[Q] Signal Bouncing Around - EVO 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Has anyone else noticed signal on their EVO jumping around erratically? I can sit the phone down on a table and literally watch it go from full signal to no signal to half signal. It's all over the place. Any ideas how to fix?

iamhessy said:
Has anyone else noticed signal on their EVO jumping around erratically? I can sit the phone down on a table and literally watch it go from full signal to no signal to half signal. It's all over the place. Any ideas how to fix?
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Click to collapse
Is this a new issue? Or did you just get the phone and notice this?
Also, do you happen to be in the "hurricane area"?
Weather can affect signal more than people think.

In huntington beach, CA, my signal was perfect. But visiting las Vegas, NV, my bars would randomly disappear and reappear quickly. I updated both my profile and prl then rebooted and it was solid. Maybe this will help you ?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

This issue doesn't seem to be limited to just my EVO 4G. Also happened on an EVO 3D and Samsung Epic. I doubt it's hurricane related since I live in Iowa, although a hurricane here would be pretty neat. Have experienced this with all those phones in several different cities here so it doesn't seem to be related to a particular tower. Seems to be a Sprint thing because no one else's phone I know on different carriers do this.

iamhessy said:
This issue doesn't seem to be limited to just my EVO 4G. Also happened on an EVO 3D and Samsung Epic. I doubt it's hurricane related since I live in Iowa, although a hurricane here would be pretty neat. Have experienced this with all those phones in several different cities here so it doesn't seem to be related to a particular tower. Seems to be a Sprint thing because no one else's phone I know on different carriers do this.
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Click to collapse
Never seen anything like that on any Sprint phone around here.
Must be your area?
You didn't answer if this is a new issue or not.

Related

Why don't I get 4g?

According to the sprint 4g data map I am supposed to have 4g in my area. I type in my address and i'm "supposedly" in a very strong 4g coverage area, yet i have owned the EVO for over a month and have yet to see 4g at my house.
I contacted sprint numerous times about this issue and all they do is claim that I should be getting 4g but they don't know why I'm not, then I get transferred to another tech.... Sprint has by far the worst customer service of any major corporation I have seen in a long time.....
but anyways.... I'd really like to know why i'm not getting 4g when blocks less than a mile away from me are. according to sprint reps and the 4g coverage map I should have very good 4g...
So does anybody know what might be going on?
Well, you're not giving us much information to go on here. But, is the problem simply that you aren't getting a 4G signal inside your house? If so, that's perfectly normal. The 2500Mhz spectrum that Sprint's WiMax uses doesn't penetrate buildings well at all. Do you get any signal if you go outside?
rooted or un rooted? stock rom or custom rom? newest radios?
details please!
nenn said:
rooted or un rooted? stock rom or custom rom? newest radios?
details please!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
And as stated, building penetration can be an issue. Have you floated around the town / neighborhood / city / wtf ever to see if you can get a signal elsewhere?
I can't get a signal at my buddies house, in the backyard (self described "lounging" zone), but on my porch I can get a solid signal. Matter of blocks away which is curious. Small blocks ... I guess as small as blocks go? But I'd check around!
As stated earlier we need more info. Is your phone rooted and running a custom rom or are you unrooted running stock rom? Are you running the updated Wimax Radio? This is the two most significant questions that needs to be address before we can give a pin point solution for your issue...
Sorry for assuming you guys where psychic...lol...
but anyways, i'm fully rooted running the latest evio rom with kings kernel #6. I have had plenty of roms from dc 3.2.3 to fresh to cm. I have always had the most updated radios and wi-max.
I get 4g in many areas around me, just not at my house, which is my dilemma. I think I got it ONCE while standing outside but it was very brief (I have tested numerous times outside and inside my house) I am on my third evo and none of them got 4g in my house rooted or un-rooted. Same with my bro's evo.
My concern is that according to sprint I should be getting EXCELLENT 4g coverage in and outside my house, yet I get none....
I'm assuming this is a network problem, since sprint is so so ****ty and decided to use dumb frequencies, but are their possible any "tweaks" that I can try?
There are no tweaks I know of, but I have found that Clear's WiMax maps are much more accurate (and depressing) than Sprint's. See if they say that you should have 4G.
___
An army of pacifists can be defeated by one man with the will to fight.
FYI,
According to Sprint's coverage maps, I should get great signal everywhere I used my phone.
In reality, I can't even consistantly make a phone call inside my house or office unless the moon and the stars are in perfect alignment...
Verizon and AT&T both work flawlessly in both locations as well.
Something about Sprint's frequencies that just don't penetrate buildings well at all and seem to be more prone to small "dead zones".
Wish I had 4G within 3 hours of here though...
starplaya93 said:
I'm assuming this is a network problem, since sprint is so so ****ty and decided to use dumb frequencies, but are their possible any "tweaks" that I can try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they aren't sprint's "dumb frequencies" - they're clearwire's. sprint borrows it.
check coverage at www.clear.com for more up-to-date maps.

[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.

Sprint Voice Issues in the RDU area

I was wondering if anyone else had similar issues like this in the RDU area.
When I go to make a call, whether it be to another mobile phone, or a landline phone that has caller waiting. I get a busy signal. This happens on Sprint networks and roaming networks. I can resolve the issue by either powering the phone off and turning the phone back on, or by putting the phone in airplane mode and then turning airplane mode off again.
Has anyone else run into this issue in the RDU area? Specifically near Apex, Cary, and Raleigh? Or is this issue specific to me? The issue persists between wipes, and flashes of the OTA files, so I am pretty sure it isn't a phone problem anymore.
It's network side.
I've been seeing a lot of service issues across NC in the systems, it's not just the RDU area. Winston and Charlotte markets are encountering this also.
I actually think that Sprint's either tweaking the towers or implementing Network Vision. When the tower closest to my store went down, it was hell. It just came back up the first of this week, but we've noticed that 3G is blazing fast now.
Sunsparc said:
It's network side.
I've been seeing a lot of service issues across NC in the systems, it's not just the RDU area. Winston and Charlotte markets are encountering this also.
I actually think that Sprint's either tweaking the towers or implementing Network Vision. When the tower closest to my store went down, it was hell. It just came back up the first of this week, but we've noticed that 3G is blazing fast now.
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Click to collapse
I really hope this is the case. I live close to Garner and the signal in and around southeast Wake County is almost unbearable. I have been tempted to look at other carriers, but I am giving Sprint a little more time, hoping they will come around. I travel all across NC for work too, and it seems like it has gotten much worse over the last 2-3 months.
Sunsparc said:
It's network side.
I've been seeing a lot of service issues across NC in the systems, it's not just the RDU area. Winston and Charlotte markets are encountering this also.
I actually think that Sprint's either tweaking the towers or implementing Network Vision. When the tower closest to my store went down, it was hell. It just came back up the first of this week, but we've noticed that 3G is blazing fast now.
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Click to collapse
I noticed i could only get 1x when i was on that side of town the other day Sunsparc. I actually saw this happen about a month or two around the tower thats by Harris Teeter and the Ymca. Hopefully they're updating all the salisbury towers.
I hope they get it worked out. The last week or so I've had more 1x signals than I've ever seen in places around Winston that are normally strong 3g areas. I was also surprised when I was in Raleigh last week that there was no 4g around the downtown area and the 3g was crap as well.
stonesaber said:
I hope they get it worked out. The last week or so I've had more 1x signals than I've ever seen in places around Winston that are normally strong 3g areas. I was also surprised when I was in Raleigh last week that there was no 4g around the downtown area and the 3g was crap as well.
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Click to collapse
Absolutely......I cent even use the 4g here in Raleigh.........it won't stay connected. I'm in the heart of Cary right now and I am fluctuating back and forth between one and two bars. Unreal
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
I just want to bump this and say this is STILL happening.
Called them up today and they said the only issue that they have been informed of is EVDO data issues.
So, I am stuck, because it is happening between wipes, Sprint says there isn't a problem, and I am not sure what else is going on.
Anyone have any other ideas?
GH0 said:
I just want to bump this and say this is STILL happening.
Called them up today and they said the only issue that they have been informed of is EVDO data issues.
So, I am stuck, because it is happening between wipes, Sprint says there isn't a problem, and I am not sure what else is going on.
Anyone have any other ideas?
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Click to collapse
Customer Care is going to tell you it's a device issue to get you off the phone. Go to your nearest repair location and ask them to put in a CTMS ticket for your phone. They should already be doing this for anyone complaining of signal issues where the device is found to not be at fault.
Sunsparc said:
Customer Care is going to tell you it's a device issue to get you off the phone. Go to your nearest repair location and ask them to put in a CTMS ticket for your phone. They should already be doing this for anyone complaining of signal issues where the device is found to not be at fault.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, so I attempted to do that today.
Went to the store, and they immediately told me that there was a tower outage, and they wouldn't pull my phone back and do any form of diagnostics. So, what I did was call up customer service, then explain to them what was going on and ask them to speak to a tech at the store.
After a while, they told me there were two tower outages, that were blocking 14% and 90% of calls, and then gave me the phone back and was told that the ETR was over the next two days.
To be honest, the techs there are not always the friendliest, especially the older one that works in the cary location, I have had the pleasure of dealing with him multiple times. Generally why I like to call more often than not.
As far as the CTMS ticket goes, is there any information that I should give them? I was given an ETR for one of the two towers that was told to me to be having issues.
Not sure if you can check, but they said Tower Number: RA74XC340 was experiencing issues.
Is this still a problem for anyone else? I have been having this issue happen continually.

EVO 4G Cell Signal Reception Problems.

Hello all!
I have had a recent problem develop with my HTC EVO 4G that is the same one I purchased in July 2010 (never had replaced). Quick info is that the phone is rooted with S-OFF, using SmelkusMOD recovery, am using the FireRats MTD patcher (1.5.8) and has been using the 5.07.651.1 stock / rooted rom from Captin_Throwback here on the forums. Prior to this I had been using the 4.67 Stock rooted rom I also found here too. Lastly, my baseband version is 2.15.00.12.19.
Anyway, a few weeks ago (unable to pinpoint exactly when) I started noticing that my phone was having problems acquiring good signal in the town I travel through every day. There is a 3G cell tower less than 3/4 of a mile (line of sight) from mainstreet and I noticed I had been getting 1, 2, or 3 bars when I would stop at the gas station there on main street. Or worse, if I went into a restaurant, store, or any building, my phone would dance around with 1 bar or show no service at all. Even when I come home and use my Airvana, I have varying degree's of reception that have gotten progressively worse recently. My Airvana is in my bedroom on the second floor of the house. Previously, I had a guaranteed 5 bars in this room, or just about anywhere on the second floor with 4 bars or so on the first floor and 3-4 bars in the basement. However now, as I sit here with my phone less than 4' away from the Airvana, I have 1-2 bars, up to 4, then back down to 1, and so forth. No obstructions, no other issues.
Prior to noticing this issue, I had my phone for 2+ years here in this same town, area, and house using the same Airvana with no issues. I would go through main street with full signal inside the stores/gas station and never had a problem with having several bars everywhere, all the time in that town.
To rule out rom based issues, I have formatted / wiped my phone and have been testing this using a clean install of a stock based rooted rom which otherwise had worked for months without issue. No apps installed except default stock and no alternate configurations. This evening I even formatted and installed both the 4.67 and 5.07 stock rooted roms as clean format & installs and both give the same issue.
I have been wondering if this might be a physical issue with the cellular radio built into the phone? Is that possible? Has that happened to anyone else?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Bradley
Where do you live? Are they trying to put lte up? I know my 3g speeds went down for a bit when they were messing with lte.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
No, our town is less than 250 people and I know the local Sprint reps, no LTE here.
But the issue isn't confined to just the tower in town, it's even an issue here at home with my Airvana and when in distance of other towers too. It's definitely appearing to be an issue with the phone, not towers.
BigSmoke53 said:
Where do you live? Are they trying to put lte up? I know my 3g speeds went down for a bit when they were messing with lte.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bawalker said:
No, our town is less than 250 people and I know the local Sprint reps, no LTE here.
But the issue isn't confined to just the tower in town, it's even an issue here at home with my Airvana and when in distance of other towers too. It's definitely appearing to be an issue with the phone, not towers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issue and I live in NYC... Looks like Sprint signal has become unstable recently...
And to me it was happening with stock ROM and without root since this summer (August if I remember correctly)
It was first identified in downtown Manhattan
qwerty1gr said:
I have the same issue and I live in NYC... Looks like Sprint signal has become unstable recently...
And to me it was happening with stock ROM and without root since this summer (August if I remember correctly)
It was first identified in downtown Manhattan
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Click to collapse
Just an FYI, I solved the issue. I disassembled my phone and a metal spring connector on the motherboard had come off which connected the motherboard to the red plastic coated antenna in the rear of the handset. The metal spring connector was damaged so I ended up making a custom mod using heavy aluminum foil to create my own replacement and sure enough it worked. Instead of having 2-3 bars sitting beside my micro-cell, I have 5 bars and 3-5 bars in the basement now too. Looks to have solved the problem!
bawalker said:
Just an FYI, I solved the issue. I disassembled my phone and a metal spring connector on the motherboard had come off which connected the motherboard to the red plastic coated antenna in the rear of the handset. The metal spring connector was damaged so I ended up making a custom mod using heavy aluminum foil to create my own replacement and sure enough it worked. Instead of having 2-3 bars sitting beside my micro-cell, I have 5 bars and 3-5 bars in the basement now too. Looks to have solved the problem!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet, I've been noticing some signal strength issues too and was starting to wonder if it was something internal. I'll have to try that fix!
Glad to hear that you've solved your problem. The Kansas City area has really had some issues with signal strength. I would think of all places, the hometown of Sprint would see a little more love.

[Q] Why do I have terrible phone signal but constant 3G/4G?

I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
mrdrprofjeremy said:
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work in Downtown Denver and have a very similar problem downtown, but not out in the suburbs. My Sprint store has given me a couple of explanations.
1) The buildings block the signal. There are areas of downtown, particularly by the tallest buildings, where occasionally I will drop my cell signal completely
2) In a higher concentration area signal is reduced due to more people using that signal (I don't understand how this one affects signal strength, but that's what I was told)
How is your signal outside of the downtown area? Did you update Profile and PRL after flashing? Ever dropped the phone?
Xiutehcuhtli said:
I work in Downtown Denver and have a very similar problem downtown, but not out in the suburbs. My Sprint store has given me a couple of explanations.
1) The buildings block the signal. There are areas of downtown, particularly by the tallest buildings, where occasionally I will drop my cell signal completely
2) In a higher concentration area signal is reduced due to more people using that signal (I don't understand how this one affects signal strength, but that's what I was told)
How is your signal outside of the downtown area? Did you update Profile and PRL after flashing? Ever dropped the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I live about 14 miles west of downtown, and even there, I don't get full strength signal. As I said, I don't ever remember seeing more than 3 bars of signal. I update the PRL and Profile after every flash, and just today I dialled ##72786# to see if the hands free activation would do anything but no luck. I've also encountered moments where I'll be at home (again, I normally have data coverage and a few signal bars) and suddenly, I'll get an alert notifying me that I'm roaming.
mrdrprofjeremy said:
Well, I live about 14 miles west of downtown, and even there, I don't get full strength signal. As I said, I don't ever remember seeing more than 3 bars of signal. I update the PRL and Profile after every flash, and just today I dialled ##72786# to see if the hands free activation would do anything but no luck. I've also encountered moments where I'll be at home (again, I normally have data coverage and a few signal bars) and suddenly, I'll get an alert notifying me that I'm roaming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happened to me the other day. I was at work and I got roaming pop up. Really weird since that never happened before and because my 4G is so strong. 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up.
mrdrprofjeremy said:
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been an issue on every LG Sprint phone with Android I have used. I am not sure what causes it but the bars on the screen never show full strength. That doesn't mean it isn't working though. I have heard it is just how LG worked the rom to show signal.
jonny4 said:
That doesn't mean it isn't working though. I have heard it is just how LG worked the rom to show signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me first start off by saying this is the furthest from the truth. If it shows a weak signal its because this phone has a weak signal.
This is my 3rd day with this phone and as much as I raved about it on a couple of threads, weak signal is definitely one of the negatives.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app
shook187 said:
Let me first start off by saying this is the furthest from the truth. If it shows a weak signal its because this phone has a weak signal.
This is my 3rd day with this phone and as much as I raved about it on a couple of threads, weak signal is definitely one of the negatives.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can it have weak signal if when I get this I am getting 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up?
Dr. Mark said:
How can it have weak signal if when I get this I am getting 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude the LTE radio has nothing to do with the phone signal. Two separate radios.
This phone just has weak radios. Now the question is, is it a software or hardware issue? my bet is software but then again I'm not an engineer
Edit
Funny thing is open signal maps gives me an 85dbm reading yet in settings it shows 94 dbm
bizzshow26 said:
This phone just has weak radios. Now the question is, is it a software or hardware issue? my bet is software but then again I'm not an engineer
Edit
Funny thing is open signal maps gives me an 85dbm reading yet in settings it shows 94 dbm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just discovered if you switch the network setting from LTE/CDMA to CDMA my signal bar gets full.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app
I don't have an issue with 3g I get great 3g signal my issue is with lte. Lte has bed in my area since late August early September and I've had the s3 evo lte and the iPhone none of them have had an issue picking up or holding lte the lgog does.and I think it all boils down to the phone not recognizing the correct signal and thinking its weaker than it truly is. In my house and through my town I would never drop lte On the others this phone barely holds it. I've been 100 yards from a cell tower and the phone won't go below 84dbm when I know the signal strength is stronger
I installed the Network Signal Info app on several phones in my store and the LGOG registered about 9db worse consistently compared to the SGS3 or Evo LTE
About the same thing I've seen with this phone I'm hoping its a quick fix for lg with the next update. I was really hoping that zv9 would come with a new radio

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