almost perfect but fails in signal

sdtech619

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Samsung almost made a perfect product but they had to screw up the most important aspect of a phone ..SIGNAL QUALITY ..the phone has horrendous signal issues with 3g and normal call network signal ..its almost unusable indoors!!! I am in Houston and this is a major Sprint area.. it also effects battery life majorly ..example ..I was indoors for 2 hours taking a test and the battery dropped 10 percent without me using it.. and this is not a Sprint problem its a cheap and poor antenna problem ..

That's awful I'm in the same situation i get 1 bar or no bars at all in my are in san diego ca... i use to own a photon and it was always had full signal... come on samsung!!! i still love the phone though. Try exchanging it for a new one i guess?
 

JayWill

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Jun 21, 2011
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That's awful I'm in the same situation i get 1 bar or no bars at all in my are in san diego ca... i use to own a photon and it was always had full signal... come on samsung!!! i still love the phone though. Try exchanging it for a new one i guess?

I'm in San Diego also, and see my screenshot above. 6 bars here at my office in UTC. I do get a weaker signal where I live, but it's still good. I usually float between 3-4 bars at home but I do live in an area with a lot of hills. Oddly, I get better 3G data speed at home than I do at the office. No clue why that is, but I'm sure there's a technical reason for it.

Yeah you may want to exchange it and see if it improves.
 

mouseglider

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Samsung almost made a perfect product but they had to screw up the most important aspect of a phone ..SIGNAL QUALITY ..the phone has horrendous signal issues with 3g and normal call network signal ..its almost unusable indoors!!! I am in Houston and this is a major Sprint area.. it also effects battery life majorly ..example ..I was indoors for 2 hours taking a test and the battery dropped 10 percent without me using it.. and this is not a Sprint problem its a cheap and poor antenna problem ..

Call Sprint and get an Airave - I get between 3 to 6 bars without it I get 0 to 2 bars
 

Officerpolabear

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Jan 16, 2011
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I'm in San Diego also, and see my screenshot above. 6 bars here at my office in UTC. I do get a weaker signal where I live, but it's still good. I usually float between 3-4 bars at home but I do live in an area with a lot of hills. Oddly, I get better 3G data speed at home than I do at the office. No clue why that is, but I'm sure there's a technical reason for it.

Yeah you may want to exchange it and see if it improves.

I've heard that the bars only represent how much signal you get for call quality/texting as those don't require 3G. Sometimes, you will be able to get high speed even though you only have 1-2 bars but usually, the 3G speed are relevant to your signal bars. Sometimes it isn't. I forgot where, but when I had 1 bar only on my service, I got 1.24mbps down and 0.74mbps up and when I have 6 bars, my speed would only be 200kbps-500kbps down and the uploads were 100-300kbps up.
 

JayWill

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Jun 21, 2011
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Yeah I guess bars aren't always that indicative of the big picture. But to put it in perspective, when my phone is showing 6 bars, I'm at -65 dBm. At 5 bars it drops to -76 dBm.

I just ran a few data tests on 3G which surprised me. On 3 tests I averaged 1,325 Kbps down and 682 Kbps up. I hadn't come close to those speeds all week. I guess nobody is using their phones for data in the area today heh.

Anyhoo .. it's all about where you are guys. There's nothing wrong with this phone.
 

Officerpolabear

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Yeah I guess bars aren't always that indicative of the big picture. But to put it in perspective, when my phone is showing 6 bars, I'm at -65 dBm. At 5 bars it drops to -76 dBm.

I just ran a few data tests on 3G which surprised me. On 3 tests I averaged 1,325 Kbps down and 682 Kbps up. I hadn't come close to those speeds all week. I guess nobody is using their phones for data in the area today heh.

Anyhoo .. it's all about where you are guys. There's nothing wrong with this phone.

^ this. Everyone thinks that the signal is the phone's fault when it's actually the location. Some places have better Sprint coverage than Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile and vice versa. So don't bash on this phone or the carrier!
 

bobby35ny

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^ this. Everyone thinks that the signal is the phone's fault when it's actually the location. Some places have better Sprint coverage than Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile and vice versa. So don't bash on this phone or the carrier!

It's the phones fault, not the carrier, I've been comparing both my phone and my wifes EVO, EVO has no dead spots where I live but the Sammy starts roaming or I can't make the call. I can walk up the stairs in my house and lose Wifi and the Evo is still connected to wifi, so YES, its the phone!! Hoping for a fast software update to fix the radios.
-bobby
 

sjamie

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I've heard that the bars only represent how much signal you get for call quality/texting as those don't require 3G. Sometimes, you will be able to get high speed even though you only have 1-2 bars but usually, the 3G speed are relevant to your signal bars. Sometimes it isn't. I forgot where, but when I had 1 bar only on my service, I got 1.24mbps down and 0.74mbps up and when I have 6 bars, my speed would only be 200kbps-500kbps down and the uploads were 100-300kbps up.

I've experienced the same thing many times. It has always perplexed me.
 

Bmwillz

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Mar 18, 2011
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^ this. Everyone thinks that the signal is the phone's fault when it's actually the location. Some places have better Sprint coverage than Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile and vice versa. So don't bash on this phone or the carrier!

well explain my case. epic 4g original had great service where i live new york / new jersey and every since i activated my epic touch its been awful compared to what was. 4g wont stay connected for more than 10 minutes and 3g goes in and out.......? plus wont connect to wifi in my house laptop, ipad, original epic and evo shift all connected
 

whatsitsname

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It's definitely a phone problem. I never had a problem making a call with my previous phones (Evo, Photon). Admitted mu home don't get the greatest signal but it never drop calls like it does now. The Epic Touch keep switching between roaming and 0-1 bar while stationary in my house. Needless to say it cuts in and out then drops the call. This is my second Epic Touch.
 

johnkim575

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Feb 8, 2011
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Samsung almost made a perfect product but they had to screw up the most important aspect of a phone ..SIGNAL QUALITY ..the phone has horrendous signal issues with 3g and normal call network signal ..its almost unusable indoors!!! I am in Houston and this is a major Sprint area.. it also effects battery life majorly ..example ..I was indoors for 2 hours taking a test and the battery dropped 10 percent without me using it.. and this is not a Sprint problem its a cheap and poor antenna problem ..
 

sfhub

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I'm not doubting anyone else's experiences, just providing my own.

I borrowed 2 phones and put them side-by-side with E4GT. I got the RX power from ##DEBUG#. This was all on PCS ch25 indoors stationary and native Sprint signal.

-91 dBm - Samsung Epic 4G Touch
-92 dBm - LG Optimus S
-92 dBm - HTC Touch Pro

I moved around a bit and the signal levels ranged from -89 dBm to -101 dBm, however the 3 phones were always within 3 dBm of each other as long I held them in place and allowed them to settle. I'm confident the E4GT I was testing is performing similar to other phones. It is possible not all the E4GT phones are built the same or there is some other factor going on, maybe different channel or CLR vs PCS channel.

I know the earlier Epic 4G had a bug where it couldn't roam on PCS channels but could on CLR.
 

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