Develop Bugs

[Q] Poor cell signal- often roaming

I've had the E4GT for less than 24hrs, and biggest issue is the less than splendid cell reception. Sitting in my living room i used to get 2-3 bars- this thing constantly throws into roaming. I updated my PRL, Profile, and Firmware. Didn't know what the latest PRL was that was out.
I know this thing has only been out a few days, so i understand some bugs. Is anyone else having signal issues where they didn't before?
I'm really trying rock this for a couple days stock before i root the hell out of it, lol.
Thanks for any input. Link me to resources if you like, i have no issues reading up on my own if this is a common issue.

fattmann said:
I've had the E4GT for less than 24hrs, and biggest issue is the less than splendid cell reception. Sitting in my living room i used to get 2-3 bars- this thing constantly throws into roaming. I updated my PRL, Profile, and Firmware. .
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Click to collapse
Ditto! I even have an Air Rave and reception is poor.

I am running into the same situation. It keeps on switching between roaming and normal for no reason. I usually get pretty good reception in my room. It will sit there at about 2-3 bars reception, few minutes later its roaming. The phone hasn't been moved at all.

This happened to me 20 minutes after I got it on Friday but after a reboot it was fine. No problem since then. I assumed it was a network issue.

Same issue here, even with Airave (evo next to SG2 has better signal)

Huh, I'm getting better reception than my Evo 4G. The Epic Touch now works in my condo elevator at basement garage level where the Evo would consistently drop a call.

has anyone did a signal strength comparison instead of bars. they may have different values per bar on different phones.

Returns are warranted?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

I wonder if there is a difference in radios or something. My experience tells me that this radio is finicky as heck, and I don't know why.
Is there a way to find out if Samsung used different parts or suppliers to make the Epic Touch?
I remember HTC doing this with their phones, and some would be fine, and some would not (different issue each phone, lol)

Mine was doing the same i switched the phone to only go on sprints network and has been fine. I rarely need true roaming but it would go into roaming even when sprint service was available.

I think Sprint may be doing network upgrades/maintenance. The same phenomenon occurs on my Epic 4G Touch and multiple Nexus S 4G's. I'll see signal jump from -106 dBm to -76 dBm and in some places go into roaming. Nothing to worry about as long as it works. They may be upgrading equipment to support EVDO rev B hopefully.
I get much better 4G reception on the E4GT than the NS4G, FWIW.

My signal isn't as good as my photon was better then my evo 3d. I usually don't roam much. Trust me when I say this, reception could be worse lol ill deal with it!!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

I hope the poor signal has to do with upgrading to EvDo RevB on Oct7

Thank God I am not alone. My cell reception too is finicky. In places my old evo (which my girl use now)have weak signal my epic touch would roam in and out. Sometimes it won't leave roaming even after I get to a known good reception area. Only a reboot would kick it back to sprint network. I read somewhere that calling sprint and having them reset my phone on their end might help. I am going to try this out as soon as I get home.

Signal power

So far everything is working fine , i really like it except that i am starting to notice that the phone signal is not as hot as the htc .. has anyone seen that

Yes. Just tested side by side with my evo4g having the latest radios. The samsung was 6 to 10db higher.
Example: evo4g:-88, et4g -96
Is this something that software update can fix?
Sent from my Epic Touch 4G

Joey SR said:
Yes. Just tested side by side with my evo4g having the latest radios. The samsung was 6 to 10db higher.
Example: evo4g:-88, et4g -96
Is this something that software update can fix?
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Click to collapse
Probably, though, my EVO4G had an especially kick-ass signal strength for the 2G and 3G radio. Nothing could compete with it.
That said my ET4G has a better signal than any of my 3 EVO3Ds ever did and I'm not tower hopping and roaming nearly as much.
...do both phones have the same PRL?

I can also vouch for this. Really a shame that Sammy missed this tiny little feature that makes the phone, well, a phone. =/

daneurysm said:
Probably, though, my EVO4G had an especially kick-ass signal strength for the 2G and 3G radio. Nothing could compete with it.
That said my ET4G has a better signal than any of my 3 EVO3Ds ever did and I'm not tower hopping and roaming nearly as much.
...do both phones have the same PRL?
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Click to collapse
Yes both had same prl. The et4g did hold the signal stable where the evo did bounce around that value
Sent from my Epic Touch 4G

Just picked mine up today and the reception seems worse than than my old evo. I will return it tomorrow . i hate how they now have a restocking fee.

Settings or Radio
I think first it needs to be determined if the issue is hardware or software related.

I'm also having this problem... On my 3d I never 0% time without signal, now I'm having 8 to 10% tws??? Wth?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Same problem. Find myself roaming far more than with my old evo, and I often have no signal at all and need to power off and restart the phone. I'm rooted fwiw.

Same here! Really annoying. Wondering if this is something related to the root. Not getting the signal back after losing it.

Are you guy aware that the Epic Touch has the same radio as the Nexus S 4G, and we were plagued with signal issues, the last update seem to fix it but the radio, wifi, etc. could be stronger

Is anyone else's Verizon GNex constantly losing service?

So yesterday I noticed I was constantly losing 4g connection on my Nexus. No problem, 4g has been horrible here for the past week on my Thunderbolt too...probably just a Verizon issue.
Since last night I have noticed that the signal dropping is not just 4g...I'm losing service in general. Dropped calls, failed SMS messages, everything. It happens about every half hour. I'm being told that a lot of calls to me are going straight to VM. I love this phone's features but this morning I'm ready to throw it against a wall. Is anyone else experiencing this? Time to return it to the store for a replacement?

I haven't been losing signal outright, but I am reverting to 3G more often. My Bionic would do this in roughly the same areas, but the more recent radio updates had kept me steady on 4G. Hopefully future updates to the Nexus will do the same!

I think this may have something to do with the radios used on Samsung phones. An update should fix it. Because I just switched from the rezound and I had excellent signal in my house and then I switched to this and there is about a fifteen dbm difference
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

i have reverted to 3G several times randomly.
also i noticed that coming off of wifi, it takes quite a bit of time for 4G to restore itself.

My TB has been doing so in my office for the past couple weeks at least. Noticeable 5-7db loss on CM7. Data loss and weak signal on GNex too. I just deal with it anymore. Ide go back to a damn flip phone if I could

My SGN has a very poor signal strength compared to my T-bolt. The phone was unusable - no data & no bars (-120dbm). When I had data (rarely) it was 1x. After an hour in the store & on the phone with Verizon tech support they have a ticket out on it. We tried different SIM cards & a different phone even. It might be a network thing on their end - for a while at least my phone wasn't showing up as activated & the Baseband I had was not what she showed in the system.
I will let you know what I learn. I want to keep my GSN but not as a paperweight...

same issue
I called verizon and said this is not common. So whenever a phone call is ended and it tries to reconnect to 4G, the phone loses all radio signal. This is completely frustrating.....i have reset to factory(no help). I have replaced the sim card(no help)....this sucks.
UPDATE:: 12/22/2011 went back to the store and swaped out to a new nexus galaxy. All problems are gone, and this phone is working great!!! seems to even have better battery life now. probably because it is not constatly dropping the signal.

No signal here.
Set to 3G only.... no dice. No 4G here, but still no dice with the dual setting.
Had made two calls yesterday after getting home.... both were lacking in call quality, but the calls were completed. I was connected to the extender on the first call, but not on the second (thought it might have injected the noise on the line). The second call wasn't perfect, but a considerable less amount of noise. I do live in a poor signal area and that is why the need for the extender.... I figured the noise on the second call was due to poor signal.
This morning..... no SMS, no voice, no nothing!
I have played with the extender on and off.... and later came to notice lots of posts on this not being a usable combo.
So.... my conclusion. GNex has a horrible radio and if you require an extender, forget it! My DX held a much better signal.
In the end... no matter how cool the SW and HW is, if you can't make a phone call, why have a phone!
This handset is a major FAIL! The fact that VZW screwed the pooch on it and turned a Nexus device into a carrier device sucks balls as well!
EDIT: and oh yeah.... vzw support was worthless on this.

Same exact issues. My wife and I both have the GNex. We can be right next to each other and when I call her it will go straight to VM. If I pick up her phone and call, mine will ring. Afterwards I will be able to call her and it will not go to vm. VERY frustrating! I've had to text her to ask if her phone was ringing and it wasn't, so she would call me.

^ I heard from many Verizon people that its common when phone does not ring and goes straight to voice mail on other devices. Is this really an issue ? If fact it was SO frustrating that they had to switch to Sprint.

Wasnt an issue with my OG Droid or Incredible.

I own a Rezound and side-by-side speed tests show the GN's ping times and speeds are horrible! My GN looses connection often and reconnects are slow, not as bad as the Bionic, but definitely noticeable. Hopefully the radio is software correctable.. Time will tell, hopefully this will happen within my 45 day return period..
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

I find my nexus to be going from 4g/3g every once in a while probably some verizon down time

if it doesn't get fixed, I will be going back to the rezound. I love this phone, but not having a good signal in my own house? killer...
I have heard this is a usual problem with samsung phones, but I can always hope it isn't the case as i love this phone.

nosympathy said:
if it doesn't get fixed, I will be going back to the rezound. I love this phone, but not having a good signal in my own house? killer...
I have heard this is a usual problem with samsung phones, but I can always hope it isn't the case as i love this phone.
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Click to collapse
Yea Samsung has been known for poor signal strength I ran speed testing my Inc vs my fascinate and then the rezound vs the nexus and every time the HTC phones blew the Samsung phones away
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

I played with the GN at the VZW store today for less than 10 mintres, and it lost its connection while I was handling it. I tried to figure out the cause, as I had a full bar 4G signal on my TB.
I hope this is a quick and simple radio fix, as I really like this phone.
I am waiting a few more weeks to see how this is handled and to check on batt life before I jump over. Never been a Sammy fan, so i am a little cautious.

i have poor signal as well

double post

I turned in my rezound for the Gnex and I am having horrible service at my house as well. With the rezound I had 2-3 bars and with the nexus I go into extended service or no service. I really love this phone as well but if I cant get a signal at my house back to the rezound I go.

Data drops are significantly less on the GN versus the Droid Razr... I would lose data service for 30 minutes at a time on the phone.
In my bedroom, I have two bars of 3G coverage. My thunderbolt had 1 bar, and the Razr I returned had two bars. In general, for me, it has a similar signal to the Razr. HTC phones always have a terrible signal strength for me...
I don't have (or need) 4G coverage where I live. When I go to Austin or SA, I notice that the 4G coverage is less on the GN vs either the Razr or Thunderbolt. However, as I live in an area that won't get 4G anytime soon, this is fine for me...

CDMA GNex Signal Issues

I just got my VZW Galaxy Nexus this last week and I've been experiencing signal issues. Often when check my phone, it will have no signal at all which can take some time to come on, and then its sometimes even longer before I get a data connection of any kind. I am in Lincoln, NE so I have 4G here which works great when it works. Is this a common problem with these phones? I rooted and installed CM9 that day I got it so I want to determine if I have bad hardware that needs to be exchanged or bad software that can be fixed. I found the 4.03 leaked radio on the boards here and flashed it, which has seemed to help some but I still have issues. What is everyone's experience with VZW and the GNex?

Common problem seems to be the complaint of a longer "connect to network" time, both on startup of the phone and if data is lost or switched down from 4G to 3G
The consensus seems to be that its a s/w issue that can be corrected.
Oddly enough, I was standing in the middle of our local shopping mall with no bars, yet did a Google search for "Verizon Wireless" (go figure, right?) and it came right up....no it wasnt cached. Just shows that our bar readings may be inaccurate, so who knows what else might be inaccurate. I also had my phone right next to a demo GNex at the Verizon store, and the demo was showing 2 or 3 bars of 3G, while mine had 1 bar of 4G......so which is better, 1 bar of 4G or 3 bars of 3G? Judging from app download speeds, Id rather have 1 bar of 4G anyday.

I have seen some comments about the bars in the status being in accurate, however when mine has no bars it seems to be that way. I am unable to use the internet, text or call which is an issue for me.
I also should note that I use JuiceDefender to control my data connection. While this should have no bearing on my phone/text connection, I am wondering if it may have some affect on the 4G connection even after I have the screen on for a bit.

I have 4g disabled and haven't had any issues. I'd try disabling it, restart and see if it happens again. Make sure its still disabled after restart.

I've been having big time issues with mine. Lots of time I go to pick up my phone and it has service, decent service, but won't connect to data. Once I'm connected it is not an issue but if I'm on wifi at home, and turn it off, it just doesn't want to connect unless I reboot.
Rooted and tried a new radio. A little better but still has been doing some weird things.

shoman24v said:
I've been having big time issues with mine. Lots of time I go to pick up my phone and it has service, decent service, but won't connect to data. Once I'm connected it is not an issue but if I'm on wifi at home, and turn it off, it just doesn't want to connect unless I reboot.
Rooted and tried a new radio. A little better but still has been doing some weird things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How long have you had yours? My biggest question that I'm trying to answer right now is if I have subpar hardware. Since the phone is only a week old I know I could return it to stock and easily get VZW to give me a new one. This may not be the case two months from now however.

jst07 said:
How long have you had yours? My biggest question that I'm trying to answer right now is if I have subpar hardware. Since the phone is only a week old I know I could return it to stock and easily get VZW to give me a new one. This may not be the case two months from now however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had it since it's been released. The newer leaked radio is better, but it also does weird things too. I don't know if this is because I'm in a 4G town or what.
I don't get 4G where I live, but my buddies with a Bionic and Rezound do here at my house, albeit it's very sketchy for them.
Thing is, I'll have good 3G signal if I'm driving, but for some reason (at least with the original radio) it wouldn't connect. Still testing.
So far the newer radio has been better, but hasn't fixed my issue.

at my house it sucks a few blocks down or anywhere else its rock solid so i just wifi at home better for battery anyway

I hit dead zones where i really shouldnt be. Downgraded from 4.03 to 4.02 and the jury is still out. Might be overall software issue like OP said.

shoman24v said:
I've had it since it's been released. The newer leaked radio is better, but it also does weird things too. I don't know if this is because I'm in a 4G town or what.
I don't get 4G where I live, but my buddies with a Bionic and Rezound do here at my house, albeit it's very sketchy for them.
Thing is, I'll have good 3G signal if I'm driving, but for some reason (at least with the original radio) it wouldn't connect. Still testing.
So far the newer radio has been better, but hasn't fixed my issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear you're having the same problem, but I am glad to hear this sounds like a correctable software issue and not isolated bad hardware. Hopefully VZW will make some improvements to their LTE network and get some radio updates for us soon. I'm in the same boat as you, the 4.03 leaked update was a definite improvement, but a far cry from being a total fix.
As for when my data connection is working...holy hell is LTE fast. I'm clocking it in at 12-16Mb/s, which is killing even my home cable connection. I was confused as to why something seemed slower when I was at home using wifi. I disabled my wifi altogether since I'm lucky enough to have an unlimited data plan still.

Big issue
I have replaced three verizon Galaxy nexus's....all of which, each day i switched...i was either on the phone with a tech dude or (2 of them) one on one at the verizon corporate store.
All of them confirmed that there is a reception issue.
I reside on long island...specifically in the nassau area...4 towers around me..its HEAVILY 4g and 3g...3g is lower than 1mb...i actually never reached 1mb.
ever rep said its 'odd' and 'seems wrong'
now i love this phone...the one i have now..no different then the others..and unfortunately im waiting for the one i mailed to reach them ..to switch yet again.
the problem is..idk if i can handle this issue (4g drops to 3g and has to manually move back which takes forever..and very very slow pick up on any of them)
i want to believe this can be solved by a radio update..but judging by the insane amount of tries i have (every type on every version 4.0.1, 4.0.2 and 4.0.3 with kk6..there is no improvement,
im praying its a software..im waiting..and i have a feeling come january 15th...when everyone who has the phone is officially locked in it and loses the worry free exchange..is when verizon or samsung will actually admit whatever problem this is.
what kills me is i left tmobile for this (7+years) all nexus's ,,all unreal connections with free tethering and $65 a month (tax included)...my wife took my plan...and i took hers (she is grandfathered into unlimited data)
Now she has a sgs2...clocking in at 12mbs at home..ON AVERAGE...with fasstt radio switching...mine is unbelievably unstable sometimes can hit that but averages at 6-8. and in this house my wife got amazing connections on her previous 4g phone. very odd stuff, hers to the 4th one being the lucky one!
go figure!

I really wish this phone was more reliable with its signal, and hopefully VZW will get it taken care of. I'm debating about calling in to talk to a tech, but I'm not sure if I even want to because I don't expect anything to be done, and I don't want to swap phones for another one with the same issue. At the same time, I think I'd rather have this phone with some issues over the Rezound or Razr (once you go ICS, you can never go back)

[Q] ICS radios and cell signal of ROM

I been using AOKP for the past week and I have done quite a bit of traveling within WA state. My signal strength on GB roms used to be great without any problems. this is my first ICS rom and also the first time i have flashed radios on it. so far, the signal has been very poor, never any better than -97 db and usually -113 db regardless where I am. I have lost service while traveling and it was nearly impossible to regain service. i have been with other tmobile users that had service on their phones when i had none. i have tried three different radios and all showed the same results. also my gps is nolonger accurate as it shows my position several blocks from where it should. having reliable service and gps are my priorities as i travel all over and would like to get this working properly. when i do have service, my speeds seem just fine but the coverage is just really poor from what I am used to getting. does the rom have an effect on the signal strength or is it completely dependant on the radio?am I doing something wrong? thanks for any help.

bigcletus said:
I been using AOKP for the past week and I have done quite a bit of traveling within WA state. My signal strength on GB roms used to be great without any problems. this is my first ICS rom and also the first time i have flashed radios on it. so far, the signal has been very poor, never any better than -97 db and usually -113 db regardless where I am. I have lost service while traveling and it was nearly impossible to regain service. i have been with other tmobile users that had service on their phones when i had none. i have tried three different radios and all showed the same results. also my gps is nolonger accurate as it shows my position several blocks from where it should. having reliable service and gps are my priorities as i travel all over and would like to get this working properly. when i do have service, my speeds seem just fine but the coverage is just really poor from what I am used to getting. does the rom have an effect on the signal strength or is it completely dependant on the radio?am I doing something wrong? thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had a problem similar to yours..my phone would take around 5 -10 mins after every reboot to get signals..and even then it only got 2 or 3 bars at most. btw this started after i started to flash ics roms/radios. i could never get it fixed and so i had to get rid of my phone

well that is reassuring...any other suggestions?

alot of people are saying that the blaze radio works very well up in the northern half of the sates. i personally havent tried this myself but maybe it could work for you?? make sure to run DS clear cache before any flashing.
if it was my phone and i saw that it kept getting worse and worse, i would just use odin to flash the stock tar file to get back into a fresh stock gs2 with stock radios then just root it again and dont mess with the radios.
hope that helps some. good luck

I'm having the same issue. Can't find a solution. Tried several different ROMs and radios. I've found if you turn off wifi and reboot it enough times you can get it to pick up eventually but this is annoying and I'm trying to figure out a permanent solution.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app