Low/No Signal and battery drain

[GVLBob]

I'll try that with the sim cards....I'll try to be patient and wait for vzw to come back with their findings, they said no more than three days. Then if I have to, I switch out the phone, I like it otherwise and really don't want to go back to motorola, especially since the new phones don't let you use a memory card, that's very important for me. I'm hoping if I have to switch it out they'll let me go to the store and just swap for another new one. If they don't they'll have medusa on their case! :icon_ devil:

It's sure sounding like a new S4 will at least quite a bit. You could always go back to the store and ask for both a new phone and SIM card.


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[andreah1]

I'm gonna try switching the sim cards first then see what happens. Can't win, it's been the week from hell.

 

[Fokkerdmr]

I have seen that switching between 1x, 3g, 4g draws a lot more power. On my bionic I had forced 3g in weak 4g areas which helped substantially improve battery life.

I don't know if s4 has a setting to force 3g, but if there is one, that might help your phone stop hunting for signal type.

There are also those cheap signal boosters that you can stick on your phone, not sure if that's mumbo jumbo or could actually help for your weak signal. Depending on Verizon's customer base, they might even consider expanding service in that area to help you out. It's worth asking.

 

[bbtkd]

I'm gonna try switching the sim cards first then see what happens. Can't win, it's been the week from hell.

When your husband is sleeping, switch phones - move his stuff to yours and yours to his, then play innocent. He doesn't read this forum, does he?

 

[andreah1]

Oh you are SO awesome bbtkd, that sounds like something I would do, lol! He doesn't read it but he'd figure it out at some point! Of course I'm sitting at home right now and magically it's showing 4g. Earlier though it was at 1x and everytime I pressed the phone button and started dialing it went to no service, same thing with texts, everytime I tried to send on it just switched right over to no service.
I also just tried the turning it on with no sim card for a minute then power off, reinstall sim card and power on. Started out with 4g for about 2 minutes, now down to 3g (which is ok with me if it would just keep that much of a signal). Tried making a phone call, went down to no service (is it supposed to do that, datawise?) but the call went thru.

 

[bbtkd]

Oh you are SO awesome bbtkd, that sounds like something I would do, lol! He doesn't read it but he'd figure it out at some point! Of course I'm sitting at home right now and magically it's showing 4g. Earlier though it was at 1x and everytime I pressed the phone button and started dialing it went to no service, same thing with texts, everytime I tried to send on it just switched right over to no service.
I also just tried the turning it on with no sim card for a minute then power off, reinstall sim card and power on. Started out with 4g for about 2 minutes, now down to 3g (which is ok with me if it would just keep that much of a signal). Tried making a phone call, went down to no service (is it supposed to do that, datawise?) but the call went thru.

The going back and forth between 3G and 4G isn't that unusual with marginal signal. The call going through after having a no service is odd, but I suppose the signal came back and it connected. Now that you've done the full routine with the SIM card, perhaps it will act better.

Another option for your house is a booster/amplifier where you place an antenna outside your house up high, and another in the house. The amplifier in between relays the signal, amplifying it. This is like having a cell site in your house and while it may solve your problem, but they can be expensive, $200 to $500.

Check decibel signal level under settings/more/about phone/status. Or use the app "Network Signal Info". Decibels are shown as a negative number, with a -50db signal being stronger than a -75db signal. Set the phone near each other and compare. I suspect you'll see your husbands has the better signal. If your phone continues to lag your husbands when side by side and looking at decibels (not bars), then take it back and get a replacement.

 

[Dalvik_Cache]

Well, now there's a word I've NEVER heard of! Femtocell? I'm gonna look it up and see what happens. I just got done chatting online with vzw for an hour, luckily I had a nice person. SHe refreshed my signal and had me change to global (in networks) to see if that helps. Haven't seen anything fabulous change but will be patient. She also put in an order to the engineers to investigate if it's something going on in this area. Should hear back in 3 days she said. If I get no answers I will inquire into the femtocell, first I have to see what it is, lol!

Do me a favor, please. If you could, please do the following and I will see if I can help:

Download and install CDMA Field Test from the play store.
Open the app and select "Enable BS Tracker".
Let that app run for about 5-10 mins, logging.
Select Menu and hit "Email Log"
Send the log to me at thelogmonkey@gmail.com
If you feel comfortable enough to send your address I can check towers in the area.

Thanks!

 

[andreah1]

I checked the decibel setting while they were sitting side by side, today (a miracle) mine was better than his but marginally. Mine held pretty steady at around -94 to -95, his started jumping around from -94 (neither of us got any better than that) all the way up to -120. Ever since I did the sim card trick (power on without the sim) it seems to have helped mine quite a bit. I just want to know why when I dial a number and hit call all of a sudden the signal disappears. Same when sending texts. But because it works almost flawlessly now in "the city" it's got to be something here at home. I would be interested in a booster (can you send me to a website?) because I'm thinking it would also help my usb modem. I just can't use the femtocell because from what I read you have to have steady internet to hook it into, I don't.
Dalvik_Cache, I'm in the process of logging the field test and will email you shortly. Thanks for all your help everyone, I want to love this phone!

 

[GVLBob]

For dB readings, the larger the negative number, the lower the signal strength. So, -120 is "all the way DOWN to" rather than "all the way up to". Just for comparison, my phone shows a signal strength of -97 dBm or 43 asu. For the latter, the bigger the number, the stronger the signal strength.

At that signal strength, I've never had any problems with phone calls or text messages.

Sometimes, the way you hold the phone can interfere with the antenna. That might explain your observation.

You might find the following article of interest.

How To Measure Cell Signal Strength on Android Phones - Tested

 

[mountainbikermark]

I checked the decibel setting while they were sitting side by side, today (a miracle) mine was better than his but marginally. Mine held pretty steady at around -94 to -95, his started jumping around from -94 (neither of us got any better than that) all the way up to -120. Ever since I did the sim card trick (power on without the sim) it seems to have helped mine quite a bit. I just want to know why when I dial a number and hit call all of a sudden the signal disappears. Same when sending texts. But because it works almost flawlessly now in "the city" it's got to be something here at home. I would be interested in a booster (can you send me to a website?) because I'm thinking it would also help my usb modem. I just can't use the femtocell because from what I read you have to have steady internet to hook it into, I don't.
Dalvik_Cache, I'm in the process of logging the field test and will email you shortly. Thanks for all your help everyone, I want to love this phone!

The bars might be dropping because of what the meter is based on. When your phone is idle it is reporting data (3g/4g ) signal bars but when you call or text it is using the cdma network and reports that to your screen. Thus you see the sudden drop or change .-90 to -110 is usable for phone calls but susceptible to drops, blank outs and lousy sound quality. Those numbers for data are going to give you very slow data sessions and possibly frequent drops or freezes. Your numbers sound very similar to mine. Have you noticed your reception is a little better after the leaves fall off the trees? I live in a very foliage dense area and I have better reception during the winter than summer.

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[andreah1]

I did know the higher the number the worse the signal, did a lot of research because of my usb modem signal (crappy sometimes too). Our asu is 1, yep 1. Thanks for your explanations. And yes, especially with my usb modem I notice a much better reception once fall comes, we have a lot of trees around us too. Come May the frustration starts all over again. I just want to be able to make calls and use the internet like I did on my bionic, I found a website 3G store and have emailed them to ask what I could use to boost the signal, we'll see what they say.

 

[mountainbikermark]

I did know the higher the number the worse the signal, did a lot of research because of my usb modem signal (crappy sometimes too). Our asu is 1, yep 1. Thanks for your explanations. And yes, especially with my usb modem I notice a much better reception once fall comes, we have a lot of trees around us too. Come May the frustration starts all over again. I just want to be able to make calls and use the internet like I did on my bionic, I found a website 3G store and have emailed them to ask what I could use to boost the signal, we'll see what they say.

The problem is, unlike the tv ads would have you believe, nothing can magically make signal appear that isn't there. Yes there are things to make the best of what little gets to your home after being almost 5 miles away and absorbed or reflected by foliage. In my case I live in a topographical hole, which only makes it worse. I go up the hill, literally a 1/4 mile away, and my signal doubles .
I remember in the past some would use an external antenna to grab what little was there and bring it to their basements where signal was impossible year round but I don't remember any specific brands, cost or such.
I understand totally about "upgrading" your phone only to find it more troublesome in reception than your previous. My old Samsung Omnia quadrupled the gray hair on my head until I finally needed to make an emergency phone call during the late night hours to my baby girls doctor because her fever spiked to 104 AND THE PHONE HAD NO SIGNAL!!! 2 days later I owned another phone but switched to an old dumbphone until I could get to a Verizon store.

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[bbtkd]

I did know the higher the number the worse the signal, did a lot of research because of my usb modem signal (crappy sometimes too). Our asu is 1, yep 1. Thanks for your explanations. And yes, especially with my usb modem I notice a much better reception once fall comes, we have a lot of trees around us too. Come May the frustration starts all over again. I just want to be able to make calls and use the internet like I did on my bionic, I found a website 3G store and have emailed them to ask what I could use to boost the signal, we'll see what they say.

Check cellularsolutions.com

 

[Dalvik_Cache]

Well, looks like your phone is hopping between 4 different towers. Also, you have really high Ec/Io which is basically a measure of signal quality. So, it looks like a bad area. Ill check towers in your area and get back to you.

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[jplemt]

My s3 was doing the exact same thing. It would show 2 bars but no service under the status menu. Would randomly show unknown network while roaming and then shot to vzw network, then no service :-/ then random mixes of the above. A new phone and SIM card fixed the problem.