2 Identical Phones with 2 Different Mobile Strengths in the same place. - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi All
Hope you can help.
At my workplace, I used to get a signal on my S2. Unfortunatly the USB Port broke, so I had it replaced.
However, I now no longer get a signal at my workplace. My mate has the same phone on the same contract(Virgin Pay Monthly). When we stand at the same spot he gets 3 bars and can call, I get no bars and can't.
Its not the sim as we've swapped them. He gets a signal with my sim, and i don't with his.
My mate who is brilliant with mobiles has tried different Roms, Kernels and Modems and still I get no signal. He's had a look inside the phone and the Antenna seems correctly attached.
i am assuming its hardware related?
Is there anything I am missing?
Thanks in Advance

Mass produced hardware always has quality variance.
I have had the same problem before. The first time I bought a cell phone without a pull out antenna I borrowed the exact phone I wanted from a cousin that had it already and took it to work which has bad signal for a day and used it which just barely worked with one bar. Then I decided I was OK with that and bought the same phone and it always had one bar less then his even out in the open. Needless to say I was unable to use that phone for years in the room I spent 8 hours a day.

You say that he has tried different ROMs, well that is a difference, especially the RADIO part of the ROM.
On my previous phone, HD2, I tried a few Radio ROMS (the roms came in 2 parts a main rom and a radio rom) and noticed quite a difference in signal quality, reception and battery life.

fred_up said:
You say that he has tried different ROMs, well that is a difference, especially the RADIO part of the ROM.
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I understood he is saying his friend tried different ROMs on the "failing" phone, in order to solve (unsuccesfully) the problem. Am I wrong?
It seems an hardware problem, for me.

Yep as changed hardware logic is broke something possibly antenna .
jje

Yes, he tried roms, kernels and radios in my phone in order to see whether it would make a difference.
I should point out I get reception in other places. In fact in my flat a full set of bars.
If it was the antenna would I still get some reception elsewhere?
Would the antenna either work or not work, or is that incorrect? Could it have been damaged when the USB port was changed?
If not the antenna what other parts would be likely contenders?
Thanks in advance

What happens at that location if you put your phone into flight mode and then take it out of flight mode?

Nothing really. The airplane logo appears in top bar. It says 'Flight Mode will be enabled' then when i click it again, it says 'Flight Mode will be disabled'

Related

[Q] Losing signal through call

I am losing a signal half way through a conversation and i get cut off ,i have checked it a few times today by calling mates when the phone strength is 2-3 bars ,after a few minutes i get cut off and the phone has lost signal .
Any help with this please ?
I have looked at radio codes and flashing roms but unsure as to what they mean or do ,i am on O2 and the signal is ok where i live and worked ok on my last phone SE k800i ,just seems as though the hd2 is constantly losing the signal and trying to find it but them comes up with 2-3 bars
I am new to all this stuff so please explain it to an idiot in simple terms
If you are having signal issues, flashing a new radio could do a lot of good. The radio ROM is the software that controls how your phone connects to the various network signals. You may have to experiment with several different radios before you find one that works well in your area. Read THIS thread for more information on it.
Another possibility is if you are only experiencing signal problems during calls, it may be that you are holding the phone in a way which degrades the reception of your antenna. Some users have reported that holding the phone tightly at the bottom (where the antenna is located) causes a slow loss of signal. If this is the case, try gripping your phone nearer to the camera at the top.
Cheers for the link ,will have a read through
+1 faelock. if you hold the phone with the bottom pressed flat into your palm it can make a difference of as much as 2-3 bars.
Does anyone know if these make a difference ,as i have trouble with signal around the house but full signal while outside
http://www.chargerstore.co.uk/Froogle/samsung-dvf-mobile-sig.html
jasext said:
Does anyone know if these make a difference ,as i have trouble with signal around the house but full signal while outside
http://www.chargerstore.co.uk/Froogle/samsung-dvf-mobile-sig.html
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Click to collapse
I've seen those sold for years, but I really don't know if the boost signal. I used 1 once that came with a combo thing I bought on ebay, but didn't have signal problems to begin with.
You could look for signal repeaters that can be purchased that boost signal in the house. Over here in the usa, I know that sprint and at&t have them and you can get them free if you complain about signal strength in your house.
Those "signal boosters" are about as effective as kinoki foot pads and ionic bracelets. I had the same problem when I frist bought my phone. No signal or 1 bar in my bedroom but walk outside the door and I got 2-3 bars. After flashing a new radio I now have full bars everywhere in my house; so that would be my suggestion. If you're nervous about flashing and would rather go with a signal booster than check out THESE ones that apparently work.
Thanks for the reply guys
Faelok said:
Those "signal boosters" are about as effective as kinoki foot pads and ionic bracelets. I had the same problem when I frist bought my phone. No signal or 1 bar in my bedroom but walk outside the door and I got 2-3 bars. After flashing a new radio I now have full bars everywhere in my house; so that would be my suggestion. If you're nervous about flashing and would rather go with a signal booster than check out THESE ones that apparently work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not nervous about flashing a radio just a bit unsure as there seem to be so many to chose from ,are there any specific ones i should be looking at ?
Checked the prices on the signal boosters you mentioned and over here in the uk they are a lot more expensive than in the usa
jasext said:
Thanks for the reply guys
Not nervous about flashing a radio just a bit unsure as there seem to be so many to chose from ,are there any specific ones i should be looking at ?
Checked the prices on the signal boosters you mentioned and over here in the uk they are a lot more expensive than in the usa
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Click to collapse
the best way is to just test them out. What works for me, might not work for you. Since you have the Euro HD2, I'm pretty sure you can use any of the radios out, .50 and .51 radios.

Sudden signal problem

i thought this would be the best place for a problem i started having about2 weeks ago. i am on vodafone uk.
i used to get 3-4 of the 4 bars reception while sitting at home(as an example). suddenly i was getting 1-2 and sometimes none (all blank).
i thought i would try and eliminate things one by one so here is what i did...
checked with my sim in another phone and another sim in mine. from memory the other phone having my sim was slightly down but not much and my phone with the other sim didnt really change much.
i checked with vodafone by calling them, they said they couldnt see any problems on the network, birmingham uk, but would send a new sim, after getting the sim activated when it arrived, no better. their onling forum is still waiting for a response back from their technical whether there is any problems. i dont see how the phone department can instantly tell me when the technical need many days to find an answer.
i thought it could be the rom so i first updated lite'ning rom to resurrection remix and then to a later version of RR and no change. the newest version of RR has a different kernel, flux i think, than the siyah in the 2 previous roms but again that different kernel didnt improve it. lastly i even changed the modem/radio trying to different ones to the default, xxlpx and kh3 and again no difference.
the only thing that improves it is turning 2G on instead of 3G. the bars go back up to 3-4. even with 3G on previously as i never changed it before it was always fine.
i know this is a long post but i wanted to be thorough as i really appreciate any help as i am now lost as what could improve this.
Mispost
anyone?
I have been having a similar problem on Three for about five weeks now. Despite numerous reloads of Android and modems etc I was getting no results, 5mb dl speeds have dropped to around 150kb despite having a good signal.
After many many calls to so called customer service I have discovered that a new cell tower near to me has been activated as part of the network expansion program and because this cell is closer to me than the one I used to connect to I now get a stronger signal from this so my phone always chooses this. Problem is this cell has only got a 2mb feed INTO it, its a TMobile/Orange cell now being shared with Three....so I am basically fooked.
Check with Vodafone if they have done anything similar recently near you. Three are adamant there are no problems my end, technically they are correct I suppose, its all working, I just cant access the net without it timing out constantly now.
Atb
SST
I am having the same issue with my phone. I get only one bar (sometimes none!) whenever I'm home & I'm on WiFi; however, I get full signal strength when I'm out & on 3G.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
i thought it could be the cell tower thing as there is only 1 vodafone one in quite a large radious, about 2 miles, and many of all the other networks. i dont know why vodafone are happy to have 1 compared to at least 3-4 each for all other providers.
this morning i drove that 1 mile to the vodafone mast and ran fresh network and surely that would have connected to that as i was 5 meters from it. still no better. ??
Just try NELP3 modem once... I had done similar issue once.. Now my network is better..
is nelp3 okay for uk though?
Try flashing another Modem. Im from Germany but i had similar problems. A new Rom would do too i think
All
Sent from my MB525 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
Christiancs1969 said:
All
Sent from my MB525 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
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not sure what you mean with 'all'
Number of options, tower may be having problems, maybe some form of interference, try a different modem, try different sum card if you have one spare?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
i do have the same problem as above, no signal in the building and 50% signal outside building. I swithch my SIM with fren's (he use another telco), and his SIM not work on my S2 and my SIM work on his phone (not SIM issues).
I tested many modem as recommented , LP2/LP3, LP9, LPX, KI3, KI4, KF2, no luck.
I flash different ROM, (some old version that work before), from CM9, AOKP, Sammy. no luck.
I restore old back up ROM. no luck
Fix permission, no luck.
any advice ?
OK next step is to flash a different modem
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
i've tried a few modems including the ones people believe better, all have this problem so far.
it may be the network mast in my case. i discussed with vodafone what 3G mast i was connected to and then which 3G mast is next closest. i then went right next to that other 3G mast and the signal was full bars, no fluctuation at all. this surely means it is either, 1-the network mast i keep locking to having problems or 2-all the modems i have used favouring battery over strength and not getting enough power to get a good signal.
is there a way of finding out which modems are better for battery and which are better for signal strength?
Umm not that I know of, best thing to do for that is either research the modems for better strength or battery etc, or just test some yourself, however that is time consuming,
Personally I think it is just the mast having problems, however I may be wrong
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
i thought i would add a little research to this thread, not too much but just my experience with 3 specific modems.
the background is that recently i have started getting very poor network signal as i believe the closest 3g mast to me is having problems. if i turn to 2g its better as the phone then connects to the closest 2g tower which gives better network signal.
i know that a modem should be left for 2-3 days before judging but i thought that if a modem is currently better than another then that is only likely to stay the same with time as long as they were given the same short period of time.
i used the app network signal info and did 3 5 minute tests for each modem and then averaged the percentage of the signal and also averaged the -dbm also.
i first used the modem i currently had on there, BUKI1
- average percentage was 19%
- average -dbm was -103
both very poor scores
the signal was very jumpy up and down also
i then flashed the custom modem, i think by krs007, M250S
- average percentage was 44.6%
- average -dbm was -90.66
obviously a huge increase
the signal was very steady, hardly changing from that average
lastly i flashed NELP3
- average percentage was 30.66%
- average -dbm was -97.33
better than at first but not as good as M250S
i am now going to let M250S bed in for a few days while keeping my eye on here for how NELP4 performs but so far i have a huge increase in signal in a previously very poor area. as this is also due i believe to the tower having problems, hopefully it will only get better.
Try downloading OpenSignalMaps from Google Play Store. For starters, you can determine the approximate location of the offending cell tower (if the cell tower was indeed the culprit). Sometimes, i realise that the phone tends to stick to certain cell towers when others are in closer range and could purportedly provide a better radio link. For this, the app provides a refresh feature that allows you to manually trigger a cell tower refresh. I am aware that most apps requiring connectivity have this feature but i don't suppose you can call the refresh on trigger.
Hi Marc
Tracked down a copy of M250S(dont know if its the same as you have installed though), and very briefly, as in 30 secondsish, I had 4 bars and dl`s around 5mb again!.But midway through it dropped out and that seems to be the pattern. Seems to be having problems locking onto a cell, signal bars frequently grey out, maybe its a compatibility issue with CM9, I dont know.
Anyway, let us know how you get on,
Cheers
Chris
it probably is the same as i dont think any others have that name.
it probably just needs to bed in for a few days. i have noticed mine go between 3g and H quite regular but it always does that, i havent had any dropped calls or similar so far.

[Q] Network registration issue?

Hi All,
I am having a strange problem with my S2 since last few months. I am from Mumbai, India and using Airtel network. There is a spot in my apartment which has very poor network reception of Airtel and I face issues whenever my cell is in that spot for a while. It happens that whenever I take my cell in that area, it starts losing signal bars till no bars are highlighted on the status bar at the top. It keeps showing zero bars but does not show "no signal" icon. Then, after keeping my cell in that spot for a while when I bring it in a better connectivity spot, signal bars start increasing and it appears that my cell has better reception again. However, if anyone tries to call me or I try to call anyone, they get "Out of coverage area" message or I get "Network registration failed" message respectively. I am having this problem since the day I started using Airtel and have tried a lot of remedies but only thing that works is rebooting my cell. I have tried using OpenSignal app to reset my connection whenever my cell comes back from the spot but even that fails to revive it and ultimately I have to reboot.
Has anyone faced such an issue and any ideas about a fix? Does it look like an issue with my cell or could it be an issue with my network provider? I would prefer not to root my S2 since I have 3 years warranty on it but if you think that it's the only way out of this, please let me know your opinion.
Thanks.
Sounds like a carrier issue to me. You pretty much said exactly that yourself when you said 'There is a spot in my apartment which has very poor network reception of Airtel and I face issues whenever my cell is in that spot for a while'.
That's normal in many buildings. Particularly if the network coverage in your area is borderline or poor. I have a similar issue in my house, in a few rooms I get no bars & sometimes coverage drops out completely, whereas in my loungeroom/dining/kitchen at the back of the house I get good coverage (for me, anyways).
You could try different modems, which might improve things. You don't have to be rooted to flash these, you can flash them using Odin. Tho it is easier to flash them with CWM if you're rooted.
I use to had the same issue with my 3 carrier at my desk in the office, and still on 2g services. I but since last month they already improved to hsdpa network added more bts and now my blank spot became H.
Yes you may try to change other service providers
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Thanks for your suggestions guys. Yes, it might be only related to the carrier. But, I think that if signal goes down to zero and then when my cell is back in better coverage zone, shouldn't the modem take care of network registration by itself? My problem is that it doesn't. I have to reboot my cell every time after I come to know that my cell is showing signal bars but is not actually registered on the network. If I reboot my cell, everything becomes normal and so if it was just an issue with the carrier, shouldn't it continue like that even after reboot? If I think about it logically, I think following should help me out:
1. Try out a different cell for a few days and see if I face this issue or not.
2. If answer to 1 is no, then try out different modems on my S2 and see if that helps.
Actually, I just wanted to check if anyone else has faced this issue and figured out that something is not right with S2 drivers or something? That would help me with quick resolution of my problem.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
Yep, your logic is sound ;-)
One thing tho. With regard to trying your sim out in another phone, you have to keep in mind the radio hardware is obviously different in different phones. And what that means is (and this is something I've observed on XDA), chances are you'll find the sim works perfectly in the other phone & you have no issues at all. This might be due to the actual equipment your carrier is using in the cell tower(s) you're close to, also the frequencies that gear is using might also be playing a part in your problems.
So definitely try it out in another phone & see what happens, but you could do worse than try out a bunch of modems in the S2 & see if that improves things.
crypticlight said:
1. Try out a different cell for a few days and see if I face this issue or not.
2. If answer to 1 is no, then try out different modems on my S2 and see if that helps.
Actually, I just wanted to check if anyone else has faced this issue and figured out that something is not right with S2 drivers or something? That would help me with quick resolution of my problem.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
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Click to collapse
Those are carrier issues, and maybe even the material of the constructions, in my house there are rooms where there's almost no signal at all, and in the living room it's ok, you should try to see in which tower you are connected maybe thats the problem
I have also had these problems on various networks here in Australia. If you don't need the data network, you could try using 2G only option. But that's not really a fix, is it? I suggest you try a pre-paid SIM from another network provider, to test them out first, before re-contracting.
Good luck. :fingers-crossed:
MistahBungle said:
One thing tho. With regard to trying your sim out in another phone, you have to keep in mind the radio hardware is obviously different in different phones. And what that means is (and this is something I've observed on XDA), chances are you'll find the sim works perfectly in the other phone & you have no issues at all. This might be due to the actual equipment your carrier is using in the cell tower(s) you're close to, also the frequencies that gear is using might also be playing a part in your problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I was also thinking about it. It could be the combo of cell tower and S2 that are not liking each other that well.. And, if that's the case, I really hope that the issue can be resolved by switching modem drivers. I will have to do some what-ifings to nail this down now.
I like the other suggestion by HotrodHarry on trying out 2G only option - not the best way out but will help me in zeroing down on the cause.

[Q]Poor network as a hardware fault? Also memory card issue.

I have my I9300 few months so far and never had any issue with it. I'm with three network in UK and used many different custom ROMs and KERNELS, but usually stick with OMEGA and PHENOMENAL. Few weeks ago I've found that internet on my phone slow down. Also in my place, where I always had H+ good signal I have now only H. After couple of tests (speednet) it shows that I can go up to 10mbit/s so it was more less OK for H but normally I had between 12-15mbits. I was still able to catch H+ in different locations, but my speed with H+ dropped down to 500kbit/s (download) and with upload it was no connection at all (still had full bar H+).
I've changed ROM, KERNEL, MODEMS, went back to original, done 100s wipes and still the same. I've cleaned the phone, reset flash counter and sent to three to fix. I've just collected it from the shop and have a letter that they replaced some hardware and it's fix, but I'm not happy with it - in my place I can only connect to H, not H+ (my wife's S3, same network has H+ all the time). When I have H+ in some places, download speed is up to 2-3mbit/s and upload 2mbits, so still way to slow.
Does anyone experience any similar problem? Should I send it back to 3 for a fix?
The other issue I have is with my memory card and I've seen it around, so it's not only me. Had 2-3 cards so far and with JB it keep saying 'SD Card Removed Unexpectedly' or 'Preparing SD Card' or even 'SD Card Damaged' when wake up from deep sleep. This was second issue I asked for repair when I've sent my phone back to three for a fix. Guess what? It's still the same, happen again as soon as I've put my card back in. It's not the card fault, because I've already checked 3 cards with the same result.
So, I had two serious issues (I think) and few hours ago collected phone from the shop as a 'fixed' and problems still exist. What do you suggest, should I send it back for a fix? How to deal with them? Maybe it's only me and I should live with my issues?
For the signal issue, have you done a signal test with the carrier? Usually they have them on their website you can test the signal strength in your area. As well as are you city or rurally based? Because that can be an effect.
Maybe it is you from a freak or rare problem. If you can live with it depends on how much it would affect what you do. If you're by Wifi for the majority of your browsing or data using time it shouldn't be a problem, but if you're out and use it then maybe it might be an issue.
The problem is that I've always had great signal in most places around Liverpool incl the one I live now and my work. Now I have only 'H' speed and in some places, where I catch 'H+' ironically speed is worse. Other people with the same phone and the same network still have H+ in full speed.
I don't care when I'm at home, like you said, can always switch wifi on. Problem is when I go somewhere and want to use internet. It makes different, everything net related is slow.
I don't understand only how come they gave me my phone back with 'repaired' note, where the faults are still the same... Probably they just wiped everything, flash it with new official system (which was there anyway when I've sent them the phone) and sent it back to me.
i suggest you take it back to maintenance, may be a hardware issue.
Thanks, will do it and fingers crossed this time someone will fix it.. This will be second time with the same issue, with third one I should get new phone

Regarding low network signal (possible solution?)

I've been using this phone for the past few days, and I noticed that the network signal is really low and non existent in closed environments.
Today, I noticed this YT video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-QRcGrUK8M that explains how to change the network antenna.
And in the comments I noticed these comments that maybe it's not a non-functional antenna, it could be that one of the connectors are loosened.
The phone is still under warranty so I won't **** with it, and it isn't mine. If someone tries it, it would be nice to post it here because there are a lot of people with that phone that have that problem.
Did you check if the Signal Antenna cable was connected well? Problem might be that. And if the cable was connected well but it still can not work as before, the connetor might be damaged. you can replace it with a new one. hope this can help you. 
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I've opened my phone again, and noticed one of the connectors had loosened. Connected it back to the motherboard, and started up. Phone instantly had network signal again . Thanks for the response, and thank you for the great tutorials! Upvoted them! ^^
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Click to collapse
There is nothing such as loose connectivity. Either it's plugged or not. Switch to other modes, 3G, 2G and see if it is the same
DavidMKD said:
There is nothing such as loose connectivity. Either it's plugged or not. Switch to other modes, 3G, 2G and see if it is the same
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Поздрављам комшију
Selecting 4G/3G or 2G didn't solve anything.
That seemed to solve problems to a lot of people.
For the past 3 days, I had half to full signal and I was satisfied with it totally, and suddenly it dropped to zero and lost it. I was furious, wasn't sure anymore was it HW or SW related. And I did some search through forums and I saw somewhere that reflashing the modem or baseband via Flashtool can be good.(I found a thread where people selected USA band and lost signal). And I thought to give a try.
When I restarted it, for few seconds it was blank and it went full bars. I was happy af
So reflashing the modem file that comes with the firmware can make solve it (at least in my case)
Now after 3 days, the problem returned. No signal again, so I'll have to flash it again

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