I get very unreliable phone service using 4G. I have another phone that has 3G and the service is very good in my area. Why doesn't Samsung Galaxy 4 switch to 3G is 4g is not up to standard reception?
If there is a tower near you that can get a 4g signal, your phone is going to default to it because that's the default setting of the hardware. If you're in an area with low coverage, it may be that your roaming list needs to be updated using a "Hybrid PRL update" To do this power your device off, remove your sim card, re-insert sim card and power back on. The PRL update will update the list of towers your phone prefers to connect to in order to get the strongest signal possible.
wlb3890, it's important to us that you have reliable service. Your device is designed to retrieve signal from the best wireless tower in your area. As a result, it's very normal for service to fluctuate. Try powering your phone off/on to soft reset. Additionally, it's also helpful to enable voice roaming on in Settings>More Networks>Global Data Roaming>Allow Access for all trips. Keep us posted. LasinaH_VZWFollow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
I have done both suggestions. Will try over next few days and let you know.
I never understood the part about taking out and reinserting the sim with the power off. To me, reinserting after powering on made sense. Is there a bit of memory or power still used with power off?
Thanks, wlb3890. Please keep us posted with the results. TamaraH_VZWFollow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
It's because removing the sim with the device on can sometimes damage both the sim card and the device. So removing it while it's off is the only safe option
I guess Im asking, if the phone is off how does it know the SIM is not in it?
Well, it's recommended that if you're having issues with your device to first remove any covers or accessories. So normally when I have an issue, my otterbox is already off.
Yeah, you can only remove the plastic cover under the rubber cover so many times before those tabs snap off.
My problem still exists. Compared with another Galaxy 4 and found that his signal strength was -90 to -96dbm, mine run from -118 to -128dbm.
What should I do next?
Is the other Galaxy S4 right next to you in the same room on the same network?
Thanks for checking the signal on the other device, wlb3890. We want to get you the same great signal as other Verizon devices around you! Were those readings you provided the 4G LTE, 3G, or 1x/EVDO readings? Did you notice this lower signal from the first day the S4 was activated? Do you have any type of case on your device? JenniferH_VZW Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/vzwsupport
LTE Discovery - Android Apps on Google Play easiest app to use to identify which band you are using.
A long time ago, Android phones used to have a menu, and then a hidden menu that would allow you to pick what data network, and ultimately network that you wanted to use. I would use that to force my old S3 to LTE when I just wanted data service in fringe areas and could care less about voice. Often the 3G and 1X data service would be horrifically slow or lossy. If I could catch a stray LTE signal, that alone would be more than enough to finish the job I needed to do.
That might be something that would come in handy here if the menus were not resolved. Yesterday I went to a sporting event, and the LTE service was unusable due to the sheer amount of noise to signal present in the building. You'd have a connection back to the tower with "4 bars," but couldn't send or receive data. The AWS "XLTE" spectrum was not available as the tower was at least a few city blocks away, and was not penetrating into the arena. The 3G service from Verizon, as compared from my Note 4 to an iPhone 4s, worked fine. Almost 2.8Mbps solid throughout the event.
Perhaps the removal of these options was a request from carriers to keep data off of the legacy networks unless required? Makes sense from a data capacity perspective. iPhones still provide the option to disable LTE, although in most cases it's worth pointing out that having LTE on often gives a better signal, due to the fact that 3G data operates on higher frequency PCS spectrum.
