New plan, very patchy signal (none in my house)

[pmorrow]

I just got a 4.5 gigs at 3G for 40 plan yesterday and I'm having all kinds of issues getting a signal. The signal is patchy for methroughout town (I am in a very heavily populated suburb of Toronto which should have strong reception, this isn't a remote place), and I cannot get a signal in my house, not even upstairs (NEVER has been a problem with any other carrier). I walk down the road and my service is great, I walk down another and I get none at all.

I am set to the right APN for my phone model (Samsung Galaxy S6), and I have set my phone to only pick up 3G and not 4G/LTE.

Does anyone know if this is fixable or has suggestions?

Thank you guys, any suggestions at all greatly appreciated.

[robinbanks44]

I have had that ssas problem but I found it was my phone not the plan

[pmorrow]

I've determined it's nothing to do with Public/Telus, because using my SIM card in a different device gives me good enough reception in my house. It's this particular S6 T-Mobile which has problems picking up reception inside, and in a bunch of other dead spots around town. The phone is probably not well equipped for the signal here as you say. Unforunately, absolutely nobody I've talked to (cell repairs, Public mods, Samsung support) have any idea how to fix it.

Also worth mentioning, they found no problems with the aerial in the S6. 

[torontokris]

---

@pmorrow wrote:

I received my phone back today. They determined there was nothing wrong with it . Luckily I was not charged for the inspection. Interestingly, they wouldn't take the phone in an exchange because they said T-Mobile US phones had a history of issues in Canada.

I told them the reception was nonexistent in some areas and perfectly fine in others. However, clearly the fact that a Telus sim card got good reception in their store convinced them that there was nothing wrong with the device.

The other place I took it earlier couldn't even figure out how to root the phone. Unlike the previous place, they were willing to give me 100 credit towards a new Samsung J7, but I am weary because this is the guy who sold me this S6 lemon.

I don't know what to do any more. This is so ridiculous.

---

Is it possible he’s missing the specific band of his local tower? His T-Mobile phone maybe meant for aws and not cover all bands. Any friends family with Bell Telus get reception in your house?

[pmorrow]

I received my phone back today. They determined there was nothing wrong with it . Luckily I was not charged for the inspection. Interestingly, they wouldn't take the phone in an exchange because they said T-Mobile US phones had a history of issues in Canada.

I told them the reception was nonexistent in some areas and perfectly fine in others. However, clearly the fact that a Telus sim card got good reception in their store convinced them that there was nothing wrong with the device.

The other place I took it earlier couldn't even figure out how to root the phone. Unlike the previous place, they were willing to give me 100 credit towards a new Samsung J7, but I am weary because this is the guy who sold me this S6 lemon.

I don't know what to do any more. This is so ridiculous.

[will13am]

---

@computergeek541 wrote:

---

@will13am wrote:

Honestly, Shamsung should stop being control freaks and deprecate this CSC thing.  It like region coding DVDs.  It is an inconvenience that nobody wants.  So why sour the user experience.

---

That's another things that Samsung does.  Shockingly, they do region-lock cell phones.

---

I am aware of that too.  Arguably, this is even more restrictive. 

[will13am]

---

@pmorrow wrote:

I've sent the phone into the repair shop and tried my best to explain the issue. Unfortunately the two places I went to had never even heard of CSC 

Will report back if they can explain how they fixed it.

---

The S6 is so old, is it worth the expense to perform repairs? 

[computergeek541]

---

@will13am wrote:

Honestly, Shamsung should stop being control freaks and deprecate this CSC thing.  It like region coding DVDs.  It is an inconvenience that nobody wants.  So why sour the user experience.

---

That's another things that Samsung does.  Shockingly, they do region-lock cell phones.

[will13am]

Honestly, Shamsung should stop being control freaks and deprecate this CSC thing.  It like region coding DVDs.  It is an inconvenience that nobody wants.  So why sour the user experience.

[computergeek541]

---

@pmorrow wrote:

I've sent the phone into the repair shop and tried my best to explain the issue. Unfortunately the two places I went to had never even heard of CSC 

Will report back if they can explain how they fixed it.

---

Really?  I know it's impossible to know everything but if someone is behind the counter of a cell phone repair shop, the person should know what that is.  It's a little concerning that they didn't when they are in the industry of fixing phones.

Changing the CSC would change the software's carrier customization so that it would load the Telus values.  However, that really shouldn't be necessary.   It was the WIND/Freedom phones that customers had to change the CSC for some Samsung phones because they had the LTE abilities disabled on some of these devices.

For LTE, T-Mobile use Band 4 (1700MHz) - same as Public Mobile, as well as Band 5 (850MHz) and Band 12 (700MHz).  So you should be fine for LTE, although Public does use Band 2 (1900MHz) for LTE; I doubt T-Mobiile had that blocked out, but that really wouldn't cause problems if to the extent you are having even if they did.

For 3g (which is required for voice at Public Mobile), 850 and 1900MHz is used here.  T-Mobile is the U.S. does use 1900MHz on 3g, so I doubt they would have blocked 850MHz.

[pmorrow]

I've sent the phone into the repair shop and tried my best to explain the issue. Unfortunately the two places I went to had never even heard of CSC 

Will report back if they can explain how they fixed it.

[sheytoon]

Sorry, I don't know how to do it specifically for a T-Mobile S6.

Changing CSC will factory reset your phone, so keep that in mind. And yes, best option is to change to Telus (TLS).

[pmorrow]

This very well may be the issue; the method in the article above doesn't seem to work on my phone as it is an old method. But nonetheless I believe changing the CSC will fix this. If anyone knows how to do this safely on my phone model, Samsung Galaxy S6, any tips would be appreciated. So to confirm, I would be changing the CSC to 'TLS' for Telus, correct?

[LEGO]

@pmorrow Please, read this: How to Change CSC in Samsung Galaxy Devices

Warning: Whatever method you chose to change CSC on your Galaxy phone or tablet, it is sure to wipe all data and apps present on the internal SD Card of your device. So act wisely and backup all data first.

[Luddite]

Have you tried a factory reset? Backup first, though.

That's the last of my ideas; you need the Android experts.

[pmorrow]

---

@Luddite wrote:

@pmorrow You may need to set CSC (no idea what that is) but given that LTE is "maybe" at least set the phone to 3G only. 

---

It has been set to 3G only.

[Luddite]

@pmorrow You may need to set CSC (no idea what that is) but given that LTE is "maybe" at least set the phone to 3G only. 

[pmorrow]

---

@sheytoon wrote:

Sometimes with older Samsung phones, you'll need to change the CSC to the new provider. In this case, change it to tennis Telus (TLS).

It's possible that Freedom's CSC disables certain bands.

---

Interesting; it's very likely the CSC needs to be changed. it's not a Freedom phone, it's a USA T-Mobile phone, but it is a few years old and may need this CSC thing to be changed. i am not sure what the easiest/safest way to do that is, do you know? thank you for your help

[sheytoon]

Sometimes with older Samsung phones, you'll need to change the CSC to the new provider. In this case, change it to Telus (TLS).

It's possible that Freedom's CSC disables certain bands.

[Anonymous]

---

@pmorrow wrote:

It's a Samsung Galaxy S6, SM-G920T (T-Mobile USA).

According to Public's IMEI test, my device should work with their network.

According to the website willmyphonework.net, it is compatible with 3G. it says it 'may'

work with 4G LTE but that isn't my plan so I don't know if that matters.

---

@pmorrow, just for future reference, the IMEI check on the PM website is not totally accurate as to phone compatibility.  It will catch lost/stolen phones, but is currentl unreliable for actual network compatibility.

[pmorrow]

---

@sheytoon wrote:

That's strange. Was your previous carrier Rogers? Unless it's a weak spot for Bell, your signal should be fine in the GTA.

How is the signal in other areas when you're not home?

---

It's good in some spots and terrible in others. The good and bad spots are consistent every time I go to those spots. My previous carrier was Freedom, which was spotty but worked fairly well inside.

[pmorrow]

It's a Samsung Galaxy S6, SM-G920T (T-Mobile USA).

According to Public's IMEI test, my device should work with their network.

According to the website willmyphonework.net, it is compatible with 3G. it says it 'may' work with 4G LTE but that isn't my plan so I don't know if that matters.

[MacMe]

You can try powering down and taking out the SIM and clean it to make sure there's no dust or dirt.

Then power back on and go into your Cellular settings and manually select Public Mobile as the network operator and the network type as LTE.

[sheytoon]

That's strange. Was your previous carrier Rogers? Unless it's a weak spot for Bell, your signal should be fine in the GTA.

How is the signal in other areas when you're not home?

[Luddite]

What is make/model of your phone? How does its supported network frequencies compare to those listed here: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/Getting-Started/ta-p/162?

[pmorrow]

yes, it doesn't work either.

[MacMe]

Did you try setting your network type to LTE?