SM-G930U reception issues on T-Mobile

[icwhatudidthere]

Just wondering if anyone's run into issues with the US unlocked S7 on T-Mobile?

I've had one for a week and it's unable to make it through a night without constant radio problems. If it's 100% charged at night, it's 50% by the morning and 40% of that shows up as Phone Radio. During the week, I also noticed it got much lower reception and even lost service altogether in stores where I have no problems on other phones (LG G4, Nexus 6P, HTC M8). Even had a few friends tell me I missed some of their text messages.

Over the weekend, I switched to a Nexus 6P and it has absolutely no problems with service. Signal strength is exactly the same on both phones, generally around -104 dBm 36 asu. I also have a Samsung tablet with SIM and it gets the same signal strength.

And I know bars aren't always accurate, but on all phones except the S7, it shows up at around 2-3 bars, where the S7 will show 0-1 bar. And while the S7 might match up more accurately with the -104 signal strength, it's also the only device that kills the battery due to that signal strength. All my other devices doze correctly and I lose no more than 7-8% overnight.

If anyone's got any pointers, things to check, etc, I'd appreciate it. There's a lot to like about the phone, but only if it works as a phone.

 

[bhatech]

No issues on mine, the indicator shows less bars just like any other unlocked phone on T-Mobile I have used but haven't had any signal issues on strength on my SM-G930U. In fact since I have unlimited data I never turn on WiFi and till now for over 2 weeks I haven't had any issues in terms of signal.

May be check APN settings and network mode to see if everything looks correct?

 

[icwhatudidthere]

Thanks. That's the strange thing, the Nexus 6P is also unlocked but bars are in line with my other T-Mobile devices.

 

[bhatech]

Thanks. That's the strange thing, the Nexus 6P is also unlocked but bars are in line with my other T-Mobile devices.

I don't go with the bars but the actual signal strength which seems to be in line with others. I'm in a strong coverage area so I never get any network drop outs. May be try a reset or exchange and see any improvements?

 

[ZoneXQ]

I have both a 930U and a 930F here. The U is on Sprint and the F is on T-Mobile. Signal strength-wise (at my home), the U has maintained signal levels consistent with two 930Ps that I used over the course of two weeks or so. That strength dips as low as -112 dbm but more often goes up to as much as -103 dbm. The former displays one signal bar on the U, while the latter displays 2 signal bars.

I've experienced no drop outs on Sprint yet at the above stated signal levels with the U. The F on T-mobile is another story. Most of the time it shows approximately the same signal strength on T-Mobile that the U shows on Sprint (I believe the range I've noticed is -104 to -114 or so). But I also think this F averages a somewhat lower overall signal because I've seen it dip to a very weak -120 dbm at times. And I should mention as well that this F constantly stalls during downloads and pretty much stumbles for data much of the time.

One thing that may or may not be important is that the aforementioned 930F is always showing to be receiving service on band 12. My U, however, seems to stick mostly to band 25. I'm not quite sure if the band is relevant to the stalls I mentioned. It's probably more that the signal just becomes too week and drops out; however when that happens there's often 2 signal bars showing on the status strip. It's like the signal bars don't track the actual signal strength in real-time... at least on the 930F.

While I agree that there's a lot to like about the 930U, I'll note some things that I wish were different:

- It has a noticeably weaker wi-fi receiver (e.g., it demonstrates comparatively lower wi-fi reception sensitivity compared to my other devices).

- Its baseband firmware doesn't support the onboard FM broadcast receiver chip (yet, at least).

- It's baseband firmware doesn't support the Sprint Zone app (which is extremely handy for managing one's Sprint account).

- The Snapdragon 820 proc is noticeably less snappy than the Exynos 8890 proc in the 930F.

- Its battery consumption is greater than that of the 930F and its Exynos proc.

Aside from those particulars, I very much like the 930U. I spoke with Samsung's upper tier technical department and learned that it's possible to flash the 930p baseband firmware to the 930U, which should give me the FM receiver function. I'm considering trying that because I want FM reception capability.

 

[French]

I'm not going to be able to talk as "techy" as you, but I also have the SM-G930U on T-Mobile. I'm new to T-Mobile, having switched from Verizon.

At home I have no complaints but I'm on wifi the entire time and in a condo unit that isn't very big (I think around 1,100 square feet)...

But at my boyfriend's house things are a bit of an issue. He doesn't have wifi so I rely on data signal. I usually stay steady around -109. I've seen -106 but I've also seen -110. I know these aren't great signals...but it does hold steady, meaning I never drop out completely.

What I find perplexing is why one minute I'm cruising along, opening websites, reading articles, and even streaming Netflix on my iPad via hotspot, and then suddenly come to a screeching halt. Netflix will freeze up and sometimes even return an error message...web pages take forever to load, etc. The actual signal strength stays in the same window I outlined above, but when I do a speed test I've seen as low as .03 Mbps upload. I have gotten as high as 13...but I seem to consistently come in under 1!! 0.12, 0.17, 0.69. For my use I seem "functional" at 2.5/3, but for whatever reason I can't keep that speed consistently. I've been told the tower is congested, I've called twice and was told twice that it would be escalated to engineering. I am seeing a pattern time-wise. Around 6 - 7 pm I come to a halt, and around 8 - 9 am same thing. I am an early riser so I get online any time between 5:15 - 5:45 a.m. and speed is not an issue at all. I'm getting very frustrated.

I'd love to know what signal I'm using...whether it be 12 or 4. I'm not sure what speed test/analyzer would tell me this.

As a last resort I have a booster on order that should come in this week. If this doesn't fix the erratic data speeds then I'm afraid I'm going to have to go back to Verizon. Verizon holds about the same signal as T-Mobile but the data speed is consistent and useable. The only bummer there is (1) Verizon's prices and (2) because the SM-G930U is not Verizon issued there is no wifi calling when using a Verizon SIM. I need the wifi calling in my condo as it makes a huge difference in call quality for me.

Having said all of that...I have noticed when I leave the phone unplugged at night I lose about 6 - 8 percent over the course of roughly 7 hours. My phone does doze but it has a couple of wakeups...looks like around midnight (might be the Google backup?) and again at 3:00 or 3:30 a.m. which would most likely be my MyBackup Pro backup. Interestingly I don't notice the wakeup that would need to take place for my Podcast Addict update...but it might be close enough to the finish of the MyBackup Pro that it blends in.

One other note...I feel the battery drain is less overall with a T-Mobile SIM in than with a Verizon SIM. With the Verizon SIM in I'd drain more like 10 percent overnight...sometimes more (not a ton more though).

I'm not sure any of this helps but happy to share my observations and will follow this thread...I'm willing to download/test another speed test/analyzer if anyone thinks it will help.