[Q] Convince me NOT/TO get a VIBRANT (& Dump Epic) - Epic 4G General

So, I'm not very happy about the 150kbps upload, the crawling 3G overall and the crawling of the phone along with it. I love the phone itself, but I essentially hate the CDMA Golem that's attached itself to it. And I notice this has been the case with almost every one of my old CDMA devices. GSM has historically been slower but development was always MUCH faster for GSM devices, and GSM variants. And every time I get a new phone I go through this and end up back on CDMA with Sprint (plus cheap Verizon service, via roaming agreements) mainly because of the data speeds.
But T-mobile has an AMAZING new data network at least in my area (Chicago) that seems very impressive. Apparently the Vibrant can take advantage of HSPA+ up to 7.2MBPs which is faster than what I'm averaging now on wimax (although I understand the EVO got quite a boost in wimax speed with froyo as well). So the way I see it, Vibrant has the following things going for it:
+FROYO NOW (unofficial, but still its progress)
+Same data speeds
+Better overall developer community
+Gets 4G speeds IN BUILDINGS (to me, this is a HUGE advantage. Yes I understand there is still signal loss and therefore speed loss, but I'd imagine this is still much better than wimax dying after 2 inches of concrete or evdo's lower speed)
+TV Out
-No Keyboard
-No Front Camera (although supposedly this can be fixed if you're really risky)
-No Flash
-Entire network not 3G like Sprint's is, only some
-5GB "soft cap" (edge-only after 5gb)
I'm hoping the upload speed issue gets resolved. Also, I can't help but think the Epic MAY get left behind like the moment was in terms of updates. My friend has had a motorola cliq for about a year now and he's still stuck on 1.5-1.6 (they promised 2.1). I really don't want to commit to a phone for a year that may not be supported past a few months.

Not this topic again.

Please go get the Virbrant. It's a much better phone. It will make you much happier. Then you can talk of your love for the phone on the vibrant thread.

Yup. I say go get the Vibrant.

Sorry, I didn't necessarily see a thread (made AFTER both were out on the market for a week or so) actually comparing the two. This is not meant to slam the Epic (my current and possibly will remain my current) phone. If you notice there are both advantages AND disadvantages listed. I'm simply trying to get people's opinions, especially if there is something I missed. I think they are both great phones, just trying to decide between them. I don't generally get "attached" to hardware to the point that I'll try and "defend" or "attack" it, just trying to discuss it. If this thread still bothers you, by all means, there are many others.

Id say go for the Vibrant, because you are correct about the 3g data speeds, also even though we have wimax, it seems in alot of areas you need a damned directional antenna to get a signal, and you can pretty much forget about inside the house service. With tmobiles 3g, you dont have to worry about bad spots in a metropolitan area for the most part, and it penetrates houses MUCH better. Also, while the epic has great hardware, the battery life is horrendous, and the vibrants is a bit better.
Cons for the vibrant include no ffc, no flash, no keyboard (con for some), and no notification light. The absence of the latter is pretty stupid in my opinion.
Also, its not a 5gb cap, you have up to 10gb till getting throttled.

Thanks, I didn't know about the notification light missing. Also I've ONLY ever had CDMA phones. Quite a few of them on many different OS'es, but its hard to try and make an informed decision when you have no experience with the service. Not sure exactly what attributes about signal and penetration will change based on where I live and work. That's why I've got you guys/gals!

Go get a vibrant and make yourself happy. I am currently happy with the Epic and those issues that you have means that you must be extremely picky. Good luck.

I really don't care what you do but there's not an option for that in your poll.

please do.

go buy a vibrant and return your epic

There is a wonderful DEV team here that works their butts off to make these devices "all devices" better. Instead of throwing in the towel why don't you try their ROMs out, and donate if you can. Looking at the vibrant forums I see folks complain about other stuff so it doesn't much matter what you go with. Like I said not all phones are perfect.

agonzalez1010 said:
There is a wonderful DEV team here that works their butts off to make these devices "all devices" better. Instead of throwing in the towel why don't you try their ROMs out, and donate if you can. Looking at the vibrant forums I see folks complain about other stuff so it doesn't much matter what you go with. Like I said not all phones are perfect.
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That's the point everyone else is making albeit a bit less verbose. Sometimes people just need to go to the other side of the fence and see that even if the grass looks greener, it's still just as bitter.
And the Devs are terrific at what they do and it's awesome to see so much support for a phone less than a month old.

yeah the Epic community is not as large.. but i'm sure it will grow.
Do what makes you happy.. even if I vote it won't make a difference.
They are both good phones.. just don't get the facinate.. yuck.. lol

The problem with giving an answer to this question is that everyone's needs are different. My wife and I both plan to get an Epic in about a month or so (when our AT&T contract is up). The 3G upload cap will affect her much more than me because she likes to take pics/video and send them to Facebook, where I don't do that very much. I also work in a large metro area that will have 4G coverage, where my wife will (mostly) be in our home town that will not likely get 4G signal for quite a while yet. So I won't be as affected by the 3G cap as she would be. But this could be a deal-breaker for her.
My one gripe with the Vibrant is lack of flash for the camera. I don't mind the lack of the front facing camera or the keyboard. Those are "nice to haves" in my opinion. But I will never understand why a phone manufacturer would bother to put a 5MP (or higher) camera in a phone and not include a flash. It just baffles me. Surely, a flash doesn't add THAT much cost to the phone? It's the one downer about that phone for me, and it's something I will have to live with if things don't work out for us with the Epic. If it wasn't for the fact that I get a Sprint discount through work we'd likely be going with T-mobile, as their coverage is very good in our area.
I suspect that Sprint/Samsung will sort out the upload cap in the next month or two. It's a shame that this was even a problem upon release of the phone, but I think they will right this ship. Unfortunately, this means that folks who have their 30-day trial coming to an end soon will either have to jump ship or take a leap of faith. I feel bad for those people and am glad that I and my family have to wait a while to switch to Sprint so we don't have to be faced with the decision for a couple of months yet. Hopefully the fix will be out by then.
Good luck, whatever you decide!

greengoldmello said:
Cons for the vibrant include no ffc, no flash, no keyboard (con for some), and no notification light. The absence of the latter is pretty stupid in my opinion.
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The absence of a notification light would be a 100% dealbreaker for me. I had an iPhone for a single day and took it back immediately in part because of this, which I didn't realize ahead of time. I use my phone for both personal and business emails, and if I have to keep turning on the phone every ten minutes to manually check my email, then it's not worth having that phone...
This really should be a basic, required feature on any phone.

badasscat said:
The absence of a notification light would be a 100% dealbreaker for me. I had an iPhone for a single day and took it back immediately in part because of this, which I didn't realize ahead of time. I use my phone for both personal and business emails, and if I have to keep turning on the phone every ten minutes to manually check my email, then it's not worth having that phone...
This really should be a basic, required feature on any phone.
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This is exactly what I meant by my previous post. Everyone has their own needs and none of us can really answer his question for him because of this. You need the notification light for your own reason, while I am used to not having a notification light and can live without it on future phones.
I don't think anyone but the OP can realistically answer the question because our answers will always be biased towards what we think is necessary on our own phones.

othan1 said:
That's the point everyone else is making albeit a bit less verbose. Sometimes people just need to go to the other side of the fence and see that even if the grass looks greener, it's still just as bitter.
And the Devs are terrific at what they do and it's awesome to see so much support for a phone less than a month old.
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Yes, and I think this is mostly my issue. I've never been on the other side of the fence. I'd almost like to get a 2nd line for a month just to try it out... I have been coming to this site for years and if it wasn't for these wonderful developers (and the testers that provide useful feedback) these devices wouldn't be half as attractive as they are.
I too hope they get the upload issue sorted out, otherwise I do love this phone. I appreciate everyone's input (well, at least those who were helpful) and it will help me about when my 30 days is up and I have a decision to make (unless they fix it, PLEASE sprint!)
I'll consider the issue closed as I know have all the information I believe I need to make my decision, whatever it ends up being. Plus, something tells me if this goes on anymore I'll end up with more people who just get annoyed that I asked...

Another thing to consider, especially since you're in the midwest: WiMax might or might not have good indoor coverage today, but EVDO has pretty reliable coverage just about everywhere I've been (including Ohio and Pennsylvania). I'd seriously recommend asking some T-Mobile users who live in areas where you go a few times a year (parents, vacation spots, lakeside resorts, campgrounds, etc) how their 3G coverage is THERE. From what I've seen, T-Mobile has decent 3G coverage in Florida and California, but the more miles between you and the Atlantic or Pacific, the less likely you are to get reliable UMTS 3G from them. In many parts of the midwest, you'll be lucky to get EDGE. In quite a few shockingly non-rural areas, all you'll get is GPRS.
Don't just look at official "coverage" maps... get the Sensorly map viewer (which uses crowdsourcing to have users voluntarily sample signal strength in various areas and report it to them) and check the 3G coverage in specific places where you're likely to spend time (including malls, shopping centers, homes of friends and family members, etc). Sprint is far from perfect, but T-Mobile's 3G coverage looks horrifyingly ragged once you start zooming in to specific neighborhoods, regardless of how good it might look when you're zoomed out so a city the size of Chicago fills a 320x480 screen.
It's been years since Sprint has even *had* meaningful service as slow as GPRS (as in, Samsung SPH-i300 circa 2001-2002), but I can tell you... GPRS is about as close to useless as you can get. It's almost worse than no service at all, because at least when there's no service at all, you won't waste your time bothering to even try using it.
GPS wise, a stock Vibrant will never be more than a week or two ahead of a rooted Epic -- the moment any real fix gets released for the Vibrant, it'll get ripped and grafted onto Epics anyway. The same holds true in the other direction as well. How many hours did it take for Epic's GPS improvements to make their way onto rooted Vibrants? Like, maybe... 6?
The 150k EVDO cap is a bug, and I suspect the only reason it hasn't been fixed YET is because it probably requires taking a cell site down for maintenance, so Sprint is loath to do it outside of a regularly-scheduled maintenance window. Whatever phone you go with is going to be with you for at least another 10 months... do you really want to commit yourself to 9 of them based on a problem that's likely to resolve itself by the end of next month?
Also, don't forget that the Vibrant has only a small amount of "fast" flash, and relies on an internal microSD card for the other 16gb. On an Android phone, the only place slower than MicroSD for storage is a remote server accessed over the 'net.
In short, don't cut off your nose to spite your face... at least, not without spending some serious time researching what T-Mobile is like in the specific square blocks of land you care about. T-Mobile's best areas might be better than Sprint, but it's a lot worse than Sprint in quite a few more (especially the middle parts of the country, and more than a mile away from a transcontinental interstate highway). You'll be able to make voice calls & do text messages just about everywhere, thanks to roaming agreements with AT&T... but AFAIK, you can't roam on 3G, and I'm pretty sure AT&T won't allow you to roam on EDGE either. In contrast, Sprint can roam on Verizon and enjoy at least 1xRTT speeds anywhere Verizon has service. 1xRTT isn't fast, but there's a blurry line somewhere between "annoyingly slow" and "unusable" -- 1xRTT is somewhere on the good side, and GPRS is absolutely on the bad side of it.

Yes, the speed vs coverage issue is definitely something I'm weighing in my decision making. I don't travel OFTEN but when I do its most likely for work which means both voice AND data matter. Its very rare that I can't get EVDO even in the middle of nowhere (do they even HAVE 1x towers anymore?), only 1x when I have like 1 bar and the SNR is just too poor for EVDO. I am going to "do my best" to stick it out with sprint. Hopefully they can make up my mind for me before the 4th

Related

Leaving my Nexus behind for VZW

I've been a T-Mobile customer for over 13 years and I've been loving my Nexus One since the day it was released (before the N1, I had been a G1 lover since the day it was released, too), but today I went to VZW and ordered myself the Incredible.
The only reason is because tmo's network in my area is crap. Zero 3G, rarely EDGE, mainly GPRS. And that's when I actually have service at all.
I feel like I am sacrificing as far as the device itself, but it's an overall win sure to actually being able to use the device the way it was intended.
I'd like to hear from people who have swapped from the N1 (any network) to the Incredible and get their thoughts. Am I going to miss my N1? Will I regret my decision?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App - Typos, thanks to Swype.
good for you, welcome to the incredible family
I love the Incredible I must say. My gripes would the battery life which is kind of expected on a device like this and root. I was spoiled when I first got the Nexus 1 because it was already rooted before it even came out thanks to Modaco. I tend to get all the latest devices when they come out and will continue. I plan to bet the Evo from Sprint and retire my Incredible only because I have become use to bigger screen. All in all the incredible is an excellent device a side from what u want to use it for i.e Rooting etc..
I do not think you are giving up anything at all for the switch. If your area gives you 3G, Good Reception and Good download speeds on the Verizon network then you have made more than a 400% gain over the N1 in terms of actual usability. You will miss some root features, some controls that you had but in a short time you will have those same features again once its rooted.
The optical track ball needs some tweaking for sure. The battery life I feel will come in a software update that hopefully will resolve the issue of incorrect full charge readings. In the mean time follow some of the little tips and tweaks people posted and purchase an inexpensive $14.99 ebay HTC Tilt2 1500mAH battery for a spare and you are set.
If Sprint has good coverage in your area then you might want to look at that as well. The EVO 4G is a very good option as well if you like a bigger phone. It's not for everyone due to the size but if you don't mind it ( go to Tmobile and hold the HD2 ) then it would be a very good alternative as well.
Good luck.
you're not alone. I made the switch to VZW too. I had average 3g with T-Mo everywhere in my city, except at my work where I had absolutely no signal at all, and having no signal at all 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, is just not gonna fly with me. Add to that the fact that we get 15% off service through my work with Verizon and switching was a no brainer. I couldn't be happier either. I've yet to drop out of 3g coverage, my signal strength is always in the -75 to -85 range, and I have a pretty constant speed of 1200-1500kbps which is better than I was getting with T-Mo around here. Of course I miss my N1, and it's gonna be rough when that 2.2 update comes out, but being able to use my Incredible the way it was intended is, well...incredible
I made the switch as well. We've been promised 3G out here for the past two years and still nothing. We even have a fairly large Tmobile Call Center and still nothing. Of course every other carrier has had 3G here for as long as I can remember. I got tired of Tmobile piddling around and I must say having 3G everywhere I got is amazing.
I left Tmo for the same reasons the 3G service sucked and they were working hard on increasing the 3G service to 4G, but not doing much of anything to increase the areas that were on Edge unless is was a large city.
Too bad, their prices were good, I don't think you will regret the change, I have a week verizon signal where I live compared to the Tmo signal I use to have, but I have 3G with Verizon and I did not with Tmo.
I was up in Manchester, Ca. KOA browsing the internet on my Incredible while no one else had cell service, Manchester in in the middle of nowhere, thats Verizon good service.
after being fed up with Tmobile's horrid coverage, I too switched. I was a G1 early adopter, and recently bought a Nexus. With the Nexus 3g issues coupled with the already crap coverage, and add to the mix that my employer is set up to get a 20% discount on monthly fee's and I am playing the same as I was with Tmo, it was a no-brainer!
Now if only Sense could be removed....CityID removed....and make the battery last I would be fully happy. LOL
gospeed.racer said:
after being fed up with Tmobile's horrid coverage, I too switched. I was a G1 early adopter, and recently bought a Nexus. With the Nexus 3g issues coupled with the already crap coverage, and add to the mix that my employer is set up to get a 20% discount on monthly fee's and I am playing the same as I was with Tmo, it was a no-brainer!
Now if only Sense could be removed....CityID removed....and make the battery last I would be fully happy. LOL
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you can kind of get rid of sense if you download another home app.
The N1 is using the G1's multitouch sensor. The incredible is using a far superior multitouch sensor. The buttons on the incredible are better too. You did the right thing. The only cool feature the N1 really had was the noise cancellation, but you can get that from a decent bluetooth headset.
Thanks for the info folks. I ordered my Incredible Friday (5/14) and with all the latest news about the back orders, it looks like I'll be waiting a while before I can make the switch...
My biggest concern is the SenseUI. I just haven't liked it in the past. It seems like functionality and flow both drop for me (having used plain vanilla Android since day 1 on the G1) when using Sense.
I'm hoping for root access on the Incredible so that I can, if nothing else, get rid of Sense... It's not horrible (or I wouldn't have gone with the Incredible), but I just prefer vanilla.
Anyway, thanks for your info on switching from the N1 to the Incredible. I'm looking forward to actually being able to use my glorious Android device the way it was intended, with the help of "the network".
You can always download a home replacement like zeam or helix and then use a task manager to shut off sense
hi, hope i not hijack the forum. lot of t-mob to vzw. any from att to vzw?
I was on Tmo for eight years and also used a G1 since it was released. Tmo coverage is weak in KY and 3G is only in part of main city near where I live. I like the Inc a lot, but still wish it had a physical KB for game emulators and Flash game content. Had a Droid, but the keyboard was weak and did not like the microsd behind the battery.
Anyways, I went from about 5% 3G, 80% 2g, 10% Edge and 5% no signal, to 95% 3G and 5% 1X. I have yet to find a place with no signal, which was not hard at all to find with Tmo.
BTW, Sprint coverage is not much better than Tmo, so if coverage is a factor, same boat. Sprint only uses Verizon towers for calls and 2G level data. No 1X or 3G for non-Verizon customer tower users.
MadM3rlin said:
The N1 is using the G1's multitouch sensor. The incredible is using a far superior multitouch sensor. The buttons on the incredible are better too. You did the right thing. The only cool feature the N1 really had was the noise cancellation, but you can get that from a decent bluetooth headset.
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Incred also has a few other advantages over the N1:
1. Microsd is hot swappable and not stuck behind the battery
2. Over three times the app storage space and no need to mess with apps2sd for a long time. Also, since the Inc uses the 512mb rom only for the OS and stock apps, no worries about losing app space due to rom upgrades.
3. 6.6gb free for media- not counting microsd space. The Inc would have had more built in storage space, but this is why there is 748mb free for third party apps- the Inc was allocated 748mb of flash for apps.
4. FM radio
I'm going from a first-day G1 adopter to Incredible. I've been a GSM user for 9 years (Voicestream to Cingular to T-Mobile), but T-Mobile has been kind of sucky. I live in the NY metro area and even here the 3G service is patchy, and even if I get 3G, it's quite slow. I'm not happy that I won't be able to use my phone internationally, but it's something that I realised was a smaller requirement as compared to the 95% of the time I spend in the US.
I held off on upgrading to the N1 mostly because I was bound by a two-year T-Mobile contract and the full price for N1 was too much to digest. I complained to T-Mobile about this, and they made me eligible for a fully subsidised price at their end, but Google refused to budge. Also, Verizon offers a 1 year contract which nobody else does, so that's a plus.
I still don't have the Incredible in my hands, so I don't know how I'll feel with Sense, but looking at the videos, I think the apps look pretty nice. It's only the home screen that I might need to replace. I really hope that Incredible gets rooted soon.

Verizon tier 2 support admitted...

...to me that the samsungs have their antennas placed in such a way that it is very prone to signal issues.
This comes after they swapped me out 3 times in my first month of service to try to get me a working data connection. My wifes droid 2 doesn't have the same problems and data is great. So they told me today that they are sending me a new droid x because the signal is a known issue.
I have mixed feelings about this cause I love the Fascinate. However not having data a connection really isn't an option. The x is still a sweet phone. If they know the antennas are poorly placed then I would doubt a software update is going to fix the issue.
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Isn't the antennae in the bottom half of the device? I feel like I read that in the manual.
It seems to me that after the OTA update, that my reception went way up!
ptfdmedic said:
...to me that the samsungs have their antennas placed in such a way that it is very prone to signal issues.
This comes after they swapped me out 3 times in my first month of service to try to get me a working data connection. My wifes droid 2 doesn't have the same problems and data is great. So they told me today that they are sending me a new droid x because the signal is a known issue.
I have mixed feelings about this cause I love the Fascinate. However not having data a connection really isn't an option. The x is still a sweet phone. If they know the antennas are poorly placed then I would doubt a software update is going to fix the issue.
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The impression I got was that it wad a hardware defect. To get a better idea of signal strength go to settings,about phone,status and look at the signal strength number. It should be -86 to -92 according to the techs. Once you get -93 the signal isn't good data at all. I sit around -106 most of the time while my sides droid 2 is around -86 most of the time. Is ashame because these phones are really nice. They can tweak reception maybe with a software update but they can't fix a bad design. I wonder if this is why Verizon isn't pushing this phone like the other carriers are. I don't remember having this issue with my Epic prior to switching.
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The signal reporting could probably easily be fixed with a software update. I sit outside with full bars and a great signal, and that screen will show me the same values as when I'm inside with next to no signal. I wouldn't trust it to determine if there is a problem or not, but that is just me.
Also, when you have so many phones that are already good, and a few more on the way, how do you decide which one's to "push" to the public? I'd also guess that they'll wait until it gets updated to Froyo before pushing it more as I think it's the only phone they have still without it.
They cram the droid x down everyones throats even though it is inferior to the fascinate. Why would they push a phone with so many known issues? I was simply suggesting that this may be a reason why you don't see verizon advertising the crap out of the fascinate.
As far as the signal goes I don't believe it is reporting wrong. It will take me almost a minute some times to connect a call after hitting send because there is no signal. I have a .01 mb/sec download spead on my fascinate cause the signal isn't strong enough for a more reliable connection.
I'm not the first to have this problem and my whole point was the tier 2 tech guy told me that antennas are a known issue and its a design issue on the samsung. I was simply sharing my experience thats all. I know a lot of people are in the same boat as me and at least there are options to switch models. They know its a problem and were quite willing to get me out of the fascinate. I never asked them for anything but help to get it working. They told me of they give me another fascinate i will have the same problem because its a design issue.
They could tweak the radio with an update but if it is a hardware issue it will never get fixed. Samsung doesn't have a good reputation for fixing these problems even the
easier software issues like GPS never gets fixed.
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Good for you, I'm getting tired of my fascinate too.i like my phone but the signal sucks, no gps when you need it, and I can't be farther then 20 feet from my wifi or I won't get signal o yeah and a ton of late txt's that i get from people like a day later.
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I always think that it is counterproductive to start a thread to complain about a device without including what market they live in. Also taking into consideration that it does not look like [OP] has been happy with any of the devices he has had since the beginning of September. I myself have not seen any issues with reception but if you look to the left you can see I'm in a major market. GPS does not annoy me. I might use it twice a week and I open gmaps put the phone on the dash and pick it up a minute later with a lock rain or shine. I've done some traveling and have not noticed any difference in signal from my past devices. And I would gather that if a true poll were to be done about peoples satisfaction with the fascinate it would reveal similar results below.
Worst phone ever. 1%
Don't like it. 4%
Love it. 95%
I wish you luck in your quest.
good day.
I got a speed test result of 2Mbps down and 200Kbps down, both with -96dBm listed as the signal strength. Maybe the cellular antennae isn't designed as great as other devices, but you can't tell me that I should have an order of magnitude difference in bandwidth when the signal strength reading is the same (within the resolution that the software can measure) without there being a software issue.
Wow. Ok. Well I'm in the Cleveland market not that it matters as its hardware related. Yes I'm complaining because I really like this phone but it doesn't work as as its supposed to. If you read the forums the galaxy s phone have lots of problems from gps, signal to slider and image retention. It a shame because these are really nice phones, probably the best ones out right now.
I'm not on a quest for a perfect phone. I had issues with the Epic as many others have had as well. I left Sprint because I am the father to 3 Autistic kids. We spend alot of time at the Cleveland clinic and for some reason Sprint doesn't cover there very well.
I left Sprint and moved to Verizon for the better network but with the Fascinate I have been unable to tap into the network. We communicate with our customers and our kids doctors via email so the data connection. So yeah I complain when something that I am paying good money for doesn't work. I don't have money to throw away and verizon is more expensive then sprint. I was impressed with verizons customer service and am grateful they are helping me solve this problem because in real life I have much bigger things to worry about. I just wanted to share what I was told. I'm not looking for problems with this phone but I do need more then. 01 mb per sec on the 3g side.
Rob
www.lostandtired.com (my families story)
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I get you. This is an amzing phone but one marred with problems some of which could be fixed on the software side others that can't. But a great phone none the less.
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Maybe your right. My frame of reference was my wifes droid 2 network performance. There is a significant difference between the reported reception of the 2 devices . That also translates to the download speed as well. As far as the signal numbers go that is just what Verizon tech told me. But in all honesty now that you mention it you mention it didn't the iphone 4 have a reception reporting issue that was fixed by an update. I'm basing my issues on real world performance though and not just the numbers. The numbers just seem to coincide with my data connection issues. Verizon said it was my phone and not the service in my area but you may be correct with the signal reporting. Thanks for pointing that out.
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ptfdmedic said:
Wow. Ok. Well I'm in the Cleveland market not that it matters as its hardware related. Yes I'm complaining because I really like this phone but it doesn't work as as its supposed to. If you read the forums the galaxy s phone have lots of problems from gps, signal to slider and image retention. It a shame because these are really nice phones, probably the best ones out right now.
I'm not on a quest for a perfect phone. I had issues with the Epic as many others have had as well. I left Sprint because I am the father to 3 Autistic kids. We spend alot of time at the Cleveland clinic and for some reason Sprint doesn't cover there very well.
I left Sprint and moved to Verizon for the better network but with the Fascinate I have been unable to tap into the network. We communicate with our customers and our kids doctors via email so the data connection. So yeah I complain when something that I am paying good money for doesn't work. I don't have money to throw away and verizon is more expensive then sprint. I was impressed with verizons customer service and am grateful they are helping me solve this problem because in real life I have much bigger things to worry about. I just wanted to share what I was told. I'm not looking for problems with this phone but I do need more then. 01 mb per sec on the 3g side.
Rob
www.lostandtired.com (my families story)
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
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There's a post about fixing slow 3G speeds, I have doubled mine playing around with it. I moved to Verizon because T-Mo didn't have good service at my new residence, and I was dropping calls. Also only edge. I would have little or no signal for the hour drive from and to Savannah, and dead zones in some of the busiest parts of the city.
I was very reluctant to jump carriers because I had an N1, and absolutely loved it. When I made the decision, I did a significant amount of research, and waited a month to grab a fascinate on release.
I haven't seen a single instant of no service, or for that matter, a 3G connection. Even in the rural boonies I have at least your reported data speeds, and about two bars on signal. Sitting in the middle of a five floor concrete and stone courthouse which is notorious for killing connection, I pull down .78 average and a -92 dbm.
So then, in complete agreement with the above posters, unless you know something about the phone hardware from a very well founded technical standpoint that has escaped the rest of us who are having no such issues, then perhaps you should consider some other possibilities. maybe you just got a bad device?
Or.
Perhaps you are actually a Droid X Ninja, working for Motorola to dissuade the ignorant from buying a better device....
hmmmmm....
In all seriousness though, I would take it Verizon and see about a swap. Your area should have a sufficient infrastructure to have a decent experience.
Daswolven said:
There's a post about fixing slow 3G speeds, I have doubled mine playing around with it. I moved to Verizon because T-Mo didn't have good service at my new residence, and I was dropping calls. Also only edge. I would have little or no signal for the hour drive from and to Savannah, and dead zones in some of the busiest parts of the city.
I was very reluctant to jump carriers because I had an N1, and absolutely loved it. When I made the decision, I did a significant amount of research, and waited a month to grab a fascinate on release.
I haven't seen a single instant of no service, or for that matter, a 3G connection. Even in the rural boonies I have at least your reported data speeds, and about two bars on signal. Sitting in the middle of a five floor concrete and stone courthouse which is notorious for killing connection, I pull down .78 average and a -92 dbm.
So then, in complete agreement with the above posters, unless you know something about the phone hardware from a very well founded technical standpoint that has escaped the rest of us who are having no such issues, then perhaps you should consider some other possibilities. maybe you just got a bad device?
Or.
Perhaps you are actually a Droid X Ninja, working for Motorola to dissuade the ignorant from buying a better device....
hmmmmm....
In all seriousness though, I would take it Verizon and see about a swap. Your area should have a sufficient infrastructure to have a decent experience.
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Click to collapse
I agree with you. The problem is I have been swapped out 3 times and I promise I'm not a droid x ninja I live in Canton Ohio very close to the pro football hall of fame. So you are right about the infrastructure. I honestly don't know what the problem is but it is only happening on the fascinate and not the droid 2 that my wife uses. All 3 of the phones have had the same reception issues. Maybe there is a bug in the code for reporting signal strengh as been suggested. I did try the 3g fix and pushed the file to the correct place but it didn't appear to make a difference one way or the other. People have had mixed success with that.
Get yours works great and that's awesome but for me I can't pull anything better then -96dBm and usually sit right around -106dBm. Verizon keeps telling me its the phone and gives me a new one and it performs the same way.
My intention was not to cause an a problem but to share what I had been told with others who are experiencing the same problems. Not everyone seems to be having the issue but there are issues. I had image retention on my Epic but not on the fascinate. However, there are many people having the retention with the fascinate as well. Just cause I haven't had it doesnt mean its not a problem for others. I really hope this is a software issue but I was told it wasn't. I was just trying to help others with the same problem by sharing what verizon told me. I'm glad your phone works well for you and honestly I'm envious because I wish mine did. Aside from my Palm Pre this is the best phone I have had. I just can't get it to work. The x should arrive soon and I see if there is a difference in performance regarding the network. My guess is that it will work better but part of me is really hoping that it has issues as well so verizon will put in a trouble ticket. They say my area is not having any problems and so they haven't put in a trouble ticket. I truly hope its a network issue or something else that can be fixed.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Motorola is known for having the best signal strength/connectivity in their phones/devices compared to other manufacturers. I personally haven't had an issue yet, but I'm getting similar download speeds to my old TP2, which is my comparison and there were places that signal and internet were terrible, and they are just slightly better with my Fascinate now, so I'm content with what I have.
Glad it is working well for you. The other thing that occured to me today was maybe my wifes phone is reporting the signal incorrectly and there is actually a problem in my area that just hasnt been reported. I had just assumed the Droid 2 was working better cause the numbers were better and it seem to connect calls faster and data was more stable.
It could just be a combination of things. Poor antennae placement in the Fascinate would lead to slightly worse signal strength and translate to lower data rates. A software error could make it seem like the problem is worse than it really is. I think the highest signal that anyone has seen reported on the Fascinate is -86dBm (or close to that). Compared to a Motorola device which has what may be one of the best systems for signal, and a similar software error may make it so that it appears that the signal strength difference is much greater than it really is. To go along with all of that, signal strength and data speeds are so dependent upon the environment and a ton of other factors that could make either go up or down from one minute/hour/day to the next.
Thanks. Makes sense.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
I to have been experiencing signal issues. This is a distinct signal difference between my Droid 1 and the Fascinate. While the signal received seems to be similar I have call quality issues on the Fascinate I have never had on the Droid. I to will end up returning this phone because of the issues unless Verizon can find a way to fix it.
The Fascinate is a great phone but poor signal is not an excuse for Verizon.
No, I'm not saying my market because it doesn't matter. The fact that there is an issue is the reason for this thread. If you happen to live in an area that has perfect signal every where you go then goody for you.
Having not owned another droid phone, i have experienced just the opposite as some of the posters here. I came from a TP and had problems talking on the phone in my house. The Fascinate has no problems inside the house or any other area i travel in. Where i work has spotty coverage as best but as soon as i step out the door i have signal, whereas with the TP i had to walk across the street to a vacant lot to get signal.

I'm seriously thinking about returning this now

I just read that the LG Optimus 2x with dual core is coming out in March, and apparently for Tmobile. It will most likely be 4G also.
This makes my new Nexus S seem outdated already. Man I really like the phone but the fact that it doesnt support 4G was already a big hit for me, but I still got it. I didnt realize how much it really affected me until the other day I was talking with a friend who has an Evo and hes "let's see if this face time app works". I said sure, and connected to the my wifi signal, so we're trying to connect and he's like "man, connect to the 4g signal maybe its faster".
At that moment I couldn't open my mouth to say that my new phone which i dropped over $500 for, couldn't connect to 4g. I just played it off and changed topics.
Anyways that was my small rant, I'm sure others feel the same.
LG OPTIMUS currently has:
TEGRA 2
HDMI Mirroring
4 INCH WVGA Display
8gb Internal
MicroSD Slot
8MP camera
front facing camera
DLNA out of the box
With CES right around the corner, I'm glad I have 30 days to return the Nexus S.
.
I feel the same way as you. Im not going to say its a bad phone but we all had such high expectations. Who knows maybe LG might make the next NEXUS. I switched from my N1 because that was already starting go get me mad. I use to hate my brothers Vibrant because the screen was so amazing. So my Pros overpower the Cons so ill stick to it. Maybe when the new LG comes out ill jump on it, but i HATE branded phones. loaded with a bunch of crap i don't need.
Already threads open about this. Android is also not optimized yet for dual core, so have fun with utilizing only one core.
thepoetvd776 said:
I just read that the LG Optimus 2x with dual core is coming out in March, and apparently for Tmobile. It will most likely be 4G also.
This makes my new Nexus S seem outdated already. Man I really like the phone but the fact that it doesnt support 4G was already a big hit for me, but I still got it. I didnt realize how much it really affected me until the other day I was talking with a friend who has an Evo and hes "let's see if this face time app works". I said sure, and connected to the my wifi signal, so we're trying to connect and he's like "man, connect to the 4g signal maybe its faster".
At that moment I couldn't open my mouth to say that my new phone which i dropped over $500 for, couldn't connect to 4g. I just played it off and changed topics.
Anyways that was my small rant, I'm sure others feel the same.
LG OPTIMUS currently has:
TEGRA 2
HDMI Mirroring
4 INCH WVGA Display
8gb Internal
MicroSD Slot
8MP camera
front facing camera
DLNA out of the box
With CES right around the corner, I'm glad I have 30 days to return the Nexus S.
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Click to collapse
i agree with most but now the negatives.
- no community support " really, who buys an LG phone here? "
- its 2.2, they promised 2.3 which will probably be ****ty just like 2.2 on Galaxy S
- for sure no Android 3.0
- its an LG phone. how many times i have to say it ?
in paper, the Lg 2X is amazing. will i buy one ? probably i will. i think think the nexus S is a disspointment in terms of power
its not a bad phone. its just a galaxy S with better software " no rfs bull**** " and support by google. so android 3.0 is coming
plus. its a 3 months away. you could always buy the nexus S and sell it later if that phone is better. BUT if you already have nexus 1 or newer, then yeah dont spend money on nexus S
tekkitan said:
Already threads open about this. Android is also not optimized yet for dual core, so have fun with utilizing only one core.
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please dont post bull****. thank you and good bye
I suspect the shipped units will have kernels that're set up just fine.
Also just because LG doesn't have a big dev following yet, doesn't mean it wont when this comes out. This could be the thing that starts it off for them.
I seriously thought about waiting for the LG phone, primarily because of the Tegra2 and the 8MP camera. There was one major reason I didn't wait:
Straight Google Experience.
I am sick and tired of waiting for months on end for manufacturers and carriers to update the OS. And I'm tired of wondering if a manufacturer will update an OS for a phone at all.
Sure, the developers here on XDA are amazing, but they still need hardware drivers from the manufacturers to work their magic.
I just wanted to know that I was going to have a phone that Google supported.
Dudes-
It's not like you didn't know the specs before buying the thing. LOL.
Seriously, some of the design decisions on the phone are mind-boggling (no AT&T support like the Vibrant has, no "4G" support, no external sdcard, etc), but we knew these decisions before purchasing.
Personally, I love Galaxy S phones, and this is the best looking, best fitting in my hand of the lot, but I'd been using an i9000 on AT&T and in the areas of Los AngelesI frequent, the AT&T service is better overall than T-Mo. If the phone were 4G, I'd put up with the poorer coverage of T-Mo, but as is, the T-Mo service has me 50/50 on keeping the phone or not.
I have to disagree with the above comment that if you have a Nexus One this upgrade doesn't make sense. The much superior 4" SAMOLED vs. the 3.7" AMOLED screen is reason enough to dump the N1 for the NS, especially if you spend any time in the sunlight. The vastly superior multi-touch touch screen of the NS is also reason enough to switch, IMHO.
To each his own, though.
I wouldn't worry about it cause we all know that t-mobile doesn't have 4g, It's just hspa+. And even though the nexus s doesn't support it, you still can see slightly increased speeds simply because the network backhaul is increased so that the full 7.2Mbps is achieved on the nexus s. Nexus s owners are already reporting actual download speeds near 6Mbps. Don't you think that is fast enough for video calls fast enough to future proof this phone for at least the next year?
4G technology doesn't exist yet period. Not on T-mobile, not on Sprint, not on Verzion.
Is "4G" (HSPA+) even available in your area?
Better specs don't necessarily equate to a better phone, you might feel like it's outdated only a few months later. I say stick with your Nexus S for at least a year and see what's out then
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
RogerPodacter said:
I wouldn't worry about it cause we all know that t-mobile doesn't have 4g, It's just hspa+. And even though the nexus s doesn't support it, you still can see slightly increased speeds simply because the network backhaul is increased so that the full 7.2Mbps is achieved on the nexus s. Nexus s owners are already reporting actual download speeds near 6Mbps. Don't you think that is fast enough for video calls fast enough to future proof this phone for at least the next year?
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HSPA+, 4G, whatever you want to call it...4G is just a marketing term and geeks can debate what it is and isn't, but that doesn't change the fact that there are two different networks in T-Mo's arsenal now (HSPA and HSPA+) and that one of them is capable of significantly higher speeds than the other. The 4G/not-4G talk is pointless.
I haven't done a lot of testing with the NS and data speeds yet; haven't had a chance with work so busy right now. I think I got around 3000Kb/s the other day, which is respectable.
I'm in Los Angeles, and we have the HSPA+ upgrade in my local area.
Near the Van Nuys airport, where I spend most of my away-from-wifi time, my Nexus One was getting a consistent 4000Kb/s, but I've never seen more than 4400 or so. Pretty impressive, but nowhere near the 6-7.2Mb/s. Also not nearly so impressive when I consider that my iPhone 4 and Galaxy S i9000 both get consistent 3000Kb/s speeds on AT&T.
3000-4000Kb/s really is fast enough for most uses, but when the network's newest phones are offering speeds 50-100% faster and then release a "flagship device" as people are calling the NS, it's a bit disappointing to not be part of the fastest crowd.
As I mentioned above, the lack of HSPA+ isn't a deal breaker for me, but the T-Mo service in general makes this a much less attractive phone for me as my primary device. My N1 had been relegated to wifi-hotspot/tethering-the-laptop duties since last July.
distortedloop said:
HSPA+, 4G, whatever you want to call it...4G is just a marketing term and geeks can debate what it is and isn't, but that doesn't change the fact that there are two different networks in T-Mo's arsenal now (HSPA and HSPA+) and that one of them is capable of significantly higher speeds than the other. The 4G/not-4G talk is pointless.
I haven't done a lot of testing with the NS and data speeds yet; haven't had a chance with work so busy right now. I think I got around 3000Kb/s the other day, which is respectable.
I'm in Los Angeles, and we have the HSPA+ upgrade in my local area.
Near the Van Nuys airport, where I spend most of my away-from-wifi time, my Nexus One was getting a consistent 4000Kb/s, but I've never seen more than 4400 or so. Pretty impressive, but nowhere near the 6-7.2Mb/s. Also not nearly so impressive when I consider that my iPhone 4 and Galaxy S i9000 both get consistent 3000Kb/s speeds on AT&T.
3000-4000Kb/s really is fast enough for most uses, but when the network's newest phones are offering speeds 50-100% faster and then release a "flagship device" as people are calling the NS, it's a bit disappointing to not be part of the fastest crowd.
As I mentioned above, the lack of HSPA+ isn't a deal breaker for me, but the T-Mo service in general makes this a much less attractive phone for me as my primary device. My N1 had been relegated to wifi-hotspot/tethering-the-laptop duties since last July.
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I second that. And pple keep talking about this tegra 2 crap what really are you gonna use dual core for? I mean lets be senseful here? With Gingerbread this phone is already fast and and pretty much polished. Tegra 2 is probably gonna be a battery hog. And this phone is gonna be full of LG/TMO bloatware, and no support at all its gonna be atuck at 2.3 for ever. That's 'IF' it even releases on 2.3. Anf Honestly who wants an LG phone c'mon now. Return your phone and you shall regret. Trust me the Nexus S is sold out pretty much everywhere when u return it and try to change ur mind to get it again its gonna be gone.. And I know thats gonna happen
rashad1 said:
4G technology doesn't exist yet period. Not on T-mobile, not on Sprint, not on Verzion.
Is "4G" (HSPA+) even available in your area?
Better specs don't necessarily equate to a better phone, you might feel like it's outdated only a few months later. I say stick with your Nexus S for at least a year and see what's out then
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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I live 10 mins away from NYC so 4G is in my area. I understand completely what everyone else here is saying but I'm just thinking that with all these potential dual core devices coming out, that makes the Nexus S not future proof regardless of Google's support or not. This will also make the resale value drop gradually compared to the original Nexus which was a BEAST of a phone when it came out, and still hangs with the best now.
thepoetvd776 said:
I live 10 mins away from NYC so 4G is in my area. I understand completely what everyone else here is saying but I'm just thinking that with all these potential dual core devices coming out, that makes the Nexus S not future proof regardless of Google's support or not. This will also make the resale value drop gradually compared to the original Nexus which was a BEAST of a phone when it came out, and still hangs with the best now.
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Click to collapse
So let me ask you something. Are dual core phones gonna drop the iPhone 4 value as well? I mean its gonna be single core for a while chances are the next one will STILL be single core.
thepoetvd776 said:
.. Man I really like the phone but the fact that it doesnt support 4G was already a big hit for me, but I still got it. I didnt realize how much it really affected me until the other day I was talking with a friend who has an Evo and hes "let's see if this face time app works". I said sure, and connected to the my wifi signal, so we're trying to connect and he's like "man, connect to the 4g signal maybe its faster"...
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Oooo the great "4G" lol
Haven't people watch the dogfight of Nexus S vs MyTouch 4G where they compare speed test side by side in a HSPA+ coverage area? And guess what, the greatest "4G" came slower than the out of date "slower" 3G, not only once but all three consecutive tests.
10:45 http://www.phonedog.com/videos/google-nexus-s-vs-mytouch-4g-dogfight-pt-2/
So whats the big deal everyone is dying for 4G? This reminds me of the Iphone4 vs HTC Evo video lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg
I hardly even get 2 megabits where I live.If you're area had HSPA+ its capped at what 6.5 isnt that enough for video chat?Also he had sprint maybe better coverage where you were and had nothing to do with 4g
sstang2006 said:
Oooo the great "4G" lol
Haven't people watch the dogfight of Nexus S vs MyTouch 4G where they compare speed test side by side in a HSPA+ coverage area? And guess what, the greatest "4G" came slower than the out of date "slower" 3G, not only once but all three consecutive tests.
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Click to collapse
One guy's results, in one location, really don't make the NS the clear winner. On top of that, they're hardly conclusive...less than 100Kb/s difference on 2/3, only 2Kb/s on one of them. LOL
All cellular/wireless experiences are just like real estate...location, location, location is all that matters. The guy even says he's not getting full HSPA+ service for some reason in his location for the last few days.
Take both phones to a confirmed working HSPA+ location and test again, multiple times at different times of the day and against different servers if you really want to prove/disprove the theory here.
The problem is this; there will be a newer and more powerful handset released every X number of months.
The Nexus S is a great phone that has pros and cons just like all the other leading Android phones.
If you fall into upgrading/swapping for every newer piece of hardware that drops you will be spending a great deal of cash and will never truly be content.
It's always give and take. I will give up "4G" and a dual core CPU for quicker updates and a pure Android experience. The hardware is still top notch.
csmall said:
The problem is this; there will be a newer and more powerful handset released every X number of months.
The Nexus S is a great phone that has pros and cons just like all the other leading Android phones.
If you fall into upgrading/swapping for every newer piece of hardware that drops you will be spending a great deal of cash and will never truly be content.
It's always give and take. I will give up "4G" and a dual core CPU for quicker updates and a pure Android experience. The hardware is still top notch.
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Click to collapse
EXACTLY.....& T-MOBILE 3G coverage is not even everywhere yet so what makes them think 4G will be everywhere in the next few months??
Might as well never get a phone then, since new phones come out every month or two, you'll end up waiting forever.
distortedloop said:
One guy's results, in one location, really don't make the NS the clear winner. On top of that, they're hardly conclusive...less than 100Kb/s difference on 2/3, only 2Kb/s on one of them. LOL
All cellular/wireless experiences are just like real estate...location, location, location is all that matters. The guy even says he's not getting full HSPA+ service for some reason in his location for the last few days.
Take both phones to a confirmed working HSPA+ location and test again, multiple times at different times of the day and against different servers if you really want to prove/disprove the theory here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- I can tell you for sure 80% of cities with HSPA+ you will get the same speed on a non HSPA+ device. If the OP is not even getting a good 3G how can he get a good HSPA+.
- That will be 2 guys test. The second one is me. I had the G2 ("4G") and I tested its speed in Miami, FL (definitely HSPA+ area) and there was no difference at ALL, different times, different locations.
- I'm sure there are places where HSPA+ is a lot faster but thats the minority. If HSPA+ in my were was much faster, sure I will mind, but it is not.

Getting very close to calling an attorney...

This is unacceptable. I love my Atrix, but the only the one thing that is making me get very close to throwing this on eBay and canceling my AT&T Contract (yes...I would still come out ahead even after ETF and what not...but only by a little bit) is AT&T's Service and Customer Service.
While I understand that a lot.....a lot of places do not have 4G/HSPA yet and AT&T is rolling out the service over the year, and I consider this to be understandable as it is "new" technology and only at the "major" markets right now. What is NOT acceptable is having a device that displays H+ when all data speed tests show it below 3G and barely above EDGE. And now while I thought that this was just my phone this seems to be a common trend on this forum and with all my friends that have acquired AT&Ts 4G phones (Atrix and Inspire). But while yes it is AT&T, and yes they are notorious for having a bad network, this is an insult to the intelligence of their customers. Stating to them to their faces, on their devices that they are connected to a HSPA/4G when they clearly are not.
I find it a little (that's a lie....more like extremely) unsettling how much data seems to go out, by which I mean turn off or be cut off. I run 4-5 miles everyday, and having music is a huge part of that. I recently came from a Samsung Focus, which was nice but lacked some of the functions that I needed (Proper Google Calendar Support, Copy & Paste, Multitasking, etc...) thus I switched to the Atrix. The problem is, while on my walks with my Focus, I never once had to have a song on Slacker, Pandora, or Zune stop 3+ times to buffer or stop completely because I went from 5 bars to 0...in open area on a very sunny day. This is what is happening with my Atrix. I have stopped using Pandora, Slacker, and Grooveshark due to how pitiful it is with the AT&T's data connection. I have literally seen my phone go from full bars to absolutely none in an open area, one in which my Focus still maintained full service. As a user, this is unacceptable and I should not have to put my SIM card into a different phone for my daily runs due to how mediocre your network is with regards to a phone that you are now hailing as your "flagship" device.
I have noticed that there is no display for 3G on the phone. In an area I know for a fact is too rural to have HSPA (they just received 3G approximately a year ago) my phone is still reporting H+. I do not know if this is a slip up on Motorola's end or something AT&T is doing this on purpose but I am truly confounded on how you can purposefully choose to display false information to your customers and not think that they would notice. But like I said earlier, I originally thought that this was just my phone and went to the AT&T store to see what is wrong.
First they replaced the phone. No effect, still the same data results, still the same outages, still the same everything. Then they replace the SIM card with a "Newer 4G Card", for which again there was absolutely not a change in anything. The sales rep at AT&T was very confused when I showed him the buffering, or lack thereof, of music and videos, the speed tests, and the phone literally dropping from full to almost no bars within seconds (these aren't that hard to reproduce, it just took him holding my phone and walking around the store to see the bars drop to none and see that he couldn't access the internet or any data after it hard dropped without a reboot). The employee called forth his manager who did not know what to do, and when I said that this was unacceptable and I wanted to return it, I was informed that it would be subject to a 20% restocking fee [$40] and I would still have renewed my contract and need to get a new phone while I was there.
Though I will admit that I am no attorney, I know for a fact that they can not do that as their would be no "mutual consideration" between the two parties in the contract if I were to return my phone, thus there is no contract (in other words, by returning the phone I would have gained nothing yet they would have gained me as a customer for another 2 years, hence my eBay statement at the beginning). I explained that that didn't make sense that I am being force to continue my contract when the only reason I extended it was to get the Atrix and had no interest in any other phones on such an unreliable network. He then told me I would have to call their corporate and return the phone to them, and see what they said if I wanted to go this route. Personally, I feel he is 100% incorrect and wrong here, but there was no reason to cause a scene at the store.
So here I sit, with a phone that constantly drops data and blatantly lies to me about it's H+ status. I know I should cut my losses and just sell the phone online (though with eBay and Paypal fees...who's to say I will make a profit as they gouge you on those), but this is unacceptable. It is unacceptable to blatantly falsely advertise your product in stores and lie to your customers by having the phone display only H+ and EDGE on it, with no in-between (aka 3G). I know this is an anti-AT&T rant right now, and it is meant to be, but this is at a level that is unacceptable and deserves to be investigated by the FCC. AT&T needs to realize that they can not treat their customers like this and expect no whiplash for it.
If anything, Apple has proven that there is no company that is too godlike to get knocked down a few pegs and AT&T is getting to that point. Am I over reacting and acting on emotions due to being treated like **** for a phone I put $200 down and almost a $100 a month for? More than likely, but AT&T deserves a swift, strong, and imprinting kick to the ass for this. Oh well, I'm off to the gym for a bit to relieve some of this pent up anger.
TL;DR: HSPA is showing for 4G and 3G, when it is touted as not being 3G. Data is constantly getting dropped, AT&T treats customers like crap, this is unacceptable and they need to be taught a lesson.
If you're that unhappy with it, return the damn thing. I may dislike some of the crap they did with this device, but hiring an attourney is retarded. ITS JUST A PHONE. They offer 20+ other devices, im sure there is one you'd like
Yikes.
leadguy68 said:
If you're that unhappy with it, return the damn thing. I may dislike some of the crap they did with this device, but hiring an attourney is retarded. ITS JUST A PHONE. They offer 20+ other devices, im sure there is one you'd like
Yikes.
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Click to collapse
It seems they only offer one without hsupa deactivated.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
Make sure you get a great lawyer your going to need it.
Lawyer up, and be sure to continue updating this thread so I can take comedic breaks at work from time to time!
Go return your phone, get a lawyer and quit *****in.
Oh, and please don't get anything that's new, make sure to wait at least 6 months for the bugs to get worked out. kthxbye
please stop posting on international websites! You're giving Americans a bad reputation...
edounn said:
please stop posting on international websites! You're giving Americans a bad reputation...
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No, I think he's only perpetuating the myth. When in doubt, sue. There's a host of iPhone class action lawsuits - OP should put his money where his big mouth is and hire a lawyer.
mister_al said:
No, I think he's only perpetuating the myth. When in doubt, sue. There's a host of iPhone class action lawsuits - OP should put his money where his big mouth is and hire a lawyer.
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At least he's not driving his car though AT&T's doors. You know those concrete/metal pillars in front of all your Canadian business? That's an American idea. :-D
Rydsmith said:
Though I will admit that I am no attorney, I know for a fact that they can not do that as their would be no "mutual consideration" between the two parties in the contract if I were to return my phone, thus there is no contract (in other words, by returning the phone I would have gained nothing yet they would have gained me as a customer for another 2 years, hence my eBay statement at the beginning).
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Wow, you should maybe go and audit a first year contracts class. This is an incredibly erroneous statement. The consideration here is the payment of $$ to ATT and in return ATT gives you phone service. It makes no difference that you could have achieved the same result without a 2 year agreement.
There is likely some legal basis for an action against ATT in there somewhere, but there is no way the damages would even cover a hour's worth of an attorney's time.
Cool story, bro.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I am having the same issue. I would get a solid 1-2mb from speed tests at home (live in the middle of no where) with my iPhone 3GS and at the office with full bars 3mb+. With the Atrix I haven't gotten above 900K at home and I tested multiple times at the office and never above 2mb. When it tests the speed dial is all jittery like it's got tourettes or something. It's not a smooth progression like my iPhone was. I am not ready to give up though. Maybe there will be an update or someone on xda can come out with a new radio.
There will be no new radios unless motorola gives it to you directly
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I understand how you feel, however, posting an angry rant on here doesn't really help.
Don't waste your time and money on an attorney, just take the phone back like the rest of us here that don't like it and get something else; save your upgrade for something better.
I am honestly not sure what you are trying to sue them for....
most of the issues that you stated have to do with you not getting good service in your area. that isnt at&ts fault (if you know the politics behind building towers. Where I live, work, and play, I get on average 2-3 mb/s down, i never buffer on HQ youtube, and flash videos load with ease. Dropped calls are uncommon in my area as well. If you are not getting the service with at&t then go somewhere else. there is a reason why there are 4 main carriers to choose from.
as for the huge 4g speeds issue, it is clear that backhaul isnt up yet...is it a 4g network? sure its 4th generation network, maybe not in terms of speed, but we arent there yet. so sell your atrix, cut your losses, and go to someone who gives you better service. As long as i am not paying more for "4g," then its all good.
oh, and as for not showing "3g," its because HSPA+ is 3g with enhanced backhaul. you are connecting to the same towers as 3g. that is why 98% of towers will give you H+. once again, the phone cant distinguish 3g from H+ by speed because speed varies to much...that would mean that the phone would have a speed test running in the background constantly.
MarcMaiden said:
I am honestly not sure what you are trying to sue them for....
most of the issues that you stated have to do with you not getting good service in your area. that isnt at&ts fault (if you know the politics behind building towers. Where I live, work, and play, I get on average 2-3 mb/s down, i never buffer on HQ youtube, and flash videos load with ease. Dropped calls are uncommon in my area as well. If you are not getting the service with at&t then go somewhere else. there is a reason why there are 4 main carriers to choose from.
as for the huge 4g speeds issue, it is clear that backhaul isnt up yet...is it a 4g network? sure its 4th generation network, maybe not in terms of speed, but we arent there yet. so sell your atrix, cut your losses, and go to someone who gives you better service. As long as i am not paying more for "4g," then its all good.
oh, and as for not showing "3g," its because HSPA+ is 3g with enhanced backhaul. you are connecting to the same towers as 3g. that is why 98% of towers will give you H+. once again, the phone cant distinguish 3g from H+ by speed because speed varies to much...that would mean that the phone would have a speed test running in the background constantly.
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Good Post, Totally Agree!
OMG, I can't believe you actually made this post. Just return your Atrix, get a new phone and get a new life as well. If there are several operators in your area, just change and I'm sure you'll be happier.
I wish you luck. lol
The point is that you have no leg to stand on as nobody forced you to buy it, and it's impossible at this point to be past your return period.
You honestly think that your lawyer is going to be better than theirs? This is honestly sad and funny at the same time.
It's an effing phone.
Marketing is marketing. When bmw says that their new car can do 0-60 in 4.2 seconds and you can only do it in 5.2 nobody cares and nobody is getting sued. If push came to shove AT&T would just show that in one place you get hspa+ speeds and you're all done.
If you even cared to read ANY general thread in this forum, perform a google search, or a search of XDA, you would quickly and easily find that the H+ is displayed with any 3G reception... You would also know that the backhaul isn't being done at the time of the Atrix release.
Stop trolling up the forum.
Edit: Dont you know attorney's cost money? Don't you think it would be a better investment to just get a different phone/carrier/anything before paying for a lawyer?
according to the dope at my ATT store, the HSPA+ icon is supposed to symbolize where hspa+ is available. he mentioned that "ATT doesn't advertise that we have a 4g network RUNNING yet, as we have yet to roll out back haul to anywhere except major cities (downtown) and ATT stores yet"
I'm guessing once all hsdpa is converted into hspa+ , then the symbol will make sense. It does display an E when your on edge.
On a side note, I guess that means they do have hspa+ running at their stores. someone visit their att store and run a speedtest plz.

In Light of NS4G Signal Problems - Advice Wanted

Hey guys, I'm wondering what actions Sprint or Google will take if the radio problems on the Nexus S 4G end up being hardware problems or NOT fixable via OTA update. Will there be a recall of the device? Hardware replacements? Will it be covered under Samsung's manufacturer warranty?
In other words, I'm just wondering if I should return/exchange it before I might be stuck with a device with faulty hardware.
My ns4g works just fine id exchange it of I were you.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
Had same problems, took it back waiting on evo 3d. I've never had good luck with Samsung phones.
Mine works great also. Take yours back. Bye.
I'm really happy for you that you're not experiencing any problems on your devices, but the fact remains that a lot of people are. My 3g speeds are slower and 4G coverage seems to be a lot harder to connect to than it did on my EVO. (Granted, I don't have the EVO to compare it to anymore) My signal over time is around -86 or -90 dbm and sometimes drops down (or above?) 100 or so. I've also noticed that the signal bars sometimes drop to 0 and/or I lose 3G and return to 1X.
Anyway, back to the main point, I just want to know how Samsung/Sprint/Google will handle returns or warranty replacements if it's not fixable via OTA update
Im sure a new update will include a radio to handle the -dm spectrum and data. Sprint is not known for the fastest internet out there so that is something to consider. If you are within your 30 days take it back. If not, go thru the proper channels and be polite. You will get it replaced or something will be done. If your phone is unusable, they cant make you keep it. Verizon has good 3g, but then again, i live on the outskirts of a major city. All about provider and location. Have you had missed calls or dropped calls? I think the reception is no worse than any other. It is just displayed differently.
Uncle Jimmy says hello
Switching carriers isn't really an option. My family pays for my plan and we've been with Sprint for 11 years or so. Honestly, I'm pretty happy with Sprint. I'm just on the fence about this phone. If anything, I'll go for the EVO3D and be happy with that. I had a good time on my EVO. I'm sure it won't be problem free with a hardware version 1, but there's a few things I like about the 3D more than the Nexus and vice versa.
Anyway, thanks for the response
I simply contact via chat on their page. They had me update the profile then update the PRL - during which the reset my connection on their end. I was instructed that after an hour I should see improvement with signal. Sure enough it seems to be working fine now. So give that a shot. Also the agent I chatted with instantly went to solving the issue without the need for me to describe in any detail of the signal issue. It was like he new how to resolve the issue. So maybe sprint has updated their profiles and PRL which resolves the issue. But from the chat he was particular about me following the steps to update from his prompts like he was performing action on his end.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
Do you by chance have the transcript from the webchat? I'm kinda curious to see it (Not that I don't believe you)
Oh, also... I exchanged my 2nd Nexus for a new one today because of a weird issue that the phone would lock up/freeze with a really dark, greenish tint and only showing part of the screen (Not sure if it was the screen or the whole system) and I'd have to battery pull to get it back.
Anyway... while I was there the Best Buy manager(?) said I wouldn't be able to exchange it for the Evo3D if I decided I didn't like the Nexus? But doesn't exchanging renew the 30 days?
gmap516 said:
Do you by chance have the transcript from the webchat? I'm kinda curious to see it (Not that I don't believe you)
Oh, also... I exchanged my 2nd Nexus for a new one today because of a weird issue that the phone would lock up/freeze with a really dark, greenish tint and only showing part of the screen (Not sure if it was the screen or the whole system) and I'd have to battery pull to get it back.
Anyway... while I was there the Best Buy manager(?) said I wouldn't be able to exchange it for the Evo3D if I decided I didn't like the Nexus? But doesn't exchanging renew the 30 days?
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It does not renew the 30 days.
But can I return it, buy a phone off contract, and regain my upgrade?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
This is a topic I love discussing. I can tell you from my nexus experience it does in fact get worse service than the EVO. It seems the same as what I got on the epic though. I live in a basement apartment so reception is something I am very aware of at home. I even exchanged my first nexus at the direction of sprint. While in best buy I sat my nexus next to the reps evo, his had full bars, -76 dBm, mine had 0-1 bar and dBm was -9x. He activated the new nexus and it was exactly the same. There is a reception issue with the nexus, the same reception issue ALL samsung galaxy phones have. I had a fascinate for a short time, got rid of it cus it got crappy reception. Same with the vibrant I had. Blame it on what you want, its a fact. With that being said, I think it is being blown out of proportion. I have noticed that most people complaining about the reception are coming from the EVO.
gmap516 said:
But can I return it, buy a phone off contract, and regain my upgrade?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
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Yup, you can do that. If the reception is THAT bad I would. Im sure there will some sort of update to address the issue, I seriously doubt it will help that much though.
I want to point out one thing that should be kept in mind for anyone coming from the Evo:
The HTC software on the Evo was programmed to overstate the connection strength in terms of bars, and was not even capable of displaying switches to 1x.
AOSP-based icons in the display area seem to be overall much more accurate. I remember there were lots of people on the Evo who would get upset after flashing CyanogenMod because they were "only getting 1x all of a sudden!" when in reality they were always only getting 1x, HTC just displayed the 3G icon anyway no matter what the connection type was. Same for the bars: pretty much any working signal would get you 3+ bars.
I am not saying there is no possibility of legitimate signal issues with the NS4G (I wouldn't know first-hand, I switched to T-Mobile), but the above should be considered when evaluating vague reports of "I only get one bar and my Evo got 4 bars and i only get 1x and my Evo got 3g!!!!"
Also, for the last 4 months Sprint has been doing major, major work on their network. Speeds and connections varied wildly. Ultimately that was why I switched to T-Mobile; the constant dips in speed were just too much for me, even though I know Sprint's network will be better for it in the long run. So there is also the distinct possibility that any poor signal people might see is due to nothing more than network fluctuations.
The really get this ironed out, we would need to see multiple people in multiple locations testing both speed and signal strength using multiple methods, on both an Evo and a NS4G, side by side, over and over, and see the Evo (or any other Sprint phone) continuously demonstrating a clearly superior connection.
At that point I think we'd all pretty much concede that there is a major problem with the NS4G. Short of that, it's really just speculation.
matt2053 said:
I want to point out one thing that should be kept in mind for anyone coming from the Evo:
The HTC software on the Evo was programmed to overstate the connection strength in terms of bars, and was not even capable of displaying switches to 1x.
AOSP-based icons in the display area seem to be overall much more accurate. I remember there were lots of people on the Evo who would get upset after flashing CyanogenMod because they were "only getting 1x all of a sudden!" when in reality they were always only getting 1x, HTC just displayed the 3G icon anyway no matter what the connection type was. Same for the bars: pretty much any working signal would get you 3+ bars.
I am not saying there is no possibility of legitimate signal issues with the NS4G (I wouldn't know first-hand, I switched to T-Mobile), but the above should be considered when evaluating vague reports of "I only get one bar and my Evo got 4 bars and i only get 1x and my Evo got 3g!!!!"
Also, for the last 4 months Sprint has been doing major, major work on their network. Speeds and connections varied wildly. Ultimately that was why I switched to T-Mobile; the constant dips in speed were just too much for me, even though I know Sprint's network will be better for it in the long run. So there is also the distinct possibility that any poor signal people might see is due to nothing more than network fluctuations.
The really get this ironed out, we would need to see multiple people in multiple locations testing both speed and signal strength using multiple methods, on both an Evo and a NS4G, side by side, over and over, and see the Evo (or any other Sprint phone) continuously demonstrating a clearly superior connection.
At that point I think we'd all pretty much concede that there is a major problem with the NS4G. Short of that, it's really just speculation.
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Very good points. My argument is Ive had the EVO and NS4G in the same house, the EVO worked 100% in here, mms, web all of it. I cant make a call or send a text with my NS4G without the airave I had to buy when I got the NS4G. But, the same applied to my epic. It got terrible service in here also.
Lets just hope the update Ive seen mentioned will address signal and not free tethering
mikeyinid said:
Very good points. My argument is Ive had the EVO and NS4G in the same house, the EVO worked 100% in here, mms, web all of it. I cant make a call or send a text with my NS4G without the airave I had to buy when I got the NS4G. But, the same applied to my epic. It got terrible service in here also.
Lets just hope the update Ive seen mentioned will address signal and not free tethering
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I don't wish to invalidate your experience; I definitely believe you. But because there could be so many, many factors involved it is not really enough for ME to conclude that there is a fundamental flaw with the NS4G. But if a few people were able to perform the tests I mentioned, that might convince me (and maybe some folks at Google, too)!
matt2053 said:
I don't wish to invalidate your experience; I definitely believe you. But because there could be so many, many factors involved it is not really enough for ME to conclude that there is a fundamental flaw with the NS4G. But if a few people were able to perform the tests I mentioned, that might convince me (and maybe some folks at Google, too)!
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Im not saying there is anything wrong with the NS4G. Im saying its samsung phones in general...
It's not a problem on the i9020.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
There was an android central, engadget, or phandroid article doing multiple tests in multiple locations between an Epic and a NS4G. The Epic displayed huge differences in data speed. Do a search on those sites and you'll find the article eventually.
I also remember a thread on the Google forums with hundreds of people in various locations performing tests.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
gmap516 said:
There was an android central, engadget, or phandroid article doing multiple tests in multiple locations between an Epic and a NS4G. The Epic displayed huge differences in data speed. Do a search on those sites and you'll find the article eventually.
I also remember a thread on the Google forums with hundreds of people in various locations performing tests.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
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I read that Engadget article. They said they couldn't narrow down a signal problem to the NS4G.
They got faster WiMax speed on the Epic, but that has nothing to do with phone signal, which is what is at question.

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