[Q] Time Without a Signal 100% - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys,
When checking the battery usage stats for Cell Standby i noticed it's showing 'Time Without a Signal 100%'. I've had the phone 3 days now and i noticed it on the first day and it hasn't changed. It does have a signal, i can make and receive calls with no problems. I've tried it with both a Talk Mobile and Vodafone sim card and they both show the same. The phone is a UK model, unbranded & unlocked. I've attached a screenshot so you can see what i'm talking about.
Anyone else getting the same? Any idea if this will be affecting my battery life?

snap4130 said:
Hi guys,
When checking the battery usage stats for Cell Standby i noticed it's showing 'Time Without a Signal 100%'. I've had the phone 3 days now and i noticed it on the first day and it hasn't changed. It does have a signal, i can make and receive calls with no problems. I've tried it with both a Talk Mobile and Vodafone sim card and they both show the same. The phone is a UK model, unbranded & unlocked. I've attached a screenshot so you can see what i'm talking about.
Anyone else getting the same? Any idea if this will be affecting my battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100% time not using 2g, hsdpa or 3g instead. Don't worry.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

I'v just noticed this on my new GSII, never had it happen before, what's bugging me is that I'm getting massive battery drain overnight and the phone is off (dead) b y morning and it seems to be because my phone is in a terrible signal area at home where it will keep tight hold of H or 3G but on the lowest signal level, upping the output power I presume and killing my battery.
I can't have my phone going from 60% to dead while I sleep for 7 hours.

It's an old gingerbread bug, nothing to worry about.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

Definitely a bug, mine also,
Sent from my GT-I9100

It'll start displaying correctly from then on (I think until reboot) if you go into Settings -> About Phone -> Status.

Correct!!!
Thanks!

I have the same problem I had no idea untill i read your post lol. I didn't notice any strange behaviour because of it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

Related

[Q] Battery drain and signal problem (SK17i)

Hello!
I've got my Xperia Mini Pro more than a month ago and have been experiencing some issues with the battery life and with the reception.
Besides the Xperia I also have a Nokia N82, both phones have a sim card from the same operator and both are set up to use only 3G and manual operator selection; putting both phones on the desk, the N82 gives me almost full strenght signal while the SK17i shows me no bars, if I pick up the SK17i it looses connection and I have to walk around the room like a dowser looking for signal. Moreover, once I found the perfect spot which gives me 2 bars, I have to hold the phone with two fingers because holding it with my hand makes it loose connection.
On top of this there is the battery drain problem: if I leave the SK17i in the perfect spot on the desk with the data connection on, the battery lasts max 3 hours (some times less than 2 hrs) with a full charge.
Also when I put it in my pocket leaving data on and I walk around the office, after a while the phone gets quite hot and to make it cool down I have to turn off data.
All this happens when I'm at work, when I go back home in the weekend the phone lasts a whole day having data connection and/or wifi turned on all time, also it doesn't get so hot.
My guess here is that in low signal areas there is a software component that litterally sucks the battery. Has anyone experienced this? And has anyone noted how the reception of this phone sucks?
Any idea of an app that can let me locate the battery-sucking piece of software?
PS: the phone is not rooted and has original FW and the latest apps updates that came out since it was bought. I've also immediately deleted McAfee crap and other bundled bloatware
I have the phone since Friday and also got bad reception problems.
It varies badly also without moving the phone. I can confirm that I lose all signal bars when holding the phone in my hand.
Can't say much about the data reception because it's the first time I have a data plan.
Sent from my SK17i using XDA App
Hi!
Since it'a a while that you've got the phone, have you been able to notice how long does the battery last? Does it last longer if you're in an area with good signal?
Thank you
Honestly I can't really tell unfortunately.
At home I have bad reception and at work mostly none
But I think that changing the Network Type to GSM auto (PRL) helped a bit with battery drainage and also reception.
You get to the settings with *#*#4636#*#*
Thanks for the hint, I'll try it and I'll let you know although I don't think it will work in my case since I have the 3 operator which works only in 3G/WCDMA and not in GSM.
BTW, what is that *#*#4636#*#* code? Do you know other codes like this?
Thanks
You can input the code through the dialer and a hidden menu appears.
I just googled for other similar codes and found this site:
http://www.askvg.com/google-android-hidden-secret-codes/
You could also try the app Elixir 2. That's how got to the hidden menu in first place.
I did try the GSM (PCL) setting as you suggested but nothing has changed even after the 2.3.4 update, in low signal areas the battery just lasts a couple of hours if data is on, 5 hrs if data is off; at home I kept it with wifi on for a whole day and in the evening I still had about 20% battery left so it's the search for signal that drains the battery.
The last test I'm going to make is to change operator and see if in gsm mode works better.
Thanks for the answers
You can also try set Search mode to manual instead of Automatic in Mobile Network settings.
Smiley76 said:
You can also try set Search mode to manual instead of Automatic in Mobile Network settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the first thing I did: disable roaming and set search mode to manual, although I noticed that the phone connects to other networks anyway but allowing only emergency calls.
Searching for a network is definitely a huuuge drain on battery, combine that with people's mysterious loss-of-signal issues and bam, battery drain.
It is confirmed here too that my signal is weak. My phone is SK17i
I live in a marginal signal area - and lose the signal fairly regularly.
Check the battery stats in the "About Phone" sub menu in settings. Unless those figures are cooked-up - there's very little drain from anything other than the display on my phone - and I have had wifi and data+GPS turned on most of the day.
In fact, I lose the signal even when charging or on a fully charged battery.
As an observation - the loss of signal seems to occur during or immediately after using certain apps like the maps - ones which make use of GPS or background data.
Just a tip.
Have any you confirmed if the same problem remains using another (perhaps newer) SIM card?
Because I know that sometimes problems like these can be caused by using older SIM cards.
Johan-SEAnswers said:
Just a tip.
Have any you confirmed if the same problem remains using another (perhaps newer) SIM card?
Because I know that sometimes problems like these can be caused by using older SIM cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Today I switched operator, went to one who has also 2G coverage and not only 3G like the previous one, I've had data, baground data and sync on, have been using the phone quite intensively and the battery is now at 59% after 4hrs.
With the previous operator it used to last only 2-4hrs.
Let's see what happens in the next days.
PS: In the past week I've tried disabling background data and the battery lasted almost 2 days, but to go online I used only wifi and not 3G. It seems background data is one of the highest battery drainers.
My Sk17i worst
My rooted sk17i even can't connected to the internet, the 3G signal is low, and the bigest problem that makes me annoyed is the battery can't charge into the maximum capacity. -_-
Each operator has there own share of bandwidth at different frequencies and drains battery differently
2g requires less battery
3 requires more battery
Auto- drains the most if your data is on also,your constantly searching for basetowers
Basebands can be changed to get optimum signal from your provider
3g will drain battery quicker than WiFi too
Newer 4g/lte is more efficient
66 baseband is good for me 3UK
Sent from my SK17i using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 01:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------
Spare battery around is the easier option too
Sent from my SK17i using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 01:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------
And a BlackBerry charger is handy too as it has higher voltage to charge aka quicker
Sent from my SK17i using xda app-developers app

Cell Standby percentage

Curious what everyone else has listed as cell standby percentage listed in battery usage. I just happened to look and mine is listed as 100% without signal even though I have had signal all along. I wonder if this could be a bug like the 50% without signal I experienced with my cappy.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
My cell standby is 6% currently
Mine is 21%, Android OS at 59%. Signal is constant yellow, which is odd since it was in decent signal much of that time.
Well that is weird, mine is reading 100%. I wonder what is going on.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
OK me thinks maybe I wasn't clear in the OP. What I am talking about is when you bring up Battery Usage and then click on Cell Standby it then brings you to the break down of the Cell Standby. There you will see Time On as well as Time Without a Signal. In my case the Time Without a Signal is reading 100%. What is everyone elses reading?
Time without a signal: 31% - rather surprised it's that high
To the OP, I was just about to make a thread on this because I knew I couldn't be the only one with this problem. I've had this bug since day one, it always says 100% no cell service.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
I'm not sure if it's the same thing but in the international version it's a display bug and for some reason if you go into settings--about phone---status, the % starts to drop.
Oh wow. I haven't even looked at this until I saw this thread. My cell standby says 3% but it says I've gone without signal for 96%. And I've been in coverage for most of the day
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
6% every time I've checked
KayvinM said:
I'm not sure if it's the same thing but in the international version it's a display bug and for some reason if you go into settings--about phone---status, the % starts to drop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think its the same thing with this phone. I did what you said with going into settings /status and now my percentage is dropping.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
First 4 days there was no sight of this on my device, this morning after installing google voice i've noticed mine now says 100%. Out of curiosity do the rest of you with this discrepancy have google voice installed?
marnel47 said:
First 4 days there was no sight of this on my device, this morning after installing google voice i've noticed mine now says 100%. Out of curiosity do the rest of you with this discrepancy have google voice installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, no Google Voice and my Time Without Signal is 100%.
maybe they miss word it. maybe it should have read "Time with Signal"... cuz I am on a Microcell... and I have signal alllll the time
Just saw this thread and checked - I'm another user with 100% time without signal indicated. Been in decent coverage most of the day. I have google voice installed.
Mine is 13%. Still weird
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
It seems to be a known bug with the GS2. There are threads discussing it in the I9100 forums. Ever since I went into About Phone/Status my time without signal percentage has stayed St 0%. I guess it's kind of like the 50% bug with the GalaxyS1.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Mine is 2%.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Checked my wife's SGSII tonight when she got home from work. Reported cell standby as 6% of battery use, and 0% time without signal. She has Google Voice installed as well.
A couple of maybe related items:
a) When we brought both devices home, hers connected to our MicroCell with no problems. Mine would not connect at all, until I did a sim swap with her device. After swapping back to our original sims, both connect to the MicroCell.
b) with very similar time off the charger today (me at 10 hours, her at almost 12) and similar screen on times (me: 1hr 27 min, her 1hr 11min) she had 60% battery remaining, I had 33%. I am running some additional apps, and used google nav for about 6 minutes. She was in wifi coverage all day (except while commuting) I had no wifi all day. Not sure if the battery burn difference is justified by those differences or not - or if they are possibly somewhat related to the 0 vs 100 time without signal indication (I was only showing 7% battery drain from the cell standby).
I too have the 100% "bug" I also read in the i900 threads that once we go to:
settings>about phone>status the "time without signal" percentage will begin to drop. I can confirm it. It's at 98% for me now. I seem to have pretty good battery life. About 16 hours on a single charge. I think its just a bug but makes me wonder if my battery life would last twice as long with "time without signal at 0%" I do not have google voice and all the apps and widgets I have that can be configured are set to sync manually (with the exception of the google apps) (auto sync is on).

Cell standby stats

Does anyone else have this problem? My cell standby says im 100% of time without signal. But im connected when i check it. Is this a known bug or is my device defective? Doesn't seem to effect battery life for me but it Is slightly concerning since i know the counter is ticking for a replacement hassle free from AT&T
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk
EDIT: cell standby says 6% after almost 19hrs and i'm rooted running cognition beta 4
It is a bug also seen in the international version GS2. I have the same issue. To make the percentage of time without signal go down you simply go into settings/about phone/status. After doing that you will notice the percentage slowly start creeping down from 100%.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

[Q] Is 'Time without a signal' = 35% normal?

I was checking my battery stats and the cell radio status was showing 35% without a signal, is this normal?
No. Time without signal is a huge drain on the battery. If you are in areas with poor signal its better for your battery if you turn on airplane mode.
Sent from my SGS II
Then, is there a way I can test my antenna? I spend the entire day downtown where, presumably, should be the best signals in the city.
Are you sure this isn't related to the known gingerbread bug where time without signal is erroneously reported?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
MikeStroh said:
I was checking my battery stats and the cell radio status was showing 35% without a signal, is this normal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it isn't. For most people this function is broken and always displays 100%
marnel47 said:
Are you sure this isn't related to the known gingerbread bug where time without signal is erroneously reported?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't know how to tell. I don't use voice much. However, my data rates are awful, consistently below 1,000 kbs down.
Mine says 100%
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
I've noticed when mine is showing time without signal, if I just go to Settings>About Phone>Status, then back out it will start reading that it does have a signal after that.
Sent from my Toshiba THRiVE using Tapatalk

Battery problems?

Hello. I picked up my s3 this morning after having charged that night. I unplugged it at about 1 in the morning, with airplane mode on, bluetooth off, and WiFi connected. When I woke up though at 10, the battery had dropped down to 80 percent while in standby, with no recent apps even running. I'm not sure if this is normal or if it's a battery problem but it's quite annoying, because it drained 20 percent in 9 hours of standby. Any help is appreciated.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
SPLucas26 said:
Hello. I picked up my s3 this morning after having charged that night. I unplugged it at about 1 in the morning, with airplane mode on, bluetooth off, and WiFi connected. When I woke up though at 10, the battery had dropped down to 80 percent while in standby, with no recent apps even running. I'm not sure if this is normal or if it's a battery problem but it's quite annoying, because it drained 20 percent in 9 hours of standby. Any help is appreciated.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Return phone to seller or recharge the phone and try again standby drain 12 hours 5% .
jje
JJEgan said:
Return phone to seller or recharge the phone and try again standby drain 12 hours 5% .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, so my drain is a bit extreme. I'll see what else I can do to try and fix this. Thanks for the quick reply though.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
start turning off all the Samsung rubbish, face awake, live wallpapers, check what you are syncing, turn off Google backup
What does battery usage say is draining your battery?
Sent from my GT-I9300
joshnichols189 said:
What does battery usage say is draining your battery?
Sent from my GT-I9300
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will drain the battery and charge to full again tonight. After I check it in the morning, I'll note what the battery stats say is draining it. I don't want to do it right now because it's been influenced by my usage today.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
This looks similar to my problem, and happens only when connected to certain WIFI-networks.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=30242130#post30242130
The things that it's say are draining it according to the usage stats are: WiFi, android os, phone idle, and android system.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
ZunRob said:
This looks similar to my problem, and happens only when connected to certain WIFI-networks.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=30242130#post30242130
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm. This could be my problem, but I'd need to try out some other WiFi networks to make sure.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Maybe caused by ~LG8 OTA combined with dual-band WiFi network?
I posted this over in another forum, but copying here to see what you all think...
..............
I don't know this for a fact, but I've read some things that lead me to believe the issue may (again, not confirmed), MAY be related to the recent ~LG8 OTA push. The root (no pun intended) cause is related to how the SG3 interacts in 802.11n band Wi-Fi networks that utilize multi-band (i.e. 2.4Ghz combined and 5Ghz running simultaneously).
One of the "features" of ~LG8 was to remove Advanced options for Wi-Fi networks, switching the connectivity logic to "automatic." If a GS3 is in a multi-band 'n' Wi-Fi network, it MAY be switching back and forth between bands, thus chewing up battery without actually pulling any data.
This is unconfirmed, so don't shoot the messenger. Can any of you validate whether or not the Wi-Fi networks where you see excessive drain is indeed a multi-band 'n' network?
CzechPleez said:
I posted this over in another forum, but copying here to see what you all think...
..............
I don't know this for a fact, but I've read some things that lead me to believe the issue may (again, not confirmed), MAY be related to the recent ~LG8 OTA push. The root (no pun intended) cause is related to how the SG3 interacts in 802.11n band Wi-Fi networks that utilize multi-band (i.e. 2.4Ghz combined and 5Ghz running simultaneously).
One of the "features" of ~LG8 was to remove Advanced options for Wi-Fi networks, switching the connectivity logic to "automatic." If a GS3 is in a multi-band 'n' Wi-Fi network, it MAY be switching back and forth between bands, thus chewing up battery without actually pulling any data.
This is unconfirmed, so don't shoot the messenger. Can any of you validate whether or not the Wi-Fi networks where you see excessive drain is indeed a multi-band 'n' network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This sounds like it could be a possible cause. I'll have to try out some multi band n networks in the next few days or so and see if there's any effect.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

Categories

Resources