My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll. The signal is terrible, how can they boost it?

[Jonette2]

My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll.The signal is terrible.

The signal is terrible. I am the one she asks for all her technical help from. I can usually fix everything. This one has me stumped. I've tried to take a look at the APN settings,apparently Straight Talk has that access locked out. Any suggestions on how to improve the signal on this phone?

Let me take you back one step. In the past I convinced her to switch from T-Mobile to Straight Talk, in order to control her spending and budget. At the time, she didn't have a phone that was compatible with Straight Talk. I sold her an Apple Iphone 3GS. It took a little work to get all the settings in it just right to make it work correctly with Straight Talk, but I got it done and she has used it for about 2 years.

Now she had the money to upgrade her phone and decided to go with the Samsung Galaxy Slll sold specifically by Straight Talk, thinking since it is sold by Straight Talk, certainly it would be compatible and issue free. WRONG! The signal on this thing is terrible.

I have searched online everywhere for some MOD or TRICK to make it have better reception. No success. Mainly what I find is advice for the BYOP Straight Talk program, where you bring a Galaxy Slll from another carrier and MOD them to work on Straight Talk network. Accessing the APN settings is a great option with those phones. Apparently Samsung has had these phones sold under the Straight Talk brand, locked out, you cannot access the APN settings.
Is there any advice you can give me ?

 

[itguyjax8430]

Re: My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll.The signal is terrible.

The signal is terrible. I am the one she asks for all her technical help from. I can usually fix everything. This one has me stumped. I've tried to take a look at the APN settings,apparently Straight Talk has that access locked out. Any suggestions on how to improve the signal on this phone?

Let me take you back one step. In the past I convinced her to switch from T-Mobile to Straight Talk, in order to control her spending and budget. At the time, she didn't have a phone that was compatible with Straight Talk. I sold her an Apple Iphone 3GS. It took a little work to get all the settings in it just right to make it work correctly with Straight Talk, but I got it done and she has used it for about 2 years.

Now she had the money to upgrade her phone and decided to go with the Samsung Galaxy Slll sold specifically by Straight Talk, thinking since it is sold by Straight Talk, certainly it would be compatible and issue free. WRONG! The signal on this thing is terrible.

I have searched online everywhere for some MOD or TRICK to make it have better reception. No success. Mainly what I find is advice for the BYOP Straight Talk program, where you bring a Galaxy Slll from another carrier and MOD them to work on Straight Talk network. Accessing the APN settings is a great option with those phones. Apparently Samsung has had these phones sold under the Straight Talk brand, locked out, you cannot access the APN settings.
Is there any advice you can give me ?

In order to unlock the APN settings the phone would need to be rooted. Have you tried restore the APN settings to default and see if that resets them?

 

[Rukbat]

Re: My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll.The signal is terrible.

The APN settings are used for internet access, they have nothing to do with the phone signal.

ST uses all 4 carriers, AT&T, Sprint, TMobile and Verizon. I suspect that the ST S3 is using a carrier that has a poor signal where she is, and the iPhone used a carrier that has a good signal where she is. (The S3 may be known for a lot of negative things, but dead receivers aren't on the list.)

 

[Jonette2]

Re: My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll.The signal is terrible.

I've read that ST S3 in this area will use Sprint and they have terrible service here. Anyone in this area with Sprint struggles with signal all the time. Is there any way for me to manipulate the phone so it will use ATT?

 

[AxlMyk]

Re: My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll.The signal is terrible.

Is there a case with metal on the phone?

AC App on SGS3

 

[Jonette2]

Re: My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll.The signal is terrible.

No, just a plastic case, rubberized, but not bulky

 

[Jonette2]

Re: My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll.The signal is terrible.

Rukbat, I agree, Sprint here is terrible and I'm afraid that's the tower she's on now, is there anything we can do to force the phone to not use Sprint towers?

 

[Jonette2]

Re: My friend bought a Straight Talk branded Samsung Galaxy Slll.The signal is terrible.

She just walked past me just now, saying, "God, I just hate not having a signal"