Weird 4G ? - Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers

This is a strange one as iam not having any issue with 4G as such but have noticed some strange behaviour!
For the most part i seem to only get 1 bar of signal (although everything works fine / fast enough) If i put my sim card in my iphone however then i consistently have full bars / signal strength! I understand each device measures signal strength differently but iam doubting that Full signal strength on he iphone is the equivalent to 1 bar on Samsung?
Another strange feat is that as soon as i make a call, Like literally within 2 seconds of pressing the call button, the signal jumps to full and stays there until the call has ended and then drops again! The opposite happens when connected to wifi. If iam lucky enough to have more then 2 bars and i connect to wifi, it immediately drops to 1 bar!
Ironically web pages etc are all loading fine and everything seems ok but it def seems strange also! Anyone else having any issues?

When you make a phone call the phone switches from 4g to 3g or even 2g whichever is available because 4g is only used for data afaik and that's why the signal jumps to full bars. That is normal.
If everything else is OK I would leave it alone

lucianus_luciferus said:
When you make a phone call the phone switches from 4g to 3g or even 2g whichever is available because 4g is only used for data afaik and that's why the signal jumps to full bars. That is normal.
If everything else is OK I would leave it alone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok yeah everything is working fine! It just bugs me seen only 1 bar or 2 most but seemingly its because iam using 4g plus which is faster then 4g! Some guy i spoke to told me that 2 bars of 4g plus is better then 5 bars of standard 4g
I was just concerned and worrying as ive read lots about the s9 having issues with 4g

Related

3G and 4GLTE symbols randomly disappear

Literally every single day my "3G" or "4GLTE" symbol disappears and thus lose my data connection. The bars will remain, even with 3 or 4 bars (full signal), but the symbol is gone. I do not have the SLIGHTEST CLUE why it does this, I have tried different roms and different radio combinations and it still does it. It could be gone for 1 minute, 8 minutes, or like today THIRTY (30) minutes at one point! I use my phone for work AND HAVE TO HAVE a reliable connection. I literally sat on my tushy for 30 minutes trying to get my 3G or 4GLTE symbol back and it took restoring a different ROM for it to come back. Later in the day I restored back to the ROM I was on and the 3G was there with no problem.
I do not understand this for the Godforsaken life of me and am about ready to hurl my Thunderbolt at a train.
Help. Please.
flooritnfly said:
Literally every single day my "3G" or "4GLTE" symbol disappears and thus lose my data connection. The bars will remain, even with 3 or 4 bars (full signal), but the symbol is gone. I do not have the SLIGHTEST CLUE why it does this, I have tried different roms and different radio combinations and it still does it. It could be gone for 1 minute, 8 minutes, or like today THIRTY (30) minutes at one point! I use my phone for work AND HAVE TO HAVE a reliable connection. I literally sat on my tushy for 30 minutes trying to get my 3G or 4GLTE symbol back and it took restoring a different ROM for it to come back. Later in the day I restored back to the ROM I was on and the 3G was there with no problem.
I do not understand this for the Godforsaken life of me and am about ready to hurl my Thunderbolt at a train.
Help. Please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the bars indicate voice connection only, not data connection. It is possible to have a good voice signal, yet a weak data connection.
You're probably encountering this as your phone switches from 4g. Some reason it is not always a seamless transfer.
Sent from my Eternity Infected TB
It's happening to me too. I'm not sure if it's because of issues switching from 4G to 3G, because prior to the most recent Gingerbread update, I was pretty consistently getting 4G, and now it'll drop the data connection even if I leave my phone on my nightstand all day.
I'm wondering if it has anything to do with my battery life getting way worse after the update? I've never done it before, but I'm seriously thinking about rooting and installing a custom ROM... or saving up and buying a Rezound at full retail.
I believe this is a known issue with this phone (and most other 4G phones). I don't see this problem when I'm in a very strong 4G area. But, at home, I have to use LTE On/Off to lock it into LTE-only mode. It's the only way to keep it from switching back and forth from 3G to 4G. (Sadly, I also need to leave the phone near a window to receive a 4G signal.)

[Q] Constant Switching Between 4G LTE and 3G

Hi all,
This question might have been posted already seeing as this phone is about a year old already. I'm running the STOCK ICS ROM OTA 4.0.4 unrooted. I've noticed that after the update my phone keeps switching from 4G to 3G and back but the problem is so bad that I lose every bar of signal (i.e. empty bars and of course no data) for at least a minute when the phone switches. I've already gone through the process of getting a replacement phone and I will need another because the receiver (speaker inside when I make a phone call, not sure what its really called) sounds awfully tinny and when the hang up tone plays the speaker sounds like its about to blow out. I lowered the in call volume to half, but it still doesn't work and my phone sounds tinny when ever someone talks during a phone call. I never had that problem with my old RAZR. As for the data issue, I am aware that I live in an old building because at the most I get between 3-4 bars of 4G LTE but sometimes as low as 2 bars. However, outside on the street I get full bars of 4G LTE and it still switches back to 3G on it's own. I have tried Motorola's restore connectivity app on the play store but that didn't work and I don't have anything like smart actions or LTE on/off app running on my phone.
Is anybody else having these issues? At first I thought Verizon sucks in my house but it doesn't I still get crystal clear sound on calls and text messages are promptly sent and received. I also, of course, live in a 4G LTE area with good solid coverage. As a control I have an iPad 4G LTE with Verizon on a separate account and it consistently stays connected to LTE. It never drops below 2 bars and the LTE of course maintains its fast speed. On the other hand, the RAZR, will switch between both technologies at least 5 times a day if not more. I know that they both have different radio technologies but they should at least be similar in some respect. I have also seen an iPhone 5 at the Verizon Corportate kiosk at my local mall. It's obvious there are repeaters but they are not for 4G because none of the phones are on 4G, they are on 3G. The iPhone 5, however, had one bar of LTE and it loaded up a web page just fine and I never saw it drop back down to 3G. I'm trying to see if there is a solution. Have any of the Jellybean ROMs addressed this issue?

sprint throttles to 1x speed when I listen to stream

When I listen to internet radio for a long period of time my phone goes into a 1x connection. I have to reboot to get it back to 3g. is there a hack on the phone I can do to stop this from happening like a ip refresher or something. it stuck on 1x until I reset the phone. I believe this is sprint doing this on purpose. even though they advertise they dont do this. I use only around 2 gb of data a month.
any help would be nice. I don't want to have to restart my phone every 2 hours when I feal like streaming online music at work
highly doubtful they do that. cause i've been on 3g streaming for hours on end and dont get throttled. Are you in a bad signal area?
no full bars its possible It could be my phone or I am new to sprint and may not have the same limitaions most people have.
Here in hawaii,I usually get 300-1mbps on 3g. However, at home where my signal is 3-4 bars has horrible speeds,and I also notice the same problem. About 5-10mb and the 1x icon shows up.
Honestly I think its a tower issue.
Does it go into 1x on any tower while streaming?
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
The bars on your phone have nothing to do with data signal strength. The bars are for voice signal only.
cruise350 said:
The bars on your phone have nothing to do with data signal strength. The bars are for voice signal only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is correct.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
cruise350 said:
The bars on your phone have nothing to do with data signal strength. The bars are for voice signal only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do we find data signal strength? Or do you mean the bars stand for signal strength and not signal speed?
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
It's a big annoying, but you have to go into the dialer, dial ##DEBUG#, go into EVDO Engineering (for 3G, since 1X is your voice and LTE is your LTE) and read the Rx Power. It should be different from your 1X Rx Power and your LTE Rx Power (if you have LTE).
I looked for a data signal meter widget a while back and never found one that worked or pulled from the right info (usually people just pulled from the Settings->About->Network->Signal Strength info, which is 1X (Voice).
Here some more info: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/2...to-determine-your-actual-lte-signal-strength/
cgrimm9 said:
When I listen to internet radio for a long period of time my phone goes into a 1x connection. I have to reboot to get it back to 3g. is there a hack on the phone I can do to stop this from happening like a ip refresher or something. it stuck on 1x until I reset the phone. I believe this is sprint doing this on purpose. even though they advertise they dont do this. I use only around 2 gb of data a month.
any help would be nice. I don't want to have to restart my phone every 2 hours when I feal like streaming online music at work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say with a known certainty that Sprint does not "throttle" or "cap" data usage on a mobile device. Only the top < 1% of abusers are contacted by sprint, which is usually a letter of intent to cancel service if data abuse continues, or a notice of cancellation. No "throttling" or "capping"
I just find it odd that my phone randomly goes from 3g speed to 1g only after multible hours of use and there was no movement from the phone where I never had a issue.I can go days or weeks without going to 1g when its on 1g I have to restart the phone it will not go back into 3g mode.
cgrimm9 said:
I just find it odd that my phone randomly goes from 3g speed to 1g only after multible hours of use and there was no movement from the phone where I never had a issue.I can go days or weeks without going to 1g when its on 1g I have to restart the phone it will not go back into 3g mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could just toggle airplane mode
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

[Q] TMO GS5 LTE signal always low?

Does anyone else notice that the LTE signal on this phone always seems on the weak end? For example, with the T-Mobile cell site about 10 yards away, my LTE reception is -90-95dbm. When sitting that close with my AT&T iPhone 5 (work phone) the signal is about -75-80dbm. What gives? I also notice that the phone does hold onto weak LTE signals, but I am seeing weak LTE signal more often than not. I have seen a -115dbm-120dbm LTE signal. Yes, data still works, my only concern though is that the battery life is getting sucked out of my phone?
Running stock, T-Mobile also likes to show 5 bars for a -109dbm LTE signal. That couldn't be more of an exaggeration could it? Also in my tests, I have noticed if you set the phone to WCDMA only, the signal is a lot stronger.
Anyone care to comment on this?
No issues for me. Even in the factory that i work at i am getting 4G LTE over people with ATT and its quite strong. LTE Tower is a good distance away.
Have you rooted or flashed anything? If its 100 percent pure stock, ask for a replacement. Or even re-flash the latest update to see if that helps.
The only issue i have and others have is where the outgoing data arrow constantly lights up but no data is coming in. I think its a T-Mobile programming bug in 4.4.2 as the issue didn't exist in 4.3 on my S4.
elesbb said:
No issues for me. Even in the factory that i work at i am getting 4G LTE over people with ATT and its quite strong. LTE Tower is a good distance away.
Have you rooted or flashed anything? If its 100 percent pure stock, ask for a replacement. Or even re-flash the latest update to see if that helps.
The only issue i have and others have is where the outgoing data arrow constantly lights up but no data is coming in. I think its a T-Mobile programming bug in 4.4.2 as the issue didn't exist in 4.3 on my S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but on average what is your dbm? Not going by bars.
T-Mobile also does not have a dense cell grid in my area which could be why. Already past the 14 day return window. Absolutely no device modification has even done.
I'm at full 5 bars on LTE 4G signal strength @ - 97 dBm
Biker1 said:
I'm at full 5 bars on LTE 4G signal strength @ - 97 dBm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the response. Been doing some research lately, and I think its because t-mobile doesn't have many sites in my area. I don't think their frequencies travel far either. Maybe I am wrong, but wouldn't this cause very low LTE signal?
BlockEight88 said:
Appreciate the response. Been doing some research lately, and I think its because t-mobile doesn't have many sites in my area. I don't think their frequencies travel far either. Maybe I am wrong, but wouldn't this cause very low LTE signal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the towers are far from you, I would think that would cause a weak signal.
You can try this app.
It may help to see where the issue may be regarding towers, etc
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.android.telnet
Biker1 said:
If the towers are far from you, I would think that would cause a weak signal.
You can try this app.
It may help to see where the issue may be regarding towers, etc
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.android.telnet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That app just shows the -dBm as a widget. Anyone else notice a -109 or less signal showing 5 bars?
BlockEight88 said:
That app just shows the -dBm as a widget. Anyone else notice a -109 or less signal showing 5 bars?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does give you a more accurate signal bar strength indicator consisting of 14 bars and not 5 bars, as the stock indicator does. I'm at 11 bars.
BlockEight88 said:
Yes, but on average what is your dbm? Not going by bars.
T-Mobile also does not have a dense cell grid in my area which could be why. Already past the 14 day return window. Absolutely no device modification has even done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh. I will have to check the dbm. I don't get full signal but i get like 2 bars. Sometimes four depending where i sit. Then outside, i get full bars. I'll double check the dbm outside with full bars. It should be in and around the -90s.

Bad reception

Hi all! First post in the Alpha section... Got my Alpha the other day. And i love all about it. But there is one thing thats gets me wondering. It's the reception. All my previous phones got good reception at home.. i get 1-2 bars. So my question is. Does anybody experience this issue? I have experienced SMS delays and chipped calls.
Location : Sweden
Provider : Telenor
Look at actual signal strength in dBm. Bars are arbitrary and vary from phone to phone.
phositadc said:
Look at actual signal strength in dBm. Bars are arbitrary and vary from phone to phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i have.. it's lite around -110 .. My Z2 had around -70 to -80 in the same region..
pattsy said:
Yeah, i have.. it's lite around -110 .. My Z2 had around -70 to -80 in the same region..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok. That's a bit concerning... Huge difference.
phositadc said:
Ah ok. That's a bit concerning... Huge difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could just be a faulty device... I'll try replacing my sim first. If that's the issue.
If that's not working. I'll have it replaced.
Edit: Had my sim replaced. Still experiencing bad reception. It goes as low as -105dbm... where my z2 had around -70 (same network, same location)... that's bad. Any ideas what I can do to solve this?
Yeah keep me updated - my Alpha also seems to have noticeably weaker reception than my iPhone on 4G (800mhz band).
Hoping its a modem firmware/software power output thing and not a hardware thing.
Same here, looks like the reception is 1-2 bars worse than other phones.
But I have no experience of delayed SMS or failed calls and the speeds on internet is very good.
Location: Sweden
Provider: Telia
seem like Iphone 4s signal problem with metal frame blocking antena-reciver,hmmm
Signal problems
Hi, I'm on my second Alpha and first sim, I have an alternative sim yet to try but have chated on Twitter with another user who found no improvement with a new sim and changed phones completely. I'm with three. My signal goes completely when I'm sitting with other three users whose phones work fine. I think it's a phone fault and am considering sending it back now.
Hi guys,
I noticed something interesting with my Alpha:
As you, I have a poor signal strength. But when calling someone then the signal bar jump to full force instantly!
Could it be a link with BIG little technology?
KiDimel said:
Hi guys,
I noticed something interesting with my Alpha:
As you, I have a poor signal strength. But when calling someone then the signal bar jump to full force instantly!
Could it be a link with BIG little technology?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, for those who have the same problem, I deactivated the 4G. Then the signal strength is better. I made the test: 2 bars with 4G enabled in network settings, full signal when 3G only.
As a possible future Alpha owner, question.
Are you on a USA Network with the Qualcomm Alpha ?
Or in Europe on Exynos Octacore ?
robertkoa said:
As a possible future Alpha owner, question.
Are you on a USA Network with the Qualcomm Alpha ?
Or in Europe on Exynos Octacore ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using a european Exynos one
The alpha is my second LTE able phone. Both showed a completely different signal bar reading when using LTE (and checking in lecture, how Signal strength is meassured for GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/LTE it shows, that LTE uses a completely revised scheme to calculate the signal strength)
I haven't made any speed measurements yet, but my feeling is:
(4G) With LTE, even without any highlighted bar i can use internet, webpages load fast, other lookups work.
(3G,3.5G) With H/H+ , and at least 1 bar highlighted, internet works
(2.5G) Edge and at least 1 to two bars, internet is available... three bars are better for it to be worthwhile
(2G) G only - forget it. I'll need 4 bars to surf the web, and i must wait. Chat works if i'm lucky and got at least 1-2 bars.
Apart from that: the signal bars in 2G and 3G show the strength of the signal - but aren't any measure of the quality of the signal. They show anything that sends on the frequency/timeslot of the 2G/3G signal you're receiving. If you've got heavy interferences, you'll get full bars but it all is static.
(Like - in a disco, you've got loud music, and people speaking very loudly to you - that would be full bars, but not the best place to speak to each other....)
I don't understand exactly what the value used by 4G exactly means, but it sounds like it only represents the LTE cell you do want to receive - so it should be more accurate and cutting out the noise somehow
I think you're right ! This is my feeling too. In 4G calls are always perfect for me even with one bar.
In settings we can also have a more accurate highlight on to the signal strength in Db.
Guys this alpha is full of mysteriousness !
I think samsung did it ON purpose.. ! Save battery??
I have weaker signal too.. on iphone 5 is full and i had on my former Honor 6 full as hell..
But I dont konw IF samsung wants to save power by this .. I think it has no much influence as iphone 5 nor Honor 6 had full signal and battery never got down fast.. when I had Honor 6 100% at night it was 98 % in morning..
Another thing with aplha ,when i leave phone in sleep half hour or longer , th emobile network stops and wont come up...
I have to restart phone or turn airplane on ad off.. then H+ or 4G appears..
I have the issue with mobile data too, it seems to also do it when it has been on WiFi for a while and you change to mobile data.
no service
Hey guys,
I have a very bad reception with my Samsung Galaxy Alpha when i'm in the subway in Paris. To be honnest I have no service, no sms, no calls, and for sure no internet...
I can see people using their smartphones inside the subway without problems.
I had an iPhone 4 during 3 years, and didn't have any problem with it when I was in the subway.
I'm using the same phone carrier "Bouygues Telecom"
So what's wrong with this Galaxy Alpha ?
MaskedMarauder said:
I have the issue with mobile data too, it seems to also do it when it has been on WiFi for a while and you change to mobile data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it disables data carrier APN and it won't turn it auto i went it that settings and had to tap that circle manually to get green .. think it is bug .. need sorting out updating software..
---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------
safnyght2 said:
Hey guys,
I have a very bad reception with my Samsung Galaxy Alpha when i'm in the subway in Paris. To be honnest I have no service, no sms, no calls, and for sure no internet...
I can see people using their smartphones inside the subway without problems.
I had an iPhone 4 during 3 years, and didn't have any problem with it when I was in the subway.
I'm using the same phone carrier "Bouygues Telecom"
So what's wrong with this Galaxy Alpha ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looks lik eit might be a software problem .. we need to contact samsung bout it or complain on their site.. but guys all of us we must complain not just one person cos they wont sort it out..
Hey people,
I'm also having connection issues:
When I boot the phone it's working is at should: Switching between 4G/3G/EDGE etc. After a while the connection sort of times out. I can only make emergency calls. It works flawlessly for up to a day, or it can only work for like 5 minutes.
Rebooting the device fixes this temporarily. My service provider (Hi in NL) has already sent me a new simcard which doesn't help. They are now saying I should send it over for repair.
Btw: When i leave it in CDMA only, the problem takes much longer to arise (like a couple of days).
I can see that people who have posted in this thread are having the same issues. I'm wondering if this is firmware or hardware related, as I want avoid sending over my phone. If it IS a firmware bug, sending it over for repair obviously isn't going to fix this.
I have sent an e-mail to Samsung BeNeLux. Like Simona Simmy says, we should all write to Samsung

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