Galaxy S21 Ultra weak cellular connectivity

[ThingOnASpring]

What's wrong with these phones?

This is the 2nd S21 Ultra that I've had fail in two years, two similar failures. Both in regards to cellular connectivity.

First device lasted about a year and was eventually replaced, fault was more pronounced though.

My second S21, the problem is not so obvious. Signal strength and connectivity degraded over time. Eventually making the phone almost unusable. Forget about trying to surf the web let alone stream whilst travelling in a car or riding on public transport, friends or others around me still had reception. Calls drop out consistently.  Tried a replacement sim from my provider and pre paid sims from other providers with the same symptoms. Tried all the different sims in my back up phone ( iPhone 6S ) with no reception problems.

Spent a good couple of hours last week in chat with online support who were helpful and we ran through the obvious TS steps,  eventually was asked to take the phone in to the Samsung drop off point in my area to get the device assessed. My phone is still covered under warranty.

After a few days I received an update, the engineer noted "no abnormal reception cut off or drop, network connectivity normal" in the repair description. The phone was sent back to me.  Quite disappointed.

I see that the Samsung eu community forum is littered with posts from people having exactly the same issue.

Wondering if others in Australia have experienced it ?

Now I'm basically stuck with a paper weight that I can't do much with.  Looking at purchasing a new phone as that appears to be my only option now.

[Frank55]

If you're in the EU we can't really help you. Except all I can suggest is do a Diagnostic or a Factory Reset on the phone

[ThingOnASpring]

Tried the built in diag mode, everything passed. Nothing note worthy in the error report

[ThingOnASpring]

Hi Thanks, I'm in AU. Have done a factory reset, will look into running a diag.

[Troubadour]

1. Check strength of coverage using app Aus Phone Towers. Try locking your network to 4G and below.
2. Is it worse at certain times of day? My network almost fails and does fail at certain times of day including students arriving home from school overloading the networ.
3. You might find somerhing here although most answers are not relevant
https://millmanland.com/knowledge/why-do-cell-phone-signals-go-bad/
https://www.boosterplanet.com/blog/why-your-cell-signal-is-getting-worse/

[ThingOnASpring]

Hi Thanks for your reply.

1. Coverage is good across my network ( Telstra ). Setting the network to 4G, 3G/2G..etc  didn't change the symptoms. 

2. No, it's consistently like this on the S21 Ultra no matter the time, especially if I'm in transit or unless I'm close to a cell phone tower or unless I'm on another device.  The local cafe is a good example, I can't browse trouble free on the S21 without losing connection and then having to resort to constantly toggling the airplane mode on and off to restore network access before it goes bad again, can't reproduce this on another device with the same sim card.

3. I'll take a look at those links.

As said in my original post, the phone was excellent for about a year. But mobile comms become degraded over time to the point where it's almost unusable as a phone,  the problem is unique to this device. I bought outright spending nearly $2000, phone is still under warranty and I have no recourse.

[Troubadour · Accepted solution]

There are external options. TIO telecommunications industry ombudsman, State consumer affairs bodies, look up "not fit for purpose" If making a case to the TIO they ask for evidence as to what you have done as part of making a case.

[ThingOnASpring]

Looking into that right now, thanks for the suggestion.

[Kylie-Jayne]

My Sammy Gal S21 heats up so badly, It's hot to touch.

[ThingOnASpring]

I've read that this is common but I didn't really have that issue, only got warm during charging.