No GSM signal, 3G/LTE works - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello guys and girls,
after experiencing some GPS problems (loss of signal on the road and/or late fix) I did the fix found on youtube (Where you place a bit of paper/tape under the GPS antenna contacts). It worked just fine, my GPS fix is now happening faster and I did not lose the signal ever since. But I am now facing some (weird?) problem: My GSM connection (GRPS, EDGE) is really really bad. In my room I don't get any signal at all, outside I get like 1 out of 4 bars of signal strength, but I lose it after a few seconds. I normally have 4 out of 4 bars in my room. BUT: My 3G connection works fine, 3G, LTE, same connectivity as before.
My friends phone (same carrier) does get the full GRPS/EDGE connection in my room, so it's not the carrier having problems. I didn't do any updates or anything in the last weeks. It would be a huge coincidence, if a software bug happened while I fixed the GPS problem, so I assume it's a hardware related thing?
How might I fix that, what possible solutions are there?
Tried the following so far:
Restarting multiple times, with our without airplane mode
Re-inserting the sim-car
Switching between LTE only, GSM/LTE, GSM only
Flashing new/other modem
Replacing the speaker/antenna-module
-> nothing changed

out of sheer curiousity, and after reading your post, im stuck wondering.. why do you want or need your gprs and edge connection when your 3G/LTE is fine? data speeds are very slow, and drain lots of battery using anything internet or download related..

Yeah, sure, 3G/LTE is better and coverage is really good where I live, that's why it's not an emergency for me, but it's very important to get it back to work properly.
I know at least 2 situations where I really need GSM (GPRS,EDGE):
1) At work (huge metal building, no 3G/LTE, only GSM) -> I can't call, text or do anything with my phone (don't worry, I am allowed to do so and no, there is no WiFi)
2) On the road, especially the german autobahn has large areas where there is no 3G/LTE coverage, so I can't use my navigation-software properly and can't respond to calls or whatsoever
So all in all: GSM in really important for me. Please help me. :crying:

ahh.. I see.
and your GPRS/edge was fine before the GPS "fix"? maybe something got loosened?

Before I did the fix it worked perfectly fine. Directly after I did it, the gsm was gone so I figured that I somehow damaged the antenna. But since I replaced it and nothing changed I am not sure what to do now. Are there other antennas, are there other modules that influence gsm, that I might have damaged or loosened?

That's what can happen when you tinker with guts of your phone. You risk damaging or messing it up. Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a jerk.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Yes, dave2metz, I know. I was fully aware of that when I opened my phone for the first time to fix the GPS thing. But I am not here for moral advice.
Any ideas how I could fix my problem are highly appreciated!
Edit:
Just checked: The sim-card is not the cause of the problem either. I would really appreciate some good ideas guys..

No idea what I might try?
My best guess is that this is a hardware related problem. But how does one fix it? I replaced the antenna (the bottom thing), nothing changed. So that specific antenna was not the cause of the problem.
Are there other antennas?
Are there antenna-connections that I could check?
Any other hardware things that I might check?
Anything that might have lost the physcical contact inside the phone because of that GPS fix?
Could it, against all odds, be a software problem?
Please, I am really in need of a working phone. If I can't fix it I need to replace it sooner or later because GSM is essential.
If anyone can provide me with an idea or something that leads me to a fix, I will reward you (amazon gift-card or whatsoever).
Cheers,
.yasu

Did you figure it out?
.yasu said:
No idea what I might try?
My best guess is that this is a hardware related problem. But how does one fix it? I replaced the antenna (the bottom thing), nothing changed. So that specific antenna was not the cause of the problem.
Are there other antennas?
Are there antenna-connections that I could check?
Any other hardware things that I might check?
Anything that might have lost the physcical contact inside the phone because of that GPS fix?
Could it, against all odds, be a software problem?
Please, I am really in need of a working phone. If I can't fix it I need to replace it sooner or later because GSM is essential.
If anyone can provide me with an idea or something that leads me to a fix, I will reward you (amazon gift-card or whatsoever).
Cheers,
.yasu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you end up figuring anything out for this? I have something along the same lines. I dropped my phone and smashed the screen. I was able to get a guy to replace the screen portion of the unit, but immediately after I got it back it had no cell reception. Rebooted came, back thought everything was cool.
After a couple weeks I notice my phone has lost reception occasionally. It's now gotten worse, I used to be able to reboot it about 5 or 6 times and then it would randomly come back. I've even had it come back without performing a reboot on its own.
I ended up taking the whole thing apart, reseating everything after having a day and half span where I have been unable to get it back and boom reception came back. Thought it was his repair job at that point, but it has since dropped the signal again and I can't get it back. Yesterday even I was showing LTE signal changing from low to strong etc, but my network was still down as I couldn't perform a search, maps, or anything.
I have my phone apart again. I've checked all the connections over and over and wondering what else to look for or try to replace. True my impact could have damaged a component on the mainboard, but my phone works fine in all other areas. I could replace the antenna wires and the antenna/speaker module, but I'm not sure it just a reception problem.
My phone also boots into airplane mode when it has no signal, but turning it off does not restore the connection or anything. Rebooting it puts it back into airplane mode. *#*#4636#*# shows my radio is off. Thinking it's a short or something somewhere, but I doubt I'll be able to fix it in that case - at least without a mainboard?
That's my other question, what part need to be replaced for experiencing no network and its not the antenna or antenna wires? Is the mainboard? Sister board? Currently researching teardown as this phone is modular and I'm sure I could source the part off ebay or something.

Hi,
There's one antenna for 2G/3G/4G so I think if this problem was caused by hardware, it would affect overall connection to mobile network.
I think that this might me software-related problem but actually can't figure out which. Only thing I'm currently thinking of it that your phone has problems with connecting to certain GSM band. For example in Europe are 900 MHz and 1800 MHz standard for GSM.
Lower frequencies bring you better coverage. Your phone might have trouble with connecting to them and automatically selects 1800 MHz layer.
If you are able to get another phone with SIM of the same network provider, I recommend you to download any networking app and compare data about cells. Mainly CID number. It's unique identifier of each cell in an area.
If both phones are connected to same cell (CIDs are equal), you have to compare RSSI values. Lower means better signal. RSSI is defined as a negative number in an interval of <-51; -113>. So -75 dBm is better than -89 dBm. In one place should be difference about +/- 5 dBm.
Reaching slightly different RSSI numbers while connected to same cell in same place might mean that your phone really have problems with radio.

hey mate,
My wife phon is having the same issue 4G works, 3G sort of works, 2G nothing.
[Did the GPS fix on my wife's Nexus 5 (and mine) also]
swapped sim, used another telco same issue.
when into service menu did *#*#4635#*#* , click the 3 dots, select radio band - only see USA band.
While my phone had automatic, usa bad , usa band, japan band.
she is running stock rom with unlocked boot loader, I am on CM11 but doubt that should make any difference.
if I work out what is going on will report back.

nexus 5 3g 4g damaged
hello guys?.. my htc nexus 5 got wet and i notice the signal strength got lost. when i open it up i notice the lines on the antenna got damage. how do i repair it? or should i replace it with new one? Pls help !! 

Is issue still remaining?

Hi. I am having the same problem. Could anyone find a fix for this?
My GPS was and is fine. I didn't do the gps fix, but I have replaced my battery and I think it happened after the replace...

Related

Abbysmal GPS and WiFi Signal

I have looked far and wide for a fix to my plagued Nexus S GPS and WiFi Signal problems. I tried GPS Test and erased all cached AGPS data. NO Towers show up. Left phone sitting there next to my window for more than 30 minutes.
Wifi Signal is always one bar while my iPod, Samsung Focus, HP Veer all get three to four bars. Including different SIM cards all recently new.
I've always tried the no battery cover trick to no end. Flashed several radios for my I9020A that i bought at best buy and nothing has helped.
I'm on 2.3.4.
Any ideas before I return this phone as a defective and give another a try?
As for the GPS, this is some sort of issue with the phone. There have been videos on YouTube explaining that it's something to do with the back cover they chose: they found that the GPS signal was stronger with the back cover removed. Not too practical.
I too have issues while using Navigation (on a bus...or even in a car sometimes...it must have a lead lines roof or something) with the Nexus S that weren't present in the Nexus One (which could lock onto satellites in a basement :what. This looks like something you can try to DRM, but it may not improve.
As for the Wifi signal, how far are you from the access point? What wireless technology are you setting up on your access point? (802.11a, b, g, or n?). If it's n? Are you trying to use the phone with a 5ghz N router? Finally, is there anything between your router and the phone that could cause interference?
- chris
Thanks for the reply chris.
I have major issues even outside. the most accurate I've seen the phone pinpoint is 2500 meters accuracy with clear skies and such.
As for my router, its a BHN SBG6580. Basically Motorola Surf Board. It's supposed to go up to N. No There isn't any kind of interference otherwise my other devices wouldn't pick up a good signal right?
Please will anyone suggest anything I really like my nexus s and it's My first real Android coming from window phones and the iPhone 4
Okay so interesting find. If I tether my nexus s to my iPod my iPod can locate itself within 20 meters where as my nexus can't locate itself with about a huge margin error where I should be. My iPod gets GPS from my Nexus S giving off wifi
Does this mean it could be an android bug causing his problem ?
That's odd. It looks like Google knows where the phone is (err..where the access point with the ESSID of your phone is) but the phone isn't picking up on it.
There's a program on market called GPS Toolkit (something like that) that has an option to refresh your AGPS cache this may help you get a fix more quickly. If this doesn't work out, it may well be worth it to get the phone replaced. Oh...and if you're not using stock firmware....give that a try as well.
If none of that works, and you're not able to resolve your wireless issues, you may want to consider taking the phone back or RMAing it. This combination of issues sounds a bit strange.
- chris
Thanks again for the reply Chris.
It looks like I'm going to bring it back to stock how I got it and return it for an exchange or just wait or for another AT&T phone that is actually decent. By the way it is on the stock ROM just rooted.
If the replacement if I do get one issued still has the problems I am at lost then. I had tried GPS test from the market and the one you mentioned without any resolve to my problem

[Q] MB865 (Atrix 2) Hardware Question/Help Needed

My MB865 (Atrix 2) started losing signal and restarting. When it does re-acquire a signal, it is always a strong signal (5 bars ~ -65-dB). The problem has been getting worse and it is getting more difficult to acquire/retain a signal. Often the phone will spontaneously re-start as well. The re-starting seems to happen more frequently when I am charging the phone or do not have a signal.
My son has the exact same phone with the exact same configuration, and his is working perfectly. Side-by-side, he will have 5 bars while I'm not able to get a signal at all.
I have been told that this is likely an antenna issue, but I'm truly not sure.
Could a faulty antenna cause the re-starting issue described above? If it is a faulty antenna, is this something I could replace myself? I was unable to turn up anything useful in my search for a replacement antenna for this phone, so I'm not sure where to even get one.
Thanks in advance.
I am having nearly same issue with my atrix 2
I cant make or receive any calls/sms
The signal reception have decreased a lot.
I would like to know what you did to fix the issue
K****ijs said:
I am having nearly same issue with my atrix 2
I cant make or receive any calls/sms
The signal reception have decreased a lot.
I would like to know what you did to fix the issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a different phone.

3G cell reception issue and fix

I just want to write this post maybe it will help anyone that has or will have the same problem. I looked all over the internet and could not find a fix, so here is my fix. Hope it works.
I work over seas on oil rig sites (remote locations) so I talk to my wife and family back home via different VOIP apps so its important to get a 3G signal, usually I lock WCDMA only network and get at least 1 bar which is sufficient. All of a sudden I started experiencing very weak 3G signal on my phone, weirdly this was at the same location where it had full bars in the past. This only applies for 3G, I could get 2G signal no problem.
In other areas that I know had good 3G signals and towers were close, it would work alright outdoors but once I get behind a door or a window 3G disappears even if I have it locked. I put in my sim card in my old Galaxy Nexus and it had 3G indoors with no problems at the same place and right next to the N5. So I started testing with both phones right next to each other when I lock 3G with the same SIM the Galaxy nexus would get 3 bars while the Nexus 5 would get the empty triangle (emergency calls only).
I couldn't get out of my mind that I dropped my Nexus 5 a hard drop, but I have a rubber case that took all the shock and the phone didn't get a scratch on it. This was before the 3G signal starts getting funny. Couldn't help but feel that I broke it somehow though. I felt like this might have got something loose inside. What didn't make sense to me is that if the antenna didn't work it wouldn't get 3G at all, indoors and outdoors.
So Step 1, I assumed it was a software issue. I went through a painful hard reset. To my surprise it still had the same issue afterwards.
Then out of desperation I saw this dude's video on how he couldn't lock GPS until he opened the back of the phone and found that the GPS antenna was not connecting straight.
youtube com/watch?v=K1-uCIb-t8I[/url]
So I started searching for where the 3G or 2G antennas are on the N5, but couldnt find anything that points that out. The phone was worthless to me like that so... I took a deep breath and decided to open the phone. Keep in mind, i'm an oilfield engineer and I still had a feeling i might [email protected]#k the phone up, specially that I did not have any tools with me.
So I watched this video on how to open up the back cover:
youtube com/watch?v=mkbmtu-1KSQ[/url]
and went through this guide on what's inside the N5:
theregister co uk/2013/11/05/nexus_5_teardown_shows_a_light_touch_thats_easy_to_fix/[/url]
Then I opened it, couldn't find anything to do, except maybe clean the minor dust off and blow on the ICs a bit. There is alot of pins that connect to antennas located on the back cover itself, so I closed it up, made sure its closed tight and all the pins touching, put in my SIM, and GOD DAMN!! IT WORKS AGAIN... I was getting full bars 3G!!!
So what I figured is that when I dropped it, one of those pins moved a little bit away and broke the connection between the antenna and the IC. Works great for the last 5 hours, solid connection.
Hope I would help anyone with this
PS: put the dots in the links, XDA won't let me post outside URLs
walid.eldalil said:
I just want to write this post maybe it will help anyone that has or will have the same problem. I looked all over the internet and could not find a fix, so here is my fix. Hope it works.
I work over seas on oil rig sites (remote locations) so I talk to my wife and family back home via different VOIP apps so its important to get a 3G signal, usually I lock WCDMA only network and get at least 1 bar which is sufficient. All of a sudden I started experiencing very weak 3G signal on my phone, weirdly this was at the same location where it had full bars in the past. This only applies for 3G, I could get 2G signal no problem.
In other areas that I know had good 3G signals and towers were close, it would work alright outdoors but once I get behind a door or a window 3G disappears even if I have it locked. I put in my sim card in my old Galaxy Nexus and it had 3G indoors with no problems at the same place and right next to the N5. So I started testing with both phones right next to each other when I lock 3G with the same SIM the Galaxy nexus would get 3 bars while the Nexus 5 would get the empty triangle (emergency calls only).
I couldn't get out of my mind that I dropped my Nexus 5 a hard drop, but I have a rubber case that took all the shock and the phone didn't get a scratch on it. This was before the 3G signal starts getting funny. Couldn't help but feel that I broke it somehow though. I felt like this might have got something loose inside. What didn't make sense to me is that if the antenna didn't work it wouldn't get 3G at all, indoors and outdoors.
So Step 1, I assumed it was a software issue. I went through a painful hard reset. To my surprise it still had the same issue afterwards.
Then out of desperation I saw this dude's video on how he couldn't lock GPS until he opened the back of the phone and found that the GPS antenna was not connecting straight.
youtube com/watch?v=K1-uCIb-t8I[/url]
So I started searching for where the 3G or 2G antennas are on the N5, but couldnt find anything that points that out. The phone was worthless to me like that so... I took a deep breath and decided to open the phone. Keep in mind, i'm an oilfield engineer and I still had a feeling i might [email protected]#k the phone up, specially that I did not have any tools with me.
So I watched this video on how to open up the back cover:
youtube com/watch?v=mkbmtu-1KSQ[/url]
and went through this guide on what's inside the N5:
theregister co uk/2013/11/05/nexus_5_teardown_shows_a_light_touch_thats_easy_to_fix/[/url]
Then I opened it, couldn't find anything to do, except maybe clean the minor dust off and blow on the ICs a bit. There is alot of pins that connect to antennas located on the back cover itself, so I closed it up, made sure its closed tight and all the pins touching, put in my SIM, and GOD DAMN!! IT WORKS AGAIN... I was getting full bars 3G!!!
So what I figured is that when I dropped it, one of those pins moved a little bit away and broke the connection between the antenna and the IC. Works great for the last 5 hours, solid connection.
Hope I would help anyone with this
PS: put the dots in the links, XDA won't let me post outside URLs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats nice , but lots of ppls have the signal issues with nexus 5 , and it isn't antena disconect for 90 % if us. I have separated the phone many times. , done about 5 hard resets's tried diffrent verions of radio's diffrent ROM's etc... nothing work's. Frineds have nexus 5 2 of them , and they can get 3g and 4g when they want, and i can only get Edge which is 2g. which is unusable..... I noticed that i have 3g only when i am in other towns, but not mine home town.... I tried diffrent sim cards, and diffrent netowrks, nothing seams to get the 3g at home, plus the gsm sucks, it interupts the calls.. So i must be the frequencies of the working 3g network in mine home town ? Then how i don't get 4g ? Why other ppl with the same phone, and same network have 3g when put next to mine ? NO one knows...
Same Issue
i am having the same issue, just having "E" Edge and cannot connect to 3G/4G, done everything to resolve the issue, took apart the antenna part of my phone but all the connectors and wires are intact, did hard reset several times, tried different ROMS including stock ROMS, tried the *#*#4636#*#* selected all the Radios but no luck, used 2 different sim cards but no use, same damn "E" in the status bar, APNs are all in place, nothing is wrong with the settings so far, dont know wots da problem with this set.
Please help us.

Data dropping for a bit, then continues (Canada Rogers/Wind)

This has been happening since the first day I got the One Plus One. I was hoping it was a software issue, but I am on the latest and still no fix has been implemented. It seems that I am not the only one with this issue, however there are many that do not have this problem at all.
There's a page on it: https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/BACON-228
(Copied and pasted to OPO Support)
I don't know if there's something wrong with my phone but it's been happening from Day 1 and I'm fed up that no firmware has fixed anything. I began with Rogers in Canada, and for the most part it works but it would stop the upload/download on the top right for a bit then start again. I switched to Wind Mobile and still does the same thing. I changed the SIM cards, did hard resets, etc, and still nothing will fix it. I have a feeling I have a defective chip because others have reported no issues. It does the same on LTE or 3G. I can never watch a full YouTube clip or anything. The issue happens when I roam as well.
I also did the *#*#4636*#*# and played with different modes but it did not fix the issue. I also have random bar jumps. This happens every few minutes so I literally browse for a minute, data stops for a minute, browse for a minute, data drops for a minute, etc.
I get exactly the same, in the UK on EE network. The data just seems to freeze for no reason, totally independent from signal strength etc.
SimonTS said:
I get exactly the same, in the UK on EE network. The data just seems to freeze for no reason, totally independent from signal strength etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on Wind, and haven't noticed any issues, the speed is slow but that's a carrier-side issue since they only use 3g networks not 4g/lte. Um, there was another thread that had a couple different modems, perhaps you might see some success in stability by flashing those? It's either a issue with the modem, or the radio chip, but logcats would be helpful in determining and pinpointing the problems. (Just run the app catlog, and recreate your issue, then dump it and paste it to JIRA so the devs could have a better look, and as well as here, so perhaps someone could help/suggest something).
What's your current modem version?

OPO Intermittently connects to 3G/4G, 2g network always working

Hello,
I have a problem with my OPO that has been going on for months now (I suspect it's hardware based? but not sure)
My opo can always connect to 2g network
My opo can only connect for a limited time to 3G/4G networks. If i change the network type, I get internet alright for about an hour or so. After some time or event (can't find a pattern), the phone is suddenly disconnected from mobile internet (even though data is ON), but my reception indicator is full. I also cannot place calls or get called: when I try calling, I get either a textbox "network unavailable" or the call attempt just ends on it's own without result. I'll call this state "fake 4g"
Here's what I have already tried:
-reboot, flash other rom, factory reset
-downgrade and upgrade TWRP back again
-messing around with 4636 (but i think i haven't tried switching to US band and back to EU - i'm from europe). Note: the interface shows precisely one cell tower when i'm connected to fake 4g
-going back full stock (flashing a version of cm prior to YOGPAS1N0) in order to update the radio. I even installed oxygen at some point
-pulling a logcat. However, this problem (other than the fact that i have only have a basic grasp of IT) is that I cannot exactly pinpoint WHEN fake 4g occurred without looking at the screen/placing a call. I managed to determine fake 4g came up between 4:55 and 5:46, which is still a heck of a logcat. In order to generate some logcat chatter, i've placed a few unsuccessful calls during fake 4g period (i've pinpointed those logs)
Does anyone have any idea as to the cause of this bug (not entirely sure it's hardware based because it works, well, sometimes...)? Or can anyone maybe tell me what to look for in that 50 minute logcat? I guess I can always have another logcat run in the weekend and check every 5 mins until i can spot fake 4g happening.
Note: I haven't opened it to check whether the antenna is plugged or anything (not that i would see much, i think). Anyway, i can always do it if need be.
Thanks in advance
I have been having a similar problem, the LTE range keeps fluctuating from zero to 3/4th to full from time to time, even when the phone is lying stable. Range appears well when on 3g. It isn't sim card based as iv'e tried various sim ,phone combinations.
Also i have noticed many topics appearing in the past few months regarding network issues ... some kind of a pattern ?
Ah yeah I forgot to mention that I tried the simswap trick too, to no avail.
So you're suggesting the hardware antenna might be of poor quality, that might be the case. If so, I suppose the antenna cannot be easily changed (ie incorporated in mobo or whatever).
Does anyone know whether antennae are prone to fail in general?
Loladin0 said:
Ah yeah I forgot to mention that I tried the simswap trick too, to no avail.
So you're suggesting the hardware antenna might be of poor quality, that might be the case. If so, I suppose the antenna cannot be easily changed (ie incorporated in mobo or whatever).
Does anyone know whether antennae are prone to fail in general?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope.If there hasn't been anything that could damage the hardware,no.
Have you tried changing firmwares?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/general/firmware-modem-oneplus-one-t3462214
Even i am facing the similar kind of problem and posted my question here https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/help/internet-issues-intermittently-unable-t3714911. One more thing to note is if you try tethering with laptop the internet works just fine (it happens with my device) . Even i have tried many combination with 4636 interface but i really can't understand the reason behind it.
Flash latest modem firmware... Then *#*#4636#*#* ..then on phone change signal to 3g only or LTE only..
Helped me from losing signal

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