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I know its kind of against how cellular is designed to work but I am in a situation where a sprint signal is only barely(0 bars) available and it decides to roam (with the triangle) to a uscellular signal. The problem is that its constantly trying to stay on the sprint signal, realizing that the connection isn't good enough and goes back to the uscellular signal and is just killing performance and battery. Is there any prl update or fix I can make with the evo to just stay on the uscc signal and forget about the crappy sprint signal at this location instead of hopping between the two? Ideally I'd like something automatic but I would even settle for a toggle. The uscellular signal is a repeater that was installed at my workplace. For example, in battery status my evo; the cell standby is at 39%
I am having the EXACT same issue in my office. The repeater signal in my office (850 MHz so it only repeats Verizon / AT&T / T-Mobile) is -70 dBm (full bars on my phone). The Sprint signal from outside through the foot thick cement walls is -102 or worse dBm (aka 1-0 bars). Why the hell will the phone not consistently stay on the higher power signal??
The techknowfile trick is NOT the solution to this problem. This seems like a problem with the phone itself - the whole point of a multi-band phone with free roaming is it should always pick the best signal (in my opinion).
I tried the techknowfile trick as well with no luck. Maybe a different prl? I used the 40060.prl file suggested.
I'm in an area that t-mobile maps show should have excellent phone and data coverage. Both are horrible. Data service is almost always edge with very few bars. If I ever do get 3G its usually only momentary and never above one bar.
The problem is reception doesn't seem to improve regardless of where I am. I drove to a neighboring state along freeway that t-mobile showed had full coverage. But the few times I did get a signal, I was roaming.
So, I arrive in Boulder CO thinking I should have excellent coverage, but nothing changes. Hardly any signal strength when I do have a signal. I've tried all the radios, several ROMs... even the stock one. Nothing helps.
The question is:
Does t-mobile coverage general suck? This is my first time with the company. I plan to get someone's version of the Galaxy S, but if t-mobile coverage is this bad, I'm not getting theirs.
Does the Leo radio generally suck?
Do I have a bad phone?
Is there an app that measures and logs signal strength (preferably with GPS)? I've seen them for wifi, but is there one that tracks and logs the voice/data signal on the t-mobile network?
I had a G1 before the HD2 and I usually get the same or one bar less than what I used to get with my G1 in the same places.
Try these
dc41 said:
I'm in an area that t-mobile maps show should have excellent phone and data coverage. Both are horrible. Data service is almost always edge with very few bars. If I ever do get 3G its usually only momentary and never above one bar.
The problem is reception doesn't seem to improve regardless of where I am. I drove to a neighboring state along freeway that t-mobile showed had full coverage. But the few times I did get a signal, I was roaming.
So, I arrive in Boulder CO thinking I should have excellent coverage, but nothing changes. Hardly any signal strength when I do have a signal. I've tried all the radios, several ROMs... even the stock one. Nothing helps.
The question is:
Does t-mobile coverage general suck? This is my first time with the company. I plan to get someone's version of the Galaxy S, but if t-mobile coverage is this bad, I'm not getting theirs.
Does the Leo radio generally suck?
Do I have a bad phone?
Is there an app that measures and logs signal strength (preferably with GPS)? I've seen them for wifi, but is there one that tracks and logs the voice/data signal on the t-mobile network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1: its the reception but they have REALLY good reception around the US are you surround by tress or alot of buildings/businesses?
2: i prefer the 2.10 radio it works really well
3: call t-mobile and tell them bout your problem, but before you call do a hard reset and dont install any apps, if that doesn't work Switch your sim to another phone and see what type of service you get but use a touch screen phone
i have a different problem BUT VERY ODD!
At my house i get 3g but i can't even receive calls or call out but i can text perfectly and use the internet, i switched my sim to another phone and had the same problem i get 3g but wen people call me it goes straight to Voicemail, i found 2.10 works the best for me but i live in VEGAS it still didnt fix it but it kinda made it better...
pakistaniprince said:
1: its the reception but they have REALLY good reception around the US are you surround by tress or alot of buildings/businesses?
2: i prefer the 2.10 radio it works really well
3: call t-mobile and tell them bout your problem, but before you call do a hard reset and dont install any apps, if that doesn't work Switch your sim to another phone and see what type of service you get but use a touch screen phone
i have a different problem BUT VERY ODD!
At my house i get 3g but i can't even receive calls or call out but i can text perfectly and use the internet, i switched my sim to another phone and had the same problem i get 3g but wen people call me it goes straight to Voicemail, i found 2.10 works the best for me but i live in VEGAS it still didnt fix it but it kinda made it better...
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Click to collapse
Home office in an average neighborhood. I tried to find an app that measures the GSM signal strength. I found a demo of MobileGX P3Kit and it did just what I wanted except it doesn't log the signal strength. But, I guess the company went out of business. It only worked once, and the website link is dead.
Does the data connection use a different frequency than the phone signal connection? That's about the only thing I can think of that would cause the problems you have at home. Weird stuff.
I am in a marginal coverage area and the HD2 radio is horrible. I'll go from 3 bars to no bars back to 2 bars then to none in under a minute without moving my phone.
On my Blackberry I would get usable coverage everywere in my house, none in the basement, with the HD2 its pure luck if I can use it on the front porch.
When I'm standing below a T-Mo tower I will often drop a bar of signal... and thats standing under a tower, several other people with HD2's that I have spoken with have the same experience.
Seems like it varies from phone to phone, and from location to location.
I had a Cliq and despite it being a POS, it had excellent coverage, then I got a Nexus One and its coverage would drop regularly at home. It would drop so often that I didnt really use pandora or surf the internet unless I was on WiFi.
Now I have the HD2 and its been somewhere in the middle. Lots of people say changing the radio will fix your issue. I would definitely start there. Just because a radio version works for some doesnt mean it will definitely be the best option for your location.
dc41 said:
So, I arrive in Boulder CO thinking I should have excellent coverage, but nothing changes. Hardly any signal strength when I do have a signal. I've tried all the radios, several ROMs... even the stock one. Nothing helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, I just left Boulder and I had full 3g signal strength.
So far I'm really happy with my G2!
I'm in Milwaukee where we have H+ coverage. I'm getting around 12hrs from the battery with moderate use. I don't think this is terrible, but the "cell standby" uses 40-60% of the battery!
I did some research and found the "WCDMA Only" setting. That brought the "time without signal" down to around 30% from around 60% but I don't like the idea that if I leave WCDMA coverage I'll miss calls etc...
So, my questions is - Is it possible that this is an issue with the radio firmware? It seems to be unnecessarily switching from EDGE to 3G/H+ since if I force WCDMA only, it maintains connection.
Any ideas?
I suggest you change your setting to WCDMA Preferred.
That, obviously, will cause the phone to connect to the faster network if it's available, and if it's not, will connect to the slower EDGE networks.
Having -50dB HSPA at school, and marginal HSPA at home, this works great for me.
Sometimes there will be a handover to 2G even if a 3G signal is reachable. Possible causes are sudden increases in utilization of the 3G by other users or attenuation for other reasons. Setting WCDMA-only prevents the radio from performing battery-draining tower searches, but like you said there is the problem of occasionally not having any coverage at all.
This is a problem with T-Mo US's network. You can see symptoms of it on other devices (particularly so with the Nexus One).
How do I find this setting and set it?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
SuperDave81 said:
How do I find this setting and set it?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Open dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. It's in the first list item.
Edit: I see your location is Bay Area. I find that T-Mo 3.xG coverage is pretty lacking out on the edges of suburbia (think the hilly areas east of 680).
I have high Cell Standby as well. I checked it's details out and it claims that 50% of the time, my phone is without signal. Check this by going to:
Settings > About Phone > Battery Use > Cell Standby
It will tell me that 50% of the time, I do not have cell signal. I compared this to my brother's Vibrant and his is at 0% signal loss. Definitely something wrong here because my cell standby usage is twice as much as my brother's (we live in the same household so location shouldn't matter).
jashsu said:
Open dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. It's in the first list item.
Edit: I see your location is Bay Area. I find that T-Mo 3.xG coverage is pretty lacking out on the edges of suburbia (think the hilly areas east of 680).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And how do you un-do this if it does not work out?
NM! I figured it out~!
Edit: figured out how to change this setting. But when I set it to WCDMA at my office I get 1 to no bars And the internet is slow. I do have a H and it is using HSPA.
If I set it to GSM only I get 3 to 4 bars, mostly 4 bars max. And then I am on Edge, and the internet is a bit faster.
I am just wondering why the coverage sucks so bad for 3g? When the maps I can find seem to show good coverage. When I am out and about I get good bars on HSPA, but inside it just sucks.
I am in Houston, area code 77009 :/
jashsu said:
Open dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. It's in the first list item.
Edit: I see your location is Bay Area. I find that T-Mo 3.xG coverage is pretty lacking out on the edges of suburbia (think the hilly areas east of 680).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this info
Weird, I just checked my G2 and I have 0% time w/o signal.
I live in Houston, TX and this is a combo of downtown and my house.
Botched setting in the phone?
i got 14+ hours the other day, but did notice that my cell standby has been very high.. when i checked... 44% of the time is without a signal (not sure how that's calculated) as I rarely ever see signal loss.. except for an hour out of the day I go into airplane mode at the gym because i have 0 cell coverage there. But I just changed to GSM Auto (PRL), i'll see if anything changes tommorow.
SuperFly03 said:
Weird, I just checked my G2 and I have 0% time w/o signal.
I live in Houston, TX and this is a combo of downtown and my house.
Botched setting in the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you think this is a botched setting? This is exactly what it should be like. You don't want any signal loss.
jashsu said:
Open dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. It's in the first list item.
Edit: I see your location is Bay Area. I find that T-Mo 3.xG coverage is pretty lacking out on the edges of suburbia (think the hilly areas east of 680).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting trick. Changed my settings from GSM only to WCDMA only. My "time without signal" dropped from 50% to around 35% so it helped a bit, but not completely. On top of that, I noticed that my signal was a lot weaker and would drop more frequently so I had to switch back to GSM only.
Stryder5 said:
Why do you think this is a botched setting? This is exactly what it should be like. You don't want any signal loss.
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Click to collapse
I meant on the OP's part.
I don't think it's a botched setting.
I just wonder if they have the phone is jumping between bands too frequently and unnecessarily. In my house the phone constantly jumps around from H-G-E suggesting that it's dropping signal and switching bands. However if I force it to WCDMA it never loses signal.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
preamble *** My 3G/HSDPA signal has improved greatly by setting the 'phone to 'WCDMA Only ***
Hi!
It has been a while since I have posted on this forum, but I made a discovery today that I thought that some of you could probably gain from too.
Apologies if it's old news in a Tips and Tricks thread somewhere in the depths of the forum, but I thought the behaviour was a bit weird and deserved a mention.
I live about 6 miles from a city. My village has on the face of it, always had a rubbish 'data' signal. Every 'phone I have ever owned (that automatically hunted for 2G/3G etc) always failed to get a 3G signal here. Mostly, I'd even have trouble to get any sort of speed connection on 2G!
Whilst fiddling with my handset today, I noticed the 'Network Mode' in 'Mobile Network Settings' of my Gingerbread build. Understandably it was set to 'Auto' GSM/WCDMA so that if it can't find a 3G signal it'll just default to 2G instead.
In a moment of madness, I thought that there was no point in using data *unless* I was in a 3G area. I set the 'phone to 'WCDMA Only' thinking that it'd only bother to connect when I went in to the City. I.e, I'm not using my home WiFi instead. What's the point in it trying to get 2G in a rubbish area. I'd rather it gave up until a decent 3G signal was available when I was on the move.
So that's my logic.. but the biggest surprise came when I checked the 'phone after! It has been locked on to a 3G/HSDPA signal all day whilst at home! I even downloaded the SpeedTest.Net app to make sure it was actually connecting and I have recorded over 3Mb connection speeds today!
Interesting, I haven't tried it though (but I'm generally in areas with good 3g reception).
Just be aware that setting it to "WCDMA Only" is not just about data. It means that when no such network is available you also can't be reached by phone (or make a call) or even send/receive SMS. The phone will then constantly search for a network, often draining the battery rather quickly. So keep an eye on weather or not you are connected with reasonable network strength.
Oh right! Eeek, I just assumed it would be just the data side of things and that the usual mob signal for texts and voice wouldn't have been affected. Thanks! I'll be sure to keep an eye on it!
Wow, you just found that option? Anyway, good find, it'll help the others who haven't found it/know about it yet :thumbup:
Sent from my S II Monster
Ha ha! I know! - And usually I'm such a geek too! I guess it's one of those options you look at and don't bother to do anything about. I'd just assumed my 3G in this area was so rubbish, it wasn't anything I could do on the 'phone to improve it! Such is life eh!
I bought a business class Verizon extender for $400 because the Turbo has less reception than my LG G2 did, but there seems to be a serious flaw in the Turbos programming (or maybe it's the antenna). I can be right next to the extender with only a couple bars, if I go to make a phone call it suddenly jumps to full bars. The issue could be battery saving? Because if I walk 30 feet from the extender I will lose the extender connection all together. I can then walk back to the extender and have no connection even when right next to it. Basically the extender is useless at 30ft because it will always lose connection.
Before anyone says, it's a defective extender. It's not, this is the replacement extender for the first one that had the same issue (and a burnt out power LED).
Can you post a picture of the extender? The first two photos show its connected to the extender. The third is 3g and it won't connect to it on 3g.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Free mobile app
extender in background
mobrules777 said:
Can you post a picture of the extender? The first two photos show its connected to the extender. The third is 3g and it won't connect to it on 3g.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
The extender is the 4 blue lights in the background. It is the new business class one made by Samsung. It's supposed to have a range of 60ft.
The icon above your signal strength in the pictures shows that you are connected to the extender. It looks like a little house. Barely noticeable but its there. I have three to four bars at one end of my house but the other end only one. The one I have is the residential one but I have very bad 4g reception at my house. I dont really know anything about the business class one. The one I have has a range of about 100 ft. I can walk about half way into the back property without losing connection. I wonder If the materials of the building is causing an issue. I know a local government that bought these for several of its buildings. They didnt work for them because the buildings were concrete and brick. A phone could be 10 ft away from the extender but a wall between them and there was no connection at all.
Im sure this is stuff you already know but I would talk to verizon tier one support about it. They seeem to be a little more knowledgeable.
1 bar and I'm 1ft from extender.
It is showing 1 bar and I'm 1ft from the extender. So I walk 30ft and I got nothing.
The turbo can't do simultaneous voice and data because it has one radio, so whenever I make a call it shows 1x with no bars. I guess when you're on the extender and make a call, it switches to full bars like you said. I don't know anything about these extenders though.
If you place a call, you should see it go up to full strength.
You're seeing the 4G indicator, which is the 4G signal coming in from the network. The Network Extenders are 1X/EV-DO only.
Look at Settings-> About Phone-> Status-> Network Type and Strength and see what it says for 1x (or maybe 3g) strength.
I think digitaloutsider is right- when you're not on a call, and you're in 4G coverage, you'll see your 4G strength on the signal meter (or, at least, the low bar between the two). You can verify that you're going through the network extender by either dialing #48 or listening for a double beep immediately after you dial a number.
I don't have a business extender, but my consumer device doesn't have a great range. When I'm 30 feet away in my house (depending on exactly where I am), I'll see a noticeable drop in signal strength from the extender. It certainly still works anywhere in my house, though.
tested
reggie14 said:
Look at Settings-> About Phone-> Status-> Network Type and Strength and see what it says for 1x (or maybe 3g) strength.
I think digitaloutsider is right- when you're not on a call, and you're in 4G coverage, you'll see your 4G strength on the signal meter (or, at least, the low bar between the two). You can verify that you're going through the network extender by either dialing #48 or listening for a double beep immediately after you dial a number.
I don't have a business extender, but my consumer device doesn't have a great range. When I'm 30 feet away in my house (depending on exactly where I am), I'll see a noticeable drop in signal strength from the extender. It certainly still works anywhere in my house, though.
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Click to collapse
I believe you guys are correct. It is showing the tower signal, even when the little house extender icon is on. I took several screen shots and they seem to verify the bars are the tower signal. The one issue seems to be that I still am completely losing connection to the extender when I am not far away (45ft), as seen in one of the screens. Certainly not the 60ft range that Verizon claims the business extender can reach.
lukester01 said:
I believe you guys are correct. It is showing the tower signal, even when the little house extender icon is on. I took several screen shots and they seem to verify the bars are the tower signal. The one issue seems to be that I still am completely losing connection to the extender when I am not far away (45ft), as seen in one of the screens. Certainly not the 60ft range that Verizon claims the business extender can reach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks like your phone is getting a stronger signal from a Verizon tower than your network extender in one of the pictures. Are you getting closer to a window in that case?
file name tells location
reggie14 said:
It looks like your phone is getting a stronger signal from a Verizon tower than your network extender in one of the pictures. Are you getting closer to a window in that case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you hover over the picture, it will show the file name for the location in relation to the extender. The extender is in an area of better cell tower coverage. I have a serious problem with intermittent cell coverage at this location. One second I'll have an amazing 4G signal, then 10 sec later it will be 1 bar 3G, then seconds after that nothing, then 5 min later great 4G coverage again. I am on the water in Seattle and I have noticed that when it switches to the 3G signal I am actually on a tower 3 miles away across the water. For some reason the signal goes up and down, then switches towers, it's a mess. So I was hoping the extender would give me constant coverage.
The one you are talking about I think is me on the phone, 45ft from the extender (is the phone icon at the top?). But if I get off the phone at that location the signal instantly drops as you can see in another photo labeled 45ft from extender. I honestly think the phone boosts it's reception when on the phone, then lets it drop when not. This would be fine if I only used the phone for phone calls (I use my wifi for data), except that I cannot then get texts when it does this.
lukester01 said:
If you hover over the picture, it will show the file name for the location in relation to the extender. The extender is in an area of better cell tower coverage. I have a serious problem with intermittent cell coverage at this location. One second I'll have an amazing 4G signal, then 10 sec later it will be 1 bar 3G, then seconds after that nothing, then 5 min later great 4G coverage again. I am on the water in Seattle and I have noticed that when it switches to the 3G signal I am actually on a tower 3 miles away across the water. For some reason the signal goes up and down, then switches towers, it's a mess. So I was hoping the extender would give me constant coverage.
The one you are talking about I think is me on the phone, 45ft from the extender (is the phone icon at the top?). But if I get off the phone at that location the signal instantly drops as you can see in another photo labeled 45ft from extender. I honestly think the phone boosts it's reception when on the phone, then lets it drop when not. This would be fine if I only used the phone for phone calls (I use my wifi for data), except that I cannot then get texts when it does this.
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Click to collapse
Use Verizon Messages, you can send+receive SMS over Wi-Fi and you can open your messages in a web portal from your laptop or another device. Verizon apps don't always suck haha
I am gasping at the remark the turbo has worse reception than the g2. My droid maxx definitely has better reception and hand off than my g3 but both work well.
Sent from my Verizon LG G3 using Tapatalk
I really think it depends on your area as far as reception. The Turbo is the first phone I have used that gets cell reception in my neighborhood. That would be better reception than the OG droid, Bionic, Original Nexus, S3, HTC One, Iphone 4, iphone 5 and Verizon Ellipsis.
That said, due to all the reception issues of the past, I also have the business class extender. I have 2 bars of 4g and when I make a call, it goes over to 1x at full strength. As I move away, the bars drop. I live on half an acre and this thing still works out in the yard. You always know when you are using the extender because of the little bo doop sound it makes when you answer or make a call.