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skbroadband
join:2014-06-12

skbroadband

Member

3 bars, but continually dropped calls

I just recently purchased a new house, and I'm getting a pretty constant "3" bars on my Samsung Galaxy S3. Same on my wife's Galaxy Note II. However, neither of us are able to make or receive calls. 85% of them drop or never go through.

The odd thing is, I know Verizon just built a tower which is EXACTLY 1.0 mile away, and my house is on top of a hill, although in a very wooded area. Why would the signal be 3 bars, but essentially I can't make/receive calls?
sonomazr2
join:2014-04-04
Minnesota

sonomazr2

Member

The worst place to be is right under a tower. It is probably overshooting you.
dmc271
join:2008-09-02
Stillwater, OK

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said by skbroadband:

Why would the signal be 3 bars, but essentially I can't make/receive calls?

The bars could be representative of the data signal strength rather than the voice signal strength. This happens on my Samsung Droid Charge and S3. Go to the Network Settings screen and look for the 1X/RTT or CDMA signal strength. What value does it say there? It should be some number in the -110 (poor) to -60 (excellent) dBm range.
meow2004
join:2014-06-13

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Well since you are in a wooded area that may be part of the reason why you cant hold calls, it can also be the make up of the home, like a radiant barrier keeping signals from going in and going out... signal may not be going over you since you are at the top of a hill... have you tried looking into a signal booster for your house?

Hall
MVM
join:2000-04-28
Germantown, OH

Hall to skbroadband

MVM

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Turn DATA off then see what signal strength you have. Look under Settings, About Phone.... (not sure where to look as my S3 is no longer 'stock'). Look for a number with a "-" sign in front of it followed by "dBm".

The numbers of bars is pretty much meaningless. The phone manufacturer or the wireless company can fake those (well, they can change the scale - if they wanted to, in a very low to almost no signal, they could make it show 4 or 5 bars if they wanted to).
Randamin
join:2010-11-29
Laredo, TX

Randamin to skbroadband

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There is an app called 'LTE On/Off' which takes you to a menu that displays signal characteristics along with the option to change to CDMA only.