Guest ZTE Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) Hi folk's, I noticed something odd on my SF last night. A friend has an iPhone on O2 and my SF is on giffgaff. I was standing next to him and he had a full signal and my SF had a very weak signal. I know giffgaff uses the O2 network. Why were the signal levels so different? :lol: Any thoughts? Cheers... :) Edited January 22, 2011 by ZTE
Guest suns Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 Got this issue too, but slightly different. Got a giffgaff sim with a new number and the signal was great. However, transferred my old mobile number onto the very same sim and ever since the signal seems to be really erratic. Despite this, the phone has never failed during a call or looked like it's being choked with data - just mildly disconcerting to see the level go all the way down to 1 bar... only to shoot up to 4 again!. So, did the same - has a mate's phone on o2 next to me and signal was 100%. Tried contacting giffgaff, who were very helpful to a point advising on doing the usual (note how it reacts in a different area, turn off 3G etc. etc. Problem is that the signal is erratic rather than poor, so difficult to diagnose properly) but to be honest gave up at this point as it doesn't seem to affect the performance. I also checked the signal coverage via o2's map and this was excellent too.
Guest exec Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 At home I have mostly zero bars but I can call and use the web perfectly fine so I don't care.
Guest ZTE Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 was the iphone on contract? Yes, I think it is. Why should that make a difference?
Guest Lew247 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 Speaking as an ex network field engineer who's job it was to sort out faulty sites, upgrade/downgrade and test the cell sites to make sure they were working properly I can tell you the problem. There is none. The signals are identical Giffgaff uses O2's network, the exact same signal nothing changes on it apart from a data bit to make your phone know it's giffgaff and not O2 and vice versa THe difference is in the phone software and the way the signals are calibrated in the phone itself. One phone may have 5 bars the one next to it may have 1 this is nothing to do with the signal level the mobile site is sending out, it's how the phone's software has been programmed to display the different signals. IF you want to test this out, simply get 2 phones that take the same size sim card, put them next to each other one using O2, the other giffgaff look at the signal levels, do not move from that one spot and then swap sim's you'll now see the exact same number of bars on the phone as it had before you swapped the sim's.
Guest rbbrslmn Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 Hi folk's, I noticed something odd on my SF last night. A friend has an iPhone on O2 and my SF is on giffgaff. I was standing next to him and he had a full signal and my SF had a very weak signal. I know giffgaff uses the O2 network. Why were the signal levels so different? :lol: Any thoughts? Cheers... :) changing to JJ release 8 in my bedroom the phone used to report a weak signal (1 or 2 bars) now its 4 bars. I doubt the actual signal strength has changed, just the way its being reported.... whats a bar worth? its an arbitrary value surely?
Guest hecatae Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 Yes, I think it is. Why should that make a difference? which model 4, 3GS, 3G?
Guest ZTE Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 which model 4, 3GS, 3G? Think it's an old 3G. Is this going somewhere? Speaking as an ex network field engineer who's job it was to sort out faulty sites, upgrade/downgrade and test the cell sites to make sure they were working properly I can tell you the problem. There is none. The signals are identical Giffgaff uses O2's network, the exact same signal nothing changes on it apart from a data bit to make your phone know it's giffgaff and not O2 and vice versa THe difference is in the phone software and the way the signals are calibrated in the phone itself. One phone may have 5 bars the one next to it may have 1 this is nothing to do with the signal level the mobile site is sending out, it's how the phone's software has been programmed to display the different signals. OK, this is what I thought, the signals should be identical. It just seemed strange that he had a full signal and mine was weak. Does the iPhone (old 3G) have a better antenna than the SF? Cheers... :lol:
Guest Pully Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 The phones software can be set to show a full signal if it has a weak signal, it doesnt necessarily mean the phone is getting a better signal than one that shows a truer reflection of the actual signal strength.
Guest ZTE Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 In Settings/About phone/Status it shows the actual signal strength in dBm. Next time I see my mate with the iPhone I will compare it with his. That's if you can see the signal strength on an iPhone. Anybody know? Cheers... :lol:
Guest DrEzkimo Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 yep I went from an LG with 5 bars on o2 to 2-3 on the SF and of course the phone never drops or anything else. so its just how those phones chose to display the signal. I rarely get full bars on the SF even in areas I know have a very good signal but unless its affecting calls or data i dont care :lol:
Guest redbaron51 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) Think it's an old 3G. Is this going somewhere? He is probably going to ask you whether it is Black or White or the 16Gb or 32Gb model? :lol: On a serious note...When at home my Virgin SIM had 4 bars and now I have swapped for a GG SIM and while it is sleeping it has 3-4bars when I switch/unlock phone it drops to 1 or nill :) Having said that I am still able to use 3G or make/receive calls Edited January 22, 2011 by redbaron51
Guest hecatae Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 He is probably going to ask you whether it is Black or White or the 16Gb or 32Gb model? :lol: On a serious note...When at home my Virgin SIM had 4 bars and now I have swapped for a GG SIM and while it is sleeping it has 3-4bars when I switch/unlock phone it drops to 1 or nill :) Having said that I am still able to use 3G or make/receive calls the old iphone 3g showed a spurious signal in relation to actual signal, wife owns one and it'll happily show full signal and drop the call, or not allow a call
Guest ZTE Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 the old iphone 3g showed a spurious signal in relation to actual signal, wife owns one and it'll happily show full signal and drop the call, or not allow a call Ah, that's interesting, thanks. :lol:
Guest heroin11 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 I know that mine usually says 1 or 2 bars in some places on giffgaff in my house and shows H for 3g and then some places it goes up to full bars and changes to G or E for edge etc so maybes if u have half bars and 3g it's about the same signal strength as having a full GSM signal
Guest mark2410 Posted January 25, 2011 Report Posted January 25, 2011 the difference is the iphone lies, and the blade doesnt have the best reception in the world
Guest phlum Posted January 25, 2011 Report Posted January 25, 2011 I know that mine usually says 1 or 2 bars in some places on giffgaff in my house and shows H for 3g and then some places it goes up to full bars and changes to G or E for edge etc so maybes if u have half bars and 3g it's about the same signal strength as having a full GSM signal 'H' doesn't mean 3G, it means HSDPA. '3G' means 3G. Just lettin' ya know.
Guest Rotmann Posted January 26, 2011 Report Posted January 26, 2011 'H' doesn't mean 3G, it means HSDPA. '3G' means 3G. Just lettin' ya know. False. Some ROMs show 3G or 3G+ when you have HSDPA signal. The iphone or palm pre show 3G also when you have HSDPA.
Guest heroin11 Posted January 26, 2011 Report Posted January 26, 2011 I know H is for HSDPA or 3g+ but to keep it simple for everyone, it's still 3g.
Guest Phoenix Silver Posted January 26, 2011 Report Posted January 26, 2011 it depend of the installed theme too mine say H for 3g+ in my home on orange network i have between 2 and 4 bars
Guest gremlinman Posted January 26, 2011 Report Posted January 26, 2011 Hi folk's, I noticed something odd on my SF last night. A friend has an iPhone on O2 and my SF is on giffgaff. I was standing next to him and he had a full signal and my SF had a very weak signal. I know giffgaff uses the O2 network. Why were the signal levels so different? :lol: Any thoughts? Cheers... :) GiffGaff only uses part of O2's network so signal not as good
Guest Ricey155 Posted January 26, 2011 Report Posted January 26, 2011 im running both my iphone Orange and San fran Orange both on 2g - 3g signal is the most utter useless thing invented when i use the giffgaff sims the san fran had a far better signal, iphone 3gs aren't as great as people think on another note: i got £20 credit on GG today happy days
Guest Posted January 26, 2011 Report Posted January 26, 2011 At home I have mostly zero bars but I can call and use the web perfectly fine so I don't care. Yea, I get this too. Very weird.
Guest Lew247 Posted January 26, 2011 Report Posted January 26, 2011 GiffGaff only uses part of O2's network so signal not as good Speaking as a mobile phone engineer who built and maintained these cell sites What utter rubbish giffgaff's network IS O2's network, O2 does not send a signal out to say "don't use part of my network" it's identical. it uses the exact same equipment, the same timing channel in the base stations, the same timeslots, there is NO difference other than your sim identifying itself to O2 that it's a giffgaff sim and then the call charge routing gets routed to giffgaff.
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