Problem switching from 3G to 4G LTE.....

[bsweetness]

Thanks, I'm not in the extended area , it shows a couple of 'spots' near me , maybe 1 or 2 miles away but I was thinking that maybe it would help my 3G signal, or hoping it would.

Will Verizon readily swap out the card or will I have to stomp my feet for them to do so? I'm still within my 14 day window

I don't know if a new SIM will do much to improve 3G reception since 3G is still over CDMA. The SIM is there for authenticating the account and LTE. I'm not 100% sure of its impact on 3G one way or another though. It wouldn't hurt to try. If you tell Verizon that you're having connection issues, they shouldn't put up much of a fuss over giving you a new SIM (they really shouldn't be hesitant to do it all), especially since you're still within the 14 day window and could easily return the phone if they don't.

Is your current 3G signal with the S3 weaker than the 3G signal you received at home with your previous phone?

 

[Garrett67]

My signal is weaker than my previous phone, not so much at home (although it is here too) but more so in the town I work , which is actually a good sized city compared to the one light town I live in.

The Verizon rep told me when I purchased the phone that the S3 had a weak radio and he was right.

I will just play around with it for the rest of the week and if it bothers me that much still by the weekend , I'll just return it and start over.

Thanks for your help

 

[No.Division]

Will toggling the location services help with a weak signal? Also, which one is better? Or should one be using all three. Maybe two? I'm confused now. Lol.



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[bsweetness]

Will toggling the location services help with a weak signal? Also, which one is better? Or should one be using all three. Maybe two? I'm confused now. Lol.



View attachment 54883

Location services don't have any impact on cellular reception because they're for GPS and location-based apps. Some of them use your cell signal to improve the speed and accuracy of your GPS, but they won't improve your cellular signal.

As for what you should use, that depends entirely on what you're doing and what you feel comfortable with enabling. I use GPS and other location-based apps and services often, so I enable all of them.

 

[bsweetness]

My signal is weaker than my previous phone, not so much at home (although it is here too) but more so in the town I work , which is actually a good sized city compared to the one light town I live in.

The Verizon rep told me when I purchased the phone that the S3 had a weak radio and he was right.

I will just play around with it for the rest of the week and if it bothers me that much still by the weekend , I'll just return it and start over.

Thanks for your help

Several people (myself included) have experienced weaker signal with the S3 than with previous phones. Other users have seen the same or improved reception. Much of it depends on location, so it can vary greatly from person to person.

Every Samsung phone I've owned has had weaker reception compared to other major manufacturers. The S3 is continues that trend for me, but it has much better reception than any other Samsung phone I've owned. It was good enough for me to keep it.

 

[No.Division]

Location services don't have any impact on cellular reception because they're for GPS and location-based apps. Some of them use your cell signal to improve the speed and accuracy of your GPS, but they won't improve your cellular signal.

As for what you should use, that depends entirely on what you're doing and what you feel comfortable with enabling. I use GPS and other location-based apps and services often, so I enable all of them.

Thanks for clearing that up.:hail: Is having all three enabled on your phone a huge battery drain? I imagine it would be?

 

[bsweetness]

Thanks for clearing that up.:hail: Is having all three enabled on your phone a huge battery drain? I imagine it would be?

Some people say yes, some people say not so much. The reality of it usually falls somewhere in-between depending on your usage.

Unlike WiFi or Bluetooth, both of which constantly scan for devices that can connect, GPS and location services only run when an app or service is actively using them. So just because you enable them in the settings doesn't mean they're always running. You can always tell when the "Standalone GPS services" is running because there's a crosshair icon that flash on the far left side of your notification bar. But the "VZW location services" and "Google location services" aren't as easy to tell when they're active because they use your cellular data connection to gather location information. If you exercise tight control over your apps, particularly the ones that use location services, leaving all three on won't impact your battery life too badly. I get solid battery life on my S3, and I have all three enabled all the time (unless I'm on an airplane). Of course, running apps that utilize the location services for long periods of (especially Maps or Navigation, which keep the standalone GPS active continuously), will drain your battery very quickly.

 

[No.Division]

Some people say yes, some people say not so much. The reality of it usually falls somewhere in-between depending on your usage.

Unlike WiFi or Bluetooth, both of which constantly scan for devices that can connect, GPS and location services only run when an app or service is actively using them. So just because you enable them in the settings doesn't mean they're always running. You can always tell when the "Standalone GPS services" is running because there's a crosshair icon that flash on the far left side of your notification bar. But the "VZW location services" and "Google location services" aren't as easy to tell when they're active because they use your cellular data connection to gather location information. If you exercise tight control over your apps, particularly the ones that use location services, leaving all three on won't impact your battery life too badly. I get solid battery life on my S3, and I have all three enabled all the time (unless I'm on an airplane). Of course, running apps that utilize the location services for long periods of (especially Maps or Navigation, which keep the standalone GPS active continuously), will drain your battery very quickly.

Again... Thank you.:biggrin:

 

[frehmaulian]

Hi, did you ever sorted out the 3G -> 4G issue. I am having a similar issue. Halfway through the day, the phone will not go to 4G from 3G even when there is a strong reception. The airplane mode, phone info app nothing works. It picks up 4G only when the phone is restarted. I have already changed the SIM once. It worked well for about a week but then started having this problem again soon. I have the VRLG7 baseband version which I believe is the latest.