S4 wifi and cellular signal issues

[derekeh83]

I just got an s4 and I've been having data signal issues. I rarely see better than 3 bars anywhere. With my past phones (iPhone 5, s3, droid 3, etc) this was never an issue. I've taken the case off and it didn't help at all. Then on to WiFi... I travel weekly and I can't use WiFi at all nor can I use it at home. I can connect at times but the signal is so poor I can't use it at all and it usually only stays connected a few minutes at a time. I've looked up how to fix this but every fix I've found was on the router side. The problem has to be on my end because my coworkers don't have the issue at all. What can I do to fix these problems? Thanks

 

[FoxKat]

Well, I'm going to tackle number 2 first... I also have problems with signal level in the WIFI realm, and yes...when the signal dips too low it drops WIFI, brings up 3G, then 4G, and after a few WIFI bounces back in. This toggling back and forth can go on indefinitely in some situations. It is a big pain and I usually turn off WIFI and revert to 3/4G to avoid the interruptions. According to Wikipedia, "802.11b and 802.11g use the 2.4 GHz ISM band, operating in the United States under Part 15 of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission Rules and Regulations. Because of this choice of frequency band, 802.11b and g equipment may occasionally suffer interference from microwave ovens, cordless telephones and Bluetooth devices." So it appears that the problem could be something completely unrelated to either the router or the phone.

As for Cellular, again I also have problems now with my S4 where I had none with my former RAZR MAXX. I hadn't dropped a call in years, going back to the OG Droid, but I've dropped a few in low-lying areas, and had fragmented, digital noise riddled communications in areas where the calls didn't drop. In those areas it was impossible to understand what was being said. These are the same areas I travel daily and prior to jumping over to the S4 I was using Motorola phones exclusively and never experienced either dropped calls or the digital garbage speak I described here. This could be the radios themselves, the firmware that runs the radios, or it could be poor antennas or poor placement of antennas in the phones.

Whatever it's worth, I concur...I'm not as pleased with the main purpose of the S4 in my opinion, as a phone, and I'm less than pleased as well at how it communicates over data.