How good/bad is the N9's Cellular/GPS/WiFi/BT reception? - Page 5 - maemo.org

judhaz | # 41 | 2012-01-10, 13:00 | Report

Okay, let me report on my experiences with reception etc on my N9:

Currently, I run PR1.1 (20.2011.40.4_PR009)

Cellular
The reception seems to be okay; I can hear quite clearly what the person in the other end says. However, it seems that the other end cannot hear me as good. The sound keeps falling out, and sometimes the voice of the other end is echoed back. This is also the case when calling N9 to N9. I've made several such calls, and must say I am not happy with the reception at all.

Notably, when eg. answering a call by pressing the green button, and saying "Hello", the first few words are often lost, ie. not heard by the other end. It seems it takes 2-3-4 seconds before the other end can hear me, although I can hear the other end immediately.

I have the same carrier now as I did with my N900, and did not have such issues then. But I now have a micro-SIM, that could be related.

WiFi
I am having a lot of problems with the internet connection over wifi. This is a typical dump from dmesg:

Code:

/home/developer $ dmesg|grep wl1271
[536252.503448] wl1271: down
[536253.821685] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[536254.081909] wl1271: down
[536255.220092] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[536271.152770] wl1271: down
[536416.717742] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[536437.820526] wl1271: down
[536556.036285] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[536572.153106] wl1271: down
[536829.053222] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[536845.154266] wl1271: down
[537156.885314] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537160.968200] wl1271: Association completed.
[537163.780944] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[537166.373931] wl1271: down
[537167.371673] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537167.626556] wl1271: down
[537170.288909] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537170.502410] wl1271: Association completed.
[537170.918762] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[537172.891815] wl1271: down
[537173.801483] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537174.015441] wl1271: down
[537174.888519] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537179.088317] wl1271: Association completed.
[537672.298278] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[537672.588867] wl1271: Association completed.
[537717.943756] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[537718.686370] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[537720.642059] wl1271: down
[537721.811859] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537721.924591] wl1271: down
[537722.883880] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537726.064941] wl1271: ERROR cmd join event completion error
[537726.064971] wl1271: WARNING cmd join to update channel failed -110
[537726.065216] wl1271: Hardware recovery in progress.
[537726.065216] wl1271: down
[537726.493469] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537731.674652] wl1271: Association completed.
[537740.039184] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[537742.096191] wl1271: down
[537742.926574] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537743.044036] wl1271: down
[537743.752502] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537748.718231] wl1271: Association completed.
[537752.234649] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[537758.129241] wl1271: down
[537764.063934] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537764.566650] wl1271: down
[537765.368164] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[537777.999481] wl1271: Association completed.
[538346.602294] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[538347.352966] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[538349.265350] wl1271: down
[538350.347259] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[538350.460327] wl1271: down
[538351.277160] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[538355.634216] wl1271: Association completed.
[538864.461791] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[538865.206817] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[538867.246337] wl1271: down
[538868.323974] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[538868.428161] wl1271: down
[538869.262908] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[538873.408630] wl1271: Association completed.
[539192.871612] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[539193.437957] wl1271: WARNING Unable to flush all TX buffers, timed out.
[539198.940246] wl1271: down
[539200.080566] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539200.192840] wl1271: down
[539200.969299] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539205.064819] wl1271: Association completed.
[539211.993713] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[539213.832061] wl1271: down
[539214.944152] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539215.410369] wl1271: down
[539217.832733] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539222.106262] wl1271: Association completed.
[539277.850006] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[539278.594512] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[539283.882995] wl1271: down
[539284.941558] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539285.049377] wl1271: down
[539285.906463] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539290.650787] wl1271: Association completed.
[539309.072845] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[539313.851989] wl1271: down
[539314.792022] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539315.010467] wl1271: down
[539315.823944] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539336.873870] wl1271: down
[539416.708618] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539420.759582] wl1271: Association completed.
[539426.195220] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[539426.773895] wl1271: WARNING Unable to flush all TX buffers, timed out.
[539438.525878] wl1271: down
[539439.673797] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539439.891937] wl1271: down
[539440.605743] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539457.155670] wl1271: down
[539651.767974] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[539655.918640] wl1271: Association completed.
[540043.155975] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[540053.502624] wl1271: down
[540054.768005] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[540054.876983] wl1271: down
[540057.063629] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[540061.518005] wl1271: Association completed.
[540957.790954] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[540958.538482] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[540960.524932] wl1271: down
[540964.180389] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[540964.263458] wl1271: down
[540964.971984] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[540969.284057] wl1271: Association completed.
[540983.074127] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[540988.211914] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[540988.613555] wl1271: Association completed.
[541013.082183] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[541013.829040] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[541018.984863] wl1271: down
[541020.080108] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541020.300262] wl1271: down
[541022.347991] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541041.512359] wl1271: down
[541092.313323] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541109.146850] wl1271: down
[541176.345886] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541180.724487] wl1271: Association completed.
[541190.553649] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[541191.852661] wl1271: down
[541193.539031] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541193.643920] wl1271: down
[541194.291778] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541201.994537] wl1271: Association completed.
[541205.461853] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[541206.880523] wl1271: down
[541208.050445] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541208.257019] wl1271: down
[541209.019561] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541213.275817] wl1271: Association completed.
[541238.939514] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[541241.059234] wl1271: down
[541242.845092] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541242.955627] wl1271: down
[541243.683471] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541253.033660] wl1271: Association completed.
[541379.023376] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[541379.330474] wl1271: Association completed.
[541437.848052] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[541438.594848] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[541440.494384] wl1271: down
[541441.385986] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541441.500610] wl1271: down
[541442.334503] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[541446.557952] wl1271: Association completed.
[541737.798736] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[542038.563171] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[542042.909790] wl1271: down
[542043.762390] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[542043.878448] wl1271: down
[542044.700592] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[542048.932067] wl1271: Association completed.
[542277.846466] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[542278.592346] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[542282.860717] wl1271: down
[542283.973724] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[542284.324493] wl1271: down
[542285.175842] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[542289.393371] wl1271: Association completed.
[542294.929229] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[542295.276000] wl1271: Association completed.
[542295.305908] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[542297.432098] wl1271: down
[542298.534118] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[542298.647125] wl1271: down
[542299.525939] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[542320.834594] wl1271: down
[542415.838714] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[542432.154876] wl1271: down
[542600.344146] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[542604.478973] wl1271: Association completed.
[543777.766357] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[543778.523468] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[543780.521911] wl1271: down
[543781.477416] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[543781.692626] wl1271: down
[543782.421539] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[543786.655700] wl1271: Association completed.
[544318.651977] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[544319.399261] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[544325.943511] wl1271: down
[544326.691314] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[544326.905120] wl1271: down
[544327.742950] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[544348.871978] wl1271: down
[544421.349029] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[544425.524841] wl1271: Association completed.
[544557.760498] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[544558.511383] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[544563.747314] wl1271: Association completed.
[544563.893829] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[544564.136077] wl1271: Association completed.
[544617.670043] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[544618.420074] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[544620.506683] wl1271: Association completed.
[544917.712493] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[544918.464996] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[544925.085266] wl1271: Association completed.
[544933.379516] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[544934.129577] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[544940.078674] wl1271: Association completed.
[544986.925170] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[544994.276397] wl1271: down
[544995.323547] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[544995.545562] wl1271: down
[544996.306427] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[545000.494567] wl1271: Association completed.
[573237.027404] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[573237.772216] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[573254.794952] wl1271: down
[573255.544708] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[573255.656036] wl1271: down
[573256.443481] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[573272.084777] wl1271: down
[573398.418579] wl1271: firmware booted (Rev 6.1.1.39.339)
[573402.572631] wl1271: Association completed.
[573596.988067] wl1271: AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.
[573597.742797] wl1271: No ack to nullfunc from AP.
[573598.003295] wl1271: Association completed.

During the period of the dump, my phone has been within 10 meters from my access point (WRT54Gv2.2). I do not have such problems with my laptops or my N900 connected to the same AP.

It might be that the N9 is particularly sensitive to simultaneous wifi and bluetooth devices, I don't know. The line about

Code:

AP with dysfunctional ps-poll, trying to work around it.

has some discussion here: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=79663

I upgraded my WRT54Gv2.2 from HyperWRT tofu, to Tomato (both custom firmware), but the ps-poll error is just the same. I'd say that this is a problem with the wl1271 firmware and not my router. Other reference here: http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-w.../msg78039.html

That's it for now. Suggestions (other then "do a full reset", "do a full reflash", "totally wipe your phone and start from freakin' scratch" etc) appreciated

Actually, I'm leaning towards trying a community version of Meego, after reading about all sorts of backdoors etc found in so much of phone software these days... (but that's another subject).

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Muzimak | # 42 | 2012-01-10, 15:42 | Report

Over the weekend I was in some Bar for a couple of Beers, my N9 lost connection completely when I was there, guys with cheaper phones like the X3 and 1100 using the same Network as me had full network, I was so pissed. What could've been the problem?

jalyst | # 43 | 2012-01-10, 18:53 | Report

Originally Posted by judhaz View Post

SNIP

Thanks for sharing your experiences....
Yes there is some doco'd WiFi issues... Some can/will be rectified.
There's at least 1 issue with using BT at same time as WiFi too.
It's a WontFix & is to do with poor quality of BT audio or it dropping-out.
I suggested an alt workaround, but they haven't responded as yet.
Re 3G, most anecdotal reports suggest it's def. better than N900 but YMMV.

Last edited by jalyst; 2012-01-10 at 19:00.

qorax | # 44 | 2012-01-11, 05:58 | Report

My experience with the N9

Well, I feel it depends on handset-to-handset. I have no issues with my N9 or the Network provider either... nothing to crib at all.

Call, sending/receiving:
I'm with Mobilicity, the crappiest of them in Canada - as others opine. However, till date, I always have full-bars on my set... my calls r never dropped thru the N9 and as I hear everything loud-n-clear when taking a call - so the party @ the other end [as they reported].

Wi-Fi:
I've no issues on this front either. As my MBAir-2 does when I'm in closed-doors, away from the router - so does my N9... which is excellent connectivity [full airwaves]. Everything works smooth & jiffy.

Bluetooth:
-Ditto-

GPS:
Uh, here's my sore point. It never works. I understand it is not made for indoors... however I've tried it a couple of times outside, in various areas - it never gets thru. Probably, it's something to do with my area [wishful thinking!]. But, I've no cribs... b'coz I don't need it actually, was just trying.

Qorax
Ps.:
-Mine's are 16Gb, cyan/magenta/black, all made in Finland, fetched from Dubai.
-Oh yes, my kid dropped his once, in the mall. It went flying... yet, no scars, marks, nothing. Just wiped it clean & it's shinning!

lennyk1313 | # 45 | 2012-01-18, 04:08 | Report

Wanted to see if any one else has experienced this, or may have some input. I was working in the building today (NY, AT&T) and lost the cell signal completely, while my friend who has an AT&T service as well and a different phone that shall not be named

, had at least couple of bars and was able to receive and make calls. This was very frustrating as I had to put my phone in to flight mode, so not to drain the battery completely. I got the service back one i left the building. This has happened to me once before when i was in some bar, where couple of my coworkers had their service from the same provider. So if anyone has any input on this, I would greatly appreciate it.

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N770-Freak | # 46 | 2012-01-23, 22:06 | Report

I'm owning a N900 and N9. My subjective feeling was that the reception of the N900 is better compared to the N9.

I did a testing with both devices and the same sim card. I put both devices on a desk and did some 3G download speed testing (without touching the device).
N900 got 3.5G (but only ~1Mbit download rate).
N9 got 2.5G (only ~0.2 something Mbit).

Wifi reception shows similar situation. In some rooms of my house I don't get wifi reception with the N9. The N900 has no issues in these rooms!

I also had a chance to compare the N9 with a Lumia 800. This was really embarassing. Lumia 800 had better wifi reception compared to my N900 (and of course N9). Also 3G was much better. Doing the same testing as descibed above the Lumia 800 reached ~4.5Mbit without problems). Again the N9 didn't switch to 3.5G at all.

Guys, I don't get it. At least I would assume that the N9 must be on par with the Lumia 800...

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catbus | # 47 | 2012-01-23, 23:58 | Report

Cellurar = Great... better than E71
3G = Great... same as E71
Wifi = hmmm, quite poor vs E71

chrisp7 | # 48 | 2012-01-24, 11:34 | Report

GPS - Very dissapointed. (To the point Im considering getting a GPS keyring..

EDIT - Really not sure if its Nokia Maps fault or just the GPS - Sportstracker seems so much better..

Last edited by chrisp7; 2012-01-26 at 01:46.

aRTee | # 49 | 2012-01-24, 13:07 | Report

Cellular: during our last holidays, the N9 had usable reception, and with the same provider, my Acer Liquid android phone showed no network.
BTW, don't compare different phones amount of bars of signal strength; sometimes, the Liquid showed 3 of 4 bars, the N9 only 1, but the N9 could actually make a call, and the Liquid showed 'no network' as soon as I tried to make a call or send an SMS...
As for talking, speech clarity is fine both ways.
I have to try how long it takes when picking up the phone before the other party can hear it; my android phone and home phone are both not so fast on that, so I may have adapted and just not talk immediately...

Wifi: 2 issues; during said holidays, there was free wifi near the hotel reception. For every device except the N9... It was hard to get connected on that network for everyone (laptops, iphones, android phones/tablets) but the N9 was one of the few devices that was not actually finding this network..! After a few days it did find it, and the network was usable. Not great in terms of connection, some laptop users could sit quite a bit further and still have usable speeds, where the N9 lost connection; didn't see small mobile devices do really better though.
Second issue: often the N9 will not find my home network. If I tell it to connect to my home network (settings - internet conn - manage networks - then select my home SSID) it will connect. I will be able to ssh into it, but it won't be able to load any webpages.
It will be able to ping google and such, and route shows proper info, etc... Very strange. A reboot is all that helps at that point.

GPS: for logging, I use Track@Way. It has some problems on N9, notably with the keyboard being in the way. Workaround: slide down the keyboard to see what you're typing, and you'll be fine.
From the logs that it made, I can say that GPS reception seems quite fine. I tried maps and navigation with the build-in programs, also fine (except for wrong map info, which I corrected on the Navteq site), but not seriously tested by me so far.
Note that in buildings, it doesn't help to stand near the window, where I work there's a coating that blocks gps signal, and at home with the triple glass, the reception is poor unless there's a sat in front of the window (i.e. low above the horizon, I know they're in space..) as opposed to 'up'.
Note that without a-gps, it may take about 5 minutes to get a fix, and theoretically it can take up to 20+ minutes (only 4 sats in view, and the gps gets activated just after 2 of those visible sats' ephemeris data got streamed).
To get a fast fix, if you have no data plan, stand on your balcony/terrace but with wifi on/connected to your lan, then use a gps app - it should be very fast to get a fix.

This is all still on PR1.0 since PR1.1 is not out yet (yes I could upload a firmware for another region/type, but I want to see if Nokia will fix this).

Note: fw 2011.44 is like 2011.40: PR1.1 but with different (middle eastern?) language support.

lennyk1313, why would you switch to flight mode if there's no (or too bad) reception? It shouldn't cost more than being connected and idling, which your phone would otherwise be doing. Switching to flight mode you have the risk to forget it, and then you still won't get a connection once reception is improved.

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lennyk1313 | # 50 | 2012-01-25, 15:45 | Report

Originally Posted by aRTee View Post

lennyk1313, why would you switch to flight mode if there's no (or too bad) reception? It shouldn't cost more than being connected and idling, which your phone would otherwise be doing. Switching to flight mode you have the risk to forget it, and then you still won't get a connection once reception is improved.

Because if there is no signal and I don't switch to flight mode, the battery drains way too fast because the phone is trying to find the signal constantly. I have left it on once before for several hours in the same state only to find out that more than half the battery life was gone in 3-4 hours.