s21 poor signal strength

[mozzy]

I've just upgraded to the s21 from the s10. Problem is that I now only get 1 bar showing on the signal strength most of the time (including home). On the s10 it was on 3 bars most of the time using the same network and SIM. If I swap the SIM card back to the s10 I get 3 bars showing again 

I have tried resetting the network, a hard reboot, changing to SIM tray 2 but all to no avail. Anyone else experienced this/any ideas or is this device faulty??

[lloyd90]

I've tried 3 s21 since launch date. 1st one on Vodafone poor signal.
2 on EE with 5g. handful of areas I get decent 4g and maybe 5g. 90% of the time I have 1 bar 4g or E. tried master reset, network settings staying on 4g and avoiding 5g. sim card is fine as I get signal on my old p20 Pro where I don't on the s21. as much as I like the phone, no signal is pointless.

[mozzy]

Yes, as SmallFish mentioned above, the modem on the s21 is inferior to older models 😦
It seems Samsung are so busy with making our mobiles so high-tech in every conceivable way that it forgot the primary reason they were invented... 🤔

[Shamrock_Sean]

Well,the signal bars do indicate how poor it is because being a low signal then the -dBm asu shows as higher numbers which means poor signal. So your talking rubbish to be honest. And from experience every Samsung phone I have owned always gets a worse signal than say Huawei,Xiaomi,Oppo,Nokia etc. Of course the bars indicate signal strength. If one bar shows signal as 116dbm then it is poor. Simple.  I have had S21 Ultra and found signal ok but thought the cameras were terrible so returned it. Tried a S21 Plus and signal was worse. 

[mozzy]

I'm confused Shamrock_Sean, what am I taking rubbish about exactly?
I've not stated anywhere that poor signal strength is contrary to the higher -db, in fact, what this whole thread shows is that the s21 isn't as good as older or (as you've mentioned) other makes of mobile phone for signal strength so we're actually on the same page.

[Enzoenzo]

Experiencing the same issue,my s21u sometimes couldnt even connect to network,I have to spam airplane mode on and off to reset .

my coworker just got his s21u today ,I tried to put my sim card into his phone ,4 bars ,put it back into my phone ,2 bars ,and the actual Network feeling is more than you can think of ,$1300 phone can't even do the basic work.

I took my s21u to the ubreakifix ,and they saying the signal part is on the motherboard that they couldn't fix it ,I bought a care plus but I don't want to pay $99 for a replacement since it's under warranty and it's not my problem.

[mozzy]

I suggest, if you haven't already, to open up a ticket on this Members site with Samsung. I have, as I can't make or receive calls at all so if they can't sort it out I'm sending the phone back. I'm not keeping a phone for 2 years that can't even do the main basic feature 😟

[mozzy]

**Update**
I called Samsung customer services this morning as my ticket to Samsung still hasn't rendered any response. Glad I did as I've now realised that using wi-fi calling on this phone doesn't work too great either.. definitely something faulty 😳
That was a very awkward conversation (Norman Collier comes to mind.. those who are old enough to remember him!).
The outcome is that it is being replaced as it's under 2 weeks old but I'll be without a phone for quite a few days 🥺

[SmallFish]

Sadly, reading another comment here that I think maybe related, their phone exchange produced a new phone with the same issue...

Will be very interested to hear back from your experience as I think many of us are holding out of this being a software/firmware issue that can be fixed.

If your new phone is better than that blows that idea out of the water and Samsung will have produced a terrible first batch of hardware faulty S21U phones...

[mozzy]

I've been scouring for threads/sites for this very issue but it's quite few and far between tbh not like the battery/overheating issue.
SmallFish..Do you think this is a lot more common than currently reported?
If the replacement comes back being the same I don't think I'd take the gamble in waiting for a possible update fix but ask for a full refund.
I'm going to be offline (phoneless) from around midday today for goodness knows how long through not fault of my own.. that's the bit I'm finding hard to swallow 😔
'I'll be back' to let you know how things go..

[SmallFish]

It's the steady drip drip of reports people are making about 4G drops/speed/calls that makes me think this is not a fault as such but poor design - be that software or hardware. I have a fear at this point, that's both hardware and software - much like all the main issues with this phone. 😞