Database Users

Is there any way reception for me will improve...or should i return the SGS???

I get decent reception everywhere, EXCEPT where i work (a university in Vancouver). At my desk, sometimes I will get calls, but most times it goes straight to voicemail. In the library, I can't get any reception, and internet works very slow (over 1 min to open a webpage). I am with Bell Mobility. I used to have an htc touch, and although reception would also come in and out at work...its not even close to being as bad as my SGS.
My co-workers who are with other carriers get full bars in the same areas i get no reception. Is there anything I can do to keep the SGS and still get reception?

Are your coworkers on Rogers? I do find their network seems to penetrate buildings a bit better than Bell's.

reception is always good on 850 band
but there are places like Subway, or really thick concrete walls where signal will simply not go through

Nirvana388 said:
Are your coworkers on Rogers? I do find their network seems to penetrate buildings a bit better than Bell's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, they are with rogers. I can't even get texts or calls at all in the library, and my desk is hit and miss...I think to myself..."i spend 1/3 of my day here...whats the point then?"

What frequencies does bell support? Is it possible they use 2 frequencies for their network but only 1 is supported by this phone (here in Australia, telstra uses 850mhz, and special i9000's are apparently required for that)

andrewluecke said:
What frequencies does bell support? Is it possible they use 2 frequencies for their network but only 1 is supported by this phone (here in Australia, telstra uses 850mhz, and special i9000's are apparently required for that)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the international i9000 supports 900/1400/2100 bands.
I think AT&T uses 900 where as Rogers uses 850, not sure though. :\

sturmeh said:
Yeah the international i9000 supports 900/1400/2100 bands.
I think AT&T uses 900 where as Rogers uses 850, not sure though. :\
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T is also 850
900 is only used in Europe

Try turning data off or using 2g only mode when at work. Other wise buy a new at&t sgs. Apps like locale and tasker can make switching off data/2g mode painless
Sent from my Apple Newton 2100

I've got similar problems, except that for some reason my connection drops significantly at home. Everywhere else it's almost always constant 4 bars or 3, but at my house it drops to 2, 1 or sometimes loses it altogether (though latter rarely happens). So it's not THAT bad or anything but annoying nonetheless... damn Bell. As soon as it's unlockable I think I'll head over back to Rogers, Fido or whatever.

Bell uses 850/1900 bands the same as Rogers and AT&T. As we discussed in another thread, turning off the 3g is not an option for Bell as Bell has no underlying 2g GSM network to fall back on. This is probably why your coworkers are getting better reception, they are most likely falling back on Rogers 2g network when inside. This will probably not improve unless Bell puts up a new microcell nearby you or something. It is most likely just the building though that is blocking the 3g signal. If you switched to Rogers when they get the Captivate later this year, or get bell to unlock your Galaxy and switch you may get better voice/sms reception because you can then fallback on Rogers 2g.

he just need to get it unlock, so he can use another network
no need to switch phone

[Q] Feedback required from Virgin Mobile Canada Galaxy S4 Users

Hey folks,
I am currently using an unlocked S4 from Wind Mobile on the Virgin Mobile network. It is technically the T-Mobile variant - SGH-M919V.
In comparison, the Virgin/Bell S4 is the SGH-I337.
My phone usually stays on LTE but it tends to revert to 3G in some areas, but never on 4G or H+. I had thought that the bands were compatible on the virgin mobile network, which brings me to my question.
Does your S4 ever revert to 4G or H+ when not on LTE? If that is the case, I am thinking of trading my Wind S4 for the Virgin/Bell S4.
Appreciate your feedback.
Thank you.

I'm pretty sure the M919 should fully support the 850 and 1900 MHz UMTS/HSPA bands, also you'd never see 3G or be able to do voice calls and texts without them.
I just got my SGH-I337M from Virgin yesterday and it definitely reverts to H+. So far it seems that it reverts from LTE to H+ after the phone has been sitting a while, and then if I start using the data it will kick up to LTE (probably doing that to save battery instead of keeping LTE on all the time?).
Who knows what could be going on with your unit. That is a Wind unit right? Maybe the software is different. One thing I know is that ROMs can show 3G/4G/H/H+ differently. Have you done a speed test while it is showing 3G? If it is true that you are falling all the way down to basic 3G/UMTS and not getting HSPA/HSPA+ then your speeds should be limited to less than 0.5 Mbps I think.

Thanks for the quick reply.
I managed to run a couple of speedtests when not on LTE. And they were around 2 Mbps down and 1.5 Mbps up. I don't think those are necessarily H+ speeds. But it's decent enough. Maybe then the reason I am seeing 3G is because of the way the ROM chooses to display non-LTE connections.
I double checked the supported bands, and it is true that the Wind S4 (T-Mobile variant) not only supports all the bands that the Bell/Virgin S4 does but the additional AWS band as well.
Is there a way for me to force the H+ connection on the phone, just to see that it works? Or should I possibly flash the modem/radio from the virgin/bell ROM?

Open up the Testing Menu, go into Device Info and see what it says for Network Type.
Make sure your wifi is off and hit "Run ping test" as few times and look at what it changes to.
HSPAP:15
HSPA:11
HSUPA:10
If you see these then it's fine, just icons are different.

Solved!
Okay,
I did a few things to verify that despite the phone showing 3G, it is in fact on 4G or H+ when not on LTE.
I went into ServiceMode by entering *#2263# in the Phone Dialer.
I forced non-LTE connections by changing the automatic preference to WCDMA 850 and WCDMA 1900 respectively.
These are the 2 bands that are 4G or H+ for Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada.
Then I ran speedtests to a close by server and got around 7 Mbps down and 3 Mbps, which are definitely 4G/H+ speeds.
Also, following @ChronoReverse advice, I found that the network type was in fact HSPAP: 15 and HSPA: 11 (screenshots attached).
So, in conclusion I can rest my obsessive personality and accept the fact that the phone is in fact capable & is running on 4G networks. It's a ROM thing I suppose.
Or in other words, the Galaxy S4 from Wind Mobile (or T-Mobile) is completely capable of running on Virgin Mobile Canada, Bell Canada, Rogers networks with full support of LTE and 4G/H+.
Embarrassed to say what a small little 3G icon does to a person these days!
Thanks for all the help!

Verizon xt1060 4.4.4 update works with T-Mobile SIM

I updated my Verizon XT1060 4.4.2 to the 4.4.4 with the posted method in the other thread. [FXZ] Moto X 4.4.4 212.55.26 (XT1060)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x/general/fxz-moto-x-4-4-4-212-55-26-t2827307
Now it works flawlessly with my T-Mobile sim using the unlocked GSM function.
Previously with 4.4.2 it would say "unknown sim", have LTE, MMS, SMS and voice call switching issues. Even forcing HSPA was inconsistant. Now all's well with my experience.

good to know, just picked up a tmo sim yesterday, but have it in my att note 2 right now
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

I'll have to try it with my T-Mobile SIM later

After further testing, I had to change preferred network type to LTE, GSM, UMTS. default settings were flaky after driving around town.
Rebooted a few times and airplane mode a few times. Still good for now. Settings stick unlike 4.4.2
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Free mobile app

I'll test it the next time I'm in an LTE area. The nearest one is 35 miles away. I could do everything on HSPA, but I had issues in LTE areas on 4.4.2.

I wonder if that means the Maxx will work perfect on T-Mobile when it gets triple 4

SymbioticGenius said:
I wonder if that means the Maxx will work perfect on T-Mobile when it gets triple 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The maxx already has 4.4.4, had it before the X. According to several posts over there, LTE is still broken

The default APN on the XT1060 with 4.4.4 is now fast.t-mobile.com, so a manual entry is no longer needed. I still put one in though because I like to customize the APN type settings.
It now correctly falls to HSPA/GSM from LTE when calling out too, instead of locking you to CDMA voice. So, you can use the phone as a phone now, even when connected to LTE.
I'd consider this fixed now.

Did your set preferred network type to global or LTE,GSM,UMTS?
I originally had it at Global, but it started acting like 4.4.2 (problems switching between phone and data) after I started moving around town.
LTE, GSM, UMTS works good but takes a long time to find a signal if I come out of a no signal zone
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Free mobile app

HJC73734 said:
Did your set preferred network type to global or LTE,GSM,UMTS?
I originally had it at Global, but it started acting like 4.4.2 (problems switching between phone and data) after I started moving around town.
LTE, GSM, UMTS works good but takes a long time to find a signal if I come out of a no signal zone
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did set it to LTE/GSM/UMTS, and I added my own APN even though the default (hidden) APN is correct.
Yeah, even on Verizon, the phone is slow to switch networks. If I get dropped from LTE, it'll stay on 3G or 1X even though LTE is available; sometimes I get no data on Verizon for a while. Seems the same with LTE and HSPA switching.
I should add that Global mode doesn't lock to EDGE now, but it is sketchy, as you say.

I've been having calling issues using 4.4.4 when connected to tmobile LTE on my xt1060 dev edition. If I force GPRS, calls work fine, if I switch to LTE/GSM/CDMA auto (prl) I connect to LTE, but then can't make or receive calls. I haven't been able to figure out how to force H+ which seems like it would fix the problem, any ideas?
Also OP mentioned a "unlocked GSM" function, could you elaborate? I search these forums all the time but have never posted anything until now.

might work on AT & T? It may be possible?
Enviado desde mi XT1058 mediante Tapatalk

Think it should work as it is supposed to be a GSM unlocked world phone.
For me 4.4.4 fixed some of the phone/data switching problems and issues with the gsm settings resetting after reboots.
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Free mobile app

Well Verizon is currently doing testing because I made a complaint against them with the FCC.
I told the Verizon guy that I can connect to T-Mobile LTE on 4.4.4 (though I had issues with 4.4.2), but that I didn't test voice capability very thoroughly while connected to LTE (fallback to GSM may still be sketchy). So, he said he'd get back to me after they've done some testing on this particular issue. I did say that 4.4.4 fixed a lot of the issues I was having though, mainly getting connected to LTE, and having overall GSM/HSPA network issues when the phone was trying to connect to LTE.

Looks like my issue is that I'm not in the so called "refarmed" spectrum area for HSPA+, so I can either get LTE, or EDGE, nothing in between. I've tinkered with the build.prop to no avail. Guess I'll keep tinkering.

RAZRBL8DE said:
Looks like my issue is that I'm not in the so called "refarmed" spectrum area for HSPA+, so I can either get LTE, or EDGE, nothing in between. I've tinkered with the build.prop to no avail. Guess I'll keep tinkering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting considering the same amplifier for band 4 AWS LTE is the one used for HSPA. Band 4 AWS LTE operates on 1700/2100 MHz, the same frequency as the non-refarmed T-Mobile areas.
I think I'm also in a non-refarmed area, but I do have access to HSPA. The download speeds are just highly limited (0.05Mbps), so there's likely some baseband setting preventing full speeds. The last time I had reliable HSPA+ in my area was on 4.2.2 where I could pull just over 1Mbps down. In better areas, I get 5-15Mbps on HSPA+. These are certainly 1900/2100MHz areas.

Jason.DROID said:
That's interesting considering the same amplifier for band 4 AWS LTE is the one used for HSPA. Band 4 AWS LTE operates on 1700/2100 MHz, the same frequency as the non-refarmed T-Mobile areas.
I think I'm also in a non-refarmed area, but I do have access to HSPA. The download speeds are just highly limited (0.05Mbps), so there's likely some baseband setting preventing full speeds. The last time I had reliable HSPA+ in my area was on 4.2.2 where I could pull just over 1Mbps down. In better areas, I get 5-15Mbps on HSPA+. These are certainly 1900/2100MHz areas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm confused. Are you using a Verizon device? The XT1060?
While perhaps the same amplifier is being used (I have no info to either confirm or disprove this statement), the XT1060 (according to all relevant FCC data) lacks the actual physical radio hardware to support UMTS on 1700mhz. Additionally, 0.05Mbps sounds MUCH more like EDGE data than HSPA/HSPA+ data.
I'm very curious now. Would you mind trying out this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.roaderster.mrf&hl=en
And seeing which UMTS (WCDMA) band/frequency it says you are using when your phone supposedly says you are using HSPA on 1700mhz?
We already know for a fact that the XT1060 does indeed support UMTS band 2 (1900mhz). I also *thought* we knew for a fact that the XT1060 does NOT support band 4 (1700mhz). LTE, yes, but UMTS, no.
I'm anxious to see what this app has to say...

samwathegreat said:
I'm confused. Are you using a Verizon device? The XT1060?
While perhaps the same amplifier is being used (I have no info to either confirm or disprove this statement), the XT1060 (according to all relevant FCC data) lacks the actual physical radio hardware to support UMTS on 1700mhz. Additionally, 0.05Mbps sounds MUCH more like EDGE data than HSPA/HSPA+ data.
I'm very curious now. Would you mind trying out this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.roaderster.mrf&hl=en
And seeing which UMTS (WCDMA) band/frequency it says you are using when your phone supposedly says you are using HSPA on 1700mhz?
We already know for a fact that the XT1060 does indeed support UMTS band 2 (1900mhz). I also *thought* we knew for a fact that the XT1060 does NOT support band 4 (1700mhz). LTE, yes, but UMTS, no.
I'm anxious to see what this app has to say...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Skyworks 77619-12 is a penta-band amplifier that provides bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 support for HSPA/LTE and is used in the XT1053 and XT1060, among others. See here: http://www.skyworksinc.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=1024
I don't have root, so I used an older LTE phone without band 4 support, and put in a T-Mobile SIM. There was no signal at all, and T-Mobile says this will be so if a phone doesn't support 1700MHz even if it supports 2100MHz. So, I only deduced from that that I'm in a 1700/2100MHz area rather than a more typical 1900/2100MHz area. The limited down speeds are on HSPA+, but upload speeds are around 1Mbps.

Jason.DROID said:
The Skyworks 77619-12 is a penta-band amplifier that provides bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 support for HSPA/LTE and is used in the XT1053 and XT1060, among others. See here: http://www.skyworksinc.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=1024
I don't have root, so I used an older LTE phone without band 4 support, and put in a T-Mobile SIM. There was no signal at all, and T-Mobile says this will be so if a phone doesn't support 1700MHz even if it supports 2100MHz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link. As you already know (no doubt), an amplifier can do nothing if the underlying radio doesn't support the band/mode (UMTS on band 4, in this case). Likely, they use that same amp in all the Moto X variants (except, of course the Sprint variant, which uses band 25 on TDD-LTE).
The fact that the phone won't work unless both 1700 and 2100 are supported by the radio itself makes perfect sense since they are using FDD-LTE (Frequency division - requires 2 seperate bands - one for uplink and downlink).
Did you try the app I suggested? The description doesn't say it requires root...
And finally - you never confirmed: are you using the XT1060, or the XT1053?

samwathegreat said:
Thanks for the link. As you already know (no doubt), an amplifier can do nothing if the underlying radio doesn't support the band/mode (UMTS on band 4, in this case). Likely, they use that same amp in all the Moto X variants.
The fact that the phone won't work unless both 1700 and 2100 are supported by the radio itself makes perfect sense since they are using FDD-LTE (Frequency division - requires 2 seperate bands - one for uplink and downlink).
Did you try the app I suggested? The description doesn't say it requires root...
And finally - you never confirmed: are you using the XT1060, or the XT1053?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The app only lists possible bands and converts them to frequencies. It won't tell you what bands the phone is using.
On 4.2.2, my XT1060 reported using bands 1 and 4 for HSPA, which is 1700/2100MHz. I figured it was misreporting.

Carrier aggregation and disconnects on Verizon

I have noticed in a couple of places my Nexus 6 on Verizon will drop its LTE connectivity briefly. For example, during 4-5 speedtest.net runs, it paused and eventually gave me the "network communication issues" message at least 2-3 times during those 4-5 attempts in one specific location where I know I've seen it have a weak band 4 signal but strong band 13 signal.
Then I read this article which talks about carrier aggregation, and noticed this paragraph:
Because it supports band 29, it has support for LTE-Advanced downlink carrier aggregation with bands 2 and 4 to improve downlink performance. It also supports downlink carrier aggregation with bands 2+13, 2+17, 4+5, 4+13, and 4+17. Curiously enough, none of these band combinations that aren’t associated with band 29 indicate “coverage bands” are supported as the primary component carrier (PCC). Instead, they are noted as secondary component carriers (SCC), as denoted in the format PCC+SCC. This means that in the event you move out of range of the PCC (which are bands 2 or 4 on this device), the network connection will drop and have to be re-acquired instead of seamlessly just switching off carrier aggregation. As long as the network re-acquisition is quick (less than one second), it isn’t a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Emphasis mine. I am coming from a Galaxy S4 which supports band 4 and band 13 but I'm not sure if it supported carrier aggregation or not. I know I never saw disconnects like this on it. Is this something that can/will be fixed? Or just something we have to live with if we're in an area with spotty band 4 but solid band 13 coverage? It would seem this would cause a disconnect EVERY time you enter a building since band 4 doesn't penetrate as well as band 13 and it'd flip over and cause a disconnect.

Differences between A320F/DS, A320F, A320FL and Usability in the United States?

Hi,
So, I'm interested in getting a cheap 4.7" Android phone to use in the United States and sometimes in Canada. I zeroed in on the Galaxy A3 2017. The model that works best in North America is the A320Y, but so far I've only been able to find it online at some store in New Zealand. Since finding the answer to the question, Will shipping the device from NZ to the United States cost customs fees (and if so, how much)? is a question harder to answer than the question, Where is Jimmy Hoffa?, I've begun considering getting one of the models listed in the title of this thread.
But there's a problem. Those models in the title don't work on US LTE. Actually, according to frequencycheck.com, the A320FL has one LTE band (Cricket/AT&T) and the other models have none of the LTE frequency bands. I wonder if frequencycheck.com is accurate. I'm also wondering if there are other differences between those models. I'm also wondering what happens if I put a Cricket SIM inside these phones. Even though frequencycheck.com says I will get no LTE bands, will putting a Cricket SIM inside suddenly activate an LTE band?
The other question I was wondering: Do I even need LTE if I don't care much about download speed? Maybe HSPA+ or whatever it is will be good enough? If I don't have LTE, will I get less reception indoors or outdoors, or will I get the same exact reception/coverage but just be relegated to 3G/4G/HSPA+ service? What is the benefit of LTE besides data speed?
Finally, which one of these models has the most ROM support? Can they all be bootloader unlocked?
I know I'm asking a whole bunch of questions at the same time. Sorry. I appreciate any help I can get with this!

To answer some:
That website appears to be accurate. Doesn't only list AT&T for a320fl once expanded.
As for SIMs activating bands, I haven't seen it on Samsung, only RRC Release, VoLTE, LTE CAT, maybe individual CA combos. The disabled bands are shown as CAL_DEFAULT vs CAL_PASS. Guess it's like Snapdragon.
HSPA+ vs LTE
The range of 3G/4G is close with the same frequency, but 4G performs better at cell edge (low signal).
Speed (anyway)
Well, 3G is usually given its own spectrum at first, then the 2G is refarmed into 3G. Today, 3G gets refarmed to 4G. This leaves 3G with a small amount of spectrum, it becomes prone to interference. It's bit like multiple tv/fm stations on the same channel number. Other 'tv/fm stations' have to be filtered out by the phone, this lowers the speed. 4G gets some too, along with echoed complex signals, but it gets less.
3G supports up to 5MHz per carrier, 4G up to 20MHz. 3G can have carrier aggregation, so 5+5+maybe 5. Expect up to 2 carriers (not every combo) on 4G, unless a specific SIM is detected in specific phone models. Along with that, 4G can have better spectral efficiency.
If you are going with 3G(HSPA, sometimes called '4G') anyway, you should know that there are these states (usually called fast dormancy) to save power.
DCH = Full speed.
FACH = Up to 32kbps. 4kB/s. Maybe RRC Release downgrade is visible (H+ to H).
PCH = No data.
Anything below is further away from data.
For high performance, keep the speed above 4kB/s, at the cost of battery. LTE has a faster start.
Sometimes, the speed is simply constrained by backhaul, the internet access that goes to the tower.

Thanks. So, to your knowledge, the F and F DS variants shouldn't work on LTE in the United States? I was in a live chat session with someone on Samsung's UK website and she said that the F variant would work on LTE in the United States. I then sent them an email to confirm and they replied with:
As per our resources from our technical review, the following Network is available in our Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) for the US.
Network
Band: Quad
GSM 850: YES
GSM 900: YES
GSM 1800: YES
GSM 1900: YES
UMTS 2100: YES
GPRS: YES
4G: YES
HSDPA: YES
Works in the US: YES
I replied to ask them why frequencycheck.com lists no LTE frequencies in common for the F variant on AT&T. I'm so confused.

sm-a320f / sm-a320f/ds
According to every other (not alternating) source the LTE band 2 and band 5 is supported in the US (and the entire spectrum of these bands). So, it supports some bands. Check if the signal of those bands (for your mobile network operator) are available in your location. Ask again, specifically for band 2 LTE(4G).