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

[cybertec69]

Is anyone else having this annoying issue, phone will go from 4G LTE to 3G and will not go back to 4G for the life of it, unless you restart the phone:icon_eek:, this seems to be a software issue with the radios, has Veri:icon_ devil:zon or Samsung confirmed this problem, and is there a pending software update on the horizon for this problem.

 

[nomadicnut]

On my RAZR i simply switch to airplane mode in settings and then back which resets my 4G in fringe areas. Give it a try and i hope it helps ya.

 

[cybertec69]

Thanks, will try it.

 

[CaptainSS]

I do not know IF the two issues are related but my reception was spotty and 4g was non-existent. I went and got new SIM cards (it took three if you count the one it came with) the third one was the charm 5 bars AND a 4G signal where there really isn't supposed to be much of one (border area)
Would love it IF a new SIM worked for everyone with a reception or 4g issue.

 

[cybertec69]

Did the airplane mode procedure and it worked, but I should not have to go that route, hope there is an update with a fix soon.

 

[bsweetness]

Did the airplane mode procedure and it worked, but I should not have to go that route, hope there is an update with a fix soon.

Shortly after I received my first Galaxy Nexus, Verizon's tech support told me that's how I should handle the same problem with that device. I can understand that being a quick fix until the source of the problem is corrected via a software update, but it shouldn't be the type of thing that users should be expected to always do.

Luckily, I haven't run into the same problem with the S3.

 

[CaptainSS]

In conversation with tech (after yesterdays solutions) seems several of the 4g issues have been and are being solved with the new SIM card which has been released on a different color card to denote it being the "new" version.
This is not to say that there will not be another debugging update. My new S3 came in a box clearly marked "Updated" which apparently there had already been at least one.

 

[bsweetness]

In conversation with tech (after yesterdays solutions) seems several of the 4g issues have been and are being solved with the new SIM card which has been released on a different color card to denote it being the "new" version.
This is not to say that there will not be another debugging update. My new S3 came in a box clearly marked "Updated" which apparently there had already been at least one.

Replacing the SIM can help with several issues for many people, but it's not always the answer to all of them. I don't even remember how many times they replaced the SIM on the Galaxy Nexus for me (all four of the brand new ones I had), and it never helped the reception issues. I've also had four different SIM cards in an attempt to get my S3 to switch to 4G in weaker 4G areas where Motorola and HTC devices will connect. No dice there either.

If someone is having connection issues, replacing the SIM is definitely a good place to start. For many people, that will get things working properly. But replacing the SIM can only do so much when the manufacturer's software radios aren't the best around.

 

[cybertec69]

It's not the radios in the S3 as they are the same as in my HTC Rezound "both are Qualcomm radios", it's the software implementation that is the issue, with the same SIM card from my S3, when I swap it to my HTC Rezound "as I use both phones", I don't have these same issues as I mentioned above, so it is a software issue on Samsungs part, and not the radios, it's software, not hardware. That goes for most electronic devices, from modems, to Graphics cards "I build my own PC'S so I should know a thing or 2 about software", to sound cards, to TV's, usually the electronics are fine or device would not function at all, it's how the software is implemented that matters, Samsung needs to upgrade their software department, as they are lagging behind the other manufacturers. I remember that used to be the case with ATI "before they where bought out by AMD", their software department stunk compared to Nvidias, reason for them falling behind in the graphics industry and in their consumer fan base "hence the AMD takeover buyout at a low stock price".

 

[bsweetness]

It's not the radios in the S3 as they are the same as in my HTC Rezound "both are Qualcomm radios", it's the software implementation that is the issue, with the same SIM card from my S3, when I swap it to my HTC Rezound "as I use both phones", I don't have these same issues as I mentioned above, so it is a software issue on Samsungs part, and not the radios, it's software, not hardware. That goes for most electronic devices, from modems, to Graphics cards "I build my own PC'S so I should know a thing or 2 about software", to sound cards, to TV's, usually the electronics are fine or device would not function at all, it's how the software is implemented that matters, Samsung needs to upgrade their software department, as they are lagging behind the other manufacturers. I remember that used to be the case with ATI "before they where bought out by AMD", their software department stunk compared to Nvidias, reason for them falling behind in the graphics industry and in their consumer fan base "hence the AMD takeover buyout at a low stock price".

While the hardware on both is made by Qualcomm, the hardware radios are not the same in the S3 and the Rezound. The Rezound uses two chips - the Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 and the Qualcomm MSM9600. The S3 uses a single chip in the Snapdragon S4. So, the hardware radios are not the same. They're quite different in how they perform and in how they are included in the device.

And yes, you're right that it's almost always a software issue. I mentioned that in my post above:

For many people, that will get things working properly. But replacing the SIM can only do so much when the manufacturer's software radios aren't the best around.

The terminology is where things start to get a little confusing, and that's because the same words are often used for different things. There are hardware radios (often called modems) and there are software radios (which, confusingly, can also be called modems, but incorrectly so). If you were to look through the threads here, and especially the threads at XDA, you'll see a lot of talk about radios. Pretty much all of that talk about radios is referring to the software radios that enable the hardware to run. The way in which the phone manages the reception through the hardware is where the software radios come in, and different manufacturers have varying levels of expertise with that.

All of the terminology for the different aspects kind of get jumbled together at times, but 9 out of 10 times, when someone is referring to the radios in a cellular device, they're talking about the software not the hardware. So, saying the radios in the S3 are weaker/stronger than the radios in another device that has the exact same hardware with the Snapdragon S4 is entirely possible and likely.

I think we've had a similar conversion before in the first couple pages of this thread. We're both saying the same thing, it's just the terminology that's getting in the way.

 

[droidummie]

I have the gs3 and just be happy you get 4G ! =(
I called Verizon and asked why my phone doesn't say 4g...I received the best news (sarcastic) that 4G will be available in my area at the end of this year. I don't live on planet Mars... I live in a suburb called Brentwood, Tennessee that's aka snottyville yet we don't have 4G service! interesting!!! >=(

 

[cybertec69]

I have the gs3 and just be happy you get 4G ! =(
I called Verizon and asked why my phone doesn't say 4g...I received the best news (sarcastic) that 4G will be available in my area at the end of this year. I don't live on planet Mars... I live in a suburb called Brentwood, Tennessee that's aka snottyville yet we don't have 4G service! interesting!!! >=(

Sorry to hear that, LOL, hope you get:hail: LTE soon, it is SMOKING fast:icon_ devil:

 

[Garrett67]

So, a new SIM card could possibly help me ? I live about 20 miles from Battle Creek , Mi which just got 4G coverage. I don't get 4G where I am and I get 1-2 bars with 3G, if I'm lucky. If I turn off WIFI at home and just use Verizons signal, I get about 100kbps download speeds.

 

[bsweetness]

So, a new SIM card could possibly help me ? I live about 20 miles from Battle Creek , Mi which just got 4G coverage. I don't get 4G where I am and I get 1-2 bars with 3G, if I'm lucky. If I turn off WIFI at home and just use Verizons signal, I get about 100kbps download speeds.

It's possible that it could help. Even though you only live about 20 miles from a LTE area, that doesn't necessarily mean it will extend to where you are, especially if it only recently received the coverage. Where I used to live, I was ten miles from a LTE area, but due to my location and the location of the towers, I was just outside of the LTE extended area. I had relatively nonexistent 4G and weak 3G, similar to what you're describing. Take a look at Verizon's wireless coverage map and see if your exact address is supposed to be inside the LTE or the LTE extended areas. If it says your address is within one of those two areas, a new SIM card just might do the trick (although there's certainly no guarantee of that in the LTE extended area). Even if your address isn't included in either area, it certainly wouldn't hurt to try a new SIM.

 

[Garrett67]

It's possible that it could help. Even though you only live about 20 miles from a LTE area, that doesn't necessarily mean it will extend to where you are, especially if it only recently received the coverage. Where I used to live, I was ten miles from a LTE area, but due to my location and the location of the towers, I was just outside of the LTE extended area. I had relatively nonexistent 4G and weak 3G, similar to what you're describing. Take a look at Verizon's wireless coverage map and see if your exact address is supposed to be inside the LTE or the LTE extended areas. If it says your address is within one of those two areas, a new SIM card just might do the trick (although there's certainly no guarantee of that in the LTE extended area). Even if your address isn't included in either area, it certainly wouldn't hurt to try a new SIM.

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