Phone network status versus dBm and asu indication

[suppers_ready]

i know this one's a bit different but maybe someone out there may have an idea. I have a Sony Ericsson X10 on android 2.1. With my giffgaff sim in the phone I get an indication of "H" for network status, and HSDPA in "Mobile Network Type". While having these I have around -95 to -100 dBm, and an asu rating of around 6-10. If I put a T-Mobile/Orange sim in the same phone I get an indication of "G", and GPRS in "Mobile Network Type", but I get -77dBm and around 15-20 asu. I have searched for this information on the web before and everything I've read says that the -dBm and asu figures are more accurate indicators of connection strength. The figures I get from T-Mobile are much better when measured using the dBm and asu criteria even though the phone indication status, ie H and HSDPA, indicate the opposite. There are apps in the market to display dBm and asu figures instead of the G or H symbol as these figures are the best indication of connection strength. I know this is more technical than the usual posts here but just thought I'd ask and see if there are any techies around with an opinion.

[frogggy88]

this isnt an OVERLY technical answer...but it certainly seems like the dBm and asu figures could be more accurate as i know there are several places I go to that display full 3G but the internet speeds are often slower than in areas without it....whereas some areas with 3G are lightning fast...that might help?

[jamesdn · Accepted solution]

Doesn't dBm measure signal strength, where as H, G etc are indicators of type of signal, rather than the strength of the signal?

Don't know whether or not you've ever tried this, on Android you can dial *#*#4636#*#* to put the phone into testing to view signal strength etc without an app.

[suppers_ready]

@jamesdn - You may well be correct on that one, I don't profess to being very techie on this subject myself. I'm just looking at it from the angle that what we perceive from our phone's indicator can be misleading regarding the H and G indicators, in that from the scenario I described I get faster connection with the lower -dBm and higher asu figures, even though I am on an indicated G network rather an indicated H network with a higher -dBM and lower asu figures. I still get acceptable data connection in both scenarios though. Thanks for your post.

[andylamb phenomenon]

If you see G on your phone that is an indication that the phone is connected to a cell in a 2G mode and will do data using GPRS.

Similarly, E wiill indicate EDGE capability in use.

H indicates HSDPA is available.

Each can have its own individual levels of signal strength associated with it.

H is not an indication of a strong signal, it's an indication that a HSDPA connection is available. HSDPA is actually quite a solid performer on lower signal strength.