Huawei G300 - weak and inconsistent mobile signal strength

[Guest billilo]

I've recently bought the Huawei Ascend G300 but I'm finding the mobile signal

strength is weaker and inconsistent when compared to other phones in the household.

Quite often calls go straight to voicemail when the signal drops off.

I've found that If I lie the phone flat (pointing in the direction) of the nearest antenna then I get a fairly good signal (-89dBm) but as soon as I pick it up and move around then it drops down to -110 dBm.

I installed a free app called "Network signal Info" to monitor the signal strength.

I've compared it to my other phone (Blackberry 9630) on the same network (Vodafone) which has a stronger and consistent reception at -73dBm.

Is anyone else experiencing similar issues or compared their signal strength against another phone?

Any help or suggestions would be most welcome.

Network: Vodafone

Phone: unlocked

Network settings: automatically select preferred network

Edited May 5, 2012 by billilo

[Guest bumps]

Try the 886 rom see if it's any better

[Guest Davidoff59]

I haven't seen anyone else mention this problem. There are new factory roms out now, you could try flashing these to see will it help but its doubtful that it will.

If in doubt, I would return the phone and either get a replacement or something else. Vodafone have a 3 month exclusive on this phone and quite a few have already been returned. I would imagine that they will have to do a significant price drop at some stage given the bad publicity all over here, Youtube and the Huawei Facebook page.

To think Huawei has visions of being a top 3 phone seller, they have been slow to fix this sound issue, and whether its due to Vodafone delays or not, Its Huawei's reputation that is getting hammered.

[Guest FlatPackPete]

I don't have a reception problem with the G300 but I have in the past with my Sony Arc S and my daughters blackberry is guaranteed to have a few bars while mine can't see a thing.

To be honest I'd put it down to blackberry's excellent antenna design then anything else. Try to find someone with another low to mid range android phone (and yes, that matters a lot) and compare with them.

[Guest MrPuddington]

I've found that If I lie the phone flat (pointing in the direction) of the nearest antenna then I get a fairly good signal (-89dBm) but as soon as I pick it up and move around then it drops down to -110 dBm.

Yes, I have the same effect. It seems to depend on how you hold the phone (a bit like the iPhone 4 issue), but unfortunately my normal way of holding it reduces the signal strength a lot.

Maybe a cover will help, but I doubt it, because the antenna is already protected by the plastic back. It must be a truly bad antenna design.

I agree about Huawei and the aspirations. It is a nice phone with a lot of potential, but it seems to hampered in many ways by beginner's errors. The camera has some weird picture processing, the ring sound does not work properly, and neither does the antenna. That plus the outdated (pre-ICS) software, and I think the overall package is just mediocre.

Edited May 6, 2012 by MrPuddington

[Guest bumps]

guys its a budget phone nothing comes close to it at this price point new imo

Edited May 5, 2012 by bumps

[Guest CrazylegsDude]

That plus the outdated ICS software

Outdated ICS? This is running Gingerbread, and Ice cream sandwich is the newest Android operating software, so what are you talking about!

Think your a little confused!

[Guest h2005uk]

Has anyone else found this to be an issue on Vodafone with the G300? Where I live doesn't have the greatest phone signal and it often goes up and down like a yo-yo for seemingly no reason at all.

I put a spare Vodafone SIM in my old Samsung Genio Slide to compare the signal to the G300, and generally both the Genio and the G300 matched up fairly well with their signal readings. Having said that, when I've done some comparisons, the G300 has occasionally lost signal where the Genio's kept it, but the opposite has also happened! So I don't know whether both phones just have slightly rubbish antennas or what.

Incidentally, am I right in saying that some smartphones have worse antennas than other phones? I've read reports that even high-end phones such as HTCs and iPhones struggle to keep signal where lower-spec phones would happily keep signal.

[Guest RussellS]

I agree about Huawei and the aspirations. It is a nice phone with a lot of potential, but it seems to hampered in many ways by beginner's errors. The camera has some weird picture processing, the ring sound does not work properly, and neither does the antenna. That plus the outdated (pre-ICS) software, and I think the overall package is just mediocre.

I think that is a little unfair. It currently has Gingerbread with a promised ICS update in the summer so where is the problem. Sound issue aside, I'd rather they did this than rush ICS out early with loads of bugs.

With respect to the camera, I not sure what "weird picture processing" you are referring to. I've been using the camera on mine a lot this weekend and it has been fine.

What do you mean by the ring sound does not work properly. Someone calls me, the phone rings. Job done. What else is it supposed to do.

I can't comment properly on the antenna as I'm on Orange and the signal is so inconsistent where I live anyway. However, I would say that the results I get with the G300 is on a par with my old OSF and also a few Nokia (non smartphones) that I have.

guys its a budget phone nothing comes close to it at this price point new imo

I completely agree with this statement.

Edited May 28, 2012 by RussellS

[Guest Muznyu]

I do have this rapid signal strength jump too, sometimes it shows 1 or 0 bar on the notification tray. On the other hand I've never experienced complete signal loss, so maybe the signal bar gives inaccurate feedback.

[Guest zerosignull]

I get freequent signal strenght issues with the phone ranging fom good HSPA connection to dropping it altogether and swithcing to 2g.... its bloody anoying as its sitting here having a hissy fit doing it at the moment.Wondering if its a netowrk thing though .. im ont-mobile

[Guest h2005uk]

I get freequent signal strenght issues with the phone ranging fom good HSPA connection to dropping it altogether and swithcing to 2g.... its bloody anoying as its sitting here having a hissy fit doing it at the moment.Wondering if its a netowrk thing though .. im ont-mobile

I get that too when I'm in an area which has a slightly weak 3G connection but a good 2G connection. Doesn't this sort of thing happen with all phones though? I know it happens to a friend of mine who has an iPhone, and it used to happen with my old Samsung too.

[Guest zerosignull]

I get that too when I'm in an area which has a slightly weak 3G connection but a good 2G connection. Doesn't this sort of thing happen with all phones though? I know it happens to a friend of mine who has an iPhone, and it used to happen with my old Samsung too.

never happenes with my ZTE Blade though

[Guest Muznyu]

Yep, the inconsistent signal strength is the consequence of weak 3G/HSDPA network, forcing the phone to use only 2G eliminates the signal drop.

[Guest h2005uk]

Does anyone else have any experience of using this phone in areas which have a generally slightly weak signal? I can't decide whether other smartphones would be better for signal. If they are, then I may have to ditch the G300 at some point as I'm often in areas with weak signal.

[Guest tawke]

I'm getting the same problem. In work my old Galaxy mini would get a 3G signal in 2 parts of the office. This phone needs to be out of hand and flat on the desk and as soon as you move to pick it up the 3G signal goes. Very often losing signal all together but mostly it runs on Edge.

[Guest h2005uk]

I'm getting the same problem. In work my old Galaxy mini would get a 3G signal in 2 parts of the office. This phone needs to be out of hand and flat on the desk and as soon as you move to pick it up the 3G signal goes. Very often losing signal all together but mostly it runs on Edge.

It seems that in reviews of phones, they don't say how well the phone picks up signal in weaker signal areas, which is a pretty important thing to omit really. I'm surprised more people haven't commented on this issue with the G300. The problem is that it's difficult to know what phones would be better - for example, is the Galaxy Mini just particularly good or is the G300 just extra bad?

[Guest h2005uk]

And another question - is there any way to improve the signal? I'm guessing it must have something to do with the positioning of the antenna in the case?

[Guest Davidoff59]

I would raise any issues on Huawei's UK Facebook page. Don't expect much but all it takes is one person to start off that they have an issue and others will come forward.

[Guest h2005uk]

Good idea, will do. I suppose part of the problem is that most people live in urban areas and most urban areas have very good phone signal, so people who have to live with weaker signals are in the minority!

[Guest Smiff2]

this could be a major downside of this phone if all are like it. the ZTE Blade has excellent reception. will be able to compare and let you know once i start using my G300 properly next week hopefully (GiffGaff/O2 in weak signal areas)

update: based on a few days use, the reception seems about equal to the Blade.. not noticed problems so far, will report if there are any. there may be a problem with holding the phone causing attenuation, much like an iPhone! will have to use more to be sure.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Smiff2

[Guest h2005uk]

I find it slightly odd that people on this forum have been saying how great the G300 is compared to others such as the ZTE Blade, without referring at all to reception capabilities. As you say, if the G300 doesn't pick up signal as well as other phones, then it's a major flaw!

Edited June 2, 2012 by h2005uk

[Guest Davidoff59]

No issues here, same reception as I got on blade. 2 bars.

[Guest h2005uk]

Just an update:

I realised I could get numerical signal readings off my old Samsung Genio Slide (aka Corby Pro BT5310) non-smartphone by attaching it to my laptop and 'telnetting' its modem (as you can only see signal bars on the phone itself). I did that and was able to compare the signal readings to those of my G300.

My signal varies wildly depending on where I am in my house, but both my G300 and Samsung were consistently giving the same readings within +/- 3 dBm of each other (although sometimes one phone had a slightly stronger signal than the other and vice versa, and that averaged the slight differences out).

So it seems that - compared to my old Samsung which has always picked up signal pretty well - the G300 is performing as well as it should.

Incidentally, for anyone interested, it seems my old Samsung's 6 bars roughly equate to the following:

Bars dBm

0 -101 or less

1 -96 to -100

2 -90 to -95

3 -85 to -89

4 -80 to -84

5 -74 to -79

6 -73 or more

Not sure if other Samsungs have 6 bars and whether that table would apply. It's quite different to the Android signal bars, which show 4 out of 4 bars with a reading of about -89 dBm or more!

Edited June 3, 2012 by h2005uk

[Guest rbaa]

Hey guys,

I'm having the exact same issue with my G300. Bought it online and unlocked it with a code from ebay so I can use it with a Giffgaff sim. Seems to miss every 5th or so call and text message in a rather inconsistent and random manner. Took it back to Vodafone. They sent it off to get fixed, but seemed to think that unlocking it from a 3rd party voided any warranty from Vodafone or Huawei.

Seems a bit rubbish to me, especially since the shop assistant that I collected the phone from (ordered it to a store) said to go to some random shop and get it unlocked cause it was cheaper.

Anyways, have to wait now to see what they come back with. Not quite sure what I'll do if they decide to charge me/can't fix it...

Edited June 10, 2012 by rbaa