So my area is scheduled to get 4g the 17th but I had a few questions about 4g...
First of all how do you tell if you have a bad lte radio? Does it just not connect to 4g or does it do something else? I've been testing to see if I got it yet everyday and it hasn't popped up even once yet so I'm not sure if I might have a bad 4g radio or not
Second of all how long does it take for 4g to pop up after switching to cdma/LTE? does it usually connect to 3g first or just go to 4g?
And thirdly if I have a poor 3g signal (says about 80-90 dbm but my 3g speeds are usually around 200-400 kbps), does it tend to carry over to 4g? (just as in slower speeds than if you have a decent 4g signal)
Hello.
To answer your question about the lte radio... If you aren't sure if your area has 4g and are trying to test by turning it on or off I think your best bet would probably be to ask someone else (who has a 4g phone) if they are obtaining the network. If possible, you could go somewhere you know for certain has 4g (if theres anywhere remotely close) and try it there. I doubt you have a bad radio if your 3g signal is working, have you flashed any roms or are you running stock? If you think the radio is bad you could always try and flash the most recent ones.
The time it takes to switch from cdma to cdma/LTE is almost instant. When you do so your blue 3g bars disappear and it turns grey. After no more than 5 or 10 seconds it will connect to 4g (if its available) and display the blue bars. If you're in an area with both 3g and 4g the phone will automatically connect to the 4g first if it can.
In my personal experience I've noticed that if you're in an area with bad 3g reception the 4g will be about the same give or take a little. I also believe that even if you have poor 3g and 4g the LTE will still have a higher data transfer rate.
Moonkae said:
Hello.
To answer your question about the lte radio... If you aren't sure if your area has 4g and are trying to test by turning it on or off I think your best bet would probably be to ask someone else (who has a 4g phone) if they are obtaining the network. If possible, you could go somewhere you know for certain has 4g (if theres anywhere remotely close) and try it there. I doubt you have a bad radio if your 3g signal is working, have you flashed any roms or are you running stock? If you think the radio is bad you could always try and flash the most recent ones.
The time it takes to switch from cdma to cdma/LTE is almost instant. When you do so your blue 3g bars disappear and it turns grey. After no more than 5 or 10 seconds it will connect to 4g (if its available) and display the blue bars. If you're in an area with both 3g and 4g the phone will automatically connect to the 4g first if it can.
In my personal experience I've noticed that if you're in an area with bad 3g reception the 4g will be about the same give or take a little. I also believe that even if you have poor 3g and 4g the LTE will still have a higher data transfer rate.
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Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for...I know a couple places not too far that have 4g for certain, and as for comparing to other 4g phones to see if they have 4g I can probably just check the local Verizon store
I'm definitely hoping for at least 5 mbps download for LTE speed, which I'm sure is fairly easy to get, I can't stand average 3g speeds of 100-500 kbps and maybe 1 mbps if I'm lucky
I'm supposed to be getting 4g officially here tomorrow so hopefully it all works
Thanks again
Related
For those who are getting lit up with 4G, did you see a plummet in 3G speeds prior to launch?
The reason I ask is that I had a massive drop in service with my t-mo phone the two weeks prior to them turning up HSPA+, then like magic all was good. I have 4G less than 10 miles from me, and the three towers by my house are now pathetically slow for data.
I am hoping there is a correlation
Gonna go for one bump and I will drop this.
Admittedley yes, my 3G speeds went from 900KBps-1MBps to 300KBps-400KBps.
4G seems to be getting faster though.
Hi guys,
I can't seem to get a stable 4G connection on my Epic 4G for some reason. When I toggle the "4G" to "ON", it would connect for a split second and immediately Disconnects and tries to connect again and again. My friend tested his phone (Nexus S 4G) and he connects just fine with data speed of 3,000kbps on Speedtest compared to my miserable 600-700kbps. I've also tried testing this in several different areas including major cities that supposedly cover "4G" and it does the same
I'm currently running SRF 1.2 ROM on Genocide 2.0 Kernel but I believe this issue was present even before rooting my phone. I also tried using different modems (EB13, EC05, EE03, EF02, EG22, EH17) but it made almost no difference to my 4G connection.
Does anyone have any suggestion on this??? I would really like to experience my 4G connection on my supposed 4G phone.
I have the same set up as you, and the same spotty 4g. Sometimes it's very hard to keep a stable 4g connection even in areas where I know 4g has been strong. It disconnects, or it pretends that it is connected but data really isn't going through.
Though, 4g is kinda new to my area and there are rumors that it's still in testing phases. Also, I don't have any input from other 4g users here. So in the end I'm not sure if its just my epic, or if there are wider issues.
Sent from a secret underground bunker
Strong 4g signal
I am also running SFR 1.2 and I get very strong/stable 4g speeds. I live in Chicago (Sprint 4g has been here for a while), and I get 3-4Mbps in my apartment on 4g. This is enough to do things like play Xbox Live or Skype using my 4g. I have noticed that while traveling on trains in the area the connection tends to go on and off, but I would say that overall, I usually have a great connection.
This may just be in your area, where are you located?
mjben said:
I have the same set up as you, and the same spotty 4g. Sometimes it's very hard to keep a stable 4g connection even in areas where I know 4g has been strong. It disconnects, or it pretends that it is connected but data really isn't going through.
Though, 4g is kinda new to my area and there are rumors that it's still in testing phases. Also, I don't have any input from other 4g users here. So in the end I'm not sure if its just my epic, or if there are wider issues.
Sent from a secret underground bunker
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Click to collapse
I have the same issues, even though the Sprint coverage map shows I should be able to get 4G inside my house.
After researching, what I have found is you must find the nearest Sprint tower that has 4G, hold your left hand directly on the control board of the tower, and while placing your right big toe directly on the battery of your phone (must be the right big toe, the left big toe will not carry current correctly), you must complete the following key sequence on the dialer (###WTF***4G###***). Only then will you receive a 4G signal. Now be aware this will only enable the signal to last for 15 seconds. If you need more time that that, you must repeat the process. Oh...and By the way...This will only get you 1 bar of 4G service. I will be working on a detailed guide for 2 bars. There is no known method to actually get 3 bars of 4G service!!
Sorry, but this is a good of an explanation as anyone from Sprint has given me.
You may now return to your normally weak 3G Sprint signal.
Goodroid said:
Hi guys,
I can't seem to get a stable 4G connection on my Epic 4G for some reason. When I toggle the "4G" to "ON", it would connect for a split second and immediately Disconnects and tries to connect again and again. My friend tested his phone (Nexus S 4G) and he connects just fine with data speed of 3,000kbps on Speedtest compared to my miserable 600-700kbps. I've also tried testing this in several different areas including major cities that supposedly cover "4G" and it does the same
I'm currently running SRF 1.2 ROM on Genocide 2.0 Kernel but I believe this issue was present even before rooting my phone. I also tried using different modems (EB13, EC05, EE03, EF02, EG22, EH17) but it made almost no difference to my 4G connection.
Does anyone have any suggestion on this??? I would really like to experience my 4G connection on my supposed 4G phone.
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Click to collapse
Whts your location cause I am having the sam exact problems with my epic and evo!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I'm using Open Signal Maps to see my connection. Apparently I have -95 dBm thru -104 dBm. I heard that -100 is practically no signal.
I'd also lyk to add that I have seen my phone drop to 1X. I didn't even know that existed in cities. Is that Sprint Version of a GSM phone on 1G? I'm sorry, I'm a previous Tmo customer, where we had 1G(.005Mbps)), 2G(.5Mbps), 3G, 4G. Here on Sprint, it seems lyk it's 1X, 3G, 4G.
I have an attachment of my closest tower. Shouldn't I be way above what I'm getting? The box is me, the circle is a McDonalds I go to. When I'm at McDonalds, my data speeds flourish. I see those 10Mb 4G speeds with full bars. At my house, I only get 3G. And I'm lucky if I get that. Sometimes it drops to 1X. Luckily we have WiFi 10Mb speeds at home.
This, however raises a huge question. Why do I have to be SO close just to get good signal? I mean, the fact that my phone is dropping to 1X means there's something up, right?
P.S. I know it's not called 1G and all that. I'm just saying that for those to easily understand. So you don't have to make a post correcting me.
View attachment 825746
The Open Signal app is not that accurate add far as location. Many times it would locate my tower in the middle of a lake. Data speeds vary greatly depending on distance, tower traffic, etc. 1x is what we sprint users call 2G.
Sent from my Epic 4G Touch using Tapatalk.
No_Nickname90 said:
I'm using Open Signal Maps to see my connection. Apparently I have -95 dBm thru -104 dBm. I heard that -100 is practically no signal.
I'd also lyk to add that I have seen my phone drop to 1X. I didn't even know that existed in cities. Is that Sprint Version of a GSM phone on 1G? I'm sorry, I'm a previous Tmo customer, where we had 1G(.005Mbps)), 2G(.5Mbps), 3G, 4G. Here on Sprint, it seems lyk it's 1X, 3G, 4G.
I have an attachment of my closest tower. Shouldn't I be way above what I'm getting? The box is me, the circle is a McDonalds I go to. When I'm at McDonalds, my data speeds flourish. I see those 10Mb 4G speeds with full bars. At my house, I only get 3G. And I'm lucky if I get that. Sometimes it drops to 1X. Luckily we have WiFi 10Mb speeds at home.
This, however raises a huge question. Why do I have to be SO close just to get good signal? I mean, the fact that my phone is dropping to 1X means there's something up, right?
P.S. I know it's not called 1G and all that. I'm just saying that for those to easily understand. So you don't have to make a post correcting me.
View attachment 825746
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1X= 1xRTT which is a voice/text network. it SOMETIMES works with web, albeit painfully slow. and just incase you didnt know, the ''G's'' only stand for "generation", so really, you could say 1G=talk, 2G=text, 3G=web, 4G= faster web.
demonlordoftheround said:
The Open Signal app is not that accurate add far as location. Many times it would locate my tower in the middle of a lake. Data speeds vary greatly depending on distance, tower traffic, etc. 1x is what we sprint users call 2G.
Sent from my Epic 4G Touch using Tapatalk.
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Yea, but I mapped it, lyk looked at the visual and saw a tower there. I understand the whole network traffic and all, but when I go to work, my location is farther, but I still connect to that same tower, and I still get better reception. It's seeming lyk there is something at my house causing my phone HORRIBLE reception. That's the only thing I can think of. I don't know what's going on. -_-
It just seems that all the places I rest, by that I mean hang out, it seems I have no reception, but when I'm at the store or some place random I have great access. The more convenient places, but that's not very practical. This is making me want to break off this family plan and go back to Tmo.
Call Sprint and inquire about the Airave or search for that term on this forum. That device will fix your low signal issue where you hang out and they'll probably give it to you for free instead of lyk losing you as a customer
I know that 4g aka WiMax runs at 2.6Ghz frequency. 3g runs at a much lower frequency. The higher the frequency the worse the signle is at penetrating building and obsticals and is drastically reduced in effectiveness the farther away you are from the tower. See Verision uses LTE which used like 900Mhz i beleive which penetrates deeply into buildings and has a much farther range. Sprint is making the transistion to LTE on a 700Mhz frequency band i beleive which will be the best 4g out. Should be completed by the end of 2013 but i beleive it may take a bit longer than that. As for 3g and 1x getting a very weak signal can led to a tower not having a strong enough signal to support data of 3g. Also some towers are older and havent been upgraded to the 3rd generation of wireless data as a previous poster stated 1g 2g 3g is first, second and third generation techknology. What is weird and doesnt make sense to me ans many other people is that how many bars you have does NOT necessarily coinside with how fast your 3g connection will be. I and thousands of others have learned that even if you have full bars your 3g may to slow as snails and i have had 1 bar to no bars and gotten better 3g speed that certain places with full bars. Some of it has to do with weather, obstacle and how up to date the tower is. Like i said there are still older towers out there that don't even support 3g still. Hope this helpa you a little and im sorry that even pro's i have talked to cant say for sure why full bars and almost no bars doesnt always mean greater and less 3g speed necessarily :-(
Like the title states. When I was doing the initial setup with the phone I actually had to connect it to wifi since the 3G connection hadn't been established. Roughly 3-4 minutes before it connected. Same issue across roms and even the leaked radio. This happens during android os startup and airplane mode.
Maybe I'm spoiled but my OG droid data connection was usually established within 30 seconds. The Droid Razr I was "renting" was the same way.
Is anyone else's LTE nexus this way? Is this another quirk of the phone. Or do I have a defective radio?
Mine takes maybe 30 or 40 seconds for a 3g connection. Way way longer than my Sprint phone does.
Try changing to cdma only, instead of cdma/lte, see if that helps. its possible the phone is looking for a 4g signal first, or if its too weak to connect, then reverts to 3g
I've found personally, that initially, turning off/on data, both 3g and 4g take longer to connect, but if left on and running, it switches back and forth as necessary & quickly
When I switch to cdma only, it takes a long time to connect . Same when I switch back to lte.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
I live in a strong LTE region running the leaked 4.03 radio. Where the signals are strong, eg in the middle of a street, the radios are great. But surprisingly, this combo experiences 3G+4G holes where my Sprint phone works fine on 4G.
Switching WiFi to strong 4G signal seems to take 20-30 secs.
Switching from no signal reception to good 4G signal seems to take well over a minute.
Btw, not sure how long it takes to switch to 3G. It does happen when I enter buildings but I am not watching the signal indicator change.
dynamicpda said:
But surprisingly, this combo experiences 3G+4G holes where my Sprint phone works fine on 4G.
Switching WiFi to strong 4G signal seems to take 20-30 secs.
Switching from no signal reception to good 4G signal seems to take well over a minute.
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i've been using the leaked radios for a bit, and have had significantly faster switching wifi->4g, its almost instant now, and even for 2-3 bars. No signal->4g does take me a bit too tho.
As for Sprint, they have different antennas, and could be covering different areas, and on different towers than verizon
I've noticed the slow switch on both 3g and 4g. This includes switching from 3g to 4g and vice versa. Inside buildings or in the streets, it doesn't seem to matter.
The city I live in was one of the test markets for 4g, and I can get a 4g connection pretty much everywhere but the outskirts. 4g speed tests aren't in the wow factor like the Droid Razr, I mostly manage 10-12mbps down and 1-6mbps up.
I think I'm going to take a little trip around my local Verizon wireless and hit their test units to see if the same thing happens.
It seems whenever I don't have a 4g data connection, I'm not getting any data connection. Anyone else have this problem? When I'm in builldings I never get a data connection. Even when I'm outside I rarely get data connection unless it's a 4g spot. I know someone with a GN and side by side, he gets a connection at work while I have gray bars. Is this prevelant among most of you all? I'm on Verizon if that makes a difference.
Yes, I have this issue as well when I am at work but only when I have wifi turned on. With wifi on I get no 4g connection inside the building and the phone won't drop down to 3g, just gives me gray bars and no data. Manually switching from LTE/CDMA to CDMA restores my 3g data connection. Turning wifi off enables the LTE data connection. I assume it's trying to use the building's wifi network that I am not authenticated to for some reason. It's quite annoying and seems to be draining my battery.
My 4g reception sucks. I am rather disappointed. I canceled my ATT account and paid the ETF to switch to verizon for the GN. I am in plano tx which is in the Verizon LTE area and i dont get any signal except in a few spots on the highway. I work in Richardson, which is also in the LTE area, and i dont even have 3g in the building. I dont have any signal when i go deeper into the building away from the windows. I am running stock 4.0.2. I hope this gets better. I am already regretting dropping ATT.
jason.hamilton said:
My 4g reception sucks. I am rather disappointed. I canceled my ATT account and paid the ETF to switch to verizon for the GN. I am in plano tx which is in the Verizon LTE area and i dont get any signal except in a few spots on the highway. I work in Richardson, which is also in the LTE area, and i dont even have 3g in the building. I dont have any signal when i go deeper into the building away from the windows. I am running stock 4.0.2. I hope this gets better. I am already regretting dropping ATT.
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Strange. I have excellent 3G and 4G signal in buildings, coming from Sprint I had non-existent data everywhere, especially indoors.
Just as an fyi. I went to Verizon to try to get a new phone. They told me my sim card was bad. I got the phone on the first day and they said they had issues with the first sim cards with the nexus. My wifes has the same problem.
New sim card, NO MORE connection issues. Yeah! Anyone else who has this issue might try this. I am now getting 3g and even 4g connections inside now.
ill go to the verizon store after work and switch sims. Just got it on 1/1. Ill go to a different verizon store to make sure its not a bad batch lol.
Wasnt the SIM card. Still getting crappy signal strength. I am going today and replacing the phone. If that doesnt work, i am going back to ATT skyrocket...
spencer88 said:
Strange. I have excellent 3G and 4G signal in buildings, coming from Sprint I had non-existent data everywhere, especially indoors.
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In my office I get very weak to no 4G signal, so that the phone is constantly switching from weak 4G down to 3G and causing connection disruptions. I usually just disable LTE and use CDMA only mode to fix this. I have heard that a LTE signal should penetrate inside of buildings better, but apparently my workplace is almost impenetrable. We have a Verizon 3G repeater in the office or I would get no usable signal at all.
Spencer, what kind of speeds are you getting with LTE in the Columbia area? It seems like I got better speeds when I had my Rezound than I'm getting with my Galaxy Nexus.
jason.hamilton said:
My 4g reception sucks. I am rather disappointed. I canceled my ATT account and paid the ETF to switch to verizon for the GN. I am in plano tx which is in the Verizon LTE area and i dont get any signal except in a few spots on the highway. I work in Richardson, which is also in the LTE area, and i dont even have 3g in the building. I dont have any signal when i go deeper into the building away from the windows. I am running stock 4.0.2. I hope this gets better. I am already regretting dropping ATT.
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I've had the exact opposite experience in Dallas. I switched from AT&T a year ago. I couldn't even make calls in my house. (I live in Lakewood) I had to go upstairs or outside. As far as data goes even on just 3G the Verizon speeds are much faster. I've done quite a few AT&T vs Verizon 3G side by side tests and Verzion has won every time. 4G is just a bonus for me. When I get a 4G signal there is no comparison. My coworker and I did a speed test on Tuesday at DFW. His iPhone 4s on AT&T vs my Gnex. I was getting 10-15 mbits down and he was getting like 2-3
3G Data
I am having the same exact problem. I thought it was related to airplane mode, I have it turning on at midnight and off at 6am. In the morning, if there is no Wifi and the phone is in 3G, I can't get data. Restarting gets data back, but I'm looking for a more elegant solution than that.
I'm having HUGE data issues, see:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1421440
just a quick question. are you guys running custom ROMs/kernels? if so, please add that in your post.
none at all here.