Fixed- weak or no signal on samsung galaxy S5/S6/S7/S8 - see description for new steps

The steps for s6/s7/s8 are a bit different, but you are essentially doing the same thing to fix the issue. See below:
New steps are:
Settings -Connections -Mobile networks- Network mode - Change to WCDMA/GSM (auto connect)
If you see 4G/ 3G/2G. Pick the one that says 3G/2G only

Hope this video helps. I'm not an android expert I just happened across this fix, and hope it works for everyone else.

The idea behind it, is that the GSM signals are stronger so they will pick up better. If you are looking for the LTE and it is weak, it will display almost no bars and will drop calls or not even receive them.
It also might just be magic :) All I know is it didn't just give me more bars, I was able to receive calls in locations I couldn't before I did this. Anyway, works for some people, and not others...

[IAmFrankieKnight]

Thank you soooo much for this video!!! You just saved me hours of frustration and some dollars trying to get the antenna repaired, as that's all our phone company provider could suggest... call Samsung and get the antenna repaired! We didn't even think of changing that setting. So thanks a bunch!!

[amandachairez]

I have 4g for Samsung prevail and I just tried it and I got full Thank Haha :p

[thanhthanh]

it worked for me S7 edge, amazing hehe, thank you

[Juppie]

This is a good fix if you're in a situation of a bad carrier signal in a specific area where you are a lot (work, home etc) or just NEED calls or internet.
Note however if there is physical damage to the antenna or a defect it requires hardware disassembly, checking and replacement of components as needed. If the cellular antenna is part of the mainboard and is SMD, I wouldn't bother with the removal of components, and rather get a new motherboard (which also means you lose all your storage as it stays on the old Flash storage chip! so back it up!) Nowadays these phones are cheap though maybe you can get a used or newer one in working condition.

[sugarbugbug]

Thank you so much! Two bars of reception is better than the none I had before :)

[grabbit]

a big thx u as I had no signel until I watched this a realy big shout out to u bro

[ik]

Thanks alot my friend 👌 sorted my s8 out many thanks.

[MOGLazarsharkk]

Thanks. It worked. It went from 1 bar to 3 bars.

[Selfex]

thanku thanku so much it works :) m so happy bcause since 1 day I have no signal and I saw ur vdo and it works thanku :)

[ramercaguintuan]

Nice one, it worked thank you so much..

[JohnMacedoJr]

Just to help some if you as to why this actually works... To explain it simply, the faster and wider the data path to handle data, like downloading on the internet, photos, Etc., you sacrifice data transfer in large amounts versus speed.

the best analogy, especially since people talk about the information superhighway, is that 2G and 3-g are like a sports car... Whereas 5G is like a tractor trailer... In terms of transporting data.

a sports car typically only holds two people but covers a distance much faster. That's the equivalent of the signal strength and speed at which you connect to a tower.

A tractor trailer of course is slow to start and slow to move, yet it moves much more cargo, and in Mobile and internet terms that would be data.

Back in the late 1980s and into the 90s we had wireless phones the same with 900 megahertz phones reaching up to 1500 to 2000 feet away from the base station in your home. you could never lose this signal, you could go out by the pool, walls were never an issue or the basement and so on. It was a more narrow beam and therefore traveled much further. you could even take one in your car and go down the street and pick up dial tone every few minutes from other people's base stations. Then 2.4GHz came on the scene and shortened that distance quite a bit but also gave better call quality along with the security features (spread spectrum) in the data feed.

Another analogy that all of you might be familiar with is the difference between AM radio traveling quite some distance as opposed to FM stations which one more locally broadcast and depending on the wattage of the tower. FM broadcast in Stereo and therefore more data is packed on that frequency modulation and so the range is therefore limited. AM radio is amplitude modulation and works almost like a standing wave principle, a slow steady wave that goes a greater distance at a lower power but with that mono, low Fidelity sound. ham radio and other DX frequencies or even now or and travel at a greater distance. that's why those frequencies can be incrementally adjusted to a very narrow degree, with other factors add again to fine-tune that frequency and therefore be able to reach all around the world.

This last part you're not going to like... But this is what I believe is happening. all phone carriers make their money on the usage of data which also includes dropped calls repeated calls and so on. what seems like a minor inconvenience, where major one X millions and millions and millions of these unfortunate mistakes and interruptions translates into millions and millions of dollars once accumulated and charged.

in other words your phone carriers truly wanted us to have good service they would prioritize the initial connection to the towers through wcdma, as the priority and handshake, with LTE being preferred after the handshake is complete and only as necessary. I'm giving you a very over simplified version of this but that's basically it in a nutshell from what I'm looking at.

As far as my credentials I worked at Verizon for 7 years installing and turning up, as well as testing, the first OC-192 Network rings for then Bell Atlantic as we came in to Verizon.

I hope that what I provided for here helps clear up some of the misunderstandings or gives some clarity to how networks work and why falling back to a 2G/3G configuration works better as far as quality goes.

[kathrynunderwood]

One bar of 4G (LTE) is equivalent to 3-4 bars of 3G so you are not improving the signal at all unfortunately but just changing the units. On the positive side apparently there is less SAR radiation on the 3G network so on something like Quanta Monitor app you will see the radiation decrease when you switch to 3G.

[JaiMaldonado]

I have a vzw Samsung Galaxy s7 on t-mobile and Don't have global, GSM wcdma option only lte, 3g, 2g, what can I do to improve the reception, any suggestions? Ty in advance ❤🤘✌✊

[daironification]

This seems to work for me so far. The lady on "tech support" told me to buy a new phone -_-. BRUHHHH.

[TXH]

my S5 didn't have that option, but it's Straight Talk and the OS hasn't updated sine new. Still running 4.4.

[hunterhampton]

OMG, mine went from no lines to 3 lines thank you.

[khadija]

When you clicked on network mode I just had 2 options what you chose I didn't have that I have Samsung galaxy s5

[IsraelMartinez-kbqh]

how come my phone doesnt have network mode.. but it does have the other options! except that one

[talhaobaid]

May Allah bless you bro thank you so much

[dianenolan]

I have full bars until I try to make a call..then it goes to no bars. If I change my network and doesn't make a difference can i change it back without losing anything else?