yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus One General] ram130:
I herd people have the same issues on the AT&T n1 except that this time, it won't switch to edge unless there is NO SIGNAL at all. If I was on a call and went into a 3G dead zone, wouldn't my call drop because it won't hand off to EDGE?
[Nexus One General] Ok_Kaleidoscope5109:
HOLY CRAP reception blows on my Nexus one. Now I admit 3G reception at work isn't great. I've made calls on my Milestone and I feel it gets hot after a while. Most likely because the phone is trying hard to boost the 3G signal or something. I usually turn off 3G reception as a result. I hear stories of iPhone users not getting reception in various parts of our building. Never been a problem with me and my Nokia N82 and Milestone.

Telus Milestone:

1) -93 dBm 1740/302

2) -87 dBm 978/201

3) -89 dBm 1107/164

Nexus One:

1) -103 dBm 237/189

2) -99 dBm

3) -101 dBm

Both done with the phone flat on my desk. The Nexus one hovers between 0-2 bars. It couldn't even finish the download test on Speedtest.net

Now I understand you guys all talk about Antenna, but I hold the N1 up and I get 2-3 bars. I actually got 1320/233 in a speedtest after that. Signal strength hovers closer to 97 dBm with the phone held up.

But honestly, this is quite pathetic. I'm pretty sure my Milestone gets 3-4 bars. Yes bars are not apples to apples, so let's just talk dBm. ALSO, my Milestone has a Giant Sedio INnocase wrapped around it, so if anything it will be at a disadvantage... yet the N1 CLEARLY loses flat out in RF quality. Ugh.

Also I find it funny how when switching between 2G-3G, the bars turn into an X to show reception cuts out, before switching to 3G or 2G on the N1. My Milestone seems to switch over seamlessly. Shrug.

Curious if these results are bad enough I'll be like one of those iPhone users at work that I can never get ahold of via calling.
[Nexus One General] Pitnefor:
I dont have any issues with my 3g reception. it is just as good as my previous phone.

this thread is retarded.

nexus one is the best phone I have ever used.
[Nexus One General] bobdude5:
ya good for you, i on the other hand have a horrible 3g experience. My phone is constantly switching from edge to 3g every damn minute in my house. One second i have 3 bars of 3g, the next i have no bars, then i have 2 bars of edge, then no bars, then one bar of 3g. Its ridiculous..i never had this problem with my G1 or my Mytouch.

Dont get me wrong, i love my nexus one and it is the best phone i have ever used but it does have its problems, and really annoying ones too:

A crappy clearpad 2000 touch screen that can barely even register two points without constantly switching axes, a screen you cant even see in the sun, and crappy antenna that drops your damn coverage.

other than that its a beast but i am definatly getting the Supersonic with 4.3 inch Android goodness, 8mp Camera, 4g with sprint, and the trusty snap dragon processor.
[Nexus One General] uansari1:
I actually think the innocase is an ADVANTAGE... I'm pretty sure that the signal penetrates the case far more easily than human flesh. No way to back that up though...
[Nexus One General] flarbear:
When I got my N1 I was in Missouri visiting family and had the classic "couldn't lock onto 3G even though my G1 had no trouble at all" issue in spades.

By the time the update 1 patch went out I was back home in the SF Bay Area and I have the same reasonable, though not stellar, 3G reception that my G1 used to have.

This past weekend I went to Dallas and in my hotel room I had 3G just fine. But, in some parts of the city I kept having the situation where I would have 5 full bars of 3G and yet the phone absolutely could not exchange any data at all. It wasn't quite like the "3G/Edge oscillation" issue that I had before as the 3G indicator was quite stable, but I had no data services at all. Power cycling didn't help, doing the "auto select network" didn't help, and it was pretty repeatable by location. I apologize for not having the time to record any dBm readings, but this was nothing like I've ever experienced in the Bay Area and quite frustrating.

(Well, almost as frustrating as when my friend fell and hurt his back when we were down there and every search I made for "hospital" and "emergency room" showed me the closest animal hospitals and no search that I ever did ever turned up the 2 closest hospitals that were within a mile of us. That was kind of scary. Luckily when we got back to their rental car they had rented a GPS which found 7 hospitals in the area...)
[Nexus One General] Ok_Kaleidoscope5109:
Maybe the Innocase vs Human flesh is one thing, but I held both phones the same way. So if anything it's more like Innocase vs direct contact with air when held in the air. I would grip the phone by the sides with my index and thumb (minimizing human contact).

But these dBm and speed tests were done with the phones flat on my desk. I'll retest the Milestone right now with the Innocase off.

Flat on desk

-89 dBm 12 asu, 3/4 bars, H-icon shows up.

-87 dBm after like 1 minute or so, but jumped back to -89

In the air I get about -87 dBm.

Nexus One (flat on desk)

-101 to -103 dBm 6 asu, 2/4 bars... occasionally 1 bar =[

In the air I get about -97, but occasionally jumps up to -93 and back down. In the air I can get 2/4 - 3/4 reception bars.
[Nexus One General] maxawesome:
Radio waves are too large to affect human cells. For that you need micro waves.
[Nexus One General] temperbad:
The problems not the phone its tmobile... I get the drop in 3g with covering the antenna at my house. But in the city more (I like by the border crappy 3g), this problem vanished, 4 bars inside buildings, brick buildings, covering don't even drop a bar... my touch pro 2 will also drop to edge from covering the antenna at home, but in great 3g it vanished.....

N1 is awesome, hopefully tmobile ups coverage soon...
[Nexus One General] Devastatin:
Update the tmobiles n1s firmware. I increased my speed by 1/3 and have a more stable connection. :)
[Nexus One General] Ok_Kaleidoscope5109:
I have an AT&T N1 and a Telus Milestone. Those both operate on 850/1900/2100.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
next time take a video of the problem. For your hospital case,try WHERE or something else..google maps funky sometimes..
[Nexus One General] guyen01:
No problem with the 3g here in the LA area. Every radio update seems to be the same. 4 bars and no 3g drops.
[Nexus One General] denimjunkie82:
Just to get insert my experience into here, my ATT N1 holds onto 3g for dear life. i NEVER lose 3g. Even coming in and out of tunnels, I will it will flash edge for only a few seconds before 3g comes back on. Absolutely no 3g problems here. In fact, I outperform the 3gs's around me consistently when speed testing.
[Nexus One General] PacoBell:
I also have an AT&T N1, but unlike denimjunkie82, et al, my house happens to be located right on the edge of the current 3G cell coverage. Even subtle changes in orientation result in huge gains or losses in reception. I can personally verify that occluding the lower third portion of the device is enough to block its connectivity entirely. Fortunately for me, the quick workaround is to use a ROM that allows for the screen to be rotated 360 degrees, so I can always reposition my hands in the most beneficial place. That and I never use the handset to talk through, opting instead to use my Bluetooth headset exclusively for vocal communication. Just my 2 bits of experience.
[Nexus One General] fosormic:
Thanks for sharing bud. So, my theory that AT&T's lower frequency might help a bit is most certainly useless. Also, AT&T is *supposed* to have better 3G coverage (not faster, not yet at least, just better signal).

So, if you have 3G issues on AT&T, now I have no clue where to go next. None of my previous HTC phones had this issue (Wizard, Kaiser)*, but they were thick bricks so there must have been plenty of space for the antenna and to top it off, the keyboard would give it some breathing space when extended.

Seems to me that we are kind of stuck hardware-wise until the next N phone...

* Only the Kaiser is 3G.
[Nexus One General] donutman:
I also can say that my G1 had better 3G reception than the N1. From Houston to Austin, my g1 had 3G most of the way, if not, EDGE. From Houston to Dallas, I had no 3G coverage outside of Houston, and couldn't even get EDGE, stuck on GPRS until I got to Dallas.

I have to disagree. I believe its the phone because I have no problems with 3G dropping on my G1.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
My theory which adds to mix of things combining into one big mess is that AT&T doesn't support the hand off that T-Mobile does. Hence, it holds on to 3G until 0bars or no service before switching to EDGE. Resulting in a drop call. While with T-Mobile when the 3G signal reaches a certain level it switches to the strong EDGE network and maintains the call.

I wish someone can with AT&T and maybe closer to me can help me this theory.
[Nexus One General] zedmec:
reception fine

Had my At&t Nexus for a week and service and reception are great. Much better than my HTC Fuze. In SF Bay Area, CA.
[Nexus One General] DarkDvr:
Just my .02..

Don't have 3G issues on my AT&T N1 I bought 2 weeks ago. Always have nice n speedy 3G, at work I have terrible reception so it switches to Edge sometimes..

If it has any issues with 3G, they must be so minor on mine that I can't notice any difference between its reception and my old TouchPro2's.
[Nexus One General] DDM123:
I was just given a free Nexus One (relative is a Google employee). I was told it was a AT&T-only phone, but my T-Mobile SIM works just fine in it. I've had it for 2 days and I have never even seen it try to connect to a 3G.

Forcing WCDMA only causes the phone to lose my signal entirely, and "Use only 2G Networks" is off

My G1 gets perfect 3G reception here in NYC, so it isn't the network.
[Nexus One General] 2gooder:
That's because, like your relative said, you have a AT&T phone. AT&T uses a different frequency for 3G, and your phone wont work at anything but EDGE speeds on T-Mobile.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
Is there anyway you can ask your relative if Google plans on fixing any of these problems and if so when a OTA will be available? Can you please ask for us?
[Nexus One General] DDM123:
Damn it, I figured they were the same thing since the T-Mobile SIM worked.

I can exchange it for a slightly used T-Mobile one but I was hoping to avoid doing so.
[Nexus One General] mysterioustko:
I have to disagree with you. I had the T-Mobile version of the N1, and I had major 3g issues. I bought the at&t version and switched to at&t and have had NO 3G PROBLEMS at all. I can be on the phone and keep a 3g signal without it ever dropping (even driving from one side of town to another). I think it's just that T-Mobile sucks.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
From testing. I don't believe AT&T network has the auto hand off to a 2G network when the 3G signal is low. Which is REALLY BAD. If your on a call and go into a 3G dead zone, your phone won't which to 2G/EDGE to compensate. Instead it will drop the call(explains alot really)..while with T-Mobile, it does this automatically hence preventing your call from ever being drop. At the end of the call you will be on EDGE(provided your 3G signal was low in the first place) and it will switch back to 3G.
[Nexus One General] PrawnPoBoy:
I've noticed this on Rogers in Canada as well. It had been years since I had a dropped call, but they are plentiful now. Good thing I don't really talk on the phone very much! ;)
[Nexus One General] ram130:
hehe lol i would switch to a network that supported it if I did.
[Nexus One General] DarkDvr:
Nexus One 3G issues is real on all N1s..

No. I have horrible connection at home (tested on 4 phones, 3 mine, 1 my GF's) and bad connection at work. Yet, my Nexus' 3G still picks up. In areas of good reception (once again, tested on several phones, not just N1) I get blazing fast and stable 3G.

AT&T N1 (end of March).
[Nexus One General] y2whisper:
luckily i am yet to have a call dropped on rogers after 3 weeks. unlike my last phone *cough iphone*
[Nexus One General] heygrl:
Iif you think your experience is valid over others you're sadly mistaken. The Nexus One has poor reception. End of story. It might not be noticeable in a strong AT&T area but it DOES have poor reception, don't be a fool.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
I agree too. People just see 4 bars and say hey my reception is perfect! ..If they did some testing and comparing of devices and understand how 2g and 3G work they would see the problem.

Last week I had a G1 and the N1 in Brooklyn. The G1 had 3G with -68dBm while the N1 was at -89dBm. It was also picking up more neighboring towers than the n1. Strange but true..some factors to keep in mind, it was rooted but it never once switch to 2G unike the N1. I also owned a stock G1 too, in my room I usually get 1 to 2 bars 3G, while N1 forces its self to EDGE. There are also cases of persons saying they would be right next to a sidekick(or any other 3G phone) and they would have full bars 3G while their N1 would be on EDGE.
[Nexus One General] PacoL250:
That's weird...I haven't noticed that to be the case. I've had a dropped call only really when I've had poor signal period. That's been the case with all my phones on AT&T.

Weird thing is how you're in NYC and you're getting crappy 3G service; it should be good there. Currently, I'm getting -81 dBm and that's inside my house.

A lot of factors are at play in regards to poor reception, just not the phone; though I am not ruling that out.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
I know what you are saying but your missing the point. I was saying that when you have poor signal(3G) while on a call your phone or the n1 in this case suppose to switch to 2G(EDGE) without dropping the call. Remember EDGE signal is stronger since its been around alot longer than 3G, so it would more than compensate when the 3G signal is lost and would maintain the call. I believe AT&T network does not do this hand off, hence more drop calls. Where as with T-Mobile, their network support it so less drop calls. By the end of the call you will be on EDGE and it will then switch back to 3G since it can't do this during a call even if you go into a strong 3G area( call must end first).

I also get around -81dBm to -111dBm in my house for 3G. With 2G I get -75dBm. When I go outside, I get -51dBm on both.
[Nexus One General] rafaelb_89:
So with all these "issues" a previous poster (close to the beginning of the thread) says that updating the radio on his N1 improved his signal reception significantly. How does one update the radio?

**EDIT**

Yes, I've Googled for it and such but no luck, and even Cyanogen suggests to update it ("if necessary"), via instructions given for flashing the latest ROM to it. So, just curious on how to do it.
[Nexus One General] PacoL250:
No, I got your point completely.

What I am saying is that's never been an issue for me. Case in point: for a while I used a Samsung Solstice, and it would indicate whenever the phone was on 3G or EDGE (with a 3G or E icon, respectively). There are most certainly pockets of 3G dead zones in CT, and I frequent several of said areas and I have yet to have a dropped call in those areas and I know the phone has switched over to EDGE because I have noticed the change while talking and being on Facebook.

I haven't had EDGE be activated while I was indoors, so I can't tell you what the signal strength of it was. Outside, the few times I have looked, I have gotten around -65 dBm and -59 dBm.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
If thats true then AT&T network does support the hand off. I wish I had more AT&T users to help me test it more though. So hold on a bit, are you able to browse facebook while on a call and on EDGE?
[Nexus One General] PacoL250:
Now this is what the phone indicated to me. If I remember correctly, I didn't think one could the last time I read anything about simultaneous data and voice on EDGE.

Hey that's what the phone indicated. I didn't think EDGE data and voice at the same time was possible, so it could have been a quirk with the phone or something.
[Nexus One General] nazrin313:
Hi all, Im new to xda developers and I have the nexus one....

One thing to point out is that Im using the Nexus one in Brunei Darussalam (east Asia) and Ive never had problems with the 3G..it seems to connect 100% of the time. But mind you, my phone is rooted with the latest cyanogenmod rom thou.

Before the nexus one Ive used the iphone 3GS and the iphone gave me more problems wrt to 3G connectivity as compared to the Nexus one...

Maybe it is the Network over in the US....maybe? just my 2 cents
[Nexus One General] ram130:
Its gotta be because thats impossible. If happens again, record a video..;)
[Nexus One General] PacoL250:
Trust me, it confused me as well, but I just assumed perhaps AT&T had finally performed some magic on their network. They had been talking about network improvements, heh.
[Nexus One General] RogerPodacter:
the ATT 3g network is only setup to handoff one way during a call, from 3g to gsm (or edge as you are saying). calls CANNOT be handed off from gsm/edge to 3g during a call. this is 100% confirmed. ATT has not yet implemented the network to handle the reverse, gsm to 3g.

Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
[Nexus One General] PacoL250:
I didn't think it happened yet, but remembering what had happened on the Samsung Solstice had me wondering again. :o

Silly me to think AT&T had done anything. :o
[Nexus One General] fourinthoughts:
Count me in :cool:

I had a non-rooted N1 with T-Mobile from late February until I bought the ATT compatible version two weeks ago. I definitely experienced a lot of issues with my N1 on T-Mobile preferring EDGE over 3G. It would frustrate me to no end when I'd look at my screen, clearly see 3G in the upper right hand corner with full bars, receive a phone call, find my bluetooth, answer the call, attempt to access the internet while on call, get a "No Connection" message and stare at the screen and see that there is no 3G symbol in the upper right hand corner anymore. :confused:

Ironically, I didn't have this problem if I placed the call while the phone indicated a 3G connection. I can only recall this issue occurring while receiving a call on a 3G(UMTS) connection.

I stay outside and around Cleveland, OH. Fortunately, 3G coverage is largely adequate in my area with T-Mobile. After searching the internet I learned how to force my phone into 'WCDMA Only' anytime I was not driving throughout the day. Unfortunately, I spend too much time driving during the day and the issue above with having 3G indicated with more than 2 bars, answering a call then not being able to access the internet would play out very often. :mad: Of course, forcing the phone into 3G only leads to dropped calls anytime 3G signal is lost :(

Since I've switched to ATT I have not had the issue of EDGE being preferred over 3G occur at all. However, I have had 5 dropped calls during this time and four of those times occurred when doing simultaneous voice and data. Unlike the T-Mobile version the N1 for ATT will cling to 3G with no bars (only time I check signal it will read ~-104dB ). It's almost as if the phone behaves like it is in "3G Only" mode. I haven't had the issue with downgrading from 3G to EDGE after accepting a call with ATT. That problem seemed exclusive to the T-Mobile version phone or network, but it seems like it is a firmware issue.

Possibly relevant info: Whenever on 3G at home I am always connected to HSDPA through ATT, I believe I only had UMTS with T-Mobile in my area. IDK but I've never seen HSDPA anytime I checked. All my experiences are with non-rooted phones. I still have both phones with me. If there is anything you'd want to test or measure I will be able to do so until next week.
[Nexus One General] rafaelb_89:
AT&T User here with a Rooted N1 using Cyanogen. My phone also tends to cling on to HSDPA. Of course, the worst signal I've got was -101dbm, which knocks me down to two bars, but I haven't experienced any detrimental effects regarding to signal use when some bars are missing. Concerning EDGE switching, I've only seen my signal switch to EDGE once, maybe twice.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
Great! Do you guys have an area that you know have bad signal(-104dBm to -111dBm) or lil to no 3G?
[Nexus One General] ram130:
Well a Google employee FINALLY replied to the 3G issue thread and this is what they said:

link
[Nexus One General] Mokurex:
wow, so they really admit it's a problem.
[Nexus One General] ram130:
Yea with the stupidest solution I have ever herd. Its a real disappointment just look at the comments that follow.
[Nexus One General] heygrl:
I'm happy to see that their customers are blaming HTC/Google and not T-Mobile for the reception issues when the 3G is there for the taking, (notwithstanding poor 3G coverage being the issue which can be the case for some but not most) it's 100% an HTC problem. They designed the G1 and even it gets better reception than the N1. They should just go with Motorola from now on, but I don't believe Moto will allow them to make it their own like HTC does with carrier branded handsets and ecetera.
[Nexus One General] attn1:
You clearly didn't read the statement correctly.

There is no admission of a problem in that statement. Only an acknowledgment that some people are expecting them to do something, which they are not planning to do. His advice is the only sound advice to be given for those in weak signal areas.

I wish this thread was dead.
[Nexus One General] heygrl:
It was more like an omission...
[Nexus One General] uansari1:
You guys are frothing at the mouth for no reason... if you want to blame someone, blame your carrier.

As I've said ad nauseum on this forum... wherever the carrier hasn't saturated the market with 3G, you'll have this switching issue. In Chicago, I stay at 3-4 bars regardless of how I hold my phone on T-mobile or where I am... I could be in the middle of my sister's home and still no issue. In Toledo, I can sit on my couch in the living room and hold the phone so the bottom is covered and I switch to Edge.

It's T-mobile's f-ing fault for not investing properly in their network. End of story. I too wish this thread dies.
[Nexus One General] rafaelb_89:
I'm in Alabama and yesterday the absolute lowest I've got was -103dbm in my apartment. Outside, or at work, for instance, I have three to four bars constantly when physically using the phone. I know there may be some dead zones here, but I'm still roaming around trying to find them. But so far, I have yet to experience my signal hindering my usage of the N1.
[Nexus One General] RogerPodacter:
i dont understand the complaint when i can hold my n97 by the bottom, same antenna location, and completely lose the signal just like the nexus. so is nokia at fault just as much as HTC? i thought it was common knowledge that cell phones behaved like this, and that many manuf were moving to bottom located antennas...

all that counts is the dBm reading, which the nexus and n97 seem to match up for me. i dont care about the bars as much as the dBm readings...
[Nexus One General] PacoL250:
Well, I was looking at that thread on Google's Help and the post by Ry Guy is essentially a "no comment." They're not working on anything right now, but that's not to say they won't have anything in the future.

It seems that HTC ended up with more than several dud phones in regards to 3G functions than they would on average.

However I mentioned this on the Android Help thread: is this something that seems to be isolated with T-Mobile subscribers and the hardware compatible on their service? I know many don't have issues, but plenty clearly do. Yet I haven't heard anybody with AT&T really complain unless their area has a very light AT&T footprint.

Thoughts?