Barely any signal bars with Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime in Toronto

[JayEs]

Hi. I just opened an account with Public Mobile yesterday with a temporary phone number to try the service out before I commit to porting my number over from Chatr. I live in Toronto and on the Chatr (Rogers) network I see full signal bars on my phone. I notice that with my new Public Mobile SIM card I mostly 2 bars out of 5 in my house and at work in Toronto.

My phone is a Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime (G530W). I did look at willmyphonework.net and the results of my phone use on Telus network vs Rogers network are:

Could it be that because Telus does not have 2G that my signal strength is so low?

I think Telus even sold this phone model a year or so ago, although I bought mine unlocked from Costco. I can't imagine there being any significant difference.

Anyway, while writing this message, I was looking at the 'Network Mode' settings in my phone and switched from 'LTE/WCDMA/GMS (auto connect)' to 'WCDMA/GSM (auto connect) and my signal strenght immediate increased from 2 bars out of 5 to 4 bars out of 5. Since I plan on only using this phone for voice, SMS, and MMS, can anybody help me out here? Not that it matters for me whether it's 4G or LTE but the low signal strength is when it indicates LTE and I force it to 4G the strength spikes up. Can somebody explain? I just want to have as strong a signal as possible to make voice calls and send messages. Thanks.

[JayEs]

Thanks @will13am for the tip! I have just successfully ported my Chatr number over. Couldn't believe it took maybe 30 seconds! I now feel free to send as many SMS and MMS messages as I want and I longer feel punished when checking my own voicemail.

[will13am]

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@JayEs wrote:

Cool. So it's the 3G network that simple phone calls use for Pulblic Mobile. That's one thing I couldn't find any information about. Yes I just have a talk and text plan so I will keep my phone set to WCDMA/GSM. Before learning this I got a bit paranoid because I want to make this work and not have to stay with Chatr. 

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@JayEs, welcome to the service, I think you will like it over Chatr.  BTW, you can see the phone switch to 3G automatically each time a call is picked up or made if it was connected to LTE.  Watch for this behavior if you do set your phone to allow LTE connection.  Obviously, if you don't have a data plan, there is not point in allowing LTE to begin with. 

[JayEs]

Cool. So it's the 3G network that simple phone calls use for Pulblic Mobile. That's one thing I couldn't find any information about. Yes I just have a talk and text plan so I will keep my phone set to WCDMA/GSM. Before learning this I got a bit paranoid because I want to make this work and not have to stay with Chatr. 

[closng]

Hi @JayEs,

As @will13am mentioned, it is not due to the lack of 2G signal that is causing that (I don't believe Telus has a 2G network) because for Telus, all is done over the 3G and LTE networks.

The reason for the difference in signal between 3G (4 bars) vs LTE (2 bars) can simply be because there is a closer 3G tower to your house compared to that of the LTE tower. I believe with Public Mobile/Telus, voice/data/mms uses the 3G tower, meaning, when you make a phone call or send a text, your phone will switch to 3G to do so, therefore, I don't think it will impact your usage.

[will13am · Accepted solution]

@JayEs, I doubt that it is a lack of a 2G signal that is causing the apparent lower signal strength.  I have been a Rogers customer for a number of years.  Based on my own experience, the 3G network is actually better than 2G.  Having said that, switching your phone from LTE/WCDMA/GMS to WCDMA/GSM can result in an increase in signal strength as you have experienced.  LTE is generally on the AWS band which operates at a higher frequency and can lead to lower signal strength indoors.  When it comes to making and receiving phone calls, the phone will automatically connect on 3G anyway as Public Mobile does not use VoLTE.  If you are interested in a talk and text plan, then putting the phone on WCDMA/GSM is fine and you will enjoy a generally higher signal strength indoors.  Although not mentioned, you will like this service over Chatr due to the lack of zones.  You will be able to use the phone all over Canada, which is the way it should be.  Political boundaries should not equate to cellular boundaries within the country.