Develop Bugs

[Q] Poor cell signal- often roaming

I've had the E4GT for less than 24hrs, and biggest issue is the less than splendid cell reception. Sitting in my living room i used to get 2-3 bars- this thing constantly throws into roaming. I updated my PRL, Profile, and Firmware. Didn't know what the latest PRL was that was out.
I know this thing has only been out a few days, so i understand some bugs. Is anyone else having signal issues where they didn't before?
I'm really trying rock this for a couple days stock before i root the hell out of it, lol.
Thanks for any input. Link me to resources if you like, i have no issues reading up on my own if this is a common issue.

fattmann said:
I've had the E4GT for less than 24hrs, and biggest issue is the less than splendid cell reception. Sitting in my living room i used to get 2-3 bars- this thing constantly throws into roaming. I updated my PRL, Profile, and Firmware. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto! I even have an Air Rave and reception is poor.

I am running into the same situation. It keeps on switching between roaming and normal for no reason. I usually get pretty good reception in my room. It will sit there at about 2-3 bars reception, few minutes later its roaming. The phone hasn't been moved at all.

This happened to me 20 minutes after I got it on Friday but after a reboot it was fine. No problem since then. I assumed it was a network issue.

Same issue here, even with Airave (evo next to SG2 has better signal)

Huh, I'm getting better reception than my Evo 4G. The Epic Touch now works in my condo elevator at basement garage level where the Evo would consistently drop a call.

has anyone did a signal strength comparison instead of bars. they may have different values per bar on different phones.

Returns are warranted?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

I wonder if there is a difference in radios or something. My experience tells me that this radio is finicky as heck, and I don't know why.
Is there a way to find out if Samsung used different parts or suppliers to make the Epic Touch?
I remember HTC doing this with their phones, and some would be fine, and some would not (different issue each phone, lol)

Mine was doing the same i switched the phone to only go on sprints network and has been fine. I rarely need true roaming but it would go into roaming even when sprint service was available.

I think Sprint may be doing network upgrades/maintenance. The same phenomenon occurs on my Epic 4G Touch and multiple Nexus S 4G's. I'll see signal jump from -106 dBm to -76 dBm and in some places go into roaming. Nothing to worry about as long as it works. They may be upgrading equipment to support EVDO rev B hopefully.
I get much better 4G reception on the E4GT than the NS4G, FWIW.

My signal isn't as good as my photon was better then my evo 3d. I usually don't roam much. Trust me when I say this, reception could be worse lol ill deal with it!!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

I hope the poor signal has to do with upgrading to EvDo RevB on Oct7

Thank God I am not alone. My cell reception too is finicky. In places my old evo (which my girl use now)have weak signal my epic touch would roam in and out. Sometimes it won't leave roaming even after I get to a known good reception area. Only a reboot would kick it back to sprint network. I read somewhere that calling sprint and having them reset my phone on their end might help. I am going to try this out as soon as I get home.

Sprint service quality, is this normal?

I live in NW Indiana (just outside of Chicago) and last night my service was so slow I could not even stream Spotify (with 3-bars on the 3g meter), when I tested with speedtest app I was getting +,- 100 kbps, is that what I can expect from my new carrier?
My phone is rooted with Blazer rom and shows baseband EG31 and Kernel EG30, is that ok or could I have messed up the modem? I tested at 4:40am this morning and got over 1 mbps....

I have noticed, I live in New York, a significant service downgrade in the past three months. My unfounded theory is that it has something to do with the Iphone launch, because service was great about 6 months ago. I had very few problems.

I've noticed the same thing here in Oak Park, CA (just a bit NW of LA), starting about a couple of months ago, on both my Photon and my Epic Touch. Sprint's 3G service has become terribly inconsistent and generally bad.

Its all over thats why im switching to verizon. The worst thing is the reps act like nothings wrong
Sent from my GT-P6210 using xda premium

They keep saying the iphone isn't having any problems. I wonder if they are degrading android to male iphone look better. We are switching to Verizon when the contract is up.

Sprint might be doing work in your area. See map here: https://network.sprint.com/

pbiancardi said:
I live in NW Indiana (just outside of Chicago) and last night my service was so slow I could not even stream Spotify (with 3-bars on the 3g meter), when I tested with speedtest app I was getting +,- 100 kbps, is that what I can expect from my new carrier?
My phone is rooted with Blazer rom and shows baseband EG31 and Kernel EG30, is that ok or could I have messed up the modem? I tested at 4:40am this morning and got over 1 mbps....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, data sucks balls big time but voice so far has had no issues.
Its the dat part that is killing it. Yet we have to pay that extra 10 bucks a month just because its a smart phone aka data usage. What a joke.
Or maybe that extra 10 bucks is to pay for data usage for Carrier IQ... LOL

It's not really because of the iPhone, although that plays a small part in it. Sprint has just been lazy overall in maintaining and upgrading their network while the majority of customers have switched to smart phones
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Honestly, I think its just work being done on the network. I noticed the same thing, but 3 days ago I did a prl n profile update (I had done this several times before) n started getting much better service, including 4g. I'm not saying g this is the case for everyone. If you do jump ship, have fun with Verizon. I dealt with them for years before sprint. And if you think sprints customer service is bad. . . Also their data prices are INSANE! but, Verizon does have a better network. TO ME, being able to stream my music collection without worrying about data is more important than being able to watch a movie on 3g, but thats why we get choices if sprint was right for everyone, Verizon wouldn't be in business, and its the same the other way around
If I was helpful, give thanks
Sent from my Epic 4g Touch

When I go within 100ft of the tower I use in my home in Toledo I get full signal strength and peek speeds of 100 kbps, sprint really needs to get on that. Then again in Cleveland I get 1mbit+.
Sprints network is really unstable right now so its probably not the best time to sign a contract with them if you use a lot of data.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

....the IPhone effect maybe? My 4g has been better lately.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Just keeping checking the website that was posted before. We are making a lot of updates and changes to make the network better. I have seen better improvement myself and know more are coming. The next two years are going to have a better and faster network. Remember that the USA is huge so it does take time. The other thing to do is preach to everyone to use wifi whenever they can so that there are less phones on the network until the project is completed in 2013!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

I have noticed these slow speeds, buy within the last week, it has improved. I was driving down the highway and was hitting 1600kbs on 3G!!
Sent from my MB855

Yup lots of variables.
each site can handle only so many people. Older sites have overall capacity issues. Thats to say some sites can handle x amount of users, and x amount of data. Some sites get user upgrades to handle more users but not data, causing a super slow down.
Then theres the issue of interference. Add in any issues your device might be having due to flashing a custom rom, kernel or modem and it all adds up to way to many possibilities.
The good news is, you verified your modem is good, not only did you get slow data speeds one test, but later it was good.
I have a similar experience with my Stock Epic Touch.
Some locations in Dallas, TX have horrible data speeds, while others are hit and miss.
One of the worse i am aware of is the are of i635 / hwy 80. Ever weekend i meet my dad for lunch at a BBQ place in that area. I test every weekend and the speeds are SOO SLOW. But once i leave the area im back to 1meg or so..
Overall i am still happy. I am just patient i guess.

yap service absolutely sucks, that's why I have started using the ROAM method and hopefully within a couple of months sprint will let me leave at no cost.

I think the implementation of "Network Vision" is going to cause things to get worse before they get better in many areas.

I live in NW Indiana as well and this is how it normally is
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

i live in orange county NY the army bases in los all. I get 1-2 MB down on 3g and 4g on most of the area ranging from 4.5-11mb down. Its really spotty in some areas though. I can honestly sit in the my bed sometimes and get like 100kb down
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

California
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

pbiancardi said:
I live in NW Indiana (just outside of Chicago) and last night my service was so slow I could not even stream Spotify (with 3-bars on the 3g meter), when I tested with speedtest app I was getting +,- 100 kbps, is that what I can expect from my new carrier?
My phone is rooted with Blazer rom and shows baseband EG31 and Kernel EG30, is that ok or could I have messed up the modem? I tested at 4:40am this morning and got over 1 mbps....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was up in Michigan City last month for 4 days (Mother in Law and Wife's Grandma live there) and was in and around Hammond and Valpo as well. I got much better speeds than that with my EG4T. The 3G in MC was actually superior to the 3G down here in DFW, although they don't seem to have 4G...
I was running Caulkin's 1.0 at the time, and it was pretty nice up there.

3G vs LTE -- how many bars?

I purchased the Note 2 in hopes of having a little better reception at my desk here at work. If I walk to a window, I get full bars, but my desk is in the middle of the floor, so I get one bar or none. Sadly, the Note 2 didn't change that (I didn't think it would, just hoped it had a better antenna). I'm probably going to return it this afternoon, and switch to Verizon next month when it arrives there. My coworker's S3 on Verizon has full bars, and he sits 3 feet away from me, but he also has 4G on his (can't figure out how to turn it off to test his 3G only).
I like Sprint, and if I knew LTE would change these reception woes, I'd just tough it out until it hits Memphis. Has anyone had a problem getting 3G, but then saw their reception increase with LTE? The older 4G would not reach my desk with my 3D, so I'm skeptical, but never hurts to ask.

don't change carriers just because your desk is in a bad spot. I can guarantee you there are places in your building, or even other buildings where the roles will be reversed.you will be the one with signal and him with nothing
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

reinaldistic said:
don't change carriers just because your desk is in a bad spot. I can guarantee you there are places in your building, or even other buildings where the roles will be reversed.you will be the one with signal and him with nothing
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, this is where I spend 8 hours a day, and there's no chance of me moving to a different part of the floor. When I'm at home, I use Wifi, so it's not an issue, but here at work, my phone is basically useless because of Sprint's weak signal. I can move to Verizon with no penalties, and with my corporate discount the rate is the same (unlimited data goes away, but I've never gone over 2GB a month), it's just a bunch of trouble I'd rather not go through if Sprint's LTE is strong.

Speedtest

How are my results? My 3g here in Boston flat out sucks, so I know these results aren't going to be great
Sent from my SPH-L710

?
Sent from my SPH-L710

Sorry to see those numbers. I Get OK number sitting in my house.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

Those speeds are definitely slow. They're sufficient for browsing forums, but loading pictures and music will be a hassle. Completely forget about video.
Luckily, Boston LTE is being deployed now so it'll hit your neighborhood hopefully sooner than later.

My speeds
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

It's not sufficient to do anything. All I get are "cannot load, tap to retry". I can not even text that's, how bad it is. When do you think lte will be here in Boston? A Sprint rep told me it was being turned on the day before hurricane Sandy, we had an outrage then... I think she was full of it but hey maybe?!
If I'm not on wifi, I can't use my phone... I'd this normal in such a main, big city?
Sent from my SPH-L710

Dea30 said:
It's not sufficient to do anything. All I get are "cannot load, tap to retry". I can not even text that's, how bad it is. When do you think lte will be here in Boston? A Sprint rep told me it was being turned on the day before hurricane Sandy, we had an outrage then... I think she was full of it but hey maybe?!
If I'm not on wifi, I can't use my phone... I'd this normal in such a main, big city?
Sent from my SPH-L710
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3G and the 2G (1X network) are completely different. 2G is responsible for texting and talk. If you're having trouble making calls and texting then it is likely due to either;
An outage in your area.
Or,
Tower upgrades in your area.
My only guess is that since Boston is a live market, they're working on your towers and you'll probably experience much better 3g speeds aswel as 4g speeds when the upgrades are complete. I'd hold out and see how well Sprint does with the upgrades. Nearly 100% of people that had similar speeds to yours are now perfectly satisfied with Sprint's Network Vision platform.
~OS

I get LTE in Wellesley and Worcester now. I've been getting it most everywhere I go. I haven't been to downtown Boston, but pretty much everywhere else has it for me. I even get it indoors in most places.
I actually leave my phone on LTE/ CDMA and get similar battery life as on CDMA only.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

[Q] Why do I have terrible phone signal but constant 3G/4G?

I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?

mrdrprofjeremy said:
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work in Downtown Denver and have a very similar problem downtown, but not out in the suburbs. My Sprint store has given me a couple of explanations.
1) The buildings block the signal. There are areas of downtown, particularly by the tallest buildings, where occasionally I will drop my cell signal completely
2) In a higher concentration area signal is reduced due to more people using that signal (I don't understand how this one affects signal strength, but that's what I was told)
How is your signal outside of the downtown area? Did you update Profile and PRL after flashing? Ever dropped the phone?

Xiutehcuhtli said:
I work in Downtown Denver and have a very similar problem downtown, but not out in the suburbs. My Sprint store has given me a couple of explanations.
1) The buildings block the signal. There are areas of downtown, particularly by the tallest buildings, where occasionally I will drop my cell signal completely
2) In a higher concentration area signal is reduced due to more people using that signal (I don't understand how this one affects signal strength, but that's what I was told)
How is your signal outside of the downtown area? Did you update Profile and PRL after flashing? Ever dropped the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I live about 14 miles west of downtown, and even there, I don't get full strength signal. As I said, I don't ever remember seeing more than 3 bars of signal. I update the PRL and Profile after every flash, and just today I dialled ##72786# to see if the hands free activation would do anything but no luck. I've also encountered moments where I'll be at home (again, I normally have data coverage and a few signal bars) and suddenly, I'll get an alert notifying me that I'm roaming.

mrdrprofjeremy said:
Well, I live about 14 miles west of downtown, and even there, I don't get full strength signal. As I said, I don't ever remember seeing more than 3 bars of signal. I update the PRL and Profile after every flash, and just today I dialled ##72786# to see if the hands free activation would do anything but no luck. I've also encountered moments where I'll be at home (again, I normally have data coverage and a few signal bars) and suddenly, I'll get an alert notifying me that I'm roaming.
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Click to collapse
That happened to me the other day. I was at work and I got roaming pop up. Really weird since that never happened before and because my 4G is so strong. 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up.

mrdrprofjeremy said:
I work in downtown Houston and, while I am always connected to either 3G or 4G, I consistently have terrible phone signal. It'll only ever range from zero to 3 bars and I don't even think I've seen a full signal since I've owned this phone. Now, this isn't too much of a deal as I can always text and make calls (although it takes a while to connect sometimes.), but I'm left wondering if this is a cell tower issue or if something may have updated incorrectly. I'm rooted and unlocked and have only ever flashed the last 6 or so Lifeless ROM updates, so I don't really think I could have messed it up myself, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Houston would have such bad phone signal. Any insight?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been an issue on every LG Sprint phone with Android I have used. I am not sure what causes it but the bars on the screen never show full strength. That doesn't mean it isn't working though. I have heard it is just how LG worked the rom to show signal.

jonny4 said:
That doesn't mean it isn't working though. I have heard it is just how LG worked the rom to show signal.
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Click to collapse
Let me first start off by saying this is the furthest from the truth. If it shows a weak signal its because this phone has a weak signal.
This is my 3rd day with this phone and as much as I raved about it on a couple of threads, weak signal is definitely one of the negatives.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app

shook187 said:
Let me first start off by saying this is the furthest from the truth. If it shows a weak signal its because this phone has a weak signal.
This is my 3rd day with this phone and as much as I raved about it on a couple of threads, weak signal is definitely one of the negatives.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can it have weak signal if when I get this I am getting 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up?

Dr. Mark said:
How can it have weak signal if when I get this I am getting 36168kbps Down and 6304kbps up?
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Click to collapse
Dude the LTE radio has nothing to do with the phone signal. Two separate radios.

This phone just has weak radios. Now the question is, is it a software or hardware issue? my bet is software but then again I'm not an engineer
Edit
Funny thing is open signal maps gives me an 85dbm reading yet in settings it shows 94 dbm

bizzshow26 said:
This phone just has weak radios. Now the question is, is it a software or hardware issue? my bet is software but then again I'm not an engineer
Edit
Funny thing is open signal maps gives me an 85dbm reading yet in settings it shows 94 dbm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just discovered if you switch the network setting from LTE/CDMA to CDMA my signal bar gets full.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium HD app

I don't have an issue with 3g I get great 3g signal my issue is with lte. Lte has bed in my area since late August early September and I've had the s3 evo lte and the iPhone none of them have had an issue picking up or holding lte the lgog does.and I think it all boils down to the phone not recognizing the correct signal and thinking its weaker than it truly is. In my house and through my town I would never drop lte On the others this phone barely holds it. I've been 100 yards from a cell tower and the phone won't go below 84dbm when I know the signal strength is stronger

I installed the Network Signal Info app on several phones in my store and the LGOG registered about 9db worse consistently compared to the SGS3 or Evo LTE

About the same thing I've seen with this phone I'm hoping its a quick fix for lg with the next update. I was really hoping that zv9 would come with a new radio