Database Users

GPS Signal Booster

Was playing with my Vibrant using 'GPS Test Plus' and stumbled onto something. I've always had weak GPS issues like everybody else. By the way I have not done the hardware fix yet. I set my phone down on a metal surface and noticed that I started getting locks within a few seconds. So I played around for a few days and came up with the solution shown in the attached picture. These pictures are from my office at works and letting it sit for 5 minutes without any covers and I couldn't get a lock. Then I popped on the modified factory cover and the modified Case-Mate cover.....and boom.....I get locks in a few seconds. All I've done is add a 1" strip of copper tape along the top inside surface of the cover. at first aluminum foil was used until I refined it a bit. Can't say this will work for everyone...but give it a shot.
Hoopty

Wow. Looks too good to be true.

Can you do a test outside?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

K, I saw what you did, but obviously the phone is facing up when tested,right? It seems the copper tape is acting as a reflector to the GPS signal (since the signal comes from the sky).I would like to know if it would give you the same results if it was facing down to see if the copper tape would in this case block the GPS signal.I'm just curious because in real life when using Navigation the phone (face)will either facing you directly or (if mounted high on the windshield) slightly tilted down.

mrrobc97 said:
K, I saw what you did, but obviously the phone is facing up when tested,right? It seems the copper tape is acting as a reflector to the GPS signal (since the signal comes from the sky).I would like to know if it would give you the same results if it was facing down to see if the copper tape would in this case block the GPS signal.I'm just curious because in real life when using Navigation the phone (face)will either facing you directly or (if mounted high on the windshield) slightly tilted down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested it at:
0 degrees (facing up)
90 degrees (facing me)
130 degrees (angled down)
and got the same results with each one. In fact the 130 degree test seemed to have the strongest signal. Take a 2" X 2" piece of aluminum foil and fold it in half and stick it in there. This must work on other Vibrant phone too. Come on.....it would only take a couple minutes to test it.
Hoopty

Hoopty-2011 said:
I tested it at:
0 degrees (facing up)
90 degrees (facing me)
130 degrees (angled down)
and got the same results with each one. In fact the 130 degree test seemed to have the strongest signal. Take a 2" X 2" piece of aluminum foil and fold it in half and stick it in there. This must work on other Vibrant phone too. Come on.....it would only take a couple minutes to test it.
Hoopty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool...trust me Im gonna try it and let u know.THX

Have you tried using g maps navigation while driving to a location, my phone always goes nuts while driving to a location rerouting, gps signal lost you know that game...?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

Hoopty-2011 said:
Was playing with my Vibrant using 'GPS Test Plus' and stumbled onto something. I've always had weak GPS issues like everybody else. By the way I have not done the hardware fix yet. I set my phone down on a metal surface and noticed that I started getting locks within a few seconds. So I played around for a few days and came up with the solution shown in the attached picture. These pictures are from my office at works and letting it sit for 5 minutes without any covers and I couldn't get a lock. Then I popped on the modified factory cover and the modified Case-Mate cover.....and boom.....I get locks in a few seconds. All I've done is add a 1" strip of copper tape along the top inside surface of the cover. at first aluminum foil was used until I refined it a bit. Can't say this will work for everyone...but give it a shot.
Hoopty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What type of copper tape?
Are you using both covers on the phone at the same time (two layers of copper tape)?

Have you noticed if this also works for your everyday reception ?

Has anyone else tried this? I will try later today with Aluminum tape since I have no copper tape handy. I guess it should not matter as long as it is metallic.

You still there OP we got some question's for you ^^^

I tried it with aluminium tape but before I even turn on GPS I noticed my wifi signal decreasing so I didnt even go any further. I have excellent GPS right now anyways with Bionix 1.3.1 and Jellette's s.gps.2.zip file that I flashed (7 meter acu.) . I was just curious.
Sent from my Blutiful-Bionix-Powered Vibrant [2ndIINoNe]

leechdweler said:
Have you noticed if this also works for your everyday reception ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im wondering this too lol

Copper is gonna conduct better than aluminum.
If you know the GPS frequency, you could always cut the copper strip to "tune" it to the frequency better.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

mrrobc97 said:
I tried it with aluminium tape but before I even turn on GPS I noticed my wifi signal decreasing so I didnt even go any further. I have excellent GPS right now anyways with Bionix 1.3.1 and Jellette's s.gps.2.zip file that I flashed (7 meter acu.) . I was just curious.
Sent from my Blutiful-Bionix-Powered Vibrant [2ndIINoNe]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't there someone with poor GPS performance that can try this out. All I hear on here is how bad the Vibrant GPS is.......Please.....someone.....test this out. My GPS has never worked this well and it has been several days now. All the testing never showed any effect on WIFI or data signal.
PS: if you have excellent GPS right now this isn't for you.
Hoopty

i've tried it but it doesn't work for me.
i'm on froyo zendroid. but the gps wasn't working before either.
i live in Romania.

Doesn't work for me either. In fact, I can't detect any satellite. My GPS is not great. It picks up satellites with SNR between 30-50 and locks within a minute typically under clear sky but not so well in built up areas. It's VERY sensitive to obstruction. I can't even place my hand under the antenna. So, the extra film of aluminium is more an obstruction than a booster. Wonder if the material matter?

FReQ Z said:
Copper is gonna conduct better than alumimum
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just sayin'.
RF tech, 14 years experience.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

FReQ Z said:
Just sayin'.
RF tech, 14 years experience.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you should know that high frequency signals travel on the surface of the conductor. Just saying...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Electrons in general flow on the skin of the conductor, not just high frequency. And high frequency is considered to be 3-30 MHz, not even close to GPS frequencies, which is more in the EHF range.
If the OP shows an improvement in signal strength by using a strip of copper tape in his phone, so be it.
RF is not digital nor analog... RF does what it wants. You have to coax it. In the product my company produces, the RF conductors are copper. The frequency we use is not that far off from the GPS frequency... up in the L-band range.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA Premium App

Possible solution to GPS problem on Nexus S

Hi,
i've tried just about anything to improve GPS singal on my Nexus S, i was so desperate i even thinked about selling it. But by accident i've found something interesting.
When you remove battery cover signal from GPS is really good, usable even indoors 1-2 meters from window. When you put cover back - it suddenly drops. Here's the best part - when i use different cover directly on the back of the phone, WITHOUT original battery cover (i have thick back case which you put on battery cover, anti scratch thing) signal was just as fine as without any cover!
Then i tried covering back of the phone with a case from another phone (Galaxy S) and signal was fine.
So the culprit is NFC spiral which is sticked to the battery cover. I'd like to take it off, but im not sure if it is possible to stcik it back in case of RMA or something.
I'd like you to try this simple experiment and tell me if your phones suffer from the same thing.
Thanks

hmm interesting

Lol wow with cover on I get 2-3 .. without cover 3-4.5 ... lol
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

YourMainDude said:
Lol wow with cover on I get 2-3 .. without cover 3-4.5 ... lol
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about turning NFC off?

Today i took off NFC antenna and it didn't work, which is strange. Now the culprit is whole battery cover. As i said i tried different cases and GPS was working fine with them.

Hello,
in our german community we discuss this problem, too. The Problem isn't the NFC antenna, it's the backcover! Some user tried with another cover from ebay: http://www.ebay.de/itm/250846706756?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 and this seems to work better!
Here is a link to the original thread (in german!) http://www.android-hilfe.de/nexus-s-forum/98979-probleme-mit-gps-fix-ab-2-3-4-a-19.html#post2080524
Best regards
Handymeister

Handymeister said:
Hello,
in our german community we discuss this problem, too. The Problem isn't the NFC antenna, it's the backcover! Some user tried with another cover from ebay: http://www.ebay.de/itm/250846706756?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 and this seems to work better!
Here is a link to the original thread (in german!) http://www.android-hilfe.de/nexus-s-forum/98979-probleme-mit-gps-fix-ab-2-3-4-a-19.html#post2080524
Best regards
Handymeister
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, that exactly what i considered. It's really funny, because original battery cover is making GPS works like s**t.
If that cover form ebay is really working i might consider buying it, i'll try to read original thread, thanks.
Have you tried that cover? My German isn't that great and neither is google translate. But from what i read this is really working, but i don't know how well.

im guessing NFC wont work without the stock battery cover

when did this GPS problem started?
it must be new...
uberberben said:
Hi,
i've tried just about anything to improve GPS singal on my Nexus S, i was so desperate i even thinked about selling it. But by accident i've found something interesting.
When you remove battery cover signal from GPS is really good, usable even indoors 1-2 meters from window. When you put cover back - it suddenly drops. Here's the best part - when i use different cover directly on the back of the phone, WITHOUT original battery cover (i have thick back case which you put on battery cover, anti scratch thing) signal was just as fine as without any cover!
Then i tried covering back of the phone with a case from another phone (Galaxy S) and signal was fine.
So the culprit is NFC spiral which is sticked to the battery cover. I'd like to take it off, but im not sure if it is possible to stcik it back in case of RMA or something.
I'd like you to try this simple experiment and tell me if your phones suffer from the same thing.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

praveenmarkandu said:
im guessing NFC wont work without the stock battery cover
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it will not work without the original back cover
that is the antennae

uberberben said:
Today i took off NFC antenna and it didn't work, which is strange. Now the culprit is whole battery cover. As i said i tried different cases and GPS was working fine with them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe. Put your NFC antenna back on. Google wallet is awesome.

Hey guys
I have my Nexus S (Blandroid + Trinity T144) tested just now, and now I only realize the GPS unit is on the right side of the phone.
Take off your cover, you should see a black, duct-tape like module pasted on almost 3/4 of the right side of Nexus S (the side where power button is located). That should be the GPS unit.
Tested with cover on, landscape with right side of the phone pointed upwards, I gained a score of 40~41 in one or two of the satellite in my view (GPS Test by Chartcross Ltd). When I test it with cover off, I gained a score of 45~47 in a few of the satellite.
Conclusion is, if you need a better GPS signal, you will need to hold it landscape with camera pointing to the left. Portrait mode will not works too well I guess. I wonder how Apple products can gain locks near instantly.

that's what i always do when i want to use GPS for navigation, pull off the battery cover.
it's almost impossible to get a fix with the battery cover on.

Humm I really wanted to delete this post but there isn't an option

Wow, i tried to get gps fix in my home without cover and it work!

Boosting signal easily

In brief it works.
If you look at Note stuff on ebay like me then perhaps you have seen those signal booster things. Looks like a sticker. Cause it is!
Ok it looks like crap. But I know that putting in an extra antenna could help if its then able to also transmit what it receives. Don't know enough to know for sure...
But for $2.90 I decided to try. It was a small metalic sticker that arrived. Instructions look like they were written 10 years ago for phones with antenna poking out the top.
Having seen teardown pics of the Note I figured out the antenna is on the bottom below the battery. I was at a hilly farm where there is only one tower and positioning is both sensitive and predictable. Perfect for testing.
I put the sticker over the antenna and was surprised to see it dropped the 2 bar HSPA connection to a 2 bar GSM connection. Putting the phone where I could normally get 3 bar HSPA was a 2 bar HSPA. Ok this confirms the sticker does actually affect signal. Now to place it correctly.
The instructions suggest placing behind battery in the same direction as antenna. I don't know if top should face left or right but I put it there.
Signal much better than first test and better than control. Able to get 1 bar in many places which was 0 before.
2 bar HSPA became 3 bar HSPA and 3 bar became often 4 bar :-D
I've ordered some more so I can experiment with orientation and also try multiple stickers.
It was worth $3 !!!

Measure dBm for us please

Could you give us a link to which one you bought and also some pics of where you installed it
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

Atrix_E said:
Measure dBm for us please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, without that info I'm skeptical. I use an app called PhoneInfo for this.

Wow, welcome to 2001!!
I thought this cell sticker booster scam died a decade ago? No?

sounds like esoteric BS...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

I remember this when I was a teen with my first Nokia
GALAXY NOTE

intruda119 said:
I remember this when I was a teen with my first Nokia
GALAXY NOTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol me too... me too... I'd wanna see the readings before I get too excited not that my coverage is horrible it'd be nice to get a bit more of a signal boost everyone and a while.
Sent from my Galaxy Note using tapatalk

PurpleMelbourne said:
In brief it works.
If you look at Note stuff on ebay like me then perhaps you have seen those signal booster things. Looks like a sticker. Cause it is!
Ok it looks like crap. But I know that putting in an extra antenna could help if its then able to also transmit what it receives. Don't know enough to know for sure...
But for $2.90 I decided to try. It was a small metalic sticker that arrived. Instructions look like they were written 10 years ago for phones with antenna poking out the top.
Having seen teardown pics of the Note I figured out the antenna is on the bottom below the battery. I was at a hilly farm where there is only one tower and positioning is both sensitive and predictable. Perfect for testing.
I put the sticker over the antenna and was surprised to see it dropped the 2 bar HSPA connection to a 2 bar GSM connection. Putting the phone where I could normally get 3 bar HSPA was a 2 bar HSPA. Ok this confirms the sticker does actually affect signal. Now to place it correctly.
The instructions suggest placing behind battery in the same direction as antenna. I don't know if top should face left or right but I put it there.
Signal much better than first test and better than control. Able to get 1 bar in many places which was 0 before.
2 bar HSPA became 3 bar HSPA and 3 bar became often 4 bar :-D
I've ordered some more so I can experiment with orientation and also try multiple stickers.
It was worth $3 !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
plz post pics when you are finished with testing so we can see exactly where you put the sticker.
I bought one of these myself. from the tutorials Ive seen its seems that it must be placed on the antenna itself. & Notes antenna is placed inside the back case, so it has to be opened by unscrewing all those philips screws inside.

how about a link so we could all have a look??!!cheers!
edit: i just bought 3 for 1.55 pounds. almost 2 beers fot them.i'm just curious.i will leave a feedback when i get them.
here is one link :http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Mobile-...&otn=5&po=LVI&ps=63&clkid=5949792537997759965

jvc.silence said:
how about a link so we could all have a look??!!cheers!
edit: i just bought 3 for 1.55 pounds. almost 2 beers fot them.i'm just curious.i will leave a feedback when i get them.
here is one link :http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Mobile-...&otn=5&po=LVI&ps=63&clkid=5949792537997759965
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha that's funny! I got a pack of 25 of those for like 10 euros about 5 years ago. I still have them around in some box. I guess I'll try it some time

measurements with and without please

I'm pretty sure that if you could boost your signal this easily and cheaply then phone manufacturers would just put them in the phone in the first place!

Allow good ol' Jade to bless you with his gospel of sensibility and reason:
It's snake oil folks.
Think about it... I have seen and used these little stickers in the past before, back in the old days. Supposedly they work using harmonic resonance attenuation. However, even if you make the signal appear to be stronger, you have to remember that there is a very big difference between signal strength and signal quality. A strong signal doesn't automatically mean a good signal. If anything, the little thing is creating signal interference which will hurt your overall performance, despite the extra bars.
Besides all of what I just said, don't you think that, if it's so cheap and it improves signal performance so well, Samsung would have included it in its original design?
Go buy a cheap beer with your $3. It'll be better, trust me.

^ Agree
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

I stuck on on my Willie and guess what?
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

I'd be curious to see if there is/was a way to boost the antenna signal. Kind of like how you can on wireless routers with modded firmwares.

bigmout said:
Agreed, without that info I'm skeptical. I use an app called PhoneInfo for this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll install that and give it a go later in the week when I'm back on the farm. I've ordered more of these stickers. If the new ones arrive in time then I'll happily do before and after dB measurements.
Here is someone selling 5 on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-x-Cell...Accessories&hash=item3cc148e1aa#ht_2266wt_745

Please... The least you could do before promoting crap is Google it. This has been proved wrong so many times in so many occasions over the years.
http://www.andybrain.com/2005/cellphone-antenna-booster-sticker-test-and-analysis/
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

PurpleMelbourne said:
I'll install that and give it a go later in the week when I'm back on the farm. I've ordered more of these stickers. If the new ones arrive in time then I'll happily do before and after dB measurements.
Here is someone selling 5 on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-x-Cell...Accessories&hash=item3cc148e1aa#ht_2266wt_745
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
take my apologies in advance, but may you be interested in my new "dr.tml's new lifetime enhancer" as well?
this sticker (genuinely invented by me) will boost your life expectation at least by a few % by absorbing, amplifying and sending your bio energy back to you! especially usefull if you have some sort of disease...
i'll sell this "dr.tml" stickers for USD 10 pp, cash in advance!
if anyone is interested please let me know, i'll be more than happy to deliver!
ps.: soon i will have also the "dr.tml's new lifetime enhancer V2 ultra" ready!
the advantage of this ultra new sticker would be that it could separate between good and bad bioenergy, and thus only reflect the good-one to you! stay tuned...

Poor Signal after Replacing Digitizer

Originally I had great service 3-4 bars continually, I dropped my S4, got a small crack it, tried to replace just the glass screen and I mistakingly hit the digitizer and had to replace it. I replaced the digitizer and have the phone on, however I am barely able to make any calls now. In the last 6 hours I was able to make 1 successful call. Even wigle wifi where I would usually see ATT at around -103db is showing -110db or not showing the ATT signal at all. Even going down to where I know normally I get -59 db to ATT I am getting no signal or in and out signal.
I have tried to swap out the internal antennas.
What is suggested? I have obviously turned the phone off and on multiple times during the last 6 hours, so something more informative than the basic, please....

Where did you have the digitizer replaced?

Where did I get it from?
I replaced it myself. It was a very simple replacement, but I do not see what role the digitizer would play in the signal?

Just confirmed even being less than 100ft away from a tower. I have no bars, previously I had 5 bars in the same area. It fails to register on ATT as well.... seems something is funky with the radio or antenna. I have swapped out 3 antennas of different length, all giving the same results.
It must be the schematic of this board. It is for sprint, not ATT. Although the PCB has the radio on it, it seems like the bottom of the attachment has 2 separate antenna connectors where as my PCB has one.
Odd. Very Odd! I am going to grab a I-377 one AT&T logo and see if that helps. It is something with antennas because even when I remove the antenna the signal is identical.

denali1231234 said:
Just confirmed even being less than 100ft away from a tower. I have no bars, previously I had 5 bars in the same area. It fails to register on ATT as well.... seems something is funky with the radio or antenna. I have swapped out 3 antennas of different length, all giving the same results.
It must be the schematic of this board. It is for sprint, not ATT. Although the PCB has the radio on it, it seems like the bottom of the attachment has 2 separate antenna connectors where as my PCB has one.
Odd. Very Odd! I am going to grab a I-377 one AT&T logo and see if that helps. It is something with antennas because even when I remove the antenna the signal is identical.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need an att one that's why.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

Same problem with the GSM version of the Nexus 7. You can use the bezel from the 32 GB WiFi model, but it won't have these special little contacts needed for the radio to work property. You need the AT&T parts. Always get parts specifically for your model number.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Galaxy s6 edge Antennagate ?

I'm having a serious weak signal with my galaxy s6 edge since day one. I tried to figure the problem till I notice when I hold the phone with my left hand and my hand blocks the antenna receiver which is in the bottom left , signal starts dropping till I have no bars.
youtube.com/watch?v=BiX20xRGCtw
sorry,
I have less than 10 posts xda prevent my from posting the link.
in this video, it took less than 22 second for the signal bars to drop from full signal to one bar.
I'm selling my device.

nexusmyprime said:
I'm having a serious weak signal with my galaxy s6 edge since day one. I tried to figure the problem till I notice when I hold the phone with my left hand and my hand blocks the antenna receiver which is in the bottom left , signal starts dropping till I have no bars.
youtube.com/watch?v=BiX20xRGCtw
sorry,
I have less than 10 posts xda prevent my from posting the link.
in this video, it took less than 22 second for the signal bars to drop from full signal to one bar.
I'm selling my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info

nexusmyprime said:
I'm having a serious weak signal with my galaxy s6 edge since day one. I tried to figure the problem till I notice when I hold the phone with my left hand and my hand blocks the antenna receiver which is in the bottom left , signal starts dropping till I have no bars.
youtube.com/watch?v=BiX20xRGCtw
sorry,
I have less than 10 posts xda prevent my from posting the link.
in this video, it took less than 22 second for the signal bars to drop from full signal to one bar.
I'm selling my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but this does not happen on my S6 edge 64Gig. I wouldn't sell my device just for that though as I rarely hold my phone directly from the bottom, but hey if it's a problem for you I wouldn't refuse you to sell it if you not satisfied.

nexusmyprime said:
I'm having a serious weak signal with my galaxy s6 edge since day one. I tried to figure the problem till I notice when I hold the phone with my left hand and my hand blocks the antenna receiver which is in the bottom left , signal starts dropping till I have no bars.
youtube.com/watch?v=BiX20xRGCtw
sorry,
I have less than 10 posts xda prevent my from posting the link.
in this video, it took less than 22 second for the signal bars to drop from full signal to one bar.
I'm selling my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
K, bye

mr mystery said:
K, bye
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My s6 edge gets a great signal, better than my friends iphone 6. So all I can say is em,bye bye.

Tried to reproduce on my canadian s6 edge 128gb, covered it every possible way, and then just tried to completely cover the whole bottom part of the phone. The signal didnt change.

nexusmyprime said:
I'm having a serious weak signal with my galaxy s6 edge since day one. I tried to figure the problem till I notice when I hold the phone with my left hand and my hand blocks the antenna receiver which is in the bottom left , signal starts dropping till I have no bars.
youtube.com/watch?v=BiX20xRGCtw
sorry,
I have less than 10 posts xda prevent my from posting the link.
in this video, it took less than 22 second for the signal bars to drop from full signal to one bar.
I'm selling my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good Call OP, you can head over to Swappa.com and they can help you get rid of the less than device.....