Motorola Atrix 4G :: "E" And Strength Bars Grayed Out?
Oct 27, 2011
I am running an Atrix on ATT. I live in the boonies, so only get the E (Edge?) network. Usually, the "E" and strength bars are blue. And all is well. But occasionally they turn gray, and I have limited or no connectivity. Lots of time out errors, yet I still seem to get some tranfer. Interestingly, when this happens, I usually have four or five bars of service. It doesn't seem to be geographical. That is, sometimes I can be in one place and they just go gray. May last five minutes or so.
I was wondering if anyone knows what algorithm is used for the signal bars on the Photon 4G. I have found that there seems to be no correlation between the signal strength (in dBm / asu) in Settings -> About phone -> Status and the signal bars that are shown. Often the signal bars will shoot from 1 to 5 or 6 even with really low signal ( ~97 to > 100 dBm) that doesn't fluctuate.
Does anyone have any recommendations to improve the reception (and thus prevent excessively frequent dropped calls) while using my Atrix 4G in a fringe reception area outside of San Diego?Some background info:I had an AT&T Nokia 6030 for almost five (5) years before upgrading my service to the Atrix.I live and work from the same location, which has not changed during those five years.I did not encounter the problems of dropping calls on the Nokia 6030. I routinely call the very same people at aproxmately the very same times and days of the week with the very same phone numbers from the very same locations in my home and shop... sitting in my office desk chair, standing at my shop workbench, seated at my kitchen table, lying on my bed... and as far as I can telI, nothing on my end or on the other person's end has changed... phone numbers, land or mobile, calling patterns... but ever since I upgraded to the Atrix, I've had this problem consistently from the very first day.
I contacted AT&T many times, and they sent a warranty replacement phone; same resulting performance.The signal strength meter on the phone typically reads 2-3 bars in this area, which AT&T says should be sufficient.)It is so touchy and position/orientation sensitive that I can often drop the call from simply turning my head, or if lying in bed at night, switching the phAT&T went through the entire customer service/tech support gamut with me:Power down recycle, remove & reinstall the battery, replace the original SIM card that came with the Nokia (which still works flawlessly under identical circumstances if I put the SIM card back into it!), run network diagnostics on the tower equipment... they even sent out a crew of field engineers to the property to assess the signal characteristics.
After months of evaluation by the engineering department, they finally determined that the San Diego area is very high in signal strength, and the problem is due to the immediate area where I am located... hills, valleys, canyons, etc. There was nothing more that they could do. That was simply the level of performance I had to accept from this phone in this location. (Sorry.)I still don't know why the primitive technology in that old Nokia doesn't miss a beat. I find it hard to accept that the flagship product with advanced technology can't perform anywhere near as well as this dated Nokia.But I like the Atrix so much in every other way, I would even pay for a stationary antenna and/or signal conditioning/amplification equipment at my location to be able to use it here.
I have not found any such equipment offered for sale by either Motorola or AT&T listed on their websites. I know that there are aftermarket companies that sell such items, but I would really like to know if anyone has any specific experience with those items, particularly when used with the Atrix, or at least any reason to advise in one way or another toward a solution.
I have a Motorola Atrix on AT&T. I've called technical support multiple times but still have the issue. In my apartment, my phone shows full bars but when I dial a call out, the phone will hang up right away. Other times it will hang itself up and error "call failed".
I've been to the corporate store where they have given me a new SIM card, but it still does not fix my issue. I am trying to figure out if this is a hardware or network issue so I can contact the right people to have the issue fixed.
If my phone is showing full bars that means I have network coverage.
I have a week that I bought an Atrix 2. My mobile networks tab in settings is locked that means that I cannot change to 2G only or 3G only. It is Automatic and grayed out! I would like to know if I can do anything to unlock that by any mean, custom ROM or whatever! Here the 3G connection is poor and unstable so my phone changes the type of connections every time by interrupting the call and also consuming the battery!
I finally figured out why the pattern screen unlock is getting grayed out on my A2. I am using corporate email to fetch webmail from ky.gov. Tried a couple of "fixes" but every time re-setup the corporate, the pattern screen lock goes away. Is there a way around this? I tried setting up the webmail a different way, but that won't get the email. Since losing the fingerprint scanner, I really became partial to the pattern lock/unlock.
I have an Atrix that is working very well for me (i used blackberries, samsung window 7, other android phones and the Atrix is the best of the bunch). I have one annoying issue that I couldn't find at various forums and the moto customer support couln't help with. I have an audi s8 2007. The phone connects fine to the audi bluetooth but once the Atrix screen sleeps, the number of the signal bars displayed on the car's screen freezes. If I wake the Atrix screen the car screen immediately displays the correct signal bars but freezes again once the Atrix screen sleeps. I have tested that extensively and it is related to the Atrix screen sleeping. The car screen displays signal bars in areas where there is no signal and it will show one bar in areas where there is 5 bars. Any ideas on what setting on the phone may be affecting this.
I have an Atrix that is working very well for me (i used blackberries, samsung window 7, other android phones and the Atrix is the best of the bunch). I have one annoying issue that I couldn't find at various forums and the moto customer support couln't help with. I have an audi s8 2007. The phone connects fine to the audi bluetooth but once the Atrix screen sleeps, the number of the signal bars displayed on the car's screen freezes. If I wake the Atrix screen the car screen immediately displays the correct signal bars but freezes again once the Atrix screen sleeps. I have tested that extensively and it is related to the Atrix screen sleeping. The car screen displays signal bars in areas where there is no signal and it will show one bar in areas where there is 5 bars. Any ideas on what setting on the phone may be affecting this
In the last month or so I have noticed less bars of 4G when I am at my office.I know Verizon has been tinkering with their network.So what would be a good dBm signal strength within a fairly close proximity to one of their towers?
By changing the Singal strength indicator from stock android: When connected to Google services: Bright green for signal, grey for not to When connected to Google services:
Somewhat brighter blue for signal, Somehwat darker blue for no signal
it is impossible to tell if I have a zero bar signal or full bar signal (all in between are kind of visible)....
Ironically the indicator for not connected to Google services is very easy to read - but in most cases only lasts a few seconds...
Suggestion for the next patch: Turn up the level of blue for signal and go to grey for no signal to make the indicator visible.
I've seen this before but just got back from a trip to the UK and I noticed battery life was really bad compared to back in the US. Not sure if this is GSM vs CDMA or just I was in a weaker signal area so that the phone was "trying" harder. It's harder to tell because of another issue, the signal indicator!
This time, I made several perfectly fine calls with the indicator showing no bars, only when the phone showed "No Service" did things not work. I probably should have downloaded an app to show the signal strenght, but didn't....
I own a Droid Razr MAXX that I purchased in the June timeframe, so it is still essentially new. My phone was updated to ICS when Verizon pushed the update out to everyone a few weeks back. Initially, I was excited to be getting the update to help improve phone performance and functionality. Unfortunately, this has not been my experience.
Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that my phone signal strength has diminished. Since I work a desk job, I sit in pretty much the same exact location each day and it is easy to notice signal strength. Before ICS, I usually had a 4G connection with 3-4 bars. Now, my phone fluctuates between struggling to connect to 4G and eventually connecting to 3G with 1-2, maybe 3 bars. In fact, the signal icon frequently changes from blue bars to white (I'm not sure what it means, but it probably isn't good). The phone seems to run slower and my apps frequently crash a few times per day. In addition, my phone seems to be using more battery now too. Before ICS, I could work a full day and still have 70% battery remaining. Now, I'm lucky to have 40-50%.
I haven't added any new apps, but have a few more .MP3 songs saved to my SD card. In addition, I don't believe there are local issues with a cell tower going down, etc.
I've noticed for the last couple of months anytime I check my "Network type and strength" in the About phone/status menu the 4G varies depending on where I am, but no matter what, the 1x always shows -120dBm.
I updated my Razr Maxx on Monday. Tried doing it sooner, but was getting the bug where it wouldn't validate the update. Ever since my signal strenght has been much worse than before. I no longer get signal in some places that I go for work that I had no issues with before. In those I still get signal I have issues connecting to data where I never did before. Even at home my signal is much worse.I realize that ICS displays the strength differently, but the way it displays should have nothing to do with actual usability. Can hardly use my phone at all anymore while working whereas I had no issues before update.
I have looked eveywhere for the setting to adjust the strength and pattern of the vibration. Am I just missing it, or is there no way to adjust, its just sometimes the vibration can barely be felt.
Why can't I send a video? I've trimmed it it down to a couple mb and still won't go. I'm on Verizon with full strength signal. I've tried sending with gosms, text and, to no avail.
While connected to my wireless for data, voice signal strength hovers at 1 bar. I can't find the signal strngth meter in settings to double check this as I write... when I am connected to 3g I typically see 3-4 bars...
Its not really a problem but what is the blinking house icon above the signal strength on the droid razr maxx hd. It seems to flash randomly and I was just wondering what it was.
I need help getting cell tower reception on my phone. Using China Unicom as Network Carrier. I am located in Guangzhou China (a major metropolis). The problem is not with the SIM Card itself because it has been tested and placed in other phones & it works well. Reception Bars fluctuate between 0-2 bars at most, both in and outdoors.Have noticed these problems since upgrading the phone to IOS 5.0 & now also on 5.1.1. No problem with Wi-Fi Networks. I have also tried Resetting the Network & taking out the SIM Card and putting it back in, but this has not helped.
Info: iPhone 3GS, iOS 5.1.1, Model MC637ZA Serial 83028W5VEDG
I keep having a problem with connecting to Sprint's network. It takes up to five minutes after powering the phone on for the bars to turn blue, and starting today, they just stay gray and I am unable to connect to the internet. Whenever I'm in a non-sprint zone and switch to global mode, the phone won't pick up a new network, even after I reboot the phone multiple times. I'm getting rather frustrated with this phone, as this happens frequently.
Own 2 Photons, both show roaming indicator and comparable numbers of bars (in a given spot) while in a Verizon (CDMA) area. One phone can make/receive calls and has 3G service and the other one can't 99.9% of the time. All relevent phone settings (domestic roaming/ data enabled, PRL/profile updates, etc.) are identical on both phones. In all other respects, both phones operate the same and without problems. Is this a Sprint network issue or a Moto phone issue?
when I am connected via wif and the wifi bars are blue, sometime the phone bars are also blue and sometime the bars are white? I understand that blue signifies Google connected, but why would the phone data connect to google when wifi is available..
i have not been able to get a data connection all day. i lost my data connection near my house this morning right on the border of 4g/3g area. i drove to work about 25 miles away where there is 3g only and still have not been able to establish a data connection. i have rebooted the phone, pulled the battery, rebooted in safe mode, switched to cdma only, switched on an off airplane mode countless times and still have no data connection. i do have a 3g icon with almost 4 bars in the status bar, but no connection. browser not connecting, no facebook, no Internet...nothing.
Last night when I turned on my wifi at home, the wifi and phone signal bars appeared but were gray and I had no internet/data connection. I checked the wifi settings which indicated I was connected with good to excellent signal. Toggled the Wifi on and off several times, and turned phone on and off, which did not work. Went into wifi settings and told it to forget settings and reconnected, same result. When I turn off wifi, 3G appears and data connection is restored. Left the phone on in the media dock all night, and this morning when I turned on wifi, all was fine. What does gray signal bar mean?
id like to buy one of those over 3000mah batteries for my atrix 2 , but where i live i can only find this batteries for the atrix 4g and im not sure if it works on the atrix 2.
I bought the Cliq 2 just yesterday after having my contract extended by two years. I am new to Android platform having switched from Blackberry. I was playing around with phone features and noticed that the scene mode in camera which was working yesterday is no longer accessible after the software update.
