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This does not look good for sprint's partnership
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/210745-fcc-moves-to-kill-lightsquared
Yup, read this this morning...
I'm definitely a little sad about it...Falcone has a couple of options, as do the investors who have bought their debt.
Sprint should be fine, though it would have been nice to have that $9 billion. Having already extended their options with clearwire looks like a shrewd move in light of this.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
This definitely sucks but my question is: is the network vision tied into this or is it separate from LS? By that I mean was network vision going to use this spectrum/network to operate or is it not effected by this decision? No LTE would be a huge bite in the ass to Sprint and us consumers.
KCRic said:
This definitely sucks but my question is: is the network vision tied into this or is it separate from LS? By that I mean was network vision going to use this spectrum/network to operate or is it not effected by this decision? No LTE would be a huge bite in the ass to Sprint and us consumers.
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Click to collapse
we are rolling out our own LTE network, light-squared was more of a way to expand our coverage, all my knowlagents say mid 2012
I need a little clarification I thought the LTE we were planning to roll out was lightsquared so how and who will be the maker/supplier of our LTE network, isnt LTE that is the source of the gps interference?
LightSquared was going to be hosted on Sprint's new Network Vision towers in exchange for cash and access to the new network for resale to Sprint subscribers. It would have effectively given Sprint 20 mhz (or so) of extra LTE capacity on the 1500 mhz band. However, Sprint has plans to roll out LTE on its own spectrum in the PCS (1900 mhz) and ESMR (800 mhz) bands. This decision by the FCC will not impact the coverage of Sprint's LTE, but it will reduce the total capacity of the network by about 50%. The effect will be most noticeable for users outside the range of PCS LTE, because now the more spectrum constrained 800 mhz band will have to take on all of these users.
There is hope however, because Sprint still has Clearwire. Clearwire holds a ton of spectrum in the 2500 mhz band. In many urban areas, they hold over 100 mhz of spectrum, or enough for ~1 gbps (!) to be shared between the users of each sector of each cell site when using LTE-Advanced. They're the current provider for WiMax, and they're planning on overlaying LTE on the most stressed parts of their existing network. Recently, when LightSquared was first running into trouble with the FCC, Sprint and Clearwire agreed to a system much like the current one with WiMax, where Sprint would be able to resell their 4G to its subscribers. However, since Clearwire is pretty short on cash, they won't be able to invest much into network expansion in their current state. Their future LTE coverage will be even further behind their disappointing WiMax coverage.
However, Sprint holds a majority stake in Clearwire, and if they decided to buy them out (see here), they could potentially use their spectrum on their Network Vision towers, and completely alleviate the possibility of slow data speeds due to spectrum scarcity. Now that LightSquared has failed to come through for Sprint, there is a good possibility for this (or an agreement that accomplishes something similar) to become Sprint's next course of action.
As a 12 year Sprint subscriber, I must say, as strange as it sounds, that I am happy about the FCC's ruling....
Unfortunately, finding my way home from 100 miles offshore in the gulf stream is a bit more important to me than Sprint's near term LTE network capacity.
postq said:
As a 12 year Sprint subscriber, I must say, as strange as it sounds, that I am happy about the FCC's ruling....
Unfortunately, finding my way home from 100 miles offshore in the gulf stream is a bit more important to me than Sprint's near term LTE network capacity.
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Click to collapse
Then go complain to garmin about why their 900.00 chart plotter had to be built using a frequency that their not allowed to use ... They cheaped out on it for more profit.... Instead of building it right
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Epix4G said:
Then go complain to garmin about why their 900.00 chart plotter had to be built using a frequency that their not allowed to use ... They cheaped out on it for more profit.... Instead of building it right
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the side I heard before. So annoying.
Sprint is rolling out its own LTE network. They were going to be paid $9 billion to roll out Lightsquares for them.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
schwab002 said:
This is the side I heard before. So annoying.
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Click to collapse
So you're fine using something that's that fallible? Remember that stealth drone that Iran captured? You know how they did it? They blocked it's GPS signal which put it into autopilot. Then they sent their own "GPS" signal - stronger than the one the military was using and told it to land inside their country at a known spot.
Hmm... seems GPS isn't all it's cracked up to be. How would you like to be on a flight and have that happen? Imagine a night flight where the pilot can only rely on instruments and GPS. Mainly GPS. Someone sends a signal telling the receiver that it's climbing when in truth it's not. Guess what the pilot will do? Or the signal could just tell the receiver that it's off course, then the pilot flies into the middle of the ocean, runs out of fuel, and crashes. I don't pretend to be a pilot or know what goes on in that cockpit but if they can't see anything they must rely on the GPS.
The government knows GPS is just a huge crisis waiting to happen but they are too worried about other 'more important' issues to deal with it. Remember when Americas infrastructure was the best in the world? Neither do I but my grandparents and parents do. So I say they should let LS build the LTE network. If GPS fails that badly then it was worthless to begin with and needs to be retooled.
In terms to that GPS on the drone. GPS is a lot more secure than you think...
Epix4G said:
Then go complain to garmin about why their 900.00 chart plotter had to be built using a frequency that their not allowed to use ... They cheaped out on it for more profit.... Instead of building it right
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really true in any meaningful way. The amount and size of filtering required to filter out the spill over from the 100W towers that were planned would have blocked the GPS for your Garmin, Phone, and pretty much any receiver smaller than a cinderblock and even then would have been a questionable thing.
Lightsquared was trying to repurpose bandwidth explicitly designated for low powered satellite communications and didn't succeed in constraining their signal enough.
lifyre said:
Not really true in any meaningful way. The amount and size of filtering required to filter out the spill over from the 100W towers that were planned would have blocked the GPS for your Garmin, Phone, and pretty much any receiver smaller than a cinderblock and even then would have been a questionable thing.
Lightsquared was trying to repurpose bandwidth explicitly designated for low powered satellite communications and didn't succeed in constraining their signal enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That being said both sides are at fault....GPS should not be infringing on said frequency ...And too bad ls could not make it work for their purpose...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
GPS is not infringing on said frequency it would have been infringed upon by lightsquared.
gharlane00 said:
GPS is not infringing on said frequency it would have been infringed upon by lightsquared.
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Click to collapse
No .... That is wrong .... GPS is listening on frequencies that are owned by LS .... But when first made they didn't care.. LS bought their spectrum and did nothing with it until now but GPS is infringing on their spectrum but the FCC told LS they could do their build out if they could make it work without interfering with GPS ...both are at fault ...you need to read up on it before making statements like that
FCC told ls they could repurpose the spectrum for terrestrial use if it didn't cause problems with GPS
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
The bottom line is Sprint will not be recieving the 9 billion in funds over time from LS. Sprint will continue it's network Vision upgrades regardless. But as already mentioned, sprint will likely look at ClearWire from a different angle now. I hope Sprint can get their network up to par in a timely fashion because Verizon's LTE is very fast (43+mbps down/12+mbps up) and I'd rather pay more for service that actually works and pay $10 a gig if i go over.
And this is why I'm thinking of going back to Verizon and their tiered data plans:
tx_dbs_tx said:
The bottom line is Sprint will not be recieving the 9 billion in funds over time from LS. Sprint will continue it's network Vision upgrades regardless. But as already mentioned, sprint will likely look at ClearWire from a different angle now. I hope Sprint can get their network up to par in a timely fashion because Verizon's LTE is very fast (43+mbps down/12+mbps up) and I'd rather pay more for service that actually works and pay $10 a gig if i go over.
And this is why I'm thinking of going back to Verizon and their tiered data plans:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do know that Lightsquared was not apart of Network Vision? Sprint is on budget and still will meet its goal. Lightsquared neither speed up the process nor slowed it down.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Yes I'm pretty sure Sprint has been planning ahead and not relying on Lightsquared for quite some time. The gps issue has been known from the get go. I was just speaking on actual ''business'' side of things with the potential income that sprint needs. So technically yes this LS deal getting shut down does impact Sprint's potential cash flow but its not going to affect current network vision upgrades.
Epix4G said:
No .... That is wrong .... GPS is listening on frequencies that are owned by LS .... But when first made they didn't care.. LS bought their spectrum and did nothing with it until now but GPS is infringing on their spectrum but the FCC told LS they could do their build out if they could make it work without interfering with GPS ...both are at fault ...you need to read up on it before making statements like that
FCC told ls they could repurpose the spectrum for terrestrial use if it didn't cause problems with GPS
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, not true in any meaningful sense.
Almost every (read: any that aren't scientifically calibrated and tuned every 3 to 6 months) receiver is sensitive to signals outside the target range. This goes for the antennas in your phone, your WiFi unit, your car, and your TV. When two closely spaced signals are similar in strength this is easily remedied and the filtering is relatively simple, and can often be done in software. When one of the signals is in the range of millions of times stronger than it's neighbor (100W ground stations for L^2, 10^(-16)W average surface signal strength for GPS) this is neither easy, cheap, or small and often is virtually impossible. Especially since signals do not have a hard edge... They're more like a flashlight than a laser.
You can observe this yourself using an old television if you're curious. Except those signal strengths would only be hundreds of times different in strength at worst.
The key to lightsquared losing was that they tried to re-purpose spectrum that has ALWAYS been designated for sat to ground communications. When they bought it they were told satellite only, they tried to change that and failed.
Both phones set to CDMA EVDO only, no LTE radios active. Location is 3G EHRPD enabled, but does not have any 4G towers for miles. I held both phones the exact same way in the exact same location within 30 seconds of each other to record my results.
Signal Test:
Galaxy Nexus 3G Signal Strength: 0-1 bars, -120dbm 99 asu - -100dbm 1 asu
Thunderbolt 3G Signal Strength: 1-3 bars, -94dbm 2 asu - -85dbm 2 asu
Bandwidth Test:
Galaxy Nexus 3G Bandwidth: 0.86mbps down, 0.54mbps up
Thunderbolt 3G Bandwidth: 2.94mbps down, 0.56mbps up
Bandwidth test was the best of 3 runs using www.speakeasy.net/speedtest connecting to New York, NY. Current location is central NJ.
My Galaxy Nexus is running stock 4.0.4 with the newest radios and bootloader, along with Imo's kernel 2.4.1 exp2.
Honestly, after having my Thunderbolt for 8 months, coming to this supposed better phone and having these kind of radio problems is just appalling. The Thunderbolt was always railed for being the pioneer of LTE radios, and for getting weak signal. Well after these tests I am not sure what to believe besides the truth that is sitting in front of me. My brand spanking new Google phone has by far the worst radio I've ever seen in a Verizon smartphone.
I'm going to be hopeful in getting an update that may resolve these radio issues, but the realist in me tells me this is 100% hardware.
I'd like to get some results from other Verizon Galaxy Nexus users running 3G to see what kind of dbm and bar signal, as well as what kind of bandwidth you guys are getting. I am very disappointed and want to know if it's a hardware defect or if this phones radios' really are this bad
Meh. The Qualcomm radios in both of these phones are in fact ****. I think the build of the Galaxy Nexus (whether it be physical or software) has something to do with it. Maybe Samsung herp derped the position of the radios or Google took a **** on the blobs.
Regardless, its a great phone and still gets better data speeds than every other carrier and phone. -coughs- iPhone users -coughs-
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Except it doesn't get the best data speeds of any other phones, as my test results conclude.
Even on 4G I've nabbed 40mbps down 15mbps up bandwidth tests on that same exact Thunderbolt when I was in a good signal 4G area. How much have most GN users hit on 4G? 30mbps down?
This phone is a great micro-tablet, but as a phone it is heavily lacking.
DaRkL3AD3R said:
Except it doesn't get the best data speeds of any other phones, as my test results conclude.
Even on 4G I've nabbed 40mbps down 15mbps up bandwidth tests on that same exact Thunderbolt when I was in a good signal 4G area. How much have most GN users hit on 4G? 30mbps down?
This phone is a great micro-tablet, but as a phone it is heavily lacking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really, cause I have seen people getting upwards of 50mb/s on the Nexus (seems like most of them live in NYC).
Not to mention I was talking about people on other carriers.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Other carriers is a given, but that really isn't what the point of this comparison is. The point is I'm holding two phones on the same carrier, at the same time, the same way, and one performs multitudes greater performance than the other. Has nothing to do with other carriers.
Fact is this phones radio is junk. You can have a quad core 1080p Super AMOLED Plus screen and 2GB of RAM, the best GPU on the market and 128GB of space, but if it can't hold a signal to save YOUR life, then what good is it at as a phone?
Samsung/Google needs to get on this right now and fix this phones radio. I'm just worried that it can't be fixed through a software OTA...
And I'd also like some speed comparisons, namely 3G, from other Verizon GN users if possible please.
On 3g i used to get about -75 at worst with thunderbolt at my house. Currently getting -93 at best with two different galaxy nexus. Usually worse. Used to have a stable 4g signal too. Now it drops after a few seconds
johnprevite said:
On 3g i used to get about -75 at worst with thunderbolt at my house. Currently getting -93 at best with two different galaxy nexus. Usually
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Click to collapse
That sounds about right... very disappointed in these radios.
I get the same -120dbm, 99asu with my Nexus at home, where I would get around 95dbm on my old Tbolt. I think the antenna/radio gives up signal quicker at the fringe distances faster on the Nexus - if I go into a city I get the signal strength I am supposed to get. I have a theory that part of the problem may lie with Verizon's use of old Alltel towers (I'm on the VA/NC border) - The signal in my area is consistently weak, but I've gone to other rural areas & gotten good strength. Perhaps Samsung/VZW will give us a software update on the phones...and perhaps when they upgrade our towers around here for LTE it might straighten up the tower's overall firmware...But we probably wont get LTE here until 2020.
strongergravity said:
I get the same -120dbm, 99asu with my Nexus at home, where I would get around 95dbm on my old Tbolt. I think the antenna/radio gives up signal quicker at the fringe distances faster on the Nexus - if I go into a city I get the signal strength I am supposed to get. I have a theory that part of the problem may lie with Verizon's use of old Alltel towers (I'm on the VA/NC border) - The signal in my area is consistently weak, but I've gone to other rural areas & gotten good strength. Perhaps Samsung/VZW will give us a software update on the phones...and perhaps when they upgrade our towers around here for LTE it might straighten up the tower's overall firmware...But we probably wont get LTE here until 2020.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LTE will cover Verizon's current 3G footprint by the end of 2013, FYI.
Here's hoping!
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
I just moved from Verizon to Tmo with a new job. At home, coverage was spotty. Unlike verizon, Tmo has no femtocell. Picked up a CelFi on ebay for under $200.
In short, the CelFi works well and I now have a good signal at home. The CelFi is basically the same as the Wilson or zboost signal boosters, except that the link between the antenna and base station is wireless, 5 GHz, instead of 50ft of coax cable. I don't think there's a reason to pay up for the CelFi if you can hide the coax, but in my case there wasn't a good way to run it.
In my experience, femtocell > booster, and booster = CelFi unless you don't have a good way to run coax. Hope his helps a Tmo user.
I have one of those and it work's great!!!
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
It does work well, but frankly the fact that Tmo doesn't have a femtocell that connects to broadband is a big disappointment. I suspect they bet on wifi calling instead, which has had mixed reviews by some. I'm on Net10, which is tracfone/same as walmart Straight Talk, and it appears wifi calling is for direct tmo customers only. Fortunately I found the CelFi.
Do any of you guys using Cel-Fi have the units disconnecting every few minutes? Mine works well for a few minutes, then they disconnect (status light flashes green on both units for about 15 seconds) and then they reconnect again for a few minutes. I've tried shutting off all wireless devices in my house thinking it is experiencing interference but it still keeps happening. The window unit has a solid 2-3 bars all the time and the coverage unit has an 8 or 9 when connected. I'm wondering if my system is defective?
Straight Talk and Net10
appletechsupport said:
It does work well, but frankly the fact that Tmo doesn't have a femtocell that connects to broadband is a big disappointment. I suspect they bet on wifi calling instead, which has had mixed reviews by some. I'm on Net10, which is tracfone/same as walmart Straight Talk, and it appears wifi calling is for direct tmo customers only. Fortunately I found the CelFi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an Iphone 4 GSM(AT&T) with Straight Talk..I did not see my Cell provider on the CelFi list..
Will the CelFi still work with my phone?
I have one of the T-mo linksys (older) [email protected] routers, which has 2 sim slots. for home phone lines if necessary. Which is basically VoIP and works good.
cisco3280 said:
I have an Iphone 4 GSM(AT&T) with Straight Talk..I did not see my Cell provider on the CelFi list..
Will the CelFi still work with my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Straight Talk is an MVNO on T-Mobiles and AT&Ts network. It will work if you are on Straight Talk T-Mo.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
theandroidrooter88 said:
Straight Talk is an MVNO on T-Mobiles and AT&Ts network. It will work if you are on Straight Talk T-Mo.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a s2 from tmobile on straight talk and can say that the WiFi calling option does not function. Says unsupported sim. Called ST and they said it won't work
T-Mobile gives you a CelFi unit for free if your a customer and have truly poor service indoors. I've had my unit for 2+ years (I beta tested for TMO) and it works really well. Without the unit I have at most 1 bar of 4G. With the unit I have 3-4 bars of 4G and decent speeds. Also by default this works on those people using Simple Mobile (TMOs MVNO).
Can't complain although im moving to Silver Spring, MD this week from Miami, FL and the coverage in my new place is even worse than in Miami.
Wifi Calling and CelFi to the rescue!!!
How does that happen??? Post some pictures I use to live there.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
KRAZYADROIDMASTER said:
How does that happen??? Post some pictures I use to live there.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who was that in reply to?
quailallstar said:
Who was that in reply to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To you sorry. Just wondering how that area looks now.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
KRAZYADROIDMASTER said:
To you sorry. Just wondering how that area looks now.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RE: Pics of Silver Spring, MD
Google maps, street view... next best thing to being there..
BACK on TOPIC.
.
---------- Post added at 08:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 PM ----------
quailallstar said:
T-Mobile gives you a CelFi unit for free if your a customer and have truly poor service indoors. I've had my unit for 2+ years (I beta tested for TMO) and it works really well. Without the unit I have at most 1 bar of 4G. With the unit I have 3-4 bars of 4G and decent speeds. Also by default this works on those people using Simple Mobile (TMOs MVNO).
Can't complain although im moving to Silver Spring, MD this week from Miami, FL and the coverage in my new place is even worse than in Miami.
Wifi Calling and CelFi to the rescue!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate you mentioning T-Mo Signal Booster does 4G (Data and Voice).
( Unit linked to by T-Mo if you don't qualify links to http://cel-fi.com/ , it only talks about 3G)
My situation is Outside get decent signal, inside due to house having old plaster walls, with a extra layer of drywall over them, PLUS Aluminum siding on outside of house signal is pretty iffy.
Hoping T-Mo Signal Booster on it's way to me will help.
Open Signal Maps v?
Inside 4G?
-109dBm, 3asu
Fluctuates between t-MO'S 4G
UMTS =
EDGE = -91dBm , 11asu
Outside:
-99dBm, 10asu or better. (Varies)
2-3bars average - via 4.04 Android signal indicator. (T-Mo plat maps show me in green area, very close to dark green (BEST?) IIRC.
.
WeAreNotAlone said:
RE: Pics of Silver Spring, MD
Google maps, street view... next best thing to being there..
BACK on TOPIC.
.
---------- Post added at 08:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 PM ----------
Appreciate you mentioning T-Mo Signal Booster does 4G (Data and Voice).
( Unit linked to by T-Mo if you don't qualify links to http://cel-fi.com/ , it only talks about 3G)
My situation is Outside get decent signal, inside due to house having old plaster walls, with a extra layer of drywall over them, PLUS Aluminum siding on outside of house signal is pretty iffy.
Hoping T-Mo Signal Booster on it's way to me will help.
Open Signal Maps v?
Inside 4G?
-109dBm, 3asu
Fluctuates between t-MO'S 4G
UMTS =
EDGE = -91dBm , 11asu
Outside:
-99dBm, 10asu or better. (Varies)
2-3bars average - via 4.04 Android signal indicator. (T-Mo plat maps show me in green area, very close to dark green (BEST?) IIRC.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess I'll respond to my own post.
Cell-Fi T-Mo branded signal booster definitely improved the signal and increased standby/talk/data standby use time.
Called T-Mo Feb 4th 2013 or so to obtain one for a family member..
T-Mo says they are out of stock until JUNE 2013.
They said there is no way to pre-order.
No way to reserve.
No way to pre-pay
No way to place a order, then have unit shipped out, billed
Only way to get one shipped is to call back, hoping you call when they have items in stock.
Way to run a business T-Mo.
(If I was running things I'd what to know how many units to order. How the heck do you get a handle on projected sales /persons interested in your product if you don't take orders?)
I guess that is why they don't have any in stock, eh?
T-Mo management session:
Q: How many Cell-Fi boosters do we need to ORDER?
A: Just a few, no one calling in has placed a "order".
.
Wow I had no idea this existed. Very interesting, thanks!
mtdang said:
Wow I had no idea this existed. Very interesting, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good:
I will say my unit is a little wonky (my second one) and sometimes drops my bars from 5 to none. This is probably due to the window unit only having one or two bars at best. I'm in a true dead zone here in 20901 :/
Can anyone with a IR Thermometer, or via finger method check TEMP of second unit?
To all T-Mobile branded Cel-Fi Signal Booster units:
Unit is comprised of a receiver /transmitter which is positioned near a window /area of greatest signal signal. A secondary unit is positioned away from this unit to create a "signal bubble".. within that bubble signal being boosted.
(Second unit is all black- Curved on top - approx 10x6 x 4 inches tall.)
My secondary unit runs very HOT - when it is positioned flat (As it is supposed to be.)
I'd estimate bottom plate of unit to be 120-130 degrees.
I say "estimate" as currently I have second unit *tilted at 45 degrees.
Tilted via a IR thermometer @Ambient temp 72, unit runs at 100, signal showing as "8".
*Tilting the unit- back section raised at 45 degree angle brings temps down. Before it was pretty toasty (HOT!).
Q: Can anyone with a IR Thermometer, or via the finger method check your second unit to see how HOT it's running?
Before tilting the unit- which really shouldn't be necessary bottom plate /side of unit was HOT enough to "burn" /feel as though it won't last long!
PS: This is with unit idle.
I went to my local T-Mobile store and they had two in the back. He gladly issued me one. Simple. No waiting.
[NEXUS⁴] [CARBON] [MATR1X] [TWRP]
thanks for the post
never seen on this U.U
Cel-Fi Cell Phone Signal Booster
Readers,
(full disclosure, I work for Cel-Fi).
We updated cel-fi pages, a lot of your questions are now answered on the site. The new RS2 unit is now dual band (2 and 4) and boost all frequencies of 4G (HSPA+) of T-Mobile, especially the ones that the T-Mobile iPhones (all versions) are now using.
Feel free to ask any questions here or on the site. Thanks for all your comments - it always inspires us to see your feedbacks.
Laurent
I'm going to be moving to a basement next week that has glimpses of signal with Bell provider in Canada. I noticed as I was looking to rent a place but I have no options as housing is hard to find in Fort McMurray....
Is there way to increase signal strength so I have a signal at all times? Is galaxy nexus just weaker at signals in general? I need to be able to know when I missed a call or a text. Any ideas?
There are signal boosters available but they are pretty expensive, here is one:
http://www.amazon.com/zBoost-YX-510-Signal-Booster-Dual-Band/dp/B000J2XZ1K
There is also a company called Wilson Electronics, I think, they also make boosters, but again the price is steep.
For a single user it might not make sense, an office building maybe.
There are also smaller units that work with one phone:
http://www.repeaterstore.com/applications/portable.html
Here is a review for one, they seem to work well for $100:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiljQLCOE4U
Hi everyone,
My S4 drops a lot of calls and also if i walk in buildings like schools I lose service. It is not a hardware problem with my S4 because I have three S4s in the family and they all do this. It is not a problem with the place I live because I live in Chicago and almost anywhere I go I have these problems. Is there a kernel or something that I can do to fix or improve these problems?
Thank You
There's nothing you can do to fix it unless you want to modify T-Mobile's towers, it is a problem with where you live I've noticed poor signal strength and extreme signal attenuation (signal drops from -50 dbm when I'm right in front of a femto cell to -100 when I'm about a half mile away from it and inside my house) when switching to T-Mobile from VZW. I asked on here and apparently it's due to GSM requiring twice as many cells per area compared to CDMA, and also T-Mobile using higher frequencies which don't travel as far. Think of the difference between FM radio waves in the kHZ range (which can reach 50 miles) compared to WiFi radio waves in the gHZ range which only reach about a hundred feet or so. I'm regularly in -100 dbm service areas and I can make calls perfectly, signal drops occasionally but I can deal with it since I don't make calls that often.
This problem only really plagues areas which are still on EDGE/HSPA(+), once you get upgraded to LTE you won't have this problem anymore VoLTE will truly fix this problem though, but that's probably a year or two from now though.
brando56894 said:
There's nothing you can do to fix it unless you want to modify T-Mobile's towers I've noticed poor signal strength and extreme signal attenuation (signal drops from -50 dbm when I'm right in front of a femto cell to -100 when I'm about a half mile away from it and inside my house) when switching to T-Mobile from VZW. I asked on here and apparently it's due to GSM requiring twice as many cells per area compared to CDMA, and also T-Mobile using higher frequencies which don't travel as far. Think of the difference between FM radio waves in the kHZ range (which can reach 50 miles) compared to WiFi radio waves in the gHZ range which only reach about a hundred feet or so.
This problem only really plagues areas which are still on EDGE/HSPA(+), once you get upgraded to LTE you won't have this problem anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks of the great info!
When do you think we will be upgraded to LTE?
You're welcome, I have no idea. I don't work for T-Mobile lol I know they're on a roll with it and they wanted to have a bunch done by the end of the summer, I don't have LTE in my home (South-Central Jersey) but at work (50 miles away, right outside of Philadelphia but still in NJ) I have LTE. I'm going to take a guess that you may have it by the end of the year.
brando56894 said:
You're welcome, I have no idea. I don't work for T-Mobile lol I know they're on a roll with it and they wanted to have a bunch done by the end of the summer, I don't have LTE in my home (South-Central Jersey) but at work (50 miles away, right outside of Philadelphia but still in NJ) I have LTE. I'm going to take a guess that you may have it by the end of the year.
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I was editing it while you replied. I had an S2 and a HTC Sensation and I did not have calls dropped and I had service almost everywhere and they were on GSM, too. So I think it is a software problem.