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Samsung admits signal strength issue on S3

G

gme109

Android Enthusiast
Called Samsung today, and they said they were aware of the weak signal issue plaguing the S3. They said at some point Sprint will be releasing a maintenance update. I'm not sure I'm willing to trust Samsung and Sprint to fix this issue, which makes me a little uneasy about keeping my new S3 past the 14 day trial period. I love the device otherwise, but it's current capabilities as a phone are in question. I'm constantly dropping calls in the Denver area because of weak signal strength. Never had any issues in town with my old Epic 4G.

What to do?
 
I am having the same problem with mine. I Have 5 days before my 14 day period is up and i am not feeling confident. About 7 years ago we used too be a Sprint retailer and always found lower signal strength in Samsung's. I am also having issues with poor wifi and other stuff I never had on my 1st generation Evo. I think i am sending it back there are a lot of things Ib like about the S3 but I cant have dropped calls all the time, when I never did before with my Evo. Let me know what thou end up doing! I will either wait and use my old evo or get the new evo the iphone is not for me.
 
hapamama 99 said:
I am having the same problem with mine. I Have 5 days before my 14 day period is up and i am not feeling confident. About 7 years ago we used too be a Sprint retailer and always found lower signal strength in Samsung's. I am also having issues with poor wifi and other stuff I never had on my 1st generation Evo. I think i am sending it back there are a lot of things Ib like about the S3 but I cant have dropped calls all the time, when I never did before with my Evo. Let me know what thou end up doing! I will either wait and use my old evo or get the new evo the iphone is not for me.
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I made the mistake of selling my Epic 4G, which I could've fallen back on. If I return the S3 I'm not sure what I'd get at this point. The HTC EVO may be a consideration, although I'm not thrilled about it.
 
You ar ethe first two people who have mentioned this here.

Yes, the radio is not as good as that of a Motorola Razr, but there is no real issue with it either.

Call center reps, are not known for reliability of the information they provide.
 
I posted this on another thread:
My wife and I both had problems with the network roaming, losing signal, having full bars. I made several calls to sprint trying to get the problem resolved but I started to think they were just jerking me around to get me locked in to my contract. They said the tower needed a trouble call & offed to send me the air wave thing or what ever the hell it is. I was like seriously? I just need working phones without any BS. What angers me the most is their coverage map claimed to work in the are where I needed it the most (@ work). I canceled after 3 days returned the phones and went with another carrier. I think sprint needs to get their network squared away in some areas. Phones work great now. I suggest to anyone going with sprint to make sure your phone works the way you want and where you want before you sign on.

I have AT&T now and the signal is perfect. Full bars @ home and work. Im not pro AT&T, but I think its more of a network thing and not the phone itself.
 
conn said:
I posted this on another thread:
My wife and I both had problems with the network roaming, losing signal, having full bars. I made several calls to sprint trying to get the problem resolved but I started to think they were just jerking me around to get me locked in to my contract. They said the tower needed a trouble call & offed to send me the air wave thing or what ever the hell it is. I was like seriously? I just need working phones without any BS. What angers me the most is their coverage map claimed to work in the are where I needed it the most (@ work). I canceled after 3 days returned the phones and went with another carrier. I think sprint needs to get their network squared away in some areas. Phones work great now. I suggest to anyone going with sprint to make sure your phone works the way you want and where you want before you sign on.

I have AT&T now and the signal is perfect. Full bars @ home and work. Im not pro AT&T, but I think its more of a network thing and not the phone itself.
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I'm convinced its the S3, as my Epic had much better reception. As it stands now, areas where I had one to two bars with the Epic, I have NO service with the S3.
 
I have had 0 radio problems with my s3. My guess is it has more to do with getting the hell off of the woeful death star network and moving over to big red.
 
conn said:
I posted this on another thread:
My wife and I both had problems with the network roaming, losing signal, having full bars. I made several calls to sprint trying to get the problem resolved but I started to think they were just jerking me around to get me locked in to my contract. They said the tower needed a trouble call & offed to send me the air wave thing or what ever the hell it is. I was like seriously? I just need working phones without any BS. What angers me the most is their coverage map claimed to work in the are where I needed it the most (@ work). I canceled after 3 days returned the phones and went with another carrier. I think sprint needs to get their network squared away in some areas. Phones work great now. I suggest to anyone going with sprint to make sure your phone works the way you want and where you want before you sign on.

I have AT&T now and the signal is perfect. Full bars @ home and work. Im not pro AT&T, but I think its more of a network thing and not the phone itself.
Click to expand...

Amen to this. I was on Sprint using the Motorola Photon, known for it's strong radio. My reception area was weak for all carriers so I didn't change. However my periodic dropped calls went to 80% dropped calls; calls to Sprint got the following answer: "They are having tower problems as they upgrade; be patient."

Finally out of patience, I left Sprint, went to AT&T, and the S3. I actually never show more than one bar at home; however, I have not had a dropped call since. The combination of AT&T and the S3 works; the combination of Sprint and the Photon didn't. I don't think the problem was the phone.

Mike
 
gme109 said:
Then explain this: Galaxy S3 signal issue and Verizon support
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A lot of it is radio/software issues. Coverage area is important. With the G7 and HD radios that came out and the current rom i'm on. I never revert to 3g when in a 4g area. My dbm readings are onpar with my old thunderbolt. I haven't had issues with certain area's/services and hearing people on the newer radios.

If you aren't rooted maybe you should give it a try and see if it fixes your issues.
 
Well, even Motorola the golden brand known for signal reception seems to have some signal reception issues with Razr M according to several forums. I don't think it's coincidence that both GS3, M has new S4 chip. Maybe they still need to iron out glitches in radio firmwares of S4 chip (SoC of processor, modems). But GSM variants of GS3 on AT&T, Tmo seem to do pretty well on reception, so it's probably software issues.
 
Thank you for this. I'm not sure if I'm past the 14 days but right now there is no time to go through the Sprint hell process of returning it and I'm getting attached to the phone but not so much the delay of networking. It seems only the Samsung Galaxy and iPhones have these issues with Sprint in my area. The oldschool HTC Evo has no issue sending texts it goes straight through. I think there was something wrong with MY PHONE and it is brand new. I drove the person who is the carrier of this plan crazy due to the delayed text messaging. Went to a tech she didn't even look at it and said switch to CDMA because 4G isn't here yet. I wish could see what Samsung actually said, and when this software update will come about. I just don't understand why signal strength is different with each phone.:mad:
 
CindyEli said:
Thank you for this. I'm not sure if I'm past the 14 days but right now there is no time to go through the Sprint hell process of returning it and I'm getting attached to the phone but not so much the delay of networking. It seems only the Samsung Galaxy and iPhones have these issues with Sprint in my area. The oldschool HTC Evo has no issue sending texts it goes straight through. I think there was something wrong with MY PHONE and it is brand new. I drove the person who is the carrier of this plan crazy due to the delayed text messaging. Went to a tech she didn't even look at it and said switch to CDMA because 4G isn't here yet. I wish could see what Samsung actually said, and when this software update will come about. I just don't understand why signal strength is different with each phone.:mad:
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The software has already been out. If you look at the dates of the post they are from last year. For most providers in there have been 3 updates since Oct 2012. 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 JB and a maintenance update.
 
Well I just got a S3 thru Tmobile I have a very slight signal issue with this phone but I also had issue's with my last one which was a Htc MyTouch 4g, And I have talked to other people in my area that have other phone carriers and all them have some type of signal issue's, So I believe its a low signal coverage for the area, Just adding my 2 cents worth too this, LOL
 
I live in an area that is known to have poor reception. I started with ATT, switched to T-Mobile, then switched to Sprint. I had little to no signal strength with all of them, and these were all different phones made by different manufacturers. I switched to Verizon after missing a very important emergency call (the phone would not ring or even go to voice mail) and I have had no problems since. I started out with a very basic LG phone and bought my S3 last October and both have worked fine. I don't like paying Verizon's high prices, but if I want a phone that I can rely on that's the way it is. :rolleyes:
 
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