Nexus 5: Poor cell reception?

[BlueGoldAce]

Has anyone experienced the nexus 5 to have poor cell reception? Is it hardware or can we expect a fix?

I love the phone. I am on att but just recently ported from Verizon. My wife and I have unlocked iPhone that receive noticeably better signal.

This phone makes my old 5s seem like a toy... But the cell reception has been discouraging.

Same with wifi.

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[remixkilla]

I notice that in certain areas o have poor reception or no reception at all. I'm on T-Mobile.

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[dave3389]

hello im in the uk so using a diff network, but i had the same problem, in my case it was because the phone wouldnt swtich to a 2g signal when i was in my house. 3g phone coverage is patchy where i live. so i downloaded an app to let me select a 2g signal and its been perfect ever since.

 

[BlueGoldAce]

The LTE and 3g coverage is what suffers for me.

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[dave3389]

same with me, i used an app on the playstore called hidden menu which let me set my network to 2g. full signal indoors and loving my phone again was getting hardly a singal in the house before

 

[willizen]

I didn't notice any difference between my iPhone 5 and nexus 5 on sprint

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Alex Karim]

I have the same exact problem. I'm in orange county California and have much poorer service compared to my 4s. I got in contact with Google support and they did verify the problem and said they would send me a new phone but unfortunately I bought my phone through Craig's list since it was on back order and the guy won't transfer the phone rights to my account :/

Posted via Android Central App

 

[greggov]

Same here - I've noticed that reception on this phone is pretty terrible. Coming from a BlackBerry Z10 -> iPhone 5s -> Nexus 5, this has the worst reception of them all. Constantly losing LTE, dropping down to 1-2 bars of HSPA where I used to have almost full LTE, slow to pick up signal or switch back to LTE from HSPA.

There are areas of my office building (hallways, etc) where I used to get at least 1-2 bars of signal with the other devices where this now just has nothing. It's also pretty slow to reconnect to both cell and wifi after losing service.

Using a brand new SIM card from at&t too.

 

[BlueGoldAce]

Could it be the chip set? I know the galaxy note 3 has the same chip set and have heard they have similar signal strength problems.

 

[gidgiddonihah]

Did you take a look at my fix?

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[BlueGoldAce]

Did you take a look at my fix?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I saw it! Thanks!

I haven't tied it yet. Which radio have you seen the best results with?

 

[gidgiddonihah]

I saw it! Thanks!

I haven't tied it yet. Which radio have you seen the best results with?

The .15 one has worked best for me but it will be different for everyone. The version included with 4.4.2 is the .23 radio.

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[choclab1]

Mind sharing what the fix is? For the rest of us.

 

[gidgiddonihah]

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=357547
Nexus 5: Cell Signal Problem(s) Fix

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[Wildo6882]

Yeah, I've definitely noticed this too. I'll be in extended network where my wife is perfectly fine in 4G on her S4. I've had a few issues with this phone that are driving me nuts. I love so much about it, but these issues are annoying.

 

[choclab1]

Thank you very much

 

[gidgiddonihah]

Thank you very much

Anytime. Let me know how it goes.

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[alan77a]

I disassembled my nexus 5, and during the process, i checked my reception signal. once i removed the bottom part that has the speaker in it, i checked the reception signal, it didn't change at all. this part has the antennas in it, the silver snake thing, that is supposed to boost the signal once connected through the 3 connectors on the other side (or 2 connectors depending on which reception antenna, signal 3g and wifi), linked to the board. but unfortunately, this antenna isn't working. the phone is taking its signal from the board only, the booster that must make things much better isn't working at all for some reason.
attached is a photo that explains the parts i'm talking about.

 

[ConTejas]

You may have faulty hardware. Lots of variables to consider with cell signal. The only Nexus I've had with poor signal was the GNex, and it was Sammy's **** poor QC to blame. A large # of RMAs confirmed it wasn't just a few devices. Otherwise, I just compared my N5 (on latest 4.4.4 radio) on Tmobile to 5 other devices in my office (4s, 5s, M8, Z10, S5) that are also on Tmobile and my N5 has as good of a signal as any of them in this concrete bunker. Switches from LTE to 3g/edge very quickly too (goes from LTE to HSPA/+ everytime I get/make a call so I notice). May want to RMA your device. Stinks, but Google makes it pretty painless.

 

[onthecouchagain]

In my experience, I find the Nexus 5 definitely has weaker cell reception (voice & data, and GPS lock). I used to have an HTC One M7 and it got amazing reception in my office. When I switched to the Nexus 5, same office, it wouldn't hold the bars as much. It'd often get very weak signals and/or would drop signal altogether every now and then.

Also, once in a while, I get these very annoying issues:

"Restricted Access Change: All Voice Services Are Blocked"
"Restricted Access Change: Dat Service is Blocked"

My phone is useless for a few minutes before everything comes back to normal. Never ever saw that on my HTC One M7. I'm on Tmobile in NYC. All my bills are paid. There's just no reason to get those errors.

Lastly, GPS lock can be weak/sketchy, too. And it can sometimes take a long time to lock on.

When I upgrade to my next device, better signal/reception/GPS lock are actually a few of the most important things I'm looking forward to. It's one of the weakest points of the Nexus 5.