Fixed my WIFI signal! Woo Hoo! - Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note II

After months of trying different ROMs, unrooting, rerouting, taking my phone to sprint, coping wifi folders. Nothing worked to get a good WIFI signal anywhere. (unless I was 1 foot away from the router) Where as my wifes Note 2 always worked fine. Well tonight I took apart to see if I could see anything wrong. Nothing seamed out of place. Before putting it back together I lifted up on the WIFI connection on the motherboard thinking that it may make better contact with the antenna. After putting it back together I noticed that I'm getting full bars now! :laugh: And I'm picking up the neighbors WIFI.
I did noticed that the bottom of the wifi antenna had two marks where it made contact before. Maybe while lifting up on the connection it made new a contact point.
All I can say is that it works now and it may work for others. Please let me know if it works for you.
I uploaded a picture from the disassembly video I of the contact I lifted.
Video I used to disassemble my note 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT-2zrZ_aNo
Randy

Related

[Q] Signal drop (phone network, not wifi)

Hi,
I have had my HOX for 3 weeks now and since yesterday (so, not a new thing), I keep losing the signal in my appartment, in some places outside. Oddly enough, signal is OK (tho just 3-4 bars) in my office.
1. Could this be related to the WIFI antenna issue even tho it's not WIFI issue? In other words, is there a chance that by fixing the WIFI antenna issue, I can get solve this?
2. If not, what are my other options? The garanty is already voided so I cannot send it to HTC for repair (voided by an "unofficial repair center" after the screen got smashed by dropping it from like 1m... - it's very possible that the fall or their repair broke something else, but the repair was already 2 weeks ago)
Thanks for your help!
First thing I'd ask is are you rooted? Have you been playing with radios recently?
If not, the next thing I'd look at is trying to find someone else with a micro-sim, and asking to borrow it. If they still get a good signal on their network on your phone, it might be your sim card. I had a faulty one once which just started dropping network like you describe. It can happen.
If their sim card also shows poor reception, you might have an aerial issue caused by the unofficial repair centre opening the phone up. (Although from the feedback on the WiFi issue thread HTC have worrying repair standards too).
If you can't find another micro-sim, just try finding someone on the same network. This phone (when working) has excellent network reception (better than my previous Desire S) so if a side-by-side comparison shows a big difference in signal strength, again I'd think about getting the sim replaced.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.android.telnet&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImRlLmFuZHJvaWQudGVsbmV0Il0.
If your replacement sim still has the same problem, then I'd consider opening the phone up as per the video guide in the WiFi Issue thread in the general section. Seems to be quite easy if you are careful. It is unlikely that the same aerial for the WiFi is also the 3G one, but I've looked at the tear down pictures, and can't read chinese! If i find out which one it is, I'll update this post. If not, just check all the connections.
Hi,
I have also been having this network drop issue but only near my office. The reason I think is that my office is between two towers and every now and then it tries to balance the traffic on the networks and hence keeps disconnecting devices from one to connect to the other one... However, I have cut out my normal sim into a micro sim and that was done by the guys at the shop from where I bought the device and they had said that if there are any issues, then please order a proper micro sim and use it....
I think that might also be the problem.....
levtrp savans
All,
After checking that my SIM card wasn't in cause (used a friend's HTC One X to test my SIM card and test with his), I broke open the case and saw the problem.
The problem is the damn design of those antenna contact! I saw probably around 10 of those small metal piece that are supposed to be a bit "up" and somehow touch the contact area on the back cover.
I found that 2 of them (in two different pairs, they all seem to be in pair to create a closed circuit I suppose) were a little bit lower than their counterpart, so with a flat screwdriver, put them upright, closed the case and voila, I am enjoying network with full bars since yesterday.
If the issue comes back (and it probabl will, if they got bent the first time it probably means that the metal already was bent beyond its elastic deformation area), I'll probably end up buying a soldering iron a add some patch of silver to increase the height of the contact zones. That's .... just lame I am sure they had a good reason to do that, but seriously!?
Guillaume
Glad you got to the bottom of it. Yeah I think the design choice is forced from having the main body of the phone slide in at an angle into the outer case. If the two parts just clamped together like a more traditional phone build, then they perhaps could have used a different approach.
I'm putting off opening mine up (I have the dreaded WiFi drop issue) as my current case puts just enough pressure on the screen to act like a permanent squeeze, halting my problem.
Would be interested to know if the problem reoccurs like you said it might. Keep us posted.

Bluetooth not turning on consistently

Like many of you, I've been having some trouble turning on bluetooth and it's been getting more difficult to get the bluetooth turned on. I don't have any other problems with other features, like GPS or wireless connections, but more often than not, I cannot get the bluetooth to turn on unless I reboot and toggle airplane mode a bunch of times.
As the first step in trouble shooting the problem, I decided to go back to a stock ROM since that has seemed to work for others. I deleted all of my user data and formatted system, cache, data and davlik cache before each ROM load. I first tried the stock Gingerbread ROM but the Bluetooth was still not working consistently. I then tried the ICS stock ROM but again the bluetooth did not work correctly. On each ROM, I tested the bluetooth thoroughly by power cycling the phone, using airplane mode, and trying to toggle bluetooth repeatedly. I was able to turn the bluetooth on in each ROM but it would only come on about 10% of the time and there did not appear to be a pattern of reboots or software manipulation that I could do which would cause it to turn on. Nothing seem to work so I suspected there must be a hardware problem.
I opened up the phone tonight and on a hunch, I reseated the antenna (the white antenna on the right side of the phone when it's laying on its face) by removing it and reattaching it to the board by the two ends of the antenna but did not remove it from the middle clip. I'm not sure what happened, but when I restarted, I had no wireless service which made me think I was buying a new phone tomorrow :crying: but the bluetooth was working every time! I opened the phone back up and totally removed the antenna and reseated it. This time when the phone started, I had great wireless signal and the bluetooth worked perfectly. Granted, it's only been a few hours but it's never worked so consistently since I reseated the antenna. No idea if this will last but it seems like in my case, there was an issue with the connection to the antenna. I'm not even sure if that antenna is used for the bluetooth or not.
If this works for the next couple of days, I might try buying a new antenna. If you decide to remove the antenna, make sure that you use a needle nose pliers to remove the two ends of the antenna. You do not want to pull the antenna off by the wire. Also, if you reseat it, make sure there is equal slack on each side from the middle clip because the antenna needs to fit between the two golden lines printed on the case. Otherwise, when you put the case together, it will pinch the antenna. As with all hardware changes, THERE IS A CHANCE THAT THIS WILL SERIOUSLY DAMAGE THE PHONE'S ABILITY TO RECEIVE WIRELESS SIGNAL. I thought for a few minutes I would be at T Mobile tomorrow buying a replacement.
I'll report back if this works long term. Sorry if someone already mentioned this as a solution. I did quite a bit of searching and had never heard of someone trying this.
The attachments show the location of the antenna in the case and the close up of the antenna. If you remove the back cover and unscrew the panel from the back, the antenna is right there.
Bluetooth seems to be a reoccurring issue in a lot of custom roms...for some people anyway.
If you want it to work flawlessly, as well as everything else, there's always stock 4.1.2.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone.....
I tried going back to the stock gingerbread and ICS. I knew that bluetooth worked when I had the stock gingerbread ROM but now in the stock gingerbread ROM, bluetooth no longer turned on consistently. I wiped everything on the phone when I went back to the stock ROM and it just did not work. That's what made me think that there was a hardware problem and possibly a poor or loose connection.
I'm not 100% convinced that reseating the antenna worked because I don't know if bluetooth even uses that antenna but I wanted to post my experience with it. I would go back to a stock ROM first to make sure that it doesn't work there before messing around with the hardware.

Nexus 5X service manual?

Is a service manual for the Nexus 5x available?
Long story short, I was having a problem with my camera, so I whacked the phone on the palm of my hand a couple times (yeah, that might help! [lol]) and after that I lost the network (no bars at all, just a blank triangle always) and nothing I have tried has been able to bring it back.
I am on t-Mobile running 7.1.1.
I cleared the cache, tried different combo's of network settings (2G, 3G, 4G LTE), rebooted in safe mode, replaced the SIM card and tried everything else that I could find in various threads. Nothing works.
I've opened the back of the phone previously to replace the glass (as a glass+frame module) and everything worked after reassembly. So I am willing to reopen the case and poke around but I don't know what to poke at.
So maybe a manual will help or else if anyone has any help they can offer, that would be super!
No one able to offer any help or ideas?
Well I'm thinking maybe the antenna connectors are not so much connected after you tapped the phone. I found this thread which talks about the location of antenna connectors on the back of the phone.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/help/lte-antennas-located-t3234795
ifixit has good information on it.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using XDA-Developers Legacy app
When I looked at the antenna connections with a magnifying glass, I could see that (using the same orientation as the photo you point to) one of the two prongs at the top right was bent and the single one below the top right two was also a little bent.
I stripped the phone down to the mainboard and straighten out both bent prongs. They looked pretty good to me under the magnifying glass. I also spent some time looking around these areas and at the other antenna prongs. Everything seemed to be in good order, as far as I could tell.
Unfortunately for me, the phone still doesn't get network or GPS connections.
I either need to find someone capable of testing these connections or a new mainboard or maybe phone back.
Thanks.
P.S. Here are some photos of the damaged antenna prongs before I fixed them as best a s possible.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3aloIK_2QNdX3ZaZGtTdWpqZjg
Any more ideas friends?

note 2 n7105 no phone reception except for one small area of bedroom !

I have a note 2 n7105 which a long while ago had an eMMC fault (I think thats what it was called) , which I cured by changing the main board. The phone was performing perfectly for a few months.
When I tried to use the headphone socket, it was "crackling"... a quick google and apparently its a common fault after you've taken the phone to bits, so I took it apart again, put it back together again, and great.. headphone socket working fine, BUT there was no service for the phone.
Skip forward to this week and I put a sim in(plusnet) but had the usual no service, no network etc etc.
I put the phone down on a chest of drawers next to the bed and all of a sudden full signal .... made a few calls and yes, it was working great, but as soon as I move the phone even just a few inches, the signal goes and reverts to no service.
Outside there is no service, in the house there is no service EXCEPT when I put the phone on the corner of this chest of drawers in exactly the same place... move it a few inches GONE !
Anyone with any thoughts (however bizarre), except for the obvious one of strapping the chest of drawers to the phone and carrying it around me haha !
Cheers

A70 weak wifi signal

Hello guys
Is just me or anyone here is having weak wifi signal even when I am near the router while other phones not having this issue!!
Ps: it's only my second day after buying the phone
No issues over here.
mine is fine too, it drops out once in while but so did my last phone lol
robgee789 said:
mine is fine too, it drops out once in while but so did my last phone lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is dropping too .. I hope someone got any notes about this issue before selling the phone
No issues here....
No issues, WIFI working perfectly here
I Feel Sorry For You..
quadcore003 said:
Mine is dropping too .. I hope someone got any notes about this issue before selling the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry To Read You Received A Faulty Device.. :angel:
There Are Zero Wi-Fi Issues With The A70 On A Mass Level.
You Should Begin The Process Of Obtaining A New Replacement Unit A.S.A.P.
Mine drops frequently to the point that it's frustrating. Check out my post about the screen and tell me if you have the same issues too. We might have the same versions of the device, which appear to be a bunch of faulty versions from the same batch.
I'm having an issue as well. My old phone can and able to detect and connect to my WiFi (which is quite distant tho) meanwhile my A70 can't, I have to get closer to the Wi-Fi in order for it to detect/connect to it but after that if I return to the other place when it doesn't pick it up, I'm able to maintain the connection. It's weird..
Use 3rd party app to connect on wifi. Im using wifi master. Playstore have it
jedtan025 said:
Use 3rd party app to connect on wifi. Im using wifi master. Playstore have it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can u please attach the screenshot of wifi master app because there are so many wifi master apps in playstore
Shozaf.shah said:
Can u please attach the screenshot of wifi master app because there are so many wifi master apps in playstore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go buddy
That Wifi Master app is unsupported by the A70 so I don't know why you'd recommend it here
wifi is definitely one of the worst thing on the a70...it drives me up the wall, and i am ready to sell my phone and never touch any samsung anymore because of this...i am not sure, but samsung is trying too hard to make some things "smarter" meaning if samsung thinks your wifi signal is bad it drops connection just like that...exclamation mark, lost connection, switch to data, are countless through the day...and samsung is playing dumb about this problem...
my wife is using lg and meizu on the same network and wifi is working perfectly fine 24/7...
same here. my friend is able to get a stable connection on the same network with a much older phone. However samsung won't do anything about it.
jedtan025 said:
Use 3rd party app to connect on wifi. Im using wifi master. Playstore have it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't see any app that you mention.
Can you kindly share its link here or pm me.
As my A70 also has weak wifi issue.
Can't see the wifi router downstairs when my old. Samsung note 4 can, laptop can
I'm having the same issue. Weak Wi-Fi signal in my A70. While my other phones are getting full signal. Is there any way to fix?
seems like some antenna problem. you can probably fix it by bridging antenna contacts with the pins on the motherboard with a lump of copper wire. Solder can also help.
to take itapart:
1) insert a thin piece of plastic( like a flexible plastic file) into the gap between the rear plastic and frame, and cut the adhesive, and peel away the rear plastic
2) remove the screws and sim tray
3)slide your finger nail into the gap between the rough plastic and the smooth plastic on the side rails. The rough plastic is the part that is touching the screen, and the smooth plastic is the side rails. The smooth plastic is of a different colour, and the rough plastic is black.
4 pull the side rails away, and examine the copper antenna contacts. you might want to replace the mid frame. If you still have warranty, bring it back to store

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