Develop Bugs

Anyone else considering switching to a different phone?

hi guys,
so i have an S3 and i LOVE it to death. i am running Task AOKP rom which makes the phone 100000 times better but even on stock TW, the phone was great. however, what i am noticing (and from doing some reading a lot of other people notice as well) is that the reception of the phone is really lacking. over the past few days, i have been doing some experimenting with my S3 and a few other phones that i have access to. almost in every single situation, the S3 reception was drastically worse than the other phones. here are a few examples:
1) yesterday me and the wife went to a friend's wedding. when we got there, i had zero reception (x on the reception bars) while my wife's iphone had 3 bars (both ATT).
2) at work, i always have 1-2 bars and not that great reception while my coworker with an HTC phone on ATT has full service.
3) at my house, i have a few areas that the phone just struggles to get even a single bar and both my wife's iphone as well as all my previous phones (galaxy s2, iphone 4, blackberry etc..) never had that issue.
this is my second S3 unit and the previous one was not that great reception wise as well. i tried every kernel and rom you can imagine and even reverted back to stock a few times just to make sure its not rom related.
at this point, i am actually considering selling the S3 and going with an HTC One X even though i prefer everything about the S3.

have you tried different modems...just a sugestion.....some people get better reception when they flash different modems

Plays2 said:
have you tried different modems...just a sugestion.....some people get better reception when they flash different modems
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Click to collapse
yep, tried every single one of the modems that has been released so far. at first i was sure that it is just my phone or my area but a google search shows that this is pretty known issue with the S3 which is not giving me too much hope. like i said, i LOVE the phone and love its features but this one is starting to get me down.

Are you using a protective case? I've read where some cases cause reception issues.

I am quite sure that the radio in the sgs3 is not as strong as many other phones I've had. Wifi and mobile connection are much weaker compared to other devices. I am also sure that its the hardware as no matter what modem or rom I'm running its low signal in areas where friends on the same carrier with different devices are fine. It's normally not a big deal in areas with a strong signal but in areas with a weaker signal its very noticeable when others with different hardware have a signal still.

redger725 said:
Are you using a protective case? I've read where some cases cause reception issues.
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Click to collapse
no case. i even tried it without the back cover and the results were the same
blue265 said:
I am quite sure that the radio in the sgs3 is not as strong as many other phones I've had. Wifi and mobile connection are much weaker compared to other devices. I am also sure that its the hardware as no matter what modem or rom I'm running its low signal in areas where friends on the same carrier with different devices are fine. It's normally not a big deal in areas with a strong signal but in areas with a weaker signal its very noticeable when others with different hardware have a signal still.
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Click to collapse
yep, that's what most posts are saying in random forums. if it is a hardware issue, no modem in the world will make it better. i also agree that it is not a big deal in areas with strong signal but yesterday i had zero service which meant no incoming or outgoing calls for 3-4 hours while my wife had no issues with her iPhone (made me look really bad especially after all the **** i give her about owning an iPhone )

Its weird because in places other people dont have reception (they have iphones and other android phones), such as elevators, basements, in sky scrapers, i have reception and they don't. Maybe the network i'm running on (rogers) is well implanted in the city but i honestly have not noticed any worse reception in my GS3 compared to my other phones like the GS2 or iPhone 4

I switched from an iPhone 4 and I have actually got better reception and call quality with my S3 than I ever did with my iPhone. I am on ATT too.

Have you tried disabling LTE to see if you can force it to HSPA?
also have you tried a new sim just for good measure?
I haven't had much issues with respects to service when comparing it to my Nokia Lumia 900 and iPhone 4
Drew
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda premium

I get better reception that my old iPhone 4 and my infuse... areas where I use to drop calls don't anymore. Example: an area up north where I go shoot firearms, I would lose service about 1 mile before heading up the mountain road, now, I have service the entire time except for about a mile up when I go between a sub station and a dam, but once I pass it, I'm good to go. Many parts of i5 I would drop service, now there is only 1 part where service gets spotty and I may drop the call. Several other places that I learned drop calls no longer do for me since getting the s3... not sure why our experiences are different, maybe you had bad luck and received 2 defective devices. I'm in California btw, splitting my time between sf bay area, Sacramento and Redding.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

Yeah I can't wait to ditch my S3, looking to get a S4 when it comes out.

cheetablaze said:
Yeah I can't wait to ditch my S3, looking to get a S4 when it comes out.
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this to lol:thumbup:
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

I get great reception as far as I can tell. At my friend's house, his iPhone gets awful, call-droppingly bad reception and I have no issues. Both AT&T.

*#*#4636#*#*
put that in your dialpad and than go to phone options and btu it to gsm/lte preffered. if you were like me the setting should be on wcdma originally in which case i had horrible reception like you

I notice no issues with stock.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

I'm pretty annoyed by the lack of OEM accessories that we were promised.
Also annoyed that JB hasn't been officially released yet by the four major USA carriers.
But I'll be darned if there is anything better to switch to.
Phone OR manufacturer. We complain a lot, but Samsung and the Galaxy series have always been the Android leaders.

I get great reception. Full 4g lte coverage in my area. S3 is a great device. No regrets. Best phone out there by far.

I am getting signal and "0" call drops when in lift too and in car parking lots... where all my previous phones used to drop signal crazy!!!

I get great reception. ATT, Miami. My old iPhone's couldn't compete.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Rattles said:
hi guys,
so i have an S3 and i LOVE it to death. i am running Task AOKP rom which makes the phone 100000 times better but even on stock TW, the phone was great. however, what i am noticing (and from doing some reading a lot of other people notice as well) is that the reception of the phone is really lacking. over the past few days, i have been doing some experimenting with my S3 and a few other phones that i have access to. almost in every single situation, the S3 reception was drastically worse than the other phones. here are a few examples:
1) yesterday me and the wife went to a friend's wedding. when we got there, i had zero reception (x on the reception bars) while my wife's iphone had 3 bars (both ATT).
2) at work, i always have 1-2 bars and not that great reception while my coworker with an HTC phone on ATT has full service.
3) at my house, i have a few areas that the phone just struggles to get even a single bar and both my wife's iphone as well as all my previous phones (galaxy s2, iphone 4, blackberry etc..) never had that issue.
this is my second S3 unit and the previous one was not that great reception wise as well. i tried every kernel and rom you can imagine and even reverted back to stock a few times just to make sure its not rom related.
at this point, i am actually considering selling the S3 and going with an HTC One X even though i prefer everything about the S3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was it in San Antonio, tx
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

How is the modem in the Note 2? Do you experience LOS or signal issues ?

Ladies and gents,
Some of us know 1st hand about crappy Samsung CDMA radios. I have both a e4gt and SGS3 and live relatively close to my local towers, albeit hilly terrain.
That said, for those who are fascinated by the Note 2, other than price, I'm sure a few of us who are considering purchasing wish we could inquire about the samsung cdma radios ?
How do they hold up? Have samsung radios improved with the latest monstrosity ? Have you received any LOS or worse - have 2 bars 1 second, initiate a call, and the signal goes to -101db (or 0 bars)? Do you find yourself repeating what you say to those yoh are speaking with ? And lastly, if you have had a e4gt or sgs3, if you had signal issues with those phones, do you experience any with your new Note 2? Does it seem better, worse ? Keep in mind i am NOT RELATING TO DATA speeds for thise question, just CALL signal and CALL quality.
Thanks!

I picked up ET4G on release day dealing with many months of crappy radio -LOS
GN2 is my upgrade from ET4G misery and its like a breath of fresh air.
Ive found Radio to be very stable , strong signal , fast data transfer and of course no LOS.

sling said:
I picked up ET4G on release day dealing with many months of crappy radio -LOS
GN2 is my upgrade from ET4G misery and its like a breath of fresh air.
Ive found Radio to be very stable , strong signal , fast data transfer and of course no LOS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. No need to flash a different modem, but I probably will when they become available because I'm addicted to flashing anything new.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

For all the tests ive done. The Note 2 is on top at this point imo. I live on the egde of an updraded Lte tower. My S3 will sometimes pick it up and then kick on and off keeping my data in limbo. Now I walk out of my house and the N2 catches it right away with no issues. Also I'll set my S3, my Wife's S3 and the N2 side by side on 3G and the N2 always Wins at loading and web sites or goolge play menus. I know the S3 isn't an ET4G, but it gives you an idea.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Note 2 LTE or wait for Note 3?

hope im posting it on the correct section.
Anyways, I've been offered by my carrier a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTE version. I have th Samsung Galaxy Note 2 3g version now.
All I have to do is renew my contract for 24 months and also I wont have to pay more for LTE, im already on Unlimited Data on my Note 2, I just have to change my phone to a LTE enabled phone to get LTE.
Question is, is it worth the upgrade now? Or wait a few months for the Note 3 to come out?

Wait.
Really, are you always thinking "this isn't downloading fast enough?"
Locking yourself in for 24 months is nuts.

note3 ofc

muppetmania said:
Wait.
Really, are you always thinking "this isn't downloading fast enough?"
Locking yourself in for 24 months is nuts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the thing..
the fastest speed I got from my Note 2 3G is 5mbps
But I've seen people here with LTE go up to 20mbps and more...
Also, I think locking for 24 months is no problem with me. Since I've been using the same carrier for more than 10 years now
And unfortunately, where I live, we cannot retain the same mobile number if we change carriers, so unless that happens Im stuck with the same carrier.

providence said:
Here's the thing..
the fastest speed I got from my Note 2 3G is 5mbps
But I've seen people here with LTE go up to 20mbps and more...
Also, I think locking for 24 months is no problem with me. Since I've been using the same carrier for more than 10 years now
And unfortunately, where I live, we cannot retain the same mobile number if we change carriers, so unless that happens Im stuck with the same carrier.
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Click to collapse
What are you ever doing on your phone where 5mbs isn't fast enough?
I had a S3 and went to a Note 2 LTE. Have I ever noticed any difference apart from running wanky speedtest? No.
If you really need that speed, sure, get it. But it sounds like you're just seeing the bigger number and thinking you're missing out. You're really not.
If you're so vain you need to show off fast speedtest, then yes you should also get it.

It really depends, to be honest. I have a Note 2 right now, but I'd really like a N7105 LTE version. I briefly had a Galaxy S4 but got rid of it because it wasn't as good as the Note 2. If the Note 3 comes out and is just a SGS4 in a Note size, then I'd take the LTE Note 2 any day. The slowness and lag of the S4, particularly in the camera app, coupled with the outrageous heat it generates and the pointlessly short battery life while doing very little make it a no-go. Hopefully the Note 3 is better engineered.....

Had note 2 LTE version sold it but missed it and bought cheaper n7100 but not much difference. Best wait for note 3
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Signal is rarely above two bars

I have the white Note 4 from Verizon. Just wondering if anyone else is having the same issue.
I live in NYC and was expecting Verizon service to be consistently 4 bars or better but over the last week since I have had them it's hardly above 2. Can someone confirm if they also have this issue or is it just me.
Thanks in advance.

Datatrover said:
I have the white Note 4 from Verizon. Just wondering if anyone else is having the same issue.
I live in NYC and was expecting Verizon service to be consistently 4 bars or better but over the last week since I have had them it's hardly above 2. Can someone confirm if they also have this issue or is it just me.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm stuck with VZW as no one else has the coverage I need in my area. I've been through lots of devices in the last few years. I hung on to my Note 3 when I probably shouldn't have, as the signal was simply horrible and consistently much lower than other phones including my wife's Note2. I'm now back to great signal with the Note 4, in fact better than with any Sammy phone I've had (but not as good as Moto imho). If your signal is much worse than your previous phone, I'd seriously consider taking it back and replacing it.

Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely return it for a new one as It is only 10 days old. Thought I would as and see what other people's experience has been before I commit to a replacement.

I was never able to get a strong signal at my work with any other phone I owned. I am getting pretty steady coverage since using the the note 4.

bars mean nothing. is your data fast? are your texts sending? are your calls steady and not dropping?
my "bars" are lower than my g2 was but I've had clearer calls, no issues with texts like my g2 had, and my data is much faster.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 using Tapatalk.

Where in NYC?
Maybe your phone is connecting to band4? I just switched from 5S iphone and I don't see any difference.
Sent from my SM-N910V using XDA Free mobile app

I am in Williamsburg Brooklyn. The thing is the lower your signal the more your battery would be drained, which is why I am disappointed. I had tomobile and the bars never dropped below 4 in the city.

Yeah, I noticed the same thing but have had no issues with calls etc. It might be a 4G thing?

Datatrover said:
I am in Williamsburg Brooklyn. The thing is the lower your signal the more your battery would be drained, which is why I am disappointed. I had tomobile and the bars never dropped below 4 in the city.
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Click to collapse
I am close to you near Greenpoint so close area.
In my apt I get 1-2 bars usually it's on Band4 when I get outside it's full bars.

I live in phoenix, Arizona get between 2-4 bars at home with my
Note 4 on Verizon. Do notice more lag when texting on WiFi or Data than my S3. Still love the Note 4 just notice lag while typing like 2 to 3 words lag at times not all the time. So it could be a app Eating The memory. Miss having my titanium and being able to freeze my apps.
Cheers,

You can increase the speed of the phones response time by going into developer settings and changing to ART. It makes typing on the keyboard way faster.

I rarely have more than 3 bars in my house with N4 too. My wife's N3 and my old N3 got full bars with greater signal levels. about 10-15dbm better. Not sure what is up with the N4. Ive read others have swapped it out a few times with same results too.

Cellular strength and throughput

We know how much you like to stream, ahem, "videos", and so cellular data is mega-important. Rate this thread to express how you think the Samsung Galaxy Note 7's LTE performs. A higher rating indicates that it's fantastic: throughput is excellent and signal strength is top-notch.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add.

So far so good here, no issues what so ever!

I gave 4 stars. It far better than my note 4 was. I did a speed test, in an area I have done numerous speedtests with the 4, and with the 4 I averaged 12mbps(being generous here) down, and 1mbps (after a few seconds at 0) up. With this 7, I got a 38mbps down, and 12 mbps up.... showed the same amount of bars as the 4 usually did, but obviously performed much better.
Keep in mind, I live in the middle of nowhere in Maine... speed tests were performed with about 2-3 bars (fluctuating).

For me its been much worse than my Note 5. Not really sure what's going on. Carrier is Virgin Mobile (Bell Canada)

Is there anybody who can compare Note 3 (n9005) with Note 7?

It's about 70% as good as my 6P but I can deal. I would have LTE and 3 bars in my office building .. Note 7 fluxuates between LTE 1 bar and HSPA+ or nothing at all. Thank God for TMO wifi calling, eh?

Hmm, it doesn't sound promising at all. :/ Signal reception is a big weakness of my Note 3 so I expected little bit more from a new device (and after few years of development) - I see that there are still some issues on Samsung side in compare to other brands and models especially at high-end market.
WiFi calling (and VoLTE) isn't supported by O2 Czech network yet because they are... kind of slow and "specific".
What about Note 7 and iPhone 6S/6S+ or LG G4? My colleagues have these devices so I can test and compare it little bit in real life with my Carrier.
Btw. Thanks man!

I'd rank it about equal to my note 4, which is disappointed but most things are as I get older...

BableMan said:
I'd rank it about equal to my note 4, which is disappointed but most things are as I get older...
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Its a little better than my note 4. Little louder and clearer. Not crazy better, but better.

Corbitt74 said:
Its a little better than my note 4. Little louder and clearer. Not crazy better, but better.
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Then we have different builds, mine suffers from worse speaker quality. I've assumed that's the trade off we get for being able to drop it in a toilet.

BableMan said:
Then we have different builds, mine suffers from worse speaker quality. I've assumed that's the trade off we get for being able to drop it in a toilet.
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Hard to say really, we do have quite a bit of HD coverage here, also havent talked a lot on this yet, but from what I have its been good.

I had questionable service with my GS5 down in my basement, and now there's no question at all about the service on my Note 7 - it's non-existent. I cannot make or receive calls down in my basement anymore; have to go upstairs. This was rarely the case with my GS5, both on Sprint. Just my experience.

Perhaps it is the fault of AT&T and not the phone itself, but I get a shoddy signal at my house. I do live in a rural area, however, but it could be better nonetheless. Note: In town and in cities, I get perfect cellular strength.

Sattero said:
Is there anybody who can compare Note 3 (n9005) with Note 7?
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Click to collapse
I got the Note 7 to replace my Note 3. I am on Verizon. The Note 7 has been leaps and bounds better than the Note 3 as far as cell reception. I could not use my Note 3 at home without a Network extender and now my Note 7 works everywhere, even the basement, without a hiccup. I originally, before purchase, thought I would need to use the WiFi calling feature here at my home, but there is no need. On my daily route, I used to have 2 dead spots, where I always dropped calls on my Note 3, but I have had no issues with the Note 7. I believe that may be in part due to the VOLTE capabilities that the Note 7 has over the Note 3. The Note 7 would be the perfect phone if they would have built it with a flat screen. I don't see any real use for the edge panels and I have already turned them off. No need for insurance or screen protector on the Note 3 and it still looks perfect. I am seriously contemplating getting insurance for the first time as I am extremely paranoid about breaking this thing. If it weren't for how much I use the S-Pen, I would have probably waited to see what the other manufactures come out with. Hopefully, the paranoia will wear off.

Is not compatible with sprint signal booster air rave, but i also havent seen it reach high network speed on lte. so far not impressed.

I'm coming from an LG V10 and it's definitely a bit worse in the signal strength but the actual speeds seem to be about the same. I tether my phone for home internet and I always sit it in the exact same spot in my window because I found where the best signal is. With my V10 I'd have about -105 to -109db and with the Note 7 I'm getting about -114. I might need to move it around a bit and see if I can get any better. When you have a strong signal it flies though. Today in the city while I had a full signal (not sure the db's but 5 bars were full) I got 99.8Mb down and almost 17Mb up Verizon just upgraded a lot of the network in my area.