Low/Zero Reception after dropping my phone

[JarvisV2]

Well recently i dropped my phone and i have been having reception problems with it and i want to fix it myself. I was wondering what was located at the top left side of the galaxy S3 phone that deals wiht reception, like what antenna and where i can get a replacement for it. Im also getting a replacement screen but i got that part covered, i just need to know what i need to get in order to fix the internal components that may be damaged from the fall. In summary, the problems im facing are at max 1 bar out of 5 on my phone and thats if im lucky. i usually have 0 bars and my phone says emergency phone calls only. I also cant use my data because of this and its been a problem for me.... So plz help me. If you could tell me what parts i need and where i can get them that would be amazing..

 

[Golfdriver97]

I think the antennas are wired to the motherboard.

 

[Yen Gilkes]

It is very likely that you have damaged the Antenna chip itself when the phone has been dropped (the white board pictured below..)



Sadly, replacing the antenna itself will not suffice, damage will have been caused to the chip that powers the antenna (if the antenna was damaged - no signal would be available, if the power board is 'fried' then you would get inconsistent signal.)

The power chip for the antenna is located beneath your sim card/sd card shield. (Pictured below, first with the shield in place, then with the shield removed and put to one side)




The chip itself is the one boxed in orange. It is a SKY77604.

To replace the chip would be very difficult, and require precise soldering - generally these are fitted by machines at the factory - and not really a serviceable part.

I do believe you could macgyver it however with a bit of magic... and a steady hand!!!

If you wish to replace the chip - I would personally attempt to re-solder the original first, and establish whether it was just cracked loose.
You can find the chip on ebay - SKY77604, roughly ?9 exc delivery.

** NOTE **
I do not take responsibility for any damage to your handset if you attempt to dis-assemble by yourself without any computer or electronics experience.
This is a delicate procedure and the electronics exposed at this stage are highly susceptible to damage

 

[mmfnsmith]

While all that info may be correct on a possible broken antennae or power supply, I suggest trying something super simple first. I just had the exact thing happen to my Galaxy S4 just this morning, and I took the battery out of the phone and held down the power button for a good long minute or 2, and when I powered on my phone again the signal strength showed super weak for a few seconds, even though I was standing right beside my wifi router, which was what it was doing right after i dropped it,and then shot right back up to full strength again and stayed there. I'm now 30 feet away from my router through 3 walls and still have full signal. Hope this helps!

Update-
Well, I thought this fixed the issue for a while, now I'm back at the same issue. Bluetooth is cutting in an out also, less than 2 feet from the reciever. Wifi goes from full strength to 1 bar in the same location...