Verizon GS3 signal reception thread

rushmore said:

The only absolute is there is not one

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You're 'absolutely' right.

I was out at my deer camp and was getting 1-2 bars of 4g. That's as much if not more than my razr. I even made some calls and looked at my weather. Open signal showed just over -97

Thousands of pine trees out there. I think some issues might be legit, but most are worried or making a big deal of nothing.

Btw 46700 kbps on the way back to little rock

OK, after reading all the contradictory reports, I guess I'm going to give the S3 a shot tomorrow at VZW. I'll check it out for the 14 days and make a decision.

Rushmore, sent you a PM.

gnexowner said:

Cause of ppl like you thats why. i have great signal with nexus/ S3 and other samsung phones.

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So I've been following this thread about GSIII signal/reception closely (as well as at least one, two, three, four, five, six others), and posts like the one above lead me to believe Galaxy series phone owners are for phones like Mini Cooper owners are for cars: there are often tons of reports of reliability/bugs/problems with the car, but regardless it always has one of the highest customer satisfaction rates.

But [insert deity of choice] help me, after playing with several GSIIIs in several Sprint stores, I am still seriously considering picking a Verizon one up next week...

No problems with data connectivity today, and I've been in and out of the office more often. I removed my office Wifi profile, and have roamed to many different towers while streaming music.

I'm doubtful that the RAZR HD will be significantly different since it'll be using the same chipset/modem. While antenna design is CRITICAL to performance of any radio product, I'm doubtful that Motorola's antenna design will be different enough to make a significant difference. I guess we'll all find out soon enough. I'm just betting that there won't be many people left to buy a RAZR HD now that most people have bought a GS3, so development will probably be pretty stagnant.

JustSomeDude said:

there are often tons of reports of reliability/bugs/problems with the car, but regardless it always has one of the highest customer satisfaction rates.

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Look at any release of ANY new phone and you will see the same type of threads/posts. While SOME may have valid complaints, the majority are of people learning their new device and have questions of functionality, never read the manual, or just have unreasonable expectations. For the most part these are very solid devices with likely less (valid) problems than most phones. To make it seem like there are even more problems than what is typical, is the fact that this phone has SO MANY customization options and new features than likely ANY other new phone out there.

Once you read some of these complaint/problem threads you will see that in many cases, there truly was no problem at all, someone just didn't understand how to do x or was unfamiliar with the feature in question.

Regarding this/the reception thread...many people don't even have the phone yet but instead are questioning the reception or making assumptions based on Samsung's history (i.e. GNEX). From what I have seen it appears as though the majority that are reporting back with actual numbers and performance are seeing good things (myself included). There will always be a few that are dissatisfied and those are the ones that are typically most vocal.

This thread has me wanting to get a gs3 sooner rather than later. I agree about the thread on AC. That thread has me wanting to hold out.

But....news of a developer version of the gs3 has me holding out anyway....lol.

My sticking point is phone reception. Has to be decent in that dept. This thread is encouraging tho.

Oh yea...almost forgot...Early Mon....I'm calling you out. I think you work for Qualcomm...lol Seriously tho...you be coming thru dropping some.....serious....knowledge.

Btw, one of the first apps you download needs to be lux autobrightness and chrome because the factory browser dims itself even with lux. Chrome is better anyway.

dmanindfw said:

Look at any release of ANY new phone and you will see the same type of threads/posts. While SOME may have valid complaints, the majority are of people learning their new device and have questions of functionality, never read the manual, or just have unreasonable expectations. For the most part these are very solid devices with likely less (valid) problems than most phones. To make it seem like there are even more problems than what is typical, is the fact that this phone has SO MANY customization options and new features than likely ANY other new phone out there.

Once you read some of these complaint/problem threads you will see that in many cases, there truly was no problem at all, someone just didn't understand how to do x or was unfamiliar with the feature in question.

Regarding this/the reception thread...many people don't even have the phone yet but instead are questioning the reception or making assumptions based on Samsung's history (i.e. GNEX). From what I have seen it appears as though the majority that are reporting back with actual numbers and performance are seeing good things (myself included). There will always be a few that are dissatisfied and those are the ones that are typically most vocal.

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I think you're seriously downplaying the validity of the complaints from people who actually have their phones (Like me) and have major problems with phone (talk) and data connections. I'm not comparing mine to some hypothetical standard or something that I read. I'm comparing my TERRIBLE reception to my Droid X, my son's Bionic and my wife's Spectrum. All of these other phones are MUCH better in terms of reception (Talk, data, wifi) than my SGS3.

Phone calls: I attempted to make or receive at least 7 or 8 calls yesterday in two different places in my house. A few dropped the call while it was ringing. And all but one dropped the call within a few seconds after the connection was made. The only call that made it through was less than 30 seconds long so who knows if it would've lasted much longer than that. I don't think I've EVER dropped a call with my Droid X.

Data: We don't yet have 4G in my area so 3G and 1X only. Sitting at my desk the SGS3 will not pick up 3G and it will only barely pick up 1X. Sometimes that doesn't even allow for a complete loading of a website. It's the same in my livingroom. So far the only place where I've got 3G was in my bedroom and it's just barely there. More than half the time it won't display the webpage I'm trying to reach. Again, this was never a problem with my Droid X. It always got pretty decent 3G reception anywhere in my house. The same is true with the other smart phones currently in use in my house.

Wifi: Yes, I get wifi with the SGS3 in most of my house but not in my bedroom. I never have had a problem getting wifi anywhere in my house with my Droid X and I can even get it while walking around in my yard or down to the street. So without wifi or 3G/1X in my bedroom I get no internet connection at all, or at least a very weak one at best sometimes.

I tested the phone out around my town yesterday and today and I didn't drop any calls and I was able to get a medium 3G signal where I checked it out. But at home my SGS3 is essentially an Android iPod. Phone calls are practically non-existent and I only get data if I'm using wifi and then it's not a very strong connection.

You make it sound like the people who are complaining about reception don't have the phone yet, don't know how to use their phone or have unreasonable expectations. I've seen enough reports from people claiming to have their phone and getting terrible reception to know that this is a genuine problem. Maybe everybody isn't having this problem but enough are that there will likely be a lot of these phones returned for a refund or sold on Ebay. I think that's what I'm going to do if Verizon can't make this right. What are they going to do though? Give me another phone? Yeah, I forgot to mention that my daughter also has the SGS3 and has the exact same issues that I have. Is that proof enough for you that there is a real problem with the SGS3 reception for some people?

I haven't done an actual count yet but I think I've seen more negative comments on this and another forum than positive ones with regards to reception. I know, you're more likely to complain with something you're dissatisfied with than something you're satisfied with. But you also need to take into account that these forums are just a small fraction of the number of people who have this phone and there are certainly many others out there also experiencing the same problems I am.

Benny

bennybbc said:

I think you're seriously downplaying the validity of the complaints from people who actually have their phones (Like me) and have major problems with phone (talk) and data connections. I'm not comparing mine to some hypothetical standard or something that I read. I'm comparing my TERRIBLE reception to my Droid X, my son's Bionic and my wife's Spectrum. All of these other phones are MUCH better in terms of reception (Talk, data, wifi) than my SGS3.

Benny

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I get it Benny and I do believe that you really are having problems as are SOME others. I was actually speaking more about ALL of the complaint/problem threads on this forum, not just this thread. Please reread my post and also the one that I was responding to and you will maybe better understand that I was talking about all complaint threads and also that I use (non-absolute) wording such as:

"While SOME may have valid complaints..." - SOME not many, all, or majority

"in many cases" - again not all

"Regarding this/the reception thread...many people don't even have the phone yet but instead are questioning the reception or making assumptions based on Samsung's history (i.e. GNEX)." again note the word "many people" - not all, not most, but many.

Again, I am not discounting those that really are having problems (including yourself who seems to have it the worst)...I really hope that something changes where it starts working out for you. I wish nothing but the best for those having problems.

bennybbc said:

......
Data:We don't yet have 4G in my area so 3G and 1X only. Sitting at my desk the SGS3 will not pick up 3G and it will only barely pick up 1X. Sometimes that doesn't even allow for a complete loading of a website. It's the same in my livingroom. So far the only place where I've got 3G was in my bedroom and it's just barely there. More than half the time it won't display the webpage I'm trying to reach. Again, this was never a problem with my Droid X. It always got pretty decent 3G reception anywhere in my house. The same is true with the other smart phones currently in use in my house........

Benny

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Sorry to hear you're having such problems -- I really appreciate your thorough description of your experience (although it is making me sad). So, are you going to try and swap out both the phones at a Verizon store as defective, in the hopes that maybe you got two from a bad batch, or are you already ready to move on? (I know, I'm grasping at straws here...)

dmaxfan said:

Btw, one of the first apps you download needs to be lux autobrightness and chrome because the factory browser dims itself even with lux. Chrome is better anyway.

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Go into browser settings from the browser and select "default" instead of profile 3(which for some reason is selected by default instead of "default") and your stock browser will get *much* brighter.

rushmore said:

I will get one tomorrow, even if the thing is white..... I want the purple blue one, but the signal issue is compelling me to find out the truth. Hopefully not "A Few Good Men" moment after testing.

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Right behind you tomorrow rush. Two guinea pigs (or is it 'fools') in search of phone nirvana.

dmaxfan said:

Btw, one of the first apps you download needs to be lux autobrightness and chrome because the factory browser dims itself even with lux. Chrome is better anyway.

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I hate how the browser dim's itself. I downloaded chrome today and idk why I waited so long lol

I live in Atlanta and have not had an lte connection yet...

Skeeter125 said:

I hate how the browser dim's itself. I downloaded chrome today and idk why I waited so long lol

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You can actually adjust the browser brightness by hitting menu when the browser is open and scrolling down to Brightness and Colors.

I can't wait to head to verizon tomorrow and switch from Sprint. I joined Sprint a few days ago and picked up the GS3, thinking they'd have decent cell coverage. I can't even get 1 bar from my 2nd floor bedroom window.

I got my S3 yesterday and was waiting for today at work to make my reception decisions. I am in the construction industry and am working on a house in the mountains away from any towns in Montana. My old phone is a T-Bolt running gingerbread. The area the house I'm working on is at the very edge of fringe service. I have barely enough 3G on the main floor of the house to stream pandora and reliably make and receive calls. Once in the basement, 3G is lost and I would maintain just enough 1x service to not be completely out of service, but not good enough to make phone calls. This is my experience for the last few weeks at this house. Today I was able to stream pandora with no problems and was actually able to go into areas of the basement while still steaming! I was quite surprised when my phone rang while in the basement, I answered, talked for a couple minutes and resumed working. The call was very clear. My T-Bolt would not receive or make calls at all in the basement. The S3 totally surprised me today and my mind is at ease. I don't bother with numbers, bars, or any of that, I go by what works, where it works and what doesn't. In my case the S3 is better than my T-Bolt in the fringe area I work. I can't say for my home as my town and the town next to me are in the middle of 4G upgrades so service is all new. I did look at dbm reading right before switching phones, and my T-Bolt on gingerbread read -90 while my S3 read -97 (both 4G) for what that's worth to anyone. I hope this is of some help.
On a side note the battery performed admirably today as well. 7 hours of streaming pandora through bluetooth headpgones and in spotty coverage, about 4 hours of idle time, a 30 minute phone call, 30 minutes of simultaneous texting/web browsing/pandora for a total of around 12 hours and battery had just given the 15% notification.

got my new gs3 today, finally got to replace my droid charge that i wanted to smash every day. constantly getting stuck swithcing between 3g, 4g and mainly, no G. have both next to each other on desk. charge is -89db. , galaxy s3 is -109 db. really hope i didn't just make a downgrade. girlfriend got my charge and it appears that new sim card may have greatly increased the ability to stay on 4g. this is all based on the 1 hour since i switched them both over. have not made any calls, just used browser and setup apps, etc...

dmaxfan said:

Btw, one of the first apps you download needs to be lux autobrightness and chrome because the factory browser dims itself even with lux. Chrome is better anyway.

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+1 on both of those. Chrome is so awesome on this phone... it's why I wanted ICS so badly and it doesn't dissapoint. Quick and stable.

And lux does fix the largely borked auto-brightness. Will probably buy the paid version once I get my $25 play credit for my N7.

rushmore said:

I will get one tomorrow, even if the thing is white..... I want the purple blue one, but the signal issue is compelling me to find out the truth. Hopefully not "A Few Good Men" moment after testing.

I have three areas where the Gnex was 1x and sloooooow data, but the Incredible, Droid 3 and Razr are good signal 3G.

Added: Also work is good for testing 4g as well. I am a fringe dweller.

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Thought you were holding out for the Dev phone release? Can't wait?

sorka said:

Go into browser settings from the browser and select "default" instead of profile 3(which for some reason is selected by default instead of "default") and your stock browser will get *much* brighter.

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I moved it to both full and autobrightness. But on the lux app, it would go dark

Skeeter125 said:

I hate how the browser dim's itself. I downloaded chrome today and idk why I waited so long lol

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Did you try the workaround for the stock browser? Apparently you can use it at normal brightness.