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Hi all,
I"m new here, with a quick question based on my usage today on both the Bell and Rogers network.
I unlocked my HTC Desire Z this afternoon, and I tried it out on Rogers to see what the speeds were like. It has been an odd experience. Here's the background, and my question is below.
Background:
- Aside from being unlocked, it is as originally shipped from Bell (e.g. no root access, ROM hasn't been flashed etc.)
- APN settings were taken from Rogers' own website (e.g. using rogers-core-appl1.apn).
- Speeds tested in downtown Toronto.
Experience so far:
Bell
I get a solid HSDPA indicator all the time (save elevators etc., when there is no connection). I can remember seeing a 3G connection icon perhaps once on Bell since I got it last week. Speeds are very good, four to five bars most of the time
Rogers
I get a solid 3G icon almost all of the time, except when I'm using data, in which case it seems to switch over to the HSDPA icon. Literally, it will show a 3G, and then if I try to browse the web, the icon will immediately switch to an H from a 3G and the web page will load quite quickly.
I was concerned that it was dropping the HSDPA connection frequently, and using 3G instead -- changing towers constantly. So I tried speedtesting it. The results were completely opposite what I expected.
Speedtest Results:
Using the Speedtest.net app (from Ookla) testing against the same Oakville, ON server from Toronto, I'm getting speeds dramatically faster on Rogers. I did three speedtests for each network.
Bell:
Fastest Down: 3411 kbps Fastest Up: 1633 kbps
Slowest Down: 1969 kbps Slowest Up: 1331 kbps
Rogers:
Fastest Down: 5740 kbps Fastest Up: 3766 kbps
Slowest Down: 5405 kbps Slowest Up: 1551 kbps
Ping latency was generally slightly higher on Rogers than Bell.
Question
Does anyone understand why, on Rogers, the Desire Z would be showing a 3G until data is requested, at which time it swaps over to show an H icon (e.g. HSDPA), whereas on Bell, it shows a constant HSDPA connection?
I would have thought that it would be slower on Rogers since it was showing 3G and then the icon switches to H, but I'm guessing that the icon switch isn't really reflecting what's going on, since the speeds are faster when this icon switch occurs. Any ideas?
Many thanks in advance!
TF
Its not just the Desire Z but also most smartphones on rogers. i had a samsung galaxy and it did the same thing. However, (correct me out there, if im wrong) But i remember reading the HSDPA was inbetween 3g and 3.5g?...i dont remmeber but to me i know that Rogers is faster, my brother has a Bell phone and my speeds were always faster.
heres a bit of help i found
HSDPA is actually one of the 3G protocols.
In everyday language HSDPA is often referred to as much faster than (basic) 3G so I would call it much faster as well.
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Click to collapse
jark99 said:
Its not just the Desire Z but also most smartphones on rogers. i had a samsung galaxy and it did the same thing. However, (correct me out there, if im wrong) But i remember reading the HSDPA was inbetween 3g and 3.5g?...i dont remmeber but to me i know that Rogers is faster, my brother has a Bell phone and my speeds were always faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure there really is a 3.5G as such, but if there is, then HSDPA is it. It provides faster speeds than the standard 3G (UMTS) protocols. There's also HSPA+ coming out, which is even faster. HSPA+ isn't 4G, although confusingly some carriers in the US (T-Mobile I think ?) are referring to it as such.
On O2 in the UK, I get the same effect, holds at 3G then switches to HSDPA when in use. There doesn't seem to be any latency when switching and if it can't achieve HSDPA it remains at 3G. Speedtest returns about 1.5-2 Mbit which is normal.
I can only imagine its a power saving feature as from experience with the Touch Diamond 2 / Touch Pro 2, having HSDPA enabled sucked battery life significantly. I don't remember this happening on those phones either. Seems like a good idea, but would be nice to choose (always on, auto, always off)
I actually used to disable HSDPA and use 3G exclusively and consistently got 2-3 days out of both phones with moderate use. I never missed it.
Craig
craiglay said:
I can only imagine its a power saving feature as from experience with the Touch Diamond 2 / Touch Pro 2, having HSDPA enabled sucked battery life significantly. I don't remember this happening on those phones either. Seems like a good idea, but would be nice to choose (always on, auto, always off)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That must be it -- interestingly, I went into the About Phone > Network > Signal Strength menu to check it out. When the icon is showing 3G, the "Mobile network type" is UTMS. When data is being transmitted, the icon immediately switches to H and the "Mobile network type" reports HSDPA.
Very cool -- I'm going to see if this -- by itself -- extends my battery life tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback!
TF
Just FYI -- there has been a dramatic improvement in my battery life on Rogers, compared to what I was experiencing on Bell. Typically, I would be at about 40% battery life left at this point in the day (presumably because I was constantly connected to HSDPA with Bell). Whereas I'm at 80% battery life left with the Rogers 3G connection, and I've still been connected to Wi-Fi for the past five hours and browsing reasonably heavily.
Thanks for your help in sorting this out everybody.
TF
Interesting, as Bell has rolled out several HSPA+ areas, Toronto being one of them, and Rogers still only has HSPA.
What I found odd on my DZ (still on Bells network) is that my Network Mode is GSM / WCDMA auto (never seen this on any other handset I've hand that's been HSDPA) and I understand that the HSDPA networks here are CDMA with a GSM overlay (ie, the need for a SIM card, etc) and I frequently see my icon changing from 3G to H (again, this is only on my DZ), but Bell only has a CDMA EVDO 3G network and the HSPA "3G+" network, there's not really a GSM enabled 3G network.
I'm confused, as on my Telus Milestone, it's constantly H, never once seen 3G appear on it, and Telus and Bell share their network.
Maybe I'm just horribly misinformed.
I donno if it is just me but I seem to be getting ridiculously slow 3G speeds here on my unlocked Desire Z using Rogers. I go to school in Hamilton at McMaster and most of the times the 3G is nigh on unusable because of its speeds. I don't know if it is an app or anything that has caused it because it was never slow when I first got the phone.
I am running the virtuous rom 0.72 atm. I do have half a mind to just factory reset the device adn see if that fixes the issues however I really don't want to lose all of my contacts and other settings that I have on this device.
TravelFiend said:
Rogers
I get a solid 3G icon almost all of the time, except when I'm using data, in which case it seems to switch over to the HSDPA icon. Literally, it will show a 3G, and then if I try to browse the web, the icon will immediately switch to an H from a 3G and the web page will load quite quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same thing happening to me with Galaxy S,and this started a few days ago.
I unlocked my phone and I am using it on Telenor Serbia a and past two weeks it was just H all the time,now it's 3g all the time and when I start browsing it switch to H again and it work well,but why do that,should I be concern?
VladaP85 said:
The same thing happening to me with Galaxy S,and this started a few days ago.
I unlocked my phone and I am using it on Telenor Serbia a and past two weeks it was just H all the time,now it's 3g all the time and when I start browsing it switch to H again and it work well,but why do that,should I be concern?
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Click to collapse
For me on O2 UK, it depends on the area.. Sometimes its solid 3G, sometimes solid H and sometimes 3G when idle, H when in use.. I guess its the base station software / hardware..
Craig
HAK Devil said:
I do have half a mind to just factory reset the device adn see if that fixes the issues however I really don't want to lose all of my contacts and other settings that I have on this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you've snyced with google then your contacts will just sync back. And I go to school at Mac as well and usually the speeds are really slow inside any buildings... If i don't have full bars then the speed will be crap, otherwise they are fine. But I am on Fido, not Bell.
Also, I thought that Bell didn't have a 2G GSM network? If that is the case then that could be why only H would be appearing...
craiglay said:
For me on O2 UK, it depends on the area.. Sometimes its solid 3G, sometimes solid H and sometimes 3G when idle, H when in use.. I guess its the base station software / hardware..
Craig
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But why this start to happen two day ago and not before... Should I call my operator or it's up to my phone. Maybe to do factory reset of change rom...
VladaP85 said:
But why this start to happen two day ago and not before... Should I call my operator or it's up to my phone. Maybe to do factory reset of change rom...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could be anything to be honest.. Your operator could have updated the base station.
It seems the phone is designed to do this probably to save power, HSDPA is battery intensive so having the phone in 3G while in standby probably saves quite a bit of power..
You could try emailing HTC with the question before your operator.
Regards
Craig
TravelFiend said:
Just FYI -- there has been a dramatic improvement in my battery life on Rogers, compared to what I was experiencing on Bell. Typically, I would be at about 40% battery life left at this point in the day (presumably because I was constantly connected to HSDPA with Bell). Whereas I'm at 80% battery life left with the Rogers 3G connection, and I've still been connected to Wi-Fi for the past five hours and browsing reasonably heavily.
Thanks for your help in sorting this out everybody.
TF
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you switched your phone to stay in umts only to get this dramatic battery gain?
craiglay said:
It could be anything to be honest.. Your operator could have updated the base station.
It seems the phone is designed to do this probably to save power, HSDPA is battery intensive so having the phone in 3G while in standby probably saves quite a bit of power..
You could try emailing HTC with the question before your operator.
Regards
Craig
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone is Samsung I9000 Galaxy S So maybe I will email Samsung...
Thanks,
Regards
From my understanding
GSM = 1G
GPRS= 2G = G
EDGE = 2.5G = E
UMTS = 3G = 3G
HSDPA/HSDUPA/HSPA+=3.5G = H
Since Rogers has all the above mentioned transceiver systems you will see that mostly on the Rogers network Android phones tend to stay on UMTS=3G switching to H only when more data throughput is required.
The battery life is much better on UMTS vs HSDPA hence you will get a better battery life on Rogers vs Bell.
Bell only has a HSDPA/HSPA+ network hence you will only see H
I am not claiming to be a 100% on this
Just my 2 cents by putting together 1 and 1
xdjneo said:
GSM = 1G
GPRS= 2G = G
EDGE = 2.5G = E
UMTS = 3G = 3G
HSDPA/HSDUPA/HSPA+=3.5G = H
Since Rogers has all the above mentioned transceiver systems you will see that mostly on the Rogers network Android phones tend to stay on UMTS=3G switching to H only when more data throughput is required.
The battery life is much better on UMTS vs HSDPA hence you will get a better battery life on Rogers vs Bell.
Bell only has a HSDPA/HSPA+ network hence you will only see H
I am not claiming to be a 100% on this
Just my 2 cents by putting together 1 and 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nearly there (source Wikipedia),
GSM is 2G
GPRS is 2.5G
EDGE is 2.75G
UTMS is 3G
HSxPA is 3.5G
I would put HSPA+ as 3.75G as its slightly different to HSxPA but would settle for 3.5G
Broadly speaking battery life reduces the higher the generation but I think UTMS can be more efficient than 2.xG sometimes. (NOT HS... which is generally terrible all over hence the behaviour between 3G and H)
I always used to disable HSxPA because of the battery life, its just not easy on this phone. It requires root and editing a prop file..
Craig
Whenever I'm connected to mobile network, my phone seems to switch between hspda and 3g... you have any idea why ?
I'm on T-Mobile
Down 3.30mbs
Up .38mbs
That also seems a little low for hspda
Sent from my Samsung GNexus <3
Mine does that all the time, on both my devices, I'm using my gfs sensation xe now it its switching between h and 3g, think its normal
This is now all HSPA+ devices work. They switch to UMTS (3G) when the phone / connection is idle, and switch to HSPA+ when actively transmitting data. This provides best speeds when necessary and best battery life when not transmitting.
Often skinned (carrier branded) devices will inaccurately show "H" or "4G" for longer than they're actually connected in order to make people think they're always connected to it. For all practical purposes you are...
I just unlocked my lg nitro hd and i either have no signal or 1-2 bars, rarely 3 bars. I also have to search networks and register on t-mobile everytime my signal is gone.
Signal always goes out in about 2 mins and Wifi is working fine.
Network mode is set at LTE / WCDMA / GSM
I'm running cyanogenmod 9.0
Baseband-V10j
I also resetted it to stock and i still get the same signals.
When i slip the sim card into my nexus one, i get 4 bars.
Any solutions?
thanks
Nitro HD doesn't support T-Mobile 3G frequencies, so you will only be able to connect to 2G towers. I'm assuming the distinction is that the Nexus One is connecting to a 3G tower which is closer to you.
I have a question for other N7 LTE owners. Is anyone having trouble switching between data and wifi? When I leave a wifi area, I will pick up a connection but no data is sent until after several reboots/switching to airplane mode or maybe just hours waiting and vice versa too but when I connect to my router although I don't have internet I can still access my router's setup page.
Googling the issue I find many other owners of nexus devices (n4, galaxy nexus, n7 2012) complaining of similar issues but no n7 2013 lte owners yet.
So far I have not had any issues switching between WiFi and LTE.
I haven't had any problems with mine but then I switch off LTE (actually 3G with my provider) and switch on Wi-Fi when I arrive in a Wi-Fi area, then switch off Wi-Fi and switch on 3G when I leave it. Unless I'm in or near a dead spot, the 3G picks up a connection in a second or two.
Could it be the difference between LTE and 3G? Or could it be down to your provider?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
garryknight said:
I haven't had any problems with mine but then I switch off LTE (actually 3G with my provider) and switch on Wi-Fi when I arrive in a Wi-Fi area, then switch off Wi-Fi and switch on 3G when I leave it. Unless I'm in or near a dead spot, the 3G picks up a connection in a second or two.
Could it be the difference between LTE and 3G? Or could it be down to your provider?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in a 3g area too
So far, I've not had any problems. When I leave my house and ride in the train, I get normal data connectivity, 4G at the larger train stations and 3G at the smaller ones. Then when I'm at university, it connects to the Wifi there. Same thing on the way back home.
German Nexus 7 LTE with a T-Mobile data only SIM card and Elemental X 1.6 Kernel, stock ROM.
Who's your cellular provider? T-Mobile, AT&T, Straighttalk, etc.
Maybe have to do with the carrier.
lanwarrior said:
Who's your cellular provider? T-Mobile, AT&T, Straighttalk, etc.
Maybe have to do with the carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's in my info (to the left) but in case you missed it on mobile: vodafone nl
Was briefly excited on the arrival of my US version from oppostyle, but after hours of T-mobile tech support, a factory reset, APN attempts, still no LTE or proper 3g even on my Find 7, even though I live in a strong 3g/4g area...only (HSPA) H and H+. Can anyone help?
Thank you
ramana.spencer said:
Was briefly excited on the arrival of my US version from oppostyle, but after hours of T-mobile tech support, a factory reset, APN attempts, still no LTE or proper 3g even on my Find 7, even though I live in a strong 3g/4g area...only (HSPA) H and H+. Can anyone help?
Thank you
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Click to collapse
Hmm, those match my settings and I am getting LTE. Dumb question, but have you restarted? I noticed my phone can get kinda quirky when switching between APN's, or if the data gets turned off by another app for some dumb reason or another.
I have a feeling there is a little more tweaking to do to the modem from Oppo...
farfromovin said:
Hmm, those match my settings and I am getting LTE. Dumb question, but have you restarted? I noticed my phone can get kinda quirky when switching between APN's, or if the data gets turned off by another app for some dumb reason or another.
I have a feeling there is a little more tweaking to do to the modem from Oppo...
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Click to collapse
I get LTE (4G) with these setting just fine on TMO in Texas.... remember it will show 4G not LTE.
ramana.spencer said:
Was briefly excited on the arrival of my US version from oppostyle, but after hours of T-mobile tech support, a factory reset, APN attempts, still no LTE or proper 3g even on my Find 7, even though I live in a strong 3g/4g area...only (HSPA) H and H+. Can anyone help?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you confirmed that you actually have LTE in your area?
Remember that for years, T-Mobile and AT&T called HSPA+ "4G"
Entropy512 said:
Have you confirmed that you actually have LTE in your area?
Remember that for years, T-Mobile and AT&T called HSPA+ "4G"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was uunclear about H+, have just been looking up info....Was on Verizon, a GSM newbee here
However, I am seeing very slow speeds on HSPA+ and HSP...not even seeing much of a difference in speeds between the two on my device.
between them. Averaging 0.6 Mbps to 1.3 Mbps down, and 0.8 mbps to 1.3 Mbps up, even though T-mobile tech support claims I have excellent 4g coverage in my area. Is this most likely hardware?
Also, on my roadtrip yesterday to Medford, I was capping off at around 10 Mbps on LTE at the most, which seems a ,ittle slow for LTE.
ramana.spencer said:
I was uunclear about H+, have just been looking up info....Was on Verizon, a GSM newbee here
However, I am seeing very slow speeds on HSPA+ and HSP...not even seeing much of a difference in speeds between the two on my device.
between them. Averaging 0.6 Mbps to 1.3 Mbps down, and 0.8 mbps to 1.3 Mbps up, even though T-mobile tech support claims I have excellent 4g coverage in my area. Is this most likely hardware?
Also, on my roadtrip yesterday to Medford, I was capping off at around 10 Mbps on LTE at the most, which seems a ,ittle slow for LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes your coverage can be solid but the backhaul (connection between towers and the Internet) can be awful. AT&T's local reps even told me that the local LTE isn't going to be particularly good for a while until they upgrade the backhaul to the towers.
Your HSPA+ speeds seem low, but that's in comparison with my AT&T experiences. I might try doing a speedtest comparison of LTE between my Nexus 5 and my Find 7a if I can.
I was reading the pocketnow review and they had trouble getting the phone to work on AT&T and T-mobile in the US. Does this phone even support T-Mobile LTE bands? In most areas T-Mobile has their LTE on the AWS band.
Sent from my LG-E980 using xda app-developers app
It actually does support them...I was told there was 4g here but there isn't as of yet
Sent from my X9006 using Tapatalk
Mine does get all of these (4G, H, H+, etc.) but the problem is most of the time it can't even get data connection.
GPRS Setting for LTE works for Me
I was having problems connecting to data,calls no problem (OPPO FIND 7 USA).
Anyway,the automatic APN settings weren't right for me,I had to manually set the APN Protocol setting to IPV4 (wasn't set,reading Not Set) & it finally connected to 4G LTE.
Here's the strange part:
The APN Name (On OPPO FIND 7,USA Model) is T-Mobile GPRS NOT T-Mobile LTE.
If I changed the name,it wouldn't connect to data at all.
From best I can tell via web search, GPRS is synonymous with 2G,however,I have 4G LTE when this APN Name is used.
I've seen others having a hard time connecting to the network & seems this bug arose in the latest update.
Anyway,my settings are identical to those in the pics in the OP EXCEPT the very 1st line,the APN Name.
Where I'm at right now is notorious for a weak signal due to building/equipment interference,however,I'm picking up an excellent signal (-90 to -80dBm / 53asu) on LTE:13
Have you tried to turn on LTE 4G by going in the dialer type *#*#4636#*#* phone information and set preferred network as LTE only ?
Snorl4x said:
Have you tried to turn on LTE 4G by going in the dialer type *#*#4636#*#* phone information and set preferred network as LTE only ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
As it is now,w/the APN Name as T-Mobile GPRS & in the hidden menu,changing the preferred network to LTE has no effect,it stays connected to LTE & everything below that which is available in my area.
I just left it as UNKNOWN.
I tried changing the APN Name to T-Mobile LTE & it immediately disconnects,regardless of any other changes in the hidden menus.
As the phone senses/sets-up Auto APN,the only apparent thing that is omitted is the APN Protocol setting,which by default on my phone & SIM Card registered Not Set.
Changing that value to IPV4 (from Not Set) is what made the difference.
Perhaps this quirk has something to do with 2G in my area having been replaced/upgraded to 4G & 4G LTE & the phone doesn't sense the difference/recognize the difference but in name only,but,accepts the 4G/LTE Connection.
Not knowing all things network/etc..,this seems like a possible explanation.
All I know is that I have an excellent connection & fast speeds w/browsing/etc.....
I don't care what the phone calls it,or sees it as,success is success.
I've seen stranger things than this........
I have since replaced my SIM CARD & had no problems connecting to T-MOBILE's 4G LTE,no modification of the APN was needed.
However,this is while flashed to CYANOGENMOD 11 nightlies,have no idea if the previous issues would pop-up if running the stock COLOR 1.2.4i O/S.
I have had issues with T-mobile LTE. Played around with all the settings. Deleted the APN and created a new one, etc. It works now, but I didn't do anything special, it started working randomly a day or 2 later
Strangely enough I'm having the same problem getting 3g with Virgin (EE/TMobile) in the UK
It can take a while for LTE to provision after setting up the APN. Set it and let it try for about an hour.
APN
The APN setting should have no effect on this.
You have 2 different fields when you type *#*#4636#*#*, gsm service and gprs service. If gsm service does not show "in service", you can use any APN in the world and it still won't work.