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Help Just about had it

RRMan03

RRMan03

Newbie
I have had the GNEX since day one. Not a lot of problems except about half the signal I have in the same spot on a 2 year old Blackberry and the volume is so low you need hearing aids to listen to a call. Now these issues have been know since about Dec. 19th It is now 60 days later and instead of a fix for these problems we are getting a WHITE GNEX. Who gives a damn about that when the other ones are screwed up. I have had VZW forever because I have no other option and in general their support for customer sucks. I hope they read this. I pay a lot each month for 3 smartphones and the smartest ones is the sorriest because you can not get a good signal or hear a call. It is a phone. FIX THE DAMN PHONE PART !!!
 
Supposedly the rumored 4.0.4 update addresses the low volume and includes fixes for the radios. Who knows how much better it will actually make it though...I'm lucky enough to be in an area that has great signal strength but it sucks for all the people that are having trouble with reception
 
I'm sure there are plenty who share in your frustration. And it seems to be somewhat complex with the whole Nexus > CDMA > Updates from Google > Open source vs. proprietary apps blah blah blah. I've worked around the volume problem since nearly day 1 by installing the Volume + app. It mentions right in it's description though that it may not work well without root/custom recovery. No problem for me but not sure what your situation is where root is concerned.

Yep, I know we're talking about band-aids here and I do understand your greater point. Just bringing up something that has worked nicely for me. Now the signal strength on the other hand...it's a pain. I've dropped more calls than I'd like even running the new radios. I guess I'm waiting patiently and hoping for the best in that regard.
 
I am running the stock models and I have added the Volume + app. Still in a semi noisy area you can not hear it. The signal issue I can use the phone but it drops calls. I have a Blackberry Bold 9560 and comparing the same 3G CDMA signals the Blackberry runs at about -60db and the GNEX about -90db in the same spot. Does not take a genius to tell it has a weak radio. Such a good phone and the software is just pieces of trash throwed together. I really think VZW did not want this phone as one of my trusted sources will no even email me on a fix. Last he said was late March maybe and that is his job. Nothing like bending over for BIG RED.
 
Sorry to hear your frustration OP. I know it can be discouraging. If you really can't stand it any longer then maybe you could call VZW to see if you have any options. Explain your situation (as reasonable as possible). I also suffer from horrible signal issues. In my home i get -120db most of the time. Other 3G phones get -90 at least. However...i've never dropped one call and my calls are really clear in that area.

I personally am pretty confident that future updates will fix the issues. No phone is perfect when it first comes out.
 
The thing is not all of us have issues, so there isn't exactly an emergency at Google or Samsung. If you had problems you should have returned it, even if you like the phone or was hoping for a future fix. Can't really blame Verizon for that.
 
sorry you are having issues OP, while the Gnex isn't perfect, i have no real issues with the phone. my speaker has always been loud enough (speaker phone and ear piece) and very clear, much nicer than my thunderbolt. and while my TB got better signal, i have never been in a position where i couldn't make a call or hear the person on the other line.
 
My only issue is where at work I get a solid 4g signal with my razr, i get a choppy mostly 3g signal. Its very frustrating. Other than that, when im out and about the phone is good.
 
RRMan03 said:
I am running the stock models and I have added the Volume + app. Still in a semi noisy area you can not hear it. The signal issue I can use the phone but it drops calls. I have a Blackberry Bold 9560 and comparing the same 3G CDMA signals the Blackberry runs at about -60db and the GNEX about -90db in the same spot. Does not take a genius to tell it has a weak radio. Such a good phone and the software is just pieces of trash throwed together. I really think VZW did not want this phone as one of my trusted sources will no even email me on a fix. Last he said was late March maybe and that is his job. Nothing like bending over for BIG RED.
Click to expand...

Have you ever tried swapping out the phone?
 
from past experiences updates do fix the general issues most of us suffer from.

i tried the 4.0.4 update for about a week, and signal was great at all times, when i went to greensboro or rocky mount, the switch from 3g-4g was instant (even though i never noticed it, until i was sending a text and saw it switch on me, thats when i knew 2 places relatively close by had 4G while my home didnt)

and while on 4.0.4 i never suffered from the microphone issue.

these phones will never come out perfect, as they are made in bulk and they will always have some problems, though if the phone is giving you this much problems, you should try swapping it out with another one.

7 out of 10 times your newest one will not have the problems of the old, but may have newer issues that are just not as important.
 
Remember: Updates fix things.

I have read countless threads just like this one where someone is fed up, and they go ahead and get rid of their phone, only to find the next phone isn't so green as the pastures looked.

If there are only some small little things, just wait it out. You are on the bleeding edge of technology (software, not hardware) and there will be quirks. Give Google/Samsung some time to work on the bugs. I can tell you with absolute certainty that they will get things fixed, because the last 3 phones I've owned have had small problems that updates have always fixed.
 
trophynuts said:
Sorry to hear your frustration OP. I know it can be discouraging. If you really can't stand it any longer then maybe you could call VZW to see if you have any options. Explain your situation (as reasonable as possible). I also suffer from horrible signal issues. In my home i get -120db most of the time. Other 3G phones get -90 at least. However...i've never dropped one call and my calls are really clear in that area.

I personally am pretty confident that future updates will fix the issues. No phone is perfect when it first comes out.
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The GNex is one of the few phones that reports 4G signal strength rather than 3G strength. So you can't directly compare numbers like that since 4G is supposed to have a lower signal.
 
I have been running 4.0.4 myself for about a week and it is a nice update. Signal is definitely better...still not perfect but I would say 95% better. Noticed signal drop a couple times but alot better than 5-10% of the day like I use to get. Switch between 4g and 3g is a lot faster. Never had a problem with the volume but from what I have read, that has improved too. Other nice improvements to but won't go into all of them. I would say my phone is about 97% perfect now. Wish I could have 4g 24/7 but do to Verizon's 4g outages and it still being a new technology I don't see this really improving for another year or two.
 
Im just ridin the storm out waiting for the update. It is not bad enought to risk another phone with maybe more issues. At least on this one i have it narrowed down to I know what they are. But that is not the issue. This is a 300 dollar phone with a bill of a bunch a month and it is not useable in all places. I have to carry my Blackberry because the Gnex will not pick up no where near as good as the 2 year old BB Bold, Not pissed yet but im about sick of new phone anouncements and no fix for existing products. VZW is getting close to my S list.
 
nj02vette said:
The GNex is one of the few phones that reports 4G signal strength rather than 3G strength. So you can't directly compare numbers like that since 4G is supposed to have a lower signal.
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I"m not referring to 4G. i'm comparing 3G to 3G. I leave my G Nex in forced 3G mode most of the time. When i do i still see a huge difference in my 3G coverage as other 3G phones in the same area.
 
My 3G to 3G signals are not even close as I have no 4G where I live.When I compare radio out and radio in it is even worse than data. The speed of the Gnex makes up for the data reception but it does not make up in radio strength. My old Blackberry will kill it in cold blood on a regular phone call. And that is the sad part. A 2 year old phone with better receprion than a 700 dollar new Gnex. and as for that VZW relaeae date on the update even my friend who works in that department will not even send me an email. I think they have been told to keep quite because he was very helpful and informative until this issue came up. now not a word. I guess they track employees email like everybody else.
 
RRMan03 said:
My 3G to 3G signals are not even close as I have no 4G where I live.When I compare radio out and radio in it is even worse than data. The speed of the Gnex makes up for the data reception but it does not make up in radio strength. My old Blackberry will kill it in cold blood on a regular phone call. And that is the sad part. A 2 year old phone with better receprion than a 700 dollar new Gnex. and as for that VZW relaeae date on the update even my friend who works in that department will not even send me an email. I think they have been told to keep quite because he was very helpful and informative until this issue came up. now not a word. I guess they track employees email like everybody else.
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Some manufactures are just good, better, great for phone reception. Off the top of my head I would say Nokia, Blackberry and Motorola fit that category. Even with the better phone reception on a Blackberry...I could never see myself with one. Thats one of the few times where phone reception doesnt matter to me...lol. The iPhone is another..... maybe....:eek:

Phone reception is one of those thing some of us take for granted until it makes itself known. I never really paid attention to data reception until the G Nex came out. Before, I forgot that in some places where I had no data reception I could still make calls on my older phones. I never really thought to separate phone and data reception when posting about reception before. I learned something new dealing with the RAZR, Rezound and G Nex.
 
trophynuts said:
I"m not referring to 4G. i'm comparing 3G to 3G. I leave my G Nex in forced 3G mode most of the time. When i do i still see a huge difference in my 3G coverage as other 3G phones in the same area.
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But it seems to me that even in 3G mode the dBm level is not that different from LTE mode. So I'm not sure what it is really in Nexus. But it doesn't seem to affect ability to make phone calls, texts.

When I checked out LG Spectrum the other day, it shows 1X and LTE signal strength separately like LG did with Revolution. LTE signal was -15~-20dBm weaker than 1X. I think other manufacturers should do the same because it's often very confusing what signal strength it's displaying.
 
trophynuts said:
I"m not referring to 4G. i'm comparing 3G to 3G. I leave my G Nex in forced 3G mode most of the time. When i do i still see a huge difference in my 3G coverage as other 3G phones in the same area.
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Should've known you'd do it the right way.

crankerchick said:
The OP said he was comparing like 3G signals.
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Even when only in a 3G area, the signal isn't reporting true 3G signals. Only way to get there is to put it into forced 3G mode, which was left out of Trophynuts origninal post.

Read the Anandtech article for more clarification.
 
nj02vette said:
Even when only in a 3G area, the signal isn't reporting true 3G signals. Only way to get there is to put it into forced 3G mode, which was left out of Trophynuts origninal post.
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Yes I know. I'm very familiar with the AnandTech article. I was just pointing out the the OP stated he was looking at 3G, but it does help to point out that it should be in forced CDMA for a real comparison.
 
crankerchick said:
Yes I know. I'm very familiar with the AnandTech article. I was just pointing out the the OP stated he was looking at 3G, but it does help to point out that it should be in forced CDMA for a real comparison.
Click to expand...

It's not clear whether OP looked at 3G signal strength in auto LTE mode or 3G only mode. But from my experience, it doesn't seem to matter much. Even in forced 3G mode, dbm level is close to that of LTE mode. Forced 3G mode seems to be a little better only in weak signal areas.

I guess signal strengths of 3G and 4G are not that different but 1X is noticeably stronger. Right now only LG does separate 1X, 4G signal strength reporting. I noted that 1X is about 15~20dbm stronger than 4G in Spectrum, which is about the dbm difference we see on Nexus and other 4G phones. so that seems to make sense to me.
 
kg2128 said:
The thing is not all of us have issues, so there isn't exactly an emergency at Google or Samsung. If you had problems you should have returned it, even if you like the phone or was hoping for a future fix. Can't really blame Verizon for that.
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I just bought a maxx to use until they fix the VZW SGN that sits on my desk... desperately awaiting an update. I can't txt when I'm attached to wifi (excellent 4G signal at home btw!), and a few other issues. But those have been beat to death.

I can live with swapping batteries in a day, but the call quality better increase or I'll have to pawn it off to a friend.

Sigh, I do check every day, and no updates to fix these issues. VZW gave the "call samsung and google" spiel, but they have provided to VZW... chicken and egg situation. Very frustrating now that VZW is passing the buck to OEM's when they damn well know they have submitted updates.
 
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