Develop Bugs

Strange 4G behavior - beyond speed tests

I have been feeling out my 4G connection for awhile now, and I am still having a strange experience with it. Speed tests always give good results, but actually using 4G for daily tasks is not working out well so far. Often times it loads pages and market or maps slower than with 4G...
I had been having this off and on all week, but I thought it was just my poor 4g connection at home. Anyway, now I'm writing from a mall with a very strong connection. Now I'm noticing when I load a page or open maps/market, it actually disconnects from 4G and loads with 3G for a second or two then switches back..
I've been using fresh, dc, and bugless ROMs, and always with the latest radio. I've had to apply the 4G patch a few times to get 4G working, but once it's up, it behaves the same...
Is it the ROM, my phone, or the nature of 4G in philadelphia?

I'd guess it's the nature of the 4g. It's still a new market. One thing, the bars on your phone only show the connection to the tower, not the connection to the internet. My 4g has been like that in places around Dallas, but closer to the heart of Dallas, I get more consistent connection. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that just seems to be the nature of technology here on the bleeding edge.
I might add, that for whatever reason, I cannot load my XDA bookmark to the evo 4g page on 4g at all, but it loads fine on 3g or wifi. I have yet to understand that one. Other pages seem to load ok though.

I've also noticed issues on xda, I think it's related to flash. I noticed if I load flash only sites on 4G it never loads or takes a stupid long time... If I cut to 3G it loads fine... On xda, it's the flash ads..

Having the phone process information and display it is much different then just doing a speed test. I'm in Philly also - but only use the 4G for tethering.

rutter9 said:
Having the phone process information and display it is much different then just doing a speed test. I'm in Philly also - but only use the 4G for tethering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree completely, but the issue is that, on some pages (usually with flash) It loads and displays the information faster on 3G than on 4G... I'm not sure what would cause that. I'll try tethering and see if it's the same... I'll also try 4G when I'm in central philly...

I wonder if flash determines what quality to stream the content at? Like if you use sprint tv on 4g you will get higher quality video but it can be laggy trying to catch up to the stream. When on 3g the quality is a little less but doesn't skip around at all.

I'm having similar issues with my 4G connection. Some pages won't come up. The progress bar loads up to about 50% then either takes a really long time to bring up the page or not at all. All I get is a blank page. The xda forums are one of the sites I'm having problems with also. It loads up fine over 3G and WiFi. I'm currently running the OMJ rom, latest Radio, and the Fresh 4G fix. I'm not sure if the problem lies with my rooted Evo or the 4G network.

rutter9 said:
I wonder if flash determines what quality to stream the content at? Like if you use sprint tv on 4g you will get higher quality video but it can be laggy trying to catch up to the stream. When on 3g the quality is a little less but doesn't skip around at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes sense to me. Still, it seems strange that the network or phone one struggles to keep up like that. Ah well, like I said, the nature of things out here on the bleeding edge.

i have experienced similar 4g/3g flipflopping behavior and pisspoor wifi. its like the radio is very slow to get a connection as coming out of the pocket and then while in use it will go to 3g then say it's found a 4g and get on that and back to 3g. sometimes i'll see 4g w/ full strength but am unable to do any internet functions (web browser, pandora, meebo, appbrain all fail indicating no network). by putting it into Airplane mode...count to 3...take it out of airplane mode the radio reconnects and is able to pass data as expected.
i have done full cache, delvikcache, (and the other whatchamacallit) formatting between builds. and cleared the cache after updating the radio (even tho i shouldn't need to for Fresh .3)
i have not fussed with App2SD nor anything Flash related.
not sure if i live/work on the "edge" of coverage or if it's EVO (software or hardware) related. I"m leaning more to the coverage at this point. between testing it more as i move around town and next weeks froyo builds maybe the 4g gods will shine down upon me.

Increase WiMAX_Idle_Sleep(s) setting
I had the same issue and found these instructions which show how to increase WiMAX_Idle_Sleep(s) setting.
hit ##DATA# > Edit mode.
Put in your msl code
Chose WIMAX
Scroll down to Wimax_Idle_Sleep
Change the value from 10 to 300.
Click menu, commit changes and restart the phone.
See ' [GUIDE] Easy way to get MSL without calling Sprint or using CMDA Workshop' to get MSL Code, or just call Sprint and ask for it.

mgshultz said:
I had the same issue and found these instructions which show how to increase WiMAX_Idle_Sleep(s) setting.
hit ##DATA# > Edit mode.
Put in your msl code
Chose WIMAX
Scroll down to Wimax_Idle_Sleep
Change the value from 10 to 300.
Click menu, commit changes and restart the phone.
See ' [GUIDE] Easy way to get MSL without calling Sprint or using CMDA Workshop' to get MSL Code, or just call Sprint and ask for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work in Philly and have the 3g 4g connection problems too. Your fix did not work for me. No matter what Rom or fix I've tried I can't keep a stable 4g connection without the stock Rom flashed. Sometimes WiFi tether will work on 4g with a custom Rom but anything else and I have all kinds of connection issues. I don't think its the network because 4g connection cards work just fine.
Edit: my main cause of concern is that simultaneous talk and data. I like to be able to talk and still follow sports scores while working. Sticking to stock for now.

(SOLVED) All users of CM6.XX and Ultimate Droid (AOSP) questions

I seem to have signal issues on both ROM's. I'll give you guys a little background information.
I've used Fresh and Myn ROM's and always get perfect 3G coverage in my house and around town. Everytime I flash an AOSP rom I can't seem to connect to anything but 1X (if I'm lucky). When I was using the 2 previously mentioned Sense ROM's I'd have no issues with data. For the record I don't do a restore of my system data or apps when I flash because I prefer to download everything again to prevent FC's and other issues.
I've done a nandroid restore and updated PRL and Profile in a Sense ROM (2X) and then restored my AOSP ROM (ultimate droid) and that doesn't fix signal issues. My girlfriend has an Evo and she gets perfect signal on 3G (4G as well but she has it off) so it's not network related.
I downloaded the latest radio and pri from the development thread and flashed them in recovery. That didn't do anything at all and may have been a waste of time.
I then did these steps:
Dialed *#*#463+#*#*
Clicked on Phone Info
Turned off Radio (waited 1 min)
Turned radio back on
Ran ping test (failed because of no data signal). I can make/receive calls but nothing data related.
Is anyone having this issue? This has prevented me from fully enjoying AOSP ROM's and I don't know what the issue is. I'm using the latest PRL but could it be that my radio is broken? I would ready appreciate any help.
*** Update ***
I'm typing this thread on my phone and it's displaying 3G in full bars and then jumps to 1X full bars. It's kind of random but never steady. If anyone can please help me with this I'd appreciate it.
By the way I have an Airrave. Could that be the cause of my problems?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

gqstatus0685 said:
I seem to have signal issues on both ROM's. I'll give you guys a little background information.
I've used Fresh and Myn ROM's and always get perfect 3G coverage in my house and around town. Everytime I flash an AOSP rom I can't seem to connect to anything but 1X (if I'm lucky). When I was using the 2 previously mentioned Sense ROM's I'd have no issues with data. For the record I don't do a restore of my system data or apps when I flash because I prefer to download everything again to prevent FC's and other issues.
I've done a nandroid restore and updated PRL and Profile in a Sense ROM (2X) and then restored my AOSP ROM (ultimate droid) and that doesn't fix signal issues. My girlfriend has an Evo and she gets perfect signal on 3G (4G as well but she has it off) so it's not network related.
I downloaded the latest radio and pri from the development thread and flashed them in recovery. That didn't do anything at all and may have been a waste of time.
I then did these steps:
Dialed *#*#463+#*#*
Clicked on Phone Info
Turned off Radio (waited 1 min)
Turned radio back on
Ran ping test (failed because of no data signal). I can make/receive calls but nothing data related.
Is anyone having this issue? This has prevented me from fully enjoying AOSP ROM's and I don't know what the issue is. I'm using the latest PRL but could it be that my radio is broken? I would ready appreciate any help.
*** Update ***
I'm typing this thread on my phone and it's displaying 3G in full bars and then jumps to 1X full bars. It's kind of random but never steady. If anyone can please help me with this I'd appreciate it.
By the way I have an Airrave. Could that be the cause of my problems?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same. i have this issue. although i dont get 1X. but i do however get spiking signal.
from what ive learned, the bars arent ur reception but how good ur connection is to the....satelites? aslong as u have 3G showing ur phone/internet SHOULD be working. although i would rather like to see all full bars where i normally would

i'm in a pretty high 4g signal area, but i love ultimate droid. i too have loopy 3g using cm6 or ultimate droid, would gladly give up my 4g to use either of these roms, but the 3g performance is way slower than on a sense rom. it's not just the bars, 3g on aosp is almost unusable, on sense roms, it works nicely

I solved my issue. The root of the problem is the Airave and how it connects with AOSP ROM's.
When I flash a Sense based ROM I don't have an issue with 3G and signal. I'm in a perfect 3G area by the way.
As soon as I disconnected the Airave last night my 3G signal came back with a vengeance. It hasn't left and is steady. I plugged in the Airave again and I saw my signal disappear and never come back. I could make/receive calls but no data access. I have the latest version of the Airave. Could someone (DEV) of an AOSP ROM investigate this issue. I knew it wasn't my phone because it would only happen in AOSP ROM's.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

[Q] Signal strength issues with CM 7

I am running CM 7.0.2.1 with Chad's 4/19 kernel. My Dinc gets 2/4 bars signal strength on 3g and 3/4 on 1x at home while my wie's Env 2 shows 4/4 on both. So I decided to try a the new 2.15.10.05.06 radio and the 9.01 radio. Both updated with no problems. My dBm changed little, if any. (77-85%) I'm now running 2.15.10.05.06 and seems to be snappier. The signal strength bars are still less than my wife's though. Why am I not seeing the same amount of bars as my wife? (I don't know how to check her dBm) I did a *228. I get four bars at work but not at home like my wife. (Same problem at our lake house) Is there anything I can do to make sure I get the best possible signal strength? Should I try more radios?

How many bars your phone or her phone has doesn't really mean anything. It varies from phone to phone and signal strength isn't reported properly just by looking at the bars. Checking your dbm is the only way to really see where your signal is and some people seem to report better reception with different radios although it never seemed to make much of a difference to me. I'd check out www.dougpiston.com for radios, try em out, and look at your dbm, GPS lock speed/accuracy, and data speed to determine which works the best for what you need.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

Is there any way to update the PRL on CM 7? I'm at 52297 and I've seen where the latest is 52299.

I think the custom menus might only be accessible from sense roms, so #228 might be the only thing you can do in cm7. You could restore a sense backup, update prl, then restore your cm7 backup? There might be another way to do it, I'm not sure cause I've never messed with my prl.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

[Q] Data connection problems

Hi,
I have some data connection problems since the first day i bought my DHD.
The phone reception signal bar are always changing even when i am not moving at all.
It can generally move from H to 3G a few times, then go to E and then G, in a few seconds.
it always moves, my internet connection is very slow.
It's as if the radio was always trying to renegociate the method of communication (GPRS, 3G, etc) with the operator's antenna
When i am in a phone call, i got disconnected sometimes or the sound stop during a few seconds (the time the radio switch from 3G/H to E/G i guess)
When i disable WCDMA from the settings i get a quite stable sound during my phones calls (maybe because the phone no more tries to negociate). But for Internet... it's just slow.
I tried a few ROMs, and their respectives radio rom (the one with the IRL branded in the ROM) i sometimes thought it was better but always it's still too unuseable.
I tried my SIM card in an iphone 3GS and i am usually in Edge (sometimes 3G) but when its 3G i can surf quickly during hours (if i don't move). This is not the case with the DHD.
btw i am on the french carrier SFR
If any of u had any clues i would really appreciate your help.
Thanks you

what rom are you using and what radio and ril................... now what radio are you on now

OP already stated he tried numerous ROMS and their cooresponding radios. Sounds like the signal is that degraded that any radio/ril combination will not help.

Thanks for your replies.
As said i tried many ones with their respective recommanded radio.
I am actually trying Radio_12.62.60.27_26.13.04.19_M with Android Revolution HD 4G_6.1.1 with no sense script.
Are there tests i could do to identify if its a hardware problem (like standing in front of an antenna and running some special tool maybe)
Btw, i also tried :
-RCMix3D_Runny_v1.3 but does work with internet pass through (wich is really important since i can't use internet from my phone carrier...)
-niarkMIUI-3.9.1
-LeeDrOiD_HD_V4.0.0-SE-3.0-BETA with Radio_12.54.60.25_26.09.04.11_M2
-cm_ace_full-203 with my stock radio ROM
-virtuous_unity-v2.37.0 with i don't remember wich one...
P.S : i would be Glad to test any ROM / Radio combinaison you would suggest me.
Thanks by advance for your attention

if you tried all those roms and diffident radios seems like its more like a hardware or provider issue does it happen off different towers or maybe you can go to one of the stores and try the phone at the store with yours at the same time?

Thank for the advice indeed i need to try this.
Do you know what i need to revert back for the tech not to tell the waranty is over since i have flashed my phone ?
Does i need to reflash the recovery etc? is there some tutorial in this subject because if i go to the store with my custom rom i guess i won't get too much help :/

Don't even take out your phone, your going to say your just looking, don't show anyone your phone, they won't even know what to look for, just test your phone to the one at the store, make sure apn's match. But if you return your phone you'll need to ruu back to stock. You can search easy s-on
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

What happens if you manually select 3G only, or 2G only from the settings menu? Does it just lose signal, or stays strong?

Hi
If i select 3G only
I first get no reception (as if when switching from 2G to 3G the radio had to restart)
Then the 3G signal appear strong, decrease slowly in less than 30 seconds, and after all, it seems quite stable.
The bandwidth is good i am downloading fastly
(i am commenting in real time)
Still no deconnection.
I will try it during the whole day and tell how it is behaving.
umm during a few seconds, there were no indicator (no 3G or H), just 3 bars.
It then restarted in H with 1 bar (i am not moving at all)
What will happen if i have no 3G in my area ? I won't be able to receve a phone call ?
Thanks

elfrancesco said:
Hi
If i select 3G only
I first get no reception (as if when switching from 2G to 3G the radio had to restart)
Then the 3G signal appear strong, decrease slowly in less than 30 seconds, and after all, it seems quite stable.
The bandwidth is good i am downloading fastly
(i am commenting in real time)
Still no deconnection.
I will try it during the whole day and tell how it is behaving.
umm during a few seconds, there were no indicator (no 3G or H), just 3 bars.
It then restarted in H with 1 bar (i am not moving at all)
What will happen if i have no 3G in my area ? I won't be able to receve a phone call ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you force it to 3G only, and you move out of 3G area, then you should either get a no signal indicator, or if you have roaming enabled, you would get the roaming indicator. I'm curious now because as you said you aren't moving, and it's still changing. That shouldn't happen. Hmmm

[Q] I need help with my signal!

I have been in many many roms with my galaxy, from Touchwiz to cyanogenmode and liquidsmooth and many others, but one day, I recognize that my signal was really poor. I broke my screen and i replacement by my self i was really careful about didnt touching any other thing that was not part of the screen, but maybe, just maybe i scratch my antenna? There is anyway to check if my signal it's not good as before because of that? Also there are places where i have signal like my house and the speed is really fast, but there are also places where i have full signal and my speed is crap, and there are places were i lose my signal too frequently. I feel like my signal have been deplore slowly. Or it's just.. that sprint LTE is really bad?

first try updating your prl
next if youre on a MD4 TW rom, flash the md4 modem
also try updating your profile
if nothing works try one of the signal refresh apps from the play store
also it may be the rom
if none of the above helps its probably hardware related or it could just be that sprint is upgrading their towers and the one nearest to you is offline for the upgrade...

All AOSP based roms show's your true signal in the noti bar ( Data Bars )
TW JB has an extra signal so it looks like you have good signal but you don't.
Checking signal strength is in
About Phone > Status > Signal Strength.
Usually -75 to -99 is good to really good signal.
But if you think your actual signal is a little far-fetched. Download SpeedTestNET from
Google Play and look at your ups and downs.
My signal is around -80 dbm and my ups are 1 mb and my downs are 3-5 mbs ( It shucks :3 )
There are 3g / Wifi Speed Tweaks you can find around xda or google.
And if it has to come to it, if your on TW JB Rom, Turn off or Freeze your Sprint Connections Optimizer.
That auto connects to frequent used Networks, Wifi Terminals and towers that had the best connections for you before
and sometimes it'll connect to a good tower that's located really far ( I don't know why but I've experienced it... )
Use apps that recalibrate your Radio as well if it helps, A lot of people say it's not worth it, and sometimes it IS just a placebo
and it tricks ya but if it works it works.

Verizon PRL but only for talk.
Hey guys, I was wondering is there a way I can switch to Verizon's towers when I make a call, but only use Sprint's towers for data? didn't want to make a new thread about this in the Q&A since I can't actually post where the Sprint PRLs are yet, but I have horrible reception in my house. I roamed to Verizon's towers constantly when I switched PRLs a couple months ago and I got in trouble because I went over 300MB of data. Thank you all.

eisawi99 said:
first try updating your prl
next if youre on a MD4 TW rom, flash the md4 modem
also try updating your profile
if nothing works try one of the signal refresh apps from the play store
also it may be the rom
if none of the above helps its probably hardware related or it could just be that sprint is upgrading their towers and the one nearest to you is offline for the upgrade...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am gonna try this.. but what it's profile? i really dont get it..

Ambkor said:
I am gonna try this.. but what it's profile? i really dont get it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. Menu > settings > System update

CNexus said:
This. Menu > settings > System update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's there is anyway to do that on Cyanogenmode or an AOSP rom?

sadly no... but your signal might be because your on an aosp rom... they arent as stable as touchwiz roms...

There's a few unofficial ported AOSP roms that have the sprint update feature, I'm not to sure which ones but i've seen them.
They only updates profile, im not to sure about PRL. It's best to update on a TW based Rom because it's easier, it takes
awhile switching between the two just to update though.
On a stock TW JB Rom, on home screen press your menu button.
Select Settings or System Settings.
Scroll all the way down and select System Updates.
Select Update PRL.
Wait for it to be done.
Select Update Profile.
Wait for that to be done.
Reboot your phone.
Make sure your data is connected, if it's slow be patient let it take time to update Profile and PRL.
Noted that as long as your on the Rom based on what firmware it is. ICS or JB. It doesn't matter which
modem you choose, just as long as its based on one or the other.
For example. Being on an MD4 Rom you'll still be able to have 3g / 4GLTE Data with an LJ7 Modem, or
LI3 rom with an LF9 modem. Remember changing your modem YMMV, or Your Mileage May Vary, almost everyone
who switches modems that have the best stability for them they either have better data speeds. Or They're not
being dropped as often or not at all when near a tower.
For me, around my area, using an MD4 Rom, I'm using the LJ7 modem, because all the other modems I have tried either
dropped my data ( Not connected to towers even though there's one near me. ) Or I'd have to reboot my phone just to get it back.
and when im on an AOSP Rom, I'm usually using LF9, Because i've tested my data speeds on it and that's the highest out of all i've used
+ I don't get my data cut off or dropped.
@ eisawi99
Most AOSP Roms have 3G and WiFi tweaks to help with stability. But the downer part of using AOSP Roms is it doesn't get along with
trying to connect to 4G LTE, I have 4G LTE in my area, when using a TW rom it'll instantly connect when ever it's got a strong signal.
While on an AOSP Rom, It rarely ever does even if im almost sitting next to it.
Sometimes it's also the APN's that are being configured via script tweaks. I usually just remove all my old APN's and use all of sprint's
APNs when ever i can't send or recieve a text or mms, but it'll also help with data connection stability too.