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Is it normal for my new DROID to have far fewer signal bars than my BlackBerry on Verizon?

I just received my new DROID today. It's been quite an adventure. I was an exclusive iPhone user since they first launched. I love the iPhone but I drop calls all day long on it, so I decided to change carriers. I initially bought a Google Nexus One with T-Mobile. I had it for almost two weeks and simply could not take it's beta issues, which are everywhere on the web. I ported my number to Verizon and got a DROID, feeling good that the Verizon network and coverage is rock solid, as my work issued BlackBerry has full bars all the time. The BlackBerry is always showing 1XEV with full bars, whatever that means.

My DROID has ONE bar typically. It spikes up and drops down randomly.

I called Verizon and they said to wait the weekend for the porting to complete and to possibly go into a Verizon store to have the phone looked at.

I am just curious to see if any other Verizon customers who have a lot of experience with different devices. It seems quite odd that my BB would have full signal while my DROID has one, sometimes no bars.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

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PPC_Dude

MrAceXPS wrote:
I just received my new DROID today. It's been quite an adventure. I was an exclusive iPhone user since they first launched. I love the iPhone but I drop calls all day long on it, so I decided to change carriers. I initially bought a Google Nexus One with T-Mobile. I had it for almost two weeks and simply could not take it's beta issues, which are everywhere on the web. I ported my number to Verizon and got a DROID, feeling good that the Verizon network and coverage is rock solid, as my work issued BlackBerry has full bars all the time. The BlackBerry is always showing 1XEV with full bars, whatever that means.

My DROID has ONE bar typically. It spikes up and drops down randomly.

I called Verizon and they said to wait the weekend for the porting to complete and to possibly go into a Verizon store to have the phone looked at.

I am just curious to see if any other Verizon customers who have a lot of experience with different devices. It seems quite odd that my BB would have full signal while my DROID has one, sometimes no bars.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

I wouldn't worry too much about the number of bars themselves as long as your call quality is good, but the 1X would be a reason for concern to me. Try dialing *228 and do both option 1 and option 2. I think that might help your issue. If not, then I would definately go back to the store and have them llook at it. My droid gets the best voice reception of ANY phone I've ever owned, both standard and smartphones and gets much better 3G reception than my old WinMo phone.

seabright

MrAceXPS wrote:

I am just curious to see if any other Verizon customers who have a lot of experience with different devices. It seems quite odd that my BB would have full signal while my DROID has one, sometimes no bars.

As the bars don't represent any absolute number, there's really no way of comparing them across phones. However, as the previous poster noted, the lack of 3G is a matter of concern. I rarely, if ever, lose 3G.

MrAceXPS

I am going to drive around today and see what happens to the signal.

I really don't feel like going into a store, as it will them 5 min to realize I bought the phone from Dell and then hear how I should call dell for a replacement.

Blah blah blah. I am a Verizon customer... Fix it!

seabright

Although VZW doesn't do exchanges for phones purchased from non-VZW stores, they have been known to provide warranty service for them. It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask.

And have you tried contacting Dell?

Best of luck.

MrAceXPS

Okay, so I drove around with the phone. Drove about 10 miles out from home. Signal fluctuate up to full along the way.

I checked my signal on the BlackBerry 8330 and I was at 80 - 87dBm while the DROID lives between 87 and 93 dBm. What is interesting is my signal went up to 83dBm on the Droid at times and the phone still showed one bar...

I discovered something else.

I think these phones throttle antenna power. Whenever I make a call or receive a call, my bars go up almost instantly.

Do you think that these phones are programmed to throttle to conserve battery life?

So I guess what matters is the signal or bars during a call not the bars on idle.

I am jaded because in my home I am the picture perfect AT&T customer. All of our AT&T phones have full bars all the time, even in the basement...

Not used to this one bar crud...

MrAceXPS

Well, I canceled my plan and am returning the phone.

Verizon doesn't take too kindly to customers who buy a phone from an authorized reseller.

Of course, Dell customer support is horrible and they weren't open on Sundays.

The Verizon customer service rep got me so mad that I just cancelled.

Her answer was that I should have just gone to a Verizon store and bought it there so I could just exchange it for a new one. But, since I bought the phone from Dell they have to support me.

Has anyone here ever tried to contact Dell support?

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