Develop Bugs

[Q] Why do I have terrible phone signal but constant 3G/4G?

I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?

mrdrprofjeremy said:
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
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I work in Downtown Denver and have a very similar problem downtown, but not out in the suburbs. My Sprint store has given me a couple of explanations.
1) The buildings block the signal. There are areas of downtown, particularly by the tallest buildings, where occasionally I will drop my cell signal completely
2) In a higher concentration area signal is reduced due to more people using that signal (I don't understand how this one affects signal strength, but that's what I was told)
How is your signal outside of the downtown area? Did you update Profile and PRL after flashing? Ever dropped the phone?

Xiutehcuhtli said:
I work in Downtown Denver and have a very similar problem downtown, but not out in the suburbs. My Sprint store has given me a couple of explanations.
1) The buildings block the signal. There are areas of downtown, particularly by the tallest buildings, where occasionally I will drop my cell signal completely
2) In a higher concentration area signal is reduced due to more people using that signal (I don't understand how this one affects signal strength, but that's what I was told)
How is your signal outside of the downtown area? Did you update Profile and PRL after flashing? Ever dropped the phone?
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Well, I live about 14 miles west of downtown, and even there, I don't get full strength signal. As I said, I don't ever remember seeing more than 3 bars of signal. I update the PRL and Profile after every flash, and just today I dialled ##72786# to see if the hands free activation would do anything but no luck. I've also encountered moments where I'll be at home (again, I normally have data coverage and a few signal bars) and suddenly, I'll get an alert notifying me that I'm roaming.

mrdrprofjeremy said:
Well, I live about 14 miles west of downtown, and even there, I don't get full strength signal. As I said, I don't ever remember seeing more than 3 bars of signal. I update the PRL and Profile after every flash, and just today I dialled ##72786# to see if the hands free activation would do anything but no luck. I've also encountered moments where I'll be at home (again, I normally have data coverage and a few signal bars) and suddenly, I'll get an alert notifying me that I'm roaming.
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That happened to me the other day. I was at work and I got roaming pop up. Really weird since that never happened before and because my 4G is so strong. 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up.

mrdrprofjeremy said:
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
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This has been an issue on every LG Sprint phone with Android I have used. I am not sure what causes it but the bars on the screen never show full strength. That doesn't mean it isn't working though. I have heard it is just how LG worked the rom to show signal.

jonny4 said:
That doesn't mean it isn't working though. I have heard it is just how LG worked the rom to show signal.
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Let me first start off by saying this is the furthest from the truth. If it shows a weak signal its because this phone has a weak signal.
This is my 3rd day with this phone and as much as I raved about it on a couple of threads, weak signal is definitely one of the negatives.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app

shook187 said:
Let me first start off by saying this is the furthest from the truth. If it shows a weak signal its because this phone has a weak signal.
This is my 3rd day with this phone and as much as I raved about it on a couple of threads, weak signal is definitely one of the negatives.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app
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How can it have weak signal if when I get this I am getting 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up?

Dr. Mark said:
How can it have weak signal if when I get this I am getting 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up?
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Dude the LTE radio has nothing to do with the phone signal. Two separate radios.

This phone just has weak radios. Now the question is, is it a software or hardware issue? my bet is software but then again I'm not an engineer
Edit
Funny thing is open signal maps gives me an 85dbm reading yet in settings it shows 94 dbm

bizzshow26 said:
This phone just has weak radios. Now the question is, is it a software or hardware issue? my bet is software but then again I'm not an engineer
Edit
Funny thing is open signal maps gives me an 85dbm reading yet in settings it shows 94 dbm
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I just discovered if you switch the network setting from LTE/CDMA to CDMA my signal bar gets full.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app

I don't have an issue with 3g I get great 3g signal my issue is with lte. Lte has bed in my area since late August early September and I've had the s3 evo lte and the iPhone none of them have had an issue picking up or holding lte the lgog does.and I think it all boils down to the phone not recognizing the correct signal and thinking its weaker than it truly is. In my house and through my town I would never drop lte On the others this phone barely holds it. I've been 100 yards from a cell tower and the phone won't go below 84dbm when I know the signal strength is stronger

I installed the Network Signal Info app on several phones in my store and the LGOG registered about 9db worse consistently compared to the SGS3 or Evo LTE

About the same thing I've seen with this phone I'm hoping its a quick fix for lg with the next update. I was really hoping that zv9 would come with a new radio

[Q] LG G3 Three UK Signal Dropping

Hi all,
Is anyone else experiencing terrible signal on Three UK? My dad just got his G3 and compared to his Nokia 925 signal on Three is atrocious, and seems to drop in an out constantly?
Anyone else experiencing the same?

Not on 3 but I'm on ee (T-Mobile) and I have some prob outs at times that I found has been bit strange but most the time I have great signal.

I am on Three, had no signal concerns at all except in areas of weak signal. The phone doesn't seem great at maintaining a connection when signal is weak, whereas other phones might stay with 1 bar this drops to none, but otherwise signal is as good as can be expected.

No problems here
Sent from my LG-F400L

I have had this problem on 3 UK. I found that going into network settings and choosing the network mode without LTE stopped it from happening! Any idea why this may be anyone? Do we have defective units?
Matt

The g3 is just very slow at finding signal when its lost signal - what is happening is you are losing signal (even if just a split second), any other phone would probably instantly reconnect but the G3 seems slow - this is all software based (well, radio firmware) and can be fixed (and word on the street is that it will be fixed in the next, August, release).

Lennyuk said:
The g3 is just very slow at finding signal when its lost signal - what is happening is you are losing signal (even if just a split second), any other phone would probably instantly reconnect but the G3 seems slow - this is all software based (well, radio firmware) and can be fixed (and word on the street is that it will be fixed in the next, August, release).
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Thanks for the info, I won't be sending this off any time soon then! Also thanks for your unroot and chromecast volume fix guides they have been very helpful.

Wouldn't enabling fast dormancy help to find the signal quicker if it loses it?

I have also seem a connection problem on three in the UK. I figured switching off lte stopped it happening so much but then again I get 4G free and three tell me I have good signal strength for it so it seems silly to turn it off. Having said that I haven't seen it pop up once yet. Anybody tell me what the signal icons are on the G3, I have only had H so far? Cheers
Sent from my LG-D855 using XDA Free mobile app

stigslim said:
I have also seem a connection problem on three in the UK. I figured switching off lte stopped it happening so much but then again I get 4G free and three tell me I have good signal strength for it so it seems silly to turn it off. Having said that I haven't seen it pop up once yet. Anybody tell me what the signal icons are on the G3, I have only had H so far? Cheers
Sent from my LG-D855 using XDA Free mobile app
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I haven't seen the 4g logo yet either as I live away from any LTE areas, I've seen H and H+, 4g will show up as either LTE or a 4g symbol so I assume that your phone isn't connected to LTE/4g if you haven't seen either of those

Yep that's what I figured. Tweeted three cs but didn't seem to get much help. Thought maybe it's because I'm a SIM only customer. But I have checked there website and to all intents I should be connecting. 4G is good on my area. Not sure what else to try?

Enable fast dormancy for the 3 network. 4G works great on 3 in cities where it is supported.

How to enable fast dormancy? Website gives my area a good signal. I don't even get H+ which I did with my galaxy s3.

stigslim said:
Yep that's what I figured. Tweeted three cs but didn't seem to get much help. Thought maybe it's because I'm a SIM only customer. But I have checked there website and to all intents I should be connecting. 4G is good on my area. Not sure what else to try?
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Click to collapse
Have you tried the options when you enter 3845#*855# into the phone ? I had to use this as I was not getting LTE. See here for more info http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/general/mod-root-activate-lte-g3-t2819387

The option its already in my network settings menu and switched on. Are these different? Just can't put my finger on it.

I am having the same issue with my LG G3 on Three, the signal is much worse than my galaxy S3. Drops out randomly in my house and then takes ages to get a signal again.
Wondering whether to send it back our not as a phone with bad reception is kind of pointless! Anything perhaps fixable with a new firmware for the radio?

Yep exact same issues. Hoping it's not the phone (bought it myself not from three) really like it and Up to now three was great ? gutted.

It seems the phone either had really good or really bad reception. In poor area's it's quite flaky and can drop out easily when moving between rooms or even how you hold it.
If the reception is good you can get some great speeds on 4G though. Hoping they fix the issues with low signal strength soon as it's quite annoying.

Had a text from three saying they were going to fix my issue within the next seven days. Not picked up a 4g signal at all yet. So watch this space.

I also had problems with signal. I got a replacement SIM & that seems to have improved matters.

(Q) LTE

Is anyone experiencing LTE problems? I have great Spark signal in my area, but this phone seems to go to 3g all the time. My other phones are always on LTE, so obviously coverage is not the issue here. I will unroot thru Odin and see if it's a root problem.

ajr0312 said:
Is anyone experiencing LTE problems? I have great Spark signal in my area, but this phone seems to go to 3g all the time. My other phones are always on LTE, so obviously coverage is not the issue here. I will unroot thru Odin and see if it's a root problem.
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Not a root problem. Weird part is it only seems to happen to me in areas where there is really strong 4g, like in my house. At work, I am on a weaker 4g signal all day long without issues.

Try updating your profile and prl. Also make sure you have CDMA/LTE selected under mobile network.

ajr0312 said:
Is anyone experiencing LTE problems? I have great Spark signal in my area, but this phone seems to go to 3g all the time. My other phones are always on LTE, so obviously coverage is not the issue here. I will unroot thru Odin and see if it's a root problem.
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I have the same problem. It keeps dropping my signal to 3g..even when it's on 3g sometimes it loses the 3g signal and reconnects to 3g.. the areas I go always have band 41 ...my previous phone was the nexus 5 and the signal was great...never drops connection like this...I thought it was only my phone as I haven't seen someone with the same problem in the forums. I'm in nyc area

Hopefully there is fix soon, it's very annoying to have this data issues.

Its not just your phone mine does the same thing at my work. I switch between multiple different band 25 26 and 41 towers as well as 3G towers. It occurs while the phone just sits on my desk. Theres a couple other threads discussing this. To my knowledge no one has any usable suggestions to help with this.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

dmisselh said:
Its not just your phone mine does the same thing at my work. I switch between multiple different band 25 26 and 41 towers as well as 3G towers. It occurs while the phone just sits on my desk. Theres a couple other threads discussing this. To my knowledge no one has any usable suggestions to help with this.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
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My Note 4 does the exact same thing. I'm in a fully covered spark area, my old s4 always connected to lte with about 10 meg download. Awesome data offensive note 4 gets 3 to 5 meg download.. sometimes only getting 0.01 upload speed. That's the only thing that consistently bothers me about this phone. Oh yea it also constantly drops lte... to 3g. Feels like it's data is going through a dial up modem. I'm going to check the Sprint forums and see if I can find any good info.

Happened once in one place i was. Lower LTE signal and the phone kept dropping it and falling back to 3g, while my gf Lg G2 kept the LTE connection. I'm thinking they need to tweak the radio software in a future update.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

I've noticed that all the TriBand devices (Anything with Spark) switch to 3G for a bit then connect back to LTE/Spark. I haven't heard anything from work about this issue yet. I've also noticed its areas that have low Spark signal and high LTE signal.

My guess is it's a handoff problem. I will see all bars but LTE grayed out while riding the metro.

There is another thread touching on this too....I am having terrible LTE connection. My wife, who is an iPhone 6 user, gets 4 bars (or circles? lol) of LTE while I can sit next to her with 0-1 bars LTE or 3 bars 3G. I love this phone too much to complain alot about this but I am confident Sprint/Samsung will release an update to fix this.

The exact same problem occurred when the LG G2 got the spark update. It took 8 months for sprint to issues update that was specific to the LTE problem. I had to factory wipe before and after the update to get it to stick. The only difference is before the G2 was updated a toggle to airplane mode would bring the LTE back. That trick does not work on this phone. I will also add I drive alot at my job 6 hours plus a day. I go to the same spots to do paperwork in my truck. My Note 4 will not stay on LTE/Spark in locations where my G2 had a constant 10-15mbps connection.

LTE and 4G (ATT H810) issues

Anyone else on the ATT G4 having problems with LTE connectivity? In areas where I'd usually get 5 bars of LTE service, a majority of the time I get 2 or 3 bars of Edge service. Putting it into airplane mode and back out doesn't help, turning mobile data on and off doesn't help, and neither does removing the SIM card (and reseting the phone in the process). It seems to come and go whenever it wants to.
Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk

All I can guess is, it's probably just the ATT network itself. They did some upgrades around here a while once Cspire started hyping their fiber optic network and I noticed on my older phone that in areas where I used to get 3G I was stuck getting edge. Even with my G4 I can park in perfect view of a known ATT tower and it'll hit 4G and within a minute be down to 3G - same with strength. Get 5 bars, don't move, no data, no call, and it'll drop down to no bars but still connected and bounce around, usually settling at 2 or 3. Even though ATT says they have full LTE out here I rarely actually see the LTE logo display in the status bar.
I've been using OpenSignal to try to map out coverage areas though, been pretty handy in finding towers and chasing stronger signal

Hi sir
I m using lg g4 h810 AT&T it was working well one day i put a memory card in it signal disappear never came go to software and hardware experts but nobody has solved my problem all other functions of cell phone working properly

Weak antenna?

Seeing 4 bars of LTE signal strength on my phone is like seeing a unicorn.
I live in Upstate NY and I have the A705MN phone.
I have tried three different sim cards, all of them of course GSM compatible. The result is exactly the same among all three. I typically get 1 or 2 bars LTE.
My previous phones under the same carrier and same sim card were typically 4-5 bars. (The Wifi strength, BTW, is equal to what I've seen from my other phones.)
What can I do to improve the signal strength?
I've seen posts by those with S10's where they do something to disable specific bands. But I'm not sure how to do that on the A70 phone. I've tried the specific codes that were mentioned in threads for the S10, but those codes do not work on the A70.
Please help. As much as I like the Samsung otherwise, this factor might be the reason I return the phone.

Yes same problem here

106IFA said:
Seeing 4 or 5 bars of LTE signal strength on my phone is like seeing a unicorn.
I live in Upstate NY and I have the A705MN phone.
I have tried three different sim cards, all of them of course GSM compatible. The result is exactly the same among all three. I typically get 1-3 bars LTE.
My previous phones under the same carrier and same sim card were typically 4-5 bars. (The Wifi strength, BTW, is equal to what I've seen from my other phones.)
What can I do to improve the signal strength?
I've seen posts by those with S10's where they do something to disable specific bands. But I'm not sure how to do that on the A70 phone. I've tried the specific codes that were mentioned in threads for the S10, but those codes do not work on the A70.
Please help. As much as I like the Samsung otherwise, this factor might be the reason I return the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try LTE only settings in settings>connections.

senseijtitus said:
Try LTE only settings in settings>connections.
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Thank you for the screenshots.
I edited the access point that I'm using and changed it to LTE. But then when I go to select network mode, I cannot chose LTE Only. That option does not show up. I have tried rebooting after editing and selecting the Access Point, and I still do not see that option.
I have tried using apps such as 4g Network Only and have switched to LTE only, but that change does not seem to make a difference or the network goes down altogether.
Any suggestions?

senseijtitus said:
Try LTE only settings in set5ings>connections.
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There was a post in the forum for using settings editor app to enable LTE only option. It will enable this option for both sims.

senseijtitus said:
There was a post in the forum for using settings editor app to enable LTE only option. It will enable this option for both sims.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't been able to do this or find what it is you're referring to. I've tried adding a few values through Settings editor apps. Values such as "hw_networkmode_preference" etc.
Doesn't work.
But besides, why would setting the connection to LTE only fix this problem? I don't see how this is not a herring.
Most of the times I am see 2 bars of strength. Every now and then I get 3 bars, and more frequently than that I get only 1 bar. 4 bars is quite rare.
The real problem with this antenna is that if I step inside a supermarket or bathroom then my connection is gone. If I'm traveling around the state of NY, in more remote areas, I'm sure I will not have a chance of any connection.
I would LOVE this phone if it had a better antenna. I can deal with the subpar fingerprint reader. Just give me a strong antenna like all of my previous phones and then I'd be a happy camper!
I decided not to return the phone so I am stuck with this phone.

106IFA said:
I haven't been able to do this or find what it is you're referring to. I've tried adding a few values through Settings editor apps. Values such as "hw_networkmode_preference" etc.
Doesn't work.
But besides, why would setting the connection to LTE only fix this problem? I don't see how this is not a herring.
Most of the times I am see 2 bars of strength. Every now and then I get 3 bars, and more frequently than that I get only 1 bar. 4 bars is quite rare.
The real problem with this antenna is that if I step inside a supermarket or bathroom then my connection is gone. If I'm traveling around the state of NY, in more remote areas, I'm sure I will not have a chance of any connection.
I would LOVE this phone if it had a better antenna. I can deal with the subpar fingerprint reader. Just give me a strong antenna like all of my previous phones and then I'd be a happy camper!
I decided not to return the phone so I am stuck with this phone.
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Setting the band to lte only would help in better reception even at low signal strength. One thing I had noticed in lte band is its consistency in connection speeds and call quality even with low signal. I think this is because of the high bandwidth of the lte signals. But I'm not an expert in it. Try changing the band to lte only. It should work better.

senseijtitus said:
Try LTE only settings in settings>connections.
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Where did get this theme and icons in screen shots ?

Maystro said:
Where did get this theme and icons in screen shots ?
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Bodhosativa theme from xda apps section.

senseijtitus said:
Setting the band to lte only would help in better reception even at low signal strength. One thing I had noticed in lte band is its consistency in connection speeds and call quality even with low signal. I think this is because of the high bandwidth of the lte signals. But I'm not an expert in it. Try changing the band to lte only. It should work better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I'm trying to get better signal, rather than better reception with low signal.
There's got to be something wrong with my phone. It blacks out if I step inside a bathroom in a building and such and it's very rarely at 4 bars.

A thing I noticed. If I go and select 2g/3g only (switch off 4g lte) my signal reception instantly switches to full (4 bars) Usually I get around 2 bars with LTE active.
The strange part is that even with lte off I can still receive an lte 4g signal when outside..this is perfect for me as it means i have a really strong signal (reception) indoors but still have the benefit of 4G outside. I don't quite understand it tbh. I mean i have switched to "2g/3g only" yet i still see 4G pop up in the status bar on my commute, and it definitely receiving 4G speeds. I'm not sure if it's a bug or not but I kinda like it.

Con500 said:
A thing I noticed. If I go and select 2g/3g only (switch off 4g lte) my signal reception instantly switches to full (4 bars) Usually I get around 2 bars with LTE active.
The strange part is that even with lte off I can still receive an lte 4g signal when outside..this is perfect for me as it means i have a really strong signal (reception) indoors but still have the benefit of 4G outside. I don't quite understand it tbh. I mean i have switched to "2g/3g only" yet i still see 4G pop up in the status bar on my commute, and it definitely receiving 4G speeds. I'm not sure if it's a bug or not but I kinda like it.
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That's a terrific idea. Thank you for bringing that up.
I am implementing your suggesteion and it's nice to see 3-4 bars of strength again.
I don't need the fastest data connection. I just need a strong or secure basic data connection, since most of the time I'm not doing anything data intensive with my phone anyway when I"m away from a wifi connection.
But I'm not sure if my phone hops up to LTE at anytime.. I wish had the same "bug" that you do. I just started testing with your settings so I'll see if I can get it so that 3g is the preferred and basic network and 4g is the optional...

After another day, I'm back to LTE/3g/2g auto.
The general reception even for 3g or 2g is lower overall than what I saw from every other phone I have used. So in areas where I can expect to have a relatively low signal I get a particularly low signal for all bands, 4g, 3g, and 2g. That being the case, there's no practical difference if I cap my connection or not.
Samsung better warranty this phone. Does anyone know who I should call?

Since I bought my phone through an Ebay seller and the phone is West Carribean stock, not USA stock, which is where I am, I have no warranty on this phone.