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??

[Aklima]

Hi,
I have s21 and I upgraded from s10e. I anit facing any network bar issue. Maybe try contacting ur network provider.

[mozzy]

But how can there be a problem with the network if I still get 3 bars when I pop the same SIM card back into my old phone. Surely it must be down to an issue with the s21?

[ironass]

Mobile phone signal bars are meaningless as there is no industry standard for them. Even different models of phone by the same manufacturer can display different bars. See video...

The way to see your signal strength is by going to...

Settings > About phone > Status information > SIM card status > Signal strength

The lower the -dBm and the higher the asu, generally speaking, the better

[adamlee]

do what this guy said and screen shot the dBm on both and upload so we can see the results.

[drDazzler]

maybe your old sim cars doesn't support 5g? just a thought as I had a similar issue that was resolved by swapping my number to the new sim that came with the phone..

[mozzy]

Ok, sounds promising, thank you very much for your input. There's not a lot in it by the look of it. S10 on the left, S21 on the right

[mozzy]

Sorry, got that the wrong way round.. S21 on the left! 🙄

[SmallFish]

That's quite a difference in signal strength for a 4G connection to be honest.

I fear the S21 modem is inferior - see my previous thread here:
https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/galaxy-s21-series/4g-performance-on-exynos-s21-ultra-is-waaayyy-...

Real life tests with my old S10+ vs S21 confirm that the S21 is inconsistent but in the right (not far from a tower) condition can perform better.

I notice that Samsung are messing about with various things on the S21 and generally not getting it right...

There's a chance this may improve with later firmwares but it may not.

Interesting to see that some people using WiFi6 with the S21 are also noticing disparities and poorer performance.

It needs us all raise these issues through Error Reports in the Members app and clearly providing data that they can't shrug off so easily.

Sadly, I note most of my fault reports are resulting in "NAR" type responses - No Action Required!!! 😞

[mozzy]

Thanks SmallFish, interesting article and have added my two pennies worth to it.

It's a shame, with all the research I've done on the s21 before buying..(making sure I avoided the overheating and battery issues) this somehow passed me by! 😦