Signal strength issue

[William_D]

My wife and I each have a Galaxy S4 with Verizon. Recently, when side-by-side, mine has regularly shown weaker signal strength for both network and wifi. The Verizon tech I spoke with is sending me a new SIM card, though I'm skeptical this is the issue given the wifi problem. Any thoughts?

Current network signal:
Me: 4 ASU
Her: 39 ASU

Current wifi signal screenshots attached, mine first, hers second.

 

[Bg260]

They are set to different channels. You have 0-3 and she has 4-8. You are sharing all three channels with others nearby. Her channels are not as crowded.
How do you fix it. IDK. You can go into your router settings and adjust the channels but, I'm not sure. Does she have a different wifi connection?

Here's a good thread to look into. I know you're having the problem with data connection too, but maybe this will help.

Wifi channel optimizing

 

[William_D]

What do you mean when you say we're set to different channels? We have identical phones connected to the same network and same wifi, yet my phone has much poorer reception for both. if it's a router settings issue, why does it affect us differently?

 

[svim]

So your side-by-side comparisons certainly show there's something odd, especially since you both have the same model of phone. As for a new SIM, I'm also skeptical that's the source of your problem. SIMs are for cellular connectivity, not WiFi.

Considering how much better your wife's WiFi reception is, I'm going to take a guess that there's some problem with the antenna in your S4. It's basically just a piece of wire that runs along the inside edge inside your phone. If you previously haven't had any issues with WiFi before and this just started happening, maybe the antenna's connector just worked itself loose. If you want to go through the process of popping open your S4, maybe re-seating the connector might fix the issue. Here's a pic of the connector:

It's a photo taken from this iFixit page, step 13. Follow through the instructions only to get to the connector, ignore all the disassembly stuff.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Samsung+Galaxy+S4+Motherboard+Replacement/16537

 

[Bg260]

I read it wrong. I thought you were blue and she was red. I'm having a feeling this is going to be hardware related.


Edit ^^^^^

 

[mikedt]

"Connect here for a free virus"...what the hell is that about? And you got a big red virus warning in that app as well. Have you got an app by Cheetah Mobile installed or something, and it's messing with the WiFi?

 

[svim]

"Connect here for a free virus"...what the hell is that about? And you got a big red virus warning in that app as well. Have you got an app by Cheetah Mobile installed or something, and it's messing with the WiFi?

The name is just that WiFi's SSID name. As for the big red virus warning, that's just an ad banner. That's pretty normal for the WiFi Analyzer app, funky ads pop up along the bottom.

 

[William_D]

Yep, the network name is a certain family member's version of humor.

Thanks for the antenna tip. That makes sense, though the connections, top and bottom, appear solid. Any other ideas before I put this thing back together?

 

[svim]

OK so that knocks my antenna theory off the list. Nuts, I really thought from your description and screen caps it was an antenna issue. There is the possibility of a WiFi chip on the motherboard failing, shown here in step 13:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+S4+Teardown/13947
but that's not likely. Going back to a software issue, have you tried restarting your S4 in Safe Mode and seeing if your WiFi reception is still so poor?
https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/galaxy-s4-reset/

 

[William_D]

The antenna sounded so right I was surprised to find it intact. I have not tried safe mode and would love to see if that provides further insight but alas, there are now bigger problems. It seems as I was prying the frame apart I either introduced or enlarged a small crack in the bottom corner of the screen. This would not normally bother me much, especially under the screen protector, but now my screen doesn't work at all. The phone powers on and will ring when I'm called, but I can't see a thing nor can I interact with it (except to change the ring volume, which won't entertain me for long). Unless anyone has any easy answers, I'm thinking this might quickly be getting to be over my head.