[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note5] sHaMshuN:
My Galaxy Note 5 SM-N920I purchased December of 2015 can no longer make or receieve calls. My provider is TracFone via the Bring Your Own Phone program. I use their SIM card and it has worked all this time. Until recently the phones features have stopped working. I think they have been disabling the 3G in my area, as everyone is converting to 4G now.

Note 5 is supposed to support 4G but it's definitely been having issues. Text and internet still works. however texts are sometimes delayed on occasion, not always, usually it's fine. Data speed just now was tested at 10 mbps down, 3 mbps up. Signal bars are consistently low, regardless of physical location; inside, outside, other side of town, SIM status shows signal always between -108dBm and -118dBm. This is likely why I cannot make or receive calls, but the question is, why is this happening?

Like I said, I suspect they are shutting down 3G in this area, so the best theory I've been able to come up with is this: perhaps 4G has always sucked on this phone but I never noticed because it would fall back to the good 3G connection. Now that 3G is gone in this area, all I have to use is 4G which is a shoddy connection.

Further research has found in the early days of this phone there were numerous reports of weak/no signal. See these threads:

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One theory was that the 4G antenna they used in the Note 5 / S6 was of poor design. Causing weak signal.

Things I have tried and did not work:

-Contacted TracFone. They confirmed the device is supported and provisioned correctly. They recommended a new SIM card.

-Replaced the SIM card with a brand new one

-Factory reset the device. It's running the stock Android 7.0 Nougat which was the last up to date version available.

-Tinkered with various service menus including *#2263# and *#0011#. Messing about with the LTE band settings didn't change the signal strength ever. Regardless of the LTE band, it stays in that -108 to -118 range, too weak for calling.

What can be done to fix this? Possible ideas:

-Internal antenna replacement, but this seems either expensive to have someone do, or extremely difficult to do oneself. Would it even make a difference? Has anyone tried this?

-Software. Could the issue have been introduced during one of the software updates? Planned obsolescence perhaps? Could we revert to an earlier firmware to potentially resolve this? has anyone tried this?

-Firmware. Could we upgrade the firmware to a later, unsupported version safely? Perhaps the issue was fixd in later Android versions but has not been adressed in older devices that are no longer updated.

I'm the kind of person who likes to use my things until they absolutely die. This Note 5 has been perfectly fine until recently. There is nothing wrong with it. It's still modern, fast, and has a great camera. I would HATE to have to replace a phone for such a stupid reason. Not only is money tight, but it's such a waste when this thing is still perfect apart from this weak 4G signal.

Has anyone else had this issue? Have you resolved it? Any help appreciated. Thank you.