Galaxy Note 3 drastic battery drain while on international roaming

[AC Question]

I have a Galaxy Note 3 (SM-N9005) running 4.4.2. Had it for just less than a year.

Everything is running fine when I am in my home country (Singapore) and the battery lasts forever, but have huge battery drain problems when I travel and on international roaming (I use date roaming as well). Never had this problem until a month ago, when I travelled to South Korea and China. The battery drains 15% to 20% an hour and the phone becomes quite hot. Also, the phone becomes very slow.

I had Clean Master installed and cleared as much junk as possible. I have also disabled quite a lot of apps that I hardly use. I turned off wifi, bluetooth, location services and whatever else I can think of. I tried turning of the data roaming. I tried switching away from LTE, as China did not have LTE, so I thought that the phone could be constantly searching for an LTE signal. I rebooted the phone numerous times. All did not work.

I compared the settings and running apps with a colleague's phone (which was working fine) which is identical to mine, and replicated the settings, but to no avail.

I am at a loss here, and I'm not sure a factory reset will help and that is something I'm trying to avoid. Anybody else is facing (or faced) this same problem, and have found a fix or solution?

Thanks!

 

[tron815]

Hi Stefan999, maybe you could get back to Samsung and have them test out the Note 3 with a Singtel SIM card? They said they tested but maybe they were using a Starhub/M1 SIM card?

 

[Stefan999]

Tron815, I asked them to confirm what firmware that they had used for their test, their reply was:

Reference Number: 2119680531

Thank you for your email dated 19 August 2014.

We are currently in the process of a review and will surely update you in due course.

This will also be forwarded to our senior mobile support team for further analysis.

Please be assured that you will be contacted as soon as possible to discuss and seek an appropriate solution accordingly.

We appreciate your patience and looking forward to be of service to you.

Yours sincerely,
Anthony Olivares
Samsung Customer Care​

I read that as, sorry we have already given you all our standard answer, do not expect any more effort from our side .....
I also asked them to read this thread and I asked for a email that i can reply to instead of using their web site, but they did not bother to say anything about that.

Xeoc3, what firmware do you have, I do not think the issue is the SIM card, I think it is the Singtel firmware that tried to set itself to the Singtel preferred telco.
When the firmware does this, it does this so often or something make the phone not go to sleep.

I suggest that all of you send a message to Samsung and report this issue, feel free to reference this thread and my reference numbers above.

 

[t4tortoise]

Hi guys,

Looks like I am not alone!

Experiencing this in Malaysia, Indonesia & Thailand.

Unfortunately I am also Singtel Cust.

Got my note3 on first launch and kept it updated. don't use swiftkey.

Same issue:
- Battery drain super fast and hot,
- also have the black message box w white text "Not connected to internet" CONSTANTLY popping up n diss appearing at bottom of the screen. With WIFI conected, the message keeps on display as "WIFI connected" (this notification does not stop at all!! It's just which message is shown)
- no change even after restarting the phone.

Really at a loss... Will contract both Stinktel n samsung when I get back to sg
Stinktels help page is so moronic... Telling u to switch off everything.

 

[RoyT99]

Update from Indonesia.

No problem at all with all three telcos that I could connect to: TELKOMSEL, INDOSAT & XL. WIFI & Data Roaming all turned on. I even tether internet to my laptop to type this and my phone stayed just as cool . TELKOMSEL is Singtel preferred operator and all three telcos have no 4G service.

My initial thought was that it could be linked to 4G availability. But since Tron815 and t4tortise said they experienced the problem in Myanmar and Indonesia, then it seems to rule that out.

What I have done differently this trip is before I travel, I did the following while STILL IN SINGAPORE:
1) Manually select Singtel as the Network Operator.
2) Disable Network Lock feature by Singtel again (Disable by dialling *100*5*2#). According to Singtel: “Network Lock protects you from unintended pay-per-use data charges on non-preferred network
when you are on DataRoam Saver plans.”

When I arrived Indonesia, the phone indicated that Singtel is no longer available. From there, I first manually selected INDOSAT as the Network Operator. All was well and I went on to change the operator (XL then TELKOMSEL) after testing for a few hours. I did another cycle of operator change just to make sure it’s not by chance. Stayed with TELKOMSEL since last night with no problem.

When I was in Malaysia, my Network Lock was already disabled prior to travel. So that may not be the sole factor. But prior to this Indonesia trip, I have always set the phone to automatically select network. Maybe that's why when I changed the network to another operator, the problem went away.

Will test this again when I travel to Australia next.

Do note that when you disable Network Lock, you may accidentally data roam on multiple providers and hence may have to pay more. In my test, I data roamed on all the network so mobile data was not a factor.

btw, I have also logged this problem with Samsung.

 

[Xeoc3]

Hi Stefan999

My phone is not purchased from any telco in singapore, therefore, there is no "singtel firmware" inside.
My note 3 details as follows:

Data roaming Turn Off on note3, also called Singtel to disable Data Roaming because note3 allow data roaming to "leak" out for few KB even data roaming on note3 is OFF.
Simcard : SingTel postpay(got issue while roaming in MY) / DIGI prepaid card (no issue while roaming in SG)
Model = SM-N9005

Android version= 4.4.2

Baseband Version = N9005DXUFNG1
Kernal version :
3.4.0-2322433
dpi"AT"SWDD5605 #1 ( this thread doesn't allow to post link, there is a "at" sign there)
Thu Jul 24 19:29 KST 2014

Built number = KOT49H.N9005DXUFNG2

SE for Android status :
Enforcing
SEPF_SM-N9005_4.4.2_0019
Thu Jul 24 19:29:20 2014

Security software version
MDF v1.0 realease 2

 

[JonnyBravado]

Exact same problem.
Note 3 N9005, kept displaying no connection on the bottom of the screen. Hot, slow and sucks battery like a vampire(dam I wish my girlfriend could be more like that). Using Singtel multi - SIM with data roaming in Malaysia.
I'm paying SGD5 a month for allocated 100Mb data usage. Since this problem begun, which was after my update less than a month ago, the data has been used up a lot faster than usual.
So I think that might have something to do with it..

God save us all

 

[munchong]

hello, i hv same problem last week in Malaysia, SingTel user, Note 3, manually lock to Maxis, data ON always,
Signal kkeep losing, phone keep contacting base station, phone very hot, function slow,
everything goes back to normal once back to Sin
Same problem previous week in China
has anyone try lock out of 4G ??

 

[topboozer]

I don't think it's a Singtel thing. I have a Galaxy S4 which works perfectly when in Thailand (I live there) but when I am travelling the battery just disappears in a few hours. This happens in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, everywhere. I'm now in Jakarta and the same thing is happening. It's incredibly annoying.

 

[Adrian Yong]

Hi, I happen to come across this forum while I was searching for "note 3 battery drain roaming".
I got my Samsung note3 from my brother who gave up the phone only after 1 mth as he travels a lot and complains that the phone is both hot and drains power fast.

I thought his complains were due to Wifi or apps running.

I was in Malaysia for a fishing trip (near Mersing) and I was tuned to Maxis (as I have 100mb free data roaming from Singtel).
I left the phone charging with Wifi & data roaming off. At dinner time around 7pm , I checked messages via Wifi (someone tethered).
When I turned off Wifi, the batt was 97%. By bed time at 10pm, the low batt was beeping at 11%. I noticed that there was a alert that "no data connectivity.....roaming off...."

Something is really wrong......
My iPhone 4s lasted me the whole 3 days as I left the charger in the car. I had watsapp on the iphone the whole time sending approx 80 messages over the 3 days.

Also please advise how I can turn the s-find, s-search or other s-apps off. I can be on a game and suddenly the s-voice or s-search app comes on as I might have hit the home or return button too long.

 

[Stefan999]

Update from Indonesia.
What I have done differently this trip is before I travel, I did the following while STILL IN SINGAPORE:
1) Manually select Singtel as the Network Operator.
2) Disable Network Lock feature by Singtel again (Disable by dialling *100*5*2#). According to Singtel: “Network Lock protects you from unintended pay-per-use data charges on non-preferred network
when you are on DataRoam Saver plans.”

I'm in HK, doing testing.

• I do not have theDataRoam Saver plan
• I manually selected singtel as network when in Singapore. In HK I selected CSL (prefered network) phone drained battery badly. I changed to PCCW, (not prefered network) phone still drains battery.I then tried to disable the network lock feature (from HK), it failed I got a reply stating "Network Lock is only available when you subscribe to EasyData roam ....." So therefore I assume that it is already disabled, but I still have the issue with battery drain.
• I went to SZ today, only had time to do quick test with China Mobile(prefered network), phone became hot, I switched to Flight mode....

I got reply from Samsung, they say

We have received an update from the relevant department that they are still reviewing this case.
As part of the investigation process, we would like to inform you that physical evaluation needs to be conducted for us to determine the root cause of this issue.
We seek for your patience as we will advise you to bring the unit to the service center for immediate assistance.

Xeroc3, when they changed your motherboard, did it wipe all data from the phone?

I really advice all of you who have the same issue to report to Samsung, we need mass for them to bother.
I really do not know what to do, RoyT99, or anyone else with DataRoam, please try and see if it work for you also and in other places.
I really do not want to pay Singtel 5 SGD per month to get a service that I don't want to use so that I can disable the feature the uses up the battery so that my phone works overseas ... as it is now I keep it in flight mode.

 

[Xeoc3]

I'm in HK, doing testing.

• I do not have theDataRoam Saver plan
• I manually selected singtel as network when in Singapore. In HK I selected CSL (prefered network) phone drained battery badly. I changed to PCCW, (not prefered network) phone still drains battery.I then tried to disable the network lock feature (from HK), it failed I got a reply stating "Network Lock is only available when you subscribe to EasyData roam ....." So therefore I assume that it is already disabled, but I still have the issue with battery drain.
• I went to SZ today, only had time to do quick test with China Mobile(prefered network), phone became hot, I switched to Flight mode....

I got reply from Samsung, they say



Xeroc3, when they changed your motherboard, did it wipe all data from the phone?

I really advice all of you who have the same issue to report to Samsung, we need mass for them to bother.
I really do not know what to do, RoyT99, or anyone else with DataRoam, please try and see if it work for you also and in other places.
I really do not want to pay Singtel 5 SGD per month to get a service that I don't want to use so that I can disable the feature the uses up the battery so that my phone works overseas ... as it is now I keep it in flight mode.

I went to samsung service center on 20 jun 2014. That time I didn't notice it only happen while roaming. So i just tell the counter staff that there was a message keeps display "WIFI connected" and hot and battry drain fast. I cant duplicate the senario at the service counter (Because already back to singapore). They said they will check and the data inside might lost. For security reason, I decided to factory reset on the spot. 3 hours later I got my phone back, they said changed motherboard and software updated. After I went back to JB on the same day, it happend again.

 

[stupidpig00]

I am having the same problem as well. First time I encountered this problem was 3 months ago in Hanoi. I was connected to SingTel's prefer partner - Mobitel. The phone battery drain very fast and the phone get very hot and very slow.

I am now in HK, connected to CSL. Same problem happens. Searching for solution...unfortunately no luck yet.

 

[RoyT99]

Update from Australia. I did exactly what I did when I went Indonesia (see post no 24). No problem so far. Battery last more than a full day with WIFI & Data Roaming turned on with 4G/H+/3G/E. Occasionally, even tethering. Using Optus now, which is Singtel preferred partner. It's been 5 days.

My steps are always the following:
1) In Singapore, manually select Singtel as network provider
2) When first arrived overseas, manually select a NON-Singtel preferred provider.
3) Switch to a Singtel preferred network provider after a while (usually in abt 30mins to 1hr).

 

[tron815]

Update from Korea. I had data roaming turned on. I tried what RoyT99 had suggested, but the only difference is that I did not disable network lock prior to leaving Singapore but manage to do it successfully (I think) via the Singtel Mobile app when I was in Seoul. However, the problem persisted. I will test again when I go to HK next week, and follow RoyT99's steps exactly.

Also, as RoyT99 said in an earlier post, the phone does not go to sleep while on roaming. Something is definitely wrong there. It's true, whether or not wifi is on/off, data roaming is on/off, phone is charging, etc.... the last picture is when I was back in SGP.



I will be writing to Samsung again referencing my earlier complaint, as well as referencing Stefan999's complaint. As suggested by Stefan999, I also urge all here to write to Samsung and include all the complaint references from all the users here as well as referencing this thread. Hopefully, we will get some answer..... Here's my initial complaint's reference no. 2119364219

 

[tron815]

Another thing, and sorry if I missed it in earlier posts; is this restricted only to Note 3 or other models as well, like S4, S5? Anyone else here using the S4 or S5?

 

[RoyT99]

Tron815 - I was wondering when you first arrived in Korea, was your first network provider a Singtel preferred partner? Also, I am not sure if the Singtel App can disable network lock. Use the USSD method and you will receive a SMS confirmation that the network lock is disabled.

It seems like the key is to prevent the phone from latching on to Singtel preferred network right at the beginning. And perhaps by first selecting a non-singtel network provider, I didn't face the problem in Indonesia and now in Australia.

Please try and see if this works for you in Hong Kong - remember, the first service provider you manually select must be non-singtel service provider.

 

[Xeoc3]

Today I updated my samsung note 3 to Baseband version N9005DXUGNH1, seems like issue resolved. Work fine at Malaysia !

Kernal verion
3.4.0-2481888
dpi'AT'SWDD5618#1
Tue Aug 12 11:22:09 KST 2014

Built number = KOT49H.N9005DXUGNH1

SE for Android status :
Enforcing
SEPF_SM-N9005_4.4.2_0024
Tue Aug 12 11:21:49 2014

Security software version
MDF v1.0 realease 3

 

[ticklish]

Hi all, I'm new here and experiencing the same problem.

Got my note 3 from SingTel on launch day. Used to fly every week until March and roaming did not cause such a problem. However, in my August trip to Malaysia, phone started heating up when roaming and returned to normal when I was back in Singapore.

Read on other forums that it is cause phone keeps searching for LTE network.

Now in US and tried various possible solutions including turning off mobile data, manually selecting mobile network, seems to help a bit, but phone is extremely laggy and screen keeps turning off by itself even though I'm using the phone (e.g. typing). anyone else experiencing this?

Really annoyed

 

[tron815]

Going to HK. Trying RoyT99's method and will update.

I have also upgraded the firmware as what Xeoc3 has done but don't want to risk it not working while I'm there although he has said it worked for him. I may try on my next trip. For those who have updated and traveled, please post ur findings.

Thx

 

[tron815]

Update from HK. I did exactly what RoyT99 suggested and so far so good. I'm on data roaming and battery went down only less than 40% in 7hrs, and this is with quite heavy usage. Problem seem to be solved. Also, the constantly awake problem is gone.

So, either RoyT99's method works or it's due to the firmware update as per Xeoc3. Looking forward to more test results.