Develop Bugs

horrible signal

I cant understand why a 200 dollar phone has such horrible signal strength. I have stock rom gb ( i am rooted though) running on my incredible 2, and my db level is always between -90 to -102 showing 1 bar or none while my wifes droid x shows -72db to -70 at all times all over our house and everywhere we go. It gets even worse when I put a silicone case from verizon on it. Is there anything I can do"? I had a thunderbolt that had slightly better signal but this is ridiculous, anyone else experiencing this?
I think if this continues , I might not have a choice but to trade this phone for something else. I would really like to keep this though so any suggestions would really be appreciated thanks

Unless the devices were calibrated on the same equipment, you can't rely on the accuracy of their signal strength measurements.
Are you having any REAL problems or do you just not like what your phone displays and perceive a problem? Mine shows between -80 and -100 usually and I get great call and data performance out of it.

Try going into settings-calls-then network. I changed from global to cdma and it seemed to help. Ymmv
Sent from my ADR6350 using XDA Premium App

Try a different back cover. The antenna is in that. May have a bad cover. Mine came with two and one of them gave me better signal than the other. Take it to verizon, they should switch it out for free. Mine gets awesome signal everywere.
Bob
Sent from my Dinc2.

Bob-o said:
Try a different back cover. The antenna is in that. May have a bad cover. Mine came with two and one of them gave me better signal than the other. Take it to verizon, they should switch it out for free. Mine gets awesome signal everywere.
Bob
Sent from my Dinc2.
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Click to collapse
that's really interestiing.

Can anyone confirm or have you tried factory reset after GB? On Froyo I had decent/good signal, but after GB it's been horrible. I am steady with 1-2 bars even in areas I used to get full bars and my dBm is around 90-102. My battery has seriously been crap since and I keep hearing and have been told by HTC/Verizon to do a factory reset to fix it but I don't know if I want to. Just curious if anyone has done it.

Bob-o said:
Try a different back cover. The antenna is in that. May have a bad cover. Mine came with two and one of them gave me better signal than the other. Take it to verizon, they should switch it out for free. Mine gets awesome signal everywere.
Bob
Sent from my Dinc2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is correct. the antenna is in the back cover. try removing the back cover and watch as it loses signal completely. to make things worse though, it seems the antenna is focused at the bottom of the case.. so similiar issue to what the iphone 4 was having.
i wonder if there's small booster antennas you could stick on to the phone somewhere(sure sounds like nonsense but i'd give it a try).

presence06 said:
Can anyone confirm or have you tried factory reset after GB? On Froyo I had decent/good signal, but after GB it's been horrible. I am steady with 1-2 bars even in areas I used to get full bars and my dBm is around 90-102. My battery has seriously been crap since and I keep hearing and have been told by HTC/Verizon to do a factory reset to fix it but I don't know if I want to. Just curious if anyone has done it.
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Click to collapse
yeah of course they are going to tell you that b.s. just like if you go to the geek squad with a pc problem and they'll say "oh you need to reinstall windows".
i just know if you did a reset it wouldn't fix anything.

voxigenboy said:
yeah of course they are going to tell you that b.s. just like if you go to the geek squad with a pc problem and they'll say "oh you need to reinstall windows".
i just know if you did a reset it wouldn't fix anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, it's the answer to solve anything just like Windows "Reboot the machine" fix.
I don't think I'll do a reset but it'd be nice to know if this will be addressed or if there's a manual fix we can do.

ok, for the hell of it i decided to buy this "cell phone signal booster"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0004EGFAG
apparently it'll come in 3-5 days so once it arrives i'll try it out and let you guys know if it actually works or not.

voxigenboy said:
ok, for the hell of it i decided to buy this "cell phone signal booster"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0004EGFAG
apparently it'll come in 3-5 days so once it arrives i'll try it out and let you guys know if it actually works or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They still sell those? You know it's just a sticker with some ink, right? It's not going to do anything for you. They've been around for something like 20 years now and have been proven to be junk...

nimdae said:
They still sell those? You know it's just a sticker with some ink, right? It's not going to do anything for you. They've been around for something like 20 years now and have been proven to be junk...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's how desperate i am...
i used to have these 'radiation blocker' stickers i put on my old moto razr. doubt they did anything either but my old job was throwing them away so thought 'why not'.

Mine is horrible as well. Just got the phone 2 weeks ago b4 unl. data went bye bye. My old samsung rogue got amazing reception but this doesnt. I have not dropped a call yet though so maybe the reception bar is just a "dummy" graphic?
No difference from froyo to gb either
Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk

This signal bar is definitely conservative. I've set the phone exactly next to my Galaxy Tab, both showing signal strength within 2 db of one another. The DInc2 showed 0 bars while the Galaxy Tab showed 2.

I know the extended battery with back cover gives me better reception then my standard cover. My phone loses signal, drops calls and isnt able to send texts or make calls sometimes while my wifes phone is able to and the wifi has been losing signal as well. On craigslist it goes

very interesting to know that the antenna is on the actual battery cover. i removed my cover and i wasnt able to see it (i assume it is built into the mold?)

eloyambres said:
Why do you think the cell phone signal booster is junk? Actually, I have got quite a good one which boost the signal at my apartment immensely. maybe you can go to their site and take a look. Their site is jammerall.com , hope I can be of help.
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Click to collapse
What I called junk was not a signal booster. It was a sticker to be placed in the battery compartment purported to boost signal when it does nothing at all. They use to be very expensive ($20-$50) until it was proven they didn't work, then the price dropped ($1-free).
Real signal boosters (pieces of hardware which will actively boost/relay a signal) actually do something to boost signal, and they really work. They also tend to not be cheap.

luzhangmin said:
Different from other electronics, cell phones have become the necessity of every one's daily life. If someone still has no idea of mobile phones, you must say that "Out!" of course except the senior citizens. To be honest, cell phones really bring us lots of benefits. We use it for talking, sending and playing. With it, our life can be modern one, without it, we will be live in the Mars, you know, know nothing about each other. But do cell phones have no disadvantages? Of course not, more and more people are using cell phones at the cost of other interests. Noises are everywhere, especially the one of mobile phones. What should we do, throw them away? It is a stupid behavior. Have you ever heard cell phone signal booster? It is a new kind of device to solve this problem, effective in blocking the signals of your cell phone and its nearby base station. one side, the mobile phone really benefits us a lot, but another side we also benefit from its noises for a long time, so the fight between the cell phone and cell phone jammer has been a hot topic in society now. Which side you stand by, jamming or not, it depends on you.
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Click to collapse
Have you read the dates on the previous posts? Last year, August.

Signal problems, what are my options?

As many, many other users of the galaxy nexus have reported, I am having some miserable signal problems. Obviously, CDMA nexus here.
I wish the issue was only that the signal on my phone is bad, but unfortunately it extends beyond that: my entire signal is lost at times. Usually it's intermittent and will happen 4 or 5 times a day for only 30 seconds at most at a time, but sometime (Usually late at night), it will lose its signal for even an hour or two, and I'll watch the battery plummet from as high as 54% to 0 as it searches for a signal the whole time.
I realize this is nothing new for some, but I almost feel like the problem went away for the whole world except for me, due to the low volume of threads related to the issue at all on the boards here. At least, recent ones.
What are my options? I don't really like the idea of trading in my nexus for a refurbished phone. Is 4.03 supposed to solve this problem? I had also read that rooting and flashing radios doesn't make much of a difference. To those of you with the CDMA nexus, what have you done to alleviate this problem? Or are you waiting patiently for an update?
Thank you in advance.

If bought new then return as faulty. Easiest solution.
sent from my Nexus Prime using XDA app

Daramue said:
I realize this is nothing new for some, but I almost feel like the problem went away for the whole world except for me, due to the low volume of threads related to the issue at all on the boards here. At least, recent ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem didn't go away. Most people had to make the decision to either live with it or trade it in on a RAZR or Rezound.
Daramue said:
What are my options?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could:
1. Trade it in for another GNex, on the "hopes" that yours is defective.
2. Trade it in for something else.
3. Live with it & wait it out on the hopes that someday Verizon will ship updated radios that will help. Current rumors say that could still be a couple of months away...
I am on the option 3 plan.
The leaked 4.0.3 radios have had limited & mixed results. For those who they do help, they don't seem to do a whole lot. There are a couple of people who had really good luck. Pretty much the same story for those of us who got Hardware version 10 phones - Haven't noticed any appreciable difference between it and the 9 I got on opening day.
Good luck!

strongergravity, thank you, that was extremely helpful; I was curious to how my fellow Nexus bretheren were dealing with the issue.
If a potential update can fix the radio, then I too will stick with number 3 as you have. Call me a masochist, but this thing is just too nice to part with.
Thank you very much for the detailed response.

Daramue said:
strongergravity, thank you, that was extremely helpful; I was curious to how my fellow Nexus bretheren were dealing with the issue.
If a potential update can fix the radio, then I too will stick with number 3 as you have. Call me a masochist, but this thing is just too nice to part with.
Thank you very much for the detailed response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just saw your thread right after I created the exact same one today! I was just wondering what you ended up doing. No one has answered definitively as to whether or not this is happening on all phones. If an exchange will fix it, I would gladly go tomorrow. I know most phones are having trouble with the 3g/4g handoff but that is not the same issue we are having. What do you think!?
Mike

Same problems I've experienced. I'm on my second gnex, same issues.
Also I pulled speed tests next to other Verizon 4g phones (razor,rezound,TB) they all had significantly higher speeds than mine . I did multiple tests around our site, they had at least twice the speed as mine.
The razr pulled three times my speed most the time. 30+mb/s vs 10
The thunderbolt was around twice as fast downloads but uploads were even.
And the rezound was double on both uploads and downloads
I used the speed test app and speakeasy online.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Another comparison I did was turning on airplane mode on and off on all phones simultaneously. And switching 3g only on/off. To see which phones would latch on to 4g first.
Again the gnex was the slowest.
I really wish we received an update to fix this I love this phone!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

I posted this earlier on another thread hoping it will get more views here.
So, I'm having the same exact problems but i did a log cat to see what might be culprit.
I have narrowed it down to this:
02-08 11:21:51.912 E/IMSFW (415): IIL: Disconnected from '7467' socket
still have no idea what can cause it yet.
also if you switch to 3g it seems it doesn't happen so maybe its a sim problem on verizons lte network end?
11:22:40.029 E/IMSFW (415): ImsSMSInterface: Registration failed, go for retrying if isim nounce present
that's what i found so if anyone can clarify and maybe see if it is really on Verizons end as this is the 4th phone that has had this problem
I will be going to verizon tomorrow to "try" and get a new 4g sim card and see if that helps somewhat.

that1techguy said:
I posted this earlier on another thread hoping it will get more views here.
So, I'm having the same exact problems but i did a log cat to see what might be culprit.
I have narrowed it down to this:
02-08 11:21:51.912 E/IMSFW (415): IIL: Disconnected from '7467' socket
still have no idea what can cause it yet.
also if you switch to 3g it seems it doesn't happen so maybe its a sim problem on verizons lte network end?
11:22:40.029 E/IMSFW (415): ImsSMSInterface: Registration failed, go for retrying if isim nounce present
that's what i found so if anyone can clarify and maybe see if it is really on Verizons end as this is the 4th phone that has had this problem
I will be going to verizon tomorrow to "try" and get a new 4g sim card and see if that helps somewhat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just went to the store and swapped out my 4g sim card... I dropped two calls on the way home from the store so I'm not sure it helped at all. Hopefully it didn't make it worse though!
I also checked my speeds and service against some other phones in the store and the Droid Razr destroyed my nexus and some other stock nexus that were there usually 12mpbs vs my 8 and 1mbps upload vs their 3.

Well I got my issues fixed today I was on tech support for an hour and he suggested to go to a store and get the sim card replaced. And that solved all my issues
Another problem I had was when using the headset for calling the person on the other line would here themselves. This has also gone away, I am so relieved I love this phone and did not want to abandone it.

Well, I did a bit of a test.
I kept my phone on 3g the whole day: Signal did not drop even for a single MOMENT in the entire day. Sure, there are times where it was bad, but my connection never entirely dropped. This leads me to believe that the problem lies with transitioning between 3g and 4g, or perhaps is just entirely related to 4g.
With the LTE network, I will have anywhere between 3% - 50% time with "no signal." It's extremely annoying and I'll always watch as my battery tanks extremely fast.
Maybe it's worth replacing the SIM card or at least, pulling it and putting it back in. Posting this here for others that are troubleshooting this same problem. I'll report back.

Verizon 4.0.4/4.0.5 Radio intermittent signal loss

I am on my sixth nexus. I am running Vicious's 4.1.1 rom rooted and not running any weird power saving apps and turning off my wifi when not at home. The radio signal either turns off completely for a few seconds or cannot connect to data services constantly when trying to use the phone. There is nothing I am doing that creates this problem consistently. It is random. Sometimes i can make a call and talk for an hour and have no problems sometimes i can be in the same area and make a call and it continually drops the call after a few seconds to a few minutes. 4g rarely works though it shows its connected. I am running what i believe to be the latest radio for verizon I515.10V.FC04/I515.FC05. I am open to suggestions on radio's app's anything to get this corrected. I even tried going back to stock and letting Verizon update the phones to start and the problem still persists. i travel a lot and it does not seem to do it in any area more than another. but It has become a constant nu sense when talking to my customers on the phone. or trying to connect to data services. PLEASE HELP
Verizon Galaxy Nexus LTE

4.0.5?
Sent from my Stock AOSP Android 4.1.1 Galaxy Nexus

Look under your battery. Is your nexus made in China or Korea? Korea ones generally are much more reliable
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

tacosrdelicioso said:
Look under your battery. Is your nexus made in China or Korea? Korea ones generally are much more reliable
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
China!!! hey own our country and apparently they just owned me... lol

tacosrdelicioso said:
Look under your battery. Is your nexus made in China or Korea? Korea ones generally are much more reliable
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's hit or miss with either. I just sent in a Korean handset for this issue.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

so I guess
So I Guess i'm a minority when it comes to this issue since no one else seems to be responding

Sdalton19 said:
So I Guess i'm a minority when it comes to this issue since no one else seems to be responding
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue, finally my 3rd gnex works perfect on Verizon, my signal would drop for about 30 seconds and come back hardly ever worked my first gnex didnt work at all. Theres another thread on here with the same issues, Just need to keep replacing them till you get a good one.

supercobaltss said:
I had the same issue, finally my 3rd gnex works perfect on Verizon, my signal would drop for about 30 seconds and come back hardly ever worked my first gnex didnt work at all. Theres another thread on here with the same issues, Just need to keep replacing them till you get a good one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you. I kinda thought the same thing. But i'm dealing with Asurion phone insurance and they aren't very concerned with getting me one that works... Talked to them a little bit ago and they are sending me another new one again...

[Q] New SGH T989 calling issues?

I bought this phone on sale at WalMart about 3 weeks ago to replace my HTC Mytouch 4G, which has been a great phone but I thought it was time for an upgrade. So far I'm not too impressed, and several times I've had an issue when I make a call that no one can hear anything. It shows it's dialing, then connected and I hear nothing. If I call back it usually will remedy itself, but not always. The other day I called my sister back after the first time of no audio, and I could hear her but she could not hear me.
This has happened about 5 to 7 times in the last 3 weeks, but it's unacceptable to me. I don't want to root the phone and run a custom ROM at this time since the phone still has a warranty, but I have a feeling it's the software, not a hardware problem. Is it a known problem with 4.04?
Also, the voice recognition on this thing is terrible! I drive a truck for a living and use my Plantronics Voyager Pro exclusively, and I have to use voice command or take my eyes off the road. I can't get this thing to recognize half of what I ask it to do. My HTC was pretty good at that, too!
I really had some expectations with this phone, and it is a nice one in many respects, but it's faults are driving me crazy!

WarrenEC said:
I bought this phone on sale at WalMart about 3 weeks ago to replace my HTC Mytouch 4G, which has been a great phone but I thought it was time for an upgrade. So far I'm not too impressed, and several times I've had an issue when I make a call that no one can hear anything. It shows it's dialing, then connected and I hear nothing. If I call back it usually will remedy itself, but not always. The other day I called my sister back after the first time of no audio, and I could hear her but she could not hear me.
This has happened about 5 to 7 times in the last 3 weeks, but it's unacceptable to me. I don't want to root the phone and run a custom ROM at this time since the phone still has a warranty, but I have a feeling it's the software, not a hardware problem. Is it a known problem with 4.04?
Also, the voice recognition on this thing is terrible! I drive a truck for a living and use my Plantronics Voyager Pro exclusively, and I have to use voice command or take my eyes off the road. I can't get this thing to recognize half of what I ask it to do. My HTC was pretty good at that, too!
I really had some expectations with this phone, and it is a nice one in many respects, but it's faults are driving me crazy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why didn't u get the s3?
Anyways, there shouldn't be any calling issues. T989 is a pretty popular phone and wouldn't be if it did not successfully make calls imho. As for voice recognition... guess HTC is better for your voice? Again mine works fine. Idk... this phone is pretty baddass
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

bzlik88 said:
Why didn't u get the s3?
Anyways, there shouldn't be any calling issues. T989 is a pretty popular phone and wouldn't be if it did not successfully make calls imho. As for voice recognition... guess HTC is better for your voice? Again mine works fine. Idk... this phone is pretty baddass
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SII was $299 on sale, the SIII was about $699 without contract....

Having the same problem also with the call connected, but can't hear anything.

kruang said:
Having the same problem also with the call connected, but can't hear anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I knew I wasn't alone!

This happens to me sometimes actually, but it only happens when I am connected to WIFI calling. Does not happen when on the network.
Its possible that your losing a 4G connection or its a weak signal when you answer the call?
Either way, when it happens to me, I battery pull and then it works again.

ITALIANNYC said:
This happens to me sometimes actually, but it only happens when I am connected to WIFI calling. Does not happen when on the network.
Its possible that your losing a 4G connection or its a weak signal when you answer the call?
Either way, when it happens to me, I battery pull and then it works again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of the WiFi calling may cause the connection issue before, so I only turn on WiFi connection at home, but didn't help. Also, it only happens after update to ICS. It happens randomly quite often and I have to use apps (i.e. Tango, Line, etc.) to make call instead. I was outdoor with full signal and 4G.
Too lazy to pull battery because of the protective case. Reboot wouldn't help either

My family has two galaxy s2 and blaze phones and all experience same issues. And that to with no WiFi and in DFW metroplex. It looks like Samsung and T-mobile issue to me because I don't see any ATT side complaint on this.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

My girlfriend and I both began having these issues with the 4.0.4 update, and never before that. It's awful, because it's so sporadic.
Edit: I never use wifi calling, and it happens both when connected to wifi and when far away from wifi, with it on and off.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

I've seen multiple people with this issue in some of the custom rom threads. This didn't happen to me on 4.03, but it does on 4.04 based roms. It seems to happen with or without wifi calling.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

ditto
I been having the same problems. stock or multiple custom ROMs. wifi-calling or no.
thought it was the wifi calling function at first, but verified that even on tmo signal and my family been having the same problems...
I've heard of people calling TMobile for support but leads to nowhere. I'ma try calling too and see what i can find out. will post with any news.

And here I was thinking it was a Rom issue. I have literally installed every Rom this morning and tested to see if the issue remained. It has happened with every one of the Roms which led me to think it was a HW issue. It seems to happen more often when my signal is weak. I have tried all the of the Radios too. Im not sure when the issue started but its very consistent with my phone. I have to try 7-8 times EVERY call to finally talk to the person. I normally just switch to my work phone or send a text.

Same problem, on both stock and custom. Must be a t-mobile thing.

So what do we do? Should we all call T-Mobile? Maybe if enough of us call, they will actually look into it.

WarrenEC said:
The SII was $299 on sale, the SIII was about $699 without contract....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also just made the identical decision (also choosing the SII over the Nexus 4 16GB—call me crazy). I seriously hope I don't have this problem... Setting up the phone now.

Most likely T-Mobile won't help. It's weird though that this only happened on the GS II. The GS I and GNex don't have this problem...

Me and my mom have this phone she is stock but we both have had this same issue lately and its been on 4.0.4 has anyone tried another radio to see if that's it? Maybe the new uvli1 will be better
Sent from my Infamous Jedi

I sign in only to tell how I fix my problem with calling I root and flash Jedi Mind Trick ROM for T-Mobile Galaxy S2 SGH-T989! [X1] and RADIO SGH-T989 UVLE1 (T-Mobile) 4.0.3 . The problem is fix after a few nights no sleep and a lot flashing

style154 said:
Me and my mom have this phone she is stock but we both have had this same issue lately and its been on 4.0.4 has anyone tried another radio to see if that's it? Maybe the new uvli1 will be better
Sent from my Infamous Jedi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried all available radios except uvli1. I don't think it's a radio issue. I'm pretty sure it's 4.0.4. I've tried a few 4.0.3 roms and they seem fine so far.
---------- Post added at 09:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 AM ----------
Do you have a link to uvli1? I'd like to rule it out

edgie13 said:
I've tried all available radios except uvli1. I don't think it's a radio issue. I'm pretty sure it's 4.0.4. I've tried a few 4.0.3 roms and they seem fine so far.
---------- Post added at 09:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 AM ----------
Do you have a link to uvli1? I'd like to rule it out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm wonder what it could be no its not out yet. Rushaoz is extracting it from his phone maybe we should ask him if he has had issues because Tmobile said they won't release the uvli1 update it will only come on new phones I feel somewhat cheated
Sent from my Infamous Jedi

Defective Radio?

I have been having a lot of problems with my new honey, namely in the signal department! I went through a whole thing with it right after activation...it worked, then didn't, then did...etc. A chat session, phone call, & 2 trip to the actual store (all in 1 day!) resulted in them doing a factory reset and sending me on my looney way. It seemed to have helped, for about a day and a half. Now it is dropping signal again! It seems to do so, sometimes, when I have the wifi on. But then sometimes not (I'm not sure if wifi is culprit or coincidence.)
The ATT store employees said I may have changed a setting (I'm sure I didn't as I don't know of any setting that would even cause that!) and also "explained" my signal will naturally fluctuate...(They think I am an idiot, obviously and of course the phone was working fine when I was there...duh!) They also gave me a new sim card.
I *really* want to love this phone! But I'm finding it frustratingly undependable. Texts won't send when I need them to. I'm not getting them either, always. Voice is hit or miss when it drops (sometimes it works, sometimes not.) I have ALSO noticed the signal is not as strong as my old beloved Cappy. That thing was a horse (and I'm thinking of going back to it if this new one doesn't wise up!) Seriously, $300 bucks for a brand new phone & it can't keep a proper signal?
Is it the radio? Is it the software (still 100% stock, unrooted)? Should I make them give me a new one? What if it doesn't work, either? Flashing it to fix the issue is fine for me, but I've been holding out for multi-view before I get flash-crazy. lol Not to mention I may have to return it so better to not mess with it [yet]. I'm very frustrated & tired of getting looked upon like I'm the typical woman idiot who is not as smart as her new smartphone!!! I am NOT imagining it!!!

k.babymamma said:
I have been having a lot of problems with my new honey, namely in the signal department! I went through a whole thing with it right after activation...it worked, then didn't, then did...etc. A chat session, phone call, & 2 trip to the actual store (all in 1 day!) resulted in them doing a factory reset and sending me on my looney way. It seemed to have helped, for about a day and a half. Now it is dropping signal again! It seems to do so, sometimes, when I have the wifi on. But then sometimes not (I'm not sure if wifi is culprit or coincidence.)
The ATT store employees said I may have changed a setting (I'm sure I didn't as I don't know of any setting that would even cause that!) and also "explained" my signal will naturally fluctuate...(They think I am an idiot, obviously and of course the phone was working fine when I was there...duh!) They also gave me a new sim card.
I *really* want to love this phone! But I'm finding it frustratingly undependable. Texts won't send when I need them to. I'm not getting them either, always. Voice is hit or miss when it drops (sometimes it works, sometimes not.) I have ALSO noticed the signal is not as strong as my old beloved Cappy. That thing was a horse (and I'm thinking of going back to it if this new one doesn't wise up!) Seriously, $300 bucks for a brand new phone & it can't keep a proper signal?
Is it the radio? Is it the software (still 100% stock, unrooted)? Should I make them give me a new one? What if it doesn't work, either? Flashing it to fix the issue is fine for me, but I've been holding out for multi-view before I get flash-crazy. lol Not to mention I may have to return it so better to not mess with it [yet]. I'm very frustrated & tired of getting looked upon like I'm the typical woman idiot who is not as smart as her new smartphone!!! I am NOT imagining it!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would definitely take it back and make them give you a new one.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Sounds like your antennae is shorting out or something like it wasn't soldered properly or the cable isn't secure. Would explain why WiFi affects it. I'd go there and demand a replacement and if they don't wanna budge your within 30 day no questions return. Then go to a diff store and get a new one. I really don't see it being a software issue.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium

cjsspape said:
Sounds like your antennae is shorting out or something like it wasn't soldered properly or the cable isn't secure. Would explain why WiFi affects it. I'd go there and demand a replacement and if they don't wanna budge your within 30 day no questions return. Then go to a diff store and get a new one. I really don't see it being a software issue.
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Is it possible that whatever the problem was, it miraculously resolved itself? I had it drop signal two more times since this post, then nothing since. It's been working perfectly. I hate to keep it if it might arise again but I hate to return it if it was some weird fluke thing.
This may or may not be related to the above problem: has anyone noticed their reception is not as good as on a previous device? I had a Cappy and it always got great signal. I noticed this one is not as strong in the same places I previously visited with my old phone. Although admittedly, it seems to be improving. Does that even make sense or is even possible? Just like me, my phone has to be the goofball of the bunch!

k.babymamma said:
Is it possible that whatever the problem was, it miraculously resolved itself? I had it drop signal two more times since this post, then nothing since. It's been working perfectly. I hate to keep it if it might arise again but I hate to return it if it was some weird fluke thing.
This may or may not be related to the above problem: has anyone noticed their reception is not as good as on a previous device? I had a Cappy and it always got great signal. I noticed this one is not as strong in the same places I previously visited with my old phone. Although admittedly, it seems to be improving. Does that even make sense or is even possible? Just like me, my phone has to be the goofball of the bunch!
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Haha I'm glad its working better but I still think it may be hardware related. I get better signal now with this device then my sIII or my note before it. Have ya done anything to your phone at all? Root mod etc?
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cjsspape said:
Haha I'm glad its working better but I still think it may be hardware related. I get better signal now with this device then my sIII or my note before it. Have ya done anything to your phone at all? Root mod etc?
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Nope. I've done nothing because I'm having this returning debate. lol I'm itching to though!
This is classic "my car doesn't work so take it to the garage then it works fine and they will make fun of you" If I do return it what do I say? It is documented about my "troubles" as per the ATT phone rep. Though if I can't reproduce the problem they're just going to send me on my way, I'm afraid.

k.babymamma said:
Nope. I've done nothing because I'm having this returning debate. lol I'm itching to though!
This is classic "my car doesn't work so take it to the garage then it works fine and they will make fun of you" If I do return it what do I say? It is documented about my "troubles" as per the ATT phone rep. Though if I can't reproduce the problem they're just going to send me on my way, I'm afraid.
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With enough "negotiating" they'll take it back haha. Plus are you still within your no ask return window? Just explain how its sporatic but annoying to the point its not functional for reliable use and they should do something within their power to help ya out
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k.babymamma said:
Nope. I've done nothing because I'm having this returning debate. lol I'm itching to though!
This is classic "my car doesn't work so take it to the garage then it works fine and they will make fun of you" If I do return it what do I say? It is documented about my "troubles" as per the ATT phone rep. Though if I can't reproduce the problem they're just going to send me on my way, I'm afraid.
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You spent enough money on the device, you should be absolutely happy with it, not apprehensive. If you wait past the return date, it's going to sit in the pit of your stomach for 20 months and ruin your enjoyment of it until you can upgrade again. Not worth it. Smile your brightest smile, walk into the store, very nicely tell them that you've had multiple issues and the AT&T phone reps said to go in and ask for an exchange. That's it. They're going to count on you being intimidated and going away. Smile, be nice, and don't be intimidated.
If they say you have to reproduce the problem, invite them to spend the day with you. The Note 2 is amazing and you shouldn't settle if you believe your hardware is having problems.

UserNamer said:
You spent enough money on the device, you should be absolutely happy with it, not apprehensive. If you wait past the return date, it's going to sit in the pit of your stomach for 20 months and ruin your enjoyment of it until you can upgrade again. Not worth it. Smile your brightest smile, walk into the store, very nicely tell them that you've had multiple issues and the AT&T phone reps said to go in and ask for an exchange. That's it. They're going to count on you being intimidated and going away. Smile, be nice, and don't be intimidated.
If they say you have to reproduce the problem, invite them to spend the day with you. The Note 2 is amazing and you shouldn't settle if you believe your hardware is having problems.
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Yes. I have decided to take it in later today, as my 14 days is up on Friday. I hope they have stock of them. Anyhow...I have another question. If a phone is sitting still with no movement (and the weather is good, lol) will there be variations in signal strength? I get 3 bars with 4G showing, then it drops to one tiny bar. Sometimes the 4G disappears then reappears. The it will go back up to 4 bars. All in the course 5 minutes! I do realize signal will vary with movement but will it if your phone is just sitting there?
I am trying to experiment a little. I just realized/remembered that I had (uneventfully) dropped my phone (not hard, in-case) about the same time as my dropped signal problem pretty much resolved itself. So then I was like, hmm, maybe there IS something loose inside. I've tried gently shaking/jarring it here on my desk, coincidentally with the bars dropping back to just 1 as a result. But then again it may be coincidental as they are seeming to waiver A LOT. I just wondered if it is normal.
I never really stared at my old phone (Galaxy1) here at my desk but I'm almost positive it always had more than 1 bar at this same location and I never noticed it waiver like this one. But like I said I never had to make myself stare at it to check, either! lol Just wondering if someone knows a little more about cellphone signal 101 than me.

I have the issue of no 4G HSPA+ but I can get a strong LTE signal when in an LTE reception area. I'm wondering if you are in an LTE area and can get LTE? Where are you located?
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I have noticed problems with my GN2 as well. Mine shows I have signal but my data stalls or doesn't seem to work as it should. I'm in an area where there shouldn't be any problems. Only seems to happen in non LTE areas. Whenever I have LTE signal this thing is blazing fast.
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Update: Took the phone in. Basically, they had never heard of the issue with this phone. But...I walked away with a replacement. So far so good though I've had it only a few hours. The girl was very nice & explained even though I was borderline limit she would take care of me. I told her I received it Fri the 9th but she said they were basing the 14 days on the 7th! I said I didn't physically have it till the 9th! Jeeze. Moot point since she was going to take care of it anyhow but it just concerned me how (corporate) att could chop 2 days of my in-store return time!
So no, I'm not in LTE land, unfortunately. 3g H+ & E only though I can't complain about the coverage or speed. Good enough for me 4 sure.
The signal bars waivered quite a bit even while in the store. They said while some fluctuation is normal it shouldn't be as much as it was doing especially with the close proximity of the tower & good weather and especially while just sitting on the counter.
I downloaded the free app "No Signal Alert" from the Play Store. In just a few hours it recorded lost signal 4 times! (In a very good coverage area) [my first phone b4 the exchange] Consider using it if you want to see if you are losing signal like I was. Handy app!
Hopefully this is a good one. I know it sounds goofy but this phone seems to even move faster than the other. Weird. It will be interesting to hear if anyone else is having this problem. Maybe there was a bad batch of them or something? Like the Nexus I read about & their signal problems.
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Haha im glad that they helped ya! No its not goofy or silly to think that one phones faster then another because no two phones are alike. The silicone chips are very different and performance can very greatly. I had an s3 that wouldnt take custom kernels to save its life but I got it replaced after a two year old and a toilet incident haha and that one took even the most abusive settings in stride!
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I have a similar situation with mine. LTE will be working fine but then I notice that once I connect to my home wifi and then either leave my wifi range or turn off wifi the LTE icon will show in the status bar and it will show that it's sending and receiving data but Web pages will stall and never load, Play Store will timeout, and SpeedTest.net will start up but the needle will freeze about 1/8 of the way up indefinitely. I've toggled data at this point but it never fixes it, I have to restart the phone at which point LTE works perfectly but once I get back on my wifi the cycle will repeat, this has happened reliably for about the past week.
Do you all think I have a defective radio or am I missing something? I'm still within my return Window and will probably swap it Friday.
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williamsjscott said:
I have a similar situation with mine. LTE will be working fine but then I notice that once I connect to my home wifi and then either leave my wifi range or turn off wifi the LTE icon will show in the status bar and it will show that it's sending and receiving data but Web pages will stall and never load, Play Store will timeout, and SpeedTest.net will start up but the needle will freeze about 1/8 of the way up indefinitely. I've toggled data at this point but it never fixes it, I have to restart the phone at which point LTE works perfectly but once I get back on my wifi the cycle will repeat, this has happened reliably for about the past week.
Do you all think I have a defective radio or am I missing something? I'm still within my return Window and will probably swap it Friday.
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Yea my wifi lte transfer is always spot on so something may be wrong
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williamsjscott said:
I have a similar situation with mine. LTE will be working fine but then I notice that once I connect to my home wifi and then either leave my wifi range or turn off wifi the LTE icon will show in the status bar and it will show that it's sending and receiving data but Web pages will stall and never load, Play Store will timeout, and SpeedTest.net will start up but the needle will freeze about 1/8 of the way up indefinitely. I've toggled data at this point but it never fixes it, I have to restart the phone at which point LTE works perfectly but once I get back on my wifi the cycle will repeat, this has happened reliably for about the past week.
Do you all think I have a defective radio or am I missing something? I'm still within my return Window and will probably swap it Friday.
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Sounds very similar to how mine is acting. I'm wondering if it is the ATT smart WiFi app causing the problem. Shows data incoming and outgoing but stalls.
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kkl0wn said:
Sounds very similar to how mine is acting. I'm wondering if it is the ATT smart WiFi app causing the problem. Shows data incoming and outgoing but stalls.
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That's exactly how it's acting for me. I just now disabled the AT&T Smart WiFi app and after a quick restart and toggle test there was no problems, but I'm not sure if the problem will only pop up after I've been on wifi for a while. I'm going to see if it keeps doing it tomorrow.
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Disabling Smart WiFi appeared to fix the problem.
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What I noticed today is that when this same issue happens, with 4G icon and wifi icon both active, it occurs after I manually check for a firmware update within the system settings. The 4G icon doesn't go away until I reset the phone.
Also I manually deleted the all the AT&T boat ware apps before this was happening so the smart wifi app is not causing this for me.
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Weird, if you get the issue and don't have the Smart WiFi app then it must be something else and it was coincidence that it worked normal for me today. I've only checked for firmware once (when I first got my phone) so it must be something else causing it. I'm hoping the multi view firmware will also have a fix for it.
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