Galaxy Note II - Suddenly Awful LTE Reception

[MrZorbatron]

I have never had reception complaints about my Galaxy Note II until recently.  It seems to have decided to live primarily in 3G-Land and not pick up LTE unless you're practically within sight of the tower.  I just grabbed it off of my table a few minutes ago and it showed LTE @ -117.  In this part of my house, it should be -103-106.

 

Overall, reception seems between 10-20dBm below what I am used to seeing in any given location.  Any ideas about this?  My Galaxy Tab 3 is not affected by this problem, and my Note II is frequently on 3G when my friend's Note II is on LTE with decent signal strength.  Are there any connections in this phone that might require cleaning (as I have seen in other models) or is it simply malfunctioning?

 

CDMA reception does not seem affected at all.

[S4GRU]

I've never experienced a problem like this before. Sure makes you have to be concerned something is screwed up on your device. No bueno.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[WiWavelength]

♫ Suddenly Awful ♫

 

Sing along, everyone...

 

 

AJ

[jgore43]

My galaxy s3 has a similar issue. The 1X 1900 radio is 20 dB out so higher than ehdpd and usually higher than LTE.

Ex 105 for 1x and ehdpd will be around 80.

 

I took my s3 apart and there are burn marks on the motherboard and it smells like a blown capacitor does. So my problem is a hardware failure. Maybe it could be something similar to that.

Does it get really hot when using LTE or 3g for long periods of time?

[MrZorbatron]

My galaxy s3 has a similar issue. The 1X 1900 radio is 20 dB out so higher than ehdpd and usually higher than LTE.

Ex 105 for 1x and ehdpd will be around 80.

 

I took my s3 apart and there are burn marks on the motherboard and it smells like a blown capacitor does. So my problem is a hardware failure. Maybe it could be something similar to that.

Does it get really hot when using LTE or 3g for long periods of time?

This can be normal.  Your S3 can actually connect to 1x and EVDO on different sites.  It's not common, but can happen.  Remember also that the two services, even when running on the same site, work on different frequencies.  They might be 20 MHz or more off from each other, depending on what Sprint is licensed for in any given market.  There's a lot of room there for interference that could affect one but not the other.  LTE RSSI generally isn't accessible, so the meter you have, RSRP, is actually based on the average of the amplitudes of specific components within the signal rather than raw signal level.

 

In this case, I have a very good memory for signal levels in specific locations or areas.  Mine have dropped hugely on LTE, to the point that my phone is on 3G about 80% of the time when I am near home.  It used to be more like 30% of the time on 3G.

 

I had a phone a while back with reception trouble.  It was caused by some deposition on the board at the antenna contact points. I cleaned both parts with contact cleaner and the problem disappeared. Almost looked like electro-galvanic reaction.

 

Your S3 has solid capacitors, which do not smell when they fail.  There are other components in there that might, however.

 

And no, it does not get hot.

 

♫ Suddenly Awful ♫

 

Sing along, everyone...

 

 

AJ

Moo?

[jgore43]

That's very strange and unfortunate the note 2 I had for a few weeks had superior LTE signal strength to any of my others phones... It very well could be antenna contacts. [emoji6]

 

About my s3 those Dbm I said were from the same tower in the same spot at my house. I meant to include that it was great signal then went bad. I watched it with signal check pro. I noticed its new behavior after I mapped a long sensorly trip plugged in. I guess it got to hot. Anyway just the 1x pcs was affected that's why I jumped on this thread sounded similar to my problem. However 1X 800 still works great.. [emoji3]

[MrZorbatron]

That's very strange and unfortunate the note 2 I had for a few weeks had superior LTE signal strength to any of my others phones... It very well could be antenna contacts. [emoji6]

 

About my s3 those Dbm I said were from the same tower in the same spot at my house. I meant to include that it was great signal then went bad. I watched it with signal check pro. I noticed its new behavior after I mapped a long sensorly trip plugged in. I guess it got to hot. Anyway just the 1x pcs was affected that's why I jumped on this thread sounded similar to my problem. However 1X 800 still works great.. [emoji3]

The Note II does seem to have somewhat better LTE reception normally than my S3 did.  The S3, however, was still better than most other phones even a year or more after its release.  I find that the S3 was a lot better behaved with the CDMA side of things than the Note II, routinely showing better numbers for data speed on EVDO on the same channel of the same site.  1x reception is about the same.

 

As for 800, that is irrelevant for me at this time.

[eljayyy91]

The Note II does seem to have somewhat better LTE reception normally than my S3 did. The S3, however, was still better than most other phones even a year or more after its release. I find that the S3 was a lot better behaved with the CDMA side of things than the Note II, routinely showing better numbers for data speed on EVDO on the same channel of the same site. 1x reception is about the same.

 

As for 800, that is irrelevant for me at this time.

I have to strongly agree with you on the lte reception on the s3 it whoops my one max on b25. Like 10dBm difference... Lol but b26 makes it so worth it. Edited June 30, 2014 by eljayyy91

[WiWavelength]

To revisit this thread, the Galaxy Note II is getting long in the tooth.  The time may have come to confine it to the "cellphone coffin" -- aka the old handset/tablet drawer.

 

AJ

[jefbal99]

My wife took my Note 2 after her Photon Q was run over and I got the S4T.  She has no LTE related issues, guessing you've got some bunk hardware.

[MrZorbatron]

To revisit this thread, the Galaxy Note II is getting long in the tooth. The time may have come to confine it to the "cellphone coffin" -- aka the old handset/tablet drawer.

 

AJ

Moo again?

 

My wife took my Note 2 after her Photon Q was run over and I got the S4T. She has no LTE related issues, guessing you've got some bunk hardware.

Yes, mine has exhibited this change quite suddenly, as in it was working one day and the next it was not.

 

To blame this on an aging hardware platform is an excercise in questionable logic at best and a display of outright idiocy at worst. I seriously believe that something has suddenly (or cumulatively but with a sudden manifestation) changed with this device, whether in hardware or software. My firmware was recently updated, but that was at least a month before this issue began.

[WiWavelength]

Moo again?

 

Are you a questioning cow?

 

AJ

[MrZorbatron]

Are you a questioning cow?

 

AJ

Every two child did, I will.

[WiWavelength]

Every two child did, I will.

 

Pass.

 

Actually, believe it or not, I know what you reference.

 

Could it be…education?  Or lockbox?

 

Strategery.

 

 

AJ

[MrZorbatron]

So anyway, all, I took apart my phone and cleaned everything nicely, adjusted the tension on the contacts, put an anticorrosive contact protectant.  It seems to have helped, but I will know more when I am out and about tomorrow.

 

The lack of 800 is going to be annoying because I am going a few places out of town next week where I am told the 800MHz service has made a big difference.

 

Going to see if I can figure out a root-less method of loading PRL.

[ImmerStark]

I figured I would throw this out there just in case it is the culprit but when band 26 started rolling out in my market band 25 reception decreased by about 8db which made a pretty big difference. Many of the places where I used to get LTE I was banished to 3g land. This was on my single band GS4. I've since upgraded to a GS5 which is tri-band and now have band 26 coverage at levels similar to if not slightly better than my former band 25 coverage. I'm hoping all this improves after optimization is done on the network.

[BlueAngel]

Granted I am using my iPhone 5 right now and I am getting my S3 back from a friend that I loaned it to while he had his Note II break. But anyway I have seen this on both my iPhone 5 and S3, connecting to LTE now is a chore it seams. I can have 2-3 bars of LTE and it will switch to 3G when there is no reason to. I can't figure it out, two different phones and the same problems. But maybe what is being said is right that B26 is live now and they're adjusting everything. This has been going on for the last 3 months or so, it's really aggravating as 3G is still piss ass slow. I've even called up Sprint and went into a store and they can't find anything wrong on their side and it's obviously not my phones.