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

[The_Chemist]

I wanted to keep my unlimited data alive so I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 at full price at the Harrisburg Verizon store today. 

I had to stop in at the lab where I work on the way home to check on some samples I left running Friday afternoon.  I looked at my phone and saw I only had 1 bar of 4G LTE service inside the building.  I checked the signal strength and the N3 reported -118 dbm.  I tried a speed test with the speedtest.net app and received a network connection error part way through.  I'm sure this was due to the extremely low signal strength.  The phone then switched to 3G with 1 bar signal strength. 

My Motorola Droid Bionic, which I just replaced, used to get 2 to 3 bars 4G LTE at -105 to -89 dbm in the same areas of the building. 

I then drove home and checked my signal there as well.  It's not the good at all!  My Bionic used to get a much better signal.  I live in a suburb of Harrisburg PA where the Verizon signal isn't the strongest, but my Motorola Bionic did very well keeping a 4G LTE signal. 

I'm very upset that a phone that lists for $799 would have such a poor antenna or radio with such poor sensitivity like this. 

I'll try the N3 again tomorrow when I return to work and see what happens.  If the reception remains this bad, I'll have to return the phone and get something else - possibly the LG G2.  If anyone owns a G2 and would be kind enough to reply with their reception quality in low signal areas I would greatly appreciate it.

I would also  be interested to know how the reception quality is in low signal areas from other Samsung GN3 owners.

Thanks!

[jeffrey_]

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.

[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

[jeffrey_]

Here is another good one:

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

Seems like a bad rollout issue for the Note 3.

[jtown]

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]

[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 

[jeffrey_]

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.

[jeffrey_]

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]

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?

[jeffrey_]

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.

[jeffrey_]

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.

[68IOU1]

kind of and old post but this is what i got. I too had the same issue and with wifi connection on att router. I however traded my old phone in to verizon. I was within my 14 day return time, so it went back but i had repeated verbal abuse from a verizon employee who told me it was purely at "his disscression"  whether he took the phone back. His excuse was I cant trouble shoot that here i let him know that i had allready been on the phone with verizon and verizon told me to take it back. any way i took it back to a different store due to his lack of competance for a product that we pay A LOT OF MONEY FOR. long story short you might be able to speak with someone THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT VERIZON DOES KNOW ADOUT BUT THEY SEEM TO CONTINUE TO NOT BE ABLE TO TRICK PEOPLE OUT F THERE MONEY. i even traded my old phone, which later i found out that i dont get that back but im still expected to pay the bill. 

[blaide]

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.

[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.

[blaide]

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.

[blaide]

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.

[jtown]

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.