4G speeds not so great?? - Epic 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey there,
Just got my Epic and rooted it and am currently running SyndicateROM and the phone itself works great but my 4G speeds are REALLY spotty coming from my Evo. I usually pull 8 megs down but I'm not even getting a meg down anymore? I was wondering if anyone just had some basic troubleshooting suggestions before I go ahead and wipe the whole system. Thanks!

I'm on the xda app si I can't put a link for u but look fir a thread that says "want better 4g signal do this" do t jnie how much thar would help u bit maybe its just on sprint's end. How long has this been going on? Also try updating your prl. Good luck and let me know if u get it working better.
Sent From My Evo Killer!!

My 4G compared to my friends 4G (they have an EVO) sucks too. I can hardly lock on 4G downstairs at my house, they get nice connection and the speed is sweet.
I tried the 4G update (i did it while I was upstairs as you need to be connected to do it) I did notice slight change in that I can now get 1 bar sometimes downstairs where I could never get one before, always get 1 4G bar upstairs (even though I live in a reported dark blue connection indoors area)
Here is that link muscle was talking about:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=925898
the op said they went to a great 4G area and then did the tweak to their phone, then when they got back to the weak area (their home) they could connect where they could not before.
Anyhow, long story short. Seems EVO's 4G is much better than Epic's. I just NEEDED an keyboard.
Good luck

Related

How to improve 3G?

Hey guys I have had my Evo for awhile now and Sprints network has great coverage BUT the 3g seems abysmally slow. For instance, I can rarely stream videos without it buffering - youtube videos on regular quality mind you. If I stand still in a place with good signal I will be fine but if I'm moving etc it is slow. I get around 100KB/s during daytime where I live and 130KB/s night time which is great but luckily I also get full signal where I am. On the go, it sucks.
Are there any ways to increase 3g speeds or is it purely network related?
Welcome to sprints idea of 3g
God's honst truth man... if thats all you get... thats all you are going to get because sprints 3g network is the worst i have ever seen. Bar none. Even little us cellular has better coverage and twice the data speeds as sprint does here in iowa.
There is no possible way for the phine or any hack to it to speed up sprints crap network.
My advise to you is to cqll sprint and plead your case, that you paid for 3g and are getting 1x rtt speeds 24/7 and politely demand a credit to your account like i do every month.
And then call back about 5 minutes later and ask to speak to the retention center because you want to cancel your service because you arpe not getting service you are paying for.
Then tell the retention persion you were thinking of getting the Airave but cant afford it and see if they will give it to you free on the basis of poor service and they typically will.
I did, and got one for when i am at work and the boss wont let me use it because it uses works internet for voice and data.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Figures... Should have went with ATT or Verizon.
I know in the old days of 3g internet hacks Sanyo phones had a data cap screen that was accessible via ##040793##. From there you could change the data rate, 144K/230K. Not sure if we have the same here but phone codes may be a place to start.
Mmmmhmmm. Just be glad you don't have the epic and are capped at 150kbps up.
I think sprint has finally gotten 2 good phones and 4g, so now they think they're the top dog and can do whatever they damn well please...it's like a cycle with them. Bad service>>>loose all of their customers>>>cheap, semi-good service>>>get customers back>>>become assholes again>>>loose their customers...
werxen said:
Figures... Should have went with ATT or Verizon.
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Click to collapse
lol, good luck getting a decent phone on att or verizon. Let alone coverage. Oh and dont forget about the data caps on the phones, 100mb right? or was it 200mb?
Last-Chance said:
lol, good luck getting a decent phone on att or verizon. Let alone coverage. Oh and dont forget about the data caps on the phones, 100mb right? or was it 200mb?
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Click to collapse
Well Verizon has amazing android phones for one. There is a data cap for ATT which is true but no cap for Verizon. You know now that I think about it I might do the force roam hack on my Evo and see if if I get better 3g speeds.
I have no idea what any if you are talking about, I get better 3g speeds on Sprint then I ever did with any other carrier I've had.
Sent from my HTC Evo 4g
am I doing something wrong?
on 3g I pull down at least 512 up
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
werxen said:
Hey guys I have had my Evo for awhile now and Sprints network has great coverage BUT the 3g seems abysmally slow. For instance, I can rarely stream videos without it buffering - youtube videos on regular quality mind you. If I stand still in a place with good signal I will be fine but if I'm moving etc it is slow. I get around 100KB/s during daytime where I live and 130KB/s night time which is great but luckily I also get full signal where I am. On the go, it sucks.
Are there any ways to increase 3g speeds or is it purely network related?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I could get speeds that fast consistently. Actually what you are getting is right about on par for 3g. That's prob the avg speed one would expect to get. There are higher areas and lower areas depending on a lot of things. A 100KB connection is nothing to complain about. I've personally never had a connection over 150 KB.
Sent from your mom's phone.
Not sure if its sprint or my phone but I can't break 40kbs down on anything and 3g cuts out all the time. Crappy....
The first thing I would do to verify your 3g speeds is to unroot your phone, and make sure you are running the latest .93 hboot release and sprint ota release. If your phone is already in this state (un rooted and latest hboot) then ignore me.
You should also look into unrevoked forever if you haven't already...it runs off the current hboot, and I've noticed that something about that hboot does help 3g speeds on some rooted phones if you go that route.
I've done a ton of research and practical testing on this subject and I can say without a doubt that the evo's current rooting methods DO have a negative impact on some 3g phones in some areas. And I'm not talking about 100 or 200 kbps here or there. In the same house, same phone, 1 rooted and 1 not. That was the ONLY difference. The rooted phone got 7 kbps. The stock got 1800kbps. I swapped phone setups so that the rooted one was now unrooted and vice versa. That time the rooted one got 47kbps and unrooted was 1681 kbps...in other words the problem followed the rooting process, and not the phone. I've done dozens of tests like this and others in various areas within the surrounding wilmington delaware area.
I have access to 3 rooted evos, 1 evo that is always stock, as well as a samsung moment. The 4 evos are all rev 3 nova. I also did similar tests on the hero with the same sorts of results. Feel free to pm me or post here with any questions.
EDIT: the kbps numbers I listed were for download speeds. Upload speeds on both rooted and unrooted, regardless of build or boot version, were consistent at around 600 -700 kbps during almost all of my testing.
EDIT2: I forgot to say - this problem also happened to me when I changed recoveries from clockwork to AmonRA. So it's not JUST the rooting process that can cause this, but several low-level engineering commands, such as flashing a kernel, upgrading a ROM, etc.
Tiepoz baught two yoo bi swype"3
That's pretty crappy, I get full 3g pretty much everywhere around St. Louis until I get out to the country. And pretty good 4g around town. My 3g is about 1.5mb down. 4g is 5 to 7mb down.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Flash the PRL to connect to Verizon's towers. I get 1.2 mb/s even see 2mb/s occasionally. Of course ping times are raised.
It's pretty hit or miss here, one day I will get 50-150k down and the next it will be +1meg. Next time it get drops below 500 you can bet I will be talking to somebody about it though, their advertised 3G speed is 600kb - 1.5mb.
100kb is ridiculous
I get anywhere between 500-1mb down 100-200kb up. My 4G easily does between 2-6mb down and 1mb up. People just love to complain. You didn't realize this within your 30 day trial? If so, why didn't you switch carriers?
What should the prl be right now ? And how are you guys testing the speeds? Nvr done it
Sent from my netarchy_toast, froyo beast of a machine evo!
You live in an area with poor coverage or your phone has a faulty radio.
I get good signal and up/Downs on 3g. If I nandriod away from cm6, I can get 6-7mb down and 1mb up with 4g in San leandro CA.
evohack99 said:
What should the prl be right now ? And how are you guys testing the speeds? Nvr done it
Sent from my netarchy_toast, froyo beast of a machine evo!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speedtest... its in the market.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I think it is my radio. I was getting fine speeds up until 3 days ago when I noticed severe loading lag in my tethered apps. I get decent pings ~ 200-300ms which is not too out of the ordinary. I did a speed test other day and it was 50KB/s down and 70KB/s up. I figured it was just a faulty day but it has gone on far too long now. This is with 5/5 bars too... Just gotta wait for my new Evo to come in. Seems like every hardware ****up is happening at once.

[Q] How often do you use 4G?

Simple question from the title. Personally I have only ever used it to test the speed. WiFi is simply too ubiquitous.
.001% if that,just not in my area,hell I dont even check when I get to where Im going anymore,ohwell... Yeah wifi is becoming free every where,I was just at McD's yesterday,used wifi for a good hour before I finally got up and left,oh and 3 cokes later,lol...
Sent from my MyFrankenstein EC05OCE using XDAPA...
I have no wifi at home or really any place I seem to go. I use 4G for downloading most flashables and updating apps for the most part. I've never dl'd any flashables from a pc, all from the epic phone. I will use 3G for small dl's and small app updates.
4G used about 5~10% of the time.
I use it 100% of the time because it's faster than DSL.
Sent from Bonsai 7.1.3.1
Only use it on the train.
24/7 With the "Want better 4g signal, do this" in General section but I luckily live in a 4g area since launch day...SoCal
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Only at work. I work in Boston and we were one of the first cities to get it. I live 30 minutes out of the city, however, and there's no 4G there. I also tend to use it mostly when plugged in, but I am happily surprised at how well the service stands by without murdering my battery.
Not much since it is too unreliable in my area. It is actually slower than 3G because of the disconnects. 3G is very fast with my Airave.
Do you BONSAI?
A few months ago I was lucky. I had 4g at work and at home. I didn't even know what it was like not having 4g. Now fast forward to today, I got laid off and now moved out of a 4g area and life with my phone isn't the same :-(
Practically never. When it actually works, it's slower than 3G.
It's a simple question but the poll response options are terrible.
I use it whenever possible, I'm using it right now in fact. What % is that? I don't have a clue.
It depends. If I am traveling around town a lot for work I stick with 3g and only use 4g for downloads. If not a lot of traveling, then 4g. It depends on the accessability of a charger. (If I broke down and got a car charger, I'd ue 4g 24/7)
Also unless I am actively using the data, I leave 3g on. Never run around with 4g on (why would I?)
Epic is as Epic does.
I was using it about once a month.. just to see what I would get with speedtest at my house.. but now I moved closer to my job.. and not only do I not have 4g at work or at my new place.. but I have to keep roam control on roaming.. because I dont have ANY service at home now.. and I never had it at work either..
epic4GEE said:
I have no wifi at home or really any place I seem to go. I use 4G for downloading most flashables and updating apps for the most part. I've never dl'd any flashables from a pc, all from the epic phone. I will use 3G for small dl's and small app updates.
4G used about 5~10% of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. Exactly this.
^^ Agree with the above
walord said:
It's a simple question but the poll response options are terrible.
I use it whenever possible, I'm using it right now in fact. What % is that? I don't have a clue.
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Click to collapse
Ehhh I thought it was kind of self-explanatory. What % of time that your phone is on is 4G enabled.
If I am in an area with 4g that usually means full signal 3g so why waste the battery to have 4g on? full signal 3g is plenty fast for a cell phone. Only reason I might use it is to stream HQ videos IF 3g struggles.
kennyglass123 said:
Not much since it is too unreliable in my area. It is actually slower than 3G because of the disconnects. 3G is very fast with my Airave.
Do you BONSAI?
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Click to collapse
I live in Salt Lake City, UT, one of the first lauch cities for 4g. And I've given up even trying it to speed test.
When I turn it on, it constantly sleeps or drops, then taking time to switch back and forth with 3g. I bet 1x is faster than trying 4g. And I evn have the dropping problem right in the heart of the supposed coverage area.
But also my friend has a stock evo, and sitting right next to him, he'll get and hold great 3g coverage. While mine is constantly on/off/switching between 3g/4g.

[Q] 4G Connection Issue

Hi guys,
I can't seem to get a stable 4G connection on my Epic 4G for some reason. When I toggle the "4G" to "ON", it would connect for a split second and immediately Disconnects and tries to connect again and again. My friend tested his phone (Nexus S 4G) and he connects just fine with data speed of 3,000kbps on Speedtest compared to my miserable 600-700kbps. I've also tried testing this in several different areas including major cities that supposedly cover "4G" and it does the same
I'm currently running SRF 1.2 ROM on Genocide 2.0 Kernel but I believe this issue was present even before rooting my phone. I also tried using different modems (EB13, EC05, EE03, EF02, EG22, EH17) but it made almost no difference to my 4G connection.
Does anyone have any suggestion on this??? I would really like to experience my 4G connection on my supposed 4G phone.
I have the same set up as you, and the same spotty 4g. Sometimes it's very hard to keep a stable 4g connection even in areas where I know 4g has been strong. It disconnects, or it pretends that it is connected but data really isn't going through.
Though, 4g is kinda new to my area and there are rumors that it's still in testing phases. Also, I don't have any input from other 4g users here. So in the end I'm not sure if its just my epic, or if there are wider issues.
Sent from a secret underground bunker
Strong 4g signal
I am also running SFR 1.2 and I get very strong/stable 4g speeds. I live in Chicago (Sprint 4g has been here for a while), and I get 3-4Mbps in my apartment on 4g. This is enough to do things like play Xbox Live or Skype using my 4g. I have noticed that while traveling on trains in the area the connection tends to go on and off, but I would say that overall, I usually have a great connection.
This may just be in your area, where are you located?
mjben said:
I have the same set up as you, and the same spotty 4g. Sometimes it's very hard to keep a stable 4g connection even in areas where I know 4g has been strong. It disconnects, or it pretends that it is connected but data really isn't going through.
Though, 4g is kinda new to my area and there are rumors that it's still in testing phases. Also, I don't have any input from other 4g users here. So in the end I'm not sure if its just my epic, or if there are wider issues.
Sent from a secret underground bunker
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issues, even though the Sprint coverage map shows I should be able to get 4G inside my house.
After researching, what I have found is you must find the nearest Sprint tower that has 4G, hold your left hand directly on the control board of the tower, and while placing your right big toe directly on the battery of your phone (must be the right big toe, the left big toe will not carry current correctly), you must complete the following key sequence on the dialer (###WTF***4G###***). Only then will you receive a 4G signal. Now be aware this will only enable the signal to last for 15 seconds. If you need more time that that, you must repeat the process. Oh...and By the way...This will only get you 1 bar of 4G service. I will be working on a detailed guide for 2 bars. There is no known method to actually get 3 bars of 4G service!!
Sorry, but this is a good of an explanation as anyone from Sprint has given me.
You may now return to your normally weak 3G Sprint signal.
Goodroid said:
Hi guys,
I can't seem to get a stable 4G connection on my Epic 4G for some reason. When I toggle the "4G" to "ON", it would connect for a split second and immediately Disconnects and tries to connect again and again. My friend tested his phone (Nexus S 4G) and he connects just fine with data speed of 3,000kbps on Speedtest compared to my miserable 600-700kbps. I've also tried testing this in several different areas including major cities that supposedly cover "4G" and it does the same
I'm currently running SRF 1.2 ROM on Genocide 2.0 Kernel but I believe this issue was present even before rooting my phone. I also tried using different modems (EB13, EC05, EE03, EF02, EG22, EH17) but it made almost no difference to my 4G connection.
Does anyone have any suggestion on this??? I would really like to experience my 4G connection on my supposed 4G phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whts your location cause I am having the sam exact problems with my epic and evo!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Wifi radio strength

Anyone having weak wifi radio where I get full bars with the e3d I get one bar on the epic touch and the speed are on half compared to my e3d any one else having this
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
I have the same problem
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
same problem,,,
I got time warner 20mbps down and 2mbps up. I only get one bar on wifi signal but i get full 20mbps and 2mbps up. i only used to get 7mbps with my og evo
Same problem
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Same problem. Mine cuts on and off every few minutes
Ditto.....
Ditto
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
it is better than my EVO with CM7 but it is a little weak
No problems with mine. Rock solid!!! I can go to the end of my driveway and check the mail which is over ~125'
You can not look at the amount of bars you have. What do the bars mean? ! You have to actually look at the speeds if they have not changed then you have nothing to worry about. One bar on this phone might be the same as three bars on our old phone.
But if it's not working correctly all together then that is something ole' Sammi needs to fix.
Kiki
Sent from my hand crippling Epic 4g Touch
Same problem here. If I am in the front room mine won't even connect to the router in the other room most times. Hope this gets fixed in a update.
You might check the galaxy s2 forums over at androidforums.com; I remember when i was following the gs2 that there were some issues with wifi; not sure if htey were resolved. Generally folks loved the phone nad thought the gps was decent; but there were one or two threads on wif. Not sure if they figured it out...
Same issue here. My laptop and my EVO3d have FULL bars while this phone is hovering back and forth between 2 bars and none. The connection even drops. It has a horrible wifi signal, even at work.
Maybe I will switch to the iPhone 4... they have the wifis.
Im thinkin just the bars are not what your used to seeing, mine always shows 0-2 bars but the connection is always solid.
I have a nexus s 4g. I think Sammy makes some weak radios. I have the same problem. OG evo works fine.
digweed4me said:
I got time warner 20mbps down and 2mbps up. I only get one bar on wifi signal but i get full 20mbps and 2mbps up. i only used to get 7mbps with my og evo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah same here TimeWarner is good here. I had the nexus S 4g a week ago and that phone could not lock into a wifi signal even standing in front of the router so as much as i like it i said goodbye and hello Epic touch 4g even on 1bar its blazing fast.
I have the same issue, but I think it's also more of the signal indicator making it worse in your head...as it does mine! I'll hold a wireless signal at good strength but the WiFi icon has no bars...just the dot at the bottom! I did to some "field" tests in my driveway and yard with my Toshiba netbook, iPod touch, and ET4G; the netbook definitely had the best signal at a distance, the iPod in second, and the ET4G in VERY close third. Anyone think there could be a firmware fix or is it just a bad radio?
I read in two separate places that the fewer bars were due to a linear formula used to calculate them, which was not a standard in the industry.
When decibel levels were compared, they were about the same.
I don't know how true that is.
I guess that's possible but then what do you need to have FULL bars? I am sitting right next to my router and I only have 3 bars... Maybe I need to shove the Router antenna up my phone's mini port

[Q] Poor cell signal- often roaming

I've had the E4GT for less than 24hrs, and biggest issue is the less than splendid cell reception. Sitting in my living room i used to get 2-3 bars- this thing constantly throws into roaming. I updated my PRL, Profile, and Firmware. Didn't know what the latest PRL was that was out.
I know this thing has only been out a few days, so i understand some bugs. Is anyone else having signal issues where they didn't before?
I'm really trying rock this for a couple days stock before i root the hell out of it, lol.
Thanks for any input. Link me to resources if you like, i have no issues reading up on my own if this is a common issue.
fattmann said:
I've had the E4GT for less than 24hrs, and biggest issue is the less than splendid cell reception. Sitting in my living room i used to get 2-3 bars- this thing constantly throws into roaming. I updated my PRL, Profile, and Firmware. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto! I even have an Air Rave and reception is poor.
I am running into the same situation. It keeps on switching between roaming and normal for no reason. I usually get pretty good reception in my room. It will sit there at about 2-3 bars reception, few minutes later its roaming. The phone hasn't been moved at all.
This happened to me 20 minutes after I got it on Friday but after a reboot it was fine. No problem since then. I assumed it was a network issue.
Same issue here, even with Airave (evo next to SG2 has better signal)
Huh, I'm getting better reception than my Evo 4G. The Epic Touch now works in my condo elevator at basement garage level where the Evo would consistently drop a call.
has anyone did a signal strength comparison instead of bars. they may have different values per bar on different phones.
Returns are warranted?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
I wonder if there is a difference in radios or something. My experience tells me that this radio is finicky as heck, and I don't know why.
Is there a way to find out if Samsung used different parts or suppliers to make the Epic Touch?
I remember HTC doing this with their phones, and some would be fine, and some would not (different issue each phone, lol)
Mine was doing the same i switched the phone to only go on sprints network and has been fine. I rarely need true roaming but it would go into roaming even when sprint service was available.
I think Sprint may be doing network upgrades/maintenance. The same phenomenon occurs on my Epic 4G Touch and multiple Nexus S 4G's. I'll see signal jump from -106 dBm to -76 dBm and in some places go into roaming. Nothing to worry about as long as it works. They may be upgrading equipment to support EVDO rev B hopefully.
I get much better 4G reception on the E4GT than the NS4G, FWIW.
My signal isn't as good as my photon was better then my evo 3d. I usually don't roam much. Trust me when I say this, reception could be worse lol ill deal with it!!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
I hope the poor signal has to do with upgrading to EvDo RevB on Oct7
Thank God I am not alone. My cell reception too is finicky. In places my old evo (which my girl use now)have weak signal my epic touch would roam in and out. Sometimes it won't leave roaming even after I get to a known good reception area. Only a reboot would kick it back to sprint network. I read somewhere that calling sprint and having them reset my phone on their end might help. I am going to try this out as soon as I get home.

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