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Galaxy S5 signal strength vs. Galaxy S4

Hey;
So I've had the S5 now for a few days and I have noticed that I don't get the same level of signal strength on my S5 that I did on my S4. Here are my details:
- Bell Mobility in Ajax, Ontario (got great LTE reception on my S4, Note 2). Wife also gets great reception on her S4 (picture attached)
- Stock roms, latest updates.
- The S5 was updated out of the box, and factory reset after the update was completed
- In the pic below, on the left is G900W8 (S5) vs i337m (S4) on the right, in my apt. I am often on HSPA when wifey is getting great reception on LTE.
- both phones' network type set to auto LTE
Is this typical of others' experiences? Or does my unit just have poor reception?

chriskwarren said:
Hey;
So I've had the S5 now for a few days and I have noticed that I don't get the same level of signal strength on my S5 that I did on my S4. Here are my details:
- Bell Mobility in Ajax, Ontario (got great LTE reception on my S4, Note 2). Wife also gets great reception on her S4 (picture attached)
- Stock roms, latest updates.
- The S5 was updated out of the box, and factory reset after the update was completed
- In the pic below, on the left is G900W8 (S5) vs i337m (S4) on the right, in my apt. I am often on HSPA when wifey is getting great reception on LTE.
- both phones' network type set to auto LTE
Is this typical of others' experiences? Or does my unit just have poor reception?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really?? I get stronger lte signal and speeds. I'm in NY maybe thats why

Im going to hold off on buying my S5 until more people chime in on this reception issue. The S4 was adequate in reception for my needs. I was hoping the S5 would do better.
Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

I too have noticed that side-by-side in NYC, my S4 got full bars, whereas my S5 has only 2 bars. That said, haven't noticed any difference in call quality or data speeds, despite the visual showing fewer bars. So, not sure if that means that the S5 is underperforming-but-on-par-with-the-s4, or if it's just a cosmetic glitch......

You all have to understand network technology and how it works. HSPA+ will travel further than LTE radios. That is a fact. That is why his S4 on HSPA+ has a better signal.
In the 2 days I had the S5, I found it to be on par with the iPhone 5S, maybe even better.

MattMJB0188 said:
You all have to understand network technology and how it works. HSPA+ will travel further than LTE radios. That is a fact. That is why his S4 on HSPA+ has a better signal.
In the 2 days I had the S5, I found it to be on par with the iPhone 5S, maybe even better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that's what the OP is trying to explain. He is stating while both devices are setup for LTE option, his wife's s4 is picking strong LTE while his s5 is only picking HSPA+

daraj said:
I don't think that's what the OP is trying to explain. He is stating while both devices are setup for LTE option, his wife's s4 is picking strong LTE while his s5 is only picking HSPA+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah. I misread it then (long day haha). Anyway, he might want to swap out his S5 for another and see if the issue persists. My S5 (while defective) had awesome signal strength.

Just FYI, this is probably just common sense, but I would, at all costs, avoid updating your S5's out of the box. That is, of course, if you care about getting root eventually. This isn't to say that devs won't find a way to root updated S5's just that it will be far more likely that you will be able to attain root as long as you stay on the firmware version that came out of the box.

Thanks for the replies folks.
Yes, @Matt, I am finding that my new S5 goes to HSPA in areas where I used to get strong LTE before on my old S4, and where my wife still gets strong LTE reception.
@Flashaholics: I agree with the warning about grabbing an update right away. Our device has root already via Chainfire (http://www.talkandroid.com/203271-s...st-of-devices-that-work-with-chainfires-root/) so that will be good enough for my needs when I decide that I will keep this phone or not.
Funny thing is that I have a strong LTE signal this very moment in the same location. About the same (if the pretty status bars are to be trusted) as my wife's S4 at the moment.

nbrent1007 said:
Really?? I get stronger lte signal and speeds. I'm in NY maybe thats why
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same, I'm in the 845 area (orange county). I was previously holding 1 bar where I lived with continuous loss of signal completely. With my S5 I am holding a steady 3.
I have put my Sim into the S4 to check on this and my S5 is defenitely more adept at picking up the signal better.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

i get phenomenal signal on my s5. granted i'm moving from an s3. but in places in my building at college that i got no signal on my s3 i get a solid 2-4 bars on the s5. this is in indy and anywhere else where i live and such i have rarely seen the signal drop below 2, its almost constantly at the top two highest bars. and the speeds are consistent and as fast as i've come to expect on lte.

flyer280 said:
i get phenomenal signal on my s5. granted i'm moving from an s3. but in places in my building at college that i got no signal on my s3 i get a solid 2-4 bars on the s5. this is in indy and anywhere else where i live and such i have rarely seen the signal drop below 2, its almost constantly at the top two highest bars. and the speeds are consistent and as fast as i've come to expect on lte.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed the same thing coming from my Note 2. I use to have zero signal at work, I has 1-2 bars for most of the day with the S5.

I got looks like the same signal but 3 times faster data on S5 then on S4 in Chicagoland on ATT

I found my signal bad also . thought it was the phone but after reading im not to sure?
I am in the middle of returning mine to see if I get better signal on the new one.
ill let you know.
Ok just an update my new phone has the same signal quality as my old one.

Same signal here compared to my note 2... actually even better.. I had a steady 4 bars on the n2. ..consistently getting 5 on the s5
atrix-burst-gs2-note-note2-gs5

Well what kind of signal strength do you get when you set it to LTE only?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Same signal strength issue
3 days ago I switched from the One M8 and I noticed the difference immediately. I'm having the same weak signal issue. Places where I used to have perfect signal I now have choppy calls, and laggy YouTube videos. I used to own the S4 when it came out and I don't remember having so much issues with connectivity.

Same problem here. S5 with Telus. Previously had an HTC One. At work I'm in the basement where One had 1-2 bars. S5 has 0(zero) bars no matter what I do. I do have wifi available but what should I do for text or calls? So far this is the only place I have this issue but I stay here 8h/day.
I'm thinking of returning and get an HTC M8.
Any solution to this? I really like the phone.

^ same problem here with a s5 telus unlocked.. Garbage signal strength.. I think I'm going to trade this for a Note 3..

[Q] T-Mobile signal quality

I'm curious to know if anyone on T-Mobile has any sort of signal issue.
The unit I have in hand has little to no signal at all. I've put it side by side every other phone in the store and the other phones [literally every phone on display at the local store] and the Nexus 6 only gets roughly 2 bars of LTE.
Myself as well as the store employee have gone over the mobile settings [same as my Note 4] and same as all other display phones and the signal quality is horrible on the N6.
The store rep swapped SIMs and rebooted several times with no change.
I'm very curious to see what feedback gets left here on this. I was planning on getting rid of my Note 4 for the N6 but not if the signal is horrible.
Comments/observations....

CBConsultation said:
I'm curious to know if anyone on T-Mobile has any sort of signal issue.
The unit I have in hand has little to no signal at all. I've put it side by side every other phone in the store and the other phones [literally every phone on display at the local store] and the Nexus 6 only gets roughly 2 bars of LTE.
Myself as well as the store employee have gone over the mobile settings [same as my Note 4] and same as all other display phones and the signal quality is horrible on the N6.
The store rep swapped SIMs and rebooted several times with no change.
I'm very curious to see what feedback gets left here on this. I was planning on getting rid of my Note 4 for the N6 but not if the signal is horrible.
Comments/observations....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to say that there is nothing going on, but graphical display of bars means very little to actual signal strength. At bare minimum run some speed test checks on all three devices in the same spot.

mb3030 said:
Not to say that there is nothing going on, but graphical display of bars means very little to actual signal strength. At bare minimum run some speed test checks on all three devices in the same spot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for the reply. I also did a side by side with my Nexus 5 bone stock and shows the same thing. Very weak signal.
I know that AOSP shows true signal and no 'signal boosting' like Sense and TW, But my N5 is showing 5 bars of LTE next to the N6. A few others have responded to me on G+ that they are in fact seeing the same weak signal.

Stock firmware on T-Mobile branded devices tells the bars to report based on the 2G radio strength.
Whereas on stock Android 5.0, the bars report based on the best technology you're connected to (LTE, for instance)
This makes TMo look good essentially in the eyes of the average consumer.
If you go to Settings, you'll find the Nexus 6 will have the same LTE signal strength as the other phones.
Simply put, signal quality is just fine. All bars aren't created equal.
---------- Post added at 12:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:19 PM ----------
Since the Nexus 5 was sold by T-Mobile, it was smart enough to switch bar algorithms when it connected to a T-Mobile APN.
The Nexus 5 with Lollipop and the Nexus 6 do not seem to do this anymore. Maybe it will change with the wi-fi calling update.

Sentrix27 said:
Stock firmware on T-Mobile branded devices tells the bars to report based on the 2G radio strength.
Whereas on stock Android 5.0, the bars report based on the best technology you're connected to (LTE, for instance)
This makes TMo look good essentially in the eyes of the average consumer.
If you go to Settings, you'll find the Nexus 6 will have the same LTE signal strength as the other phones.
Simply put, signal quality is just fine. All bars aren't created equal.
---------- Post added at 12:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:19 PM ----------
Since the Nexus 5 was sold by T-Mobile, it was smart enough to switch bar algorithms when it connected to a T-Mobile APN.
The Nexus 5 with Lollipop and the Nexus 6 do not seem to do this anymore. Maybe it will change with the wi-fi calling update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the great reply. My Nexus 5 is running 5.0. I also have a Note 4 but that's not included because of the signal algorithm used on that device. Just don;t know why my N5 shows full LTE but the N6 shows roughly 2 bars sitting side by side.

Try these:
1) Go to Testing menu
- Go to Phone Dialer
- Input *#*#4636*#*#
2) Go to Phone Information
3) Scroll down and make sure it says LTE/GSM auto (PRL)

joackie27 said:
Try these:
1) Go to Testing menu
- Go to Phone Dialer
- Input *#*#4636*#*#
2) Go to Phone Information
3) Scroll down and make sure it says LTE/GSM auto (PRL)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, confirmed when at the store. Not there now so I can't run anymore side by sides or tests.

A greater comparison would be showing the actual dbm meter in the settings menu for all devices. We all know different manufactures display bars as they which.

In comparing the N6 to my N5 the dbm is consistently better on the N6 and it stays connected to LTE vs dropping to HSPA/UMTS like the N5 does. SO far

Signal check app will tell db of signal all connections. ....or you can find the same info in settings

I confirm this, but only with anecdotal evidence.
I just recently switched to T-Mobile after using their Test Drive. The iPhone 5s that I originally had, couldn't get LTE signal very well or at all at my desk at work. I switched to a Moto G LTE before my Test Drive was over, and the signal was drastically better. No issues with the G in handling streaming music.
Today is my first day with my N6 at work, and signal reception is similar to the iPhone 5s. I have to turn off LTE because reception is so low that I can't even stream Spotify or Play Music. I just hope band 12 rolls out soon...

Bales75 said:
I confirm this, but only with anecdotal evidence.
I just recently switched to T-Mobile after using their Test Drive. The iPhone 5s that I originally had, couldn't get LTE signal very well or at all at my desk at work. I switched to a Moto G LTE before my Test Drive was over, and the signal was drastically better. No issues with the G in handling streaming music.
Today is my first day with my N6 at work, and signal reception is similar to the iPhone 5s. I have to turn off LTE because reception is so low that I can't even stream Spotify or Play Music. I just hope band 12 rolls out soon...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can vouch for the area I live in that the N6 works perfectly. At first, my friend had issues on his Tmobile network, and he couldnt find out why. In fact it was so bad that he couldnt even connect to the network. He took his phone to me, I took out the sim, blew on it, restarted his phone. Then we stared in awe as the bars quickly filled on up.

Experience with my Nexus 6 so far is mostly the same.
Maybe 2 or 3 dBm weaker than my Nexus 5 with Lollipop was.

CBConsultation said:
I'm curious to know if anyone on T-Mobile has any sort of signal issue.
The unit I have in hand has little to no signal at all. I've put it side by side every other phone in the store and the other phones [literally every phone on display at the local store] and the Nexus 6 only gets roughly 2 bars of LTE.
Myself as well as the store employee have gone over the mobile settings [same as my Note 4] and same as all other display phones and the signal quality is horrible on the N6.
The store rep swapped SIMs and rebooted several times with no change.
I'm very curious to see what feedback gets left here on this. I was planning on getting rid of my Note 4 for the N6 but not if the signal is horrible.
Comments/observations....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mb3030 said:
Not to say that there is nothing going on, but graphical display of bars means very little to actual signal strength. At bare minimum run some speed test checks on all three devices in the same spot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree with @mb3030
If you want to see your signal strength in dBm (Decibel milliwatts) or asu (arbitrary strength unit), go to Settings>About Phone>Status.
ICYDK, a dBm value closer to 0 is better, so check your signal in different environments.
In my house I'm at -95 dBm/45 asu. Outside I'm at -86/54.
Sent from my MB Nexus 6 (64 GB)
GPS Ordered, 2-Day Shipping: 10/29, 13:29
Account Charged: 11/14
Shipping Notification: 11/18, 03:42
Device Received: 11/19, 14:59
All Times in EST

Speedtest what about three bars. Excuse the blurry picture it was taken with a nexus 7 lol

Like many have said, graphical interpretation is independent on each phone. A 1 bar on one phone might equal to 3 bar on a different phone from a different manufacturer. Best way to check signal strength is through dBm/asu value and speed test.

T-Mobile user in metro area.
Today was the first time I took my N6 out of house. One of the first things I noticed was signal strength (bar) was lower than my N5 running 5.0 in the same places around my neighborhood.
I did a couple speed tests and yep, was getting much slower results than the N5 in the same areas a few days ago.
Another odd thing was the fact I had a Moto X (2014) a month ago and sent it back in anticipation of the N6. Its signal strength was fantastic (better than the N5).
Very confused as to why a phone that is based off the Moto X seems to have a much harder time with signal strength. I am going to mess with it some more but so far I am disappointed with the signal strength compared to the N5.
Another note. The update that was sent OTA this week seemed to have a flash for the radios. Not sure that has anything to do with anything but throwing it out there.

I can tell you there is something wonky with this phone.
I live in NYC, where Wideband 15x15 LTE is deployed. On my Nexus 5, I was pulling over 40-50mbps down, with full signal strength (as should be with all of the coverage in NYC).
Now on the Nexus 6, the signal strength shows like 25%, and my download speeds are only 20-25mbps. Those speeds are still definitely fine for my needs (Plex, Pandora, and browsing/emails), but there is definitely something going on with this new phone.

Here's mine from here in Las Vegas

It's not like the radio is tweaked for tmos network.... It's the same radio in all 4 variants on the carriers. Give it time. Updates to the baseband will help. My n5 used to lose signal completely all the time. Drove me nuts. I haven't had one issue yet and I actual have a data connection in the building I work in with my 6

[Q] Signal strength (radios)

Hi everyone, waiting for my Nexus to get shipped from the GPS but I've seen some anecdotal reports on here and the Android Central forums about the signal strength not being so great on this phone. Specifically, some people report that their LG Nexus 5 shows a better signal in dB (not just bars) than their Nexus 6.
I'm a little concerned about this. I relocated just over a year ago to an area where I don't have the best coverage with Verizon at my work. At that time, I had a Galaxy S3 which had terrible radios where I literally had no coverage in many places. I upgraded to an S4 and had no issues since then although my wife's Note 3 seems to do slightly better getting LTE when I drop to 3G. Was looking forward to getting this phone as it will be my first Motorola and I've always read that Moto has some of the best radios (also read LG and Apple do too). Not gonna turn this into a Note 4 vs Nexus 6 thread because that one already exists and is a hot mess but I've been reading that the signal strength on the Note 4 is really good.
I have a ship date of 11/26 so I guess I'll find out soon enough but just wondering what people's experience has been with the Nexus 6.
Thanks!

I'm curious about this as well, I have a Nexus 4 and find its radios to be more powerful than my siblings and gfs Nexus 5s.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda-developers.com, powered by appyet.com

Mine has about the same reception if not a little better than my G3. Att is really bad where I live but I usually have LTE except for a few places but its much better than my wife's S5

i think people just get too caught up in graphical representations of signal (i.e. signal bars). Different phones and carriers show different things for the same level of actual signal. In my experience on T-Mobile on Long Island/ NYC - i get as good if not better signal than i did with my nexus 5. There are a few spots where i had no signal with my nexus 5 that i now get a stable weak signal with the nexus 6. To me, it really has been as good or better, but certainly not worse. With that said, graphically spots where the nexus 5 said i had full bars of service (5/5), the N6 reports as having (4/5), but the service is the same. Speed tests and dbm all match up, so i can just assume it's the way it's being displayed.

The sony Z3 I had had the same dbm that the Nexus 6 is showing in my office, but the visual bars on the Nexus 6 show as being lower. I haven't had any slower speeds anywhere with the Nexus 6 so far. One thing I have noticed is that I'm not getting 4G while on the phone the majority of the time. I haven't had that be an issue in the past. I'm on T-Mobile.

Now THIS is something that I have really been wanting to know. The fact that I too have heard about how good Moto's radios have been in the past really got my hopes up for this phone. I currently rock an AT&T Note 3. And IDK if I just got a lemon, or if Samsung really did throw the cheapest POS radio in their last year flagship phone. But of all the android phones I have owned (Sony, HTC, Moto, samsung) this one gets hands down the worst signal strength I have ever had. Further more, I make it a habbit to compare this thing to every other AT&T phone I can, from friends and family. And not one of them has ever had worse signal strength than I. The closest one had about -3dB less than mine. Most had -5 or even -10dB better. Even after flashing every single AT&T radio firmware, different cases, it still is just terrible. Right now sitting in my house it is at -100 and showing 3 bars. I work as a drive tester for cell towers, and my test phone is a sprint Nexus 5. So I cant compare it to my note, being on a different network.
But on to the topic of the N6, since it has radios for pretty much every network, would that mean that said radios are of a lesser quality? I had really hoped that this phone would blow my Note 3 out of the water on AT&T. Honestly, even if it isn't as good as other Moto phones, it still has to be better than my Note 3. Even dads S5 active and moms S4 get much better signal strength numbers than mine. Forgive me for asking this, but is this something that can be improved within the dev community with some flashing, or is it just a hardware limitation?

CCL X10 said:
Now THIS is something that I have really been wanting to know. The fact that I too have heard about how good Moto's radios have been in the past really got my hopes up for this phone. I currently rock an AT&T Note 3. And IDK if I just got a lemon, or if Samsung really did throw the cheapest POS radio in their last year flagship phone. But of all the android phones I have owned (Sony, HTC, Moto, samsung) this one gets hands down the worst signal strength I have ever had. Further more, I make it a habbit to compare this thing to every other AT&T phone I can, from friends and family. And not one of them has ever had worse signal strength than I. The closest one had about -3dB less than mine. Most had -5 or even -10dB better. Even after flashing every single AT&T radio firmware, different cases, it still is just terrible. Right now sitting in my house it is at -100 and showing 3 bars. I work as a drive tester for cell towers, and my test phone is a sprint Nexus 5. So I cant compare it to my note, being on a different network.
But on to the topic of the N6, since it has radios for pretty much every network, would that mean that said radios are of a lesser quality? I had really hoped that this phone would blow my Note 3 out of the water on AT&T. Honestly, even if it isn't as good as other Moto phones, it still has to be better than my Note 3. Even dads S5 active and moms S4 get much better signal strength numbers than mine. Forgive me for asking this, but is this something that can be improved within the dev community with some flashing, or is it just a hardware limitation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some radios worked a little better on my note 3 but some were worse ...it was a crap shoot. ....but none were far and away better ....like you my note 3 got horrible signal on sprint ....g3 was worse for me so this has to be better lol

nexus6R3plicant said:
Some radios worked a little better on my note 3 but some were worse ...it was a crap shoot. ....but none were far and away better ....like you my note 3 got horrible signal on sprint ....g3 was worse for me so this has to be better lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha I am not alone! Well, here's to better signal in the N6!!!

Seems to me that the nexus 6 reports low signal as time without signal. Hasn't been an issue here as I'm always connected to lte even in places I'd drop to 3g

So anything new on Signal? I'm trying to buy a Nexus6 but haven't been able to on Verizon. Hope there is some good news there has been a lot of bad.

wooddale said:
So anything new on Signal? I'm trying to buy a Nexus6 but haven't been able to on Verizon. Hope there is some good news there has been a lot of bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best and most consistent connection/speeds of any device I've owned on Verizon.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

Make sure when u unlock your device that you change your cellular networks to LTE. When I unlock my device I wasn't getting no cell signal or phone call and I noticed my networks were set at ( Global ) so I switched it back to LTE.

mr pnut said:
Make sure when u unlock your device that you change your cellular networks to LTE. When I unlock my device I wasn't getting no cell signal or phone call and I noticed my networks were set at ( Global ) so I switched it back to LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What Carrier are you on?

wooddale said:
What Carrier are you on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tmobile

mr pnut said:
Tmobile
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Click to collapse
I'm on Verizon and really doesn't make much difference on my Droid Maxx. Maybe its something in 5.0. I gotta give it a shot can always send it back if I can ever get one. Pisses me off I got the money for the phone and I can't buy it. Maybe that's some kind of sign. lol

I get a little better signal than my wife's Note 4 in the same locations. She has an otterbox commuter case on though and I'm still running around naked.

I have similar experiences with my N6, or had. I've only had it for 2 days though, but I was having signal drop out and 3g/LTE switching a lot yesterday. I changed my APN protocol to IPV4/IPV6 instead of IPV6 and today its been fine. I don't know if that actually had anything to do with it or not, but thought I'd share. I think its just a coincidence and for some reason my signal just decided to work better. Worth a shot.

So I changed to LTE and now I don't have a global option.... I travel internationally for work very expensively (T-Mobile free worldwide data ftw) and had found previously on my Nexus 5 that I needed to be on global for it to work anywhere else...
Any ideas here?

When there's a CDMA SIM in the phone (Verizon/Sprint), it shows the global option where it can use both CDMA and GSM networks. When there's a GSM SIM in the phone (Tmo, AT&T, etc.), it seems to go into GSM-only mode (no need to display global, which seems to mean GSM+CDMA in the Nexus 6's case).
EmperorX said:
So I changed to LTE and now I don't have a global option.... I travel internationally for work very expensively (T-Mobile free worldwide data ftw) and had found previously on my Nexus 5 that I needed to be on global for it to work anywhere else...
Any ideas here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

pdagal said:
When there's a CDMA SIM in the phone (Verizon/Sprint), it shows the global option where it can use both CDMA and GSM networks. When there's a GSM SIM in the phone (Tmo, AT&T, etc.), it seems to go into GSM-only mode (no need to display global, which seems to mean GSM+CDMA in the Nexus 6's case).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting change from the Nexus 5. Previously, I had to be sure global was selected overseas as opposed to just LTE, so you can see why I was originally concerned. Good to know. Thanks for the info man!

How is reception on the S6?

If I recall correctly, the Note 4 had excellent signal strength and preferred LTE indoors, while other phones would drop to H+. Would love some feedback from you T-Mobile people on how the LTE/H+ reception is on this phone? Thanks

MattMJB0188 said:
If I recall correctly, the Note 4 had excellent signal strength and preferred LTE indoors, while other phones would drop to H+. Would love some feedback from you T-Mobile people on how the LTE/H+ reception is on this phone? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like the S6 is one of the best phones for signal strength that I have ever owned. You can see what phones I have had in my sig. Where I live in MN, I never drop off LTE no matter where I go. My nexus 6 had problems with signal where this phone does not.

Also GPS locks instantly unlike my note 3 lol

Prod1702 said:
I feel like the S6 is one of the best phones for signal strength that I have ever owned. You can see what phones I have had in my sig. Where I live in MN, I never drop off LTE no matter where I go. My nexus 6 had problems with signal where this phone does not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I'm getting solid LTE signal in buildings I use to not even get voice with my past phones. But I live in Minnesota as well and Tmobile seems to have improved it's service in this state over the past couple years.

Better than the nexus 5,6 and on par with the note 4

Reception on my S6 has been far, far better than it was on my Nexus 5, very pleased. On par with my moms Note 4.

The M8 was probably one of the best phones i've had when it comes to reception. S6 is right there with it. At work I usually drop to H when i'm in the shop, hadn't been a problem with the S6.

SM N950FD compatability with FIDO network.

Hi,
I bought the mentioned model online and using FIDO sim Card. I have moved from Canadian S8+. Note 8 shows data connection as "4G" (as against LTE of S8+) and I am getting 4 signal bars instead of 5. I am not noticing any signal drops or slow internet speeds though. I am just wondering if this is something i need to worry about. I still have the option to return the phone. If this is a serious issue, I would rather return the phone and buy a Canadian model. Thanks in advance for the help!

Trijunction said:
Hi,
I bought the mentioned model online and using FIDO sim Card. I have moved from Canadian S8+. Note 8 shows data connection as "4G" (as against LTE of S8+) and I am getting 4 signal bars instead of 5. I am not noticing any signal drops or slow internet speeds though. I am just wondering if this is something i need to worry about. I still have the option to return the phone. If this is a serious issue, I would rather return the phone and buy a Canadian model. Thanks in advance for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I think some (or maybe all?) of the international models simply show the 4G icon instead of the usual LTE icon that we're used to. Someone could correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's normal.
For the reception: could it just be 4 bars due to your location, or has it been consistently lower than expected in different places too? If it's persisting then you could check which bands are supported on that model versus the ones used by Fido. Might just be bad reception in your area too...hard to say.

True 4G on INT models is same as LTE. Im using same phone and network, no issues.

Can second this.
Ask your Carrier to confirm your IMEI on their end and refresh (provision) your SIM.
Before I only received 4G on my Exynos but after the refresh, I now get 4G+.

shollywood said:
True 4G on INT models is same as LTE. Im using same phone and network, no issues.
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good to know that.thanks! looks like the 4g/lte icon issue is more of a cosmetic thing but doesnt really effect data speeds.
However, I am very sure signal bars a consistently lower than S8+. I hardly see Note 8 getting all bars unless I am out on roads, not the case with S8. how about you?

A_H_E said:
Can second this.
Ask your Carrier to confirm your IMEI on their end and refresh (provision) your SIM.
Before I only received 4G on my Exynos but after the refresh, I now get 4G+.
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Thank you.I have actually called fido and the lady indeed took the imei and made me restart the phone. I am yet to see 4G+ though. Thanks again!

sefrcoko said:
Hi, I think some (or maybe all?) of the international models simply show the 4G icon instead of the usual LTE icon that we're used to. Someone could correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's normal.
For the reception: could it just be 4 bars due to your location, or has it been consistently lower than expected in different places too? If it's persisting then you could check which bands are supported on that model versus the ones used by Fido. Might just be bad reception in your area too...hard to say.
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yeah the bars are consistently low but didn't notice any drop in quality. Funny thing is only after getting this phone I realized how rarely we use these devices for actual phone calls anymore! Today whole day I didnt get any phone call from anyone, only tons of messages on various apps. I finally had to call myself from my desk phone!

Trijunction said:
Thank you.I have actually called fido and the lady indeed took the imei and made me restart the phone. I am yet to see 4G+ though. Thanks again!
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I should note, and I failed too, that I do receive 4G+ but usually in larger areas. I live in a small city of 15, 000 and sometimes catch 4G+. If I'm in a much denser populous, I always get 4G+ (except when I'm on a call; it switches to 3G or HSPA depending on which SIM is in).
Case in point, was in Toronto this past weekend and had 4G+ all weekend long.

sefrcoko said:
Hi, I think some (or maybe all?) of the international models simply show the 4G icon instead of the usual LTE icon that we're used to. Someone could correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's normal.
For the reception: could it just be 4 bars due to your location, or has it been consistently lower than expected in different places too? If it's persisting then you could check which bands are supported on that model versus the ones used by Fido. Might just be bad reception in your area too...hard to say.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A_H_E said:
I should note, and I failed too, that I do receive 4G+ but usually in larger areas. I live in a small city of 15, 000 and sometimes catch 4G+. If I'm in a much denser populous, I always get 4G+ (except when I'm on a call; it switches to 3G or HSPA depending on which SIM is in).
Case in point, was in Toronto this past weekend and had 4G+ all weekend long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same

Hi,
I am facing the same issue. Phone only shows 4 G + Reception Signal is weak
When I use 3G APN signal is stronger. Can you please share APN Settings you used
Thanks