razr. Not a single issue.

Honestly, I'm already regretting buying this phone if this is going to keep up.

Im consistently getting 1 bar with -116dBm
Click to expand...

I hear ya BlueIce. I am so bummed about the signal level too. I am going to call Verizon tomorrow and arrange for my return. I swear they better not try to hit me with a restocking fee. It's bad enough the S3 was the last chance to upgrade my phone and keep my unlimited data. So now if something comes down the line this fall, good bye unlimited data.
 
wishiwas said:
I hear ya BlueIce. I am so bummed about the signal level too. I am going to call Verizon tomorrow and arrange for my return. I swear they better not try to hit me with a restocking fee. It's bad enough the S3 was the last chance to upgrade my phone and keep my unlimited data. So now if something comes down the line this fall, good bye unlimited data.
Click to expand...
Ive been on the phone with them for awhile.

They said its not a known issue with the phone and they havent had many calls at all about it. I'm wondering if maybe just a few? I know with my Bionic I had similar issues, then switched it out and I was fine.
 
Ken7 said:
Well if true, then is there any point at all in reporting #s? The old theory used to be at least do ICS to ICS for comparison of devices, but if there's no correlation to #s and performance, then what's the point?

I'm not sure I'm willing to accept the fact that comparing #s have no significance in real-world testing. Don't get me wrong, I'd always prefer to hear real world tests for data drops, phone calls and such, but surely something must correlate to this performance that's quantifiable. If not dbm, then what? :confused:
Click to expand...

Maybe the s4 and qualcomm reads it differently? I mean like I said I do not care about bars or dbms if the phone performs how it should and is not constantly dropping a signal. All the nay sayers can say well it has to corrolate to something but ICS reports things different and who knows if the qualcomm chip does not also add to that. Overall I am happy with how well it is holding a signal in the same place my maxx would switch back and forth.
 
wishiwas said:
I hear ya BlueIce. I am so bummed about the signal level too. I am going to call Verizon tomorrow and arrange for my return. I swear they better not try to hit me with a restocking fee. It's bad enough the S3 was the last chance to upgrade my phone and keep my unlimited data. So now if something comes down the line this fall, good bye unlimited data.
Click to expand...

you're going to have to pay the restocking fee.
 
So for those who have the sgs3, do the higher numbers correlate into the internet not working? Or are people just complaining because of the bars/dbms. How many phones are working ok even with the high dbm and how many will the data services not work?
 
BlueIce5249 said:
Ive been on the phone with them for awhile.

They said its not a known issue with the phone and they havent had many calls at all about it. I'm wondering if maybe just a few? I know with my Bionic I had similar issues, then switched it out and I was fine.
Click to expand...

That is bs on there part. I was on the phone with them 2hrs the other night and got nothing resolved. Wouldn't even send me a replacement without putting a hold on my account for over 700$.
 
Skeeter125 said:
you're going to have to pay the restocking fee.
Click to expand...
What I didn't mention is I bought 2 S3's and Verizon messed up the shipment of the second one. I'm hearing Verizon is issuing $30 credit for the trouble. I will get around the restocking fee.
But I am curious as someone else mentioned if I just got a bum phone.
Maybe I will open the second one tomorrow when it arrives.
Anyone elses home button take a good pushing to get to respond?
 
wishiwas said:
For me, I didn't pay any mind to numbers. I tried phone calls and streaming from the same app.
The Motorola is a 4g and never dropped once. The S3 broke up several times and I had to restart the audio stream.
Believe me, I love the S3. What a nice phone, but the signal reminds me of the issues my Thunderbolt had. It just dropped signal too much.
Click to expand...

BlueIce5249 said:
Im having insane connection issues here. Cant hold an LTE Connection and Im dropping calls left and right.

Sucks.
Click to expand...

Not good at all. I wonder if its just a cdma issue? I'm looking at the at&t s3 right now. Looks like big red might be out for me.
 
I'm seeing in the bar right now that many Nexus would not get signal in. Guess what? Helz yea baby! I'm rocking 2bars of 3 G that typically only my buddy Zack can get with his Droid X. Lets see how the work issue pans out tomorrow.

Nexus who?:D
 
cedjunior said:
I have both my DX and my GS3 in front of me. The GS3 is activated, the DX isn't, DX still reports a signal strength of -89 dBm.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I checked and they both read very similar - The X is reading -102 to -100 CDMA, the S3 is -103 4G. Not sure how that really compares since it's not apples to apples. I do know I've been downloading apps without issue on the S3, but haven't tried any calls yet. I drained the battery completely on the S3 so it's currently turned off and on the charger, but I'll try some calls when she's back up.
 
wishiwas said:
What I didn't mention is I bought 2 S3's and Verizon messed up the shipment of the second one. I'm hearing Verizon is issuing $30 credit for the trouble. I will get around the restocking fee.
But I am curious as someone else mentioned if I just got a bum phone.
Maybe I will open the second one tomorrow when it arrives.
Anyone elses home button take a good pushing to get to respond?
Click to expand...

My home button is just an easy push and it works fine. Maybe you got a lemon?
 
To add a few of my comments about my experience coming from original DINC to S3...

At home, I have to use a Verizon femtocell to get reasonable signal. Whenever I looked on the DINC, signal was never any higher than -70 (as it probably should be sitting 3 feet away from a "tower". The S3 has been all over the place, from -60s to -100s, I'm not sure if the CDMA radio is shutting down (is there a power conservation for that I'm not aware of?), but sometimes my signal will suddenly drop off. It seems to pick back up when calling out though. Calls seemed to be okay over the course of a couple hours talk time without any dropped calls or poor clarity, though I was not checking the actual signal numbers during the calls. Usually not able to connect to LTE at home, but 3G speeds are usually pretty slow, but at least workable.

Currently at another person's home. On the DINC I used to have signal of -90s. Calls were fuzzy occasionally. 3G was very slow, but would at least keep moving along. Currently, the S3 is showing -112 to -118. It connects to LTE but the speeds are SLOWER than when I was connecting to 3G. Tried a couple test very quick calls (less than a minute) and calls sound pretty clear, but I don't know whether that would translate to reliable calls.

Overall summation for me so far is that the phone function of the S3 is outstanding, haven't had any poor calls yet except in a hilly area without service (on both the DINC and S3). Data is another story: it was mentioned a few posts back, but is there a way to turn off LTE and connect to 3G only? It's pretty ridiculous that 3G service was better than LTE in this location.
 
Wife and I have received the error message 'insert SIM card.' This has happened around our 4 g town, and in our house.

Is this a signal problem, or a SIM card problem?
 
larry0071 said:
I'm seeing in the bar right now that many Nexus would not get signal in. Guess what? Helz yea baby! I'm rocking 2bars of 3 G that typically only my buddy Zack can get with his Droid X. Lets see how the work issue pans out tomorrow.

Nexus who?:D
Click to expand...

I'm at -98 and 1 asu. Is that good? Still in the bar of cell service hell.
 
Wrathix said:
Wife and I have received the error message 'insert SIM card.' This has happened around our 4 g town, and in our house.

Is this a signal problem, or a SIM card problem?
Click to expand...
Remove your back cover and take the sim card out and put it back in. I did the same thing when I put my old sd card in. I guess I was too excited about having the phone in hand, I didn't quite seat the memory card right.
I bet that's all you need to do :)
 
I've had my phone for a few hours now. My signal is -93dBm

Isnt that flirting with the line between decent and dropped call?
 
Speedtest shows 15 down and 3 up. On WiFi with my Fios I get 20 down and 6 up.

4g is almost as fast as Fios. I don't know what else you could ask for!
 
FirstGen said:
I've had my phone for a few hours now. My signal is -93dBm

Isnt that flirting with the line between decent and dropped call?
Click to expand...

No once you get above -115 is what "used" to be that line but there have been a few on here with #'s around that and calls were very crisp and clear.
 
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