I've had the Droid3 (D3) for several years. Got the HTC One M8 about 3 weeks ago.. Love the phone overall but the signal strength can't compare to my old D3. I gave the D3 to my wife so I can still run compares side by side. From my home the D3 never dropped a call or showed 'no network'. The HTC One M8 does it from several rooms in the house. I called VZ support and they had me change the phone from Global to LTE/CDMA. That 'seemed' to improve things but not by much.
My home has never been a great signal strength location but the D3 could handle it. The HTC One M8 is a better phone in all areas other than signal strength for calls versus my old D3. Unfortunately the ability to make and get calls is the most important feature for me. I'm on Android 4.4.2 and the phone did an auto update not too long ago and when I check for updates it says I'm up to date. The update didn't help nor hurt the signal issue.
For 3G my numbers range from -101 dBm to -125 dBm but tend toward the -118 dBm
For 4G my numbers range from -113 dBm to -120 dBm but tend toward the -115 dBm
For what it's worth my D3 is steady at around -99 dBm and is only 3G capable.
I shut down the phone, removed and reinserted the sim card and turned the phone back on again and there was no change. Never had a sim issue anyway.
Putting the phone in safe mode caused it to remain in 3G for a longer time BUT it held steady between -99 dBm and -100 dBm which is way better than the -101 dBm to -125 dBm I get when not in safe mode. When it did finally go into 4G it jumped up to -110 dBm to -113 dBm.
I noticed that the second I 'gently' picked it up it would jump to -118 dBm in either 3G or 4G. So as soon as it restarted and wasn't in safe mode I picked it up to see what would happen and it jumped to -118 too.
I'm beginning to think that the issue is that the HTC One M8 is simply a little weaker in signal reception than the D3. Couple the weak signal in the area with the slightly weaker reception on the HTC One, especially when picked up and we may have a recipe for more dropped calls or no reception.
Anyone got a suggestion/tweak? Anyone experiencing the same issue?
There is an option – setting->calls->Internet calling->For all calls when data network is available – I’ve turned this option on with Mobile data turned off and the calls work fine but I can't tell if this is truly working just through my WIFI since the term 'when data network is available is used' may mean use my Verizon signal instead of WIFI. If these settings are causing the calls to come through my home network WIFI this could be a solution. Does anyone know anything about this option?
Thanks!
My home has never been a great signal strength location but the D3 could handle it. The HTC One M8 is a better phone in all areas other than signal strength for calls versus my old D3. Unfortunately the ability to make and get calls is the most important feature for me. I'm on Android 4.4.2 and the phone did an auto update not too long ago and when I check for updates it says I'm up to date. The update didn't help nor hurt the signal issue.
For 3G my numbers range from -101 dBm to -125 dBm but tend toward the -118 dBm
For 4G my numbers range from -113 dBm to -120 dBm but tend toward the -115 dBm
For what it's worth my D3 is steady at around -99 dBm and is only 3G capable.
I shut down the phone, removed and reinserted the sim card and turned the phone back on again and there was no change. Never had a sim issue anyway.
Putting the phone in safe mode caused it to remain in 3G for a longer time BUT it held steady between -99 dBm and -100 dBm which is way better than the -101 dBm to -125 dBm I get when not in safe mode. When it did finally go into 4G it jumped up to -110 dBm to -113 dBm.
I noticed that the second I 'gently' picked it up it would jump to -118 dBm in either 3G or 4G. So as soon as it restarted and wasn't in safe mode I picked it up to see what would happen and it jumped to -118 too.
I'm beginning to think that the issue is that the HTC One M8 is simply a little weaker in signal reception than the D3. Couple the weak signal in the area with the slightly weaker reception on the HTC One, especially when picked up and we may have a recipe for more dropped calls or no reception.
Anyone got a suggestion/tweak? Anyone experiencing the same issue?
There is an option – setting->calls->Internet calling->For all calls when data network is available – I’ve turned this option on with Mobile data turned off and the calls work fine but I can't tell if this is truly working just through my WIFI since the term 'when data network is available is used' may mean use my Verizon signal instead of WIFI. If these settings are causing the calls to come through my home network WIFI this could be a solution. Does anyone know anything about this option?
Thanks!
Last edited: