Invalid Bar indications after 2.1 upgrade

Question

I noticed 5 3G bars with a signal strength of -99 when I use to get 1-2 Bars. After searching the net the following information seems to be more realistic. This makes me wonder why Apple changed the display...is the iPhone 3G display output incorrect? Is there any standards or documents from cell design groups?
Having 5 3G bars then dropping to E is very misleading.
For most phones with 5 bars, each bar is worth 5dBm. So that means:
0 bars: No signal to -100dBm
1 bar: -100dBm to -95dBm
2 bars: -95dBm to -90dBm
3 bars: -90dBm to -85dBm
4 bars: -85dBm to -80dBm
5 bars: -80dBm or stronger
Regardless of the max number of bars in the phone, usually the most bars is reached at around -80dBm.
It is important to know that the bars display doesn't get updated as quick as the dBm reading in the Test Field screens, so it doesn't always match. Sometimes, you can see the bars display freeze at 2 or 3 bars even if the signal is lost. This usually happens because the phone is scanning.
Any other user comments?

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure there's no standard. Other phone makers were reporting more bars with with the same dbm, so if anything Apple has moved to being more consistent with that. Mobiletechreview compared Nokia N95 and the iPhone. This was before the recent update.
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/phones/iPhone-3G.htm
Also signal strength on CDMA network like 3G is not just a function of dbms, so Apple may have made adjustment on that.