Database Users

HSDPA Problem

Hi, not a big problem as I am normally on wifi but I've noticed that my GSII is constantly dropping of HSDPA every few seconds and if I do a speed test it only gets around 300kbps.
Now I have an LG Optimus on the same network, same room and that stays on HSDPA and gets around 1800kbps on downloads.
Any idea what would cause this?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

gareth7o9 said:
Hi, not a big problem as I am normally on wifi but I've noticed that my GSII is constantly dropping of HSDPA every few seconds and if I do a speed test it only gets around 300kbps.
Now I have an LG Optimus on the same network, same room and that stays on HSDPA and gets around 1800kbps on downloads.
Any idea what would cause this?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
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+1
On my N900 working fine.
Seems like a bug

lhrrob said:
+1
On my N900 working fine.
Seems like a bug
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, is yours a SIM Free or is it on a network? Mine is SIM Free.

gareth7o9 said:
Hi, not a big problem as I am normally on wifi but I've noticed that my GSII is constantly dropping of HSDPA every few seconds and if I do a speed test it only gets around 300kbps.
Now I have an LG Optimus on the same network, same room and that stays on HSDPA and gets around 1800kbps on downloads.
Any idea what would cause this?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't have another phone here right now to test against but just did a couple of tests with speedtest.net app
Download/Upload
2500kbps/1967kbps
1422kbps/2967kbps
6192kbps/2883kbps
2896kbps/2608kbps
Seems to work just fine here at least. Granted this is at a place with good HSDPA coverage.

Sorry to tell you that but it seems like a bug in the phone, i do have the same issue, i surfed the couple of forums and the problem is spreading, hoping it's not a hardware issue.

gareth7o9 said:
Hi, is yours a SIM Free or is it on a network? Mine is SIM Free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my is the same as yours - sim free

i got 7184kbps/1774kbps
O_O
I think I'm one of a very few who has an hspa+ phone in the region maybe that's why
goes down to 2mbps when it's lower signal.

Hassanalaa said:
Sorry to tell you that but it seems like a bug in the phone, i do have the same issue, i surfed the couple of forums and the problem is spreading, hoping it's not a hardware issue.
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Click to collapse
Yes I think it's a phone issue as my HTC Desire and LG Optimus are both working fine.
Hmmm. I hope this can be sorted with a software update.

mine too, infact wont go over 1900 had like 3500 on my iphone 4

Just updated to the newest firmware using Kies and it made no difference to the problem with HSDPA :-/
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

I think it's a network restriction. People in another thread were having similar problems with buying the handset and the contract separately meaning the data plan they were on was only at 300kbps.
If you've got another handset that gets a higher speed, switch the sim cards and see if that changes anything.

My phone will only download around 360kbps but will upload at 1mb, so puzzled as to why it would be a network restriction (hoping it is as I'm not happy and still within my 14 day cooling period) ringing o2 later...

lemoninfluence said:
I think it's a network restriction. People in another thread were having similar problems with buying the handset and the contract separately meaning the data plan they were on was only at 300kbps.
If you've got another handset that gets a higher speed, switch the sim cards and see if that changes anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not a network restriction. Not on Three anyway. I've just taken the PAYG SIM out of my LG which is getting around 1800kbps and put it in the Galaxy SII and it now only gets 64kbps!!! It's constantly flickering between 3G and HSDPA. It's definitely a phone issue.

i had posted in the other thread about how it switches down to 3G when it's not being used and instantly switch over to H+ when in use. There were no performance issues
Also on AT&T network, when it's first started/activated it took a little bit of time before network performance improved both on day one and when i switched over to an unlimited data plan

Oh I forgot to mention. I reported this issue to Samsung yesterday but don't hold your breath!
The man I spoke to didn't seem to understand what I was saying and when I advised him that there were many similar problems and issues being faced by people on this forum, he simply stated that he had never heard of the site. I gave him the web address but doubt they will ever look in to it.
If your facing this issue, then I would ring them and report it. That's the only way they are going to find out about the issue.

Normal behaviour for it to sit on 3G, only switches to H+ once it's in full flow.
This usually impacts speedtests and such.
Best way to test is to download a file off a fast server.
Same thing use to happen with my Desire.

Arthur Hucksake said:
Normal behaviour for it to sit on 3G, only switches to H+ once it's in full flow.
This usually impacts speedtests and such.
Best way to test is to download a file off a fast server.
Same thing use to happen with my Desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have numerous 3G devices here and none of them cuts of HSDPA so erratically. If I start to stream AudioGalaxy on my LG Android, the HSDPA stays on as does my Huawei MiFi. The Galaxy S II is dropping connection every few seconds.
It doesn't make sense for two Android phones in the same room with the same network to get completely different speeds. Maybe a small difference but to get one having 1800kbps and the other 64kbps shows there is a problem.
I've just updated the phone to KE2 and it's made no difference. Will have to wait to see what Samsung say.

gareth7o9 said:
I have numerous 3G devices here and none of them cuts of HSDPA so erratically. If I start to stream AudioGalaxy on my LG Android, the HSDPA stays on as does my Huawei MiFi. The Galaxy S II is dropping connection every few seconds.
It doesn't make sense for two Android phones in the same room with the same network to get completely different speeds. Maybe a small difference but to get one having 1800kbps and the other 64kbps shows there is a problem.
I've just updated the phone to KE2 and it's made no difference. Will have to wait to see what Samsung say.
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Click to collapse
How strong is the signal in dB or just bars whe nit switches around between 3G and H/H+?
That last sentence - did you contact Samsung with the problem and are waiting for their reply? thanks

It's around the -100 dBm mark with 2 to 3 bars. Yes I contacted Samsung yesterday and am now waiting for a reply.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

gareth7o9 said:
It's around the -100 dBm mark with 2 to 3 bars. Yes I contacted Samsung yesterday and am now waiting for a reply.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
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thanks, could be the lower signal , SGS2 being unable to pick it up reliably.
Please update this thread with whatever Sam says. I think I am experiencing same problem (unstable data signal in areas with weaker coverage)

Three UK

Anyone else on Three having serious signal issues? - Wherever I go, no matter what City it is seriously poor goes to -95dBm tops at any given time. Been like this for a while now, even on my HTC One
However when I have tried my o2 sim card, my signal is full strength everywhere.. I wondered if maybe this could be solved by flashing Three's modem (H3G) to my phone. And Does anyone happen to have it? saves me downloading the firmware and extracting it.

radicalisto said:
Anyone else on Three having serious signal issues? - Wherever I go, no matter what City it is seriously poor goes to -95dBm tops at any given time. Been like this for a while now, even on my HTC One
However when I have tried my o2 sim card, my signal is full strength everywhere.. I wondered if maybe this could be solved by flashing Three's modem (H3G) to my phone. And Does anyone happen to have it? saves me downloading the firmware and extracting it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I don't have the modem for you, however my signal hasn't been affected at all recently ! If anything its been quicker, Last night was on 10mbs using 3g/hspa - Give them a call, they are no doubt working on upgrading your services and didnt inform you via text

Ry2mkk said:
Unfortunately I don't have the modem for you, however my signal hasn't been affected at all recently ! If anything its been quicker, Last night was on 10mbs using 3g/hspa - Give them a call, they are no doubt working on upgrading your services and didnt inform you via text
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Well 4G is supposed to come here (York) next month, but my signal has been super poor for about 3-4 months now, was in London the other week and Leeds a few days ago and it was the same, internet is pretty intermittent also. Guess I'll have to ring them and shout at them again.

I drive around Bristol, South Wales, Swindon and down as far as Bournemouth streaming music via Google. Im using Three and have h+ 3/4 bars 99% of the time. No issues for me with signal.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

skibadee said:
I drive around Bristol, South Wales, Swindon and down as far as Bournemouth streaming music via Google. Im using Three and have h+ 3/4 bars 99% of the time. No issues for me with signal.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
Hmm, I'm thinking it is possible my SIM is a tad dodgy maybe? - I'll give them a ring tomorrow and see what's what, cheers for the replies fellas.

radicalisto said:
Hmm, I'm thinking it is possible my SIM is a tad dodgy maybe? - I'll give them a ring tomorrow and see what's what, cheers for the replies fellas.
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Click to collapse
Yeah worth a call, Like i said my signal and speed has been brill lately ! tip - remove your sim and turn the device off and on before you call otherwise they will just fob you off with that and get you to call back after or from another line !
2mb/s download speed - Some people would say thats 20mb connection
Not sure if its a good thing that my mobile phone has a better connection than my fixed landline

Sounds like sim could be dodgy! I'm in bournemouth and i'm getting Good speeds (19MB) and i travelled to wales and back and got pretty good speeds, average about 16MB but i have noticed that the Note 3 definitely doesn't get as good signal as the 1020 i have... For example, my note 3 will have no or one bar but my 1020 will have 2 or 3. And sometimes the Note 3 will display 3 or 4 bars but as soon as i go to call it says "not registered on network". Thats only out in the middle of nowhere (Wool, Wareham).

[Q] LTE preferred

I have huge LTE issues. The coverage where I live is amazing, but my phone will not prefer LTE no matter what I do. Does the phone software just suck or is there something I can do?
LTE only - works, but then I cannot make or receive calls. All other modes will prefer 5.9 bars of 3G over 5.8 bars of LTE. Which doesn't make any sense.
Btw I am on CloudyPro II but I don't think it is a ROM issue because I never had had the phone prefer LTE even though I have almost max LTE everywhere.
I have also tried with fast dormancy enabled and disabled. It makes no difference.
Is there a way to make this phone prefer LTE?

Same problem here. Even though i got 4g on my place, it will connect on edge or 3g. Sometimes i got no signal at all. I dont have thos problem on JB. Im on rooted stock KK international. Is this a kernel or baseband issue?
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

jefbeck said:
Same problem here. Even though i got 4g on my place, it will connect on edge or 3g. Sometimes i got no signal at all. I dont have thos problem on JB. Im on rooted stock KK international. Is this a kernel or baseband issue?
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Hmmm... I had the same problem on JB stock...

Another thing that I noticed is that if I for instance set this phone to LTE/GSM/WCDMA it will go nuts. Sometimes changing between H and 3G almost every second. Just back and forth.
It is almost as if this phone will poll the network several times each second and then prefer the strongest signal while completely disregarding data speed.

First, why are creating new threads when already exist similar topics? Do you read old topics? Maybe it has contained answer
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2474244
Gnarfsan said:
Another thing that I noticed is that if I for instance set this phone to LTE/GSM/WCDMA it will go nuts. Sometimes changing between H and 3G almost every second. Just back and forth.
It is almost as if this phone will poll the network several times each second and then prefer the strongest signal while completely disregarding data speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what could it possibly do? You prefer it to connect to some 5miles fay away LTE cell only if it's speed is faster but your modem will then constantly drop packet and reestablish connection to drain the battery? Or should phone grab a nearest and most powerful signal from 3G cell?
And third, wait for Kitkat, it contains a newer 190084 baseband, maybe it will relieve your pains
Then again, why do you complain here instead of going straight to you operator office? It surely is their fault to tweak their cell wrongfully. We can't change their settings
---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:14 PM ----------
Almost forgot, read this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660471

Billy Madison said:
Then again, why do you complain here instead of going straight to you operator office? It surely is their fault to tweak their cell wrongfully. We can't change their settings
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Click to collapse
I have tried with different basebands and in case you didn't read my first post I have full LTE signal (6 of 6 bars) if I force it to pick LTE only. If I don't, it will pick 6 Bars H/3G.
I have also tried many different ROMs and I have checked the settings of the Sim card. It is set to prefer LTE.
Btw, did you read the last post in the thread that you linked to?

With LTE i get a ping of 34 ms and 15/5 Mbps. But the phone will pick a HSDPA connection with 47 ms ping and 6/1 Mbps.
And I am on the stock KitKat baseband but like I said I had the same issue on JB
If I force it in my office downtown I get up to 70 Mbps. And as soon as I switch back to default settings (if I boot) I go back to good old HSDPA if the phone is in a good mood. Otherwise I get 3G.
Sent from my LG-D802 using xda app-developers app

I have the same issue, I don't get why WCDMA preferred exists and not an LTE preferred (in *#*#4636#*#*). I'm running stock everything, only thing I've done is rooted, and I'm updated to the lastest firmware with Knockcode that T-Mobile pushed out.
Best way to discribe it is the phone gets "stuck" on whatever band it falls on. If my LTE is weak, it will fall back on 3G or 2G and just stay there - it seems like networks aren't prioritized. The phone should (in a perfect world) look for 1) LTE, 2) WCDMA, and then 3) GSM in that order and only pass one over if weak or doesn't exist, and should it pick up a higher ranked connection it should switch back. It seems the LG G2's just don't... If it falls back on 2G it's perfectly happy staying there until force it back to something else (default mode LTE/GSM/WCDMA) and it's rather annoying. LTE only is viable only when T-Mobile enables VoLTE on the G2's, but as of right now it stops all calls from happening, and I can't even change my phone to only use LTE/WCDMA, because where I work we just got a tower upgrade to LTE and they took the 3G offline, so calls still won't go through since it has to fall back to 2G.
I'll give Samsung some credit when I had my S3 and S4 on AT&T they would always follow the pecking order of what I stated above (in a perfect world) and I never had an issue, but the G2 blows the S4 out the water in performance in my opinion.

Verizon service horrible lately

I have a DE phone with the latest update. Service in my area this week has been horrible.( Wichita Kansas ) I've mostly been in 3g with service coming and going all week. My coworkers have this problem as well. Is anyone else experiencing poor service ?

cam1pbell said:
I have a DE phone with the latest update. Service in my area this week has been horrible.( Wichita Kansas ) I've mostly been in 3g with service coming and going all week. My coworkers have this problem as well. Is anyone else experiencing poor service ?
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Click to collapse
The tower in my area is notoriously crappy. many times even text messages will delay until we travel to another cell. My ex as an example received a Text message two days after I had sent it. no rhyme or reason, just crap service across all devices.
As far as 3g goes, if others have 4g my only suggestion is to reboot the phone. worked for my s3 running cyanogenmod 12.

Call them and ask them to investigate the tower. Have your coworkers call as well. You would need to know your signal strength for any real troubleshooting. Its possible that another vendor put up a tower or increased bands (channels) on existing tower. Also, does your employer have an extender/repeater. Maybe it is having issues?
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

sixtythreechevy said:
Call them and ask them to investigate the tower. Have your coworkers call as well. You would need to know your signal strength for any real troubleshooting. Its possible that another vendor put up a tower or increased bands (channels) on existing tower. Also, does your employer have an extender/repeater. Maybe it is having issues?
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I'm going to give it a couple more days just in case they're working in the area and no my company does not have an extender Network out here I wish they did. Thanks

The BPA1 update really screwed with my reception. Prior to the update, I would be 2-3 bars 4G service with no drops inside my fire hall. After the update, I bounce between 1x & 3G with only 1 bar each depending on where I am in the building and it chews through battery the whole time. I updated one night at the hall and went from 2 bars 4G and streaming video with no drop outs to 1x and barely able to load Google.com all while sitting in one spot.
The phone also lags considerably while switching between networks and/or wifi.

swartlkk said:
The BPA1 update really screwed with my reception. Prior to the update, I would be 2-3 bars 4G service with no drops inside my fire hall. After the update, I bounce between 1x & 3G with only 1 bar each depending on where I am in the building and it chews through battery the whole time. I updated one night at the hall and went from 2 bars 4G and streaming video with no drop outs to 1x and barely able to load Google.com all while sitting in one spot.
The phone also lags considerably while switching between networks and/or wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree the BPA1 update made my reception really bad too. I've gotten so many dropped calls at my house since then. I think I'm dropping Verizon as soon as my contracts up....

You can try 4G switcher app and toggle off LTE/CDMA auto PRL and then back to it to refresh your data?

Flashed back to BOG5 . Signal strength seems fine now. Maybe Verizon puts out ****ty updates on purpose just so people get tired of the poor performance and go buy a new phone . I hope not, makes me wonder
Sent from my SM-N910V using XDA-Developers mobile app

Now that I have unlocked the bootloader, I flashed back to the BOK3 modem and have much better signal strength and faster downloads as a result. Call audio is suffering a bit though with a nasty echo at times...
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

TMobile Signal Strength Issues

Been using my essential phone on T-Mobile for a couple hours. The signal strength seems to be bouncing around pretty erratically. I even completely lost signal in my house a few times. Anyone else having this issue?
I did remove and reinstall SIM to see if that makes a difference but it is to early to tell.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

hal3146 said:
Been using my essential phone on T-Mobile for a couple hours. The signal strength seems to be bouncing around pretty erratically. I even completely lost signal in my house a few times. Anyone else having this issue?
I did remove and reinstall SIM to see if that makes a difference but it is to early to tell.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up: I'll know on Saturday at the earliest.
Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

I have noticed this also... I might bring it by TMOBILE to swap my SIM card

eakrish said:
I have noticed this also... I might bring it by TMOBILE to swap my SIM card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI. Sounds like the dbm level is on par with the S8, it's just the signal meter shows lower.
https://www.reddit.com/r/essential/comments/6x7gwn/essential_phone_first_impressions_thread/dmeer2y

Mine hasn't really been bouncing around but the icon shows the signal strength being lower than usual. Doesn't actually seem to affect my usage at all
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

I can say for sure that signal strength is worse then other phones. I loose signal completely in several areas where I used to have coverage. For measure previous phone was a Mate 9 pro.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

hal3146 said:
I can say for sure that signal strength is worse then other phones. I loose signal completely in several areas where I used to have coverage. For measure previous phone was a Mate 9 pro.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just the bars, or actual dbm? Check dbm as others have suggested. Sony used to have this issue on TMo.

km8j said:
Just the bars, or actual dbm? Check dbm as others have suggested. Sony used to have this issue on TMo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is complete loss of service not just no bars. I loose connection to TMobile.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

well, this is concerning... I'll need to keep an eye on this one.
Have you checked the APN settings?
http://apn-settings.com/t-mobile-apn-for-android/
It may be worth a look.

I just got mine today (typing on it now on wifi). Will be swapping in my TMo SIM soon. And heading to a couple areas with less than great signal already so we'll see how it goes.

I did some more testing. The only other phone I have to test with is an iPhone 6. When I put my sim in the iPhone I get LTE and a signal strength of -117dBm. When I switch to the essential withe the same sim I get -109dBm, which should be better. The strange part is that I am not getting LTE only HSPA. I have confirmed in other areas that LTE does work on the essential phone with this SIM.
I have checked the APN settings multiple times.
From what I have seen it is as if the essential phone is more willing to completely drop signal and say no service or drop LTE and default to HSPA(not sure this is possible) at a certain signal strength threshold which is higher than most phones. I am not even sure this is possible. But from my observations I can lose service completely by moving the phone a foot or so in either direction or I can set it on my desk when I have service then pick it up 5 minutes later and it says no service.

I am also seeing issues of dropping with T-Mobile. There same sim card gets good service on my other phones

This is interesting, because upon getting mine this morning and getting it setup, I noticed the radio signal strength was 3 bars instead of a full 4 on my other phones (S8, HTC 10, Pixel). I'm about to leave for Florida which is a familiar drive I've taken with several other devices- I'll report back if I get unusual drops in coverage/slower than usual speeds. So far LTE speeds at home are in range.

this is interesting, I remember another phone that needed a software flash to fix this issue. I can't remember which phone it was though
---------- Post added at 08:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:16 PM ----------
On another note, I am having issues rec'ing MMS while on wifi

Yea speeds, signal and dropping is all pretty bad over here. Not good.
---------- Post added at 04:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:40 PM ----------
Anyone know what LTE+ is?

I haven't noticed anything that drastically different from my Pixel so far in strength or signal. I was at Watkins Glen all day today and have all sorts of TMobile issues there (regardless of phone) and the PH-1 performed as I'd expect based on past visits this year.

What setting do you guys have for "Preferred network type"? I have a feeling the erratic signal drops is because it's trying to switch to find the best signal...
Mine is currently set to the top selection which is LTE/TDSCDMA/CDMA/EVDO/GSM/WCDMA.... shouldnt it be set differently for TMO? does it really need to search all those bands?

quazimodem said:
What setting do you guys have for "Preferred network type"? I have a feeling the erratic signal drops is because it's trying to switch to find the best signal...
Mine is currently set to the top selection which is LTE/TDSCDMA/CDMA/EVDO/GSM/WCDMA.... shouldnt it be set differently for TMO.?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that too. Tried every one and no difference

quazimodem said:
What setting do you guys have for "Preferred network type"? I have a feeling the erratic signal drops is because it's trying to switch to find the best signal...
Mine is currently set to the top selection which is LTE/TDSCDMA/CDMA/EVDO/GSM/WCDMA.... shouldnt it be set differently for TMO? does it really need to search all those bands?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
km8j said:
I thought that too. Tried every one and no difference
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check my post #9. Use that link.
Edit: wrong one. *#*#4636#*#* then change to LTE/UMTS auto PRL. Try that.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

km8j said:
Anyone know what LTE+ is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like it's LTE-A (advanced).