[SeiShinRyu]

Although I bought my first Passport one year ago, I had not conducted �scientific� radio sensitivity (signal strength or signal reception) tests till a couple of weeks ago. So far, I had made some phone calls tests in spots where the number of bars in the phone signal strength meter were low, with rather disperse results but that pointed to a big difference between my Z10 and Black and Silver Edition Passports radio sensitivity. I downloaded a very useful Android app called �Network Signal Strength� that shows, among others, received signal intensity in dBm and, very important, the cell ID to which the phone is locked. In this way, I have been able to conduct many and accurate measurements (which means that all measurements have been made with all phones locked to the same cell) and come to the following conclusions:

� Passports are very bad in GSM as far as radio sensitivity is concerned, with differences in regards to Z10 beyond 10 dB. Besides that, signal level stability is very bad in Passports: it never stops moving.

� Silver Edition is the worst, being almost �deaf� in this band (sometimes more than 15 dB worse than my Z10).

� Passports are slightly worse than my Z10 in 3G bands.

� Passports are clearly worse than my Z10 in 4G bands.

I know that many people do not care about these results, but I hope that some of you are concerned about Passport as a phone, and these results are really disappointing. I will be very grateful if someone makes the same tests and shares results. When measuring, be sure that your phones are locked to the same cell.

[ma678]

I thought most users claimed Passport has the strongest reception. Is it possible you got a defect?

Posted via CB10 on Passport OG

[SeiShinRyu]

I thought most users claimed Passport has the strongest reception. Is it possible you got a defect?

Posted via CB10 on Passport OG

I used two different phones, Black and SE. What I am asking for is to repeat the tests in other network.

[yyz321]

I think my SE has better reception than my Z30. However, I have no empirical evidence.

Posted via CB10

[-Puck-]

Interesting.

I will compare my original black PP to my old z10 once I get a chance. I haven't noticed a difference in use, but never looked at the numbers.

 Posted in CB10 from my amazing SQUARE OG Passport 

[-Puck-]

This may be an obvious fact to some, but if anyone else wants to compare then make sure you know that signal strength meters show a negative number, and you are comparing the smallness of the absolute value.

For example, -10 is better then -15.

 Posted in CB10 from my amazing SQUARE OG Passport 

[SeiShinRyu]

This may be an obvious fact to some, but if anyone else wants to compare then make sure you know that signal strength meters show a negative number, and you are comparing the smallness of the absolute value.

For example, -10 is better then -15.

 Posted in CB10 from my amazing SQUARE OG Passport 

Thanks for warning, but in my case no problem: I am a telecom engineer and these units (dBm, dBmV, dBuV, etc.) are always present in my daily work.

[texn884]

I have a ATT Passport and ATT Classic set up identical and the Classic gets better phone signal and WIFI signal hands down!
But it is what it is not sure why but oh well

[wporro]

To be accurate and fair, you would have to compare cell network in your city, the cell company you are using and your location and any communication hurdles (buildings, interference etc) to someone else in another market. My T-Mobile network here in Miami, is very good to compared to other cell companies. I wonder if the PP Silver would be a down grade when it comes to phone clarity and reception???

[olikoli]

This is an interesting topic. I always thought that I was paranoid when it came to reception. I had Z30, and moved to PP. I noticed immediately that my reception was not as good, but thought that it was me. I did not have anyscience to prove it, but from what "I can tell" it is not as good as Z30.

[ma678]

Too bad I just sold my Classic last night. Maybe I have made a wrong decision.

Posted via CB10 on Passport OG

[yyz321]

Downloaded Advanced Signal Status on my Passport and LG G2.
Both are on the same network and both seem to have similar signal strength but I'm not an expert -- does a few dB matter?

Both seems to jump around and usually hovering around -85dB.

Posted via CB10

[bqik]

After having z10, q10, z30,PP OG and Classic

Best Wi-Fi reception goes for z10,q10 and z30 being z10 stl1 the best.

Best coverage z30, q10 and z10.

It is a shame that PP isn't as good as other devices in overall terms (Wi-Fi and 4g and 3g.

Regards

Posted via CB10

[seemsixty7]

I recently jumped back to using my Z30 for a few months. Then jumped back on to my passport and did notice a significant difference. The passport does not get as good signal strength as the Z30 does. I'm on Tmobile in Houston area. I find that in areas where Tmobile states 4G LTE. That I will sometimes ge lucky to get edge.

Does anyone know of a setting by chance that can be tweaked to get better coverage?

Posted via CB10

[SeiShinRyu]

To be accurate and fair, you would have to compare cell network in your city, the cell company you are using and your location and any communication hurdles (buildings, interference etc) to someone else in another market. My T-Mobile network here in Miami, is very good to compared to other cell companies. I wonder if the PP Silver would be a down grade when it comes to phone clarity and reception???

To be accurate, I have to compare the signal level when both, the Passport and the Z10, are locked to the same cell: that is only possible when both phones are working in the same band (easy to do choosing 2G in the menu).

[SeiShinRyu]

This is an interesting topic. I always thought that I was paranoid when it came to reception. I had Z30, and moved to PP. I noticed immediately that my reception was not as good, but thought that it was me. I did not have anyscience to prove it, but from what "I can tell" it is not as good as Z30.

You do not need any science, but the app “Network Signal Strength”, that you can download if you have Snap installed.

[SeiShinRyu]

Downloaded Advanced Signal Status on my Passport and LG G2.
Both are on the same network and both seem to have similar signal strength but I'm not an expert -- does a few dB matter?

Both seems to jump around and usually hovering around -85dB.

Posted via CB10

I do not know this app: are you sure that both phones are locked to the same cell? (every cell has an unique identifier called Cell ID).

[SeiShinRyu]

To be accurate, you have to compare the signal level when both, the Passport and the Z10, are locked to the same cell: that is only possible when both phones are working in the same band (easy to do choosing 2G in the menu).

[SeiShinRyu]

Downloaded Advanced Signal Status on my Passport and LG G2.
Both are on the same network and both seem to have similar signal strength but I'm not an expert -- does a few dB matter?

Both seems to jump around and usually hovering around -85dB.

Posted via CB10

I have just downloaded Advanced Signal Status and it is not useful for tests because it does not show the Cell ID to which the phone is locked. Please, download Network Signal Strength and go to the left menu: there you will see all cell data.

[SeiShinRyu]

Downloaded Advanced Signal Status on my Passport and LG G2.
Both are on the same network and both seem to have similar signal strength but I'm not an expert -- does a few dB matter?

Both seems to jump around and usually hovering around -85dB.

Posted via CB10

And every dB matters, above all when the signal is low and close to what is called threshold.

[ma678]

I went to my local ikea yesterday. My Classic used to get Edge or no signal there while passport showed 4g most of times. Who knows maybe my carrier has increased coverage there since my last visit. Or my passport has better reception than my Classic.

In reality is the difference huge?

Posted via CB10 on Passport OG

[texn884]

I think Apple and Samsung are blocking the Passports ability to get a good signal and if you listen real good you can hear Steve Jobs and the Samsung guy says leave your Passport and come to Apple or Samsung we have almost a better signal and we are sheep, lol

[yyz321]

I have just downloaded Advanced Signal Status and it is not useful for tests because it does not show the Cell ID to which the phone is locked. Please, download Network Signal Strength and go to the left menu: there you will see all cell data.

I downloaded Network Signal Strength and both devices are locked to the same cell tower.

My Passport is consistently at least 12dbm better than my LG G2. The signal strength also jumps around less frequently on the Passport.

I don't know how long I should be looking at it for to have a good gauge but I did stare at both devices side by side for a good 3 minutes.

I'm pretty sure my Passport has my LG G2 beat in terms of signal strength and quality. I'm not too surprised as I accidentally downloaded an attachment in an elevator which I generally have no reception in for my LG G2 or Z30.

Posted via CB10

[joshua_sx1]

It is really disappointment since our Passport is (supposedly) equipped with 'Paratek' Antenna Technology that is aimed to improve performance especially in regions with low signal. And that includes faster data transfer rates and increased connectivity especially in places with poor network coverage.

Posted via CB10

[SeiShinRyu]

I think Apple and Samsung are blocking the Passports ability to get a good signal and if you listen real good you can hear Steve Jobs and the Samsung guy says leave your Passport and come to Apple or Samsung we have almost a better signal and we are sheep, lol

It seems, yes, that Steve Jobs shadow is very long....