Verizon GS3 signal reception thread

[Trent Reznor]

So... My fiancee just got home with the Gnex.

In my living room on LTE:

Gnex 87 dBm 53 asu
GS3 90 dBm 50 asu

GS3 was faster (both up and down) on speedtest.

 

[ChampD1012]

There are a HUGE dbm difference between what Samsung is showing (-110) and what the Open Signal Maps App is showing (-80) when I am in LTE. For 3G, the dbm levels match. But I having dropped calls and I don't sniff LTE in my household while my wife's Droid Razr Maxx, and my iPad has LTE in the house.

I have switched my SIM for the 3rd time today. And now my phone appears to be running hotter than before. I will give it a day. But I am leaning toward going back to my iPhone 4S. I need a phone that can take phone calls. I have had issues with that too.

 

[universem2]

So... My fiancee just got home with the Gnex.

In my living room on LTE:

Gnex 87 dBm 53 asu
GS3 90 dBm 50 asu

GS3 was faster (both up and down) on speedtest.

what were your speeds for both phones?

 

[universem2]

There are a HUGE dbm difference between what Samsung is showing (-110) and what the Open Signal Maps App is showing (-80) when I am in LTE. For 3G, the dbm levels match. But I having dropped calls and I don't sniff LTE in my household while my wife's Droid Razr Maxx, and my iPad has LTE in the house.

I have switched my SIM for the 3rd time today. And now my phone appears to be running hotter than before. I will give it a day. But I am leaning toward going back to my iPhone 4S. I need a phone that can take phone calls. I have had issues with that too.

Where are you located Champ?

 

[Trent Reznor]

what were your speeds for both phones?

Dont remember... Ill rerun right now.

 

[Trent Reznor]

Gnex:

-82 dBm 58 asu

GS3

-89 dBm 51 asu

Speed test:

Gnex:

ping 38ms 10.7 down 15.6 up

GS3:

ping 56ms 16.3 down 16.6 up

 

[thelber]

There are a HUGE dbm difference between what Samsung is showing (-110) and what the Open Signal Maps App is showing (-80) when I am in LTE. For 3G, the dbm levels match. But I having dropped calls and I don't sniff LTE in my household while my wife's Droid Razr Maxx, and my iPad has LTE in the house.

I have switched my SIM for the 3rd time today. And now my phone appears to be running hotter than before. I will give it a day. But I am leaning toward going back to my iPhone 4S. I need a phone that can take phone calls. I have had issues with that too.

I've been getting my dbm readings from the OpenSignal app. In my situation I've experienced great call quality and no dropped calls but I've only talked on it 5-6 times.

My S3 still picks up the 4G signal everywhere my Maxx did but it takes the S3 a few extra minutes to switch over. Unfortunately it seems to want to lock onto a 4G signal that apparently is too weak to use data-wise.

I still find it odd that many times a get a good download speed but then I'll get a "0" upload speed and that's what makes me think something is wrong other than just being a weak signal.

On wi-fi when I tested the S3 and Maxx side by side the S3 always seemed to get around 20% slower download and upload speeds. I find this odd as well since many have said the S3 has faster downloads than the Maxx.

Still have my Maxx but due to S3 better camera and several other things I like better I'll probably stick with the S3. Just trying to make sure I don't have a correctable problem that is keeping me from getting a better data connection.

 

[thelber]

Gnex:

-82 dBm 58 asu

GS3

-89 dBm 51 asu

Speed test:

Gnex:

ping 38ms 10.7 down 15.6 up

GS3:

ping 56ms 16.3 down 16.6 up

See, this makes me think I have an issue with myS3. My dbm is the same but speeds are much lower than above. With my Maxx last week I was getting the speeds listed above which leads me to believe it's my phone or sim and not the network.

Got these from the OpenSignal app. Don't understand enough to know what's going on as far as our signal strenghts matching while ping is so much different.

4G LTE
-89dBm
Ping: 526
Download: 1726 Kbps
Upload: 0 kbps

 

[BLK MAJK]

I have a somewhat similar situation. I will have 1-2 bars showing with a 3g connection in my office, but any app that uses data will tell me that no network is available. It acts like if the signal is low, it won't even try to send/receive, but it will show me with a connection. I am on my second sim card as the first one would not let me connect to 4g...ever.

 

[thelber]

I have a somewhat similar situation. I will have 1-2 bars showing with a 3g connection in my office, but any app that uses data will tell me that no network is available. It acts like if the signal is low, it won't even try to send/receive, but it will show me with a connection. I am on my second sim card as the first one would not let me connect to 4g...ever.

I have the exact same issue with 3G as well. So getting a new sim card allowed you get better 4G reception? Does the 4G stall out at 1-2 bars like your 3G does?

 

[you2]

SIM is not going to impact speed. Some things that might impact speed:
a) Latency
b) Server (when comparing speeds you shoudl make sure you connect to the same
server and run the test at the same time (i would actually do a sequence dev 1, dev 2, dev 2, dev 1)
c) congestion
d) packet loss (this can be triggered by fault hardware; but that is rare)
e) Tower selection (this is harder to determine)
-
A weak signal might increase packet loss and might be a result of increased latency.
-
Let me repeat (even though I just said this) speed is time sensitive; running two tests weeks, days or even hours apart and comparing them is not valid; and it is critical that you are talking to the same server (esp if you are using speedtest). MAX speed can be determined by the device (cpu/memory/interface/signal processing/...) but we already know the S3 is much faster than the gnex or razr [max].

See, this makes me think I have an issue with myS3. My dbm is the same but speeds are much lower than above. With my Maxx last week I was getting the speeds listed above which leads me to believe it's my phone or sim and not the network.

Got these from the OpenSignal app. Don't understand enough to know what's going on as far as our signal strenghts matching while ping is so much different.

4G LTE
-89dBm
Ping: 526
Download: 1726 Kbps
Upload: 0 kbps

 

[ChampD1012]

Where are you located Champ?

East Providence, RI. 4G LTE is all over the area. I want other people with LTE in their area to give me a comparison between what Open Signal Maps show vs. the Settings menu. The delta between the two for LTE coverage has been between 20-40 dbm. There isn't a delta between the two for 3G coverage.

My wife's Droid Razr Maxx doesn't have a delta at all for 3G or LTE. So I want to see if other Verizon Samsung S3s have the same delta as what I am seeing.

I am on my 3rd SIM card so I am ready to go back to my iPhone 4S if Verizon doesn't give me the right answers. Wait for a software update is unsat if the update doesn't come before my 14 day return window.

 

[ChampD1012]

I've been getting my dbm readings from the OpenSignal app. In my situation I've experienced great call quality and no dropped calls but I've only talked on it 5-6 times.

My S3 still picks up the 4G signal everywhere my Maxx did but it takes the S3 a few extra minutes to switch over. Unfortunately it seems to want to lock onto a 4G signal that apparently is too weak to use data-wise.

I still find it odd that many times a get a good download speed but then I'll get a "0" upload speed and that's what makes me think something is wrong other than just being a weak signal.

On wi-fi when I tested the S3 and Maxx side by side the S3 always seemed to get around 20% slower download and upload speeds. I find this odd as well since many have said the S3 has faster downloads than the Maxx.

Still have my Maxx but due to S3 better camera and several other things I like better I'll probably stick with the S3. Just trying to make sure I don't have a correctable problem that is keeping me from getting a better data connection.

I have had 5 dropped calls out of about 10 calls which is an issue for me. I haven't had the phone for a week yet and I have had 5 dropped calls! And call quality isn't there as well. I need the phone to work. Its one thing if I am in a bad area, but I'm not. Never had an issue with my iPhones or my Droid, or my Droid X for that matter.

 

[rushmore]

All I know is the GS3 is performing similar to the Razr for me in Kentucky. A state not known for flat topography and loaded with old Cellular one towers that Verizon bought up for CDMA expansion. My only complaint so far is I ended up with white.

There are areas in east KY and West Virginia that NO phones get signal, due to mountains and DEEP valleys. No harm no foul in those areas. Well, it is all foul if you need to make a call and stuck on a back road. Jeesh we are spoiled, since not too many years ago when there were no cell phones.

 

[thelber]

Server (when comparing speeds you shoudl make sure you connect to the same
server and run the test at the same time (i would actually do a sequence dev 1, dev 2, dev 2, dev 1)

Let me repeat (even though I just said this) speed is time sensitive; running two tests weeks, days or even hours apart and comparing them is not valid; and it is critical that you are talking to the same server (esp if you are using speedtest).

I still have my Maxx. Is it possible to take the sim out of my S3 and put in my Maxx to run speedtests? If so I could do that to get a better comparison of data speeds on both phones side by side in 1-2 bar areas.

 

[you2]

Btw prl data (I hope that is the right term) is something verizon tech support can update on your phone. Basically the phone has some info regarding tower location. There were several long threads in a couple of forums regarding sprint phones about how some phones would have incorrect tower info and that would cause whacky single issues.

To be honest I do not know enough about cdma nor verizon to know factually if the above statement is correct but I'm sure those who are more knowledgeable will correct me if I am mistaken.

 

[thelber]

Btw prl data (I hope that is the right term) is something verizon tech support can update on your phone. Basically the phone has some info regarding towards location. There were several long threads in a couple of forums regarding sprint phones about how some phones would have incorrect tower info and that would cause whacky single issues.

To be honest I do not know enough about cdma nor verizon to know factually if the above statement is correct but I'm sure those who are more knowledgeable will correct me if I am mistaken.

I had a Sprint Galaxy S2 and had to do the PRL update right after I got it and it did make a difference. I noticed there was no option to do this on the Verizon S3. I'll give Verizon a call and see if they'll update it on that end.

 

[thelber]

I want other people with LTE in their area to give me a comparison between what Open Signal Maps show vs. the Settings menu. The delta between the two for LTE coverage has been between 20-40 dbm. There isn't a delta between the two for 3G coverage.

My wife's Droid Razr Maxx doesn't have a delta at all for 3G or LTE. So I want to see if other Verizon Samsung S3s have the same delta as what I am seeing.

My S3 4G dbm readings taken at lunch today:

Open Signal: -95 dbm
Settings Menu: -111 dbm

On another note I went at lunch and had Verizon put in a new sim card. Took some speedtest.net app readings at the street light in front of the Verizon store:

Before I went in with old sim card (2 tests): 3,800 down (avg)
After I went in and got a new sim card installed (2 tests): 12,000 down (avg)

With new sim download speeds have tripled. Signal strength appears to be the same but the phone is holding onto the data and not dropping out like before.

 

[you2]

Did verizon give an explanation as to why the sim card might actually impact download speed.
-
I did a quick google search and found a couple of xda threads that supported my comment that the sim card has nothing to do with network speed; however it is possible that you were not actually being authorized for 4g and using something else (but i can't really believe you were getting the speeds you saw on 3g so i would be interested in hearing from verizon how this helped you increase download speed).
-

Hum. This is a question but could verizon sim card also contain prl data ?

My S3 4G dbm readings taken at lunch today:

Open Signal: -95 dbm
Settings Menu: -111 dbm

On another note I went at lunch and had Verizon put in a new sim card. Took some speedtest.net app readings at the street light in front of the Verizon store:

Before I went in with old sim card (2 tests): 3,800 down (avg)
After I went in and got a new sim card installed (2 tests): 12,000 down (avg)

With new sim download speeds have tripled. Signal strength appears to be the same but the phone is holding onto the data and not dropping out like before.

 

[ChampD1012]

My S3 4G dbm readings taken at lunch today:

Open Signal: -95 dbm
Settings Menu: -111 dbm

On another note I went at lunch and had Verizon put in a new sim card. Took some speedtest.net app readings at the street light in front of the Verizon store:

Before I went in with old sim card (2 tests): 3,800 down (avg)
After I went in and got a new sim card installed (2 tests): 12,000 down (avg)

With new sim download speeds have tripled. Signal strength appears to be the same but the phone is holding onto the data and not dropping out like before.

Give it a day. I was fine initially too and then I went back to my apartment and was back to reality that I wasn't getting 4G on my S3 but every other 4G device had LTE with ease.

After I run some errands I will make my 3rd trip to the Verizon store in one week. Is the delta in dbm still there with the new sim card?

 

[Jbartu]

I have been comparing the Maxx and S3 for almost 5 days now, primarily in 4G areas, and I have yet to see a notable difference. I will be traveling in some 3G areas tomorrow, and maybe that will make a difference.

I even tried the phones in the basement of a 10 story office building. Both lost total signal in the same spot; the S3 recovered voice as fast as the Maxx. Both phones were able to pull a 4G signal in certain areas, and the speed tests were similar.

I am leaning towards keeping the S3, but these posts of dropped calls, and bad data speeds, are making me cautious.

 

[thelber]

Did verizon give an explanation as to why the sim card might actually impact download speed.
-
I did a quick google search and found a couple of xda threads that supported my comment that the sim card has nothing to do with network speed; however it is possible that you were not actually being authorized for 4g and using something else (but i can't really believe you were getting the speeds you saw on 3g so i would be interested in hearing from verizon how this helped you increase download speed).
-

Hum. This is a question but could verizon sim card also contain prl data ?

I called the Verizon tech support line this morning and told them my situation and they suggested that I should have the sim card switched out because it controlled the data connection. All I have to go by is what they told me so I did it. If you've ever called Verizon many times it feels as if we know more than they do that's what they said.

I went into the Verizon store and told them what they said on the phone and they put a new one in and said give it a try. So far it seems much better and I've yet to drop data once this afternoon.

In the weak areas on my way home on 4G with the new sim card the phone does slow way down (due probably to the weaker antenna) but it doesn't give me the no network communication error.

 

[BLK MAJK]

I have the exact same issue with 3G as well. So getting a new sim card allowed you get better 4G reception? Does the 4G stall out at 1-2 bars like your 3G does?

I could not connect to 4g AT ALL. It was like my sim was not authorized to be on the 4G network. The new sim fixed that. I don't get 4g in my office (internal office inside a metal factory) so I cant tell you about the stalling, but 3g definitely does.

 

[Sandroidfan]

I did a quick google search and found a couple of xda threads that supported my comment that the sim card has nothing to do with network speed; however it is possible that you were not actually being authorized for 4g and using something else (but i can't really believe you were getting the speeds you saw on 3g so i would be interested in hearing from verizon how this helped you increase download speed).

Hum. This is a question but could verizon sim card also contain prl data ?

Not very sure. But I think PRL data is contained in SIM card because verizon 4G phones wouldn't work as phone without SIM. Nowadays SIM or PRL issues shouldn't happen when activating new 4G phones. But apparently it still happens sometimes.

 

[thelber]

Btw prl data (I hope that is the right term) is something verizon tech support can update on your phone. Basically the phone has some info regarding tower location. There were several long threads in a couple of forums regarding sprint phones about how some phones would have incorrect tower info and that would cause whacky single issues.

To be honest I do not know enough about cdma nor verizon to know factually if the above statement is correct but I'm sure those who are more knowledgeable will correct me if I am mistaken.

As I'm thinking more about this what if the prl was updated when they activated the new sim? When they activated the new sim maybe something got updated on their end. Speed increase may not be directly related to the new sim itself but maybe to the sim switch in Verizon's system.