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Signal Issues with Stock S3 (No 4G, bad handoff, etc.)

Forgive my ignorance, but I seem to be having the problems of not having consistent 4G. And slow 4G/3G transitions, as well as poor battery as a result.
I have also gotten the No mobile network, no sim, and roaming network notifications.
It seems like many are having these problems, yet people who report them seem to say it occured after flashing some ROM/Kernel (idk).
My phone is stock. Im wondering if its happening to other users who have not done any funny business.
Ironically I was holding off on rooting and rom'ing to avoid these little initial bugs

verizontb said:
Forgive my ignorance, but I seem to be having the problems of not having consistent 4G. And slow 4G/3G transitions, as well as poor battery as a result.
I have also gotten the No mobile network, no sim, and roaming network notifications.
It seems like many are having these problems, yet people who report them seem to say it occured after flashing some ROM/Kernel (idk).
My phone is stock. Im wondering if its happening to other users who have not done any funny business.
Ironically I was holding off on rooting and rom'ing to avoid these little initial bugs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in same boat as you. I was holding off rooting and flashing roms to make sure my device was functioning correctly in stock form. Unfortunately it was not, and I was experiencing all of the issues you are facing on my SECOND gs3. I had replaced the first one for a loose home button, and ended up receiving a new device with more issues than the previous one.
I called up tech support last night, and listed all of the issues you just listed and the tech said those are all hardware issues so I'll have to send you another. I obviously haven't received the third phone yet, but I can tell you I was not experiencing these issues on my first one.

Kreeker said:
I was in same boat as you. I was holding off rooting and flashing roms to make sure my device was functioning correctly in stock form. Unfortunately it was not, and I was experiencing all of the issues you are facing on my SECOND gs3. I had replaced the first one for a loose home button, and ended up receiving a new device with more issues than the previous one.
I called up tech support last night, and listed all of the issues you just listed and the tech said those are all hardware issues so I'll have to send you another. I obviously haven't received the third phone yet, but I can tell you I was not experiencing these issues on my first one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should probably further elaborate and say that I was in Florida for the first week I had my device and the reception there was very good, and I never lost 4G, and was getting almost 35hours of battery when I am lucky to get 10 here. No major app battery draw, just signal...
So that leads me to believe that it is the network, which is a little weaker where I am now, is causing the phone to jump unecessarily in and out of 4G and drawing too much battery.
It's either that, or my phone stopped working properly after a week, which seems less likely.

I don't think it's less likely as a few have reported after a couple of weeks of fantastic service, the phone's data connection has plummeted.
I'm on my second device. Both devices had the same problem. 3g dropped to 1x dropped to no signal. Finding the signal when in a known good signal area took foreverrrr. I haven't seen 4g yet with this phone so I cannot comment there.
I've struggled with VZW to replace my phone. They're now looking at the network for errors, or something. I've taken matters into my own hands- rooted and rom'd the phone with Synergy and it has helped immensely.
Waiting for VZW or Samsung to fix it, I don't think, is a great idea. If you wanted a device that worked correctly out of the box, your chances may be higher with a phone from a different manufacturer. I don't recommend Motorola because of their stance on locked bootloaders but the radio in those things is fantastic.

So you think my phone is defective?
I have my doubts... I see lots of people complaining about so many things and there first reaction is to exchange the phone... they then end up with other problems because they meticulously scrutinize every little detail.
I also don't want to return my phone because I got a bodyguardz carbon fiber kit and screen protector and its applied perfectly! =) No bubbles or haze!

I understand... Gotta weigh it out for yourself.
I personally don't think there's anything wrong with scrutinizing a device you paid any amount of money for. It's yours. If its flawed, get another.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

My phone is in stock and right now I'm not trying to root the phone because I know lte is not perfect right now so I don't wanna do anything that will mess up the phone.
Sent from my sprint galaxy s 3, finally have lte

Wut?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Is the radio in this device really that bad?

so long story short I am looking at ditching sprint where I have an EVO LTE. Trust me when I say I am used to crap reception and data speeds. I was reading the thread full of other people who have came from sprint and most seem happy but... I read a lot of comments from long time Verizon users saying things like " I have to contort like a monkey to get a message to go through". Are these just spoiled Verizon users that don't know how good they've got it? Or is coming from sprint a waste of my time? Thanks for any and all input.
PS: Verizon has LTE all over my area, sprint has not announced any LTE anywhere near me. Is the LTE utilized for voice and text? Will this help?
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

Im sure others have problems, but mine has been great. Not a single issue to speak of. Been running CM10 for 2 months now.

Gordon Ramsay said:
so long story short I am looking at ditching sprint where I have an EVO LTE. Trust me when I say I am used to crap reception and data speeds. I was reading the thread full of other people who have came from sprint and most seem happy but... I read a lot of comments from long time Verizon users saying things like " I have to contort like a monkey to get a message to go through". Are these just spoiled Verizon users that don't know how good they've got it? Or is coming from sprint a waste of my time? Thanks for any and all input.
PS: Verizon has LTE all over my area, sprint has not announced any LTE anywhere near me. Is the LTE utilized for voice and text? Will this help?
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO radio problems here.... I think a lot of people with problems may be on the border of having coverage where they are...? I have FULL bars no matter where I go in Michigan (except in Walmart) LOL I have LTE coverage too and it's been a solid performer and I may drop a call here and there but nothing out of the norm... Just my personal experiences...:good:

My .02
Go to a verizon store, put a rezound side by side to a samsung galaxy s3 and compare the dbm and asu and u will see how terrible the signal is . My phone is constantly at least 20 dbm less than the rezound .
It feels like i am back to sprint or tmobile since i got my device, constant data drops, phone call break ups and 4g/3g handing off is terrible .
Btw this is my 4th sim and second samsung galaxy s3 trial now , still reception in comparison to any htc phone is horrible.
Htc put their 4g antennas on the back cover which i think makes them practically immune to low signal issues.
Its a pretty phone , but if u want a device that actually communicates with satellites and cell towers, then get a real phone . not this one .
waiting for htc dlx

Mine has been completely fine.
Currently not being productive on my S3.

I came from Sprint at the beginning of the month. On Sprint it had gotten so bad that I was on 1 bar 90% of the time in the middle of the New Orleans area. I gave up waiting for it to get better and installed Roam Control so I could force it to roam on Verizon. Forced roaming only gets you 1x data, but it gave me full signal which prevented dropouts and draining the battery.
Now I'm on Verizon with the S3 and have no signal issues. I don't think I've ever seen less than 3 bars. The signal starts might be lower than other phones based on other people's experience but I wouldn't know because I haven't had any problems to make it worth checking. I think it really depends on your area. If your current phone is rooted, you could try Roam Control to get an idea of what the signal strength will be like, although you'll be stuck on 1x data.

I too was scared by the reports in various threads that these devices have horrible radios. We switched to Verizon from ATT because ATT doesn't work at all at my office (searching for reception).
I haven't been looking at dBM or anything but from a functional standpoint I haven't had any issues. There are some areas where before I was getting 4-5 3G bars on my ATT iPhone4 where the SGS3 bounces between 1-3 bars 4G LTE. It's always disturbing when you see 1 bar of reception, but the phone operates well even getting 4-5Mbps in speedtest. If you look at bars (I know not really accurate) and whether or not I can browse, call, etc. the SGS3 compares favorable to the wife's iPhone5. In fact there were a couple places where I was getting 1-2 bars 4G and the iPhone5 dropped to 3G.

Her are some screen shots of my signals after an update last night. These are the best I've gotten on both and better than anything I saw on my Rezound.
Currently not being productive on my S3.

Never had an issue with signal on my S3. You also need to realize that the most vocal people are those that have an issue. For every 1 person posting about an issue there a dozens that have no problem at all.

Signal on my s3 is great its 100 times better then gnex was and about on par with my old droid RAZR.

dwyw42 said:
I came from Sprint at the beginning of the month. On Sprint it had gotten so bad that I was on 1 bar 90% of the time in the middle of the New Orleans area. I gave up waiting for it to get better and installed Roam Control so I could force it to roam on Verizon. Forced roaming only gets you 1x data, but it gave me full signal which prevented dropouts and draining the battery.
Now I'm on Verizon with the S3 and have no signal issues. I don't think I've ever seen less than 3 bars. The signal starts might be lower than other phones based on other people's experience but I wouldn't know because I haven't had any problems to make it worth checking. I think it really depends on your area. If your current phone is rooted, you could try Roam Control to get an idea of what the signal strength will be like, although you'll be stuck on 1x data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This doesn't work, each manufacturer measures it slightly differently. You have to use a third party app to compare phones that are not the same model.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Yes, it is. My GS3 consistently drops in places where my Rezound and iPhone work without a hiccup.

I actually just switched from Sprint to Verizon last week and love it. My gs3 has great reception and the network is very fast. I get a consistent 30 mbps down all over my area. With Sprint I was lucky to get 500 kbps
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

The Nexus was the worst for reception. The S3 is a close second. It seems to be people in some parts of the country don't notice the issue - possibly because they don't use their phone much or because they have towers that use different technology than the towers in the areas I travel. I spend a lot of time in Los Angeles, Vegas and Dallas. I can be at 4 bars one second and no bars (drop the call) and go back to 4 bars the next.
I was on Sprint and the HTC EVO 3D had that same issue even though the EVO didn't. I did always get crap data speeds on Sprint though. Some phones get great signal like the Motorola - so the question is - which is more imporant to you - the PDA or the phone. I use about 3000 minutes per month so I notice quickly when there are issues with a phones reception. My data speeds on the S3 are much better than I had on Sprint.

No the radios are not bad.
Excellent service, all the time here. In fact, I've never seen my phone with less than 3 bars, anywhere I go. And I travel a lot.

Yes the radios are very bad.....although improving. With the HE radio I finally have seem -99 dbm at my house although most of the time it is around -105. This is much improved compared to the original radio where I saw on average -110. I still drop calls in areas where I never have before. The poster that stated that HTC's have better signal are definitely correct. My wifes old rezound normally saw -80 to -85 at my house and never dropped calls anywhere. My old Thunderbolt was the same. Funny thing is that no matter what direction I go from my house, once I am a minute away I get full reception.....no matter what way I go. The radios don't do a good job of reaching out for the signal. The range is bad. Those stating that they are happy with their radios are probably in areas that don't have any weak spots. I'm holding out for newer radios cause every release seems to be a small step in the right direction.

ercDROID said:
Yes the radios are very bad.....although improving. With the HE radio I finally have seem -99 dbm at my house although most of the time it is around -105. This is much improved compared to the original radio where I saw on average -110. I still drop calls in areas where I never have before. The poster that stated that HTC's have better signal are definitely correct. My wifes old rezound normally saw -80 to -85 at my house and never dropped calls anywhere. My old Thunderbolt was the same. Funny thing is that no matter what direction I go from my house, once I am a minute away I get full reception.....no matter what way I go. The radios don't do a good job of reaching out for the signal. The range is bad. Those stating that they are happy with their radios are probably in areas that don't have any weak spots. I'm holding out for newer radios cause every release seems to be a small step in the right direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same exact thing here! You took the words directly out of my mouth.
Sent by one of my many Anthromorphic Personifications

Here are the results of a real world test that I just did with a co-workers HTC Thunderbolt compared to my SG3:
Both phones on 4g and side by side
HTC dBM -66
SG3 dBM -92
I think the results are pretty clear. Nothing else really needs to be said about the quality of the SG3 radio......it is not as good as the competition. If it was close by a few dBM then it would not be of concern to me. A 26 dBM difference is huge!
Because of this difference in signal strength he was able to have much faster download speeds. I was 17 down compared to his 27 down.

Intermittent connectivity issues

Every so often my M8 will basically become disconnected from the network. This NORMALLY appears when I'm in a low coverage zone, and it's as if my phone just doesn't want to reconnect when I get back into a higher coverage area.
For instance at my gym, I frequently get a weak signal, but it's usually 4G. Sometimes it'll drop to 3G, and then sometimes when I get back into an area of the gym that has 4G coverage my phone will say it's still on 3G. However, there's actually no connectivity at all, and I need to either reboot or toggle airplane mode to get a connection again.
Sometimes (at least 2-3 times in the last week) it happened while, at least to the best of my knowledge, I was in a 4G area (though with weak coverage) the entire time. Again I fixed it each time by toggling airplane.
Has anyone else seen an issue like this? It's frustrating as hell. And more importantly has anyone heard of a fix for this?

sfreemanoh said:
Every so often my M8 will basically become disconnected from the network. This NORMALLY appears when I'm in a low coverage zone, and it's as if my phone just doesn't want to reconnect when I get back into a higher coverage area.
For instance at my gym, I frequently get a weak signal, but it's usually 4G. Sometimes it'll drop to 3G, and then sometimes when I get back into an area of the gym that has 4G coverage my phone will say it's still on 3G. However, there's actually no connectivity at all, and I need to either reboot or toggle airplane mode to get a connection again.
Sometimes (at least 2-3 times in the last week) it happened while, at least to the best of my knowledge, I was in a 4G area (though with weak coverage) the entire time. Again I fixed it each time by toggling airplane.
Has anyone else seen an issue like this? It's frustrating as hell. And more importantly has anyone heard of a fix for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, actually I had a thread about this a while back; I tried just about everything (other ROMs, new sim cards, factory resets, the whole shebang) and my only solution so far (if you intend on keeping your current phone) is to completely unroot my phone, along with removing all root-related applications (namely Xposed). It still happens from time to time, but a lot less frequently then when rooted and running Xposed modules. I have a new phone coming in today from Verizon, so hopefully that unit will not have any of these issues... I still am not entirely sure what causes it, though it is definitely exacerbated by Xposed. Hopefully some of this helps? If you have any further questions feel free to ask, either through PM or this here thread.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Sevinex said:
Yep, actually I had a thread about this a while back; I tried just about everything (other ROMs, new sim cards, factory resets, the whole shebang) and my only solution so far (if you intend on keeping your current phone) is to completely unroot my phone, along with removing all root-related applications (namely Xposed). It still happens from time to time, but a lot less frequently then when rooted and running Xposed modules. I have a new phone coming in today from Verizon, so hopefully that unit will not have any of these issues... I still am not entirely sure what causes it, though it is definitely exacerbated by Xposed. Hopefully some of this helps? If you have any further questions feel free to ask, either through PM or this here thread.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having same did getting new phone help? I think its just crappy radios myself nothing to do with root exposed or anything.

wooddale said:
I am having same did getting new phone help? I think its just crappy radios myself nothing to do with root exposed or anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a new phone now, and so far I haven't experienced any data connectivity issues. This morning I did notice that my SMS were not sending properly, but that issue has since faded away, so hopefully it was Verizon network based... Anyways, I will try reinstalling Xposed and a couple modules later today (likely Snapshare and the Sense 6 Toolbox) and will report back sometime tomorrow or the next on how it goes. Fingers crossed...
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Sevinex said:
I have a new phone now, and so far I haven't experienced any data connectivity issues. This morning I did notice that my SMS were not sending properly, but that issue has since faded away, so hopefully it was Verizon network based... Anyways, I will try reinstalling Xposed and a couple modules later today (likely Snapshare and the Sense 6 Toolbox) and will report back sometime tomorrow or the next on how it goes. Fingers crossed...
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks keep us informed.

wooddale said:
Thanks keep us informed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sfreemanoh said:
Every so often my M8 will basically become disconnected from the network. This NORMALLY appears when I'm in a low coverage zone, and it's as if my phone just doesn't want to reconnect when I get back into a higher coverage area.
For instance at my gym, I frequently get a weak signal, but it's usually 4G. Sometimes it'll drop to 3G, and then sometimes when I get back into an area of the gym that has 4G coverage my phone will say it's still on 3G. However, there's actually no connectivity at all, and I need to either reboot or toggle airplane mode to get a connection again.
Sometimes (at least 2-3 times in the last week) it happened while, at least to the best of my knowledge, I was in a 4G area (though with weak coverage) the entire time. Again I fixed it each time by toggling airplane.
Has anyone else seen an issue like this? It's frustrating as hell. And more importantly has anyone heard of a fix for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, so after installing Xposed, I suddenly started having issues maintaining a solid 4G connection; 3G works fine, just whenever I do manage to connect to 4G I am unable to use any data (says I am connected to the mobile network, but I do not get any upload or download data movement). Even after removing Xposed and all associated modules, I am still experiencing this problems. I am going in today/Monday to get a new SIM card (hopefully this is what is causing my issues) but goddamn I just cannot seem to catch a break in terms of my phones' data connection. If the above doesn't work I may have to send for another phone, though after having now received three replacements this entire process is getting a little irksome... I really do love this phone, but it seems as if it is my M8 is rejecting my love from every angle.
UPDATE: The new SIM didn't do anything, I still am having 4G issues, so another phone it is...

it's not just your phone....
Sevinex said:
Lol, so after installing Xposed, I suddenly started having issues maintaining a solid 4G connection; 3G works fine, just whenever I do manage to connect to 4G I am unable to use any data (says I am connected to the mobile network, but I do not get any upload or download data movement). Even after removing Xposed and all associated modules, I am still experiencing this problems. I am going in today/Monday to get a new SIM card (hopefully this is what is causing my issues) but goddamn I just cannot seem to catch a break in terms of my phones' data connection. If the above doesn't work I may have to send for another phone, though after having now received three replacements this entire process is getting a little irksome... I really do love this phone, but it seems as if it is my M8 is rejecting my love from every angle.
UPDATE: The new SIM didn't do anything, I still am having 4G issues, so another phone it is...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a lot of feedback on the web across multiple carriers of the poor lte signal retention on this phone.....this is starting to sound like a hardware defect or a major "radio" software glitch.

biswasd said:
a lot of feedback on the web across multiple carriers of the poor lte signal retention on this phone.....this is starting to sound like a hardware defect or a major "radio" software glitch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dumped mine could not handle it anymore get rid of it before you loose any more money. I have had a lot of phones when there bad from the start they don't usually get any better. The Droid Bionic being the only exception.

sfreemanoh said:
Every so often my M8 will basically become disconnected from the network. This NORMALLY appears when I'm in a low coverage zone, and it's as if my phone just doesn't want to reconnect when I get back into a higher coverage area.
For instance at my gym, I frequently get a weak signal, but it's usually 4G. Sometimes it'll drop to 3G, and then sometimes when I get back into an area of the gym that has 4G coverage my phone will say it's still on 3G. However, there's actually no connectivity at all, and I need to either reboot or toggle airplane mode to get a connection again.
Sometimes (at least 2-3 times in the last week) it happened while, at least to the best of my knowledge, I was in a 4G area (though with weak coverage) the entire time. Again I fixed it each time by toggling airplane.
Has anyone else seen an issue like this? It's frustrating as hell. And more importantly has anyone heard of a fix for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem with my new M8 when travelling from/to areas with low or no data coverage back to areas where I knew there was a LTE signal. Only toggling Airplane Mode would make the data reconnect. That problem was solved for me with a new sim card.
I also had very bad data connectivity at home in a major southern California city (best was -105 dBm) whereas I got up to -83 dBm in some rural town in Arizona.
Read trook's posts #34 and up here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=53838257
Some of these problems may be connected to the new data service VZW is rolling out.
I would wait a few weeks before ditiching this phone. 'Cause it rocks!!!

bull**** phone
berndblb said:
I had the same problem with my new M8 when travelling from/to areas with low or no data coverage back to areas where I knew there was a LTE signal. Only toggling Airplane Mode would make the data reconnect. That problem was solved for me with a new sim card.
I also had very bad data connectivity at home in a major southern California city (best was -105 dBm) whereas I got up to -83 dBm in some rural town in Arizona.
Read trook's posts #34 and up here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=53838257
Some of these problems may be connected to the new data service VZW is rolling out.
I would wait a few weeks before ditiching this phone. 'Cause it rocks!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it has nothing to do with the AWS rollout - i have a Verizon Galaxy S5 sitting right next to my M8 ---- guess what - consistent data speeds on the s5 (15 mbs down)......on the m8 (3-4mbs down) - and the data flucutates and in the signal meter , I'm getting about -6db less on the M8 than the s5.
trust me, i so desperately want to keep this phone, b/c quite frankly, i hate the amoled screen on the s5, but alas, i cant keep a phone that doesn't work well

biswasd said:
it has nothing to do with the AWS rollout - i have a Verizon Galaxy S5 sitting right next to my M8 ---- guess what - consistent data speeds on the s5 (15 mbs down)......on the m8 (3-4mbs down) - and the data flucutates and in the signal meter , I'm getting about -6db less on the M8 than the s5.
trust me, i so desperately want to keep this phone, b/c quite frankly, i hate the amoled screen on the s5, but alas, i cant keep a phone that doesn't work well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have to do that?! You just ruined my evening! That's really not what I wanted to hear!
The cold hard truth - aaaarghhh. [emoji24]
Now I have to re-think this purchase 'cause I use my phone 80% for data related functions!
But thanks anyway for posting. Even if it hurt...

cold hard facts
berndblb said:
Did you have to do that?! You just ruined my evening! That's really not what I wanted to hear!
The cold hard truth - aaaarghhh. [emoji24]
Now I have to re-think this purchase 'cause I use my phone 80% for data related functions!
But thanks anyway for posting. Even if it hurt...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes - sorry bro - i'm quite disappointed by what i am seeing with my own two eyes as well as all the others across the US and the rest of the world who are experiencing the SAME symptoms. so this is not a verizon network issue --
me thinks its a faulty radio which is causing bad handoffs between 3g and 4g (LTE). once the phone drops down to 3g, it never regains 4g signal for some reason. also, there is the issue of the constant signal fluctuations even when the phone is on LTE...so who knows. maybe combo of bad radio and poor quality antenna module.
i'm not a phone engineer but i have enough common sense and knowledge about phones to know a lemon when i see one......so, yup, i'm keeping the s5 and return the m8 tomorrow under the 14 day guarantee from verizon. shame....

biswasd said:
yes - sorry bro - i'm quite disappointed by what i am seeing with my own two eyes as well as all the others across the US and the rest of the world who are experiencing the SAME symptoms. so this is not a verizon network issue --
me thinks its a faulty radio which is causing bad handoffs between 3g and 4g (LTE). once the phone drops down to 3g, it never regains 4g signal for some reason. also, there is the issue of the constant signal fluctuations even when the phone is on LTE...so who knows. maybe combo of bad radio and poor quality antenna module.
i'm not a phone engineer but i have enough common sense and knowledge about phones to know a lemon when i see one......so, yup, i'm keeping the s5 and return the m8 tomorrow under the 14 day guarantee from verizon. shame....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To tell the truth I have been reading about the same issue on the general M8 forum - probably just didn't want to make the connection.... So thanks for opening my eyes.
I'm hoping for bad radio software that may get fixed with some future update (although my 6th sense tells me it's the bad antenna module....)
Too late for me for a clean exchange. Gonna have to read the Squaretrade fine print.....

Cell data reception (anecdotal)

I had a longer, more detailed post, then accidentally refreshed the page... :good:
Bottom line was my S6 has reverted to 3G a few times over the weekend in places where it shouldn't. I've owned all the VoLTE devices on Verizon so far, and none of them did this. Data is also very slow at times. It could be a fluke - maybe VZW was tweaking some stuff locally over the weekend. But it feels eerily similar to when LTE was first introduced back in 2011 and so many of those early LTE devices had problems managing LTE and 3G.
That combined with the, so far, completely inconsistent battery life with cell standby issues has me a bit concerned. I love this phone overall - it feels like the total package. I hope this (and battery) isn't its one glaring weakness.
I'm just curious what other Verizon users' experience has been so far.

Same here
jntdroid said:
I had a longer, more detailed post, then accidentally refreshed the page... :good:
Bottom line was my S6 has reverted to 3G a few times over the weekend in places where it shouldn't. I've owned all the VoLTE devices on Verizon so far, and none of them did this. Data is also very slow at times. It could be a fluke - maybe VZW was tweaking some stuff locally over the weekend. But it feels eerily similar to when LTE was first introduced back in 2011 and so many of those early LTE devices had problems managing LTE and 3G.
That combined with the, so far, completely inconsistent battery life with cell standby issues has me a bit concerned. I love this phone overall - it feels like the total package. I hope this (and battery) isn't its one glaring weakness.
I'm just curious what other Verizon users' experience has been so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed the same thing a few times on my VZW S6 Edge. A web page would load super slow or it would be on 3g, when my note 4 never had this issue. Part of it could be the fact that Samsung went from using qualcomm chips for the radios to in house chips. Qualcomm has been making and updating radio chips for practically every Mfgs phones for years. I'm thinking samsung just doesnt have the experience that Qualcomm does. Hopefully its just a matter of a firmware update.

Drhoot said:
I noticed the same thing a few times on my VZW S6 Edge. A web page would load super slow or it would be on 3g, when my note 4 never had this issue. Part of it could be the fact that Samsung went from using qualcomm chips for the radios to in house chips. Qualcomm has been making and updating radio chips for practically every Mfgs phones for years. I'm thinking samsung just doesnt have the experience that Qualcomm does. Hopefully its just a matter of a firmware update.
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Click to collapse
The VZW and SPRINT versions actually have QCOM modem chips as opposed to their own Shannon modem. The Antenna configuration and other parts are completely different from other phones or previous Samsung phones.
my 2 cents

equake said:
The VZW and SPRINT versions actually have QCOM modem chips as opposed to their own Shannon modem. The Antenna configuration and other parts are completely different from other phones or previous Samsung phones.
my 2 cents
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Click to collapse
Ahh, thanks for clarifying. I read that they used their own chips instead of QCOM. Guess the CDMA variants are different. I assumed that could be part of the problem.

Drhoot said:
Ahh, thanks for clarifying. I read that they used their own chips instead of QCOM. Guess the CDMA variants are different. I assumed that could be part of the problem.
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Every model is somewhat different. My S4 gets decent LTE reception while my wife's S5 switches to 3G in the same place. It's also the the S/W on the phone. The Lollipop update on the phones have been lowering the connection quality in my opinion. The S5 had better reception when on 4.4.x
my 2 cents

I also noticed this. At home, I have fair LTE connectivity usually around -105 to -115dBm, and on my previous G3 I always remained connected to LTE. Now on the S6, I have similar signal levels but it often drops to 3G or even 1x.

geoff5093 said:
I also noticed this. At home, I have fair LTE connectivity usually around -105 to -115dBm, and on my previous G3 I always remained connected to LTE. Now on the S6, I have similar signal levels but it often drops to 3G or even 1x.
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Yes, this exactly. My signal level is "normal", but it's switching to 3G. That makes me think it's a software tweak, which is good I guess. But I still hate the similar feeling to 2011...

jntdroid said:
I had a longer, more detailed post, then accidentally refreshed the page... :good:
Bottom line was my S6 has reverted to 3G a few times over the weekend in places where it shouldn't. I've owned all the VoLTE devices on Verizon so far, and none of them did this. Data is also very slow at times. It could be a fluke - maybe VZW was tweaking some stuff locally over the weekend. But it feels eerily similar to when LTE was first introduced back in 2011 and so many of those early LTE devices had problems managing LTE and 3G.
That combined with the, so far, completely inconsistent battery life with cell standby issues has me a bit concerned. I love this phone overall - it feels like the total package. I hope this (and battery) isn't its one glaring weakness.
I'm just curious what other Verizon users' experience has been so far.
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I am having the same experience. Areas that were very strong 4G LTE on both my S4, S5 and even an iPhone 6 are switching to 3G. This is very disheartening to me and hope very much so its a software tweak and not because of a larger hardware issue.

lilsalmon said:
I am having the same experience. Areas that were very strong 4G LTE on both my S4, S5 and even an iPhone 6 are switching to 3G. This is very disheartening to me and hope very much so its a software tweak and not because of a larger hardware issue.
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I know in the past, the hand-off to 3G too "early" was typically software related... but if the radio is weak (which I'm not convinced is the issue), software tweaks might only go so far.

Mine goes from LTE to 1x. Don't even see 3G. Lol

So just now I'm driving home and talking with my wife like I do every day of the week through the exact same area. On previous devices the LTE signal was weaker through this area (normally 2 bars depending on the phone), but I've never had any problems. Today, with the S6, my wife kept complaining that I was cutting out a lot. I looked down and had that first little dot of a bar and that's it. Within a minute or so the call completely dropped. I'm always frustrated with Verizon's handling of VoLTE, but this doesn't help the case for the S6 either.

droidiac13 said:
Mine goes from LTE to 1x. Don't even see 3G. Lol
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I assume that's not normal behavior?

jntdroid said:
I assume that's not normal behavior?
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I wouldn't think so, but who knows.

I to have noticed my S6 on 3G a lot, I have dropped about 4 calls today to..That is not normal, together with the poor battery life I'm thinking this sucker is probably going back.

sprke said:
I to have noticed my S6 on 3G a lot, I have dropped about 4 calls today to..That is not normal, together with the poor battery life I'm getting this sucker is probably going back.
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So frustrating b/c it's such a great device otherwise. I'm still hopeful, though...

jntdroid said:
So frustrating b/c it's such a great device otherwise. I'm still hopeful, though...
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Love the size, feel and screen. Another thing that happens is it will power off overnight while charging... How's that going to work if I depend on it for alarms?

Again this morning... dropped to 3G twice - once on my way to work (dropped call) and for about 15 minutes in my office. Both places that, historically, have never had any issues (edit: though they are places where LTE isn't the strongest - but never have I dropped to 3G). It's only a problem about 10% of the time, but it's a frustrating 10%, and a 10% I haven't had to deal with in a LONG time.

I have a friend who works for Samsung mobile US. From what he is telling me they are aware of the issue and are already planning a software release. It's noted in the bug fixes as "Radio Attenuation" It's already with Verizon for testing and approval, but doesn't have a firm release date because we all know how Verizon is with software releases.
He actually said this is due to the shorting testing period with vzw this launch.
So here is hoping this is resolved via a software update and not a longer standing hardware issue.

Quick question, is the S6 single antenna?
I'm guessing the S6 Edge is like the other Edge. Screen takes away an antenna.

This is disgusting from my point of view. From the exact same spot I generally pull between 18Mbs to 20Mbs... religiously for over a year on an S5 OR S4.
Why in the he'll is it so hard to get a phone right? They did everything else right with this phone and launch and now we have take. 2 generations steps backwards with the radios.

Cell Reception

I've noticed a strange behavior with my T-Mobile V20. It really likes to drop service and then show a loading symbol for a bit before locking onto a signal again.
Usually the current reception is weak (1 bar), but not always. Sometimes it does it when I have 2-3 bars of LTE, just to switch down to 5 bars 2G.
There are also times when it'll show that I have 3-4 bars of voice reception, but the status will say "Searching" and calls won't work. Rebooting will make LTE appear.
Is this normal behavior? I just got this phone, and it's also the phone I used to switch off Verizon. T-Mobile definitely has better coverage where I am, but that's only when it isn't dropping the signal.

I have the same issue with my LG V20 phone. The reception/signal strength is horrible. Callers constantly complain that my phone goes in an out, making it difficult to maintain a conversation. Bluetooth connectivity is also an issue as connecting the device requires multiple attempts. This phone is becoming useless due to the reception and Bluetooth connectivity issues. I will continue to use my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 as a backup. I have never experienced any such issues while using the Samsung device. Hopefully the developers at LG are taking notes and a fix/update will be released before 2017.

lgV20_user said:
I have the same issue with my LG V20 phone. The reception/signal strength is horrible. Callers constantly complain that my phone goes in an out, making it difficult to maintain a conversation. Bluetooth connectivity is also an issue as connecting the device requires multiple attempts. This phone is becoming useless due to the reception and Bluetooth connectivity issues. I will continue to use my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 as a backup. I have never experienced any such issues while using the Samsung device. Hopefully the developers at LG are taking notes and a fix/update will be released before 2017.
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I haven't had problems with Bluetooth; in fact, I've had the opposite; Bluetooth works nicely.
I hate to say it, but I haven't actually made a call on my phone yet, so I can't comment on that, but you seem to be having it much worse than I am.

lgV20_user said:
I have the same issue with my LG V20 phone. The reception/signal strength is horrible. Callers constantly complain that my phone goes in an out, making it difficult to maintain a conversation. Bluetooth connectivity is also an issue as connecting the device requires multiple attempts. This phone is becoming useless due to the reception and Bluetooth connectivity issues. I will continue to use my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 as a backup. I have never experienced any such issues while using the Samsung device. Hopefully the developers at LG are taking notes and a fix/update will be released before 2017.
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What kind of case are you using? It sounds like you have something blocking the signal (your case), you have multiple, defective radios in your device, or something -- in the area within which you operate your phone -- is interfering with the signal. I am not experiencing those issues at all, and neither is my wife (we're both using US996).
Good luck in any case. Your phone not working correctly is a horrible experience.

wtharp2 said:
What kind of case are you using? It sounds like you have something blocking the signal (your case), you have multiple, defective radios in your device, or something -- in the area within which you operate your phone -- is interfering with the signal. I am not experiencing those issues at all, and neither is my wife (we're both using US996).
Good luck in any case. Your phone not working correctly is a horrible experience.
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Which carrier are you on?

I haven't had any problems with dropped calls. Then again, I'm usually somewhere near wifi and make most of my calls that way.

douger1957 said:
I haven't had any problems with dropped calls. Then again, I'm usually somewhere near wifi and make most of my calls that way.
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I remember you... Howdy

Zacharee1 said:
I remember you... Howdy
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Who's doing Note 4 customer service now that you and I aren't there anymore?

douger1957 said:
Who's doing Note 4 customer service now that you and I aren't there anymore?
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Well now that CM14.1 is for all Snapdragon variants, we've got some new helpers.

So I've figured out at least one of the signal oddities. I'm going from one bar on LTE on T-Mobile to roaming on AT&T. I was able to use the app LTE Discovery to see that I was on AT&T's LTE B17 (which isn't even listed as supported on the H918). The phone was just disabling voice and data.

My cell reception seems normal for tmobile(which is mostly not good in my area) but the weird thing is on bluetooth. When i bend down at work with my phone in my pocket the BT signal get choppy. Like im compressing the antenna or something. Weird.

Bubba Fett said:
My cell reception seems normal for tmobile(which is mostly not good in my area) but the weird thing is on bluetooth. When i bend down at work with my phone in my pocket the BT signal get choppy. Like im compressing the antenna or something. Weird.
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You could take a look at the FCC test for BT https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/repo...on_id=Yart0xj3tUt4f53nf7wvbQ==&fcc_id=ZNFH918
I found out that this phone is rated for LTE B13 from there. Looks like it supports a lot more bands than LG or T-Mobile say, since even the FCC doesn't include B17.