Help Galaxy Note 3 loses all cellular connectivity

[johnpjackson]

So, ever since being on Lollipop (at least), I have realized there's a definite pattern to a problem I'm having. Whenever I go out of range of cell services for more than a few minutes, (say, 15 minutes or more?), my Galaxy Note 3 is unable to re-establish cell service connectivity again until I reboot it. It doesn't have any such problem with WiFi or Bluetooth signalling, however. Based on all that, it doesn't seem to me like it would be any kind of a hardware problem. It seems like it would most likely be a software glitch. Has anyone else experienced this? Or have thoughts on a fix? I will try clearing my cache partition but I think I have done that sort of recently already for something else. But I will do it again.

-John

 

[Duckster]

It's been a while since you posted this, but I'm having the same issue. My GF has a SGN2 and she can be sitting right next to me getting a full (and faster signal) signal while mine is just struggling to work after we turn our phone's airplane mode off. It is frustrating because it takes forever to get it working again even after multiple restarts. Eventually it comes around, but by then, she has gotten the information that we need from her older phone.

In the old days, we could dial *228 and get things updated, but not anymore. I wonder if there is any way for us to update to the cell phone towers ourselves. From what I was told from Verizon, we can't on our end.

 

[johnpjackson]

Well, I'm not sure if it's related or not, but the issue could be the same thing. All the GN3's antennas seem to be located in the same area inside the phone, and are connected to the motherboard via the same type of pressure contact points. Perhaps if you did a rebuild and cleanout of your phone the way I did for mine, it could clear up the problem. It's only been a week or so for mine, but so far I haven't seemed to be having any of the same reception problems I had been?

http://androidforums.com/threads/note-3-gps-and-waze-problem-and-resolution.929569/

 

[Duckster]

Perhaps if you did a rebuild and cleanout of your phone the way I did for mine, it could clear up the problem./

What exactly did you do for yours? Just cleaned up around the antenna? Thanks for the link. I'll give it a shot when I get home. I'm wondering if the "warranty cover" will void the warranty if I open it....or will it be hard to tell?

 

[johnpjackson]

There's supposed to be one warranty seal over one of the screws you have to remove to get the inside cover off of the motherboard area. I don't remember there being one of those on mine though. I don't think. I have a Verizon model. The cleaning I did inside was to clean out the sound hole path for my microphone - it had gotten partially blocked up by dirt from my pocket. Also, I had to clean lint/junk out from underneath where the front facing camera and proximity sensor are located. Instructions for accessing those locations are all clearly shown in the video in the link I included in the other thread. My eyes aren't what they once were, so I did all my work under a magnifier with a built in lamp. I placed a towel down on a table top for my work surface. Soft so it won't scratch the front of the phone, and tends to catch tiny parts like screws if they drop, rather than bounce them off into oblivion somewhere

PS - A can of compressed 'air' is very helpful for blowing crud out of nooks and crannies..

 

[Methos1979]

Yep, having the same problem with mine as well since the update. I don't go out of service area too often so didn't notice it the first few times but then it hit a couple days ago when it happened that I had just returned from a very rural motorcycle ride where I had noticed the problem before and made the connection then just happened to visit here and saw the post. So somethings fishy. It's a minor annoyance since a reboot fixes it but still. I love my Note 3 but Samsung's radios just plain suck. I really hoped they would have done a better job with them by now. If Motorola or someone else with good radios comes out with a phone that is similar features to the Note 3 when I upgrade I might have to jump ship.

 

[Duckster]

I just finished following the directions in the video to clean out the phone. I also took the liberty to clean the contacts (brass parts) with an eraser. I'd like to report that it is working better than ever, but it is too soon to make the claim. Thanks for the instructions and responses!

 

[Duckster]

Yep, having the same problem with mine as well since the update. If Motorola or someone else with good radios comes out with a phone that is similar features to the Note 3 when I upgrade I might have to jump ship.

I jumped ship from a Motorola product. I'm much happier with my SGN3. What kind of motorcycle for the ride? GL1800 here.

Reboots do help me as well...just hate to wait on the reboot time and for the GPS to locate me again.

 

[Methos1979]

I jumped ship from a Motorola product. I'm much happier with my SGN3. What kind of motorcycle for the ride? GL1800 here.

Reboots do help me as well...just hate to wait on the reboot time and for the GPS to locate me again.

I like my Note 3 way more than my Motorola, but Samsung's radios suck. They should be ashamed. Current bike is Road Glide Custom CVO. Had a Gold Wing several bikes ago, but back when it was still the 1500.