Droid X WiFi Signal Strength (db) Reception Problems / Issues?

[gschlact]

Droid X WiFi Signal Strength (db) Reception Problems / Issues?
Is anyone else having reception issues with their Droid X (DX)? I am not referring to protocol / security issues or even 802.11n issue.

I am using my home 802.11g network.
The reception in the home is pretty decent and about 70 feet away my laptop reception is about -64db (Net Stumbler). BUt sitting on the same desk 3ft closer, my Droid X is -96dbm (Wifi manager) and has noticeably worse reception for any wifi area I visit. This is 32db worse on the DX (If my math recollection is accurate 3db=2x power so something like 1000x worse). I am using the Wifi Manager (downloaded free app) that reports the signal strength of the DX.

Is anyone else noticing much weaker signals on the DX compared to other wifi devices?

Any help would be appreciated. I am on Android v2.1 (phone is about 3 weeks old).

Any comparisons from your own Laptop vs DX would be great.

thanks.

-Guy
gschlact

 

[avt123]

My DX just loses some cell signal while I have WiFi on. I turn WiFi off, full signal. It's weird but it's not a problem. My WiFi signal is always strong though.

 

[gschlact]

any other examples?

any other examples?

If in addition to the subjective answers, If you can share the db measurments it would be great.

-Guy

 

[btosch]

My DX just loses some cell signal while I have WiFi on. I turn WiFi off, full signal. It's weird but it's not a problem. My WiFi signal is always strong though.

I believe this is due to it disconnecting from 3g and now it only shows the cell signal. There is only one signal strength indicator but two different signals and it shows which ever one is stronger. So if your 3g signal is stronger and you disconnect that to use WIFI then you will appear to lose signal since now it shows only your cell signal. You should notice the same thing happen when you place a call since it disconnects the 3g then, too.

This is according to a friend of mine... Makes sense to me, but I'm not 100% sure its accurate. I have noticed this on just about every verizon phone I've used though.

 

[amojeba]

I believe this is due to it disconnecting from 3g and now it only shows the cell signal. There is only one signal strength indicator but two different signals and it shows which ever one is stronger. So if your 3g signal is stronger and you disconnect that to use WIFI then you will appear to lose signal since now it shows only your cell signal. You should notice the same thing happen when you place a call since it disconnects the 3g then, too.

Interesting, that makes sense. Thanks for the tip

 

[jessenj]

Did you ever get any help with this issue? I have the same exact issue and it has nothing to do with the 3G being enabled. If I turn on wifi in my house, and my cousin also with a Droid X sitting right next to me still on 2.1 turns on his wifi, mine will only show my router and the weakest signal, however, his phone shows the dozen or so neighbors and my router shows full strength.

 

[cjriddle22]

Just thought I'd add my two cents. I do notice that the WiFi signal on my DX is way worse than on any laptop in the house. I have to be in the same room as the router to get a full signal, as soon as I leave the room it drops a WiFi bar. Sometimes when I'm in the kitchen (farthest room from WiFi), it loses the signal all together and reverts to 3G. The wife's DX does the exact same thing. I will install the WiFi manager tonight and let you know the exact signal strength.

Router is set to a mixed 802.11n/g.

 

[tomnationwide]

I have the same issue. 2 rooms over from where my WiFi connection originates I get a clear and high WiFi signal on my HTC Topaz but on Droid X I barely geta signal. I can't even fathom how bad that really is. The range is horrid.

 

[DroidX316]

Same here.If im in front of my router i have full strength of couse but as soon as i go outside on my porch or downstairs i get dropped to 1-2 bars on wifi.I wish it was better.

 

[budmonster]

Ill stand right next to my VZW FIOS router and get to bars on my WIFI. Sucks.

 

[cjriddle22]

Okay, here are the results of my WiFi Test. I am using WiFi Manager on the DX and inSSIDer 2.0 on the PC (NetStumbler is not compatible with Win7).

Router settings:

802.11 Mode : Mixed 802.11n and 802.11g
802.11 Band : 2.4GHz
Channel Width : 20 MHz
Channel: 8
Security Mode : WPA-Personal

Sitting at the computer where the wireless router is connected (2 ft):
DX signal strength: -54dB
Asus Eee PC signal strength: -15dB

Living room (10 ft , 1 wall in between):
DX signal strength: -63dB
Asus Eee PC signal strength: -49dB

In the Kitchen (60-70 ft, farthest spot in the house from the router, 2 walls):
DX signal strength: -87dB
Asus Eee PC signal strength: -61dB

Back Bathroom (45 ft, other side of house, 3 walls):
DX signal strength: -85dB
Asus Eee PC signal strength: -68dB

It should be noted that when I put the DX basically touching the router, the best signal I could get was -54dB.

To the OP, I thought this was an interesting subject that I had been wondering about for some time. I stumbled on this thread today, and I hope you are still subscribed to this thread so you can see my test results. This is my input to the Droid X WiFi signal strength. I hope others will respond with their results too.