Help Bad service/reception?

[sk1er18]

My house is in a good att coverage area but both of my new captivates are getting horrible reception.

Tried software updates ota..... Is there anything else i can try?

 

[Dyskresiac]

I'd say that the Captivate has about average reception. It really isn't the greatest, but as far as I know, that's due to the power rating on the antenna and its location.

It has a mild case of "Death Grip" as well, though all phones do to some extent.

Really, it's all a matter of perspective. If someone came from an iPhone, they say the reception isn't bad. If you come from a Blackberry, you'll want to throw it out the window. I was very disappointed with the Captivate's antenna coming from a Bold and before that a Curve. I guess I was driving the Lexus of phones without even knowing it.

I spoke to an Engineer (Not Customer Support) at Samsung, and he claims it was an effort to conserve battery life. A higher power antenna would pull more juice- and the Captivate already has a mediocre battery at best. What they should have done is include a high power antenna and just put a software controlled current limiter on it so you could give it more power if you wanted to.

Alas, the antenna in the Captivate is not one of the better ones. Once my warranty is up, I think I'm going to try replacing the antenna circuit. It's not going to be easy, nor will it be anything a non-EE should do.

 

[BigCiX]

From a 3G user the Captivate is far more superior

 

[BookLover]

Download MOBILE SIGNAL WIDGET to see exactly your signal strength. It's more granular than the stock signal inidcator.

I don't always believe AT&T's advertised coverage.

It's possible you have good coverage, but your 3G signal isn't strong. I found this out the hard way with my Tilt many years ago. Outside my house, 3G was good. Inside my house, I missed a lot of calls because the 3G antenna on the Tilt was poor.

You can FORCE your phone to EDGE if you DL SamServMode from the Market. And then go through these menus:

[1] DEBUG SCREEN
[8] PHONE CONTROL
[4] UE STATE CONTROL
[3] CHANGE RAT TO GSM
Click MENU button and select END to activate.

If you don't click MENU and select END the actions aren't saved.

This forces your phone to EDGE. It will stay on Edge until you reboot, use SSM to change back to 3G, or toggling Flight mode on/off.

Take note of the Mobile Signal Widget reading. It should be stronger than on 3G.

 

[sk1er18]

Thanks guys.

I called up ATT to try reprogramming the phones and that didn't help.

I am comparing the covering to my friends ATT Blackberry Torch though. Never thought about it, but BB's are known for better reception so that could play a role.