Signal fluctuation - Verizon Galaxy Note 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Noticed this on my note 4 since I got it. I will be sitting on the couch and watch as the signal goes up and down. Bars go from 1-4-1-4 as well as both LTE signal going from mid-80s to -115. I had never noticed this living closer to city. Is this a tower or capacity issue? I have already called Verizon to report the issue and they seem aware of this areas coverage being moderate, even though their map says excellent coverage lol.
Instead of creating another thread I'll ask this too. I've noticed crsditatials for apps being forgotten randomly. I thought it was switching to ultra pwr mode and back but it's not. Any one else? Apps like Pandora, mint, etc.

kgeier82 said:
Noticed this on my note 4 since I got it. I will be sitting on the couch and watch as the signal goes up and down. Bars go from 1-4-1-4 as well as both LTE signal going from mid-80s to -115. I had never noticed this living closer to city. Is this a tower or capacity issue? I have already called Verizon to report the issue and they seem aware of this areas coverage being moderate, even though their map says excellent coverage lol.
Instead of creating another thread I'll ask this too. I've noticed crsditatials for apps being forgotten randomly. I thought it was switching to ultra pwr mode and back but it's not. Any one else? Apps like Pandora, mint, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was experiencing similar fluctuations, so I downloaded lte discovery app. Turns out, usually when I had 4 or 5 bars, I was on band 13, when it dropped down to 2 to 3 bars it'd switch to band 4 aws XLTE. The higher frequency of band 4 doesn't penetrate as well as band 13, providing me with the fluctuation of bars around my house anyways. It doesn't happen as much outside.

Justinphxaz said:
I was experiencing similar fluctuations, so I downloaded lte discovery app. Turns out, usually when I had 4 or 5 bars, I was on band 13, when it dropped down to 2 to 3 bars it'd switch to band 4 aws XLTE. The higher frequency of band 4 doesn't penetrate as well as band 13, providing me with the fluctuation of bars around my house anyways. It doesn't happen as much outside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exact same result here. Wonder if I can limit to band 13 as band 4 signal is damn near holding indoors at -118. Kills the battery. Band 13 has around -87db

Related

Network bars dropping

Since i installed Froyo i only get 0-2 bars in my house. Was usually 5 bars pretty much all the time. I'm with T Mobile and it was fine for the last couple of months. Was with o2 before that and again was always 5 bars.
It could show 3 bars, then i pick it up and it instantly drops to 1.
Anyone else seeing this?
Did u flash also the new radio?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
What's that? All i did was install 2.2 from HTC.
i think the 2.2 (froyo) update will also automaticly update the Radio...
anyone else with that dropping radiosignal issue?
*i didnt recognize any difference @myhome*
DEATH GRIP!
Are you holding your phone right?
Sent from my HTC Desire
Took a quick video.
the signal bars on any phone are meaningless non standardised crap.
for comparisons always use signal strength in terms of dbm and asu. you can see this on your phone. go to menu > settings > about phone > network. that will show the readings in dbm and asu. for any meaningful comparison you need to use those readings as the bars on most phones are garbage non standardised depictions.
or there could be a network that developed recently in your area. there are various signal measuring and mapping apps available which might interest some people. not mentioning them to avoid confusing as it is not needed at most times but if interested then can name a few apps.
@ drew2d1
try not to hold the phone by covering the right bottom corner like you are holding the phone in the video it attenuates the signal more on the htc desire in my experience. seeing the network bars shown before you handled the phone, it looks like you are in a weak signal area and my guess is that the dbm is more than 100 with low asu of 5 or less and attenuation can differ in amounts based on how you hold the phone. i have written a long story about this elsewhere.
I'm right handed i can't use it any other way. I've had the phone for a couple of months i would of noticed it doing this before.
It's T Mobile and I'm in North London so fine on the coverage issue.
I can't send messages when it's showing 0 or 1 bar. It's not dropped a call yet though.
-105 dbm 4asu
-99 dbm 7asu
Stays around there. No idea what that means.
Edit: It drops which ever way i hold it. Even lying flat it goes from 1,2,3,2,3,2,1.
I had the same issue when updating to 2.2 and installing the latest radio. For a temp fix, change the data to gsm, using manual mode. This boosted my signal from 2 bars to all.bars. Not the best solution I know.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Already tried that. It's on GSM auto (PRL) now.
Recommendation from bubblesmoney on another forum actually
I'm on 3G and the signal has somewhat slightly improved
same here - signal strength has declined massively since my update. now i get 0-1 bars at home and have to switch on wifi for data when the signal was fine before.
in fact it's one of the reasons that i chose my network because the signal strength was good at home. :-(
drew2d1 said:
I'm right handed i can't use it any other way. I've had the phone for a couple of months i would of noticed it doing this before.
It's T Mobile and I'm in North London so fine on the coverage issue.
I can't send messages when it's showing 0 or 1 bar. It's not dropped a call yet though.
-105 dbm 4asu
-99 dbm 7asu
Stays around there. No idea what that means.
Edit: It drops which ever way i hold it. Even lying flat it goes from 1,2,3,2,3,2,1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-105dbm is crap and a weak signal. minimum attenuation i have ever found on the desire by holding the phone is 4dbm and max upto 20dbm but after earlier update it has never been more than 10-11dbm attenuation and now on froyo update a max of 14dbm attenuation. my phone does not have any case or cover etc so those readings are for such a phone.
you lose the signal at -113dbm as background radiation is same and not distinguishable from signal. hence if your attenuation is 14dbm then you would need a minimum of 99dbm (without holding phone) to have a signal while holding phone. if your attenuation is lesser then you can get away with weaker signal. attenuation differs in each persons hand as absorption will vary in each persons hand.
the following links with posts by me might interest you as i have explored this topic in detail and will explain dbm and asu and attenuation etc.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2523297
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2581437&highlight=
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=35179785#post35179785
also i have commented on the anandtech article on the iphone getting a signal till 120dbm. i think the anandtech article made a fundamental error and then said iphone4 antenna is very sensitive in sensing signals till 120dbm unlike other phones. i think that is bollocks due to a fundamental error they made. see page 15 of that article comments section for my comment on this link http://www.anandtech.com/show/3821/iphone-4-redux-analyzing-apples-ios-41-signal-fix see extract from my comment there
"On GSM or UMTS frequencies (between 870 MHz to 2170MHz around the world) used the noise signal floor is between -111 to -114dbm. The signal noise floor is that strength at which the signal cannot be distinguished from background radiation.
The signal noise floor depends on the frequency of broadcast and not the device as far as i am aware. So the iphone cannot have a different noise floor compared to other mobile phones, unless Jobs got the governments all over the world to beam a special signal on a different frequency purely for the iphones!!!!
Anandtech has made a basic error in this analysis i think and consequently this whole article is wrong and meant to favour the iphone either inadvertantly or deliberately.
see post number 57 on the thread in this link for my explanation why this anandtech article is wrong http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=35179785#post35179785
please note that -113dbm (some resources say -111 instead of -113) is the noise floor where signal is indistinguishible from background radiation. look it up in science webpages if you doubt what i say. so if the iphone shows signal to be -120dbm then that is an error. just because it shows a number does not mean that the -113 noise floor value does not exist in physics for gsm broadcast frequencies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson–Nyquist_noise
see gsm freq bands for the world here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands the freq bands (GSM AND UMTS) used in uk are between 870 to 2170MHz and for that the noise floor is between -111dbm and -113dbm and for the noise floor to be 120dbm the freq would have to be in 180kilohertz which is !!!! and bull as the freq bands used are in MHz so the anandtech numbers dont add up in the 120dbm small print, as there is no 180kilohtz band for gsm in usa or uk as far as i can tell!!!! and 180khz is the freq used for AM band radio and looks like the iphone4 is getting interference from 180khz AM band radio signals too as far i can tell from what anandtech says about 120dbm etc !!! yikes!
I would be happy to be proved wrong and to learn, but from what i have shown i am right! Noise floor depends on the frequency band of transmission rather than circuitry. In the UK Cellular mobile services operate within the frequency ranges 872-960 MHz, 1710-1875 MHz and 1920 - 2170 MHz so the noise floor would be between -114 to -111dbm.
It would be similar in the USA too.
see the rest of my detailed response elsewhere on other forums (post 57 of the thread on the link) http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=35179785#post35179785
I hope there is a response to this comment of mine, from this articles writers or some other RF engineers, as due to the reasons quoted in my ananlysis i think this article by anandtech is grossly wrong. I would be happy to stand corrected if my analysis is wrong.
yes the signals can be sensed at -120dbm but that wouldnt be signals from commercial GSM or UMTS signals, it would be some other signals sensed by the iphone4 sensors and giving a wrong reading of the signal strength. As i said earlier the signal noise floor depends on the broadcast frequency and not the handset, so this article is wrong and grossly so as it is making assumptions of the iphone4 being able to sense GSM / UMTS signals of the order of 120dbm which isnt possible for the frequencies broadcast as per the physics involved. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson–Nyquist_noise that or Jobs and anandtech found some way to defy physics!"
It was fine before i installed Froyo.
Jobs doesn't need to defy physics, he's ok with his RDF
Tmobile, london here. Also experiencing 3g signal drop after update. At home on 2.1 i would have 3 to 4 bars, now on 3g its either zero or 1.
Have been contacting HTC with this problem and got the answer that it is because of the new setup of the cpu speed. They have lowered the cpu frequency and the radio is searching for a signal with the lower power. They have promissed me to fix it. They said that also for this issue they have stopped the froyo rollout and are now under fixing the issues. So expect the fox soon.
Sent from my ZX Spectrum using Froyo_zx81
Seems to be working fine now. Full bars, no drops, 64dbm 22 asu.
drew2d1 said:
Seems to be working fine now. Full bars, no drops, 64dbm 22 asu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you do to fix the issue? I'm on T-Mobile (UK) too and as other have noticed a significant drop in signal after the 2.2 update.
I also would be interested in how you fixed the problem. I dropped an email to HTC today, so I will post the response when I hear back from them.

[Q] T-Mobile S4 Dropping calls and losing signal A LOT

Hi everyone,
My S4 drops a lot of calls and also if i walk in buildings like schools I lose service. It is not a hardware problem with my S4 because I have three S4s in the family and they all do this. It is not a problem with the place I live because I live in Chicago and almost anywhere I go I have these problems. Is there a kernel or something that I can do to fix or improve these problems?
Thank You
There's nothing you can do to fix it unless you want to modify T-Mobile's towers, it is a problem with where you live I've noticed poor signal strength and extreme signal attenuation (signal drops from -50 dbm when I'm right in front of a femto cell to -100 when I'm about a half mile away from it and inside my house) when switching to T-Mobile from VZW. I asked on here and apparently it's due to GSM requiring twice as many cells per area compared to CDMA, and also T-Mobile using higher frequencies which don't travel as far. Think of the difference between FM radio waves in the kHZ range (which can reach 50 miles) compared to WiFi radio waves in the gHZ range which only reach about a hundred feet or so. I'm regularly in -100 dbm service areas and I can make calls perfectly, signal drops occasionally but I can deal with it since I don't make calls that often.
This problem only really plagues areas which are still on EDGE/HSPA(+), once you get upgraded to LTE you won't have this problem anymore VoLTE will truly fix this problem though, but that's probably a year or two from now though.
brando56894 said:
There's nothing you can do to fix it unless you want to modify T-Mobile's towers I've noticed poor signal strength and extreme signal attenuation (signal drops from -50 dbm when I'm right in front of a femto cell to -100 when I'm about a half mile away from it and inside my house) when switching to T-Mobile from VZW. I asked on here and apparently it's due to GSM requiring twice as many cells per area compared to CDMA, and also T-Mobile using higher frequencies which don't travel as far. Think of the difference between FM radio waves in the kHZ range (which can reach 50 miles) compared to WiFi radio waves in the gHZ range which only reach about a hundred feet or so.
This problem only really plagues areas which are still on EDGE/HSPA(+), once you get upgraded to LTE you won't have this problem anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks of the great info!
When do you think we will be upgraded to LTE?
You're welcome, I have no idea. I don't work for T-Mobile lol I know they're on a roll with it and they wanted to have a bunch done by the end of the summer, I don't have LTE in my home (South-Central Jersey) but at work (50 miles away, right outside of Philadelphia but still in NJ) I have LTE. I'm going to take a guess that you may have it by the end of the year.
brando56894 said:
You're welcome, I have no idea. I don't work for T-Mobile lol I know they're on a roll with it and they wanted to have a bunch done by the end of the summer, I don't have LTE in my home (South-Central Jersey) but at work (50 miles away, right outside of Philadelphia but still in NJ) I have LTE. I'm going to take a guess that you may have it by the end of the year.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was editing it while you replied. I had an S2 and a HTC Sensation and I did not have calls dropped and I had service almost everywhere and they were on GSM, too. So I think it is a software problem.

(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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Any way to increase LTE Spark signal strength?

Is there anyway to increase the signal strength of the Note 4?
I have to put the phone up in my upstairs window to get the Spark icon to come on. When I do that, it sometimes switches back to 3g.
I know the Galaxy S3 had an external antenna test port near the battery when you removed the back cover. I don't see any similar ports on the Note 4. BTW, I never used the test antenna port on my Galaxy S3 since I heard it could damage the internal antenna.
There seems to be some electical contacts under the cover of the Note 4. Any ideas on what they are?
I contacted Wilson Electronics and a rep there told me that they aren't allowed to boost or amplify the Spark signal. The FCC won't allow it and Sprint in clamping down on this technology because they want to stay ahead of their competitors.
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/
I remember people using Pringle cans in the old days with their wireless routers.
Is it possible to extend the Note 4 antenna with a wire? I'm just shooting in the dark.
Thanks.
Slash
I have an issue where I will be getting LTE when the phone is sleeping and as soon as I wake it, the phone will drop to 3G. As funny as it sounds I used a plastic ruler to wake up the phone so I my hands or arms would not interfere with the signal and it still does it. This must be some kind of software thing because I used Open Signal to monitor the bands and it legitimately connects to LTE while the phone is sleeping and then switches to 3G when it comes out of sleep. So if I am ever downloading big files or uploading files I usually do it overnight where I will not bother the phone.
I get 2 bars LTE at all times and full signal 3G.
Same problem here. Drops to 3g like hot potato...nexus 5 on my other line holds on to lte b41 like it's life depended on it....
I don't have the note 4 currently (Note 2).
However, with LTE or 3G a "corner reflector" works with the Note 2.
Basically, cut out a box so you're left with only 3 "sides" in a corner, and line it with foil. (Trial and error on the size, I think 12" would be overkill but should work, although a smaller one would as well).
Then, you use a block of foam or such to prop the device somewhere within the corner and also "aim" the corner reflector towards a tower. By trial and error, you can find the best position. It's helped if there's a dialing code (like ##DEBUG# on note 2) that lets you monitor signal strength while you move things around. The trial and error can take some effort...
Wikipedia page on corner reflectors
Example of DIY corner reflector instructions for WiFi antennas
Adding the corner reflector makes the omnidirectional antenna act more like a directional antenna.
If you knew exactly where in the Note 4 the antenna(s) are and what frequency(s), you could calculate out the ideal size of the reflector and position for the device inside the reflector, but I found it easy enough to just experimentally move things around with trial and error.
I've got the same issue. What sad is my area is spark enabled so I should be able to connect to Sprint's 800 mhz (or 850 mhz?) lte network or all. Three frequencies and be on spark. But nope, I'm on crappy 3g but my Note 3will connect to lte.
My Note 4 will connect to lte but it won't hold a connection as good as the Note 3.
Thanks for the reflector info. I will attempt this tonight.
Slash.
DarkManX4lf said:
I've got the same issue. What sad is my area is spark enabled so I should be able to connect to Sprint's 800 mhz (or 850 mhz?) lte network or all. Three frequencies and be on spark. But nope, I'm on crappy 3g but my Note 3will connect to lte.
My Note 4 will connect to lte but it won't hold a connection as good as the Note 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got your MSL? Go into ##DATA# navigate to LTE/Band Priority and set Band 41 as 1. reboot and see if LTE will hold..
jauger said:
Got your MSL? Go into ##DATA# navigate to LTE/Band Priority and set Band 41 as 1. reboot and see if LTE will hold..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give that a shot but I'm not sure it makes sense.
DarkManX4lf said:
I'll give that a shot but I'm not sure it makes sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people confuse LTE with Spark, two totally different things. I see in your profile you are in NYC where Spark has rolled out. A lot of forums there's talk about the N4 having a problem switching bands, one work around is setting Band 41 to 1....
jauger said:
Most people confuse LTE with Spark, two totally different things. I see in your profile you are in NYC where Spark has rolled out. A lot of forums there's talk about the N4 having a problem switching bands, one work around is setting Band 41 to 1....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I meant was why make the 2.5ghz band the higher priority? Why not make band 26 (800mhz)the higher priority?
Since my issue is indoors and 800mhz penetrates walls better than 2.5ghz, I figure the priority should be band 26, 25 and Last would be 41?
DarkManX4lf said:
What I meant was why make the 2.5ghz band the higher priority? Why not make band 26 (800mhz)the higher priority?
Since my issue is indoors and 800mhz penetrates walls better than 2.5ghz, I figure the priority should be band 26, 25 and Last would be 41?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thought as well, but seems to be the way to make the N4 switch bands like it should. Like I said I'm reading this in other forums so I figured it might help ya out....:good:
jauger said:
My thought as well, but seems to be the way to make the N4 switch bands like it should. Like I said I'm reading this in other forums so I figured it might help ya out....:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok cool. Thanks. I'll try out both configurations and see how it works out.
DarkManX4lf said:
What I meant was why make the 2.5ghz band the higher priority? Why not make band 26 (800mhz)the higher priority?
Since my issue is indoors and 800mhz penetrates walls better than 2.5ghz, I figure the priority should be band 26, 25 and Last would be 41?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because Band 26 has not rolled out extensively as of yet, Go to antenna search and see what is rolled out in your area.
NEXTEL LICENSE HOLDINGS 4, INC. Towers are generally listed as such (Band 25 and 26) look at the operating frequency 1900 (Band 25) 860 (Band 26) (if live)
Clearwire Spectrum Holdings Iii, Llc Towers or Sprint Spectrum LLP is Band 41, if dual radios exist in your area or if you area is completely converted.
Change Band priorities is an excellent idea, especially if you are in a Spark area.
ninoriff said:
Because Band 26 has not rolled out extensively as of yet, Go to antenna search and see what is rolled out in your area.
NEXTEL LICENSE HOLDINGS 4, INC. Towers are generally listed as such (Band 25 and 26) look at the operating frequency 1900 (Band 25) 860 (Band 26) (if live)
Clearwire Spectrum Holdings Iii, Llc Towers or Sprint Spectrum LLP is Band 41, if dual radios exist in your area or if you area is completely converted.
Change Band priorities is an excellent idea, especially if you are in a Spark area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll take a look at antenna search but based on Sprint, my area is Spark enabled, which I thought means all 3 bands are available. Or am I wrong?
Changing band priority does not work..I've tried it..
Check out Signal Check in the play store too, will show you what you are on.... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blueline.signalchecklite&hl=en
The network will ultimately decide where to put your device based on load balancing and bandwidth/airlink saturation. It typically goes B41,B25,B26. All that changing band priorities does is change what your phone scans for first. Once connected, it's up to the network what band you end up on.
I think something is wrong with the note 4. I am in downtown baltimore., which is supposed to have excellent SPARK coverage. I'm sitting here in my apartment and very very rarely the phone does somehow connect to LTE spark. When it is connected I get somewhere between 6mbps - 35mbps and the signal is -90 to -100 which is pretty good for LTE. As I'm flying along enjoying my 3 minutes of LTE spark, my phone just decides that LTE sucks and it should switch to the 3g signal which gives me 0.12 mbps (f***ing sprint). Then no matter what I do, how many times I do ##72786#, how many times I restart my phone, or turn mobile data on/off it still wont get LTE back..until randomly a couple hours later. Is my note 4 retarded?? The reason I don't think it's a signal issue is that I often get > 30mbps when I am connected. This has to be some software issue where the note 4 thinks that the 0.12mbps 3g signal is somehow "Stronger" than a 35mbps LTE signal.
ak2pacalypse said:
I think something is wrong with the note 4. I am in downtown baltimore., which is supposed to have excellent SPARK coverage. I'm sitting here in my apartment and very very rarely the phone does somehow connect to LTE spark. When it is connected I get somewhere between 6mbps - 35mbps and the signal is -90 to -100 which is pretty good for LTE. As I'm flying along enjoying my 3 minutes of LTE spark, my phone just decides that LTE sucks and it should switch to the 3g signal which gives me 0.12 mbps (f***ing sprint). Then no matter what I do, how many times I do ##72786#, how many times I restart my phone, or turn mobile data on/off it still wont get LTE back..until randomly a couple hours later. Is my note 4 retarded?? The reason I don't think it's a signal issue is that I often get > 30mbps when I am connected. This has to be some software issue where the note 4 thinks that the 0.12mbps 3g signal is somehow "Stronger" than a 35mbps LTE signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I'm in Chicago-land and when i get Spark I always get 1 bar and than it switches to 3g
DarkManX4lf said:
What I meant was why make the 2.5ghz band the higher priority? Why not make band 26 (800mhz)the higher priority?
Since my issue is indoors and 800mhz penetrates walls better than 2.5ghz, I figure the priority should be band 26, 25 and Last would be 41?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By default the band priority is Band 25 - 1, Band 25 - 2, and Band 41 - 3. So the phone is already set up correctly as far as priority.
Also as has been stated LTE and Spark are not the same thing. They are two seperate bands. By default the phone tries to use Spark. If it can't it then switches to LTE and if it still has issues it switches to 3G..

Cellular strength and throughput

We know how much you like to stream, ahem, "videos", and so cellular data is mega-important. Rate this thread to express how you think the Samsung Galaxy S8+'s LTE performs. A higher rating indicates that it's fantastic: throughput is excellent and signal strength is top-notch.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add.
I get a low 4g signal at work whereas on my s7 edge I didn't get anything
Mine is a lot better than any phone I've had before. Usually at home on all my other phones I have 1-2 bars and on the S8+ I have at least 4 bars.
Bars are no indication of true signal strength. My S8+ doesn't get nearly as strong of a signal as my Pixel XL. I drop signal a lot more often now. I was rather disappointed with the performance of the cell radio actually.
For me, the signal is about the same at home. But at work, the S8+ performs much better than the Note5 that I had... Must be an extra band or something. The Note5 would hang on to an unusable LTE signal or drop to 3G/1x inside my job. The S8+ stays on on LTE with a usable signal.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
It's worst Then S8 as I used that before shifting to S8 plus. But download speed is great.
My S7 was better. The S7 ised a new duel antenna tech, I am not sure the S8 used it or not.
My AT&T Note 4 and my new S8+ get about the same signal, which is really disappointing
I generally see around 5-8dbm better then I did with my pixel xl at home..notice the s8+ does drop signal little easier tho then my pixel in fringe areas
Tested right outside my house. Never had these speeds on my Note 5.
Comming from a S6, the signals and speeds are far better, also my s6 was missing a few bands so never ever got speeds like this on my Jio 4G Network in India
At work on LTE Im getting 31 Mbps down and 6 Mbps up. Not bad! Faster than our company wifi!
webtech9 said:
At work on LTE Im getting 31 Mbps down and 6 Mbps up. Not bad! Faster than our company wifi!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to get 54Mbps which WAS faster than the company wifi. Then we bumped up to 500Mb.
Poor Reception in Canada on Bell Mobility
I just got an unlocked S8+ that was apparently originally from Sprint (because that is where the home page goes in Samsung Internet).
I do not get very good reception on it – even in urban/suburban areas. Sometimes, when I am inside a building, it disappears altogether. I often get 1 or 2 bars on the reception indicator. If I check the “Sim Card Status” screen under settings I get -105 dBm 3 asu. I don’t really know what those numbers mean.
Is there anything I can do to improve reception? Should I be calling Bell and maybe they need to know what kind of phone I have? Should I expect an S8+ purchased directly from Bell (they also carry this phone) to have better reception? Or is the reception of “105 dBm 3 asu” fine and it’s just the indicator showing low levels?
As much as I like this phone I cannot be missing calls randomly. I have a business to run.
Thanks.
The Fish
thefish123 said:
I just got an unlocked S8+ that was apparently originally from Sprint (because that is where the home page goes in Samsung Internet).
I do not get very good reception on it – even in urban/suburban areas. Sometimes, when I am inside a building, it disappears altogether. I often get 1 or 2 bars on the reception indicator. If I check the “Sim Card Status” screen under settings I get -105 dBm 3 asu. I don’t really know what those numbers mean.
Is there anything I can do to improve reception? Should I be calling Bell and maybe they need to know what kind of phone I have? Should I expect an S8+ purchased directly from Bell (they also carry this phone) to have better reception? Or is the reception of “105 dBm 3 asu” fine and it’s just the indicator showing low levels?
As much as I like this phone I cannot be missing calls randomly. I have a business to run.
Thanks.
The Fish
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey fish you want it down, the dBm i mean. Here's a quote "-50 dBm is great signal or full bars. -120 dBm is very poor signal or a dead zone." you at 105 dBm is garbage, no wonder your missing calls.. Since you are experiencing network issues, you could get a replacement, but i don’t think it will make much difference. as it's all same hardware. Why not get a Google Pixel XL i heard they got awesome reception! Or if you’re at home a lot, purchase an lte repeater booster ? Problem Solved!
Drop in signal & Block sign
Im living in UAE - and my service provider is etisalat, and my 4G signal is dropping and sometimes i get block sign, i tried my sim in different device it working.
i have started a thread on the subject if anyone could help me please.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...block-sign-t3851575/post77823171#post77823171
N1NJATH3ORY said:
Hey fish you want it down, the dBm i mean. Here's a quote "-50 dBm is great signal or full bars. -120 dBm is very poor signal or a dead zone." you at 105 dBm is garbage, no wonder your missing calls.. Since you are experiencing network issues, you could get a replacement, but i don’t think it will make much difference. as it's all same hardware. Why not get a Google Pixel XL i heard they got awesome reception! Or if you’re at home a lot, purchase an lte repeater booster ? Problem Solved!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went through a whole “carrier switching” routine (details found somewhere on these forums) and after changing the CSC to Canadian I flashed Bell Mobility's firmware. The phone now shows that it’s an SM-G955W which is the Canadian model. And apparently now supports additional LTE bands 29(700) and 30(2300) which were missing from the SM-G955U (I determined this by dialing *#2263#).
I have no idea if it *really* supports these bands or just *says* that it does but my gut tells me that it really does support them. I suspect that the hardware for the SM-G955U and SM-G955W is 100% identical and any differences are controlled through software only.
And I seem to have better reception now. I am getting 4 to 5 bars in most places and under -100 dBm in most places. Plus Wi-Fi calling works now so I have reception in my basement at my house.
The true test will be when we go camping next summer.
The Fish
thefish123 said:
I went through a whole “carrier switching” routine (details found somewhere on these forums) and after changing the CSC to Canadian I flashed Bell Mobility's firmware. The phone now shows that it’s an SM-G955W which is the Canadian model. And apparently now supports additional LTE bands 29(700) and 30(2300) which were missing from the SM-G955U (I determined this by dialing *#2263#).
I have no idea if it *really* supports these bands or just *says* that it does but my gut tells me that it really does support them. I suspect that the hardware for the SM-G955U and SM-G955W is 100% identical and any differences are controlled through software only.
And I seem to have better reception now. I am getting 4 to 5 bars in most places and under -100 dBm in most places. Plus Wi-Fi calling works now so I have reception in my basement at my house.
The true test will be when we go camping next summer.
The Fish
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Happy days for you i do suffer poor signal in my house:crying: i'll see if i can flash the CSC to fix it, thanks for the update!
s7 does lot better than 8+ in the same room

Categories

Resources