Number of Bars - for voice, data, or both ?

[gowanis]

I have a 1st gen phone with EDGE. When I see 5 bars and the E, does it mean my EDGE DATA connection is at full strength, or are the bars indicative of my call signal strength ?

Many times I have 5 bars but can only get 20-30 kbps on EDGE.

 

[TEG]

Yes. The bars indicate signal. Your problem is your local bandwidth. Either there are many people using the data services on your tower, the tower's broadband connection is slow, or there is something wrong at the tower.

I have 5 bars and get 250Kbps, at 3 bars I get the same.

TEG

 

[gowanis]

so you're saying with low bars you will definitely have poor EDGE service, and with 5 bars you have the potential for good service, but it could still be lousy if your node is congested or whatever?

 

[PoitNarf]

so you're saying with low bars you will definitely have poor EDGE service, and with 5 bars you have the potential for good service, but it could still be lousy if your node is congested or whatever?

More or less, yes.

Going back to your original question, the phone sees everything it sends and receives as data. Whether it's a call, text message, webpage, or an email it's all 0s and 1s when it leaves the phone over the air.

 

[gowanis]

its just frustrating because where I work i have 5 bars and good phone calls, but EDGE barely works.

 

[gowanis]

i want to bump this thread because i've gotten conflicting information on this question. last night AT&T told me that the number of bars only reflects voice signal strength and has no bearing on how strong your EDGE or 3G will be. Either you have EDGE or 3G or not (icon or no icon) but there is no way to tell how strong it is by just looking at it. Does anyone know for sure how this works ?