I don't pay attention that much to the bars. I go to settings and under status, I look at the db readings. I have made and received phone calls and texts, email etc while only showing two bars without any issues. Now if you are within a mile or so of a tower and you only have two bars, then you might want to consider going to your local verizon store and swap out sim cards and see if it changes. It is widely reported that the S3 has weak radios, but after getting a new sim card, mine has been relatively decent.