[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] brokensparrow:
Hello - Dear XDA Developers Community,

First up... I'm a NOOB! (thought I'd get that out of the way first & foremost).

2nd - Please no suggestions I get my money back (already pursuing that option)

I've had a fairly modest history with Android devices, culminating in my most recent purchase a used Samsung Galaxy SII (18 months old) off eBay from a private seller. Unfortunately, from the minute I switched it on I expereinced chronic problems in achieving a reliable & consistent signal for voice & data. I'm in the UK on a PAYG & 3 are my network provider.

Upon switching the S II on with my old SIM inserted & going through some initial config (google account, SMS configuration settings, etc). I experienced intermittent signal loss for both voice & data. sporadically my phone would have no service or 1 bar (voice only!!). Expecting this to be a transient network issue I switched my SIM back into my old phone (Samsung Galaxy Ace) which gave me a consistent 3G signal. Now alarmed, I called 3 Customer services & we went through a rather lengthy trouble shooting session on the phone (multiple reboots, manually entering network details, restoring factory settings, etc). None of this worked and the 3 guy recommended I upgrade to the latest Samsung approved firmware in the hope that would perhaps fix the problem. I successfully update the firmware (details below) but the problem remained the same....

Current Android Level :-

Android Version : 4.1.2

Baseband Version: I9100NELS1

Kernel Version 3.0.31-889555

I perfomed the same tests at my house with identical results. Galaxy Ace with same SIM had decent, reliable & consistent 3G signal whereas my S2 with the same SIM struggled to achieve 1 bar at best (not even 3G or HDSPA - just a very weak voice signal). I called 3 customer services again who advised following all the action taken (and in light of both locations - B98 9AY & CV11 6GH having no coverage or network problems) the problem is definitely with the handset & there's nothing they can do.

So, I went for a stroll...... Amazingly in other areas I can achieve a good signal with high speed data transfer rates on HDSPA+ (up to 8 meg according to speedtest app). Unfortunately, in the two locations I spend the vast majority of my time (Office & Home) the phone is rarely anything other than a glorified WiFi enabled device.

I also remembered I had a GiffGaff SIM so gave this a try as well. The singal was also patchy at best and I didn't even get anything approaching a data strength reception. I checked on the o2 coverage checker which informed my location should easily be able to pick up a good voice & data signal. All of which strengthens my suspicions the problem is with the handset itself.

I've spent many hours trawling the Internet for solutions and can't see too many instances that closely match the symptoms I'm experiencing. I've downloaded the OpenSignal app - which is of limited use for me. At the moment I'm thinking this will have one of three root causes (at the moment I'm sulking and thinking it's option 1).

1) The Samsung Galaxy S II receiver is simply crap and there's nothing I can do

2) The Samsung Galaxy S II receiver is defective or inefficient at a hardware level (could send off to have it fixed)

3) There's some problem with the drivers/firmware for the receiver that will require a custom ROM upgrade to fix.

I'm open to the idea of rooting & installing a custom ROM to fix this, but only want to go down this route if it's pretty certain to have a positive outcome for this problem.

Thanks for taking the time to read this & look forward to your replies.

Kind Regards,

BrokenSparrow.