Database Users

[Q] Vibrant with weak/no signal strength, options?

I recently purchased a used Samsung Vibrant. Returning it is not an option at this point. Suffice to say, its not stolen, I've paid my idiot tax, and now I want to move on and try to make someting of the money I 've already wasted. If I had to do it over again, I'd buy a new one.
Basically, the phone unable to show enough signal strength to make a phone call or data connection. Now and then it may show one bar, most of the time no bars or a blue circle/slash icon. AFAIK, even without a SIM the phone should still connect for 911 service. After checking the phone and reading this forum I can verify the phone is running the stock firmware, is not currently rooted or unlocked. As I see it have the following options;
1. Attempt some of the firmware options I find available in this forum. I'm fairly experienced with flashing HTC phones, especially the Touch Cruise, with various radios and Android builds. There seem to be many choices, I'm not sure which to start with but prefer stability over bleeding edge.
2. Contact Samsung support for possible repair, either warranty or at cost. If this is a know simple issue and would cost around $100 or so I'd considering it worth it.
3. Take it to T-mobile and see if I missed something obvious.
4. Slap my self on the back of the head for a bone-head choice, and use my repair money toward a mytouch. At least its Android.
Any helpful suggestions?
Thanks,
Nomedias

New JI6 OTA fixes signal problems
Also avoid palming the phone in left hand on a weak signal, covering the bottom left corner your signal strength drops.. Ive personally only seen this effects data not voice

demo23019 said:
New JI6 OTA fixes signal problems
Also avoid palming the phone in left hand on a weak signal, covering the bottom left corner your signal strength drops.. Ive personally only seen this effects data not voice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the directions at forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=732458 to update to JI6 update. The problem is still there. FYI, the only 512.pit I can find is the one included with the stock ROM. Is that good or is there a more recent one I couldn't find mention of?

you dont need to update pit file. its the same that you already have

demo23019 said:
you dont need to update pit file. its the same that you already have
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that makes sense.
An update on the issue. I changed the screen timeout to 10 minutes, then set it down. After a couple minutes it might get 2-3 bars (-95 to -105 dBm), but the moment I pick it up it drops to nothing. And no I'm not using a deathgrip, and other phones I have get a solid signal, also on T-mobile. I'm thinking I gonna contact Samsung tomorrow and see what repair options I have, if any.
Thanks for the assist.

Nomedias said:
Thanks, that makes sense.
An update on the issue. I changed the screen timeout to 10 minutes, then set it down. After a couple minutes it might get 2-3 bars (-95 to -105 dBm), but the moment I pick it up it drops to nothing. And no I'm not using a deathgrip, and other phones I have get a solid signal, also on T-mobile. I'm thinking I gonna contact Samsung tomorrow and see what repair options I have, if any.
Thanks for the assist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't have to be death grip it happens just by covering the bottom left side...like i said in my OP just palming in left hand can cause this.
This only happens when you're on a weak signal.
I have this problem even on JI6 you have to hold phone certain way so you're not blocking antenna with hand.
This happens to me at home but noticed when i get real strong signal on the road or at girlfriends house it doesn't happen
I'm pretty sure nothing is wrong with your phone i think its just a design flaw on the vibrant
BTW here is an old post i made few weeks back before understanding what was actually going on
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=791058
EDIT
hey if you do find a solution with Samsung over the phone could you give me a heads up/PM on what they had you do?

demo23019 said:
......
This only happens when you're on a weak signal.
......
hey if you do find a solution with Samsung over the phone could you give me a heads up/PM on what they had you do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that also follows. FYI, I get a strong signal with other phones at my location using my SIM, even on unlocked AT&T phones. However the Vibrant never gets better than -95 dBm.
I've already sent an email to Samsung support. I'll post an update once that is resolved.
Nomedias

Nomedias said:
Yeah, that also follows. FYI, I get a strong signal with other phones at my location using my SIM, even on unlocked AT&T phones. However the Vibrant never gets better than -95 dBm.
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Click to collapse
I agree with you my nexus and diamond never had this problem.
What i was getting at is the vibrant antenna is **** or just a bad designed flaw.
and requires "stronger" signal
Anyways from my understanding there still isn't a real solution for this... but i know JI6 helps
but now battery drains faster because of the new JI6 modem

demo23019 said:
I agree with you my nexus and diamond never had this problem.
What i was getting at is the vibrant antenna is **** or just a bad designed flaw.
and requires "stronger" signal
Anyways from my understanding there still isn't a real solution for this... but i know JI6 helps
but now battery drains faster because of the new JI6 modem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you talking about? The Nexus One and ESPECIALLY the Diamond has typical HTC garbage cell reception. My Vibrant has excellent reception, better than the new G2 with it's antenna at the top (don't cover it, you'll switch over to EDGE) If there is something wrong with yours you should get that checked out!

heygrl said:
What are you talking about? The Nexus One and ESPECIALLY the Diamond has typical HTC garbage cell reception.
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Yea ok what ever you say
heygrl said:
If there is something wrong with yours you should get that checked out!
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Click to collapse
There is nothing wrong with mine, like i said before ...
This happens to me at home but noticed when i get real strong signal on the road or at girlfriends house it doesn't happen
its a known issue with vibrant phones..even yours
Just not as noticeable the closer you're to cell towers

demo23019 said:
Yea ok what ever you say
There is nothing wrong with mine, its a known issue with vibrant phones..even yours
Just not as noticeable the closer you're to cell towers
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Click to collapse
You know this because?
1) No, I am NOT near any cell towers
2) Took my Vibrant out to the interstate, had EXCELLENT reception - better than my other T-Mobile phones.
3) Like I said, next to the G2 the Vibrant reports a far better signal
4) if it's not reporting anything higher than -95dBm you have a serious problem. That's probably why it was for sale. Lots of people like unloading junk. It's still under warranty, get a new one from T-Mobile.

this is my 2nd phone not for that reason but old one did same, my friends does same when tested in same spots..ect my phone is fine
considering im in a spotty 3g area even states this on tmobile site on map..
Im talking about about data here not voice...i drop to Edge 3-4 bars when i cover the bottom left i dont lose signal completed. I think there is miss communication between us
=

demo23019 said:
this is my 2nd phone not for that reason but old one did same, my friends does same when tested in same spots..ect my phone is fine
considering im in a spotty 3g area even states this on tmobile site on map..
Im talking about about data here not voice...i drop to Edge 3-4 bars when i cover the bottom left i dont lose signal completed. I think there is miss communication between us
=
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what does spotty 3G coverage have to do with the phone?

OMG forget it

UPDATE...
Called Samsung support today. The phone is still under warranty, so they issued an RMA number and sent me a UPS label via email. I'll ship it to them and as long as it isn't due to physical damage, it will be covered at no cost to me.
As expected I had to go through the usual steps such as making sure I had a good signal where I was on another phone. Once it was clear it was either a hardware issue or a problem with the software I can't resolve, they had no problem with an RMA. FYI, I was up front about it being purchased from another T-mobile customer, but this did not appear to be an issue.
This is my first time dealing with Samsung support, and all things considered I'm feeling very positive right now. I deal with tech support lines alot in my job and so far I'm happy. Will update when I get the phone back.
Nomedias

I really want to buy this phone... But when I google around, I find tons of forum threads like this and youtube videos like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEnYzEjjwM
Not too encouraging....
heygrl, you seem to be the only one here who is extremely happy with your reception, so it's hard for me to take your word for it!
Is there any natural way to hold this phone without making the signal drop? The bigger problem for me is that I'm on Wind Mobile, which does not have an EDGE network. So if I lose 3G, I lose my signal alltogether.
I could buy a Motorola XT720... But the screen is just incomparable to the Vibrant

Faruk88 said:
I really want to buy this phone... But when I google around, I find tons of forum threads like this and youtube videos like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEnYzEjjwM
Not too encouraging....
heygrl, you seem to be the only one here who is extremely happy with your reception, so it's hard for me to take your word for it!
Is there any natural way to hold this phone without making the signal drop? The bigger problem for me is that I'm on Wind Mobile, which does not have an EDGE network. So if I lose 3G, I lose my signal alltogether.
I could buy a Motorola XT720... But the screen is just incomparable to the Vibrant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read the poll 6 people suggested that the OP try a different firmware. Listed in the JI6 bug fixes
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa...ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=560&AT_ID=341559
Radio: 3G antenna bar patch
SNS Sync: The interval value for synchronizing has been changed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering the fact that this thread has low replies after the JI6 firmware has dropped and the fact that it sounds like a problem with this particular device, This thread proves much of nothing. The only people that have problems are the ones that complain.

Believe me, I'd be happy to buy this phone if I knew for sure that reception wouldn't be a problem... But seriously, 3g antenna bar patch? That's so Apple-esque. It does nothing to fix the underlying issue that people are having, which is a 20dBm drop in signal when holding the phone at the bottom.
Edit: 30dBm in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYzI2j3A78E (-81dBm to -111dBm)
It seems hard to believe that Samsung could have let something like this slip...

Faruk88 said:
Believe me, I'd be happy to buy this phone if I knew for sure that reception wouldn't be a problem... But seriously, 3g antenna bar patch? That's so Apple-esque. It does nothing to fix the underlying issue that people are having, which is a 20dBm drop in signal when holding the phone at the bottom.
Edit: 30dBm in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYzI2j3A78E (-81dBm to -111dBm)
It seems hard to believe that Samsung could have let something like this slip...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem was with the bars. It reflected a much poorer level of service. It's hard to tell someone that has no idea how the signal is measured why their service isn't gone or bad because you have "0 bars". The Vibrant only went to -81dBm and that was obviously wrong because the Android system should reflect -dBm up until -51. -0dBm is an amazing signal, which we'll never see on any phone. It would often bounce between -111dBm and -0dBm when it showed no bars of coverage. I don't know how many more times I have to explain this.
The bars WE'RE wrong. People took this to mean that their reception was bad when in reality there was nothing wrong with it. You can't explain this to everyone because they won't understand it or care. You could go into Samsung's service menu to see actual -dBm reception because the bars we're broken and so was the Android readout.

Yes I'm an engineer so I know that 0dBm is a gain of 1 and therefore an amazing signal. However, Android just displays 0dBm when it loses service, NOT when it has a perfect signal (obviously this is technically incorrect, but this is what they chose for whatever reason).
And why was it wrong that the Vibrant in the video started off at -81dBm? That's a pretty reasonable value to have indoors.
But even if it should have started off at -51dBm instead of -81dBm, it doesn't matter because that can easily be fixed with a software patch. What CAN'T be fixed with a software patch is the 20-30dBm DROP in signal when the phone is held. So instead of my phone dropping from -81dBm to -111dBm, it will drop from -51dBm to -81dBm. Are you telling me that's supposed to be a good "fix"?
What's more concerning of course, is in low signal environments, where you can lose service alltogether. Sometimes I pull my Samsung phone out of my pocket and it shows "No Service" for a few seconds, until it gets connected to the network again. (what I'm trying to say is that it loses service in my pocket)
If I don't hear anything more convincing, I'm probably gonna go ahead and order a cheap MyTouch Slide... Way inferior to this phone, but at least it's nearly half the price and I can be confident about my reception.

[Q] Call sound distortion or garbled sound-(Sprint)

Picked up new GS3 a week ago. Friends and family I spoke to complained of distorted, underwater, and/or garbled sound when I talked. I assumed that I got a defective microphone so I exchanged it.
I immediately called several people on the newly exchanged GS3 and all of them reported the same issues in sound reception as the previous one.
I have tried adjusting with the noise reduction-to no success. I also tried using the speaker phone and still the same problem persists. I tried using the ear piece the phone came with with no changes.
Has anyone come across the same issue? If so, what is the fix? I love the phone overall but being that I use my cell for business calls through out the day this issue will drive me and my contacts crazy!
Perhaps an app that can help boost of fix the problem? I do not want to root my phone due to bricking and insurance issues with my HTC EVO.
Any ideas or solutions would be appreciated...

Where are you located? This is most likely not a problem with your phone, but more likely the network in your area. If you are in an area that is currently in the process of being upgraded (i.e. Chicago) there have been quite a few problems with the upgrade. I am in the Chicago suburbs and had the exact same issues with call quality on my Epic 4g for over a month while Sprint was upgrading the towers in my area.

shmty25 said:
Where are you located? This is most likely not a problem with your phone, but more likely the network in your area. If you are in an area that is currently in the process of being upgraded (i.e. Chicago) there have been quite a few problems with the upgrade. I am in the Chicago suburbs and had the exact same issues with call quality on my Epic 4g for over a month while Sprint was upgrading the towers in my area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the San Francisco, California area. When the I activated the second phone it did an auto update. I know the LTE service is not up and running yet in our area.

Signal booster without wifi, or phone mod? RESOLVED - Sort of

Just moved to a rural area and the Verizon map shows I should have either 3g or 4g (right on the edge of the line between the two) in my location. But if I hold my tongue just right, at best I may get 1 bar of 3g. And if I'm indoors, forget it. Not even voice calls or texts. Any apps to try for this? I guess I kind of doubt it.
My main question is, has anybody tried any of the signal boosters? Not the ones that use wifi, because I don't get that in my rural area either. It seems I just bought a place in an infamous dead spot. I'm talking about one of the tower mounted "repeaters" like the ones at Wilson Electronics. There is a local company that sells and installs them, for $1800! Yikes! I'm wondering if they could possibly work THAT well? Anybody have any experience with these?
Edit:
I've sort of resolved this, in case anybody runs across this thread. Not the resolution I was looking for, but something is better than nothing. I wound up having to get a local "wireless" internet connection. Instead of broadband, its an antenna that goes on the roof, and a modem that looks like it was made in the 80's that goes inside. Verizon hooked me up with a Samsung booster and it actually seems to work really well. I've only had it for a day, but so far, no dropped calls, no crackling, great sounding calls and immediate text deliveries. Oh, and the internet is rated at 4mbps in case anybody is shopping around to fix a similar problem. Wish I had more info on the Wilson, non-wifi boosters. Maybe in the future...

scott_65 said:
Just moved to a rural area and the Verizon map shows I should have either 3g or 4g (right on the edge of the line between the two) in my location. But if I hold my tongue just right, at best I may get 1 bar of 3g. And if I'm indoors, forget it. Not even voice calls or texts. Any apps to try for this? I guess I kind of doubt it.
My main question is, has anybody tried any of the signal boosters? Not the ones that use wifi, because I don't get that in my rural area either. It seems I just bought a place in an infamous dead spot. I'm talking about one of the tower mounted "repeaters" like the ones at Wilson Electronics. There is a local company that sells and installs them, for $1800! Yikes! I'm wondering if they could possibly work THAT well? Anybody have any experience with these?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea about signal boosters but you can try different modems and see if that helps, if you haven't already. Just put your phone in download mode and flash thru odin. You may need to be rooted if you aren't. Not 100% on being rooted to flash modems but I would be rooted to make sure. I'm on NC2 leak and that modem was awful for me. Now I'm on NC2 with the NC4 modem and it's been lovely.
Link : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47400062&postcount=1

Thats good to know, thanks! I'm having horrible luck on NC2 as well. But my wife is using my old note 2 running an old jb rom I had on it (I think maybe cleanrom). She's having the same problems. So I know its not just the phone, it is the actual signal at this location. But I will try the modem change, since my signal has suffered everywhere else too.
Would still like info on boosters if anybody else has used them, thanks

scott_65 said:
Thats good to know, thanks! I'm having horrible luck on NC2 as well. But my wife is using my old note 2 running an old jb rom I had on it (I think maybe cleanrom). She's having the same problems. So I know its not just the phone, it is the actual signal at this location. But I will try the modem change, since my signal has suffered everywhere else too.
Would still like info on boosters if anybody else has used them, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, then maybe my info won't help if you're wife's phone signal is sucking too, but I tried.

Sorry man, wasn't trying to be rude at all, your info was much appreciated! I just downloaded and installed the NC4 modem, I'm using it as we speak. I appreciate any help that anybody on these forums offers me. Your knowledge will undoubtedly help out my situation.
That being said, I'm also looking for information from anyone that has used one of these boosters for this other particular reception problem that I'm having. I was merely stating that, while your solution will likely help my phones individual signal strength, my location is requiring a little more effort than just a phone enhancement. Sorry if I came across rude or offended in any way. Its never my intentions

You weren't rude at all dude, sorry if I gave you that impression. We're good.....

Do you have land-line phone service? I'm thinking of getting one from best buy that costs about $300. It does not use the phone line, per se. It just uses the wiring as the antenna and boosts 4g. Don't remember the name. . .

LeftyGR said:
Do you have land-line phone service? I'm thinking of getting one from best buy that costs about $300. It does not use the phone line, per se. It just uses the wiring as the antenna and boosts 4g. Don't remember the name. . .
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Click to collapse
I don't have the service, but the old house I bought does still have the wires in it. Same thing I suppose, unless it uses the voltage thats in the wires... Good idea, I'll look into it as well. Thanks!

If you want cell phone voice coverage get a verizon network extender if you have home internet. Otherwise use a wilson electronics db pro 4g or dt4g amplifier system. Amazon sells them at a decent price

[Q] Bad reception / dropped calls / no network

Hey everyone. I don't know if this has been discussed already but I did search the crap out of google only to find, we'll, not much really...
The topic title says it all.. I am having major issues with terrible data reception resulting in unsent SMS and straight to voicemail calls. It is getting really annoying. I have tried everything.. Changed SIM card, Odin back to 4.3 stock, flashed random modems in hope they work...
The really annoying part is that it gets great reception in so local areas.. I went to the BELL store to whine about the problem and the darnn phone was getting 4 bars. Made me look like a fool.
My wife has an s3 with bell and while I get missed calls she gets great reception so it can't be the ISP ..
Is anyone else about to go nuts? Is anyone looking at possible tweaks around this? Thanks

obtuce said:
Hey everyone. I don't know if this has been discussed already but I did search the crap out of google only to find, we'll, not much really...
The topic title says it all.. I am having major issues with terrible data reception resulting in unsent SMS and straight to voicemail calls. It is getting really annoying. I have tried everything.. Changed SIM card, Odin back to 4.3 stock, flashed random modems in hope they work...
The really annoying part is that it gets great reception in so local areas.. I went to the BELL store to whine about the problem and the darnn phone was getting 4 bars. Made me look like a fool.
My wife has an s3 with bell and while I get missed calls she gets great reception so it can't be the ISP ..
Is anyone else about to go nuts? Is anyone looking at possible tweaks around this? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO Bell sucks.
Canadian providers just suck.

nicholaschum said:
IMHO Bell sucks.
Canadian providers just suck.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for your insight lol..

obtuce said:
Thanks for your insight lol..
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Click to collapse
No seriously.
I have a Canadian Note 3, on Rogers. Occasionally I get only 3G, no signal, and little LTE.
Only in the most crowded places is there good signal, like downtown Toronto.

nicholaschum said:
No seriously.
I have a Canadian Note 3, on Rogers. Occasionally I get only 3G, no signal, and little LTE.
Only in the most crowded places is there good signal, like downtown Toronto.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree my man.. But as i stated, my wife on her S3 gets great signal where i do not... So i think the problem is beyond Rogers/Bell ..

obtuce said:
I agree my man.. But as i stated, my wife on her S3 gets great signal where i do not... So i think the problem is beyond Rogers/Bell ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try updating to the latest 4.4.2 firmware and hope for the best.

nicholaschum said:
Try updating to the latest 4.4.2 firmware and hope for the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
up to date alreay man. i am gonna revert back to stock again and keep it stock for a while to see if it's an issue with custom roms.
in the mean time, am i the only one with bad reception issues?

obtuce said:
up to date alreay man. i am gonna revert back to stock again and keep it stock for a while to see if it's an issue with custom roms.
in the mean time, am i the only one with bad reception issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I also have terrible reception problems on mine. I'm in the US (T-Mobile). This phone has the worst reception and I basically don't get any bars in most buildings I go into (where I used to have full bars on my galaxy s2). For data, I only see "E" all the time and rarely see 4G, again in places where I used to always have excellent reception with my old galaxy S2.
Waiting to see if anyone has a tip or a fix for this. I can't return the phone because I bought it second hand. :crying:

[Q] Static/Hiss during calls

hi there,
is there a way to reduce the hiss/static/crackling noise on the background that I hear when the other person talks, especially noticeable when on speaker? we have 2 Samsung S5 and it seems to be on both phones.
I just did a test calling my landline and the noise is there. weirdly enough, also on my blackberry there's a similar noise. does it depend by the cell tower? maybe is not the S5 itself but i found other people saying there's this static/hiss noise on the background...it's really weird.
thanks
Gabrio

it's like a swish to be more precise....

If it's happening with 2 S5s, and a blackberry, I'd put my money on the cell tower
Try travelling far enough away that both the phone making the call, and the one receiving it, are using a totally different tower

*Detection* said:
If it's happening with 2 S5s, and a blackberry, I'd put my money on the cell tower
Try travelling far enough away that both the phone making the call, and the one receiving it, are using a totally different tower
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, actually I have just heard that our network (o2) is implementing the following - maybe is already old elsewhere - "HD Voice" and also Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is undergoing testing on some networks.