HTC One S - Signal Issue [ Edited ]

[Viper01]

I just got my HTC One S today and I've got to say, I love the phone.  It's arguabally the best phone in the Fido lineup.  I, however, have noticed something with my One S that is a little on the upsetting side.  It seems the phone has some kind of signal issue.  To be sure, I put all 3 of my Fido phones on my desk side by side and watched them for 20 minutes for a test to see how many "bars" they had.

HTC One S = 0 bar minimum, 2 bar maximum (out of 5)

Acer Liquid E = 3 bar minimum, 4 bar maximum (out of 4)

Samsung Gravity = constant 5 bars (out of 5)

Now, I can understand the difference between the Acer and the Gravity.  The Gravity is a GSM phone and the Acer is a 3G phone, which operate at different frequencies.  Standard GSM networks (1G) will always reach farther and have a stronger signal than 3G ones.  That said, the large difference between the Acer and the HTC is something that I can't explain.  In theory they should be operating on the same frequencies, so should have very similar signals.  For it to drop to NO SERVICE in an area that the Acer has almost full service is, quite frankly, alarming.

My boss, who got the same phone as his "business line", also noticed signal issues.  A few places in the mall where his Ericcson Pro had service his new HTC One S doesn't.  The only two people (i know) who have these phones have signal issues.  It got me wondering.

I've done some research (google) and have found many people, from various providers (such as TMobile), complaining about signal issues with this phone.  I'm wondering if it's a design flaw, and if so if there is any talk between Fido and HTC in working on a solution?  Being a Fido employee (dealer) I'm going to be doing some inquiring within my own company, but I'd like to know if the corporate section of Fido has any knowledge of this issue.  

Everything else seems to work fine.  No issues with Wi-Fi.  None with Bluetooth.  GPS works flawlessly.  I honestly love every aspect of this phone (minus the signal issue) and seriously don't want to return it because the phone part of it doesn't work properly.

[FidoJudhy]

Hey Viper01!

I do not have any information about this matter right now, but I will look into it for you and get back to you as soon as I can.

Talk to you then!

[FidoStephen]

Hi Viper01,

We have received news concerning your situation.

Fido is currently unaware of any signal issues with the HTC One S.

It could be that the HTC One S is displaying more or less accurate information than the other phones.

The signal bars are programmed by the manufacturer to display certain info depending on the manufacturers criteria. Signal is measured in dbm. The higher the value (-100 for example), the worse it will be. The lower the value (-69 for example), the better it is. If HTC programmed the One S to display 1-2 bars for -100 dbm, but Acer programmed their phone to display 3-4 bars for the same values, then just going by signal bars, you would say that Acer has more signal, but technically the HTC One S is more accurate.

There is an easy way to test to see if there is an actual issue. There is a free application for network measurements on the Google Play store called Network Signal Info:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.android.telnet&hl=en

It will display the dbm signal strength being received by the phone via graph and also the tower being picked up. Remember that the higher the dBm level, the worse the signal.

Also, if you go in Settings – About – Status, you can get the dbm level in there as well.

Should the phone show a great difference in dBm signal strength via these methods, please let us know and we’ll investigate further.

[colicha]

Hi,

I also noted that the signal seems weaker on my HTC One S than what I used to get on my old phone (Sony Ericsson T715a).

My main problem however is that I am missing incoming call and sometimes have difficulty making outgoing ones as well.

When that happens, the callers say they end up directly in voicemail... I do not get a missed call notification nor a message notification for these calls. If I call my voice mail, however, the message left by the caller is there...

The outgoing call problem is : I will try to initiate a call and even though the screen tells me it is calling - there is no sound in the phone (I don't hear it ringing... it just sounds dead). After a few tries, it will eventually work...

I have tried reboothing the phone but it does not help this issue. Sometimes the phone works, sometimes it doesn't.

I don't think it has anything to do with location - the problem happens in different locations where the phone usually works.

Has anybody had this same problem ?

How can I solve this ?

Thanks in advance 

[FidoJudhy]

Hey colicha!

If you put your SIM in a different Fido phone, does the issue persist? I know that the issue wasn't there before, but it is possible that this situation is caused by a defective SIM and not by the device.

If the issue persists in another device, I'd suggest that you try a different SIM card in your HTC. If the issue still occurs, then, you can give us a call and we can investigate further with our network support team.

If the issue is resolved in another device with the same SIM, it means that the phone is defective. If so, I would suggest that you go in a Fido store in order to have the matter looked into and possibly have the phone sent in for repair. If that's the case, we will lend you a phone while yours is away.

Let us know!

[Viper01]

Thank you for your reply Judhy,

Going further into the issue I'm also noticing no signal in places where my Acer had very good service.  I'm starting to wonder if the antenna in the OneS is a lower quality than in some other phones.  I'm overly thrilled by every other feature in the phone, but I'm paying for wireless services, not the device's features.

In addition, I tried the Network Signal program on both devices and it's showing my signal at 25%  ( -101 dbm) on the HTC One S and the Acer is reading 85% (-41 dbm) which is drastically better...  They're sitting right beside eachother on a flat desk surface with nothing around them.

[FidoJudhy]

Hey Viper01!

I have contacted our network support team in order to see if this is something they have heard before, but I was told that this is not a common issue. Therefore, I would be led to believe that you got a lemon. I would suggest that you send your phone in for repair in order to have it looked into.

Please let us know how it goes!

[wfo]

I got my HTC One S about two weeks ago. Everything was great until this weekend. There was an update listed in my notifications list last Friday so I went ahead and did the update, which got me:

Android Version 4.0.3

Software Number 1.84.631.9

Every since the update, I've had signal issues as follows:

1. Most of the time, I have a big X above the bars.

2. Calls go straight to my voicemail, I'm told.

3. I have to restart the device in order to get my signal back.

4. A new SIM card has not resolved the issue.

I went to the FIDO store and was advised to go online and check out a forum for some answers rather than resolve the issue.

I called HTC Canada tech support - not much help there either. The girl there advised that I may or may not get a call back.

At this point, I have no idea what to do. This is a new phone (literally right out of the box). I'm past the 14 days and 30 mintues, just barely oddly enough, so I'm stuck with this phone. And I'm paying for a service under contract that I can't even use.

FIDO: Please Help!!!!

[colicha]

Hi FidoJudhy,

I ended up calling Fido tech support and, apparently, the phone was not configured properly when I purchased it. The girl I spoke with was really nice and fixed the account parameters. I have not had incoming calls problems since.

As for the outgoing call dead air problem, I only had one which I fixed by reboothing. But, since I had a very low battery warning at the same time - I will wait to see if it happens again because I think that was fixed too.

Thanks for your help, this forum's great !

Regards,

Colicha

[gsamis]

Hey I was experiencing the same issues with my new HTC One S aswell Viper01 I went to settings>about>software updates> check for new software and there is one 1.84.631.9 which fixed my singnal issue