[Q] Signal strength (radios) - Nexus 6 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

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
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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.
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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.
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What Carrier are you on?

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

mr pnut said:
Tmobile
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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?
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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).
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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!

Related

Spotty 4g lte

Just got the One, coming from s2, and love this phone. However I'm on Sprint lte now, and get very spotty coverage. It constantly switches from3g to lte, sometimes no data at all.
Of course this is a sprint issue, but is there a Rom or other ticks that may help get more consistent lte connection?
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Not really. I had to lave Sprint after being with them for 11 years due to my phone(s) not getting calls and poor network performance. In Dallas they really messed up big with Network Vision updates. Just my opinion.
Doesnt matter what hardware or software your on if the network is the problem your phone wont make it better.
Untill they get a handle on the system issues its not going to get better.
IAmSixNine said:
Not really. I had to lave Sprint after being with them for 11 years due to my phone(s) not getting calls and poor network performance. In Dallas they really messed up big with Network Vision updates. Just my opinion.
Doesnt matter what hardware or software your on if the network is the problem your phone wont make it better.
Untill they get a handle on the system issues its not going to get better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#Truth
I regret leaving Tmobile. But hey, I hope that with a Tri-Band LTE enabled phone...things should be better. At least in the near future.
centro714 said:
Just got the One, coming from s2, and love this phone. However I'm on Sprint lte now, and get very spotty coverage. It constantly switches from3g to lte, sometimes no data at all.
Of course this is a sprint issue, but is there a Rom or other ticks that may help get more consistent lte connection?
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Random question, but are you using a case on your phone? If so, what kind?
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
It's been going on for me since the beginning of July. It's not your phone, it's the awful network. The network has gotten so bad here, my local new station did a story on it since so many people were complaining. Normally I'm not a fan of stuff like this cause the media tends to exaggerate but in this particular case it's as bad as they say. I can have the tower in site and my phone will dump between X/1X/3G/LTE. Constant dropped calls, cutting in & out, unusable data, etc. I have been with Sprint for over 10 years & the network is literally unusable as it stands. It has been getting better over the last few weeks but it's still awful. I can understand some disruptions in service but this has been an ongoing thing for months with no end in site. Poor planning on Sprint's part. As far as LTE being spotty, until LTE gets turned on 800 it's going to be garbage. HTC one doesn't support LTE over 800 which at the moment doesn't matter since it's not on yet but I'm hoping by the Spring new hardware will be out & LTE on 800.
centro714 said:
Just got the One, coming from s2, and love this phone. However I'm on Sprint lte now, and get very spotty coverage. It constantly switches from3g to lte, sometimes no data at all.
Of course this is a sprint issue, but is there a Rom or other ticks that may help get more consistent lte connection?
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your on a sense rom, ##data#, click edit, enter MSL (if you dont have it, sprint should give it to you), you will see LTE settings and LTE scan settings, (dont remember exactly what they're called) Lower both those numbers to like 30 and 5 or something like that, it will scan more often and while connected to LTE should stay connected longer on a weaker signal....there is a thread on it somewhere...

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
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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..

Data reception on AT&T

How is the data reception on AT&T? There are some reports of people who have a Nexus 6 on Sprint and T Mobile who are not getting great reception.
I had the same issues with the Nexus 5 and GPE HTC One M8, but I was on AT&T. Signal bounced all over, never hold LTE signal, dropped calls, bars would disappear, and that never happened on my other phones.
Anyone have any input with the Nexus 6 and signal on AT&T?
giper54 said:
How is the data reception on AT&T? There are some reports of people who have a Nexus 6 on Sprint and T Mobile who are not getting great reception.
I had the same issues with the Nexus 5 and GPE HTC One M8, but I was on AT&T. Signal bounced all over, never hold LTE signal, dropped calls, bars would disappear, and that never happened on my other phones.
Anyone have any input with the Nexus 6 and signal on AT&T?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no issues with connectivity for me. strong lte wherever i go so far and speed test is same as my noteII around 30mps down at my house.. i will have to do a speed test in a few different areas to compare to my noteII.
Mine seems the same as usual, if not a little better then my last phone ( htc m8 ).
Speed test 1
It works fine for me. The signal is on par with my G3 out not a little better. The reception where I live isn't good for any carrier but I usually get H+ or LTE.
Pulls in more signal that my Nexus 5.
It's getting better signal than my recent phones.
I'm getting much better signal than my Galaxy nexus. Haha. Also much better signal than my Verizon iPhone 6 work phone.
Working great for me, but then again, I am in the NY/NJ area and all four carriers get great service here.
No issues here. I get LTE and is pretty much the same as my g3

AT&T signal issues

Anyone else experiencing connectivity issues as well as signal quality issues..
Confirmed with other users but they are on Sprint.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using XDA Free mobile app
My signal is the best it's been with AT&T so far. Had a Nexus 5 and 6 on AT&T prior.
I wonder if the phone was using WiFi and LTE together because the WiFi here is slow.
EXYZ1000 said:
Anyone else experiencing connectivity issues as well as signal quality issues..
Confirmed with other users but they are on Sprint.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unfortunately agree with you .... To be honest it seems that the fancier and better our smartphones have gotten, the worse my AT&T reception has gotten. I complained regularly about my M8 and I'm not sure that the S6 might not be worse.
I helped my M8 by forcing 3 or even 2G where it seems the towers are better or the radio is better for non LTE ??? Not sure if we can force 3G with the s6
EXYZ1000 said:
Anyone else experiencing connectivity issues as well as signal quality issues..
Confirmed with other users but they are on Sprint.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have noticed it too. It happened to my note 4 after the latest update. All of a sudden I was getting weak 4g signal when I used to get lte. Then I noticed the update had changed my apn from "phone" to "next gen phone" or something like that. The "next gen phone apn" is the same as comes stock on our s6. When I manually input the old apn I find my signal gets better again on both devices. Maybe it's my imagination but I think it's worth trying.
When I was using my nexus 6 at home id get either 3 bars or none, very odd. But with this I get 2 or 3 consistently, never none so I'd say mine is much better
On LTE in the NYC area signal us better than my S5.
Yep I too am having an issue. I'm in Apex, NC. My previous phone was a HTC One X+. In my house, I had almost a full LTE signal with my X+. Now with my S6 I only get one to two bars in my house with no LTE. Even outside....
I'm reading online that all carriers are having issues with the S6.
Bars aren't always the perfect indicator of actual strength, especially across different devices. How about doing a speed test?
ChristopherXDA said:
Bars aren't always the perfect indicator of actual strength, especially across different devices. How about doing a speed test?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In terms of signal strength my signal is -113 dBm in and outside my house. Everytime I get a call now my calls drop or are static. My HTC One X+ never did that. People are asking me what kind of phone I have and telling me my new one sounds like crap.
ManchuWarrior said:
In terms of signal strength my signal is -113 dBm in and outside my house. Everytime I get a call now my calls drop or are static. My HTC One X+ never did that. People are asking me what kind of phone I have and telling me my new one sounds like crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strangely, I'm having the dropped calls intermittently as well. Weirdly enough rebooting the phone helps
Obviously I don't want to have to reboot just to make calls
I've been experiencing signal issues as well.
recently, I noticed there is a spot that is showing up on all my pics. lens glass is clean, so it's definitely on the actual lens itself. Even more strange, around the time I noticed this, my signal quality has dropped off dramatically. I go into my basement, I lose all signal reception (this isn't a 1950's bunker. I've always had reception in my basement - cell towers are nearby).
my wife has an s6 as well, and sitting them side by side outside on my patio, her phone has significantly better signal strength. Guessing I got a lemon. New one is already on it's way.
What type of cases do you all have on these phones? I've read reviews on the aluminum cases or aluminum bumpers cutting the cell signal and GPS signal significantly.
she has a silicone spigen case. I have the spigen slim armor. Neither had aluminum. she had significantly better signal strength on her s6.
I got home last night, at this point tired of the signal issues while waiting for the replacement to arrive. when i looked at my signal, I had 2 bars of 4G. Took out the sim, popped it into my old M8, signal was 4 bars of LTE.
EXYZ1000 said:
Anyone else experiencing connectivity issues as well as signal quality issues..
Confirmed with other users but they are on Sprint.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had poor signal too. By that I mean -101dbm or worse almost constantly, sometimes I will see -96, but generally its between -100 and -112dbm.
I have been on ATT in the same town for years. I have four other Android phones in my house (galaxy s3, Note 2, Lg G2, and Xperia z3), and they all get better signal strength than the S6.
I couldn't be heard on calls, so I complained to ATT and exchanged the phone. FWIW, I had (and am now on my second) 64gb gold colored s6.
I went through trouble shooting with the ATT tech services people and with the Samsung tech support people, they did all sorts of resets, and I even had me boot the phone into safe mode (from off, hold power button, then release it and hold volume down until it boots up).
I am a long time reader of XDA and am posting now because both ATT and Samsung said they had "no reports" of signal issues with the ATT S6. People with signal problems should post about it to get the word out. From what I have read, the s6 is the first or one of the first phones to feature Samsung's own cellular modem instead of Qualcomm's. Maybe its no good, hopefully its just buggy and things will get updated quick.
I was able to put my phone into Testing Mode by dialing #*#4636#*#* and change try different radio settings. The only one that improved signal was "GSM Only"
Switching to that radio setting made my signal go to -80dbm. But of course, GSM-only means 2g edge data. But for now, I am thinking about switching to it when I need to make a phone call.
professormad said:
I've had poor signal too. By that I mean -101dbm or worse almost constantly, sometimes I will see -96, but generally its between -100 and -112dbm.
I have been on ATT in the same town for years. I have four other Android phones in my house (galaxy s3, Note 2, Lg G2, and Xperia z3), and they all get better signal strength than the S6.
I couldn't be heard on calls, so I complained to ATT and exchanged the phone. FWIW, I had (and am now on my second) 64gb gold colored s6.
I went through trouble shooting with the ATT tech services people and with the Samsung tech support people, they did all sorts of resets, and I even had me boot the phone into safe mode (from off, hold power button, then release it and hold volume down until it boots up).
I am a long time reader of XDA and am posting now because both ATT and Samsung said they had "no reports" of signal issues with the ATT S6. People with signal problems should post about it to get the word out. From what I have read, the s6 is the first or one of the first phones to feature Samsung's own cellular modem instead of Qualcomm's. Maybe its no good, hopefully its just buggy and things will get updated quick.
I was able to put my phone into Testing Mode by dialing #*#4636#*#* and change try different radio settings. The only one that improved signal was "GSM Only"
Switching to that radio setting made my signal go to -80dbm. But of course, GSM-only means 2g edge data. But for now, I am thinking about switching to it when I need to make a phone call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same.....
FWIW i have my s6 (g920I) sitting here with one bar of LTE but under settings/About/status it is showing that my LTE is fluctuating between -109 and -112 db....On my wife's M9 it is showing 3 bars of LTE but under the settings her signal is actually worse than mine at -116 to -119 db....so it seems like the reception is better on the S6 but the bar display may be off...
I just switched from a Nokia Lumia 830 Windows Phone. I had a S4 and S4 Active before that. We just bought a new house, I work from home in a basement office. I had issues with calls dropping and failing to ring. Texts not coming through until I went upstairs, etc. The Lumia seemed slightly better. I've only had the S6 for a few days but I haven't dropped a call yet, and calls connect on the first dial, not third. Both phones show 1 bar of LTE. I was worried the metal would have issues ala iPhone 4. But not only is it more reliable the call quality seems better. I thought HD voice only applied to mobile to mobile, but toll free calls for conference calls sounds noticebly better on the S6 vs the Lumia and S4.
I still think a microcell would be nice, but way too expensive. Any suggestions on finding one cheap? I thought if I complained enough to AT&T with dropped and failed calls to prove the issue they would offer one. Buy 6 months and as many calls later, no luck.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using XDA Free mobile app
I have exactly same issue, but I'm using S6 Active.
Phone call drops everyday, I already requested a replacement, but I'm afraid it will be the same.
Oh, almost forgot to mention, my wife is using a unlocked T-mobile version S6 on my plan, and her signal is much better than mine.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
I live close to a tower. 4 or 5 bars all the time, good sound quality, reliable data connection.

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
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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.
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+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.

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