Possible antenna problem?

[Robbie95]

Hi all! Got my brand new lumia 820 a few days ago, happy with it so far. Only problem is the network signal strength, its not very good most the time. What happens is i'll get 3 bars of signal and it will drop down to 1 back up to 2 then no signal then back to 3 bars? I have a cheap Samsung PAYG phone on the same network and the signal is really good! At my mums house where the signal is supposed to be excellent which it is (on the Samsung) my lumia barely gets 2 bars of signal and regularly get 'no service'

Anyone else had these problems?

 

[J Hisham]

Have you tried to take out the sim card and rubbing the chip, then putting it back in?

 

[Robbie95]

no, its a new sim but i'll try it

 

[11B1P]

Is the phone in a case or naked?

 

[Robbie95]

Its got a silicone case, but it does it when its off aswell

Just cleaned the sim, no difference

 

[J Hisham]

Just cleaned the sim, no difference

Maybe you can try to do a soft reset on the phone. Not sure of the method on the 820, though. On the 920, you'd need to hold down the volume down button + power button until the phone turns off and vibrates. Not sure if it's the same method with the 820.

 

[acousticpoem]

I have the same problem. On o2 and signal is never very stable and often people say my voice breaking up yet they are very clear to me. Old Nokia C7 never had this problem on same network

 

[budney]

Different OSes and manufactures can calibrate signal bars differently. I would only worry about the issue like in the case of acousticpoet where calls are breaking up and/or dropping.
Sent from my RM-824_nam_att_101 using Board Express

 

[adamski777]

what it will be is your cheapo pay as you go phone will be on 2G, whereas the likelihood is that your 820 is on 3G with poor reception. if you want to make sure go to settings, mobile network and change the highest connection speed option to 2G and you will get the same reception as the PAYG handset

 

[Perus]

I hate to be pessimistic about this issue but I truly believe it's something wrong with the antenna design of the 820. It's not about the bars but more the signal received by the phone. I've compared the 820 with the GS3 and IP5 and most of the time the signal strength on 3G is about 10db worse on the 820 and that's with the same SIM and location too.

/Per

 

[budney]

I hate to be pessimistic about this issue but I truly believe it's something wrong with the antenna design of the 820. It's not about the bars but more the signal received by the phone. I've compared the 820 with the GS3 and IP5 and most of the time the signal strength on 3G is about 10db worse on the 820 and that's with the same SIM and location too.

/Per

How do you get to see the signal level in db on the 820?
Sent from my RM-824_nam_att_101 using Board Express

 

[Robbie95]

what it will be is your cheapo pay as you go phone will be on 2G, whereas the likelihood is that your 820 is on 3G with poor reception. if you want to make sure go to settings, mobile network and change the highest connection speed option to 2G and you will get the same reception as the PAYG handset

So what your suggesting is that the signal bars on my phone represent 3G coverage, but not 2G (calls, text etc) I dont have the option to turn on 2G only 3G/4G so I cant really test this. I know it isnt the network so if this becomes a problem then its getting sent back to Nokia.

 

[Perus]

How do you get to see the signal level in db on the 820?
Sent from my RM-824_nam_att_101 using Board Express

In field test mode available on some roms by dialing ##3282# and then pick wcdma for 3G measurements. See picture.


Note! Please be careful in those menus and it could also be that you're comparing 2G with 3G signal strength as previous poster mentioned.

Good luck!

/Per

 

[budney]

In field test mode available on some roms by dialing ##3282# and then pick wcdma for 3G measurements. See picture.


Note! Please be careful in those menus and it could also be that you're comparing 2G with 3G signal strength as previous poster mentioned.

Good luck!

/Per

Ah ok! I can't get there on my AT&T 820. :-(

 

[adamski777]

on my 820 you dial ##3282 (without the final # at the end). be careful though, I was playing around with this and my wifi stopped working, luckily I remembered what I changed and put it back.

 

[Sahar_Lumia]

Hi,
I have the same prob with my lumia 920. no signal, sometimes only 1 or 2. The problem is that it was fine foe one month then suddenly it happened !

 

[Perus]

Issue solved by returning the device and bought a new 820 from another store a month later. It might have been a lemon or a first batch issue. Signal reception on 3G/UMTS on par now

 

[cyb0rg9000]

apparently verizon has locked down the field test. can't view all the stats including the dB checker. any apps out there that can check the decibel levels?