Help Gs2 poor wifi reception

[Patman1]

I have the exact same trouble as the op. Rotate the phone and it gets an extra bar on the signal

Do people think its just the firmware or somthing alot serious than that

 

[daivik]

I have the exact same trouble as the op. Rotate the phone and it gets an extra bar on the signal

Do people think its just the firmware or somthing alot serious than that

Don't think it's hardware, because some people aren't having this problem and that suggests that it's something to do with firmware rather than hardware.

Still doesn't make complete sense though, if it is due to firmware because i'm sure there's some people out there on the same firmware, yet they get different signals.

 

[johnyfalco]

In an attempt to improve my Galaxy S2 WiFi reception in my house I have installed a Wireless Access Point in Bridge mode, at the opposite end of the house to my WiFi router.
This works really great with my iphone around the house. When I go from one end of the house to the other, the iphone seamlessly changes from one wireless source to the other and have full WiFi signal all over the house.
When I move around the house with the S2, it just wont let go of whatever WiFi source its is currently on.
If I move away from my router, to the WAP, my WiFi signal on my phone is non existent, and it still wont let go of the weak signal and pick the strong WAP signal that's 50mm away from it. If I turn the WiFi setting on the S2, off, then on, it picks up the strong WAP signal no problems.
I would have to say the poor WiFi implementation, would be my major disappointment in moving from an iPhone to the S2.
I have the latest firmware on the S2

 

[androidexpat]

I just stopped by the Samsung shop here in Taipei. This week the new Galaxy S2 was released here and they had one out on display at the Samsung shop in the local computer market. I had to wait about 10 minutes before I could actually play with it and test it as the geek in front of me spent about 30 minutes fiddling with it. I currently also have the Google Nexus S which is made by Samsung and it has the same exact problems as this new Galaxy S2 has.

I tested the Wifi inside the computer mall and there were about 15+ wifi routers that were picked up by my Iphone 4 and there were many that my Iphone 4 managed to pick up and hold reception on which the Samsug Galaxy S2 was unable to do. The wifi reception definitely has issues on the new Galaxy S2 just like the Nexus S did. The salesmen at Samsung denied this but when I showed them how the Iphone 4 managed to get signals that Galaxy S2 did not along with my Nexus S they pretty much turned red in the face and kept quiet. It was very obvious that Nexus S and Galaxy S2 performed the same with wifi reception which was very poor.

Otherwise the Galaxy S2 seemed to perform really good and was very snappy. I did not get the chance to test the GPS because the application was not on there and they did not allow anyone to download applications for testing. I wonder if they were hiding that one as well.

 

[Unam]

Compared to Nokia N86, wifi reception on s2 is less, using the two devices side by side, when N86 shows about 70% reception ,S2 manages only about 30-40%, diff is about 30% always.

 

[daivik]

My GSII wifi is fine. yesterday had family round, so we were all in the same room. the 3 iPhones, 2 iPads, 1 BB Torch and 2 GSII had pretty much the exact same speed - which was very poor, but that's just due to the house (and location of router)

so it's quite odd. :/

But it's not pandemic.

 

[Slug]

A quick and unscientific side-by-side comparison:

HTC Desire Z (running the current Virtuous Fusion ROM, latest UK radio and matched RIL libraries) sees a -60dbm signal.

Galaxy S2 (stock XEUKE7 firmware) sees -50dbm.

Both are connected via 802.11n to a Billion 7800N router approx 8m away on the other side of an interior partition wall. Measurements taken from WiFi Analyser on both handsets.

 

[reevos]

I think this hardware. The original galaxy s has it as does the nexus s & now the sgs2. The other 2 have NOT been fixed what makes everyone think it's gonna be fixed on the sgs2, for this reason I don't think I can live with the sgs2. Big money for crap innards. Its back to iPhone for me, nice try Samsung but no cigar.

 

[daivik]

I think this hardware. The original galaxy s has it as does the nexus s & now the sgs2. The other 2 have NOT been fixed what makes everyone think it's gonna be fixed on the sgs2, for this reason I don't think I can live with the sgs2. Big money for crap innards. Its back to iPhone for me, nice try Samsung but no cigar.

The iphone has the same reception. As does the iPad. Only certain devices that have the problem with wifi. As I said earlier.

I had 3 iPhones, 2 GSII's and 2 iPads in the same room and they all had equal wifi.

 

[androidexpat]

I having the same problem and I am on the latest firmware.
Hope Sammy fix this soon.

I would not get my hopes up too high on Kimchi fixing this because the Nexus S has been out for quite some time now and the same exact issue which exists with the Wifi on the Nexus S (also made by Samsung) has not been fixed till this date.

 

[johnyfalco]

I wonder if its an incompatibility with certain router chipsets. .
My main router is a Billion 7404VNPX and the other router I am using as a WAP, is a Billion 7401
My iphone is easily 50% better wi fi reception than the SG2 and the wifi bridging problem certainly does not exist on the iphone.

 

[androidexpat]

I think this hardware. The original galaxy s has it as does the nexus s & now the sgs2. The other 2 have NOT been fixed what makes everyone think it's gonna be fixed on the sgs2, for this reason I don't think I can live with the sgs2. Big money for crap innards. Its back to iPhone for me, nice try Samsung but no cigar.

Well said. The Galaxy S2 is not a bad phone but I believe that the Wifi and GPS issue still exist and if these 2 issues don't bother one much then owning a Galaxy S2 should not be a problem. Not everyone is knit picky and manages to see the small faults on devices like the Galaxy S2. The knucklehead sales people at Samsung today today could not see the problem until it was shown to them and even then they bite their tongues and were left speechless when confronted with the issue in front of all their customers. In Asia many are great at turning a blind eye to what one does not want to see.

The screen,sound and performance on it otherwise was really good. Keep in mind that the computer shopping mall had over 15 wifi spots to pick from so this was a good place to test the wifi and in my opinion it failed the test for reception and being able to hold connectivity.

 

[androidexpat]

I wonder if its an incompatibility with certain router chipsets. .
My main router is a Billion 7404VNPX and the other router I am using as a WAP, is a Billion 7401
My iphone is easily 50% better wi fi reception than the SG2 and the wifi bridging problem certainly does not exist on the iphone.

If the issues were not the same exact issues that exist on the Nexus S as well and performed poorly on most of the 15+ wifi routers that were in the computer mall I would agree with you on this. If many people were not complaining about the same problem then I would also agree with you on this. Bottom line is that there is some sort of hardware issue with the wifi chips or antenna that is inside these Galaxy S2's.

 

[reevos]

If the issues were not the same exact issues that exist on the Nexus S as well and performed poorly on most of the 15+ wifi routers that were in the computer mall I would agree with you on this. If many people were not complaining about the same problem then I would also agree with you on this. Bottom line is that there is some sort of hardware issue with the wifi chips or antenna that is inside these Galaxy S2's.

On my other phones I could get wick signals all over my local town but this phone has problems picking them up. Take carphonewarehouse on my 3gs I could sit at a coffee shop just along from it useing their wifi but the sgs2 has to be in the phone shop, same with my friends nexus s, & that has 2.3.4 on it. This is defiently samsungs hardware problem, don't expect a fix cause it ain't coming.

 

[androidexpat]

On my other phones I could get wick signals all over my local town but this phone has problems picking them up. Take carphonewarehouse on my 3gs I could sit at a coffee shop just along from it useing their wifi but the sgs2 has to be in the phone shop, same with my friends nexus s, & that has 2.3.4 on it. This is defiently samsungs hardware problem, don't expect a fix cause it ain't coming.

I'm not sure why but I reckon it may be a Korean thing because if you have been to Korea you will know that Koreans make products to work with Korean products ( I want to say only but I can't because they manage to work with others as well). I am curious as to how it work with a Korean router though lol.. Koreans are actually perfectionists but they perfect their products to only work with their own products so that people buy their products only I live in Taiwan and have traveled across Asia so I know them quite well. if it is not a hardware issue this is the only other thing I could think of. To get this out of the way I will try my wifi again when I am back in Seoul for a visit and see how it works with their wifi routers.

A friend of mine has a HTC Desire HD and we compared his Desire HD with my Nexus S earlier on today with my D-Link router and he had 2 more bas than I did and could still hold a connection on his while mine could not as walked further away from my shop. Mine lost connection before his did. y Iphone 4 beat both though

 

[reevos]

I'm not sure why but I reckon it may be a Korean thing because if you have been to Korea you will know that Koreans make products to work with Korean products ( I want to say only but I can't because they manage to work with others as well). I am curious as to how it work with a Korean router though lol.. Koreans are actually perfectionists but they perfect their products to only work with their own products so that people buy their products only I live in Taiwan and have traveled across Asia so I know them quite well. if it is not a hardware issue this is the only other thing I could think of. To get this out of the way I will try my wifi again when I am back in Seoul for a visit and see how it works with their wifi routers.

A friend of mine has a HTC Desire HD and we compared his Desire HD with my Nexus S earlier on today with my D-Link router and he had 2 more bas than I did and could still hold a connection on his while mine could not as walked further away from my shop. Mine lost connection before his did. y Iphone 4 beat both though

This has nothing to do with router's this is wifi chip problem. It ain't released in USA yet, if your thinking of getting this phone & you rely on public wifi networks I would avoid this phone like the plague. It's OK for people to say my signal is good, try moving away from your router, LOL you may as well be tethered to the router.

 

[Slug]

try moving away from your router

I just did. My flat door is approx 8m from the router. I then went down two flights of stairs, 13 step in each, to the street door. That put a solid brick stairwell and two partition walls between my handsets and the router. WiFi Analyser showed -90dbm for the SGS2 and -80dbm for the DZ, a reversal of the previous result. Both were still connected to the router, the GS2 at 9Mbps and the DZ at 12Mbps.

 

[androidexpat]

I just did. My flat door is approx 8m from the router. I then went down two flights of stairs, 13 step in each, to the street door. That put a solid brick stairwell and two partition walls between my handsets and the router. WiFi Analyser showed -90dbm for the SGS2 and -80dbm for the DZ, a reversal of the previous result. Both were still connected to the router, the GS2 at 9Mbps and the DZ at 12Mbps.

You must have the Superman of Galaxy S2 smartphones It is quite possible that a few good ones out there exist but at the moment it does not looks like the majority have good wifi reception. If I could test one on the spot to where I could see that it got better wifi and GPS reception than my Iphone 4 I would buy it on the spot. I went to one other place this evening that had one on display here in Taipei and the same problems existed. I don't feel comfortable buying one knowing that 2 new smartphones that are being displayed by Samsung on their showroom floor have poor wifi reception.

You are one lucky man to have one with no wifi issues. Enjoy your time with your new Galaxy S2. I was going to pull the trigger twice today to buy one but both times failed to do so after seeing poor wifi results. The results were identical at both shops.

 

[Slug]

You must have the Superman of Galaxy S2 smartphones

There's no sign of spandex or a cape, just a boring black CaseMate.

 

[reevos]

You must have the Superman of Galaxy S2 smartphones It is quite possible that a few good ones out there exist but at the moment it does not looks like the majority have good wifi reception. If I could test one on the spot to where I could see that it got better wifi and GPS reception than my Iphone 4 I would buy it on the spot. I went to one other place this evening that had one on display here in Taipei and the same problems existed. I don't feel comfortable buying one knowing that 2 new smartphones that are being displayed by Samsung on their showroom floor have poor wifi reception.

You are one lucky man to have one with no wifi issues. Enjoy your time with your new Galaxy S2. I was going to pull the trigger twice today to buy one but both times failed to do so after seeing poor wifi results. The results were identical at both shops.

Don't blame you from not getting it, you just saved yourself a lot of grief. I was prepared to give Samsung ago even after the negative reviews of their last 2 phones but I have to say I feel robbed by them & I would never buy another phone with their name on it again. I will check back here in 6 months & I'll wager the problems will still be there, apple come & get my money.

 

[RanRuobin]

hmm, sounds quite strange to me. To get more reliable information I tried the following:
forget all "optical bars or percentages on the signal" just check it by using:
1 downloaded 5 files each 10 MB with my NOKIA N8 (which has a really strong WIFI), with my son's IPhone4 and with the S2. In 5m, 10m, 20m, distance.
then I did the same not through the internet but through FTP on my local router at home.I did the test 3 times and here are the averages:
Results: INET: 5m distance:best Iphone, N8, S2/10m distance: S2, Nokia, Iphone/ 20m distance S2 Nokia Iphone
FTP: at all distances S2 the clear winner
Then I used a radio frequency meter to measure the signals:
At small and midrange distances the S2 lowers the signal significantly ( may be to safe batery) at long distances the signal strength/out of the S2 was clearly 20 % stronger than all others.

My summary: do not believe in any optical information on your S2 the scale is simply wrong.
the S2 has proven to me that the WIFI performance is very competitive if not the best.
Hope this info helps:
greetings from Sichuan, China

 

[daivik]

hmm, sounds quite strange to me. To get more reliable information I tried the following:
forget all "optical bars or percentages on the signal" just check it by using:
1 downloaded 5 files each 10 MB with my NOKIA N8 (which has a really strong WIFI), with my son's IPhone4 and with the S2. In 5m, 10m, 20m, distance.
then I did the same not through the internet but through FTP on my local router at home.I did the test 3 times and here are the averages:
Results: INET: 5m distance:best Iphone, N8, S2/10m distance: S2, Nokia, Iphone/ 20m distance S2 Nokia Iphone
FTP: at all distances S2 the clear winner
Then I used a radio frequency meter to measure the signals:
At small and midrange distances the S2 lowers the signal significantly ( may be to safe batery) at long distances the signal strength/out of the S2 was clearly 20 % stronger than all others.

My summary: do not believe in any optical information on your S2 the scale is simply wrong.
the S2 has proven to me that the WIFI performance is very competitive if not the best.
Hope this info helps:
greetings from Sichuan, China

+1. Had family round yesterday in which 3 iPhone 4's, 2 BB Touch and 2 GS2's had equal wifi. (based purely on browsing experience)

 

[jinwons]

I'm still waiting on SGSII arrival in U.S. It looks like great phone. WiFi is the only issue that concerns me on this one. But it looks like folks complaining on it are mostly telling from signal strength bar rather than actually measuring it or testing browser, downloads. Maybe Samsung is too conservative on WiFi signal strength bar? Motorola is usually very aggressive on signal display, often showing high bar when it's actually low on signal.

 

[daivik]

I'm still waiting on SGSII arrival U.S. It looks like great phone. WiFi is the only issue that concerns me on this one. But it looks like folks complaining on it are mostly telling from signal strength bar rather than actually measuring it or testing browser, doanloads. Maybe Samsung is too conservative on WiFi signal strength bar? Motorola is usually very agrressive on signal display, often showing high bar when it's actually low on signal.

I can tell you, if it isn't working, get a replacement. My wifi is equal to, if not better than the range and strength of an 3 iPhone 4, 2 Blackberry Torches and 2 iPads.

 

[jinwons]

I can tell you, if it isn't working, get a replacement. My wifi is equal to, if not better than the range and strength of an 3 iPhone 4, 2 Blackberry Torches and 2 iPads.

Of course I will return/exchange it if I feel like it's defective. But I was just throwing out question/speculation if it's matter of wrong display or actual weak signal. Looks like there are some bad devices with real weak WiFi, but most of them with this issue seem to have just wrong display on it. Hasn't samsung fixed it with firmware update?