Signal strength.

[Hchlebek]

Just a curiosity. I have a dual sim phone and have my Telus sim active for one last month as well as my Public Mobile sim installed. So I see 2 signal strength displays, one for each sim. Since PM is on the Telus network I would have expected the two to be the same. But that is not the case. Right at my house the signal strength is very weak but it seems to work without issues. So my Telus signal typically shows 1 or no bars. But my PM signal consistently shows 3 bars. Wondering why there would be such a difference or is the signal strength measurement just simply flaky and not accurate at all.

[Edmad]

I am using iPhone Xr and there is an option to switch off LTE. I live in Pickering and after doing that, signal stabilized to 2 to 3 bars from greyed out to 1 bar when LTE is on. Hope it applies to folks here as well.

[stonechucker]

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@Hchlebek wrote:

You still don't get it. PM only offers 3G speed data plans which is what I have. I have set it up to 3G only on the recomendation of several people on this forum. I have tested it extensively with speed tests at various times of the day and I am sure during congested times as well. The download speed is always 2-3 times faster when set to 3G only as opposed to setting it to auto LTE. I'll go with my tests rather than listen to someone's theory. Voice and texts have never had any issues with it set to 3G only.

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@Hchlebek, you are correct, the 3G network will provide the faster download speeds as the connection on. The 3G frequencies are not throttled.

Public Mobile 3G Speed plans however, are LTE Network throttled to 3Mbps rates (a cap) while being used on the LTE network. The only difference being the Latency experienced on LTE is lower than the 3G network.

You have chosen to use the 3G because it gives you overall faster speed which is great for you.  Those deciding to leave the choice on their device will get the emergency alter notices when they are issued, and flip between networks based on signal strength, and always use 3G for voice services.

Edited to correct 3Gbps to 3Mbps.

[Hchlebek]

You still don't get it. PM only offers 3G speed data plans which is what I have. I have set it up to 3G only on the recomendation of several people on this forum. I have tested it extensively with speed tests at various times of the day and I am sure during congested times as well. The download speed is always 2-3 times faster when set to 3G only as opposed to setting it to auto LTE. I'll go with my tests rather than listen to someone's theory. Voice and texts have never had any issues with it set to 3G only.

[jor123]

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@geopublic wrote:

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@Hchlebek wrote:

Nope that is totally false. I have tested that a lot by trying both and doing speed tests. On 3G only I get download speeds of 6 Mbps. On autoselect I get 2 Mbps.

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@Hchlebek  Your device your choice. 3G is used primarily for talk when it's congested the speed will go down. My recommendation is to use auto. LTE is a better network for data and voice.

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PM still doesn't even support Voice over LTE sadly.

[SomeFriend]

I would have assumed it’s the differences on the bands the phone is connected to, provided that default for both SIMs (as they do support it) is LTE.  

It could be that one frequency/band is a lower frequency one, which has better signal strength typically, but lower data speeds (wouldn’t really matter on a PM 3G plan) and the other is connected to a higher frequency band.

[sheytoon · Accepted solution]

You've already figured it out, but basically 3G will measure RSCP on a 5 MHz channel, while LTE will measure RSRP on a 5/10/15/20 MHz channel.

It's an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Edit: also a very good point made by @SomeFriend below.

[Hchlebek]

It is definitely worse for data when my plan is 3G speed. I have tested it extensively. And the voice and texts is no issue.

[geopublic]

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@Hchlebek wrote:

Nope that is totally false. I have tested that a lot by trying both and doing speed tests. On 3G only I get download speeds of 6 Mbps. On autoselect I get 2 Mbps.

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@Hchlebek  Your device your choice. 3G is used primarily for talk when it's congested the speed will go down. My recommendation is to use auto. LTE is a better network for data and voice.

[Hchlebek]

Nope that is totally false. I have tested that a lot by trying both and doing speed tests. On 3G only I get download speeds of 6 Mbps. On autoselect I get 2 Mbps.

[Hchlebek]

Didn't try that but setting Telus to 3G only same as PM sim produces identical signal strength.

[geopublic]

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@Hchlebek wrote:

That is the way they are set. Actually Telus is on autoselect but uses LTE and PM is set to 3G only. But the signal strength meters still showed the same while I had PM set to autoselect.

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@Hchlebek  You should set you PM sim to auto as well. You don't gain anything by setting it at 3G because PM will use 3G regardless for calling so you gain nothing by doing that.

[Hchlebek]

Ok, you're right on. I understand now that LTE is a different signal and can have different strength?? I just set my Telus sim to 3G only resulting in identical 3 bars strength for each sim.

[GR]

@Hchlebek  I'm sure someone will explain why!  I cant explain it In writing. 

[Hchlebek]

My PM plan is 3G so I have set it to 3G only and it downloads faster that way. But what does signal strength have to do with what speed the phone is set to?? Isn't the actual strength measure independent of that. Note that it is my Telus signal that is showing no bars and it is the one that is on LTE.

[GR]

@Hchlebek on 3g most of the time you have a higher strength than on LTE 

[kselmak]

Do you have the same issue if you switch sim positions?

Do you have the same preferencs for both? ( as previously suggested)

[Hchlebek]

That is the way they are set. Actually Telus is on autoselect but uses LTE and PM is set to 3G only. But the signal strength meters still showed the same while I had PM set to autoselect.

[Triguy]

There was a thread about this a few months

ago. https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Signal-strength/m-p/339404#M87077

Someone suggested to switch between LTE/WCDMA/GSM  and WCDMA/GSM.

[GR]

Could it be that your Telus  Sim is set to LTE and the public mobile Sim is set to 3g?   That would make a bit of sense