[Q] Phone signal Samsung Galaxy S 4 i9505 - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello guys. How is the signal of your s4? I have noticed that the signal bars are always low. With other phones where I took four bars now with s4 take two or at most three. I can call and do other things quietly but 'I never see full bars. It also happens to you?
Operator: h3g
Version: I9505XXUAMDM
officer
thanks

LUIKAP said:
Hello guys. How is the signal of your s4? I have noticed that the signal bars are always low. With other phones where I took four bars now with s4 take two or at most three. I can call and do other things quietly but 'I never see full bars. It also happens to you?
Operator: h3g
Version: I9505XXUAMDM
officer
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive been kinda concerned over the signal too but after comparing it with a Moto Razr i and S3 on the same network, I would say its slightly better than the S3.
Im not watching the signal bars as such but using Settings>about phone>Status to look at the 'dbm' figure. The higher is better ( - 60 is good, -101 isnt good). I have noticed that someitimes there is no signal bars but I can make calls, clear sound too, so I wonder if its just the phones visualisation of the reception.

Related

How is the i9000's reception?

It's supposedly 20% better than other smartphones. Any confirmation on that?
Better then Iphone 4 for sure
It hold batter signals then my HTC Desire.
Don't see much difference between Desire and Galaxy... But is't better that SE X1
It seems to be around 37.2% better. By the way, 72.324% of all statistics are made up
On a more serious note, I've had no problems with dropped calls and the sound quality seems better than my old iPhone 3G.
NickeMan said:
It seems to be around 37.2% better. By the way, 72.324% of all statistics are made up
On a more serious note, I've had no problems with dropped calls and the sound quality seems better than my old iPhone 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hence why I'm asking for some real world opinions, if Samsung said they made some strides in this phone with regards to reception that's all we have to go on.
Samsung phones have had bad reception as a given, which is also why they mentioned this improvement (I'm guessing)
At work where my HD2 is switching from 1 bar on 3G-H
to 3 bars on G every minute
The galaxy s stay´s on 3 bars 3G all the time
I live in city where you can't have less then 5 bars
even with iphone 4 no metter what you do
My nexus used to swing between 1-3 bars indorr and 3-4 outdoors.
My SGS has stable 3 bars inside (sometimes drops to 2), and full 5 outside.
Reception is good, even compared to non-smartphone phones.
I'm really pleased with it, expected it to be worse, as i heared some bad stuff about samsung antennas.
My house is a dead spot, and with both my samsung omnia and iPhone 3G I struggled to get even a bar of signal. my i9000 hasn't lost signal at all so far staying on a constant 2-3 bar
At work where I didn't have any signal on my i8910, I get a few bars of edge now. It drops out every now and again.
I don't think I could put a numerical value in terms of %. It *seems* better.
In only few words.
"It sounds good"
I'd also agree that the signal is much better than any smartphone I've had previously which has always been an issue for me!
A constant 3 bars when I used to struggle to get a constant 1 bar on a different HTC phone!

Reception Issues with Verizon PLAY R800x?

I've posted this in a couple forums and I'm trying to figure out if it's a widespread issue or just an issue with a few units. My PLAY is consistently getting 2-3 bars LESS than any other phones right next to it. And it seems that BGR also had similar issues with their review unit and said that the PLAY had some of the worst reception they've seen in a long time. And when I posted about this on the official VZW forums, other members also stated they are having similar problems. I'm also struggling to connect to 3G when my area is completely covered in 3G and was ALWAYS on 3G on my iPhone 4.
So I'm wondering, how is everyone else's reception on Verizon? Are you having similar problems, or are you getting just as many bars as other phones in the same area?
My phone also shows only 1-2 bars at most. However if you go to the status of the phone, the phone, the actual strength for me is between -79 - -80 db which as far as I can tell is perfectly good reception.
Haven't had any dropped calls and could make calls so far everywhere I went.
I have the rogers version (canada) and reception/3g is amazing, almost always full bars. Wireless on the other hand sucks.
My friends iphones/captivates get wireless where mine wont...
On AT&T with my R800a and I have better signal now than I ever did on my iPhone 3GS, oddly enough. I get signal in places the iPhone used to choke on consistently.
From what I remember being on Verizon years ago, bars didn't matter as much as CDMA voice is pure digital. You either have a solid connection or you don't at all. EVDO was similar as I remember it, sharing the same data stream and the reason why you can't talk and surf at the same time. Is the phone just showing weak bars or is it a problem of no signal at all?
At any rate, I bet SE will patch the radio firmware in the 2.3.3 update for the US.
It's mostly just showing low bars but the fact that it's having trouble staying on 3G is the biggest thing. It's on 1x 80% of the time but I should always be on the EVDO connection. I'm going to try a few more tests with my girlfriends iphone and my play and see just how much they are different. I really hope it's something that is an be fixed through software.
Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk
My reception is terrible on my unbranded R800a, as I rarely have more than two bars. I know most phones have this issue, but when I hold the phone near the bottom for too long (which is often), it messes with the signal. 90% of the time when I'm using it, it reads zero bars.
I've yet to have a dropped call though, so I'm not too concerned about it...more of a mental thing than anything else.
Edit: I'm getting -101 dBm in most rooms in my house...looks pretty bad to me.
Like I mentioned before, have any of you gone into the about phone section and read the actual signal? I don't think you can trust the bars as actual signal strength. Check the actual numbers.
I had one issue with the phone at 1x, I restarted it and it was fine. I had the same issue with my Droid 2 sometimes, so I don't think it was all on the phone.
Went back to the Verizon store today to see if they would swap it out with a new one. But first we compared it to the floor model and it had the same problem. It had consistently lower signal than other phones in the store. He basically said I have the 14 days to return it and decide whether I want better signal or the gaming controls. He agreed with me that the phone wasn't holding a signal as good as the other phones. Even driving down the highway which ways gave me 5 bars is giving me 1. And my signal is 86+
Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk
Mines is about the same as my htc droid eris on the verizon network.
In settings, about phone, it shows -90 dBm
Just read somewhere off the internet that the about phone settings dBm doesn't represent 3g. it represents 1x. Not sure if it is true.
Do you think I should just try and make them swap the phone out for me and see if the new one is any better before just returning it for good? And what are the chances they would gladly swap it out for a new phone without giving me a hard time and making me pay a restocking fee? The phone is awesome except for the reception issues I'm having. And I'd hate to pass on the phone if it's an isolated incident.
They will xchange it. Do what ive done call tech support and make them document u need aa replacement
Sent from my R800x using XDA App
I tested talk and web browsing, works fine on verizon. Possibly just another iOs limitation. *_*
Back to topic, I've noticed the 2 - 3 bars usually in LA but the signal strength is good dBm. ?
Sent from my R800x using XDA App
mine is usually round -85 DBm and like 1-2 bars, my other tunderbolt is full bars for my wife, have nto checked DBm on it tho
placing xperia play next to original droid.
Droid: 4 bars, -70dBm
Play: 1 bar, -74dBm
Both 3g.
Not sure what this means?
trothmaster said:
placing xperia play next to original droid.
Droid: 4 bars, -70dBm
Play: 1 bar, -74dBm
Both 3g.
Not sure what this means?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This means that the reception is a tiny bit worse in pure radio power. However, its scale is MASSIVELY shifted in regards to bar listings. I would be just bottoming out around -96dBm on my Droid. Dropping out at -80dB is a bad thing.
so it sounds like a software update could help? or am I miss-understanding....
I swapped out my phone and my new one is much much better
Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk
I also swapped mine and see no improvement. What improvement were you seeing?
Sent from my R800x using XDA App
Having the same signal problems with my r800x. I think it might just be an issue with Verizon.

[Q] Galaxy S4 - signal strenght problems (compared to my S2)

Hello guys. Since i've got my S4 (i9505) i kinda have some problems with my signal strenght. While at home im one EDGE i never get a better signal strenght than -80dBm (4/4 bars) compared to my S2 with -51dBm (4/4bars). Actually this is not the problem but its alternatign much between 4 and 2 bars like -80dBm and -98dBm. In the outside i get LTE but often i have only 1bar (-104dBm). Forcing to HSPAP doesnt help much. I have no prblems surfing but more problems phoning. Putting that Hybrid SIM-card in my old S2 (i cant put my old one in my S4 cause i dont wanna cut it) i have excellent signal strenght as the other carrier card. I changet to the best carrier with my s4 actually so thats why im kinda upset, but in my S2 the signal is actually really god (tough i only have HSDPA and no LTE). I even tried to flash some new radios but it did not help. So im asking now do you guys have a better signal with your S4 compared to your old phone?
(fyi, i have a german carrier Telekom-D1 and my old carrier was O2)

Note 3 Signal Strength problems

So apperently the signal strength on our devices is not up to par. Ive heard a large amount of people having bad signal quality compared to their previous devices as well as previous Galaxy devices. Personally I've owned an SM-900A (AT&T) and an SM-900T (T-Mobile) Note 3 and they've all had pretty garbage signal strength (10+ DBm worse than any of my other devices on LTE, 3G, and 2G.) For example my budget Pantech Burst gets about 10DBm better than my Note 3 on any network type which is pitiful since its a 2 year old budget android device...
Its not even close to the signal strength i got on my AT&T Note II. I constantly drop from LTE to a just as weak 3G signal and sometimes ****ing EDGE! (2G)
It doesnt do this on my other devices
All of this has been on AT&T.
So what the hell is causing this guys?
Is it the power enveloping **** they implemented?
Are the antennas ****?
Its seriously bothering me.
KosanRio said:
So apperently the signal strength on our devices is not up to par. Ive heard a large amount of people having bad signal quality compared to their previous devices as well as previous Galaxy devices. Personally I've owned an SM-900A (AT&T) and an SM-900T (T-Mobile) Note 3 and they've all had pretty garbage signal strength (10+ DBm worse than any of my other devices on LTE, 3G, and 2G.) For example my budget Pantech Burst gets about 10DBm better than my Note 3 on any network type which is pitiful since its a 2 year old budget android device...
Its not even close to the signal strength i got on my AT&T Note II. I constantly drop from LTE to a just as weak 3G signal and sometimes ****ing EDGE! (2G)
It doesnt do this on my other devices
All of this has been on AT&T.
So what the hell is causing this guys?
Is it the power enveloping **** they implemented?
Are the antennas ****?
Its seriously bothering me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Samsung galaxy note 3 with snapdragon 800. No problem with GSM signal strength... And wifi signal strength is much,much better than on,for example, iPhone five. i have both of these devices.so I can see the difference.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Also having reception problems with calls. The bars drop to zero then back to all bars when sitting in the same place. Have read of others as well having this problem. Vodafone is my carrier here in Holland.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
Mrlovkim said:
Also having reception problems with calls. The bars drop to zero then back to all bars when sitting in the same place. Have read of others as well having this problem. Vodafone is my carrier here in Holland.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I'm also in Europe. I also have a random signal bar dropping, but that does not influence in quality of calls.
Sent from Note 3
Dito same problems I was going to repair center but it seems I ain't the only one. .
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Because of this happening I get missed calls messages or calls go right to voice mail. Very annoying.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
MILJANN said:
I have Samsung galaxy note 3 with snapdragon 800. No problem with GSM signal strength... And wifi signal strength is much,much better than on,for example, iPhone five. i have both of these devices.so I can see the difference.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM are you currently using? Lots of people are having WiFi issues even with the auto network switch off.
I just got a Note 3 last week from ATT and I have no issues with signal strength. In fact it has better signal strength everywhere than the Nokia Lumia 920 that it replaced. Where I work at few phones can get reception due the the metal frame of the building and the numerous RF and electronic sources we have in the building. But my Note 3 has no issue in any part of that building. Again I am in the US and on one of ATT's flagship regions so that may be the difference.
klau1 said:
Which ROM are you currently using? Lots of people are having WiFi issues even with the auto network switch off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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but it was the same wifi strength anyway in every version of rom. I'm using galaxy note 3 with snap dragon 800. And people was complaining about wifi in other topics ...yes...but not about wifi strength ....it was upload and download speeds. Later they solve the issue .it was program glitch
Sent from Note 3
My signal bar has never been over 3 bars ever. I found it odd.... but put it down to my carrier (3 UK) - so seems like a wide issue with signal strength then?
radicalisto said:
My signal bar has never been over 3 bars ever. I found it odd.... but put it down to my carrier (3 UK) - so seems like a wide issue with signal strength then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my signal is variable... But i never lost a call or being unavailable. so that signal bar, for me is kind of fake
Sent from Note 3
MILJANN said:
my signal is variable... But i never lost a call or being unavailable. so that signal bar, for me is kind of fake
Sent from Note 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never lost a call, but I lose data a lot. And then it takes about 10mins for it to come back, but as I said I put it down to 3 UK being silly. Hoping their LTE network will be better. I'm assuming it will be as they're piggy backing on EE UK's network.
Did you update to MJ7? Because that brought me significant signal boost. I'm getting full bars inside my bathroom whereas before It went dead whenever I entered it.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
MohJee said:
Did you update to MJ7? Because that brought me significant signal boost. I'm getting full bars inside my bathroom whereas before It went dead whenever I entered it.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'm using MJ7. Didn't make any difference to the signal
No issue so far.
My call signal and data signal is pretty strong. MJ7 here.
Mrlovkim said:
Also having reception problems with calls. The bars drop to zero then back to all bars when sitting in the same place. Have read of others as well having this problem. Vodafone is my carrier here in Holland.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
GSM reception is pretty lousy, a few signal drops a day. While my HTC ONE had a signal strength from -90 dBm most of the time (in my house, same provider) the Note 3 is almost never better than -100 dBm with a daily average about -105 dBm.
Signal bars go up and down all the time...most of the time no bars at all (but with reception)
The Note 3 is my first smartphone in years that has Wifi reception problems. I have 10 wireless devices connected to my router and the Note 3 is the only one with reception problems (dropping signal and switching to 3G...when available)
I'm on MJ7
Ce said:
+1
GSM reception is pretty lousy, a few signal drops a day. While my HTC ONE had a signal strength from -90 dBm most of the time (in my house, same provider) the Note 3 is almost never better than -100 dBm with a daily average about -105 dBm.
Signal bars go up and down all the time...most of the time no bars at all (but with reception)
The Note 3 is my first smartphone in years that has Wifi reception problems. I have 10 wireless devices connected to my router and the Note 3 is the only one with reception problems (dropping signal and switching to 3G...when available)
I'm on MJ7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's strange. I'm using wifi all the time in my house and I have no problems of that kind. Since we have iPhone 4s,iPhone 5 and iPad 4 I can tell that's wifi strength of note 3 is much, much better. so I'm very satisfied. On the same spot I've got a new usable signals that I don't have on iphone 5 iPhone 4s and iPad 4. It was a very pleasant surprise for me and that is not the only case with Apple products. I've done some comparing with Motorola and lg .note 3 got usable signals that Motorola and LG don't have. So far so good....
Sent from Note 3
My problem is not with wife or data it's strength of for phone calls. I have read quite a few having problems with their Samsung unit. Went from a S3 to the Note 3 and the S3 did not have this problem and it was the same carrier.
Sent from my SM-N9005
Mrlovkim said:
My problem is not with wife or data it's strength of for phone calls. I have read quite a few having problems with their Samsung unit. Went from a S3 to the Note 3 and the S3 did not have this problem and it was the same carrier.
Sent from my SM-N9005
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its very good that you don't have any problem with your wife ??????
Sent from Note 3
Stupid auto correct...urgh
Sent from my SM-N9005

Weak cell/radio signal - anyone else too?

Put simply, the Note 4 has the worst signal strength of any phone ive ever had. I use 3 UK. Signal is weak inside house especially downstairs. Recently i have had the blackberry passport which was amazing signal wise. I currently have an iphone 6 plus too. The 6 Plus can make calls downstairs just about. The Note 4 has no reception.
In fact i have noticed the signal is weaker wherever i am...
Anybody else notice this. .
I really like the Note 4 but the weak radio is going to give me a problem. Maybe samsung can improve the radio with a firmware?
gavinfabl said:
Put simply, the Note 4 has the worst signal strength of any phone ive ever had. I use 3 UK. Signal is weak inside house especially downstairs. Recently i have had the blackberry passport which was amazing signal wise. I currently have an iphone 6 plus too. The 6 Plus can make calls downstairs just about. The Note 4 has no reception.
In fact i have noticed the signal is weaker wherever i am...
Anybody else notice this. .
I really like the Note 4 but the weak radio is going to give me a problem. Maybe samsung can improve the radio with a firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note 4 N910C, Mexico.
I'm having the same issues, WiFi signal is excellent, no problems whatsoever, but the cellular signal is really low.
Take a look at the screenshot, I'm in the city downtown, where usually I have really good signal using another phone (Xperia Z1)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8wLXzMtrTkRS3ZzRU5uUlBZOHc/view?usp=sharing
I agree n910u australia very poor signal
same here
It depends on the phone signal gaining hardware.i too have a sony which has excellent signal strength always.
Sent from my D2005
This is not good. Maybe we should not have asked Samsung to build a phone using metal! I also have the Gear S which is great. But I need the Note 4 to use the Gear S. I also need a phone to make phone calls so this seems like a design issue. Sad.
Here, in downtown Amsterdam I have bad 4G/LTE signal inside my apartment too, but it's even worse with my Galaxy S5. On the other hand 3G is full bars. In the elevator of my apartment building the S5 loses his signal completely (no network) while the Note 4 survives with a very weak signal. But overall both the Note 4 and Galaxy S5 suck at cell reception. You will have to learn to live with it.
Check if you have the latest firmware or baseband installed?
if not, try to update it.
Unlocked N910C Useless as a phone
My reception ANYWHERE is crap. I'm using AT&T's network and I have a Galaxy Tab S unlocked that has a phone and that has 3 or 4 bars to the GSNote 4 having maybe 1. I'm wondering if this happened because I rooted with CF Autoroot, as it seemed to appear after that, but I have no idea. I unrooted and flashed the latest firmware (NK5) and I still has the same crappy phone reception problem.
I too have ****ty reception.. wifi is good. but cell reception is bad..
Same here, N910C
Baseband: ANJ4
Same here , like my old phone m8. It must be metal case problem?
I have the same problem with Note 4 as with 3.
One of the reasons I changed to was the problem with calls was shut down in poor reception areas.
The problem is not there at all with my daughters iphone.
We can drive in to bad areas and mine is cut off and she's not.
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA Free mobile app
gavinfabl said:
Put simply, the Note 4 has the worst signal strength of any phone ive ever had. I use 3 UK. Signal is weak inside house especially downstairs. Recently i have had the blackberry passport which was amazing signal wise. I currently have an iphone 6 plus too. The 6 Plus can make calls downstairs just about. The Note 4 has no reception.
In fact i have noticed the signal is weaker wherever i am...
Anybody else notice this. .
I really like the Note 4 but the weak radio is going to give me a problem. Maybe samsung can improve the radio with a firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My NZ version note 4 got the same problem. The WiFi is suprisingly good, but the cell reception is **** as f**k and when I use 4G or 3G it got disconnected easily.
Its qualcom varients problem. My exinos one was just fine. Common problem for me too.
fahad2mail said:
Its qualcom varients problem. My exinos one was just fine. Common problem for me too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not just the qualacam. I have the n910C and it too has a very bad signal. I have tried every baseband to date and they have no effect. It is only the 3G and LTE that are bad. GSM is OK.
I sometime cannot even get the 3G while my iPhone has a full signal. I too noticed it after rooting. I just don't remember it being this bad when I first bought it.
gavinfabl said:
This is not good. Maybe we should not have asked Samsung to build a phone using metal! I also have the Gear S which is great. But I need the Note 4 to use the Gear S. I also need a phone to make phone calls so this seems like a design issue. Sad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The frame metal has nothing to do with reception (see the placement of the main antenna relative to the body on page 8). I cannot comment on other models but I've got the Canadian N910W8 and my signal is EXACTLY the same as my other 2 Galaxy S4's.
In your cases, I believe it's rather a software issue/mismatch (CSC/modem/RILJ, etc), especially If you bought it from a different country/region, you should probably start with the phone's CSC, matching it against your residential location...
Also, try choosing a non LTE network connections under More Networks > Mobile Networks > Network Mode. If the signal improves considerably, you're living in a poor LTE area. As of right now, since VoLTE is not yet widely supported, only your download speeds would be affected by leaving your phone connected to a non LTE network.
Same problem with my brother's note 4 bought from UAE. Its an exynos version. Turning LTE off does not improve the signal strength. On the other hand my note 1 (exynos) and lumia 1020 have excellent reception in the same room.
sixline said:
Same problem with my brother's note 4 bought from UAE. Its an exynos version. Turning LTE off does not improve the signal strength. On the other hand my note 1 (exynos) and lumia 1020 have excellent reception in the same room.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, you bought the phone from UAE, but where are you located/using the phone? If you're using it in a region/location other than UAE, then you should probably consider installing the modem for the region you're currently living in, and also changing the CSC.
Mine is from Slovenia and using in Greece. Signal is crap. I have nexus 7 2013 and has far superior coverage with the same network. So no network different there.

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