[Q] Erratic Signal Strength - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

Hey guys,
At work, my phone's signal strength is erratic. All day long, my signal goes from 4 bars (-76 dBm) to 0 bars (-106 dBm) and then maybe 2 bars, and back to 4 bars. Rinse and repeat until the battery is completely drained, which only takes a matter of hours while my phone does this bizarre cycling
I am roaming at work but I don't see why this would cause this strange behavior. Has anyone seen this before and does anyone have any solutions for this? I am running the Blend 2.6.2 gingerbread ROM and I've tried a variety of modems, namely the EL29, EK02, FD02, and FD05 modems.
Thanks guys!

I would say to honestly try all the modems out there from the first one to the last one. I am on FC22 and must admit I have seen a change in my connection speeds and the way my phone responds to in certain areas. Unfortunately swapping out modems and possibly a clean install may be your only options.
Also contact Sprint and ask if a tower is down or being worked on in your area. Good luck
Edit: Also you should ask for this to be moved to Q&A since you would probably get a better response over there

All the modems suck right now.
You're screwed like all of us. We all have this issue.

playya said:
I would say to honestly try all the modems out there from the first one to the last one. I am on FC22 and must admit I have seen a change in my connection speeds and the way my phone responds to in certain areas. Unfortunately swapping out modems and possibly a clean install may be your only options.
Also contact Sprint and ask if a tower is down or being worked on in your area. Good luck
Edit: Also you should ask for this to be moved to Q&A since you would probably get a better response over there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll continue to try out modems and see if I can find one that works well at work.
Also, good point on the moving of this thread to Q&A. Can any moderators help with this?

kthejoker20 said:
All the modems suck right now.
You're screwed like all of us. We all have this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true for some there are better modems than others... If all suck for you then it may be time to switch carriers... LOL
Speeds are going to suck regardless but reception is affected occasionally by different modems, I would not of thought so myself but I have seen it happen with myself and a co-worker of mine that I had to change his modem due to bad reception at his house

kthejoker20 said:
All the modems suck right now.
You're screwed like all of us. We all have this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speak for yourself, my modem and service is perfectly fine everywhere that I frequent.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

azyouthinkeyeiz said:
Speak for yourself, my modem and service is perfectly fine everywhere that I frequent.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any recommendations on which modems were good for you?

ericlikeseatin said:
Any recommendations on which modems were good for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might help if you say what area you're in the someone close by could tell you what works for them ...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Im in gadsden al n my signal bars constintley fluctuate like that also with all modems unless im connected to a verizon tower.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

When roaming I turn off 3g data when not in use to save battery life. There are simple data toggle widgets in market like data enabler for this.

ericlikeseatin said:
Any recommendations on which modems were good for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only modems I had any issue with, were the first two ICS builds. Everything else has been fine. I live in Nashville, and am always driving around. From suburban to metro areas, the only issues are when you get far out away from service. I've personally never dropped a call, but been on the receiving end of many dropped ATT calls. I have average data speeds away from the city, and above average inside. We've had 4G for almost a year and a half, but it is very disappointing.
I had ATT years ago, and dropped calls everywhere.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Related

[Q] LG8 Connectivity Issues?

Some basic info: Sprint SGS3; rooted, manually updated to LG8. Otherwise, stock.
Since then, I've noticed that my phone doesn't "hold on" to 4G as well as it did pre root and update. For example, the 4G icon will be next to the signal strength in my status bar then it will disappear, there will just be signal strength with no connection indicator then either 3G or 4G will appear. I don't ever remember this happening before root/update. I haven't flashed anything else on the phone, and the main reason I rooted in the first place was so I could easily tether.
Has anyone else had this same issue?
Its funny that the LG8 update was supposed to help users that were having LTE connectivity issues... this happens to me on occasion too. i would venture to say that a combination of LTE still being in early development and coverage being spotty at times even in areas where u may have gotten full coverage at one point plus the "Connection Optimizer" that often jacks with ur data connection switching between wifi, 3g and 4g(LTE)... try doing a ##72786# to reactivate ur phone on the network... this will automatically re-associate ur data profile with the network and update prl info as well...
+1 I have the same issue
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
I am envious that you have a LTE signal to lose, I've not tasted any LTE yet 3 weeks after go live of LTE in the Atlanta area
Visionikz03 said:
Its funny that the LG8 update was supposed to help users that were having LTE connectivity issues... this happens to me on occasion too. i would venture to say that a combination of LTE still being in early development and coverage being spotty at times even in areas where u may have gotten full coverage at one point plus the "Connection Optimizer" that often jacks with ur data connection switching between wifi, 3g and 4g(LTE)... try doing a ##72786# to reactivate ur phone on the network... this will automatically re-associate ur data profile with the network and update prl info as well...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I'll try the ##72786# and report back with results.
You make a fair point about LTE still getting off the ground, but I will say that pre-root/update, my phone held 4G consistently. Whatever the issue is, hopefully it will sort itself out soon, or enough people will have the same issue that it spurs some action on Sprint's side.
I'm in Houston, FWIW.
Edit/Update: ##72786# seemed to do the trick. HOWEVER, about 15 minutes ago, I attempted to turn on WiFi Tether. My laptop connected with no issues, but about 5 minutes into it, neither the 4G nor the 3G icons appeared next to the signal strength meter. ##72786#'d again, just to see if it made a difference, updated PRL and Profile. Things are holding steady so far, but we'll see how long this lasts.
I'll try to update later in the day.
kindalikemike said:
Thanks for the reply. I'll try the ##72786# and report back with results.
You make a fair point about LTE still getting off the ground, but I will say that pre-root/update, my phone held 4G consistently. Whatever the issue is, hopefully it will sort itself out soon, or enough people will have the same issue that it spurs some action on Sprint's side.
I'm in Houston, FWIW.
Edit/Update: ##72786# seemed to do the trick. HOWEVER, about 15 minutes ago, I attempted to turn on WiFi Tether. My laptop connected with no issues, but about 5 minutes into it, neither the 4G nor the 3G icons appeared next to the signal strength meter. ##72786#'d again, just to see if it made a difference, updated PRL and Profile. Things are holding steady so far, but we'll see how long this lasts.
I'll try to update later in the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to see it worked. This is by no means a permanent fix. As u flash different roms thru out ur phones life span its a good idea to run this code every so often as flashing can overtime degrade baseband performance as those files dont get replaced with a rom but different roms interact with those files depending on the tweaks made at software level...
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
jdelano said:
I am envious that you have a LTE signal to lose, I've not tasted any LTE yet 3 weeks after go live of LTE in the Atlanta area
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't wait either. For those that have 4G i'm curious as to what the battery life is like and how much faster the network is on the SG3.
Visionikz03 said:
Glad to see it worked. This is by no means a permanent fix. As u flash different roms thru out ur phones life span its a good idea to run this code every so often as flashing can overtime degrade baseband performance as those files dont get replaced with a rom but different roms interact with those files depending on the tweaks made at software level...
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issues cropped up again throughout the day, though not as frequently. I made a post in a reddit subforum and someone there suggested I flash new radios. Any idea on whether that would work, and if so, where/how/what?
kindalikemike said:
The issues cropped up again throughout the day, though not as frequently. I made a post in a reddit subforum and someone there suggested I flash new radios. Any idea on whether that would work, and if so, where/how/what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to flash the LG2 radio and it made no difference at all.
mrg02d said:
I tried to flash the LG2 radio and it made no difference at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It won't, till Sprint gets their network done. I've been back and forth on all radios, no difference IMO.
this message brought to you by my GalaxyS3 running Phantom's Blazer v1.6
Try this... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816530
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
That is dissapointing
jdelano said:
I am envious that you have a LTE signal to lose, I've not tasted any LTE yet 3 weeks after go live of LTE in the Atlanta area
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am up here in Sugar Hill. Sprint Map shows you deep in LTEville. I worked in Tucker last year when a co-worker got a Verizon Tunderbolt. His 4G was screaming. He was getting 40+ down!
But the map also shows Cumming in LTE land so I drove over there just to see what LTE looked like and I saw the icon flicker on for about 30 sec. but it never really was there.
Naddict said:
Try this... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816530
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just flashed back to LG2, so I'll update later and see how things are going.

What modem are you using?

I'm on LG8 right now. Seems fine on store phones. My signal strength is worse. Wanted to check out some others. What are you using and what works well for you?
Switching back to LG2, I'll report back. I know each phone is different and it's also dependent on the area.
chrischoi said:
I'm on LG8 right now. Seems fine on store phones. My signal strength is worse. Wanted to check out some others. What are you using and what works well for you?
Switching back to LG2, I'll report back. I know each phone is different and it's also dependent on the area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im on LG8 and doing well.
Im also in a market with LTE so maybe thats why.
Ive read others have better luck with LG2 if they are in a non LTE market.
IAmSixNine said:
Im on LG8 and doing well.
Im also in a market with LTE so maybe thats why.
Ive read others have better luck with LG2 if they are in a non LTE market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured since LG8 is more fine tuned for the Vision / LTE network, I'd have better luck going back to LG2. I'm testing a battery right now, so I don't want to lose that info. It would reset. Just don't know when to make the jump.
-58 dBm 16asu @ home on LG8 with Airave. Lol. I'll need to turn that off.
Modems
From what I've gleaned from reading several threads on the topic, there is no "global" answer when it comes to modems. Their performance can be different for each phone. There is a great tool developed by clark44 from TeamSonic, click here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816530 that allows you to flash any of the current modems available from Sprint. I've used the tool several times, and have used each modem for 3-5 days each. I ended up settling on LEN as this gives me the best reception & data speeds for the area I live and work in, a non-4G LTE area

[Q] Limited to no 4G connection

I searched but on the whole it seems that the people experiencing the same issues don't have custom roms on their phones.
I essentially have no data connection whatsoever and like many others I went from having ~90 ping, 9-10Mbps down, and 1-3Mpbs up to having 1000+ ping and .05Mbps up/down.
I'm currently on the CM10 - 9/20 nightly (and I was on the 9/05 nightly) with lean kernel .15 and I've tried UVDLI8, UVDLI7, UVDLI6 and UVALEM basebands and nothing seems to help. As far as I can tell my IMEI is intact and I can make calls out, receive texts, etc... except anything relating to data is ridiculously slow. My brother seems to get fairly decent speeds and he is rooted and has a custom rom on his G2x. Is it possible that they're throttling only my line?
I've tried talking with T-Mobile and their customer service reps tell me things like "hold down the power button until your phone shuts off" so... not very helpful. Any suggestions or recommendations would be very much appreciated.
So I worked with the T-mobile CSR rep and they told me to change some of the settings in the APN, and now I don't get any signal, do any of you guys have what the APN settings were for CM10?
CM10 doesn't have specific APN settings. You can Google T-Mobile APN settings and use those.
Where are you located?
Sent from my SGH-T999
joshnichols189 said:
CM10 doesn't have specific APN settings. You can Google T-Mobile APN settings and use those.
Where are you located?
Sent from my SGH-T999
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Located in Houston. I'm really hoping its not a CM10 issue because I really don't want to go back to TouchWiz.
silhouette004 said:
Located in Houston. I'm really hoping its not a CM10 issue because I really don't want to go back to TouchWiz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It shouldn't be, works just fine for me in Chicago
Sent from my SGH-T999
Tmobile has been having spotty signal throughout the nation lately.
Sent from my SGH-T999
chrisram88 said:
Tmobile has been having spotty signal throughout the nation lately.
Sent from my SGH-T999
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah definitely spotty. So I was driving around Houston yesterday and was doing speedtests as I was going, turns out I have absolutely fantastic data speeds until I take the exit off the highway and head towards my house (signal gets progressively worse the closer I get to my house). It's literally like a dead spot sitting right around my house which is only 5 min from the highway and 15+ Mbps download speeds. I called T-Mobile and they claim that there aren't any towers down and that I'm not being throttled but I used to be able to get fairly decent speeds at my house. At least now I know it's not my phone and it's not the rom/kernel/modem.
Are there hills?? Signal will always be stronger near highways because that's where the towers are.
Download the app Phone Info and try to force 4G?
I'm less than 5 minutes from the highway and no, there aren't any hills. I did hear back from T-mobile and now they're finally admitting there might be an issue with one of the towers in my area.
I had the same exact issue. It was a tower problem and it took about 3 weeks to resolve. I was compensated by having my data credited for a month. $30 total. It's really frustrating I know but it should pass in time.
Yeah so it was a tower issue for sure. I'm back to getting ~10-15 down at home. Glad that was finally resolved.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Werid 4g speeds, need help ruling out phone or network

I bought a Tmobile Galaxy S3 on new years from staples, and since ive got the phone ive been experiencing strange 4g speeds. While im in my house, I always have full signal strength, and it always says 4G. I live in the Bronx in New York City, and when the 4g is working properly, I get upwards of 20 megabits down, and 1-2 up. Now I could literally be sitting in the exact same spot, and later ill test the phone and it says 0.2 - 0.3 megabits, and like over 1000 ping and the up is so slow it doesnt even measure it. It usually comes back after waiting, turning airplane mode off and on multiple times or doing a battery pull. I find it strange that I can get either 21 mbps or 0.3 in the same house, while always having full bars. In the phone status sometimes it would say UTMS or HSPA, so it does switch from 3g to 4g sometimes. The thing is my previous phone was Nexus S with 3g and im pretty sure I never had a problem loading a simple image in my house because the internet was so slow. I consistently pulled 3-6 mbps on that phone. I tried calling t-mobile 3 times and they give me the same basic crap, like clear your cache, make sure airplane mode is off (really?) make sure youre network mode is on auto (i tried auto and wcdma only and it still gets slow) and all that other stuff. Is there anything else I could try to see if its a network or phone issue?
It sounds like it might be something with your local tower. I would call Tmobile and put in a repair ticket.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks, I just did that. Called t-mobile and just directly asked them to check for tower issues, and they filed a complaint. They said to check back in 3 days, hopefully this gets fixed, or else it might be the phone. Do you think flashing different modems would change anything?
tigim101 said:
Thanks, I just did that. Called t-mobile and just directly asked them to check for tower issues, and they filed a complaint. They said to check back in 3 days, hopefully this gets fixed, or else it might be the phone. Do you think flashing different modems would change anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wouldn't hurt to try. What are you currently running? (rom/kernel/modem)
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Completely stock 4.1.1, with UVDLJA modem, which is the latest I believe. The phone is relatively new so I wanted to try touchwiz before I rooted. Does installing something like cm10 change the modem? Or is it independent of rom/kernel. I saw an application for tmo that can change between multiple modems pretty quickly, I might give it a try.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
My opinion
tigim101 said:
Thanks, I just did that. Called t-mobile and just directly asked them to check for tower issues, and they filed a complaint. They said to check back in 3 days, hopefully this gets fixed, or else it might be the phone. Do you think flashing different modems would change anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for T-Mo,
If I may lend my opinion,
To me, it definitely sounds like the tower. If you go from 20Mbit down to 0.2, and with 1000ms latency, it's super obvious there is something
wrong with the tower, or there is significant demand on the tower from other users, hey its NYC population density is insane.
Something to note as well, New York City is "in progress" for "network modernization" where they are switching to 1900Mhz.
This is why some people who have iPhones are now getting 3G in certain areas, unlocked devices, as well as AT&T phones can have 3G down there.
Due to this, since there is quite a lot of switching around going on down there, that's probably what's going on.
Example:
http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/t-mobiles-network-modernization-what-is-it-where-can-i-get-coverage/
Hope it helps.
I see, well that makes sense. I dont really mind if its a tower issue because thatll be fixed eventually, I just would of hated if I had to replace the phone, it would of been such a hassle because I didnt buy it direct from t-mo. Thanks to both of you!
Also, since t-mobile seems to be using multiple bands for 4g, I guess it would be better to leave it on auto in network settings?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
tigim101 said:
I see, well that makes sense. I dont really mind if its a tower issue because thatll be fixed eventually, I just would of hated if I had to replace the phone, it would of been such a hassle because I didnt buy it direct from t-mo. Thanks to both of you!
Also, since t-mobile seems to be using multiple bands for 4g, I guess it would be better to leave it on auto in network settings?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it helps you at all to see if you are on a different band than 1700/2100mhz
You can go into the dialer and do:
*#0011#
Up top mine says band 4
Which is for 1700mhz AWS
BAND 2
which is for 1900mhz PCS.
You might be on band 4 or 2 on a tower by tower basis, or if they are making adjustments
You might be switched but that is above my pay grade lol

Anyone notice their service getting worse?

At first I thought it might have been my rom, but it seems it's happening with my GF's note 2 also.
Coverage we used to receive in some areas is almost completely gone. It will show signal and the 4g symbol but basically have NO internet service whatsoever.
On a better note, we've been receiving coverage in some areas we don't usually have it.
I'm hoping this is just a temporary thing due to the attempts to upgrade towers for LTE.
I don't know if it's because of the UVBMB4 update, but t-mobile service has been pretty crappy lately. Period.
We're in the San Gabriel Valley area.
Link for older UVALL4 modem below, people seem to experience better service
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...php?p=36786363
I believe my service has suffered as well. Before the last update that enabled our Lte radios, I had great speeds, now it's slowed Way down. I'm in San Diego CA. Hope that it's just as the Op said, LTE towers being updated and what not.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Definitely have noticed a deterioration of service over the past month here in NYC.
Its because for some reason that new LTE APN is slow on HSPA+.. unless you have LTE in your area switch to the EPC APN. You can find the settings online. Its litter ally consistently a difference of 6+ mbps I have extensively speed tested lol..... click thanks if this helped
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
I also had problems even with old apn.
Flashed previous radio and service is top notch again.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Same here, I thought it was rom related.
YES! My service has sucked royally for the past month or so. Data latency/hangups/slowness, and the signal will just completely go away sometimes. I noticed that it started as soon as I flashed the most recent radio too, I'm about to go back to the old one.
Count me in, even my regular phone reception went from 4 bars no 1 or 0!
Can anyone point to towards old radio to flash? I go from no signal downstairs to full bars upstairs...theres an obv issue with new radio.
Yup I've noticed this beginning this week I've made zero changes to the phone. I used to get full bars at work and this week it bounces between full and 1 bar regularly. Theure messing with towers for sure
North Carolina by the way. Charlotte. Big City of 1 million people.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
nxneko said:
Can anyone point to towards old radio to flash? I go from no signal downstairs to full bars upstairs...theres an obv issue with new radio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=36786363
nxneko said:
Can anyone point to towards old radio to flash? I go from no signal downstairs to full bars upstairs...theres an obv issue with new radio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also experiencing significant decrease on data speed. Has your data speed improve after flashing with older radio and APN setting?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
zen0s said:
I'm also experiencing significant decrease on data speed. Has your data speed improve after flashing with older radio and APN setting?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was getting about 9/0.6 and with flashing back Im getting... 14/2 Though Ive been on HSDPA 15 & 21. Though Im not getting 4G as much, but it was sporadic anyways and I lost signal...and now I am not. So, Im happy now even though I am on 3G. However... in my corner big red has same problems as they wanted to not have tons of towers in this corner and theres only a ATT Tower....for a decent distance. basically reception fringe. though I am a new subscriber so i haven't experienced normal TMO, I literally got my device yesterday around 6pmish but it def wasn't normal and flashing previous radio did fix it like it solved everyone elses issue
janjannsen99 said:
Yup I've noticed this beginning this week I've made zero changes to the phone. I used to get full bars at work and this week it bounces between full and 1 bar regularly. Theure messing with towers for sure
North Carolina by the way. Charlotte. Big City of 1 million people.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my problems started last friday. i have limited to no service at all; no data, no voice, even no signal at times (circle with line through it, not just no bars). when i do get a signal, the phone refuses to register on the network. when im at home, i have intermittent service. i miss calls, texts wont send, if i do get a working call, it drops after a bit. there are times when it works fine, even on LTE but it never last long. went to the tmo store last night and they gave me a new sim which didnt do squat. already done the factory reset option (twice). phone has never been rooted, all stock. im in the KC metro so not like in the middle of nowhere. they said my next step is a warranty replacement phone if the sim didnt help. not sure if my problem is at all related to everyone elses in this thread, but yeah, service has sucked.
One of the issues, especially if you switch from 4g to edge to gprs a lot, is a setting in the new modem.
It's something called acquisition order. It has 3 settings:automatic, gsm_umts, umts_gsm. In short it tells the phone what kind of network to prefer. It will search for and use that type of network first.
Prior to the latest update it was set to auto. Now it is set to prefer umts. For some reason this has caused an issue I've come to call phantom 4g. Where it'll say 4g with no bars and no data service.
That is my guess. I'll look into it further.
Sent from my SGH-T889
Thanks guys for the heads up on switching to an older radio, I dont have LTE in Miami yet and was having slow internet for the last 3 weeks, I just switched and wow! What a difference. I'm also using the Epic APN.
I also noticed that speeds were degraded after the update. However, there is a simply fix to make your web a tad bit faster....
Go into your network settings, and switch your mobile network from LTE/4g/3g/2g to just 4G/3g/2g
your device will stop looking for an LTE connection and will just utilize HSPA+
Made a world of a difference on my own device. Connecting to the play store, opening web pages, everything was right back to where it was before the update.
Obviously if you live in an LTE area, there is no need to do this...
newageoutlaw said:
I believe my service has suffered as well. Before the last update that enabled our Lte radios, I had great speeds, now it's slowed Way down. I'm in San Diego CA. Hope that it's just as the Op said, LTE towers being updated and what not.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know about you but I live in san diego too my data speed stay above 10meg and max is 15meg.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
So I'm gonna be a noob here for a sec. When people say they are flashing the previous radio (I'm referencing the link that was posted) are people just flashing the modem from the section under the most recent? (the one with the January date on it). Just thought I would ask. Better safe than sorry. Thanks!
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
superkamiguru31 said:
So I'm gonna be a noob here for a sec. When people say they are flashing the previous radio (I'm referencing the link that was posted) are people just flashing the modem from the section under the most recent? (the one with the January date on it). Just thought I would ask. Better safe than sorry. Thanks!
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, radio is synonymous with modem in this case. UVALL4 is the previous version.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement

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