Signal Strength Question

testacon · #1 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 04:00 PM

I get the basic gist of what a decibel is and the range that it uses to determine how good your signal is to the tower.

What I'm wondering about is, between multiple Epic's what should that range of signal be in the same general area? I have two phones and can typically see a 5 dBm difference between the devices when next to each other. Since I don't know if that's a acceptable plus or minus tolerance between the two phones I'd figured I'd ask what other Epic owners have noticed. If one phone is sitting at -89dBm, the other phone can sit at -93dBm which is obviously a lower signal to the tower. Is this worth a warranty exchange? Is this something that I can get fixed by reflashing the radio? I think my phone has been roaming WAY too much compared to my previous PPC6800 ever did. Could Sprint's coverage in my area taking a nose dive in a month since I've switched phones Any other suggestions?

**gTen** · #2 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 04:17 PM

Since the only place I actually bothered to check is my room..the best spot I found was 83dBm ~ 86dBm, with most of my room being 96dBm+..but my room has pretty bad signal to begin with...but I don't have another device other then my TP2 to test with :/

Radio has a difference and PRL may make a difference if your connecting to a farther tower..There are many things that can make a difference from interference, mostly if devices are next to each other to etc...

its also possible that one is better manufacturer quality then the other one too...just like one cpu overclocks better another cpu...there are no 2 things exactly the same..

testacon · #3 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gTen

Since the only place I actually bothered to check is my room..the best spot I found was 83dBm ~ 86dBm, with most of my room being 96dBm+..but my room has pretty bad signal to begin with...but I don't have another device other then my TP2 to test with :/

Radio has a difference and PRL may make a difference if your connecting to a farther tower..There are many things that can make a difference from interference, mostly if devices are next to each other to etc...

its also possible that one is better manufacturer quality then the other one too...just like one cpu overclocks better another cpu...there are no 2 things exactly the same..

Right, but what I did was sit one of the phones on my desk and looked at the dBm's, waited a minute or so to let it stabilize (the numbers jump around), then swapped phones on the same spot. Each test had one of the Epic's about -4 to -5 dBm's higher then the other phone.

I heard that some Epic's had radio issues, and heard a reflash might help, but I remember reading this back in the DI18 days, didn't know if I got a bad flash and my radio keeps dropping from time to time. Not sure how to show this to a tech or even have them troubleshoot the radio of my phone. I just had no signal and rebooted the phone, it's driving me crazy...

**CozBoogie** · #4 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 06:19 PM

The difference between -89 and -93 is pretty small in the grand scheme of things...and unless you're confident that a poor signal is contributing to a chronic and repeatable problem I wouldn't worry about anything.

My wife and I have variances between our Epics for 3G/4G/Wi-Fi. There seems to be no trend to the differences and one phone does not routinely out perform the other. I think it's just the nature of the beast and a testimony that not all things are created equal.

As gTen pointed out there are so many factors that can contribute to varying signal strength. Our airwaves are so cluttered with crap anymore I'm surprised anything works.

late,
Coz

testacon · #5 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CozBoogie

The difference between -89 and -93 is pretty small in the grand scheme of things...and unless you're confident that a poor signal is contributing to a chronic and repeatable problem I wouldn't worry about anything.

My wife and I have variances between our Epics for 3G/4G/Wi-Fi. There seems to be no trend to the differences and one phone does not routinely out perform the other. I think it's just the nature of the beast and a testimony that not all things are created equal.

As gTen pointed out there are so many factors that can contribute to varying signal strength. Our airwaves are so cluttered with crap anymore I'm surprised anything works.

late,
Coz

That's my problem, either something happened to Sprint in general in my area or my radio in my Epic is significantly worse then my Mogul. I seldom losted my signal or roamed for that matter, with this phone I had for a month now, I see that triangle several times a day. Between that and the circle with the line threw it, it seems off to me. I'm a eight year customer, so I have a good idea of my usual coverage should look like and the dead zones. I'm actually charging up the 6800 to carry around to compare the two phones. I can't steal my wife's phone on a daily basis...

**gTen** · #6 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by testacon

That's my problem, either something happened to Sprint in general in my area or my radio in my Epic is significantly worse then my Mogul. I seldom losted my signal or roamed for that matter, with this phone I had for a month now, I see that triangle several times a day. Between that and the circle with the line threw it, it seems off to me. I'm a eight year customer, so I have a good idea of my usual coverage should look like and the dead zones. I'm actually charging up the 6800 to carry around to compare the two phones. I can't steal my wife's phone on a daily basis...

oh, if you mean that...Sprint a month or so ago let their contract expire and renegotiated a 3g roaming contract..so if you compare coverage maps they lost over 50% coverage :/

testacon · #7 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gTen

oh, if you mean that...Sprint a month or so ago let their contract expire and renegotiated a 3g roaming contract..so if you compare coverage maps they lost over 50% coverage :/

I noticed that about a month ago but I thought that the contract expired back in March. I gave up my mogul at the very end of May I think, so this seems to be a different issue, plus I'm East coast, I thought the coverage holes were mostly mid/West coast?

**darren.wlsn1** · #8 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 11:03 PM

bitch and complain and get a free airwave like lots of us do.

**gTen** · #9 (**permalink**) 07-18-2011, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by testacon

I noticed that about a month ago but I thought that the contract expired back in March. I gave up my mogul at the very end of May I think, so this seems to be a different issue, plus I'm East coast, I thought the coverage holes were mostly mid/West coast?

Nope it was across the board...when it took full effect is hard to say as PRL changes differ.

look at the maps before and after:

Sprint Community: Voice and 3G coverage being drastically...

I mean you can visit the coverage map yourself and look..make sure you zoom all the way in...

testacon · #10 (**permalink**) 07-19-2011, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darren.wlsn1

bitch and complain and get a free airwave like lots of us do.

I did get one of those about a month ago, cute white box...

Even with that though, my phone still doesn't get a full 5 bars when 20 feet from the airwave. Now note that when I log into Sprint.com I chose the option to have the output on low, it's not like I live in a mansion or anything.

I just really wanted to know if there was a way to test the radio of a phone, but there doesn't seem to be one anymore. I heard that there was once this box you can put your phone in and it does a boat load of tests on it. I just can't find a Sprint store that has one...