Signal Strength

[Leafs1201]

Hi, I have had my a Note 4 a few weeks after switching over from an iPhone and have noticed that my signal on the Note is not as strong as it was on the iPhone, I still have my iPhone at the moment so have switched the sim back and forth just to see the difference, on the iPhone at home I've always got between 3 or 4 sometimes even 5 bars of strength between both 3G & 4G but on the Note I get 1-2 bars of H or H+ and quite a bit of time I get nothing at all, could anybody please shed some light on this, I mean does the Samsung have anything different in it that would cause me not to get as strong a signal as I would in an iPhone, cheers for any help.

 

[SpookDroid]

Are you using any metal cases or something like that? Mine has good signal next to my work iPhone, haven't noticed a difference between what any of the two get.

 

[Leafs1201]

The only case I've used so far is a clear plastic back cover but the signal seems weak with or without the case.

 

[SpookDroid]

Do you know anyone else with a Note 4? Fastest way to tell if your device needs replacing is to test with the same phone at the same place. If not, you can always go to a carrier store and ask them to see the signal strength on a Note 4. If the demo unit is different, then your phone might have a radio issue.

But if both are the same (and you can take ask them to see an iPhone, too), then it might be a general 'issue'.

 

[Leafs1201]

Ok SpookDroid will see if I can do that, although one thing I forgot to say and that's on this forum in the screenshot section where everyone is posting their screenshots and obviously people from all corners of the world it does seem to me that of all the screenshots posted about 90% of them seem to have poor signal strength so just wonder if it's just the way the Note or Samsung devices are.

 

[SpookDroid]

Not sure, or all people take screenshots inside buildings? I've never had issues with mine, honestly. And like I said, my Note 4 has the same signal strength as the iPhone on the same network. When I compare my TMo strength VS Verizon work iPhone inside our labs, then that's a different story.

But it might be a carrier version issue, or a batch...

 

[sqa4life]

We have a few Samsung phones and iPhone in the house. The reception on the iPhone is always stronger than Samsung phones. Even the iPhone 4 has better reception than the note 4.

I still like Samsung phones better though. As long as I can make/receive calls and communication is clear, then I don't care about the number of bars the phone gets.

 

[cwbcpa]

My iPhone gets a stronger signal too. So does my Moto X. Samsung is consistently weaker year after year compared to Motorola and iPhone.

Sent from my Note 4

 

[anon(92475)]

Are we talking reception or how the phone displays it?

I seem to remember a debate about reception in which the argument was that someone had pretty good reception, but different phones showed it differently. Take my image for example. That is from my LG G3. My HTC One M7, in the same exact place, will show different bars. It may have full bars while my G3 shows 3. However, the reception is exactly the same.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[SpookDroid]

That's a good point. Have you looked at the actual signal strength data? Not sure if iPhone can display that, though... (because then how would you compare, right?)

 

[cwbcpa]

Are we talking reception or how the phone displays it?

I seem to remember a debate about reception in which the argument was that someone had pretty good reception, but different phones showed it differently. Take my image for example. That is from my LG G3. My HTC One M7, in the same exact place, will show different bars. It may have full bars while my G3 shows 3. However, the reception is exactly the same.

Posted via the Android Central App

That's a great point. I'm referring to actual signal strength. Those bars don't always mean what they show on any phone. Not just Samsung. My signal strength is fine. Just not up to moto x or iPhone.

Sent from my Note 4

 

[anon(5719825)]

I've got a Note 4 and iPhone 6 (work phone). The iPhone consistently has better reception than the Note 4 in terms of bars, however I haven't noticed any time where I couldn't make a call or access a data connection with the Note 4 when I could on the iPhone...

I have the opposite. There are times on my 6+ that i have no reliable data connection and I can open the same page or app on my Note 4 with no problems. My carrier is T-Mobile.

 

[anon(5719825)]

I've got AT&T, I hear T-Mobile is terrible but I suppose it has to do with the area you're in.

Of course it depends on area. I had to finally quit using AT&T because I live in a very small two block range where AT&T can't get service for some reason. Calls fail nearly 100% of the time while I am at home and I have edge speeds. Yes, the E does appear instead of 4G/LTE.

T-Mobile is the only carrier that can get me service at my house and it is super fast. Verizon is also like AT&T, no service at my house.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Of course it depends on area. I had to finally quit using AT&T because I live in a very small two block range where AT&T can't get service for some reason. Calls fail nearly 100% of the time while I am at home and I have edge speeds. Yes, the E does appear instead of 4G/LTE.

T-Mobile is the only carrier that can get me service at my house and it is super fast. Verizon is also like AT&T, no service at my house.

I'm surrounded by AT&T towers, but don't have great signal on my street. I just got a microcell because I don't use data at home, I use WiFi and only needed something for call signal.

My Note 2 had to have the microcell, as did my Note 3. My S5 and Note 4 can do without the microcell a home but I still have it set up.