I just purchased a sprint samsung galaxy S2. I'm not impressed with the web browsing speed everyone talks about on all the reviews. I recently downloaded speed test app on my wife's iphone 4 and my s2. Initially, my wife's iphone 4 blew mine out of the water. Her avg. speed was 9.0mbps whereas my avg. speed was a dismal, 0.50mbps. I then realized that her iphone 4 had the wifi on, where mine was turned off. I then turned my wifi on and recorded much higher results, avg. 9.0mbps. My quesion is, should I have to have the wifi on to gain these speeds? I thought the speeds the writers were refering to on the reviews were taken while working off the networkand not utilizing wifi. This is one of my main reasons I was considering returning the S2 for the iphone 4s but now that I can reach these download speeds, I'm considering keeping it. However, I'm still confused about the wifi having to be on. Can anyone please explain? Thank you in advance
bravo64 said:
I just purchased a sprint samsung galaxy S2. I'm not impressed with the web browsing speed everyone talks about on all the reviews. I recently downloaded speed test app on my wife's iphone 4 and my s2. Initially, my wife's iphone 4 blew mine out of the water. Her avg. speed was 9.0mbps whereas my avg. speed was a dismal, 0.50mbps. I then realized that her iphone 4 had the wifi on, where mine was turned off. I then turned my wifi on and recorded much higher results, avg. 9.0mbps. My quesion is, should I have to have the wifi on to gain these speeds? I thought the speeds the writers were refering to on the reviews were taken while working off the networkand not utilizing wifi. This is one of my main reasons I was considering returning the S2 for the iphone 4s but now that I can reach these download speeds, I'm considering keeping it. However, I'm still confused about the wifi having to be on. Can anyone please explain? Thank you in advance
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Click to collapse
Network coverage varies so much from place to place that no-one can ever promise you anything, regardless of provider or device. You'll get a better signal outside than inside, so take that as an indication of how unreliable data signals actually are. If you regularly have access to wifi then use that as much as possible. It's obviously faster and it's not part of your monthly usage so you won't get charged extra for using it. It obviously depends on where you live and how much wifi coverage you have. I know people that are nearly always within reach of wifi, both in and out, so they have good speeds all the time. I suffer from living in an area where the coverage isn't too good. I do occasionally get full HSPA+, but it's usually a couple of bars of 3G. No phone would change that though, so I have a phone I like, regardless of crappy coverage.
It will also depend on if they were connected to 4G as well. Being that it didn't say 3G or WiFi on the reports you saw it could have been 4G, 3G, or WiFi. I personally leave my phone WiFi all the time even though it is only connected when I'm at work or home. There is no 4G in my area so that isn't even a factor for me. The speeds do vary quite a bit when out and about being that it is only on 3G and the radio in the Epic Touch isn't the strongest and at times doesn't get signal where other Sprint phones do but that is the same with everything, you gotta take the good with the bad. For me it doesn't go so slow that it is unbearable but I do wish it would be quicker at times. That is deffinetly a downfall to having Sprint is the lack of coverage.
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the speed obviously depends on the speed of your wifi connection..
Since no one else noted it, the Sprint Galaxy S2 is not this phone (i9100), but the Epic 4g Touch. Which has a separate forum.
Also, if it isn't obvious, if wifi is on, then it will use your wifi connection. If not, it will use your phone carrier's mobile data network. If sprint is only giving you 0.5mbps on their "4g" network, then that's on sprint.
Related
How is your 3G reception on the Vibrant? I just purchased a Vibrant as a replacement for my aging and bluetooth handicapped G1 and I am disappointed with the 3G reception.
T-Mobile's coverage in my area is moderate, and the G1 has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors, and may even flop back to 2G. It is fairly consistently on 2G in my home at 2 bars and at work I can only get 1 bar of 2G with this phone and spend the majority of the time with no signal at all.
I sat down and did some comparison between the Vibrant and the G1 and have found the following:
1. *#*#4636#*#* menu shows significantly worse signal levels on the Vibrant than on the G1, often times showing 0db and 0asu in the same location I am seeing -89db to -101db 3G on the G1.
2. The service menu on the Vibrant indicates a signal level which on 3G is fairly consistently 8db better than the one shown on the info menu. Interestingly, 2G signal levels as shown on the service menu seem fairly spot on with those shown from the info menu in Android.
3. The service menu 3G signal levels on the Vibrant seem consistent with those that I see on the G1 with a variation of perhaps only a couple of decibels.
That said, it seems interesting that battery usage on the Vibrant seems to indicate nearly 60% of its time with no service under cell standby when I get 0% in the same location with the G1. I am wondering if the time being recorded here is in fact the time spent with 0 bars being displayed even if the phone does, in fact, have a signal.
It is apparent that there is at least a software issue with the display here, as has been concluded in prior threads. However, ignoring the bar display I am wondering what others feel of the signal coverage with their Vibrant versus their old phone?
Does anyone have any experience with any of Samsung's other phone offerings? Do you think Samsung will post a radio update for this phone or possibly release one along with the GPS Fix/Froyo update in September?
I work in a position which requires me to be on-call a certain times during the year, and I can't really afford to have a phone that camps out at 60% no signal. I am really looking for reasons to keep this phone, as I like it otherwise, but practically, I need a phone that is going to receive phone calls. Any objective indications anyone can give that Samsung will continue to support this device may help sway my decision to keep it. My 14 days will be up on Thursday, so I need to make a final decision about keeping this phone before then.
Also, do any developers think that modifying the handling of the signal display in Android will cause a change in the amount of time the phone spends acquiring signal between 3G and 2G, or is this something that is purely handled within the radio firmware? If this is changeable, is this something that can be included in a future custom rom?
No coverage issues with mine.matches my mt3g in pretty much every location.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I made a call in the BOONDOCKS of NC, in an old river mill with 22 inch brick walls... NOBODY else was able to place a call other than me (all the big networks and nice phones).
I have pretty crappy 3g service here in new rochelle when at home the phone keeps fluctuating between 0-4 bars for 3G and the data speeds very inconsistent. Sometimes it even falls back to EDGE! This is pretty lame, i called t-mobile about it and they said there nothing they can do! If i am unhappy i should return the phone.
I live in NYC...
That is really all I have to say.
3-5 up speeds
constant 3g connection
The bars on the phone are funky though they look like there are none but you can still make calls. Its just the software is off just like the battery percentage.
Rishikesh said:
I have pretty crappy 3g service here in new rochelle when at home the phone keeps fluctuating between 0-4 bars for 3G and the data speeds very inconsistent. Sometimes it even falls back to EDGE! This is pretty lame, i called t-mobile about it and they said there nothing they can do! If i am unhappy i should return the phone.
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Click to collapse
If you're at home why aren't you on WiFi?
Seriously it's the most puzzling thing ever. 3G or not, I wouldn't be using it at home. Are you trying to replace your ISP with your phone or something?
You should do a search. Are you aware of the fact that -0dBm is impossible? The bars are off on this phone and the G1 is mediocre overall. It can hold on to a 3G signal for longer because your hand isn't blocking the antenna but the antenna itself is truly mediocre in fringe areas. Move your hand away from the bottom hump on the Vibrant. A lot of questions you're asking.. you're answering yourself.
I am not all too impressed with 3G coverage here at my home, but I mostly blame the network at my location and not necessarily the phone. TMO has spotty coverage near my house....period, and I live less than a mile from the tower. I have a Blackberry 9700 and it has similar issues with 3G. I've called and complained and they give me the usual "you're green on the map...return the phone....blah blah". I was closer to downtown Dallas yesterday and the phone had full bars and never got higher than -80dbm. Speedtest app showed about 3mbps downloads on average. I wouldn't say it was stellar but it's nothing like at home either. Only thing is my phone never automatically drops from 3G to E unless I am making calls. Once again the Blackberry 9700 does the same thing.
However, I am not completely convinced the phone isn't to blame either. I had a week with the new Motorola XT720, aka AWS Motoroi/Milestone that Magenta is/was rumored (who knows?) to get, and if Moto hadn't skimped on the CPU/RAM/screen/app memory of that phone I would have kept it instead of this Vibrant. That phone seemed to get much better 3G signal and HSPA was excellent compared to the Vibrant. I'm lucky if the Vibrant gets HSPA here at all. Overall network performance just seemed faster. It was quite obvious when I powered up the Vibrant the first time that 3G coverage is going to be an issue at my home with this phone.
FWIW my wife has an iPhone 3G which gets great 3G coverage here at the house on ATT. So I borrowed her SIM to test after I unlocked the Vibrant and it didn't make much difference. It did get 3G which I didn't think was technically possible until I saw that this phone has 1900 3G support as well as AWS. I do think the bars and definitely the battery indicators are not accurate whatsoever. I use Battery Indicator Pro and it's definitely obvious Samsung needs a software re-work.
Just because you live within 1 mile of a tower doesn't mean it's 3G or that there isn't something in the way of it's signal and your house.. I live within 1 mile of a tower and it's not 3G. It's supposed to get 3G soon.
heygrl said:
If you're at home why aren't you on WiFi?
Seriously it's the most puzzling thing ever. 3G or not, I wouldn't be using it at home. Are you trying to replace your ISP with your phone or something?
You should do a search. Are you aware of the fact that -0dBm is impossible? The bars are off on this phone and the G1 is mediocre overall. It can hold on to a 3G signal for longer because your hand isn't blocking the antenna but the antenna itself is truly mediocre in fringe areas. Move your hand away from the bottom hump on the Vibrant. A lot of questions you're asking.. you're answering yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I don't have WiFi in my house?
Maybe I would love to reduce my monthly expenditures by the $60 I throw away to Comcast?
I am well aware of the fact that -0dbm is impossible. This is simply what the phone is displaying. I also agree that the G1's reception is mediocre, but this phone seems worse than the G1. Blocking the antenna with my hand doesn't seem to make much difference on either the Vibrant or the G1.
I asked for objective answers to my questions which basically boil down to the following:
1. Do you think Samsung will provide support for the software on this phone (including the radio) over the long term ie. do you think there will be upgrades in this department?
2. Do you think this is something custom rom developers can address purely via modifying the OS?
Thanks for your snarky comments, but if you haven't got any objective input into the situation maybe this thread is not for you.
equid0x said:
Maybe I don't have WiFi in my house?
Maybe I would love to reduce my monthly expenditures by the $60 I throw away to Comcast?
I am well aware of the fact that -0dbm is impossible. This is simply what the phone is displaying. I also agree that the G1's reception is mediocre, but this phone seems worse than the G1. Blocking the antenna with my hand doesn't seem to make much difference on either the Vibrant or the G1.
I asked for objective answers to my questions which basically boil down to the following:
1. Do you think Samsung will provide support for the software on this phone (including the radio) over the long term ie. do you think there will be upgrades in this department?
2. Do you think this is something custom rom developers can address purely via modifying the OS?
Thanks for your snarky comments, but if you haven't got any objective input into the situation maybe this thread is not for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're asking questions that we can't answer. Do we work at Samsung? No. Would stock Android fix this? Maybe.
It seems worse than the G1 because based on your comments the bars are having an affect on what you deem to be "worse". I've had tons of T-Mobile phones including the G1 and the Vibrant is not considerably worse than any. INFACT it will hold on to a 3G signal for longer than most. My CLIQ displayed 3 bars as -105dBm. Accurate? NO.
has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors,
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Click to collapse
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having any disconcernable change you're not doing it right
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
heygrl said:
You're asking questions that we can't answer. Do we work at Samsung? No.
It seems worse than the G1 because based on your comments the bars are having an affect on what you deem to be "worse". I've had tons of T-Mobile phones including the G1 and the Vibrant is not considerably worse than any. INFACT it will hold on to a 3G signal for longer than most. My CLIQ displayed 3 bars as -105dBm. Accurate? NO.
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having much of a change at all you're lying or not doing it right.
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that nobody here is working for Samsung but there are plenty of people here who have developed for Android, and the question I am posing is if this is something that can be addressed in a custom rom.
I think my original post makes it clear that there is obviously a software issue with bar display, but I am wondering if this software issue is also causing the Android OS to force a switch to 2G in an instance where the G1 with a properly functioning display would keep 3G. ie, the phone is switching to 2G early because it thinks it only has -111dbm when it in fact still has -103dbm. I am not clear on whether this functionality is performed within the OS itself or purely within the radio firmware.
My hands are rather large, so holding the G1 basically covers the entire rear of the phone. The antenna is near the top of the phone whereas the antenna on the Vibrant seems to be on the bottom. Though holding both phones in various positions seems to have little effect on the received signal strength so far as I can tell.
The time spent without signal in cell standby I believe to be erroneous. I think it is tallying up that time any time there are zero bars, even if the phone still has a signal. This makes it very difficult to objectively compare the 2 phones. If the OS is in fact driving the switch from 3G to 2G this may explain my poor access in fringe areas as the phone will be constantly flapping between the two. If the functions that drive this behavior are within the AOSP source this could easily be something we can fix in a custom rom even without Samsung's help, even if a radio update would be ideal.
heygrl said:
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having any disconcernable change you're not doing it right
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can wrap my hand around the phone (Vibrant), either top, center or bottom and I do not see any change in either reception, call quality, network throughput or number of bars.
heygrl said:
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is perfectly understandable that if he has good reception with a G1, an older phone, he expects at least a similar level or reception with a newer, higher end phone. WiFi would be considered a workaround.
I just received my Vibrant on Monday and it's sadly replacing my amazing Nexus One. I've noticed that the Vibrant antenna is AWFUL. Where I received 4-5 bars on the N1, I'm getting 1-3 bars now and it even goes down to Edge once every few hours.
Like the OP, I've been monitoring the db levels and they're frequently around -95 through -107. While my calls don't actually drop, the quality does get worse. I'm also getting many 3G connection errors when trying to browser or download apps from the Market. It's quite disappointing. The phone is made of plastic as well, so I'd imagine that the antenna reception should be better.
Being that there are only 2 pages on this particular thread, does this mean it's a fluke and others' phones are ok?
allen099 said:
I just received my Vibrant on Monday and it's sadly replacing my amazing Nexus One. I've noticed that the Vibrant antenna is AWFUL. Where I received 4-5 bars on the N1, I'm getting 1-3 bars now and it even goes down to Edge once every few hours.
Like the OP, I've been monitoring the db levels and they're frequently around -95 through -107. While my calls don't actually drop, the quality does get worse. I'm also getting many 3G connection errors when trying to browser or download apps from the Market. It's quite disappointing. The phone is made of plastic as well, so I'd imagine that the antenna reception should be better.
Being that there are only 2 pages on this particular thread, does this mean it's a fluke and others' phones are ok?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4-5 bars on a phone with a 4 bar scale?
Stop looking at -dBm on the Vibrant, it's not accurate.
If you don't want the phone to switch to EDGE lock it on 3G.
heygrl said:
4-5 bars on a phone with a 4 bar scale?
Stop looking at -dBm on the Vibrant, it's not accurate.
If you don't want the phone to switch to EDGE lock it on 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you lock it on 3G?
javacody said:
How do you lock it on 3G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This worked for me (copy/paste and remove spaces in http):
h t t p://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7438987&postcount=7
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7438987&postcount=7
Thanks. 3G is spotty at best in the Des Moines Area, so I'll leave well enough alone.
So, in follow up to this, I had downloaded and installed RF signal tracker from the market and went driving around until I found a tower. It seems that via Android OS the best signal strength received was -81dbm and that was sitting right next to the tower. The phone stayed locked at -81dbm for a few miles down the road so I suspect this is peak signal on this phone which should really be something like -65dbm. I think this pretty much confirms that there is indeed a software issue with the signal display.
I also took some time looking at Android code and found that the bars are driven on GSM/UMTS by asu as follows:
if (asu <= 2 || asu == 99) iconLevel = 0;
else if (asu >= 12) iconLevel = 4;
else if (asu >= 8) iconLevel = 3;
else if (asu >= 5) iconLevel = 2;
else iconLevel = 1;
So figuring up the dbm values from these, I went ahead and created a new asu scale which is adjusted -8dbm from "normal" since this seems to be the worst case of the mismatch between the phone firmware and what Android is reporting and applied that within the market app Real Signal to try and get an apples to apples comparison of signal bars between this phone and the old G1. Unfortunately, the degree if miscalibration means we can't set a negative ASU so we don't get any meaningful display on Real Signal until we hit the 3rd bar. In doing this if I go to a moderate overage area I am seeing the bars I would expect.
After my little drive with RF Signal Tracker its actually pretty clear that discrepancy is really more like -15dbm, which adjusting the figures should mean that this phone in reality gets slightly better reception than the old G1.
It seems we should be able to workaround this in a custom ROM by doing one of the following:
1. Modify getGsmSignalStrength() to add the -15dbm to the returned signal strength value(hackish).
2. Modify the vendor RIL to compensate for the -15dbm offset when on UMTS. (Probably the proper solution).
I'm not clear on whether the vendor RIL code gets posted to AOSP...
equid0x said:
How is your 3G reception on the Vibrant? I just purchased a Vibrant as a replacement for my aging and bluetooth handicapped G1 and I am disappointed with the 3G reception.
T-Mobile's coverage in my area is moderate, and the G1 has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors, and may even flop back to 2G. It is fairly consistently on 2G in my home at 2 bars and at work I can only get 1 bar of 2G with this phone and spend the majority of the time with no signal at all.
I sat down and did some comparison between the Vibrant and the G1 and have found the following:
1. *#*#4636#*#* menu shows significantly worse signal levels on the Vibrant than on the G1, often times showing 0db and 0asu in the same location I am seeing -89db to -101db 3G on the G1.
2. The service menu on the Vibrant indicates a signal level which on 3G is fairly consistently 8db better than the one shown on the info menu. Interestingly, 2G signal levels as shown on the service menu seem fairly spot on with those shown from the info menu in Android.
3. The service menu 3G signal levels on the Vibrant seem consistent with those that I see on the G1 with a variation of perhaps only a couple of decibels.
That said, it seems interesting that battery usage on the Vibrant seems to indicate nearly 60% of its time with no service under cell standby when I get 0% in the same location with the G1. I am wondering if the time being recorded here is in fact the time spent with 0 bars being displayed even if the phone does, in fact, have a signal.
It is apparent that there is at least a software issue with the display here, as has been concluded in prior threads. However, ignoring the bar display I am wondering what others feel of the signal coverage with their Vibrant versus their old phone?
Does anyone have any experience with any of Samsung's other phone offerings? Do you think Samsung will post a radio update for this phone or possibly release one along with the GPS Fix/Froyo update in September?
I work in a position which requires me to be on-call a certain times during the year, and I can't really afford to have a phone that camps out at 60% no signal. I am really looking for reasons to keep this phone, as I like it otherwise, but practically, I need a phone that is going to receive phone calls. Any objective indications anyone can give that Samsung will continue to support this device may help sway my decision to keep it. My 14 days will be up on Thursday, so I need to make a final decision about keeping this phone before then.
Also, do any developers think that modifying the handling of the signal display in Android will cause a change in the amount of time the phone spends acquiring signal between 3G and 2G, or is this something that is purely handled within the radio firmware? If this is changeable, is this something that can be included in a future custom rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't done any detailed tests but I can state that in real world use, I am not happy with my Vibrant's reception. My G1 was very noticeably better at getting and holding 3G and Edge connections in the same locations where my new Vibrant won't.
Next to a tower on GSM(GSM/GPRS/EDGE) you should see -51dBm at the most with Android. W-CDMA is different because they really don't use -dBm to determine signal quality. They use power/noise.
Data speeds have been horribly inconsistent since I got it. I have had several AT&T 3G phones in the same locations I'm using the Atrix and I can say with confidence it's not just the network. In the same spot at the same time a speed test will tell me ~3Mbps down ~1Mbps up and yet it will be horribly slow surfing the web. I'll bench it again a few minutes later and the speed test page won't even load. Apps will complain of no data connectivity and then boom, all of a sudden it's back. The whole time I'll have a 4-5 bars of service and my wife's iPhone sitting right next to it has no problems. Many times I have to reboot the phone to get data service back. Sometimes the data speed is so good I think I left the wifi on. That rarely lasts however.
I have tried nearly every "ROM" and radio in the dev section. I'm currently running the latest AT&T radio and CherryBlur. Is the radio in this thing just a PoS? I was thinking of having it swapped anyway since the front facing camera is completely blocked with pocket lint.
I just got the Atrix as a company phone. I traded in my company iPhone 4 for it for a couple of reasons.
1.) I prefer android phones
2.) I have an upcoming trip to Europe and thought I would have an easier time using the Atrix over there than the iPhone.
3.) I have an android tablet that also has a Tegra 2 chip in it so I thought I could run of the of the games I got for my tablet on this phone.
4.) Both my personal and work cell phones were 3G phones.
After having it for only 2 days, I am not a fan. I noticed the crappy data speed and also have suffered the network not available errors.
I have a rooted Droid X as a personal phone and I absolutely LOVE it. I travel for business and pleasure and when I do I usually take both my work phone and personal phone and I consistently see I get a stronger and better signal from my Verizon Droid X phone. Even when I had the (AT&T) iPhone 4 (3G) I saw the weak signal and slow speeds.
Anyway, back to the topic of this thread. Yes, you're not alone. This Atrix is pretty disappointing being a "4G" phone and all. Last night while at home I tried watching videos from several sources on this Atrix. Fox Television, Hulu Plus, and Crackle all complained about "a network error" and would take forever to load a video if it didn't error out first and then it was really poor quality complared to what I experience on my old 3G Verizon Droid X. If that wasn't bad enough I even got the network errors popup when I would move around in the Market looking at apps and such.
I am planning on upgrading my personal phone to the Droid Bionic when it is released next month but alas that phone is not "global ready" so I will see what I can do with this Atrix once I get root on it just so I can have a "world phone" as a backup.
Atrix 4G HSDPA+ speeds
I'm glad I'm not the only one!
I'm currently just outside of Princeton, NJ... running the speedtest.net application:
H+ data, 4-5 bars connectivity
Ping: 99ms
Download: 53kbps (yes, k)
Upload: 90kpbs
I regularly measure in the 50-80kbps speeds.
When I got my Atrix, I figured HSDPA+ would be faster.....
(yes, I made sure nothing else was using CPU or the data connection - I run this test regularly).
Admittedly, in other areas I've seen as high as 1 Mbps, but it's consistently bad in this area, even given an apparently strong signal.
I do not share your frustrations. I am on Bell in Canada and average 2 mbps down / 1 mbps up. That's blazing fast for Canada in my books!
Maybe flashing up the latest radio by kenneth (in dev section) may be of some help.
djeuch said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one!
I'm currently just outside of Princeton, NJ... running the speedtest.net application:
H+ data, 4-5 bars connectivity
Ping: 99ms
Download: 53kbps (yes, k)
Upload: 90kpbs
I regularly measure in the 50-80kbps speeds.
When I got my Atrix, I figured HSDPA+ would be faster.....
(yes, I made sure nothing else was using CPU or the data connection - I run this test regularly).
Admittedly, in other areas I've seen as high as 1 Mbps, but it's consistently bad in this area, even given an apparently strong signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh???
Look in your settings/about phone and post what network type and radio version you have on there. You should certainly be on HSPA+ now with the rest of the US and probably world.
Is it the phone or the network? Just asking since I have both an AT&T phone and a Verizon phone and have noticed network and download speed issues and am really disappointed with my Atrix.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/03/06/the-four-gees-comparison-which-carrier-should-you-be-looking-to-for-your-4g-android-phone/
sjmoreno said:
Is it the phone or the network? Just asking since I have both an AT&T phone and a Verizon phone and have noticed network and download speed issues and am really disappointed with my Atrix.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/03/06/the-four-gees-comparison-which-carrier-should-you-be-looking-to-for-your-4g-android-phone/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The network severely limits non-iphones. Same deal with HTC Inspire, Samsung Infuse, etc. I can usually hit 3-4 MB/s down, 1.5 MB/s up. That's not 4G. It's not the Atrix causing this.
I've already done the APN fix on these forums, and even with that I've seen no change. I average anywhere from 1.0-2.0 mbps on speedtest. Highest I've seen is 3.8mbps. That's a far cry from 7+.
With my old Infuse 4g in the same areas I've averaged about 5-7 mbps which makes a big difference, so I'm inclined to think something is wrong versus just bad luck.
Also, what gives with even 5-7, shouldn't H+ be hitting 10ish? Looking at the "4g" coverage map for AT&T, I'm smack in the middle of a fast area. I live in central NJ.
Any ideas guys? Thanks.
SaosinEngaged said:
I've already done the APN fix on these forums, and even with that I've seen no change. I average anywhere from 1.0-2.0 mbps on speedtest. Highest I've seen is 3.8mbps. That's a far cry from 7+.
With my old Infuse 4g in the same areas I've averaged about 5-7 mbps which makes a big difference, so I'm inclined to think something is wrong versus just bad luck.
Also, what gives with even 5-7, shouldn't H+ be hitting 10ish? Looking at the "4g" coverage map for AT&T, I'm smack in the middle of a fast area. I live in central NJ.
Any ideas guys? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which APN are you on? 'phone' or 'wap.cingular'?
I'm grandfathered on one of the old accounts with 'unlimited' data.. and and I have to use wap.cingular..
I assure you, you aren't alone in this gripe.
If I didn't know any better I would call foul on AT&T. When my phone was new, I got anywhere from 1-6.5 at the highest, averaging around 3.5 maybe 4. It seems like as soon as I changed my plan to the 4G unlimited, my speeds refuse to go above 2.
I tries a SIM swap, the usual "fixes" and they even reset the data plan. No change. I haven't got higher than 2mb since June. And they swear up and down they aren't throttling me.
It would be nice if someone could explain this whole data deal.
Have you noticed though that performance doesn't seem slow at all though. My connection, even when streaming video doesn't so much as hiccup.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
They might be expecting an influx of SGS2 on their network in the coming weeks and might be trying to discourage excessive data usage and as with any new phone, people tend to download heavily with all the new apps and syncing.
There really shouldn't be any reason for such a big difference in speeds. Highly unlikely the phone itself is faulty as build quality is superb, but might be worth swapping for a new one just to rule it out. If that doesn't fix it, then ATT is must be doing something on their end to specifically limit the speeds of specific types of devices and that shady stuff doesn't surprise me.
Try different modems, as I have noticed a huge difference in speed, from Down/Up 50Kbps/200Kbps (odd) to 400Kbps/215Kbps depending on modem version and congestion, I think my local tower has crappy backhaul as well.
All my data for 3UK in the UK is here
By the way, I also average faster speeds with wap.cingular than the phone APN fix.
How is that possible, as that is directly opposite what MANY on here report?
Is it just me or is anybody else having a problem with weak wifi signal on their phones? I know its not my router or connection because on my g note i always had at least 3 bars and speed test always gave me a constant speed of 10-11mbps. But now on my tmobile s3 i barely have a wifi signal shows 1 bar , and my wifi calling even says you are almost out of coverage area. And speed test is only giving me 2-4 mbps??
Anybody else also expirencing this? Any fixes, do you think there is something wrong with my phone, should i pay the restocking fee and return it?
Mine is actually better than gnote i had on att. My wife's gs3, she said wifi speed is faster on gs3 than her previous s2 skyrocket. We are VERY pleased by these awesome phones.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Same here. Although the speed is amazingly fast, the signal reception is worse than that of my iPhone and iPad. Is there a fix to this? Other than that, this device is exceptional.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
I get good speeds on anything like loading videos and Web pages but when I check the forum it takes is lovely time to open
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Looks good on mine so far. Speedtests gave me 30M on my 50M connection
Well I just rooted my s3 and reset and re connected my wifi. Seems to be doing much better I now get at least 2bars sometimes three and speed test is showing 6-7mbps which is better.
But dang 20mbps you guys have some fast wifi. I'm jealous
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Mine seems fine compared to my other devices (ipad 3, SGSII, iphone4) but I am also rooted not sure if that affects it somehow or not. But no complaints here on signal strength or speed
circuit.007 said:
Is it just me or is anybody else having a problem with weak wifi signal on their phones? I know its not my router or connection because on my g note i always had at least 3 bars and speed test always gave me a constant speed of 10-11mbps. But now on my tmobile s3 i barely have a wifi signal shows 1 bar , and my wifi calling even says you are almost out of coverage area. And speed test is only giving me 2-4 mbps??
Anybody else also expirencing this? Any fixes, do you think there is something wrong with my phone, should i pay the restocking fee and return it?
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Click to collapse
The wifi signal isn't so bad that I'd call it weak(my Transformer Prime is WEAK), but it's not so great. Depending on what phone you were using before the gs3, it may seem weak though. I use different devices alot, and the gs3 is not the best or worst when it comes to wifi. The gs2 has great wifi, the Galaxy note soes too. The prime is terrible, and the gs3 is probably slightly better than the sensation in my opinion. I'm upstairs with the router downstairs, and I get 10mbps, but right in front of the router I get 30+. I've also noticed that it can depend on how I'm holding the phone. It never knocks the signal out, but it does weaken it when I'm using it in landscape. Maybe you could move your router to more central location?
resolved
This is a typical speedtest where i work with S4 vs my One.
As we know from my other thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2451516 the S4 is a complete and total joke when it comes to voice recognition so I swapped it out for the One. The only problem I have with the One as the voice recognition is second to none, is the data speed. Some days it decides it's not going to pick up an LTE signal under any circumstances and some days it does but it seems that the download speed appears to bleed off to almost nothing as seen in this pic. No programs are running at the time I did the speedtest here and both phones ran their speed test separately.
Something is not right.
I'm not having that trouble with my One. I'd take it back and get another. My LTE is usually around 20Mbps and I've had it as high as 37Mbps.
Something is wrong with your phone. While I wish T-mobile had better coverage, when I am in a good area I am getting fantastic speeds on my One.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
While I don't have two tmo LTE phones, I did switch from straight talk and my tmo LTE is horribly inconsistent while the ATT LTE signal on the same phone is solid wherever I had reception. It also has a weird issue with speed test in particular where it keeps routing me to a server in Denver or Albuquerque even though the location services work fine.
Tmo hspa isn't great in my area but still more consistent by far. I may just switch back to straight talk even with the cap as I have zero issues on ATTs LTE network and don't stream anything other than music. The phone is by far my favorite, even compared to my friend's N4 (the camera and screen spoil you, and I can't see feeling the need to upgrade for a few years now that I have a camera I'm satisfied with)
edit: t-mo LTE is -103 inside or out, ATT LTE is -88 with excellent and consistent speed (ping is a bit higher at 240 as prepaid often is, but that's fine for everything I do). And it's certainly not an issue of grip, as I actually get better ATT LTE while holding it than setting the phone down