Google → Re: Texting and calling issue

So I just had the thought to check the signal strength upstairs. I get the same -105 standing in the kitchen upstairs. I also checked my GF's phone (same phone) and she has -105 as well so it's signal and not a phone issue of some kind. What I don't understand is why does it mostly only do this at my desk?

I agree that -105 is a horrible signal, no doubt about that. But if I get the same signal elsewhere in the house, and even upstairs, that shouldn't be the whole issue right? What else could cause this? I've had this "no send" issue in other parts of the basement and I end up rebooting the phone to make it send.

I'll check outdoor signal strength soon. FWIW the house is brick so that's probably not helping things either. What chance do I have of getting a femtocell from Verizon cheaply? I can't really pay out $250+ for a femtocell or an amp setup right now but this is getting annoying.

Well, -105 may by the max the device reports before going to a no signal status. I'm not sure to be honest.

If you can, try a different device to see if there's a difference. As for the femtocell, I have no idea as I'm in Canada.

Keep your eyes on »/forum/forsale I don't know how often they pop up, but I saw someone selling a used AT&T femtocell for $25 a few days ago. I wish that I would have jumped on it, it didn't last long, because we have the same problem in our basement (though I don't think it's quite as bad as yours).

I have an LG Ally running Velocity 1.2 and it shows 1-2 bars on average down here. Had to hunt for the signal strength location on it but it's reporting -120 on average. It also says 0 asu (whatever that is?). Holding it on the other side of the desk it went up to -92 and fluctuated as high as about -100 so clearly that's a "hot spot" of sorts lol.

Yeah I think I saw that one too. I'm gonna keep an eye on ebay as well. Most of the buy it now items are too high for me right now but maybe I can snag one on a bid for cheap.

0 asu is 'no service' in most cases.

See here for more info on asu: »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo ··· gnal#ASU

Ahh OK. Would make sense considering the Ally is my old phone and currently deactivated.

Outdoor stats:
Droid Razr: -95 and 4 bars showing consistently.
Ally: -95 to -88 and 4 bards showing consistently.

Seems the 3G does give me a little bit better signal but beyond that just being outside helps too. Now I guess I need to see how to force the Razr back to 3G and see what happens. Looks like I found out how as apparently the ICS update removed the CDMA only option: »www.droid-life.com/2012/ ··· andwich/. There's a link to an app there too.

Excellent!

Glad to see you're able to force 3G as it should help a lot. 2G would even be better yet as those frequencies are lower, and the lower the frequency, the better object penetration. That's why the 700mHz band is the Holy Grail for telcos.

Isn't LTE supposed to be in the 700 MHz band? CDMA and PCS and such were in the 800 something range and some others in 1800-1900. Not sure about WiMax or any of those but yeah I'd hate to be on 1800-1900 (or am I? LOL) and trying to get a signal down here. I haven't tried the 3G force yet but I'll definitely let you know what happens.

Not sure if the telcos down there use it yet. I thought they were using the 1900-2100 range? Easy to check the LTE specs of your device, though.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droid_Razr

Looks like EVDO is 800 and 1900 with LTE at 750. I suspect our EVDO here is on 800 as it would explain why there isn't a drastic change between the two (at least between the Razr and Ally which isn't a proper test due to different devices).

That -88 you get on the Ally is several orders better for signal. dB's are not a linear scale as you probably know. I also have to wonder if the thinness of the Razor has restricted the antenna size. I know my BB Torch generally whumps the heck out of my NS for signal, but it's a thicker device. In the same place indoors, the BB gets a steady -70, and the NS gets -79 to -81 and sometimes worse!

LTE OnOff app installed so let's see what we get.

Upstairs in the foyer:
1x = -85 3-4 bars
3G = -88 2-3 bars

Downstairs at my desk:
1x = -88 3 bars
3G = -100 2 bars

This was with it held in my hand, sitting on the desk is about the same sometimes worse. I noticed it fluctuates wildly though with 1x going up to -120 and 3G dropping offline completely sometimes. I'm going to run with this and see if it solves the texting/calling issue. Ultimately it looks like a femtocell or amp is the solution though.

I figured the Ally being older and probably different chips/radios might not be an apple to apple test comparing signal strength but it's still a useful number to know. It may not be scientific or anything like that but hey it helped narrow things down. You're also probably right about the thickness (or lack thereof) hindering antenna size and all. If nothing else, LTE supposedly drains the battery quicker so this should help with that. I'm on wifi at home anyway so speed isn't an issue at all.

Yes, go with it and do some testing. I'll lay bet that it will solve some of it, and of course, in those 'good' areas you should see improvement as well by the same measure.

Good luck.