Anyone else having poor RF signal reception on Samsung Galaxy Note 3?

Mine isn't very good. It's device related because my previous phone HTC TB was always 4 bars 4G LTE here. There's another thread where someone said to change the network mode setting, which I did, (default seems to be "global" not CDMA/LGE). But it didn't seem to do much. Trying a reboot next.

https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/807590

Here is another good one:

Seems like a bad rollout issue for the Note 3.

Thanks for taking the time to post the numbers for your two phones. I was considering replacing my old GNex with a phone that has a better radio. Since the Note 2 got such rave reception reviews, I was hoping the Note 3 would also be good. Looks like it's a bust all around. Calls sound like garbage, Verizon seems to have authentication issues which create "dark zones" for some Note 3 users, and now it looks like Samsung used a crappy radio. I don't need another crappy radio. [bad_french_accent]I already got one![/bad_french_accent]

I tried something else, last night I disabled wifi altogether and about 20 minutes or so after doing this, I had a good, (not great) but good 4GLTE signal that has held through the night and now I'm at work and it's still holding a good useful signal. So, at least for me, disabling wifi worked for a while.

FYI, I'm getting 3 bars with a singal strength of -102 dBm 38 asu. I'm very curious about those numbers. Going to google them on my note 3...

The_Chemist

Your welcome. I thought if I would post the dBm levels of both phones everyone could see the shocking difference.

I was at work today and had abysmal RF performance from the GN3 where my Bionic used to shine. Other Verizon customers near me were on 4G LTE and occasionally 3G while I had 1X or no service on my GN3. Granted it isn't the best signal area, but my Bionic knew what to do with a poor signal. The Samsung GN3 does not. The radio must not be very sensitive or the antenna is of inadequate quality to hold and maintain the signal.

Another Verizon customer across from me at the lunch table today had a Nokia Windows phone and was reading email and surfing the web while I had 1X or no service and was unable to do anything.

I ended up having the privilege of donating $35 to Verizon for my return this evening. I wanted to try the LG G2, but the sales person said the LG G2 most likely would not be any better than the GN3 She also said that for the best weak signal performance, Motorola phones do the best. My Bionic proves that out!

I hated giving up that beautiful GN3, but it just couldn't cut it when the signal was low. Reminded me of my old LG flip phone which was only good in a really strong signal area. I replaced that with a Motorola e850 (I think that was the model number) and everywhere the LG wouldn't work, the Motorola did.

I never thought getting a new phone was going to be this difficult! I'm at a loss as to what to do at this point.

It's really unfortunate, but consumers are the new "Beta Testers" today. These devices are rushed out to market before the manufacturer even knows if they work properly or not. Maybe the manufacturers do know the flaws and defects - they just don't care! Very disheartening

The_Chemist

That's not too bad of a signal. My Bionic gets really usable upload and download speeds at that level. Are you close to a cell tower?

Don't know how to tell how close to a tower I am. Right now at work, I'm getting 3 bars with a -100 dBm and 40 asu, (astronomical unit ?) signal.

The thing is, using speed test, the bar signl drops to 2 immediately when loaded and I can't get more than 6 down and 2 up, (uncorrelated) over a series of tests on different servers.

From this location, it's never been all that great even with previous handsets.

From home, the absolute best I've seen is ~18 down and 13 up.

I pre-ordered the note 3 before it came out and have had nothing but poor reception ever since. I've been on the phone with Verizon and Samsung every week since I got the Phone. Verizon blamed Samsung at first and Samsung blamed Verizon. Up until only about a week ago would Samsung Reps or Verizon Reps admit there was a problem with the note 3. Everytime I told them my problem the pat responce from either rep was like "I'm not currently aware of any issues with the note 3" to which I got angry and told them to google the term "Note 3 reception issue" so they can see the mutiple threadas of people complaining about the Note 3's reception. I had the original phones sim card replaced at a Verizon store and that made no difference. I then had verizon send me a replacement Note 3 and before swapping out the sim card and battery, I noted the DBM level in my house and the number was identical once I put the sim card and battery in the new phone. I installed the 2 updatyes that came out. Still no better. One of the Verison reps I've been deali8ng with on the phone is named Jack. He actually has been very nice and very helpful so far. Right before Christmas day he called me and told me that Verizon and Samsung now admit there is an issue with the recption on the note 3 and thast he recommended I shpould switch to another brand phone like a Motorola. He said Motorol has the strongest RF reception of any phone and he is probably right.

I live and work in Long Island, NY and travel constantly around Manhattan and the tri-state area. Don't get me wrong about the note 3. I absolutely love the device in every respect except the reception which after all is the first and primary function of a PHONE. I am mad that I paid so much for the phone and Verizon and Samsung did not properly test thew device before selling it. I statrted researching other alternatives. My two top choices based on the fact thaty I want the biggest screen, best camera and reception came down to the Motorola Droid Maxx or the HTC One Maxx. The Motorola although from the reviews is a great phone with great reception, battery life and screen size, is still smallwer than the note 3 and the camera is sub par cxompared to the Note 3. The HTC One Max on the other hand has a nice big display, but then again, the camera and video is not as good as the Note 3 and both the HTC and Motorol lack the S-pen which I really like. But, I need better reception, so off I go yesterday to 2 Verizaon stroes in Manhattan to see, feel and test the Drois Max and HTC One Max. The HTC display peicesa had about the same DB rating as ther Note 3 which was a surprise. Just for the heck of it, I compred the DB rating of my note 3 to the 2 note 3's in the verizon store and was surprised to find that my Note 3 had only 2 or 3 bars on 3G while the store Note 3's had 2 to 3 bars of 4G. I figured my note was locked onto 3g because I was in the subway earlier, so I powered my note off and on again so it could search for a signal and for about 2 seconds it had 2 bars of 4g and then it jumped down again to 3 bars of 3g. Meanwhile the 2 display units were steady at 3 bars of 4g. I left that verizon store (45th street near Grand Central station) and went to the Verizon store near times square. I did the same experiment and got the same results. The store display phones were holding a strong 4g signal while my phone was stuck on 3g. I had to catch a train back to Long Island so I didn't have time to speak with a tech in the store, but I think the stores were given a new batch of phones with a better antenna inside. Perhaps Samsung made the first massive run with bad antennas and the most current batch has fixed the problem? I sure hope so because I want to keep my Note 3 if possible. I emailed Jack, the verizon rep, yesterday and reported my findings and asked him to send me a replacement phone, but to verify without a shadow of a doubt that the replacement is from the most current shipments from Samsung and not from old stock. So far he has not replied back to me yet.

mapolan

yes I have too inside bld I call Verazon they tell me I have to purchase network extender that cost between $100-300

or I can cansel my account ,what I should do? the phone work only on verazon how you unlock that phone for ATT

Davejmarcus

That is super good news please let me know what you find out. I love my note 3 but anytime i travel out of town my reception is really bad. thank you.

Nick124

Not only is the reception bad but every time I'm on a call its get dropped at least once. I have found out from reading the forums that the Samsung Note 3 has the Dropped Calls and Quality problems with all of the service providers.

The rep, Jack, I've been dealing with called me back yesterday and is sending me a replacement Note 3 today. He said it should be the most recent batch shipped by Samsung. I hope it works. I'll test till the beginning of next week in known areas that had bad recetion on my current Note 3 and see what happens.

Davejmarcus

Thank you Blaide I am hoping for some good news, Keep me in the loop!!

Bogomilov

I had similar issues with my old Note 3 (built 8/13). It was replaced with a later built (11/13) Note 3 and it works great now. I heard that the first Note 3 to hit the market had some issue with the RF. Only CDMA variant were affected. Ask them to change you phone.

Hey everyone, the assumption that the first run or batch of Note 3's having defective FM antennas seems to be accurate by my testing. Got my third Note 3 with new sim card as well and now getting excellent signal strength. I went to 2 different Verizon stores to compare the signal strength of my new phone to the Note 3's on display in the store and the signal strenth was identical to the display models. 4G all the way. Just for kiks I compared my phone to the Motorola Droid Maxx, as Motorola phones are supposed to have the best antennas, and my Note 3 was on par wiith the Motorola phones. There was only about a -002 difference. So if you have reception issues, call Verizon and have them send you a new Note 3 and Sim card, BUT be absolutely sure it's from the newest shipment and not from older stock.

J7DET

wow I sure hope you are right.. You might be my lifesaver in keeping me postive! I posted a message a couple days ago, got over 60 views but nobody replied. ugh, well my replacement comes in the mail today and am hoping it solves the issues with my N3. I was one of those guys who got the N3 the day it came out ,October 2013 with Verizon. Sure am hopeful the one I received had some malfunctions when it was made. I got one of 7 N3's in the local store here in North Carolina. Everyone is right, I've heard the blame game from Verizon to Samsung to it being Google's problem. Even the reps spoken to said I AM THE ONLY ONE THEY KNOW WHO HAS HAD THESE PROBLEMS. Ha you all are right, its all over these forums and search engines how we all are experiencing issues with this device. If nothing changes it looks like I might be having to cancel my contract or purchase a cell at full price, maybe even going back to the iPhone where I've "never" had an issue with.

Is the date of manufacture printed on the box label?

Now that the major bugs seem to be worked out, I'm considering upgrading for some crazy reason.

I truthfully don't remember as I didn't look and they sent a pre-paid return box that had the new phone in it and I just put the old phone in and sent back.

Bogomilov

Mine had a small label in the battery compartment. And my replacement was not new but reconditioned. It worked great with the original software but I upgraded it to the MJE version. Phone still works better than my old one but the reception was affected somewhat for worse. Hope Kit-Kat update resolves that issue. Now at least I know it is not the phone. But in September I will go back ti the Iphone. Hopefully it will have bigger screen and remain stable as the older versions.

tanjit

My Note 3 has the worst reception I have ever had on any Verizon phone. As a benchmark in my house, where we have always had great reception, the Note 3 gets a consistent 107 dBm. In contrast, my old Droid X2 at the exact same location gets 86 dBm. This is big difference on the decibel scale. Another indicator of poor signal strength is the battery drain, which seems to get to a warning level in 10 hours going through my usual home and work daily cycle.

The phone was bought Dec 26 at Best Buy, any chance it is one of the defective phones discussed in this forum?

Does anyone know the model/build numbers of the defectives?

Thanks.

MyNote3Problems

My Note 3 is unusable in areas where every other phone I, my family and my customers have service. I was sent a refurb by Verizon but it's pretty much useless. Thinking about paying the difference and getting another Maxx.

GregTal

blaide how have things been since the newer device? I too was an early Note 3 adopter and sold mine back in Jan ... looking to get another one, but really don't want to go through the same nonsense again.

TIA

anthony81l

i have the same signal problems with my note 3 . heres my story ... i had an htc one for att .. traded it for an iphone 5 and got better and more consistent signal with the iphone in the same exact spot in my house and just all around. then i switched to verizon and got a brand new iphone 5s and had pretty good reception. about a month ago i traded the 5s for a note 3 and boom, unreliable reception again, once again in the same area of my house. i dont know what the hell apple does to their antennas but the signal is so much better and consistent . my note 3 will in the exact same spot without moving and the bars go up and down without me touching the phone.

GregTal

Well I rolled the dice and had my job order me a new Note 3 ... hopefully round 2 is better. If not I will NOT let the 14 day return policy slip away and return it for a Note 2. Currently Verizon only shows CPO Note 2 (in white, yuck!) on their site, but I loved my N2 and never had an issue with it.

GregTal

>>Duplicate post removed to comply with the . See <<

Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

ttown_

I am a new owner of the Galaxy note 3 and still own my iPhone 5. Here is my situation, I have the VZ network extender in my house and have tied both the iPhone and Note 3 to it. For reasons I can't explain, the cell coverage on the Note 3 is DISMAL! I researched on line, did all the suggested steps to correct but unfortunately, I still on a good day, receive one bar. Conversely, my iPhone 5, same spot in house receive 5 bars! What is even more frustrating, I drop calls on the Note in my house, but not the iPhone. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with VZ Tech Support and giving VZ benefit of doubt will say, call was dropped. I would have appreciated a call back but never received.

Anyway, I am we'll in my return window at BB in terms of phone and was wondering if a newer model existed. I am on software version N900/ Android 4.3. To test wi fi connection I sent a text to myself that included an image. The iPhone sent as it should over my wifi in my house, The Galaxy, did not. I turned on mobile data at this point and message sent.

Love the phone, but need to figure this out. Any suggestions? Thank you

Since you're within the return window, I'd suggest getting a different phone. Not a replacement Note 3. Different model. I was excited about the Note 3 but I was in the sticks when it was released. By the time I got back to civilization, there were many reports of garbled voice calls and poor reception. I still wanted to take a look at it so I went hunting for one to try in several Verizon stores in February and March. Not one store had a display model. That set off enough alarm bells that I decided to wait for another phone.

When you go to the store, check the actual signal strength of the phones. Not the number of bars. Go to Settings, About phone, Status. Look at the signal strength. Keep in mind it's a negative number so -77 dBm is better than -85 dBm.

ttown_

Thanks for the reply. My signal strength from note 3 today is all over the map. At one point, it reads -68dBM and as I type this, now reads -117dBM. Conversely, my iPhone has full bars/strength. Getting frustrated with this and am hopeful a pending update or a fix will correct. IDK, I have tried rebooting router, VZ Network extender, phone also removed SIM Card and reset it. Still no solid, consistent signal coming from note3. TY

I just read in another thread that the 4.4 update for the Note 3 is out. You may as well give it a shot. Can't make things worse. :smileyhappy:

ttown_

I looked around online and don't see anything. Checked my phone and it says no update avail. Maybe later?

Sometimes it takes multiple attempts. I used to have to to "the update dance" on my Galaxy Nexus. Stop the update service, clear cache and data, check software update (which would say last checked in 1969 at this point), rinse, repeat until it finally detected the update and let me install it.

MyNote3Problems

Under no circumstance let your return window pass. Get another phone. You wont find another Note 3 but you will at least have something that works. I swapped mine at 6 months in for a Galaxy 5.

Guess what? No more signal issues.

Do not wait on some mysterious upgrade to fix it. The problem lies with the Note 3 Antenna Power Management code and Samsung is not going to admit a problem, much less fix it.

Go now. Get out of it while you can. Good luck

metsnfins

mine got so much worse after 4.4 update

this is my 2nd note 3 i dont know what to do

dropped calls, no recption for 15 minutes at a time

im so frustrated

rwhit823

I see now that it truly is an issue with the Note 3. My kids have the S5 with no issues in my house, but my Note 3 is the worse. I had no problems with the Note 2. Come on Verizon, this is ridiculous!

To be fair, it's not Verizon's fault that Samsung built a phone with terrible reception. I suppose Verizon could have refused to sell a marginal product but they didn't make it. Or maybe they couldn't refuse. Samsung probably has a contract with Verizon that requires Verizon to market and sell the phone since there's no other outlet for CDMA products. I'm just glad I was out in the sticks when it was released and the reviews were in before I got back to civilization. I waited for the S5 and, after turning off the "stay awake when plugged in" setting, I'm pretty happy with it.

longhorn95

Yes! I used to get decent service inside my house and excellent service around town (Houston, TX) but ever since I made the mistake of upgrading to 4.4.2, my service has been terrible. I am unable to get service in my house and when I do, the call almost always drops EVEN if I do not move the phone. I have been with Verizon for 5 years and could count on 1 hand the number of dropped calls I had in those 5 years. Now, I would be lucky if I go the full day without 5 or more dropped calls. Absolutely ridiculous. Yes, I hae hard rest the phone, removed the SIM, blah, blah , blah. My wife with her crApple 5s has not noticed any change in service whatsoever. I decided to switch back to my S4 and see if VZW & Samsung can get it together and fix this problem.