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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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?
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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?
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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.
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
Click to expand...
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.
Anyone who has LTE care to compare?
Some say that the integrated LTE modem means that LTE won't drain your battery any more than 3G will. I highly, highly doubt it (just my guess).
Thanks
im not sure how clearly i can explain this so bare with me here and tell me if you have no idea what im talking about.
the 3g (cdma) and 4g (lte) radios are both built into the processor so right off the bat they use less power than usual but since there is no lte anywhere yet, no one can accurately say just how much it will use but from what i have been reading, people have been ball parking it and saying that it shouldn't use any more battery than the 3g. their reasoning behind this is the fact that the setting for 3g is tied to the lte so if you turn on the 3g radio your essentially turning on both at the same time and lte will connect and take over the 3g and switch to the lte network whenever possible. now you can set it to only use 3g when you turn on the 3g radio but then there is no other way to toggle lte. since i got my phone i have had it so that it turns them both on at the same time and since i have seen no severe drain i would have to say that if it was infact using the lte network that it wouldn't use anymore than the 3g would at any other time (if i had to guess)
to help explain what i am talking about with the settings, here is a few pics that should make it clearer.
https://www.box.com/s/4d3ae71dea2265ce859a
https://www.box.com/s/a2733587f93ceb8958d1
edit: so in short, no, it won't drain any more battery
That would be awesome. My Samsung Epic sucked the battery dry when 4G was turned on, so I never used it.
The goal with Sprint is to REPLACE 3G with 4G, and not just have it as a secondary like Wimax, or Verizon LTE is now. They are tuning is so much in battery efficiency so that it drains no more, if not less than 3G, since LTE can burst a dl quickly then go back into idle mode much more than 3G, when in use it should take less battery in theory.
Afteraffekt said:
The goal with Sprint is to REPLACE 3G with 4G, and not just have it as a secondary like Wimax, or Verizon LTE is now. They are tuning is so much in battery efficiency so that it drains no more, if not less than 3G, since LTE can burst a dl quickly then go back into idle mode much more than 3G, when in use it should take less battery in theory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand the theory better now, but in practice, it seems that the AT&T version of the One X does drain more battery? Although you can not turn off LTE so I'm not sure how people are comparing it to HSPA+.
PhxkinMassacre said:
im not sure how clearly i can explain this so bare with me here and tell me if you have no idea what im talking about.
the 3g (cdma) and 4g (lte) radios are both built into the processor so right off the bat they use less power than usual but since there is no lte anywhere yet, no one can accurately say just how much it will use but from what i have been reading, people have been ball parking it and saying that it shouldn't use any more battery than the 3g. their reasoning behind this is the fact that the setting for 3g is tied to the lte so if you turn on the 3g radio your essentially turning on both at the same time and lte will connect and take over the 3g and switch to the lte network whenever possible. now you can set it to only use 3g when you turn on the 3g radio but then there is no other way to toggle lte. since i got my phone i have had it so that it turns them both on at the same time and since i have seen no severe drain i would have to say that if it was infact using the lte network that it wouldn't use anymore than the 3g would at any other time (if i had to guess)
to help explain what i am talking about with the settings, here is a few pics that should make it clearer.
https://www.box.com/s/4d3ae71dea2265ce859a
https://www.box.com/s/a2733587f93ceb8958d1
edit: so in short, no, it won't drain any more battery
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Click to collapse
I'm thinking the same way you are,no LTE here yet of course,but I do have it set to 3g,LTE mode not 3g only and have been getting excellent battery life.I'm assuming it must at least occasionally check for LTE coverage.
Of course, no actual LTE yet. But I have run full days with LTE on and off and have noticed little or no difference in battery life. Maybe a little better data speed even on 3g, but not enough in my area to prove it with speedtest.
I believe what it is is the Radio no matter what looks for a signal from CDMA or LTE either way BUT I believe the options only opts as to what type of signal is allowed to be USED by the radio as the primary signal technology. So basically either way it searches for both since they are both integrated into one on the processor but accepts the best one available according to the settings in OS(Best As In LTE if available and CDMA if not, not Best as in terms of signal strength).
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I have my radio set to CDMA only and I defiantly see a difference
StarrLimit said:
I have my radio set to CDMA only and I defiantly see a difference
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Click to collapse
In what? Battery or speed? Good or bad? Numbers to back it up?
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
StarrLimit said:
I have my radio set to CDMA only and I defiantly see a difference
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Your defiance astounds and impresses me.
Believe that both 3G and LTE run on the 1900 radio, where the WIMAX used a 2500 separate radio that killed the WIMAX battery life. Plus the LTE phone battery life with the larger battery and ICS (and less HTC crapware polling the network all the time) has lasted all day with moderate use and power left to spare.
Was disappointed that there wasn't an easy switch to turn off the LTE like in WIMAX phones but then if both 3g and LTE are truly tied together that it would be impossible to turn off.
First of all, I live in a suburb of Dallas which is completely covered in LTE according to Sprint's coverage map and I can affirm this by Sensorly and my own personal usage of my phone when I see 4G LTE in many places. However, lately I have noticed on the bottom floor of my house I usually get 1X or 3G, whereas upstairs I get 4G quite nicely. In other houses nearby (less than 1 mile), my phone doesn't even get data many times (and if it does, it is 1X) whereas other Sprint iPhone 5's are enjoying LTE in the same location.
Now I know our phone's have connection issues, but why am I not even getting 3G? Is there anyway to help force my phone to try and get more 4G signal because I know for a fact Dallas has pretty decent 4G coverage? When my phone goes into 1X it also seems to be sucking up quite a bit of battery. Any help is appreciated!
I am running MeanBean 3.09, S-ON, with the newest Bulletproof Kernel.
007math said:
First of all, I live in a suburb of Dallas which is completely covered in LTE according to Sprint's coverage map and I can affirm this by Sensorly and my own personal usage of my phone when I see 4G LTE in many places. However, lately I have noticed on the bottom floor of my house I usually get 1X or 3G, whereas upstairs I get 4G quite nicely. In other houses nearby (less than 1 mile), my phone doesn't even get data many times (and if it does, it is 1X) whereas other Sprint iPhone 5's are enjoying LTE in the same location.
Now I know our phone's have connection issues, but why am I not even getting 3G? Is there anyway to help force my phone to try and get more 4G signal because I know for a fact Dallas has pretty decent 4G coverage? When my phone goes into 1X it also seems to be sucking up quite a bit of battery. Any help is appreciated!
I am running MeanBean 3.09, S-ON, with the newest Bulletproof Kernel.
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MeanBean has the Roam only option baked in, just go to settings - mobile network and set it up... The battery drain is "normal" when the phone doesn't have a good signal... Roam or use wifi... I know it doesn't make sense but that's the now network...
Sent from my EVO
Would you use a 3G only option if it was available on the G3?
I spoke to a Verizon Regional Exec today about the G3 and other Verizon phones that no longer have the option to run on CDMA only. The rep has an iPhone and regularly sets it to 3G only, especially when he let's his kids use the phone. He could not give me a reason why the G3 and other phones no longer has the ability to go to 3G only. He said he would look into this and see if it could be delivered in a future update.
Honestly I rather not have data at all then be stuck on 3G, just my opinion
I would like that option. There are areas where I play Ingress, for example, where the 3g Verizon signal is strong and uncluttered so its a much better option than LTE, which is either weak and eats battery trying over and over to reconnect, or is good but WAY oversold so there is no way to get good speeds on my unlimited data plan, much of the time.
One of the tricks we used to use on the VGNexus phones was select 3g only and save much battery life. 3g can sometimes be faster than 4g and it saves power by not running the rg radio.
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
I can do this using com.lge.hiddenmenu. it has an intent that if launched will allow you to pick your desired frequency/bandmode. it includes lte only, cdma only, evdo only, cdma/evdo, and lte/cdmA/evdo as well as global.
i often have poor band 13 lte coverage and so it saves a lot of battery. sometimes it is nice to block 1x to improve speeds and force 3g if the signal is producing more speed then 1x. just my 2 cents,,,and if you get creative you can create a shell script to "su" then run the intent and then exit. place a shortcut on the homescreen and profit.
im reflashing my softbrick now or i would put the exact intent needed, maybe tomorrow if i remember but its network selection, network mode, something like that and way towards the bottom (last third) of the intents i viewed within hiddenmenu,apk
Please conform that the coma,option is available on works on the vs985
I've never seen 3g perform faster then 4g in my area
trent999 said:
I would like that option. There are areas where I play Ingress, for example, where the 3g Verizon signal is strong and uncluttered so its a much better option than LTE, which is either weak and eats battery trying over and over to reconnect, or is good but WAY oversold so there is no way to get good speeds on my unlimited data plan, much of the time.
One of the tricks we used to use on the VGNexus phones was select 3g only and save much battery life. 3g can sometimes be faster than 4g and it saves power by not running the rg radio.
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
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The GNex was one of the last phones to be affected by that. Since Qualcomm took over Android, their integrated LTE radios use no more power than 3G radios.
timjp692 said:
I've never seen 3g perform faster then 4g in my area
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Completely agree, even a very weak LTE always works better for me, even over a full 3G signal at times.
geoff5093 said:
Completely agree, even a very weak LTE always works better for me, even over a full 3G signal at times.
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Basically. I think a full 3G signal is a little faster a very weak LTE signal, but at this point anywhere there's full 3G there's LTE.
Just download a massive amount of data and the carriers will throttle you down to 3G or lower, with occasional 4G use. As for some people saying that 3G is never faster, it depends on the carrier. Verizon throttles all 3G usage in an effort to convince 3G users to upgrade to 4G.