Do these wi-fi signal strength figures look typical for a San Francisco?

[Guest g-rasshopper]

Even since I bought my SF I've had problems with the wi-fi signal. Yesterday I flashed a new ROM and I believe that may have fixed the disconnection problem, although it's still early days. However, I'm still concerned about the generally poor signal strength I'm getting. My SF's ability to detect my router's signal compares very unfavourably with the desktop PCs and laptops that I have in my house. But it's not so bad that I can definitely say that the phone is faulty. It could simply be that all SFs are relatively bad at picking up a wi-fi signal.

I've done a few tests using the free wi-fi analyser app and I've come up with the following figures for the signal strength:

A few inches from router: -20 dBm

2 metres away from router (line of sight): -40 dBm

Next room from router: -60 dBm

Two rooms away: -70 dBm

Far end of house (two rooms + hallway): -80 dBm

These figures are averages and are very approximate. I've noticed that the signal fluctuates wildly (typically +- 10 dBm or more). I've never run this type of test before so perhaps this is normal behaviour for a wireless signal. But it's worrying nevertheless. The signal often cuts out completely at the far end of the house.

I've also noticed numerous wireless black spots in the house when using the SF. I've never experienced black spots with any of my other wireless devices.

Can some of you guys tell me how your own SF's signal strength compares with my figures? Can you also tell me whether your signal fluctuates like mine?

I realise there are a lot of unknowns here such as thickness of walls, atmospheric condition, brand of router etc. But I'm just trying to gauge whether my phone might be faulty.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Guest statick]

These are similar stats to what I get on my San Fran mine are about 10db better I guess, I have one of the OLED ones running the latest modaco froyo ROM. The missus has a new TFT san fran and I have noticed that her WIFI signal is notable worse than mine.

[Guest ricer]

It compares very closely to my iPod Touch, the iPod is quie interesting in that Apple specifically weaken the wifi strength to provide a more consistent service. Using a 3rd party wifi scanner like WifiFoFum its possible to pick up signals from much further away.

Although the distinction has never been this bad,(the iPod firmware is a piece of junk) you can see the amount of limiting Apple impose to apply a reliable service. From what you are saying, the signals don't really seem that bad at all, make sure your router is as high up as possible and that its not obstructed by any large metal objects or thick walls.

There may be a third party scanner on the marketplace but I haven't checked, that could provide a more reliable signal if your having problems keeping a connection.

[Guest g-rasshopper]

These are similar stats to what I get on my San Fran mine are about 10db better I guess, I have one of the OLED ones running the latest modaco froyo ROM. The missus has a new TFT san fran and I have noticed that her WIFI signal is notable worse than mine.

That's an interesting observation. My SF is also one of the newer TFT models. Is your wife's phone also running the latest modaco froyo ROM?

As far as I'm aware, all SFs use the same wi-fi chip. So any difference in wi-fi performance is presumably down to the ROM version, or an actual hardware fault. In another thread, some people reported that the connection to the internal antenna is sometimes loose resulting in a degradation of performance. Unfortunately, there's no means of checking the connection without dismantling the phone.

[Guest richardop]

I have similar dBm readings, -20 right up close, -40/-50 in same room as router, but can drop to -60 if it's flat on my desk (approx 3-4m from router, but I think my monitor creates interference). It will hold a connection from one side of the house to the other (almost).

I've also noticed a slight decrease in signal strength since using a hydrogel cover, also if I face the phone at the router, the signal improves by a few dBm.

Edited March 7, 2011 by richardop

[Guest statick]

That's an interesting observation. My SF is also one of the newer TFT models. Is your wife's phone also running the latest modaco froyo ROM?

As far as I'm aware, all SFs use the same wi-fi chip. So any difference in wi-fi performance is presumably down to the ROM version, or an actual hardware fault. In another thread, some people reported that the connection to the internal antenna is sometimes loose resulting in a degradation of performance. Unfortunately, there's no means of checking the connection without dismantling the phone.

Yeah we are both running the same ROM, there does seem to be some variations in the WIFI performance of different SFs. I have to admit I thought my WIFI performance was quite bad until I tried hers. I'll test them together with Wi-fi analyser to compare the differences.