Samsung

[a1jonuk]

Hi all,

I recently upgraded to the Note 2 and am having a few difficulties with regard to the signal strength being poor and not getting signal at all.

On my previous Galaxy (not sure of the model - the one with the slide out keyboard) I had a good signal at home, usually 3 or 4 bars and pretty good signal strength out and about in my work area.

With the note 2,at home, I realise it has been quiet for a while,look at the signal strength and see there is no service at all. I found that if I restart the phone it immediately gains a 3 bar signal strength. It is the same out and about too. I was working in an area today, looked at the phone to check customers could get in touch with me and I had a full strong signal.A little while later when a call I was expecting hadn't come through, checked the phone, no service, restarted it, immediately full strength and 2 voicemail notifications.

Any ideas what causes this?

Many Thanks.

Andy Jones.

[hrym]

The fist thing to check would be the SIM, although there have been various reports here of signal issues on the Note.

First of all, try cleaning the contacts - just wipe them with a soft cloth.   If that doesn't work, either call customer services or drop into a Vodafone shop and get a new SIM.

I don't know if any of this will do the trick, but it's worth a try.

[Markni]

Hi, 

I got a note 2 last week, and over the past few days have notice that I am usually sitting on 'no connection to the network available'. I have just been to my local store who gave me a new SIM, but the issue is still there. They have said they will swap the phone too for me, but if there is a systemic issue with the note 2, I would like to know before going through the process of setting up another device just to have the same issues. 

[hrym]

Can you try cleaning the SIM contacts - just wipe them with a soft cloth. Samsungs seem particularly sensitive to this and it's what solved the issue for me.

[a1jonuk]

I've tried cleaning sim, soft reset etc, still having the same problem.

[hrym]

Sounds like a handset issue and that a trip to the fixers is necessary. Probably best to go straight to Samsung.

[Jenny]

Hi Andy and Markni,

I’m sorry to see you’re having problems with your Samsung Galaxy Note.

It’s great to see you’ve tried the suggestion by Hrym! I also recommend you try the steps in our troubleshooting guide.

If you’re still having problems and this isn’t location specific then you may need to send your phone for repair.

Thanks,

Jenny 

[a1jonuk]

Hi,

Thanks for replies.

I still struggled with no service intermittently after trying all the suggestions, strange that when I restart my phone it immediately picks up a good signal.

I contacted Vodafone 191 and they went though various checks which I did whilst on the phone with them, left it for 24 hrs as per their advice but same thing happened. I contacted them again and they said they would send me a new sim card as sim card may be faulty.

I received sim card, installed and guess what....the same thing happens with this one. Vodafone say the phone may be faulty if the sim isn't and I would need to arrange a postal return for repair via my purchase method but I would receive a charge if the phone is deemed to be not faulty.

I have only had this phone about 2 weeks as an upgrde to my contract so am not to happy at the moment. A 2 week old new phone has to be returned via the post for repair?, and then I may have to pay to get my 2 week old phone back if they say it is not faulty and after all this I will still have the original problem......

So, after what I think is lack of support from vodafone I have done some searching online, found a lot of people with what appears to be the same problem.

I decided to set the phone to GSM only last night ( remebering a signal problem I had years ago) and so far, about 14 hrs laterI still have a signal and it is stronger than before, I haven't been out yet so not sure how it will be away from home.

Can some one confirm please what WCDMA actaully is? Is it 3g network? if so why not just call it 3g network, keep things simple.

If it is and I have switched to 2 G only how will this affect the phone receiving e-mails etc?

It seems I have upgraded to a very advanced phone that doesn't actually work very well as a "Phone".

Andrew.

[James]

Hi a1jonuk,

Thanks for getting back to us here.

WCDMA stands for “Wideband Code Division Multiple Access” but is also commonly known as 3G unfortunately depending on the phone manufacturer the wording of this setting will vary.

By switching the phone to 2G only, it will mean that everything will still work correctly but the internet connection will be slower.

This does provide a good question though, is it the antenna struggling to pick up the signal in a weak 3G area or something software related that is causing the problem?

So that we can check the area, can you let me know your full postcode?

James

[a1jonuk]

James Hi,

Postcode is LL16 3UT

Update.

On 2G for 36 hours and no downtime.

On 3G without mobile data enabled  for 24 hours no downtime, enabled mobile data and after about 2 hours found my phone with no signal/service, restarted and good signal immediately.

So,it seems having mobile data enabled is causing the problem. I use mobile data only for receiving e mails during the day from customers of my business and on my old Samsung Galaxy had no problems leaving it enabled permanently.

On my new Note 2 it looks like I will have to have it disabled and then switch it on periodically to receive e mails and then disable it. so that I can keep a signal on my phone.

Could this be down to 3 G signal? Does the Note 2 require a stronger signal than the Galaxy?

Any suggestions appreciated as it is obviously more convenient to have mobile data on continuously than have to stop work to switch it on and off to receive e mails on the go.

Andrew.

[Jenny]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for getting back to us,

Please can you let me know if you’ve tried the SIM card in another phone?

Please try performing a manual roam as follows:

- Whilst powered up, remove the SIM card and battery
- Put the battery back in and switch on
- Wait a couple of minutes, then remove the battery again
- Replace the SIM and battery and switch back on

Does this help at all or does this still happen with mobile data enabled?

Thanks,

Jenny

[a1jonuk]

Hi Jenny,

The one thing I haven't done is try my sim card in another phone, mainly because my other 2 phones are standard sim size not micro.

I have tried your suggestion and still the problem persists, I did exactly as you noted, step by step and at first I thought perhaps it had sorted it, but left the phone for about an hour with mobile data enabled, checked it to find "no service", restarted, 3 bars, left on rest of afternoon "without" mobile data enabled and no issues, good signal strength throughout.

I'm not sure why my old Samsung could be left connected permanently to mobile data and have no issues at all and the Note 2 is acting up like this, it's frustrating when you opt for a new phone to keep up with technology and it's performs poorly compared to the older phone.

Regards,

Andrew.

[Andrew]

Hi a1jonuk,

This is unusual. If you dial *#105# on your phone, it’ll bring back 2 dates for CS and PS. They should be within the last 24 hours or so, what do they say when you try?

Are you on the latest version of the firmware for the Note 2? Also, to save sending your phone for repair, if it’s inconvenient at this time to do so, you could factory reset your phone (remember to back up your data first) to see if this resolves it for you.

Let me know how you go on.

Thanks

Andrew

[a1jonuk]

Hi Andrew,

Just did the test you mention and the result is :

CS: 23rd March 2013 17.26

PS: 22nd March 2013 15.16

Could you explain what the result means?

Yes, the phone has the latest firmware.

I don't really want to do a factory reset if at all possible, got everything transferred and apps setup etc.

Thanks,

Andrew.

[James]

Hi a1jonuk,

These tell us when the phone and SIM last updated on the network for calls (CS) and data (PS).

When looking at these as long as the dates are within the last 72 hours then it means that the connection on the network should be fine.

Can I ask what software version you are running? This can be found by calling *#1234#.

From the test that you have done it does sound like something in the software is causing the phone to lose signal after a period of time when mobile data is enabled.

James

[a1jonuk]

Hi James,

Software Version:

AP: N7100XXDNB2

CP: N7100XXDLK7

CSC: N7100XXDMB2

Andy.

[thesoupdragon]

Hi a1jonuk

It's not clear from your earlier posts if your problem started from day one, or if it started at the two week period? Can you clear that up please?

If it was present from day one, I would suggest a defective device. The Phone comes to you partially installed and the User finishes the installation by following onscreen prompts. So no apps or misuse can be blamed!

If the fault started at the two week time frame then I would suggest either a Firmware glitch caused by an app. Or a fault with the hardare has simply developed?

Either way, the first course of action will always be to try a Factory reset! This will imediately rule out an App or the Firmware itself!

If the fault still persists then it must be considered to be some sort of hardware fault and a repair can be arranged...

[a1jonuk]

Hi thesoupdragon,

Thanks for reply.

I noticed the issue about 1 week in I think.

I have only installed a few apps, about 5 or 6 that I have always used with my old phone, nothing big, no games etc.

I will go for the factory reset option and see what happens, will do that now 8.30am and leave apps off and mobile data enabled all day today and repaort back.

What I find odd is if the phone loses signal, and I know this will happen occasionally in bad areas, it will not pick the new signal up when I move to a good area without being restarted.

Andy.

[thesoupdragon]

@a1jonuk

Any News about your Phone?

[a1jonuk]

Hi,

Update...

I did a factory reset 2 days ago.

I did not install any apps.

I left it with mobile data enabled for about 6 hours and did not lose signal.

I then linked my google account and set gmail,contacts and calendar to sync (this is the main reason I need mobile data to be enabled, so I get real time updating)

About 2 hours later checked my phone and "no service", restarted it and picked up 3 bar signal straight away.( and 2 missed calls from customers)

So, is the google account causing the problem or was it just a coincidence?

Tomorrow I will try again with data disabled and just enable it every couple of hours for a few minutes to receive e mail etc.

Andy.

<edited to remove empty line breaks - mod>

I did link my google account and set gmail - contacts - calendar to sync