Signal indication vs actual signal strength

[Anonymous]

Hi

Not sure if this is the right place but here goes.

My office has a very poor O2 reception and ironically we have O2 as the business mobile provider.. I get between 1 and 2 bars with a G or H symbol on my Lumia 820.

This is just about manageable for calls and texts but if I try and access the internet, or use mobile data I get the "can't connect/check" type of messages.

The question really is, what does the G and H symbol on my screen actually tell me? To me that is indicative of a mobile data connection, yet clearly I can't access the internet. I can just about get the odd email and access a web page (I had to to activate my account on here) but more often than not I fail. Using an online game where I need server conection (Scrabble etc.) fails every time.

My data connection is fine elsewhere, just in this flakey blackspot at my desk.

Thanks all.

[MI5]

G & H both indicate a data connection but G is slow (56kbs) and H is faster (upto 14mbs). With H on screen you should not have any problems connecting to data services.

[Anonymous]

That's what I thought - but I do.

So are the signal strength indicator in bars and the G and H related?

The higher bars, the quicker the data, or is that not the case?

[MI5]

The bars are related to the proximity to a mast. The closer you are the more bars you get. You will get data speeds relating to the G or H signal but you shouldn't see variation with signal strength (in an ideal world), however, it does happen due to signal fluctuation. If you are flicking between G & H it's not stable.

[Asdic_Ping]

I think it's a well known fact that to get the best mobile data speeds you need to be in clear line of sight of the mast and standing only a few metres away. Then there is of course the issue of how much traffic that particular mast is handling at the time you wish to use it which also reduces your bandwidth.

It seems odd that your signal varies from G (GPRS) and H (HSPA) with no 3G in between. In my experience, using my wifes Lumia 800, if you can't get H you usually get 3G if you can't get H and 3G then you only get G.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your replies.

Unfortunately my office is an old aircraft hangar, therefore not the best and certainly there is no clear LOS to a mast.

It's strange, since opening this thread the data connection has improved slightly.

It's only my second day of use with the phone and today I've found the best position to keep it in and I'm not moving around like I was yesterday in frustration.

My old Lumia 800 was similar - it improved as time went on, weirdly.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

With regards to signal strength and calls. Although you may be getting 2/3 bars of signal strength but not being able to hold a call is due to this.

The power output of the mast is more than the power output of your phone. Although you may be receiving 2/3 bars. Your phone power output may not be enough to reach the mast properly.

Therefore although it 'looks' like you are getting a great connection it's your phone that can't maintain it.

This is not a diagnosis on your phone but can explain some peoples issues.