Develop Bugs

bad reception on sgn

I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
12/7 Update - More information on what I have attempted
Setting APNS for 4g on ATT
getting correct 4g data plan on account
New Sim cards
Replacement Galaxy Nexus
Different Roms
Stock Restore Rom
restore to default and install nothing
different radio
update to 4.0.1
Once the signal drops to almost unusable levels , the only way to get it back is either reboot the phone or toggle airplane mode. After that the signal returns to a solid 89-93 DBM. After roughly 30-60min it will then drop and I have to toggle it again. All other phones in my location have no problem including my iphone 4s with the exact same sim card.
I am in a decent location for signal. On the nexus reboot its at -89 dbm , my iphone 4s is at -87. The iphone stays that way and the galaxy nexus over time drops to -105 to -111.
Still no conclusion.

I only have problem with Wi-Fi where the reception is considerably weaker than any other device just around it.

aimetti said:
I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bars mean very little, as devices have their indicators calibrated differently. You should be comparing signals, in dBm for a meaningful comparison.
The acid test, of course, is whether you can make and hold a call, and or send/receive data.

aimetti said:
I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah kind of hard to gauge from bars. Nokia and motorola are known for excellent reception. Samsung not so much. They do seem to be improving on all fronts though, including wifi and gps.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong country.

I havent got too in depth with testing but its simple to see there is an issue. Everyone around me can make calls and i cant. Cell standbye taking up battery life as well and has been out of signal for a while

I'm seeing a similar issue.
When I have 2g only selected, I get 2 bars -98 asu 7. When I have it deselected I have no bars and signal is -111 asu 1.

Well ive had similar issues
Today I wiped phone and came back to initially 4/5 bars and download speeds of 4 down 1 up.
Then after about 10 min , right back down to 1/0 bars and 800 kbps down 200 up.
popped off back cover and then pulled sim , reset sim and then reboot. Again it initially came back with 4/5 bars with hsdpa. Again about 10 min later back down to 1/0 bars and a -113 dbm reading,
Then oddly enough i was in the status screen just watching it hover around -113 to -105 , it clicked to edge full 5 bars , then came back to 3G 4 bars and now at -93 dbm.
Does this sound at all normal? I havent changed location more than a few feet through all this. My wifes Iphone seems to be having 0 issues right next to me.

just watched it do it again.
Was at 1 bar went to 0 , got stuck on -113 dbm for about a minute or 2 clicked over to edge-2 -87 dbm then back to hsdpa -93 dbm
:/ i got no clue at this point
there is a video showing some of the issue
http://youtu.be/dbSAEHVcosI

aimetti said:
just watched it do it again.
Was at 1 bar went to 0 , got stuck on -113 dbm for about a minute or 2 clicked over to edge-2 -87 dbm then back to hsdpa -93 dbm
:/ i got no clue at this point
there is a video showing some of the issue
http://youtu.be/dbSAEHVcosI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this at home or a place where you frequently are? If so, I would do one of two things (provided you want to keep the device):
Write an NFC tag that you can tap on your way in (and presumably on on the way out as well) that would switch you over to "2G only" (which it seems gives you a better signal), and back to 3G/3.5G on your way out the door. or...
Either write yourself, or wait for one to be written, a kernel that will throw more power to the radio (at the expense of battery life however- but if you are constantly searching for signal your phone is probably wasting a ton of battery right now anyways)...

ya i am at home.
My wife consistently gets 3 down 1 up on her 4s.
No one else seems to be having issues , perhaps mine is just defective?
this is what happens when i lightly grip phone
http://youtu.be/-eqlMUoeq_I

aimetti said:
ya i am at home.
My wife consistently gets 3 down 1 up on her 4s.
No one else seems to be having issues , perhaps mine is just defective?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, but I can't think of a way to reliably test whether it is defective or not. My Samsung phones have always had lightly weaker radios than my HTC and Moto phones, and my sister's iPhone, so I will wager that it is just that in the name of battery life the radio is under-powered, which can be changed in the kernel. I was in a similar boat back when I was on T-mobile (right on the edge of service), and luckily someone had posted a custom ROM for the G1 that routed more power to the radios, and gave me just enough to hold a signal and use my wifi for data. Whatever that kernel in that ROM did, it gave me about 10 dbm difference. You might want to throw a request in the development section.
you can also try exchanging the device (if ever unhappy at all you should try to), but I am wondering if it will actually make a difference. Do you know someone with a recent Samsung phone like a SG2 (not LTE/Skyrocket) or maybe one of their Windows phones (I don't know what radios/speeds they use), to see if it gives similar results?

s.m.knipe said:
Maybe, but I can't think of a way to reliably test whether it is defective or not. My Samsung phones have always had lightly weaker radios than my HTC and Moto phones, and my sister's iPhone, so I will wager that it is just that in the name of battery life the radio is under-powered, which can be changed in the kernel. I was in a similar boat back when I was on T-mobile (right on the edge of service), and luckily someone had posted a custom ROM for the G1 that routed more power to the radios, and gave me just enough to hold a signal and use my wifi for data. Whatever that kernel in that ROM did, it gave me about 10 dbm difference. You might want to throw a request in the development section.
you can also try exchanging the device (if ever unhappy at all you should try to), but I am wondering if it will actually make a difference. Do you know someone with a recent Samsung phone like a SG2 (not LTE/Skyrocket) or maybe one of their Windows phones (I don't know what radios/speeds they use), to see if it gives similar results?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya , i was at my brothers house yesterday with no service at all.
My bro had an atrix with 1/2 bars and service.
my wife had an iphone 4 with 1/2 bars and service
and my sister in law had a galaxy s2 with 1/2 bars and service as well.
I had 0 at all.
The odd thing is , every time I reboot my phone it holds on to 4/5 bars at the location im at right now for a good 10 minutes , then flatlines.

aimetti said:
Ya , i was at my brothers house yesterday with no service at all.
My bro had an atrix with 1/2 bars and service.
my wife had an iphone 4 with 1/2 bars and service
and my sister in law had a galaxy s2 with 1/2 bars and service as well.
I had 0 at all.
The odd thing is , every time I reboot my phone it holds on to 4/5 bars at the location im at right now for a good 10 minutes , then flatlines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what APN are you using? Use the same APN settings as your Sis-in-law's GS2- when my Nexus first came I noticed the APN did not match my Atrix and it would not hold an HSPA+ signal for long; I changed it to match the Atrix and speeds/holding towers has been much better. Try the APN thing.
The GN and GS2 would have the same radio chip (I would imagine), and be set to draw the same amount of power by the kernel. If the APN thing doesn't work then you might want to consider an exchange I guess, maybe it is defective
The fact that it flatlines AFTER 10 minutes (presumably after all the syncing is finished for the various apps and services) is suggestive of a sort of "demand" model- like maybe the device amps up the radio when it knows there will be a lot of need, then scales back when demand is less- or over compensates at first, then under compensates later after some sort of calibration? The ten minute thing sounds odd, but sounds like something software/firmware/kernel-based...
[Keep in mind that there is much speculation contained in that advice, the true test for defective or not would simply be another GN at the same location- as that is unreasonable we'll have to speculate. Also, if your sis-in-law comes back over, check her phone status for her signal strength (not bars but dbm and asu) and see if it matches yours. The bars that you see are a software representation of those two numbers, and can be modified to under represent the actual signal.]

I am using the default cingular 410 apn
ive been reading that if support put a 4g data plan on my phone that it could potentially cause data loss. Is that correct?
also changed to 2g only for now and have 5bars -81 dbm constant.

aimetti said:
I am using the default cingular 410 apn
ive been reading that if support put a 4g data plan on my phone that it could potentially cause data loss. Is that correct?
also changed to 2g only for now and have 5bars -81 dbm constant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure I follow, if AT&T made your data plan a 4G data plan, it would interrupt your service?
I think you are asking if changing these APN settings will trigger something at AT&T, and they will "bump" you to a 4G plan- in which case I don't really know, I had to jump onto a "4G" plan when I got my Atrix. I think it would never reach that point though, when you set up the new APNs, that step where you touch the dot to select the HSDPA APN, it would default back to your cingular 410 apn if it were not able to connect (via SIM provisioning or whatever). If unavailable it wouldn't be connected at that rate to begin with.
How old is the data plan you are on (is it prior to the tiered plans)? If you are worried about the connection (APN) not matching the SIM, you could request a new (4G) SIM. Maybe stop in your local store, or call customer service and tell them you are thinking about buying a 4G phone, your friend's brother's uncle' pizza delivery boy's nephew has an unlocked phone you could test speeds with, could they switch out your old SIM for a newer 4G one to see if it will be worth your while at your house, then just pop in that new SIM, change the APN and away you go? (Or to be even less complicated take your old phone in with your old SIM, and just ask for a new SIM card, that yours isn't working right, and it should be a new 4G (not LTE) card...
Well, at least the phone is usable on the 2G band for you, and will save a lot of battery. Meanwhile we'll try to get you connected to an HSPA+ tower.

s.m.knipe said:
Not sure I follow, if AT&T made your data plan a 4G data plan, it would interrupt your service?
I think you are asking if changing these APN settings will trigger something at AT&T, and they will "bump" you to a 4G plan- in which case I don't really know, I had to jump onto a "4G" plan when I got my Atrix. I think it would never reach that point though, when you set up the new APNs, that step where you touch the dot to select the HSDPA APN, it would default back to your cingular 410 apn if it were not able to connect (via SIM provisioning or whatever). If unavailable it wouldn't be connected at that rate to begin with.
How old is the data plan you are on (is it prior to the tiered plans)? If you are worried about the connection (APN) not matching the SIM, you could request a new (4G) SIM. Maybe stop in your local store, or call customer service and tell them you are thinking about buying a 4G phone, your friend's brother's uncle' pizza delivery boy's nephew has an unlocked phone you could test speeds with, could they switch out your old SIM for a newer 4G one to see if it will be worth your while at your house, then just pop in that new SIM, change the APN and away you go? (Or to be even less complicated take your old phone in with your old SIM, and just ask for a new SIM card, that yours isn't working right, and it should be a new 4G (not LTE) card...
Well, at least the phone is usable on the 2G band for you, and will save a lot of battery. Meanwhile we'll try to get you connected to an HSPA+ tower.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for all the help really appreciate it.
Anyways a few things have happened since I last posted.
I had an iphone for the last 3 years. I went into ATT last week and got a normal 4g sim card in advance. Today I called my buddy who is a manager at a corporate store and he checked my account. Found that the lady had the wrong data on it. He ended up setting the sim to the 4g plan etc (which is unlimited)
I was able to add the ATT HSDPA apn and successfully connected to it. Prior to this I actually installed modaco's rom and restored everything.
At this point I am getting consistently 3 bars in my house (which is more than my wifes iphone 4s) on 4g.
Seems to be working much better now. The only other issue that remains is when I turn on WIFI. If i turn it on the cell reception goes to 1 bar or sometimes 0. I dont have the exact dbm values right now unfortunately. Calls and text still seem to go through however. Is it possible the wifi is drawing power designated for the radio?
Thanks again !

aimetti said:
thanks for all the help really appreciate it.
Anyways a few things have happened since I last posted.
I had an iphone for the last 3 years. I went into ATT last week and got a normal 4g sim card in advance. Today I called my buddy who is a manager at a corporate store and he checked my account. Found that the lady had the wrong data on it. He ended up setting the sim to the 4g plan etc (which is unlimited)
I was able to add the ATT HSDPA apn and successfully connected to it. Prior to this I actually installed modaco's rom and restored everything.
At this point I am getting consistently 3 bars in my house (which is more than my wifes iphone 4s) on 4g.
Seems to be working much better now. The only other issue that remains is when I turn on WIFI. If i turn it on the cell reception goes to 1 bar or sometimes 0. I dont have the exact dbm values right now unfortunately. Calls and text still seem to go through however. Is it possible the wifi is drawing power designated for the radio?
Thanks again !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, glad it worked out.
And possibly yes, depending on how the kernel relegates power wifi could "commandeer" a little from the cell radio, and reduce the dbm just enough to reflect in the "bars" algorithm.

perhaps a new radio will eventually come out that I can test.
either way seems to be at least in service now , signal definitely drops when i hold the phone but as long as I can make calls it should be fine.

aimetti said:
perhaps a new radio will eventually come out that I can test.
either way seems to be at least in service now , signal definitely drops when i hold the phone but as long as I can make calls it should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in the meantime i'll suggest using the open signal widget https://market.android.com/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en
which will tell you the real reception in the phone, and see what you are getting behind those bars
don't expect to make a good call when the signal drops to -90 dbm and above
and if you have multiple phones like i do, then you can compare if other phone in the same spot, connected to the same tower, is having higher or lower dbm than SGN
for example my Nexus S had worse reception than my Milestone XT720.... go figure

AllGamer said:
in the meantime i'll suggest using the open signal widget https://market.android.com/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en
which will tell you the real reception in the phone, and see what you are getting behind those bars
don't expect to make a good call when the signal drops to -90 dbm and above
and if you have multiple phones like i do, then you can compare if other phone in the same spot, connected to the same tower, is having higher or lower dbm than SGN
for example my Nexus S had worse reception than my Milestone XT720.... go figure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will try it out,
Overall i dont think the issue is fixed at all now. Went to bad and signal dropped all the way again. Stuck at -111 dbm. I held the phone i saw it switch to edge 5 bars and then click over to H 4 bars.
I really believe its some kind of software thing. If I cycle airplane mode on / off I get 4 bars (unknown dbm but its working) of 4g service. I know the service is here and working as my wifes iphone is fine but something is causing it to not hold the signal and eventually drop and not recover.
Makes no sense
Downloaded the app ,
Was at 42% signal strengh, I noticed when I picked up phone and lightly held it , it dropped right on down to 5% and got stuck there. This wasnt death gripping it either , barely holding it. Does anyone else have this issue or is it just mine? I know all cell phones have this issue but this seems excessive , worse than my iphone 4 ever was. I then cycled airplane mode again and signal strength went right up to 65% again -89 dbm

Network completely dropping randomly?

This is happening multiple times a day, randomly.
Ironically, I was at a vzw corporate store today getting a half off extended battery and incipio case, and it happened, i was driving home in the middle of a bluetooth call and it dropped, and while at work it drops every 10 minutes.
What the heck is going on? It even drops at my house, where i have "-93dBm" of 4G service... the notification bars will start at full 4G to none, grayed out.
This is extremely annoying and making my phone "work" a lot, thus killing the battery. It didn't make it through a 12 hour day today being in my pocket about 7/8ths of the time!!

al2x said:
This is happening multiple times a day, randomly.
Ironically, I was at a vzw corporate store today getting a half off extended battery and incipio case, and it happened, i was driving home in the middle of a bluetooth call and it dropped, and while at work it drops every 10 minutes.
What the heck is going on? It even drops at my house, where i have "-93dBm" of 4G service... the notification bars will start at full 4G to none, grayed out.
This is extremely annoying and making my phone "work" a lot, thus killing the battery. It didn't make it through a 12 hour day today being in my pocket about 7/8ths of the time!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just exchanged my Nexus a couple of days ago, because of this exact issue. So far, I haven't had a single random network drop on the new Nexus.
(Tech support suggested going to a VZW store and having them swap the SIM card out, so I did. As soon as I made it back out to my car, the network dropped again. As I was walking into the Target across the street, it dropped again, so I turned around and went back to the VZW store. They swapped the phone out.)

YES. Had no problems until today (at least that I've noticed). Now its not getting any data. I get strong 4G at my house too. Right now its saying I have 3G but its not giving me any data connection despite what the icon says. Might have to take it back

I had no problem until today. This morning the network dropped out suddenly and hasn't come back. Plugging it in, pulling battering, switching all data settings (LTE/3G, roaming, etc) has no effect. I may be taking a trip down to the Verizon store over my lunch break...

There is an issue with Verizon 3G/4G data right now, it seems to be down nationwide.

I live in Arizona / Phoenix and am experiencing the same. I have no data (3g or 4g) and haven't since my commute into work today. It's frustrating. This isn't a Verizon 3G/4G data issue nationwide. My coworker next to me is using a Droid Bionic and has both 3G and 4G working fine. We just loaded up several sites on her phone. I'm starting to get peeved.

iamsupreme said:
I live in Arizona / Phoenix and am experiencing the same. I have no data (3g or 4g) and haven't since my commute into work today. It's frustrating. This isn't a Verizon 3G/4G data issue nationwide. My coworker next to me is using a Droid Bionic and has both 3G and 4G working fine. We just loaded up several sites on her phone. I'm starting to get peeved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep another co-worker with a verizon phone also has data coverage while mine has been skipping out this morning.
That being said, this is not a scientific poll since 99% of the people posting here have GN phones. Are there any reports of problems in the other forums?

Though several articles, this one being one (http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/12/28/verizon-suffering-another-nationwide-4g-lte-outage/) are showing that there is, in fact, another nationwide 4g LTE outage. Maybe her Bionic just switches to 3G properly and my Nexus isn't? I changed it from LTE/CDMA to CDMA and powered off and on the radio. No luck.

iamsupreme said:
Though several articles, this one being one (http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/12/28/verizon-suffering-another-nationwide-4g-lte-outage/) are showing that there is, in fact, another nationwide 4g LTE outage. Maybe her Bionic just switches to 3G properly and my Nexus isn't? I changed it from LTE/CDMA to CDMA and powered off and on the radio. No luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. My data just came back up and it's 3G only now and seems solid. Perhaps Verizon has taken down their LTE network to prevent phones from trying to connect to it until they resolve the problem.

I'm getting a 3G icon when I turn off LTE/CDMA and put it at CDMA only. But actually trying to load anything with data (web, Facebook, YouTube) doesn't work. No connectivity.

Yeah, Droidlife reported on the outage for ALL 4G phones. My Thunderbolt is also affected. This is one of the reasons why my paranoid self is happy that I have two phones: one on T-Mo and one on Verizon.

Called VZ, data down in Miami. Phone is heating up like a mf, good 'cause it's freaking cold here like 68

lioryte said:
Called VZ, data down in Miami. Phone is heating up like a mf, good 'cause it's freaking cold here like 68
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to live somewhere where my big problem with the weather is that it's 68 degrees. Anyway, glad to hear it's a network issue and not my phone.

Random signal drops in Baltimore as well. Especially after a phone call. On second phone and still same issue.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Here in Rhode Island, I lost all signal for about 4 minutes, had 3g for about 5 minutes, then got 4g on and off for about 5-10 minutes.
As of now i'm solid 4g with no disconnect or 3g
its probably because of that 3.7+ MILLION devices activated for christmas
be glad we don't have RIM with a 3 day blackout

Yeah, and the problem with the GNex is that, unlike other phones, it doesn't seem to have a "no 4g, only 3g" capability, so when 4G goes down, we have no data whatsoever. Older phones that can switch LTE off are able to hook onto 3G.

SomeGuyDude said:
Yeah, and the problem with the GNex is that, unlike other phones, it doesn't seem to have a "no 4g, only 3g" capability, so when 4G goes down, we have no data whatsoever. Older phones that can switch LTE off are able to hook onto 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very very much untrue.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

SomeGuyDude said:
Yeah, and the problem with the GNex is that, unlike other phones, it doesn't seem to have a "no 4g, only 3g" capability, so when 4G goes down, we have no data whatsoever. Older phones that can switch LTE off are able to hook onto 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Settings > More... > Mobile networks > Network Mode > Select CDMA (default is LTE/CDMA) > Profit

its a nationwide issue affecting SOME LTE Verizon users.
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/28/verizon-4g-lte-nationwide-data-outage-happening-once-again/

I was in a costco this afternoon and it wasn't working. I originally assumed it was the metal building. Nope, Verizon's network again.

[Q] Data service iffy on LTE - phone or Straight Talk issue

Hi,
I've been having data issues with my HTC ONE M8 on Straight Talk for the past couple of weeks. the data service for some reasons got really iffy. before everything was absolutely fine. now sometimes I cannot access data at all, sometimes something is working and something doesn't.
when the data doesn't work:
- most of websites are not reachable
- google.com seems to work normally
- google maps might work; sometimes very slow, sometimes not working at all
- ookla speedtest won't start, but if I set a fixed server it might work
- facebook.com might work in the browser but the app doesn't work
- refreshing the page seems to help
on WI-FI I have absolutely no problem. everything works fine.
phone and txt messages work without problems.
on 3G (HSDPA) everything seems to work fine. I see problems when on LTE.
anybody has the similar issues?? any suggestions?
many thank!!

I am having the exact same issue! So frustrating, I don't want to use 3g if we should be on "Full speed 4G LTE for up to 3GB"!
tried so many different APN's, no luck can't get over 2.5mbps with any of them

I would be happy with anything that works right now. the service is just NOT WORKING. I am paying for a service that doesn't work and that's not acceptable.
I opened a case with the help desk; useless. I was talking to people who don't understand the basic concepts of networking. made me add a proxy to the APN; no difference at all.
then I put a complain on Twitter and got some other people "helping" via email. at least they asked for the address of where I am always having problems; hopefully, they check out the service at the antenna. I think it's not a BTS (antenna) issue but something related to their proxy, firewall or network gateway since google.com works without problems!
I talked to a friend of mine who has StraightTalk as well and he said that he had the same issue last year!

I had the exact same issue with Net10 it is so annoying and unacceptable =(

Have you tried calling straight talk a call

U can try this from what I know ur phone gets chooses the strongest signal tower example u are around 3G tower it has a 9/10 signal and the 4g tower is a 6/10 strength it goes with the 3g hope this helps in ur dial pad dial *#*#4636#*#* then Phone Information....Scroll down a little bit to Set preferred network type. I was able to lock in LTE only doing this and gave me the fastest signal on my device hope with works for u. If u can post ur original settings before u change to lte option only on this post so u can always revert to ur original setting good luck.

SOEBOMB said:
U can try this from what I know ur phone gets chooses the strongest signal tower example u are around 3G tower it has a 9/10 signal and the 4g tower is a 6/10 strength it goes with the 3g hope this helps in ur dial pad dial *#*#4636#*#* then Phone Information....Scroll down a little bit to Set preferred network type. I was able to lock in LTE only doing this and gave me the fastest signal on my device hope with works for u. If u can post ur original settings before u change to lte option only on this post so u can always revert to ur original setting good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if I lock it to 3G it actually works well. I will try your suggested settings.
on another note I wonder if it's an issue with the phone radio implementation. my Nokia/Windows phone sees LTE very very slow but it doesn't stop working completely.

xmkgenzo said:
if I lock it to 3G it actually works well. I will try your suggested settings.
on another note I wonder if it's an issue with the phone radio implementation. my Nokia/Windows phone sees LTE very very slow but it doesn't stop working completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm Idk but anything's worth a try what settings do u have it on already?

if I put it on GSM/WCDMA (so no LTE) data works fine in 3G.
and if I do a speed test in 3G it gets about 5Mbps in download vs 1, 2 or 3 Mbps when LTE works (ZERO otherwise)

The exact same thing started happening to me two or three weeks ago. More often than not, the LTE connection simply doesn't work, and when it does, it's excruciatingly slow (anywhere from 0.01 to 2.50 mpbs, and usually less than 1.00). Do you guys have AT&T or T-Mo sims? I'm starting to wonder if going to Cricket would solve the problem, but since I'm running an AT&T sim, I'm not sure if anything would change since it's on the same network.
Straight Talk support is worthless... they think a factory data reset will fix it, when it's clearly a network issue. I just told them to stop right there and started troubleshooting myself. That's a good tip about dialing *#*#4636#*#* and turning off LTE that way. It seems like that is where the issue lies - I'm having good luck with HSPA; it's slower than LTE should be, but at least it works. It'll do as a stopgap through the end of my billing cycle, at which point I can decide whether to go somewhere else or get by on HSPA until they fix whatever the problem is.

SOEBOMB said:
U can try this from what I know ur phone gets chooses the strongest signal tower example u are around 3G tower it has a 9/10 signal and the 4g tower is a 6/10 strength it goes with the 3g hope this helps in ur dial pad dial *#*#4636#*#* then Phone Information....Scroll down a little bit to Set preferred network type. I was able to lock in LTE only doing this and gave me the fastest signal on my device hope with works for u. If u can post ur original settings before u change to lte option only on this post so u can always revert to ur original setting good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
spinninbsod said:
Have you tried calling straight talk a call
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried and on pure LTE it simply doesn't work. the only way is to set GSM/WCDMA and it goes at 3G speeds but at least it works.
the funny part is that Google.com always works, whatsapp works, googleplay works. so it seems a problem with throttling or filtering to me.

spinninbsod said:
Have you tried calling straight talk a call
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. completely incompetent. asked for a supervisor; no way to speak to one.
I posted on Twitter and ST got back to me asking to send them an email. I did. 10 different people sending me emails with conflicting actions.
insanely frustrating.

spinninbsod said:
Have you tried calling straight talk a call
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bushpilotwannabe said:
The exact same thing started happening to me two or three weeks ago. More often than not, the LTE connection simply doesn't work, and when it does, it's excruciatingly slow (anywhere from 0.01 to 2.50 mpbs, and usually less than 1.00). Do you guys have AT&T or T-Mo sims? I'm starting to wonder if going to Cricket would solve the problem, but since I'm running an AT&T sim, I'm not sure if anything would change since it's on the same network.
Straight Talk support is worthless... they think a factory data reset will fix it, when it's clearly a network issue. I just told them to stop right there and started troubleshooting myself. That's a good tip about dialing *#*#4636#*#* and turning off LTE that way. It seems like that is where the issue lies - I'm having good luck with HSPA; it's slower than LTE should be, but at least it works. It'll do as a stopgap through the end of my billing cycle, at which point I can decide whether to go somewhere else or get by on HSPA until they fix whatever the problem is.
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Click to collapse
I have ST on AT&T.
a friend of mine with iPhone 6 down in Newport has no problems. he sent me screenshots of speed test at 15Mbps.
I really wonder if it's some radio firmware issue...

Ironically, I ran into something very like this too recently....I was on an at&t straighttalk sim...lte had been OK prior to me updating to 4.4.4. It was never spectacular, but it was, at least, lte speeds. After the update I noticed it had become really sketchy...just as described, pretty much; even when mine worked it was trash. 3g was much better and totally stable. I thought it might be the update, but long story short, it wasn't. I inserted a friend's sim from tmobile and got full lte with no issues.
Now, in my case, I had been using a shaved down microsim rather than a nano sim, so I thought, maybe that's the issue. I noticed when ordering the new one, the tmobile one actually said htc m8 compatible on the page(plus my friend's legit tmobile sim got good signal and lte so I thought that's a good basis for comparison). Got the new one, put my number on it, and voila! I'm getting on average 20mbps lte. And it's very consistent too. So now I'm on the tmobile straighttalk sim and everything is fine.
Anyways, it's only $7 with free overnight shipping, so that's something easy to try. This wouldn't be the first time a new sim fixed all sorts of weird data problems with straighttalk either. I've been on with them for several years now and this is probably my 4-5th sim I've had to get for various reasons.
So, anyways, your mileage may vary but that fixed it for me. Hope it helps.

gokun said:
Now, in my case, I had been using a shaved down microsim rather than a nano sim, so I thought, maybe that's the issue. I noticed when ordering the new one, the tmobile one actually said htc m8 compatible on the page(plus my friend's legit tmobile sim got good signal and lte so I thought that's a good basis for comparison). Got the new one, put my number on it, and voila! I'm getting on average 20mbps lte. And it's very consistent too. So now I'm on the tmobile straighttalk sim and everything is fine.
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Click to collapse
it seems ST on T-mobile is not having the same issues as ST on AT&T. the problem is that T-mobile coverage is not so good in my area.
I tried my phone in a different location (400 miles away) and had the same issues.

I've done some more testing.
it is really weird that Google.com works flawless while any other site seems not to work.
activating "save data usage" in Chrome seems to help. however it doesn't solve the problem. sometimes pages needs to be reloaded a few times.
even when LTE works, the OOKLA speed test gives me 2Mbps in dowload and 5-6Mbps in upload. so no matter what, I am better off with 3G.

I found an interesting thread here on XDA. I am not rooted at the moment and can't try.
<<
If you are rooted there is simple FIX, simple disable FD8 (Fast dormacy 8)
ro.ril.enable.r8fd=1
ro.ril.enable.pre_r8fd=1
Change both to =0 and issue will be fixed.
If your not rooted only fix is to keep HotSpot enabled than data connection wont break.
>>
I tried the hotspot trick but it doesn't work for me

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I just wanted to give a brief update. My LTE issues with Straight Talk went unresolved for about 6 weeks despite multiple conversations with customer service. I experienced this in Raleigh, NC, Greensboro, NC, and Virginia Beach, VA. Then for Thanksgiving, I went to New York City and New Jersey (the part just outside of Philly), where all data connections were unreliable. Yes, that means 2G, 3G, HSPA, and LTE were all spotty at best the entire time.
I ran out of patience after that, and since my billing cycle was ending on 12/4, I switched to Cricket when I got home. As soon as I popped in the Cricket sim card, everything started working flawlessly again. Cricket does limit you to 8 mbps down, but that's good enough for my purposes. The issue, if it's still going on, is with Straight Talk and not the phone.

Lollipop Fixed the Issue on my HTC M8
Hey all,
I've been following this thread as I too had issues with LTE on my HTC M8 using StraightTalk. When I first got my phone, it worked perfectly with LTE on ST. Then I ran the OS update that was released sometime near November. That's when I noticed the problems. I could run a search on Google but any webpage I would try to connect to would not load. The phone would hang and eventually time out. Your instructions to turn off LTE was great help. Pages load perfectly provided LTE is not used. I was getting really frustrated and you kept me from throwing my phone at a wall. Thanks for that.
So that brings me to this post. I updated my phone to Lollipop this morning. Thought I'd give turning LTE back on and bam.... works perfectly. I've been testing it all morning and so far, all pages load really fast. I will keep an eye on it for a while and post any updates but thought I pay it back a bit with the good news since you guys helped me.
Thanks again.
AC

thank you for sharing!!
trying to upgrade to Lollipop. unfortunately I am having an issue with the recovery (flashed from TWRP to a stock that doesn't work with the OTA and can't flash any other recovery -not sure what's wrong).
when I solve this issue and able to upgrade to Lollipop I will share my LTE test results

Battery Drain and Cell Standby

I was comparing my S5 battery usage with my S6 last night, while I slept, and after 7 hours S5 = 93% and S6 = 82%. I have the update and I'm not rooted on the S6 and I'm rooted and have a ROM on my S5. I tried to have comparable things running. The biggest offender on the S6 was Cell Standby @ 7%, then Google Services @ 3%. What the heck is Cell Standby and how do I reduce the usage? What is Google Services and how do I reduce that. I had WiFi, Bluetooth and background sync all disabled. I'm ready to return my phone to Costco and go back to my S5. I cannot deal with such crappy battery life. As I write this 1 hr and 15 minutes later I've used my phone several times to look at traffic on Google Maps, and the battery is now at 74%. Please help. Thanks in advance.

I rooted my s6 and flashed ktoonsez kernel and lost 1% of battery within 8 hours of sleeping. Cell standby is when ur phone tries to find signal. If ur in bad reception area it will eat up alot of battery

jminor4326 said:
I was comparing my S5 battery usage with my S6 last night, while I slept, and after 7 hours S5 = 93% and S6 = 82%. I have the update and I'm not rooted on the S6 and I'm rooted and have a ROM on my S5. I tried to have comparable things running. The biggest offender on the S6 was Cell Standby @ 7%, then Google Services @ 3%. What the heck is Cell Standby and how do I reduce the usage? What is Google Services and how do I reduce that. I had WiFi, Bluetooth and background sync all disabled. I'm ready to return my phone to Costco and go back to my S5. I cannot deal with such crappy battery life. As I write this 1 hr and 15 minutes later I've used my phone several times to look at traffic on Google Maps, and the battery is now at 74%. Please help. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for Sprint (not an official spokesperson or anything, so don't think my word is an official statement representing them), and I had a similar issue with the Nexus. I saw it again on the S6, so I tried the same thing I did on the Nexus 6, and it got way better:
Settings->Mobile Networks->switch to LTE/CDMA
Also be aware that if your bedroom is in an area of the house that doesn't get good reception, it's going to drain the battery trying to find it, like the other user mentioned above. Change it and see if it helps.

Xylomaphoner said:
I work for Sprint (not an official spokesperson or anything, so don't think my word is an official statement representing them), and I had a similar issue with the Nexus. I saw it again on the S6, so I tried the same thing I did on the Nexus 6, and it got way better:
Settings->Mobile Networks->switch to LTE/CDMA
Also be aware that if your bedroom is in an area of the house that doesn't get good reception, it's going to drain the battery trying to find it, like the other user mentioned above. Change it and see if it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I have done the exact opposite and changed it to CDMA only mode and ever since y battery has been amaizng.

If you switched to cdma only. Do you still get 3g/lte?

JoeFCaputo113 said:
Actually I have done the exact opposite and changed it to CDMA only mode and ever since y battery has been amaizng.
Click to expand...
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That's not surprising if you're in an area that hasn't completed the spark/LTE upgrades, but not that would won't be able to get full speeds in that mode.

Xylomaphoner said:
That's not surprising if you're in an area that hasn't completed the spark/LTE upgrades, but not that would won't be able to get full speeds in that mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Making these changes has made a big difference. Thank you for the explanation and suggestion. I leave my phone in the living ara at night and I do have reasonable cell service. If I make the setting for CDMA only, not LTE/CDMA under Settings->Mobile Networks, will LTE still work automatically.

I would assume you're going to lose LTE by going to just CDMA....and Sprint's 3g is poor so losing even average LTE is not desirable for me.

crazymook said:
I would assume you're going to lose LTE by going to just CDMA.
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Duh haha.

JoeFCaputo113 said:
Duh haha.
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More replying to everyone else asking.
Sprint's 3g is garbage...I'll take any battery hit not to have to sit on 3g, ever, haha.

crazymook said:
More replying to everyone else asking.
Sprint's 3g is garbage...I'll take any battery hit not to have to sit on 3g, ever, haha.
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Sprint in general is pretty trash lol... been wit em since they were Nextel (roughly 15+yrs) -_-

JoeFCaputo113 said:
Sprint in general is pretty trash lol... been wit em since they were Nextel (roughly 15+yrs) -_-
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Same. I dont know why I stick with them, other than the fact I'm on employee pricing and I cant beat my plan.

crazymook said:
Same. I dont know why I stick with them, other than the fact I'm on employee pricing and I cant beat my plan.
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Click to collapse
Unlimited everything is why I stick wit em haha. Plus them & T-Mo are the only carriers with unlimited plans, wifi calling AND unlocked bootloaders!

All the promises of a better network is such a crock tho.

crazymook said:
All the promises of a better network is such a crock tho.
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Click to collapse
CDMA only means you're not going to get LTE.
Regarding Sprint's service, it got very rocky when they started upgrading the network, but has gotten so much better, at least in my area. I get LTE pretty much everywhere I go now. I lose it at the gym sometimes, but that's about it.

Its such crap that Google removed the ability to toggle LTE on or off via a widget or toggle switch (you cant even toggle data on or off, you need to manually go to the networks page).

crazymook said:
Its such crap that Google removed the ability to toggle LTE on or off via a widget or toggle switch (you cant even toggle data on or off, you need to manually go to the networks page).
Click to expand...
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Verizon and AT&T can on their S6's -_-

How lovely for them

It helped
Xylomaphoner said:
I work for Sprint (not an official spokesperson or anything, so don't think my word is an official statement representing them), and I had a similar issue with the Nexus. I saw it again on the S6, so I tried the same thing I did on the Nexus 6, and it got way better:
Settings->Mobile Networks->switch to LTE/CDMA
Also be aware that if your bedroom is in an area of the house that doesn't get good reception, it's going to drain the battery trying to find it, like the other user mentioned above. Change it and see if it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It helped, Thank you. Mine had gone to "automatic" so I changed to the LTE/CDMA and battery is better. Thanks again.

If LTE/CDMA gets turned on will the phone still fall back to 3G?

4G not working(UK)

I was wondering why my phone always displayed the 3G logo next to signal bar so decided to investigate further. Despite living in the centre of town the 4G around here is quite patchy so I put an identical "Three(3UK)" 4G sim in my old Moto G 4G phone and went outside to compare...sure enough, the Moto G was showing 4G while the P8000 showed 3G. As far as I know I have never seen 4G in the display. The phone will be going back if I can't get 4G!
Anyone else experienced this or am I the odd one out?
4G is selected under preferred network type.

Have you tried Editting the APN settings to that for Three?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app

Go to dial pad and type:
*#*#4636#*#* that should take you to phone info. then on nework mode choose LTE only and see if it works...

APN seems fine, thanks for that hashcode @ferreinf - I will try that when I'm definitely in a 4g area near my flat

My brother has just got one and is having exactly the same issue on Three. Any joy?

Lol
I will Rek u after u read this
-OCv ReckeR

Wilbatron said:
My brother has just got one and is having exactly the same issue on Three. Any joy?
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I drove to a 4g area nearby today and force enabled LTE only as described(you can also d/l MTK engineering app from playstore to do this) - I did manage to get the 4g symbol above the signal bars but a speedtest didn't really produce what you might expect from a 4g connection...the symbol did change back by itself to H about a minute later so I'm not quite sure what's going on here....I might have an old Vodafone PAYG sim somewhere so my next move might be to try it instead. Haven't got access to EE or O2/giffgaff cards to test. APN settings seem to be correct and 3g data does work quite well so it's interesting that your bro has the same issues, where did he buy his phone and what colour is it(does his have the blue notification led in home button?)

Wilbatron said:
My brother has just got one and is having exactly the same issue on Three. Any joy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use 3 4G I have no problem
I will Rek u after u read this
-OCv ReckeR

charliepie said:
where did he buy his phone and what colour is it(does his have the blue notification led in home button?)
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I think it might have been geekbuying, it only came today. Black one with blue LED. I got him to try switching to LTE only and he said he got a 4g signal but lost ability to make calls. I'm also on 3 but with a Honor 6 and I'm due to see him tomorrow so I'll have a tinker myself and see how his signal is compared to mine in the same location.

That will indeed be a good test, I was out again in another location tonight and noticed the 4g come on by itself so perhaps that's a good sign - I'll have to test the calls function when on 4g tomorrow but it should automatically revert to 3g for that surely. I am using the flyme rom by the way...my area is supposed to have 4g according to the coverage checker but it's bloody useless around here!
That Honor 6 better be good for $300 though you probably paid more at the time(did you get single or dual sim?),
I actually bought the P8000 for my wife but she finds it too heavy and the screen too big so I'm stuck with the big gold brick - at least the battery life is pretty good!

Tested the 4g again and it seems to be working better now that I forced it to LTE through the engineering menu and when you make a call it reverts to 3g then cycles back to H then 4g when you end call. Didn't test d/l speed as I had my payg card in and running a 4g speedtest burns quite a lot of data!
So how do you rate your Honor 6 against your bros phone?

4g just popped up on mine, got 25.3 down and 2.2 up. Not sure if that's good or bad to he honest.
Sent from my Elephone P8000 using XDA Free mobile app

That's pretty good I'd say, I would be happy with that! I flashed the stock ROM back today and forced phone to LTE and your bro is right about the calls not working as the phone doesn't revert to 3g for voice automatically so I might have to go back to flyme...hope cm ROM is here soon and that it works well!

Tried again today on stock rom not forced to 4G and the phone did pick up 4g automatically as I was driving around, calls worked too so it seems that problem has magically fixed itself as it wasn't showing 4g at all the first week I had it! Still getting the annoying random wifi hangs and camera crashes when trying to use with other apps(waze in my case).

there's an firmware update adressing this issue, dated august 15th. it should fix this.
http://bbs.elephone.hk/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=7096

Sorry, not been back to this thread since contributing before.
My brother is still complaining about internet speeds. When I sat with him I was getting H+ but his phone was just showing 3G. Tried to force to 4G only but that resulted in no signal (we were in a weak 4G area). So my main concern at the mo is that he might not be getting H+ and is only either getting standard 3G.
It's difficult to debug from afar, but I did all the usual engineering menu stuff when I was with him and none of that seemed to help. I'm seeing him again on Saturday and we'll both be in a 4G area so I'll at least be able to do some more comparisons...
Regarding my Honor, it's a lovely phone. I paid about £200 for the single SIM European version of it back in January. I had a Lenovo A830 prior to that so I'm a big Chinaphone fan, but didn't want anything bigger than 5" which is what made me go for the Honor. The P8000 seems very nice too though!
---------- Post added at 08:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:50 PM ----------
I remember on my A830 having to flash a different modem / radio image to get the correct bands and I notice a similar issue with some import OPOs detailed here forums.oneplus.net/threads/modem-hack-for-chinese-opo-to-enable-3g.46696 - I suspect a similar issue might be at play here.
Might flash the FlyMe ROM for him at the weekend seeing as people have had success with that...

Hi,
I have 4G issue too but have yet to see 4G display once and I"m in a strong signal area.
I have configured my APN for giffgaff, data is enabled, 4g is "preferred" in options and LTE is forced in Eng menu as above *#*#4636#*#*
But still no 4g from my sim which is working as tried in another phone any ideas please?
what does the 3g with a smaller 3g behind it mean?
Regards