Reception varies on same plan

My family recently purchased the four phone, shared 15gb family plan. Two phones are Samsung Galaxy 9 and two are Moto G6. When I compare cell reception while driving, between the Samsung and Motorola phones, I get completely different results. The Moto G6 gets 1 to three bars of 3G reception, while the Samsung phone gets 3 to 5 bars of 4G LTE in the same vehicle, at the same time. The Samsung phone is the primary on the account. Is this just a basic difference between these phones, or is there some kind of tiered reception between the primary account phone and the shared phones?

Accepted answers

scotthartley189

Very happy to have figured out my Moto G6 cell reception problem. I took a ride in my car with my son's new Moto G6 phone to compare signals. His phone consistently got a good LTE signal, while mine was weak and 3G at best. I decided to head straight to the Verizon dealer to get it resolved with either a new SIM card or a new phone.

While I was driving, I thought what would be the first thing someone might ask me about my phone. What apps have you downloaded after you got the phone? Well, only two. SMS Backup and Restore, for my messages and contacts from my old phone...and WhatsApp because my daughter uses it for messaging. I proceeded to uninstall WhatsApp and restart my phone. Wow, my phone suddenly works great now with full LTE reception almost everywhere, just like my son's new untouched Moto G6. Go figure!

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boringusername

No such plan. There used to be a 16 GB plan but that ended a couple of months ago. When did you get this 15 GB plan? Well you are comparing a $850 phone to a $250 phone and you wonder if there are differences in quality? And no there isn't any kind of tiered reception. Also bars are arbitrary since there is no standard that X bars means X signal strength. 2 phones could be getting the same signal strength and report different amounts of bars. Go by the actual signal strength in dBm

scotthartley189

Sorry I was not accurate on the plan I have. It is the unlimited40 plan with four phones for $40 per line. Sure, I realize there is a difference between a $900 phone and a $250 phone, but they should both be receiving the same signal strength at the same location and time. Other than this issue, the G6 doesn't give up much in performance to the S9.

Ann154

Are you referring to the Go Unlimited Plan? There is no such thing as a unlimited40 plan. Or could you have a prepaid family plan?

boringusername

So you have Go Unlimited. I still don't get where the 15 GB comes from. And no they would not necessarily have the same signal strength as the Samsung likely has better antennas. Also you haven't shown any stats showing one phone is getting less signal than another. As I said bars mean nothing.

scotthartley189

Actually, I don't know the exact plan since my wife just came home from Costco with four new phones from Verizon. I can only assume it would be the Go Unlimited $40 per line plan. Is this really relevant to my original question, which is why would one phone get 2 bars of 3G while the other phone got 4 bars of 4G LTE? Shouldn't they at least both get 3G or 4G service at the same time and place? Come to think of it, I have never seen anything but 3G service on the Moto G6.