Please do not go by the amount of bars for signal strength. Go by actual, here's how

[mjs31]

I have seen numerous posts saying this phone has less signal strength than the Droid. I have not seen that yet. Realize that the bars on this phone are set differently than the Droid. This is done by the manufacturer and really does not give a true picture. One phone can show 4 bars and another show 2 bars, but their actual strength in dBm is the exact same or the 2 bar could even be better.

To accurately check your signal strength go to "settings -> about phone -> network" there you will find signal strength.

Not every phone can show this, but the Droid and Blackberry's do. Anything from -70 to the low -90's should be considered great to good. Anything over -100 will start to get touchy, but you can still be alright depending on how well a phone holds the signal.

Also, it is very common for your bars to jump around in one single spot. The phone continues to search for new and better towers causing this to happen.

Now, if you have a Droid showing -85 and the Incredible is showing -100 in the same exact spot then the Incredible is definitely weaker than the Droid. I have yet to see it.

Mike

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[xsasha92x]

Why are the bars not accurate? That basically defeats the purpose. Why can't it be like Cingular, Raising the Bar? Instead, it's verizon, decrease the bar?

[MiXoLoGiSt]

Why are the bars not accurate? That basically defeats the purpose. Why can't it be like Cingular, Raising the Bar? Instead, it's verizon, decrease the bar?

It is done by the manufacturer (HTC) so it isnt going to be 100% correct. The carrier has nothing to do with this because they are delivering their end of the deal. Im sure it will be fixed by HTC in the next OTA update we get (if we get one).

[mjs31]

It is done by the manufacturer (HTC) so it isnt going to be 100% correct. The carrier has nothing to do with this because they are delivering their end of the deal. Im sure it will be fixed by HTC in the next OTA update we get (if we get one).

Exactly. Carriers have nothing to do with this and I will say that raising the bar with cingular (ATT) is a joke. Verizon has much better coverage. Just because your phone says 1 bar does not mean Verizon is not sending a good signal.

[mjs31]

Just driving around I did notice one thing. I was getting one or two bars (signal strength from -87 to -95), when I place a call it jumped to max bars. Not sure what the actual signal strength was, but that shows me it will grab the top signal and try to hold it. This is what should happen with phones.

[K-10]

Just driving around I did notice one thing. I was getting one or two bars (signal strength from -87 to -95), when I place a call it jumped to max bars. Not sure what the actual signal strength was, but that shows me it will grab the top signal and try to hold it. This is what should happen with phones.

I noticed the same thing yesterday. Thanks for this info because I've been putting my phone in airplane mode and/or turning it off because I thought I was going to drain my battery because it had a low signal.

[mach330]

great info here. i was one of the people that brought this up because my wife has a droid. after using this method, they are about the same (for the most part) which is good. sometimes i get 3dbm better.

[mjs31]

Ok. I just drove all over my area (good and bad reception spots) with my Droid and Incredible both on the signal strength screen. Without any doubt I can say that they are virtually equal. I bet if you average them out they would be within -2 dBm. On that note, the incredibles bars were sporadic and fairly unpredictable. So, as Mix mentioned earlier, I hope that an update fixes the unpredictable nature of these bars, but beyond that, this phones gets really good reception.

I imagine it will holds calls equally well.

[Starryskies]

my phone is showing signal -100 ... is this bad?

[mjs31]

my phone is showing signal -100 ... is this bad?

Neither bad nor good for the phone itself. -100 is generally considered a fairly weak signal. This can happen in many areas. Nothing to really do with the phone, just the fact that you do not have the best reception at that spot.