Verizon confirms an update to fix the Galaxy Nexus network issue

A lot of Verizon Galaxy Nexus have reported this "problem" with the phone where it shows lower signal strength compared to other Verizon phones in the same area.

Verizon has now said that the issue is actually not with their network but simply with the way the Galaxy Nexus shows the strength. They also said that they will be releasing an update soon which will make the signal bars behave in line with all the other Verizon phones.

The thing is, it's not as easy as it sound. AnandTech has written an in-depth article on this matter and their findings are fascinating. First of all, as they report, people are comparing the LTE signal strength with 1x/EVDO strength, which is wrong as they are incomparable. The Galaxy Nexus shows the LTE strength in Settings>About whereas other Verizon LTE Android phones show the 1x/EVDO strength.

Secondly, when they compared the Galaxy Nexus and a DROID BIONIC side by side, they found that both had the exact same actual signal strength but the DROID BIONIC was reporting much higher signal strength in the form of bars whereas Galaxy Nexus displayed what was the actual signal strength, which was much less in their case.

This means that the rest of the Verizon phones are displaying false information through signal bars which is made to look the network look good even if it isn't so and the Galaxy Nexus is the only phone right now which shows it as it is. And now Verizon will be releasing an update for it that make it just like others. This shows that you can't trust carrier-branded phones when it comes to displaying the actual signal strength.

You can find more about it in the second source link below.

Source 1 • Source 2