4G Reception - T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-T989

Hey guys. I live in an area that is in the mountains, so I thought there weren't any way that I could get 4G reception, until one day I was at Walmart and I was on 4G. When I was driving back I was on 4G until I got on campus. I was stuck on edge again and everyone knows how irritating that is. It seemed like overtime 4G was getting closer and closer until one day I got 4G in my room! This had excellent speeds, just like anyone would expect. Last night, I updated my ROM, which claimed that it boosted the signal on the phone, but yet I am stock with edge again. Can anyone explain this? My friend has a MyTouch 4G and he gets better reception than I do with my SII.

HTC uses more bars than Samsung does to represent the same amount of signal

I live in Montreal, middle of the city and I get terrible reception in my house, not to mention slow download speeds. I don't think its ROM based because i've been on 3 different roms with no change in signal. I think you're just gonna have to wait for your carrier to upgrade their antennas
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

850T5m said:
I live in Montreal, middle of the city and I get terrible reception in my house, not to mention slow download speeds. I don't think its ROM based because i've been on 3 different roms with no change in signal. I think you're just gonna have to wait for your carrier to upgrade their antennas
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought they were doing something with their antennas because of the 4G as well. Until it disappeared today. I don't know if they are working on it or something. I just want that 4G back.

Possible solution: (Just use this ROM, in my humble opinion it's the cleanest, fastest, prettiest, most well rounded ROM available for our phones. I've had excellent experience with it, particularly in the reception arena.)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1333319
Also visit this link to read my feedback (post #553) in blue, you can't miss it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1333319&page=56
Hope this helps! Good luck!
SIISuperUserIIS said:
Hey guys. I live in an area that is in the mountains, so I thought there weren't any way that I could get 4G reception, until one day I was at Walmart and I was on 4G. When I was driving back I was on 4G until I got on campus. I was stuck on edge again and everyone knows how irritating that is. It seemed like overtime 4G was getting closer and closer until one day I got 4G in my room! This had excellent speeds, just like anyone would expect. Last night, I updated my ROM, which claimed that it boosted the signal on the phone, but yet I am stock with edge again. Can anyone explain this? My friend has a MyTouch 4G and he gets better reception than I do with my SII.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Related

[Q] No 4g coverage in my area

So I was thinking about getting the GS24G but I have no 4G coverage in my area. I know this could be considered the best phone on the market but would you pick it up if you have no 4G coverage? That's my deciding factor. This is a beast of a phone but I do not know if I want to be stuck with Sprint's 3G coverage.
I have the E4GT and don't get 4G. Thankfully Sprints network, regarding 3G isn't too bad where I live.
rllong1 said:
So I was thinking about getting the GS24G but I have no 4G coverage in my area. I know this could be considered the best phone on the market but would you pick it up if you have no 4G coverage? That's my deciding factor. This is a beast of a phone but I do not know if I want to be stuck with Sprint's 3G coverage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no 4G where I live (40 miles north of Los Angeles) but EVERYWHERE else there is and I have never really *had* to use 4G. 3G is plenty good.
Best. Phone. Ever. ET4G!
rllong1 said:
So I was thinking about getting the GS24G but I have no 4G coverage in my area. I know this could be considered the best phone on the market but would you pick it up if you have no 4G coverage? That's my deciding factor. This is a beast of a phone but I do not know if I want to be stuck with Sprint's 3G coverage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dood i just coughed up my 3D for this today....i mean i get 4G (that i never ever, ever USe by the way) and i can def say that i get a much better signal where i live....i live just north of boston and i get decent 3G all over but with my 3D it really sucked....i'd say go for it....all my buddy were bustin my balls cause i was contimplating keeping my EVO....it was a great decision, this thing is blazing fast.,.....i just gotta get used to TW till we get somethign else
reverepats said:
dood i just coughed up my 3D for this today....i mean i get 4G (that i never ever, ever USe by the way) and i can def say that i get a much better signal where i live....i live just north of boston and i get decent 3G all over but with my 3D it really sucked....i'd say go for it....all my buddy were bustin my balls cause i was contimplating keeping my EVO....it was a great decision, this thing is blazing fast.,.....i just gotta get used to TW till we get somethign else
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohai!
Yeah I have no 4g... Never stopped me from getting any of the dualcore phones ive gotten (all 4g capable)
3g is decent in my area aswell...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
I'm in a 4G saturated area and I never have 4G, big deal. I wouldn't use it for browsing...it isn't that much faster for browsing. If I had a big download I would use it, it makes a giant difference for that...but I keep it off even if I could get it cuz my battery is far more important than 4G to me. Shaving 3 or 4 hours off of my battery to shave 1 or 2 seconds off of every page load just ain't worth it to me.
Sprint's 4G speed is not that great to me.In my area I get around 8mb with a MyTouch 4G and almost 20 on a Thunderbolt. Sprint's 3G gets me half a mb if I'm lucky. I def want the ET4G but I'm trying to weigh whether the phone is that much better than anything else to put up with the 3G speeds.
If any of you guys have a Photon. What do you prefer?
rllong1 said:
Sprint's 4G speed is not that great to me.In my area I get around 8mb with a MyTouch 4G and almost 20 on a Thunderbolt. Sprint's 3G gets me half a mb if I'm lucky. I def want the ET4G but I'm trying to weigh whether the phone is that much better than anything else to put up with the 3G speeds.
If any of you guys have a Photon. What do you prefer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive had the photon, evo 3d, and now the epic touch
Photon had great reception for calls vs evo 3d... But I epic touch wins
Data in my area was faster with the photon but the epic.touch still beats the 3d...
And gps on.all three seems better than last years line up
I hated the.shape of the photon but loved the dedicated camera buttons on the 3d and.photon... But the epic touch is still faster better.screen and thinner..... I dunnk thats my first opinion of all three hope it helps...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
rllong1 said:
Sprint's 4G speed is not that great to me.In my area I get around 8mb with a MyTouch 4G and almost 20 on a Thunderbolt. Sprint's 3G gets me half a mb if I'm lucky. I def want the ET4G but I'm trying to weigh whether the phone is that much better than anything else to put up with the 3G speeds.
If any of you guys have a Photon. What do you prefer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't come to Sprint just for a phone. The network sucks and gets worse every day. I left them last week.
What company did you go to. What phone did you get?
I've had AT&T and Sprint both for a while now. AT&T for work and Sprint for personal. I'm using a Captivate on AT&T and my account has unlimited data. Over the past few months I've been comparing the Captivate to the Epic around many different places in town and the Captivate always wins out for speed and reliability. Running CM7 with the i9000 modem the data is pretty fast and battery life is almost double what I was getting with the Epic. What prompted me to start considering this was the fact that Sprint started screwing people out of their annual upgrades back in April. They changed the criteria of what qualified you so barely any one qualified any more. Network coverage has been getting worse since they did that as well. So I'm using my work phone for personal use now with a google voice number to keep things separated. Dad ported out to Verizon and gets better coverage and call quality is so much better which I attribute to 50/50 phone and network. Wife is still on Sprint till the next best keyboard phone comes out. She'll probably ride out her Epic till it explodes then we'll figure it out.

Galaxy Nexus Signal Strength

Anyone else get bad reception and weak radio from the Galaxy Nexus. I have the new radio i think (1515.09 V.FA02/ 1515.FA02).. the changing between 3g and 4g is still terrible and sometimes its hard for the signal to even come back in.
Do you know if this is the best radio? i think soon I will just get a Motorola device because they have better signal strength even in weak coverage areas. Not happy with the galaxy nexus for that reason. I think htc may even be better at that. samsung isn't good with their signal stength with phones.
The only time I get bad reception is in my house for some odd reason. It's so fraustrating because when I had my thunderbolt or bionic I got 4G in my house. Any where else I am good with 4G. I almost switched somebody phones but then I realized I might as well stick to the nexus.
kidnice15 said:
The only time I get bad reception is in my house for some odd reason. It's so fraustrating because when I had my thunderbolt or bionic I got 4G in my house. Any where else I am good with 4G. I almost switched somebody phones but then I realized I might as well stick to the nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah.. just not willing to settle for a weak signal in a phone just because its a very nice phone. I pay for data and i want to have access to it completely.
I get 4G almost everywhere I go with the GNexus. Live about 25 minutes from Pittsburgh and can drive around pretty much everywhere and get good reception, at least on par with my Thunderbolt.
Significant problems as well, returning phone.
I have had the phone since 2/13. I'm in Rochester, NY and have had a significant number of dropped calls, times when the signal dropped, and extended re-connect times. I received a new SIM last night, which had no effect on the problem. I also tried the 4.0.4 update to the radios the OP has, with no significant improvement. VZW has said that a software update due in early march will alleviate the problem. I don't buy it. I've decided to return my phone within the 14 day "Worry-Free" period and go back to my OG Droid for the time being. I'm going to wait until the reports come back on this new "update", which is probably just 4.0.3. So i'm not feeling very confident.
-rs
I had the same problem...bad signal and wouldn't switch from 4g to 3g I returned mines and got another and now i'm very happy.the first one was a piece of junk but the second has been awesome..
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
stepinmyworld said:
Yeah.. just not willing to settle for a weak signal in a phone just because its a very nice phone. I pay for data and i want to have access to it completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me ask you a question , how did you get to the conclusion of bad reception or bad radio strength ? I had my razr side by side with gnex a few days ago. GNex shows one bar less than razr . I guess many folks will then consider throwing their gnex to nearest wall after seeing this. Guess what ? Then I ran speed test on both of them side by side at same time for 20 times to test speed (yeah I was bored that day) . Every single run I observed about 1mb/s to 3mb/s faster in gnex than razr. Even at the same time gnex showing one fewer signal bar.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
jiwengang said:
Let me ask you a question , how did you get to the conclusion of bad reception or bad radio strength ? I had my razr side by side with gnex a few days ago. GNex shows one bar less than razr . I guess many folks will then consider throwing their gnex to nearest wall after seeing this. Guess what ? Then I ran speed test on both of them side by side at same time for 20 times to test speed (yeah I was bored that day) . Every single run I observed about 1mb/s to 3mb/s faster in gnex than razr. Even at the same time gnex showing one fewer signal bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bars are irrelevant...
Having both the nexus and the rezound, I can definitely say the rezound has better 4g radio strength. With my rezound I get 2-3 bars 4g easy anywhere in my house. Gnex barely gets 1 and most of the time is on 3g. Very frustrating.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
That's the problem. There are plenty of places I go that I lose 4G completely (on 4.0.4), while friends with the Razr or Rezound still have 2-3 bars of 4G and it's going strong.
I couldn't care less how many bars I have...I just care when I get dropped to 3G and other people don't.
My bionic held the 4G signal the best out of GN and Thunderbolt. But the browser on the GN is pretty darn fast that I hardly have any complaint when browsing on 3G. My GN holds that 3G with a death grip though. 4G is flaky at work and at home unfortunately...
Went thru 2 bad ones before I got one that worked properly.
If its giving issues, return it and try a replacement.
Seems Samsung's quality control is seriously lacking but they are a good phone when they work.
I think I get pretty good service on 3g. I don't have 4g in my area yet. I've had a droid x and iphone 4 and the nexus is best.

GSIII LTE/Sprint

That's right I am on Sprint with no LTE, and I have a Photon. I plan on picking up a GSIII Sunday in a Sprint store. This may sound crazy to some of you, but for me it makes perfect sense. I don't get Wimax inside my home, but can get it outside sometimes here in the Bronx, NYC. I tried and liked the weight feel, and fluidity of the EVO 4G LTE. After researching it seems like the SGIII may be the phone to get based on over all performance and software enhancements. I have also experienced 1.5 mbs up and down on 3G in this area, and feel we will have LTE soon.
After using the EVO LTE "I am compelled to ditch" my trusty Photon for a GSIII. I do this for the software fluidity, and multimedia enhancements as well. I use my phone mostly for calling and rarely use Wimax unless I am out in the city any way. When NYC is lit up with LTE I will have unlimited data, and a great phone until this happens. If I want a better phone at the years end I will sell this for only a Galaxy Nexus and add to a second line! My last Premier upgrade is July 1, 2012.
When I factor in the fact that S4GRU reports that NYC will be lit up by October, and my upgrade is due now I decided not to wait and push my 2014 upgrade back until October. Also the fact that Sprint's service suffices enough for me to stay for the unlimited data, and LTE at an affordable rate. a win win scenario "for me"! I know that Sprint has already broadcast that they will light up the LTE in the 4-5 1st round major markets July 15th 2012.
I had phone phone (evo lte and GS3) Evo lte even tho is only a month old got a lot development going for it already, GS3 none really but no one almost has it yet, on performance I see both phones as fast, but the multitasking is so much better on GS3, is more like the galaxy nexus, it keeps apps in background for the longest and the screen is better on the evo lte, speaker is louder on gs3 but for some reason clarity goes to the evo lte, on network part I do not have any idea because I switch carriers because slow speeds my GS3 is on tmobile and even tho I like the phone now, I always wanted my Evo lte on tmobile cause it is a great phone... Anyways both phones are amazing but I would get the GS3 just to make sure you future proof with hose 2gb of ram
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
jgalan14 said:
I had phone phone (evo lte and GS3) Evo lte even tho is only a month old got a lot development going for it already, GS3 none really but no one almost has it yet, on performance I see both phones as fast, but the multitasking is so much better on GS3, is more like the galaxy nexus, it keeps apps in background for the longest and the screen is better on the evo lte, speaker is louder on gs3 but for some reason clarity goes to the evo lte, on network part I do not have any idea because I switch carriers because slow speeds my GS3 is on tmobile and even tho I like the phone now, I always wanted my Evo lte on tmobile cause it is a great phone... Anyways both phones are amazing but I would get the GS3 just to make sure you future proof with hose 2gb of ram
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear this....thanks man
I went to the Sprint store 10:00 am Sunday morning to get my unit. The antenna on this phone is pretty darn good. It isn't too far removed from the Photo that I have. I compare signal -dbm strength and they are literally within -2 dbms and most times the very same -dbm and signal strength in poor reception areas.
After it discharged the 1st hour because of app down loads and updates from my SD card it went 10.5 hours under mild use 15% talk 35% screen time, listening to music. The phone looks way better in person and feels nice to hold. It is a bit slippery though.
I was leary of Samsung's phone after othe r issues kept flaring up in the GNEX, and SGII CDMA phones in the US. The GPS seems to lock on effortlessly, and the antenna signal is excellent for me so far. In my home signal from sprint is weak down stairs on the lower level and it received the same -dbm and bar strength as my Photon.
Phone calls are clear, and most importantly my Blue tooth's/Blue Ant T1/Q2 doesn't keep seem to disconnect sporadically as it did before.
Don't be afraid to get this phone.....This or the EVO LTE are both great phones and it's user choice in my opinion. So far I am happy that I bought this product!
I was also able to achieve 1.92 mbs down, and 1096 kbps upload on 3G here in the Bronx NYC near the Throggsneck Bridge! Network vision is a coming LTE I am waiting ok! I feel confident I will be basking in LTE signal very soon. S4RGU reports NYC market should be live by October.
If I can get 1.92mbs down all the time until then I'd be a happy camper for now!
QWIKSTRIKE said:
I went to the Sprint store 10:00 am Sunday morning to get my unit. The antenna on this phone is pretty darn good. It isn't too far removed from the Photo that I have. I compare signal -dbm strength and they are literally within -2 dbms and most times the very same -dbm and signal strength in poor reception areas.
After it discharged the 1st hour because of app down loads and updates from my SD card it went 10.5 hours under mild use 15% talk 35% screen time, listening to music. The phone looks way better in person and feels nice to hold. It is a bit slippery though.
I was leary of Samsung's phone after othe r issues kept flaring up in the GNEX, and SGII CDMA phones in the US. The GPS seems to lock on effortlessly, and the antenna signal is excellent for me so far. In my home signal from sprint is weak down stairs on the lower level and it received the same -dbm and bar strength as my Photon.
Phone calls are clear, and most importantly my Blue tooth's/Blue Ant T1/Q2 doesn't keep seem to disconnect sporadically as it did before.
Don't be afraid to get this phone.....This or the EVO LTE are both great phones and it's user choice in my opinion. So far I am happy that I bought this product!
I was also able to achieve 1.92 mbs down, and 1096 kbps upload on 3G here in the Bronx NYC near the Throggsneck Bridge! Network vision is a coming LTE I am waiting ok! I feel confident I will be basking in LTE signal very soon. S4RGU reports NYC market should be live by October.
If I can get 1.92mbs down all the time until then I'd be a happy camper for now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear this, I'm also in the Bronx but I get horrible speeds in my house using the EVO lte, not too bad outside. I'm waiting on the store to open so I can make the switch to the GS3
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
Iphony89 said:
Glad to hear this, I'm also in the Bronx but I get horrible speeds in my house using the EVO lte, not too bad outside. I'm waiting on the store to open so I can make the switch to the GS3
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must switch from Tmobile Avatar to Sprint.lol I posted this information for people like your self in NYC, and also for people that want to know about antenna signal. I am very pleased about antenna RF reception, and GPS signal. I am only wishing that I could have got it for 149.00 from radio shack. They didn't know when they would get it, and I figured with Apple trying to ban every thing I better get one before supplies die out!

[VZW] GN Weak radio bugging me

I don't know whether this is in my mind but since I have upgraded to JB, I seem to be getting weaker signal reception.
I live in a major LTE market and signal is usually pretty good outside on the street. Once I am a few feet from the street, say in a restaurant--even with big plate glass windows--or a house or a backyard, the signal drops to unusable.
This weakness was most graphic this past weekend when I found myself at a backyard BBQ. I couldn't get enough 3G signal to use the internet. Friends (running GB) with the Bionic or Thunderbolt, also on Verizon, standing right next to me were able to get a bar or two and reach the internet.
I'm not holding out hope that a radio release will miraculously fix our signal reception problems.
Wow! same problem here. When I flashed JB 4.1.1 I noticed a big difference in my reception. In rural areas The Galaxy Nexus has horrible reception anyways and We, I say we don't need to be getting weaker signals after flashing this really fast Jelly Bean rom...lol
dynamicpda said:
I don't know whether this is in my mind but since I have upgraded to JB, I seem to be getting weaker signal reception.
I live in a major LTE market and signal is usually pretty good outside on the street. Once I am a few feet from the street, say in a restaurant--even with big plate glass windows--or a house or a backyard, the signal drops to unusable.
This weakness was most graphic this past weekend when I found myself at a backyard BBQ. I couldn't get enough 3G signal to use the internet. Friends (running GB) with the Bionic or Thunderbolt, also on Verizon, standing right next to me were able to get a bar or two and reach the internet.
I'm not holding out hope that a radio release will miraculously fix our signal reception problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Verizon JB roms do not have any new radio's in them so I am not sure why you would be getting a worse signal then before. You should still get the same crappy signal you were getting on ICS.
dynamicpda said:
I don't know whether this is in my mind but since I have upgraded to JB, I seem to be getting weaker signal reception.
I live in a major LTE market and signal is usually pretty good outside on the street. Once I am a few feet from the street, say in a restaurant--even with big plate glass windows--or a house or a backyard, the signal drops to unusable.
This weakness was most graphic this past weekend when I found myself at a backyard BBQ. I couldn't get enough 3G signal to use the internet. Friends (running GB) with the Bionic or Thunderbolt, also on Verizon, standing right next to me were able to get a bar or two and reach the internet.
I'm not holding out hope that a radio release will miraculously fix our signal reception problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue with my nexus. What I did to correct it was flash other radios that seem to help a lot more.
Here just search for vzw galaxy nexus radio and you should get a search with androidcentral. You will have all ur radios there.
ilpleasu said:
Wow! same problem here. When I flashed JB 4.1.1 I noticed a big difference in my reception. In rural areas The Galaxy Nexus has horrible reception anyways and We, I say we don't need to be getting weaker signals after flashing this really fast Jelly Bean rom...lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
TheGman125 said:
I had the same issue with my nexus. What I did to correct it was flash other radios that seem to help a lot more.
Here just search for vzw galaxy nexus radio and you should get a search with androidcentral. You will have all ur radios there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which radios are you running? FA02?
There's a thread on rootzwiki that has all of the historic radios for Verizon. Reading through it, some people have run a hybrid FA02/FC05 radio setup and say that's pretty good for them.
All I know is that I've got to figure something out. I went to a movie over the weekend and had my GNex in my pocket. I went through 50% battery during the movie because it couldn't find signal... and I wasn't really in a rural area.
I had generally bad service across the board 2G,3G,4G since getting the phone from Verizon. After flashing jellybean and keeping the stock FC04/FC05 radios cell service is pretty similar as expected. I cant really compalin given the area I live in but my old LG Env touch had stronger cell service. The most frustrating part was last week when I was with my friend in the hills of New Jersey where I could not get a single bar of service to even make a phone call and he was getting enough 3G on his iPhone to get on the internet. Rage.
Complete repository of all the radios:
http://goo.im/stock/toro/radios
I flashed FA02 from the command line and everything seemed to go okay but I still see FC04.
Hmmm...
Edit:
I redownloaded FA02 from the link I provided and the flash worked fine. (I had FA02 sitting on my drive from a previous download.)
I'll report back my experiences with the hybrid.
Are you trying an FA02/FC05 hybrid? I was tempted to do a flash-a-thon tomorrow night (busy tonight) and try each radio back to EK01/EK02 to see which seems best.
[email protected] said:
The Verizon JB roms do not have any new radio's in them so I am not sure why you would be getting a worse signal then before. You should still get the same crappy signal you were getting on ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope its worse. I went froma -61dbm signal at home to -75. To make things worse, I lose data in rural areas now and my wifi sucks.

[Q] Reception and Signal

how is everyones signal and reception. everyone always says samsung phones have bad radios? let me know in the comments below
Vladabeast said:
how is everyones signal and reception. everyone always says samsung phones have bad radios? let me know in the comments below
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, here in Chicago & NW burbs, some places are great, others totally suck. Depends on where you are vs how far along they are on there network vision upgrade as sprint calls it
Anyway S3 reception... came from an EVO LTE that had constant issues, reception being one. Before I switched to the S3 I held mine up side by side to an S3 that was getting 4G signal, the evo, 2 bars of 3g.
Anyway reception on S3? Aside from sucky sprint service, all and all is much better than the evo.. my daily commute to and from work are much better now
Vladabeast said:
how is everyones signal and reception. everyone always says samsung phones have bad radios? let me know in the comments below
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reception seems to be much improved on both the 3g radio and the WiFi radio. I drop to 1x far less than I did with my SG2 when in buildings.
I can go about twice the distance from my wireless router at home than I could with the SG2.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

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