32 replies to this topic

[Pego99]

I decided to compare signal level readings of the Motorola razr (maxx) and the Galaxy Nexus at a Verizon store.

All the motorola razr maxxes were -55dbm 0 asu

All the Galaxy Nexuses were about -78dbm 72 asu

What does this mean in a practical sense?

Which is better?

[Tmc363]

I decided to compare signal level readings of the Motorola razr (maxx) and the Galaxy Nexus at a Verizon store.

All the motorola razr maxxes were -55dbm 0 asu

All the Galaxy Nexuses were about -78dbm 72 asu

What does this mean in a practical sense?

Which is better?

the lower dbm the better

[Pego99]

What do you mean by lower? So the -78 is better than the -55? This was true on many phones all next to one another. So the Galaxy Nexus at -78 is much much better than the Moto at -55?

[snives]

I decided to compare signal level readings of the Motorola razr (maxx) and the Galaxy Nexus at a Verizon store.

All the motorola razr maxxes were -55dbm 0 asu

All the Galaxy Nexuses were about -78dbm 72 asu

What does this mean in a practical sense?

Which is better?

First off, disregard the 'asu' part. That is simply a calculation based on the dbm rating and what type of network (CDMA, UMTS, GSM, LTE, etc) you are connecting to.

As for the dbm values, they are refered to as an RSSI rating. Comparing two devices that use the same radio with the same firmware, the one with the more negative number is the stronger signal. (-90 is better signal than -10, 0 is no trace of signal). However, when comparing different radios/firmware a lot of other things can come into play making comparing two different devices far less valuable. The general rule though, is the larger the number (the more negative it is) the better the signal.

The most useful thing you can find, in my personal opinion, by watching RSSI values when the numbers are not low (under 30-40) is the stability of the connection. If one hits -100 at one point, the -70 at the next, I would be worried. Sure, those values are high but that is the type of signal fluctuation that leads to dropped calls.

Also, I would question the legitimacy of the numbers from the RAZRs. 0 ASU should not happen. The calculation is simply ( |dbm| + constant) / 2, where the constant changes based on the network. 0 is simply not possible.

[arcanexvi]

First off, disregard the 'asu' part. That is simply a calculation based on the dbm rating and what type of network (CDMA, UMTS, GSM, LTE, etc) you are connecting to.

As for the dbm values, they are refered to as an RSSI rating. Comparing two devices that use the same radio with the same firmware, the one with the more negative number is the stronger signal. (-90 is better signal than -10, 0 is no trace of signal). However, when comparing different radios/firmware a lot of other things can come into play making comparing two different devices far less valuable. The general rule though, is the larger the number (the more negative it is) the better the signal.

The most useful thing you can find, in my personal opinion, by watching RSSI values when the numbers are not low (under 30-40) is the stability of the connection. If one hits -100 at one point, the -70 at the next, I would be worried. Sure, those values are high but that is the type of signal fluctuation that leads to dropped calls.

Also, I would question the legitimacy of the numbers from the RAZRs. 0 ASU should not happen. The calculation is simply ( |dbm| + constant) / 2, where the constant changes based on the network. 0 is simply not possible.

Thanks for saving me the trouble Good explanation.

[bikercr]

The explanation here is exactly the inverse of what is true. The less negative the dB, the stronger the signal being pulled in. Wikipedia has a good section on this. Read it.
So the RAZR beat the Nexus hands down in your testing.

[michigancur]

-105 is about as low as you can go and make a reliable phone call. -50 is about as good as you will ever see in the real world. unfortunatly there really is much more to it than that the android operating system just doesn't show.

[phire]

Yes, just vouching for the fact that the "less negative" number is the stronger signal.

-55dBm is superior to -77dBm.

Once you get into the -100's, you're going to really notice poor signal quality.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[Saik0Shinigami]

Wow some people have some big misconceptions... -77 is a better signal than -55. -99 is theoretically the absolute highest signal level.

-Saik0Shinigami

[phire]

Wow some people have some big misconceptions... -77 is a better signal than -55. -99 is theoretically the absolute highest signal level.

-Saik0Shinigami

Sorry, sir, but you're dead wrong. Please research before giving out misinformation. -55 is a superior signal to -77. You need to go read and understand radio frequencies and how their strength is measured. Not only have I done a ton of homework, I also have worked with boosting signals with amplifiers and measuring the signal gains.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[DroidRazrAZ]

Sorry, sir, but you're dead wrong. Please research before giving out misinformation. -55 is a superior signal to -77. You need to go read and understand radio frequencies and how their strength is measured. Not only have I done a ton of homework, I also have worked with boosting signals with amplifiers and measuring the signal gains.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Ok.. what would happen if I sodder a pair of bunny ears to an extended battary back for the thunderbolt.. Used it as a craddle at home.. Would I get a lower Db ?

Thunderbolt has an all titanium back and the lte atenna is attached to it.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[martybm5]

Sorry, sir, but you're dead wrong. Please research before giving out misinformation. -55 is a superior signal to -77. You need to go read and understand radio frequencies and how their strength is measured. Not only have I done a ton of homework, I also have worked with boosting signals with amplifiers and measuring the signal gains.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

I concur with Phire - -105db is about as low a signal as you can have and still make a phone call. In cell phone display terms, -105 db equals about 1 bar and -55 db equals 5 bars.

[michigancur]

Wow some people have some big misconceptions... -77 is a better signal than -55. -99 is theoretically the absolute highest signal level.

-Saik0Shinigami

Reading signal levels is my job dbm is measured in - numbers you want to be closer to 0. Bars really don't mean anything, I have seen phones that will show full bars at -100, I throughly believe that this helps lead to the misconceptions that -100 is better. But as I previously stated dbm is only part of the story, ec/io is a much better reading of signal, it shows signal over noise. You can have a perfect dbm but if the noise floor is washing it out, the dbm measurement is useless. This is why I feel that the android operating system does not show a good indication of what your signal really looks like

Tapatalking with my rooted DROID RAZR

[POQbum]

WOW. So many wrong people here!
Especially that one person who wrote a big post, but got the main point wrong?

Please do not give out advise when you don't know what you're talking about..

-55 is very strong and is much better than -77, which would still be considered "good".
Anything from -90 to -100+ would be classified as a weak signal.

Many different phones will show different bar readings, but in fact have different dBm readings and therefor different reception levels. So you could have 2 phones with the same dBm reading which measures real reception, but one could should show 1 bar while the other shows 3.

This is just a problem between phone manufactures not having a universal measurement for the "bar reception" indicator.

[mopar57]

Ok.. what would happen if I sodder a pair of bunny ears to an extended battary back for the thunderbolt.. Used it as a craddle at home.. Would I get a lower Db ?

Thunderbolt has an all titanium back and the lte atenna is attached to it.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

First I wouldn't recommend soldering to a battery
But in theory if you attached the bunny ears to the antenna, you might get better singal.
I personal would look up a half-dipoled antenna and use that then bunny ears. If you were going to try something.

[POQbum]

First I wouldn't recommend soldering to a battery
But in theory if you attached the bunny ears to the antenna, you might get better singal.
I personal would look up a half-dipoled antenna and use that then bunny ears. If you were going to try something.

There are cell phone repeaters you can buy, but many are crap and I'm also not sure how it will work for 4G.

[mopar57]

Thats why I said half-dipole. It will work for 4g, and is a true antenna. Done a LOT of research with them in college.
Not some snake oil people are trying to sell.

But would required some work..

[DroidRazrAZ]

Thats why I said half-dipole. It will work for 4g, and is a true antenna. Done a LOT of research with them in college.
Not some snake oil people are trying to sell.

But would required some work..

The Thunderbolt has a unique attenna for lte. Its on the back, so when you pull it off you loose lte.. I'm currious cause I have a TB, Grandfathered data, and the TB is the only device you can set to lte only. I have a line I don't use and want to dedicate it to my lte wifi at home.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[SoLongSidekick]

You're wrong!

No you're wrong!

Shut up, your wrong !

You're a stupid head, I hate you!

Fin.

This scene made possible by a grant from the Girsch Corporation and generous donations from viewers like you.

No one cares where this was sent from

[tyrthas]

You're wrong!

No you're wrong!

Shut up, your wrong !

You're a stupid head, I hate you!

Fin.

This scene made possible by a grant from the Girsch Corporation and generous donations from viewers like you.

No one cares where this was sent from

That sounds a lot like my weekend... were you at my family dinner?

Sent from my AOKP AXI0M[R]