[Q] radio issue on nexus s [gt-19023] - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I've got a nexus s, in the uk. trying to use it with the giffgaff network, which piggy backs onto O2.
I'm really struggling for a decent signal. it seems at work that it'll get 3/4 bars, but at home nothing. the mrs O2 sim card in the phone does a similar thing. another giff gaff sim in the phone does a similar thing. the mrs' desire s gets a good signal in the same places as mine doesn't and she is on effectively the same network.
I've opened a case with samsung to see if i can't get a resolution, even if i have to pay the repair fee. i bought the phone off ebay.
what would like to know is if anyone thinks there will be any point in flashing the phone. should i put a custom rom on it to try and achieve a better signal? it'd also allow me to put 4.04 on which i guess would be a bonus, rather than wait for the OTA upgrade.

missed a bunch of information.
already on 4.0.3
baseband is XXKI1
phone is a I9023
build IML74K
signal strength is hovering at about -100 to -95 db, but no bars at all. it does the same at work, but i get 3 or 4 bars.
so if ive ot this right, then the db has no relevance on bars shown on the phone? anyone got a link to something i can read to understand this? might help me when i finally get a call back from samsung.

Related

[Q] HTC Sensation rubbish reception

Is anyone else having reception issues with the HTC sensation I had previous HTC and have all suffered from this problem I thought by now they would have sorted this issue out.
Also I have used the camera a few times and the phone just turns off.
My signal is full. Someone mentioned in another threat he replaced sim card and problem solved.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
Sounds like a faulty unit to me.
I have same problem - in my room it tends to go from 1 bar to full all the time - downstairs its goes from on to off all the time, rather annoying !
Got a brand new sim card so cant being that, but so many people
have complained about it cant be one fault handset - its just
faulty design maybe??
This is my second unit and I have tried 3 different sim cards no change. This is what made me take back the original HTC Desire. Looks like this is going back all previous phones I would get 3G in my home and work now I am getting gprs or Edge in the same locations.
I have missed a few calls tonight because of the handset reception goes to none.
just popped my t-mobile sim in it and it seems fine -
it bounces up and down but by 1 bar maximum!
Got my brothers sony play on vodafone - hes getting 4 bars when im getting 0-3 bars.
So maybe it some kind of interaction between vodafone signal and this phone???
said it before will add again i get poor reception (gprs) with vodafone sim but great/better with t-mobile sim. Gonna request new sim. put sim in my desire and get the same response. must be the sim. i also think a new radio update would fix the reception problems. if HTC unlocked the bootloader we'd know for sure.
Mines been playing up signal wise, ive just taken the sim out and put it back in and its working alot better. Weird.
Interesting. I'm a new Voda customer and I have appauling reception now where I had a good one with O2. However signal goes on and off all the time.
My phone also reboots if I take more than a couple of photos.
All sounds like software to me but I'm going to try a new handset and if that fails maybe change to Samsung, not happy with HTC pushing out such poor software on a cutting edge phone, who tested it???
Yeap, rubbish reception. Keeps coming and going even in the same location!
Awful!!!!!
Just to throw in my experience with it;
I'm getting identical performance to what I got on my Nexus One (also on Vodafone obviously, you can't compare signal on one carrier against another and blame it on the phone...)
1-2 bars of HSPA in my home in Bristol
3-4 bars of HSPA in my home in Cardiff
3-4 bars of Edge in my friend's house in Cardiff
Signal on the train journey Bristol-Cardiff also the same. HSPA through Newport, Edge/GPRS through a lot of the fields and nothingness. I do the journey a lot so I know the sections where I can load up a new article or webpage
So far it is identical to what I've been getting for the last year and a half with the N1. I know there were signal issues with the N1 when it was released but those were solved with updates from Google and more stuff in custom roms. I honestly don't have any experience of any issue affecting the Sensation's signal.
I was with T-Mobile when I had my Desire, and now I've moved to Vodafone for my Sensation. Reception with Vodafone is better everwhere that I've been so far, and I see the "H" connection symbol more frequently. However, I do get the "rising and falling signal bars for no particular reason" problem that others are seeing, but it's no worse than I experienced for the 14 months that I had my Desire.
I called Vodafone earlier about the numerous issues with the Sensation, this being one of them. Apparently there have been some reception issues in and around London in the last few days (they tracked my calling location when I called them, stalkers) but should now be resolved. I seriously doubt this is the issue as I had no reception while the phone was sat next to an unmentionable other device on Vodafone which had full signal.
They told me to take it into a store to discuss the issues before returning it within the 7 day period, which I will do at lunch time, but I have zero expectations for this!
mine has been fine tbh, more or less always 3 or 4 bar. does drop for no reason sometimes... but not often at all. only problem i have had so far is the wifi not working properly sometimes
Yet another phone that can do everything except phone calls?
Average/mediocre signal would be a huge drawback. I will wait for some more feedback, otherwise I will opt for another device, even though I have never had any doubts until this issue arose.
ok - been testing at work as we are a vodafone buisness company and have about
200 htc trophy sitting in our cupboard.
got one out with my sim card, a old vodafone one and brand new vodafone one.
Walked round the whole building phone to phone and the
htc sensation was actually stable reception, better then the htc trophy. (though only a bar difference)
There i have conclude my issue are where i live the reception.
(Though im going to do more testing at home tonight with my pro sony play)
I was curious, vodafone do a signal boost, but its £50 for those under £40 month contract.
Has anyone had any success with getting the price down on these?
I would happily pay £20 for one if i knew it would give me full signal around my house.
Im so happy with the phone i dont want to return it !
I'll post later about my tests
I politely said to the nice lady in the Vodafone shop I didn't want to buy a sure signal as a new customer and that I was on a high contract. I paid £20 but its taken off my 1st payment so got it for free. If it supposed to get perfect signal in your home and they check before you sign up then its only fair.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
Ps I get perfect signal with the thing. Using it now to post. Pity it I can't use it at work.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
Phone is now in the process of being returned to Vodafone. Great phone let down by poor reception :-( The lady on the phone said they have had a few returns of late for the same reason so I know im not the only one. Looks like it will be back to my old phone till I find something that takes me fancy.
From other reports (lots) the phone signal is unreliable and I dont think its just a network issue. I can watch mine go from full to nothing and back up again without moving or touching it. I have the camera->reboot issue on mine too that others are reporting so I think there's a bad batch. I'm replacing my handset today with little hope of it being different. I also know someone with a Sure Signal (£20 in store) who has had no problems at all. I'm on a 40/pcm deal so going to push for one for free for the hassle of going back to the shop but I get the same signal issue pretty much everywhere, including central London earlier this week.
Very disappointing start with Vodafone and with my 7th or 8th HTC phone. I really wish I'd kept my Desire now until this model had been out for a few months, lesson learned.

[Q] Losing network with the Inspire 4g

Hi all, after a fruitful unlocking, rooting with the hack-kit, i updated the radio using the hack kit itself. However previously as well as with the new radio, the network reception was bad. I can tell this as my phone was showing no network whereas a friend along was chatting away on his phone. I thought this might have to do something with the radio. Hence i loaded up the Android Revolution HD 5.2.3 along with the recommended radio 12.54.60.25_26.09.04.11_M2; although the data speeds improved greatly, it is still losing connections in areas where other phones are easily able to make a call. I had this radio yesterday only, so should i wait for sometime or there is something wrong with the hardware?
I've also had this issue, and tried troubleshooting in the same ways. Randomly, my phone will cycle through all the connections (GSM, 3G, H, etc) and then go to "no service" no matter if i walk around or even go outside. I have called AT&T about this issue to see maybe if there are issues going on with the towers in my area...and they report no probems. The closest tower to my apartment is less than a mile away, and I live in a metropolitan area. So then they had me go to a store to have the sim card replaced because its plausible that a bad sim card could cause this issue. So far, with a new sim card, it's still having signal issues. So the next step is to do a warranty exchange.
AT&T service in my area is awful. Since moving south to Florida I have had the same problem but it's not unique to my Inspire. I experienced the same sort of nonsense with my old blackberry. Trying different radio/ril combos has given me some better results but it's an been an issue ever since I got south of Georgia.
It's one thing when the service is bleek in a certain area, thus causing you signal issues. But in an area that has AT&T coverage all over, like in the instance of my area, then you really can't blame the coverage. In my situation, AT&T was unable to explain why I'm having these issues in the area that I am in. They even logged in my account that if replacing the sim card has no affect, then they will go ahead and do a warranty exchange.
cavsoldier19d said:
It's one thing when the service is bleek in a certain area, thus causing you signal issues. But in an area that has AT&T coverage all over, like in the instance of my area, then you really can't blame the coverage. In my situation, AT&T was unable to explain why I'm having these issues in the area that I am in. They even logged in my account that if replacing the sim card has no affect, then they will go ahead and do a warranty exchange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the coverage in my area should be great. The closest tower to my home is just over a mile away. I live right outside of Tampa. AT&T has coverage here. If I can get 5 bars on "H" one moment and 0 bars on anything a moment later without moving the phone I doubt it's just generally poor service in my area specifically. In any event I hope you're issue gets solved. I'd be interested to see what the resolution is
Well i understand the network issues might be there, but then if i see on the other phone (Galaxy S) its showing full network at the same place. So I assume there is something in my hardware or software which is having some issues...
Be sure to check teh signal strength between the two phones(android) by pressing *#*#4636#*#*>Phone Info Compare the dBm and asu of the two. Make sure the contacts between the batt and sim covers are clean as both are antennas for different radio's(sell and BT)
Tx Redneck said:
Be sure to check teh signal strength between the two phones(android) by pressing *#*#4636#*#*>Phone Info Compare the dBm and asu of the two. Make sure the contacts between the batt and sim covers are clean as both are antennas for different radio's(sell and BT)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok... will try with this and see what is the problem... anyways it's just a 3 day old new phone and the battery cover... well i am still trying to open it... what a mess... would you recommend flashing another radio and check or i am the only one with the network losing problem here?
Out here in Cincinati my signal has been going to garbage and I'm stock. If I put the sin in my Samsung focus I get 4 bars and 3g, in my inspire I'm lucky to get 2 bars. I think it has to do with inspire and 2.3.3 dident help me at least
Sent with Dr. Brown Technology & my HTC Inspire 4G

Grey Signal Bar.. In Need of Clarification

i recently updated to 4.0.4 thinking (hoping) this would fix the problem but it has happened twice since... doesn't feel like it is happening as often but i can't sit there and stare at the bars all day either... my preferred network mode is always on cdma... NOT lte/cdma even though i frequently travel to 4g area...
more info:
in our house (non 4g area) my phone sitting next to my gfs rezound she will have 3 bars i will have zero to one but can make clear calls with no problems...
also, is there a program that monitors when we lose data signal so when i go into vzn i can show them the problem... the chances of going in there and showing them grey bars would be slim since it's random
i need some clarification... i see people talk about radio updates and low signal strength... was 4.0.4 supposed to fix this problem or is this a hardware problem and i need to exchange my phone...
there is some talk about bad batches... phones put together in china or korea... has anyone actually clarified this... my phone was manufactured in korea
Grey signar bar indicates that you dont have a connection to Google's servers.
Ok. Why does it go in and out? Is it typical? Is it a nexus problem?
Pretty sure when my phone goes out my gfs phone is fine.
Way to be informative.
Realistpm said:
Ok. Why does it go in and out? Is it typical? Is it a nexus problem?
Pretty sure when my phone goes out my gfs phone is fine.
Way to be informative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm fairly sure it isn't constricted to the GNex as I have an HD2 on CM9 with the same 'issue'. However, I've always thought it's in some way related to background data. When this is disabled, the bar is grey, and when it's enabled it's cyan.
So, again, to clarify... Everyone with a gnex is supposed to have this problem and the 4.0.4 isnt going to fix it?
someone mentioned replacing sim card... has anyone else replaced their sim card to fix this problem

[Q] Weird Signal Issues

Ok ladies and gents. I swear I used search, and even searched a few other device threads.
Remember the big-todo over the iPhone 4 and how holding it wrong lead to a loss of service? I've got what seems to be the same thing, sort of, with my phone. Lemme explain the whole situation.
I had an iPhone 4, and it got pretty great service. I got at least three bars in my house. My brother made the switch to the skyrocket and initially loved it. all that changed when the signal issues attacked.
From near day-one, he couldn't get it to work. He had to have gone through 20 ROMs over three months. In a last ditch effort, he bought a used S3 and passed the skyrocket to me. I thought I could fix it. Here I am, 4 months later and it's gotten worse if anything.
I've tried 4 different ROMs (including stocks, superlites, CM10.1, and PAC) and have come to settle on CM10.1. I initially had UCLi3, and thought that was the signal problem, seeing as when I went to UCLL3 it got slightly better, and then UCLK4 was working better than my iPhone did for about three days. It tanked overnight and out of frustration I switched to the UXUMA7 and it worked even BETTER for about a week before it went south as well.
My APNs are correct, I know that much. I switch to AT&T Phone, and I will get a little phone service if I hold my phone up and squint just right when standing next to a signal tower. AT&T LTE will give me great service in a heavy service area by a tower, but zero phone service. I was able to make one phone call yesterday, but had to use bluetooth, as the running theme here as well is that it always loses service the minute my hand/body is within a foot of the phone.
Any ideas before I throw caution into the wind and shell out for a new phone? I'm about to live abroad in about three weeks, so I may have to anyway, but I'd rather not pass a lemon to someone else.
Im guessing its the LTE problem that 4.2.2 roms have they changed how it calculates how many bars shows with signal dbm. Its the same signal just shows up as less so just use whatever radio you have had the most success with leave apn at AT&T LTE. You could try going to settings, mobile networks, network operators then choose choose automatically it might give you a more steady connection but its not really required.
If you still have problems you could take out your sim card and use *#2263# and change band to WCDMA all insted of automatic and that should solve your problems.
I typed it in like you have it there to no avail, and tried it again using an astrisk at the end as well. Nothing. Is that the right code? Seems to me I've read somewhere that CM disabled using that...
*Edit: Found the code for "phone info" which worked, and within that was a radio preference setting. But no WCDMA All, so I put it on WCDMA Preferred. My next question is that if ATT is GSM, why will this help even if I can get to the RF selector?
*Edit 2: Confirmed. ROMs not running touchwiz will not run most of the codes. I'm flashing the stock 4.1.2 to see if I can get that code (and subsequently the right RF option) to work until I can figure out how to switch RF options on CM 10.1.
*Final Edit: Found the option, changed it, realized what was going on. I'm on AT&T, meaning GSM and LTE. When I changed it to CDMA All, it switched me over to a strictly HSPA network, which ignored any other available ones. I got to playing with the settings and found that not only are they not the answer to my problem, but they had the potential to make it worse. I really feel that the issue at hand may be hardware. I blew out the RF chip on my first smartphone years ago (a state-of-the-art Palm Treo 700w) and it acted this same way. I'm wondering if the owner before us wasn't screwing with it and messed it up. A little tin foil can answer that question.

Poor Reception/LTE/GPS Galaxy S6 SM-G920F

Hey Guys, first post for me here!
I recently purchased a Galaxy S6 SM-G920F through Amazon. I travel and need a phone that is able to support whatever SIM I put in it, plus the benefits of tethering are excellent! I am on AT&T family plan with unlimited data. I was upgrading from a SM-G900A Galaxy S5.
I've been seeing extremely poor reception, regardless of where I am, I'll get -101dBm on my phone, holding it right next to a new phone at an AT&T store that gets -89dBm. AT&T gave me a new SIM, and refreshed a bunch of stuff on their end, no change. I talked to Samsung and went through a bunch of troubleshooting steps, no change. They told me that the phone likely had a bad modem and suggested that I exchange it for a new one. I just received the new one today and I'm seeing the same signal issues! I'm unable to make a call without complaints of poor sound quality from the other end, Waze and Google Maps don't work at all, the phone receives GPS location.
Am I doing something wrong here? My understanding is that this phone should work flawlessly on AT&T network, according to the Samsung tech specs, it supports all the necessary bands for AT&T including B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B7, B8, B12, B17, B18, B19, B20, B26.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I really love the new phone, but it not getting reception or GPS really makes it useless.
I am having similar issues.
My reception stays for 10 minutes and then Its pretty much dead. No reception at all. I have to reboot my phone and then it will get signal. That doesnt stay for long and then It just disconnects.
Do you have any solution ?
I have the same variant and I've noticed that the signal is about 5dBm worse than my s4 in all situations on average. I suppose it's because it's glass and metal rather than plastic.
The signal gets stupidly erratic when I move around though it can jump up 10dBm and go straight back down. I wonder if the phone has an antenna at the top and bottom and switches between whichever one has a better signal. I don't think they've done a great job with the antennas in the s6 tbh.
same here. got the 920F from breed on eBay and I am having crappy reception at home, where as my iPhone 6 have 4 bars.
Same problem on edge version.
I think is software related because did same process with my vendor and nothing changed.
Today received an ota update and one change was the modem making it less Hot and "better" reception.
Before -103 now -93/-96
Maesedroid said:
Same problem on edge version.
I think is software related because did same process with my vendor and nothing changed.
Today received an ota update and one change was the modem making it less Hot and "better" reception.
Before -103 now -93/-96
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which OTA update was this? can you advise? Thanks!
Maesedroid said:
Same problem on edge version.
I think is software related because did same process with my vendor and nothing changed.
Today received an ota update and one change was the modem making it less Hot and "better" reception.
Before -103 now -93/-96
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting, please can you post more information such as your Build number and Baseband version in your phone settings/about device.
Hi, guys. I'm from the Philippines, and I also own the same S6 version as you guys do. Sadly, I'm also suffering from the same problems of my phone. Brought it to the nearest Samsung Service Center, and all they did was to re-software it. Same problem.
How are your phones now?
I'm getting -77 dBm and 18 asu as we speak, is that good?
I thought the G920F was the EU handset? Could explain the below-par signal in the US

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