How many bars do you have (cell phone)? (1 Viewer)

[Phil Kim]

Yes, I know RF signal level strength "bars" are highly subjective to phone and other factors, but I for one would welcome such info when switching carriers.

Phone: Sony Ericsson T616
Provider: AT&T Wireless (GSM)
Home (San Bruno, CA): 3 to 5 bars out of 5 bars indoor/4 to 5 bars outdoor (850 MHz GSM)
Work (San Mateo, CA): 4 to 5 bars indoor & outdoor (850 MHz GSM)

 

[Seth--L]

In my experience, bars mean nothing. I've been able to make calls with perfect reception while having no bars, and been unable to place and receive calls when having full bars (using Cingular, both TDMA and GSM).

 

[Scott Strang]

My wife and I use AT&T wireless. Just as Seth stated signal strength doesn't always mean anything. I've also tried AT&T's GSM service which has virtually zero coverage in my area but when it did work, sound quality was superior to TDMA. That will likely change as subscribers change over to GSM the bit rate will probably be dropped down so that they can over subscribe.

What does piss me off is that I can have what appears to be a useable signal (3 or 4 bars) and it will drop to nothing when actually hitting send.

I really miss analog cellular.