Develop Bugs

"Slow" Speeds on T-Mobile..solution?

I've been running the Speed Test app and I was getting crazy high ping (1,500+) consistently and getting between 7Mbps-9Mbps download with around 1.5-1.9Mbps upload. I was using my old SIM card from my N1. I live in a "Very Good 4G" coverage area.
I went to a T-Mobile store today and got a new SIM card to see if that was the issue. My ping DRASTICALLY decreased (88-90) but my download/upload speeds also took a hit (5-7Mbps down and 1-2Mbps up).
Talking to the rep got me absolutely no where. She insisted because its not a T-Mobile phone, I won't get 4G or very high speeds. I insisted it is equipped with HSPA+21 and should be getting better speeds. She said there was nothing she could do and I should call Google...
Are 9Mbps an "acceptable" speed or should I try calling T-Mobile technical support and have them troubleshoot it?
(I changed radios from stock shipped from Google to the newest US one last night).
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Pretty sure I responded to your other topic about this in a different thread w/ a long explanation so I'll give you the condensed version here:
Those speeds are completely normal for a T-mobile phone with a 21mbps HSPA+ radio. I would never expect to consistently see 9mbps on this device. If you regularly get 5-7mbps with good pings and can get upwards of 9mbps in off-peak times I'd say you're right on spot with everyone else.
I would never expect a random CS/store rep to be able to distinguish what kinds of speeds you'll get on an unlocked device. They know about the phones they offer directly and are supposed to indicate that they don't support or troubleshoot non-T-Mobile devices. When you buy unlocked you deal with it yourself. Of course you know that it has a 21mbps HSPA+ radio, so why argue? T-Mobile is not discriminating against your phone because its unlocked. They give you the full pipe just as if it was any other T-Mo phone. They deliver the speed to the SIM, you choose the device. As long as the SIM isn't faulty and your APN's are fine (default should be OK), you're getting max speed for you device/area.

Thank you for your response. I apologize, I must not have seen your response in the other thread. I understand buying unlocked means you deal with it yourself, I came from the Google store unbranded N1. The only reason I stopped in the store was to replace my SIM card, in case it was faulty. I just decided to ask her about it and she more or less was just trying to sell me the One S instead of answering my questions.
Anyway, I called technical support and was lucky enough to land a rep who I could barely understand *shrugs*. Out of the 12 minute call I only understood that I won't get 4G because its not a T-Mobile phone and my account was not updated to reflect the new phone (IMEI) and with that change I should expect better network performance.
Thank you for your detailed response though, I appreciate it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Torn. Keep E4GT or get GN2?

I've been due for an upgrade for a few months now, was waiting on the GS3 then heard about the Note 2. I know the Note 2 will be my next phone. The only thing stopping me is lack of LTE coverage in my area.
Major reason for staying with my E4GT is Wimax. I use it to tether at home. Leaving Wimax for 3G on the Note 2 would be a noticeable difference.
Thoughts?

Went from et4g to s3 to note 2 and haven't looked back. The 3g in St Louis is awful but I couldn't pass up the hardware of the other 2 phones. I can use wifi at home and get by with 3g for the time being. My wife's s2 feels like a toy after the other two I have used now.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

And this alone makes up for it...
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium

Check S4gru.com to see when Sprint LTE will be available in your area
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

I changed on release day. It's so awesome that I can't even describe how much better the phone is.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

Haha,
You guys are awesome and I see all of your points. I wonder if I post in the E4GT forum if I'd get different responses.
If I had wifi at my house I would've gone with the GN2 at launch.
I've checked S4gru and apparently Orange County isn't getting LTE until the middle of 2013. That's a long time to wait for someone who runs their internet via tether. I called Sprint a few times and they couldn't give me an answer one way or another when LTE would be lit in my area.

I was in the EXACT same dilemma as you (OP), I was on my old Evo4G and had great Wimax connection and speeds. But after watching all of the videos for the options(software) and hardware I couldn't pass it up. But then again I know that LTE is coming to my area within a month and a half. But regardless after picking up this device I am sooo happy I did, even with 3g which internet surfing is fine on really I just use the multiple page loader in the browser(tabs basically) and i have a few pages open and switch between them while surfing. Ex) open two on XDA then maybe one on PA another on AA and maybe another on TB (phonearena, technoBuffalo,AndroidAuthority) along with other sites after changing. Then just click a link on one after reading an article or thread then flip to the next which has the page loaded already(which loaded while I was reading my previous thread or article). And you don't even notice the difference with that method. Not to mention the 3g isn't all that bad anyways nowadays. Yes compared to 4g it is horrible but hey.
In short YES upgrade. if you dont want to take a good hour to 2 to get it setup at home with 3g which I did and it wasn't bad at all. I am speaking of using the Play market and downloading all the apps you want, then maybe stop at a Wi-fi hotspot and piggyback. hit a Mcdonald's or Starbucks.
I sure hope when the LTE hits here in my area it is comparable to AT&T the speeds on the tablet in my household connected to that is crazy fast. 42mb/s - 48mb/s

Orange County CA? LTE is due in Riverside in April....and i know the OC started before Riverside.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

Jcossack88 said:
Orange County CA? LTE is due in Riverside in April....and i know the OC started before Riverside.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you know this?
Yup. OC, CA. April is 6 months away.
And let me play devils advocate for a sec: What good is this phone if Internet is so slow it's almost unusable (at times).

To the OP simply_Dave and the poster above me, you guys know you are looking at the "Launch date" for Orange County which is April. The launch date is when it is roughly 45-50% completed, chances are if you live in a populated area of OC you could be using the LTE market much before. Basically how is works is you can pick up signal much before the date but if you are having spotty coverage or issues dont complain cause they haven't "launched" it yet. But you know your city, Like for instance in mine on a map our City covers roughly a 25mile diameter each way from downtown, but my actual address and location is literally within the actual city. So when they start work in my City in December I will theoretically have 4gLTE fairly quickly(which has also been verified by acquaintances at Sprint). Although my city doesn't Officially "Launch" until June 2013.
I'm stoked though cause I have a Sprint tower that is scheduled for an LTE upgrade within a 1/4mile of my house!!

simply dave said:
How do you know this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S4Gru.com
People have already seen many crews beggining work all around us. A few weeks ago my service was horrible, and a tower was down (my guess is due to matinence). But like I said, I am pretty sure OC is due to release prior to us in Riverside, but check that site for when it is expected to drop...I will see if I can find the link to the specific completion rate for you and post it here when I find it.

The Administrator on S4Gru.com seems to believe LTE will launch in the OC in Q1 of 2013....that is if you do not live in Brea, Yorba Linda, or Placentia.

That's great news! Thanks for the look up. Maybe I should make the jump. I just ordered a bunch of new cases for my E4GT too. Haha.

I'm in the same position. I use 4G tether on my E4GT *all the time*. Wimax speeds for me are 6-8Mb during the day, 8-10Mb during the night. I just bought a new Anker battery for the E4GT and i love the screen brightness, etc., but especially the speeds with my tablet. What makes it worse is that i have the Note 10.1 with quad core 1.4 with 2GB and i know how good this tablet is, i only expect wonderous things from the Note 2 consdering it's a higher spec'd processor with near same specs.
At this point, i think it's safe to assume not to go with GS3 - even with the Best buy deals coming up. I *would* suggest waiting 2-3 weeks though....if you are thinking of upgrading. It looks to be a great phone with great battery and great screen and great camera. I'm not sure there isn't something great about this phone, honestly, but that's still to be said about radio reception because i had to recently get rid of my GS3 because it was a worse radio than my E4GT - off topic, i know, so back on topic - wait 2-3 weeks if you must get this (and if you love samsung, you MUSTget this) i would keep the E4GT around though - for those times you want to SWAP back to use your tether through sprint.com/activate website. Enjoy...

I moved from the E4GT to the GN2 and I live in an area that has wimax and lte
The sprint LTE speeds for me are:
About the same download as WIMAX for me 6-10 mb/s
faster upload speeds, Wimax is capped at around 1 mb/s my LTE has gotten anywhere from 2-4 mb/s
(No these are not anywhere near the crazy att and verizon lte speeds but still very usable)
Ping times are faster for me on LTE than they were on wimax
ability to hold the connection seems better for me on lte. It used to drop for me with wimax causing downloads to error, streaming music to stop etc.
As long as i stay in coverage area my connection seems pretty stable on lte.
As far as everything else there is pretty much nothing not to love. I look around my apartment and wonder why I have so many charging cables laying around now since now i just plug it in every day or two or three.

Phone wise, I also made the switch from the ET4G and its like night and day. Longer battery and better all around phone (I also have a Note tablet...)
Since your using it as your internet makes it a tougher decision.
I gave up having Wimax in the hope to have LTE in the near future.
For now I use my 40mbs WiFi and I have about 1.75mbs 3G at my home address.

Meh, think I'm going to keep my phone with wimax. I tried living with internet at 3G and just couldn't do it. I didn't go for more then 10 mins before getting frustrated and turning on Wimax. :/

One reason to get the note
.:Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Note II:.

I'm sure you know that tethering is not yet working on GN2. I have seen one report of bluetooth based tethering working but a no go for me. If your area isn't getting lte for while there's no upside to the GN2. It's a great phone mind you but no tethering for the time being.

[Q] How to tell if 3G speed is slow due to phone or network

I am within 14 day window to exchange phone but I have to ship back to sprint due to purchasing online. I have Sero account so no purchase was possible through sprint store.
Here is my situation.
3G speed has been slower than I expected since purchasing the phone. My 3G speed has averaged between 125 to 350 kbps throughout a 24 hr period over several days. I am averaging between -90dbms and -95dbms signal level in most locations in which I travel on sprint using EVDO A. I have taken the phone to the sprint repair center twice but they don't run any tests other than speedtest. They tell me it is the network and wait for 4GLTE. There are no issues on Wifi that I can see.
I would have accepted that answer but on the weekend I met up with two friends who are also on sprint. One has the same SG3 and the other HTC Evo 4GLTE. While sitting at same table and rebooting our phones, we ran some speedtests over hr period and my phone was consistently slower than the other two. I know there are many factors but we had the same settings to our knowledge. The HTC was faster followed slightly by SG3. They were ranging from 500kbps up to 1600kbps while mine were in the 250-300 range using the same servers.
I have installed JB update stock using modem LJ7.
1 What is considered good to excellent signal strength?
2. What can I check for to determine if it is the phone since the service center is no help. Or do I send it back and hope for best on next phone?
I don't want to try a different modem until out of 14-day window.
Any suggestions?
Thank for any help

Has nothing to do with phone, it's network issue.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

It can and sometimes does have to do with the phone. IF a radio is bad, antenna is bad or a number of factors.
In this case i think he has done a good job comparing location and devices. All things can never be equal since these things are mass produced on assembly lines. But from his testing it does make me think theres an issue.
I also played with many different stock ROMS and modems back when i had a GS2 and some modems did work better then others.

biggolfer said:
I am within 14 day window to exchange phone but I have to ship back to sprint due to purchasing online. I have Sero account so no purchase was possible through sprint store.
Here is my situation.
3G speed has been slower than I expected since purchasing the phone. My 3G speed has averaged between 125 to 350 kbps throughout a 24 hr period over several days. I am averaging between -90dbms and -95dbms signal level in most locations in which I travel on sprint using EVDO A. I have taken the phone to the sprint repair center twice but they don't run any tests other than speedtest. They tell me it is the network and wait for 4GLTE. There are no issues on Wifi that I can see.
I would have accepted that answer but on the weekend I met up with two friends who are also on sprint. One has the same SG3 and the other HTC Evo 4GLTE. While sitting at same table and rebooting our phones, we ran some speedtests over hr period and my phone was consistently slower than the other two. I know there are many factors but we had the same settings to our knowledge. The HTC was faster followed slightly by SG3. They were ranging from 500kbps up to 1600kbps while mine were in the 250-300 range using the same servers.
I have installed JB update stock using modem LJ7.
1 What is considered good to excellent signal strength?
2. What can I check for to determine if it is the phone since the service center is no help. Or do I send it back and hope for best on next phone?
I don't want to try a different modem until out of 14-day window.
Any suggestions?
Thank for any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what I would recommend would be to try out the different modems that are available in the Android Development section. Just because your friend has an SG3, it doesn't mean that you're going to get the exact same result. I know it doesn't make any sense but each phone is different. I have absolutely abysmal 3g coverage with one modem but with others it gets better.....and the modems that work well for my phone are different than the modems that other sprint sg3 friends use........give it a shot and see if maybe a different modem might work better for you.

Take it back and test in the store. Run some speedtests with the demo phones in the store if possible.
Sent from my dumbphone.

Ive flashed roms and radios on other phones but it was window phones. Is there some counter so sprint would know I changed radios if I send it back. Obviously I would change back to stock.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

alphahere said:
Take it back and test in the store. Run some speedtests with the demo phones in the store if possible.
Sent from my dumbphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did try in store with demo phones and mine was indeed slower but I cant scientifically say there was a significant variance.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

biggolfer said:
Ive flashed roms and radios on other phones but it was window phones. Is there some counter so sprint would know I changed radios if I send it back. Obviously I would change back to stock.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing that trips the counter is if you Odin flash a custom recovery or, as it is appearing, if you flash a custom kernel. If you flash anything through a custom recovery then it shouldn't trip the counter if you were to use triangle away to reset the counter........I flash files regularly through TWRP and it doesn't increment the counter.

actually a lot of people who have the Evo LTE have reported bad signal and internet. my sister has the Evo LTE and i have the Galaxy SIII and we could be in the same place and she'll have really bad internet while i will have pretty good data speeds

Vladabeast said:
actually a lot of people who have the Evo LTE have reported bad signal and internet. my sister has the Evo LTE and i have the Galaxy SIII and we could be in the same place and she'll have really bad internet while i will have pretty good data speeds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That can be explained by the switching glitch in the EVO LTE that would go to 1x and not back to EVDO or eHRPD/LTE. Mine did that and i got a GS3.
I have since applied updates to the EVO LTE and it doesnt appear to do this anymore.
In my case it was not a signal strength issue as your saying but it was a network selection issue that caused the device to get stuck on 1x. But then again that was my unit and it was a few months ago..
In my opinion bad signal would be the lack of signal. But in this case it was good signal with poor system switching.

manually update your prl to 00001 its given me way better service ever since i did. my gf gets no bars in her house mean while i get 2 to three bars with good 3g speed and i have not roamed since.

Call to action!
biggolfer said:
I am within 14 day window to exchange phone but I have to ship back to sprint due to purchasing online. I have Sero account so no purchase was possible through sprint store.
Any suggestions?
Thank for any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TO ALL!!!! this is a call to action. I too, like many others are experiencing unacceptable data speeds while on 3G and in great reception while using the Galaxy S III. the speeds I should be receiving are 1.5-3 MB/s but instead I am receiving around 128Kb/s in the city and within excellent service. We all have to pay a 'Premium Data Add-On' charges just to own these phones and this is unacceptable. Please write an Email to [email protected], vice president of customer experience at sprint and let him know what you are experiencing. Maybe if enough pissed off customers write, they will finally listen!

4g4me said:
TO ALL!!!! this is a call to action. I too, like many others are experiencing unacceptable data speeds while on 3G and in great reception while using the Galaxy S III. the speeds I should be receiving are 1.5-3 MB/s but instead I am receiving around 128Kb/s in the city and within excellent service. We all have to pay a 'Premium Data Add-On' charges just to own these phones and this is unacceptable. Please write an Email to [email protected], vice president of customer experience at sprint and let him know what you are experiencing. Maybe if enough pissed off customers write, they will finally listen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just out of random curiousity, did Mr. Adriano give you permission to put his email address on a public forum?
I can understand privately giving it to a friend or someone who might need assistance but to put it on a public forum..

General opinion of Note II?

Hello everyone.
I am currently with Sprint, and using HTC Evo 4G LTE phone. While phone is good, Sprint service is not. I consider myself lucky to get 150kbps down. Where I live, we have an LTE deployment, but it's speed is about 4mbps, and requires me to airplane-mode cycle to connect. So I am thinking about switching and picking up Note II.
So, anyone in a similar situation (Evo 4G LTE, tired of Sprint) who switched to T-Mobile / Note II, any feedback? How's the phone? Service? Data speed? Would you stay or go back to Sprint?

Meanee said:
Hello everyone.
I am currently with Sprint, and using HTC Evo 4G LTE phone. While phone is good, Sprint service is not. I consider myself lucky to get 150kbps down. Where I live, we have an LTE deployment, but it's speed is about 4mbps, and requires me to airplane-mode cycle to connect. So I am thinking about switching and picking up Note II.
So, anyone in a similar situation (Evo 4G LTE, tired of Sprint) who switched to T-Mobile / Note II, any feedback? How's the phone? Service? Data speed? Would you stay or go back to Sprint?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was shocked when I ran speed tests on every carrier in my primary use case area that T-Mobile was best (faster than Verizon LTE indoors & mostly outdoors) & least expensive with most flexible options.
10-20x Sprint 3G speed @ nearly 1/3 Sprint cost : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=35621485&postcount=94 & http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37343584&postcount=115
I'm glad I held out for the SGH-T889 & also set up Talkatone+Google Voice for my best in 2010 EVO "4G" for use over Wi-Fi but barely touch it or think about Sprint anymore..
BTW, Note2 imo is the best current handset until the Note3 or S IV & for my use case the prepaid $30/mo T-Mobile is best (test in your own use case areas with friend's T-Mobile-all carrier smartphones) & I prefer more open GSM over CDMA networks.

well its really fast and everything about it is pretty much awesome including the battery life and screen and i get 17mbps download speeds in new york :good:

Sounds great. I am currently on contract with Sprint, but trying to get out. How's development? Active? With Evo 4G LTE it seems that most ROMs are just small rehashes and not updated often.

Anything is better than the Sprint crap. I was happy with them til they started carrying the iPhones. I went from 1.3mbps, to 1, to .5, to .1, to .02, to constantly roaming on Verizon network around my home.
Location of course varies widely but I get between 3mbps to 20mbps around my home now. I have a GS3 and a Note 2 and I am happy/impress with them both.
I didn't have the Evo 4G LTE for long but man that phone has fantastic build quality.

I have a love/hate relationship with T-Mobile. On one hand, they've been pretty awesome overall (although I worry about this in the long run). On the other hand, to settle issues I've spent lots of time calling and playing CSR roulette. It took a lot of phone calls to get my Note 2's rebate honored - so please be weary of the MIRs. Make sure you dot your I's and cross your T's, and scan/make copies of everything!
Otherwise, I agree! T-Mobile is cheap and their service is usually great, if you get a good data signal. Beware: If you're in a truck stop town, you'll be lucky if you get EDGE. I've even seen GPRS on road trips not more than a year or so ago. In cities, usually it's about the same as AT&T and sprint, but consistently worse than Verizon. Then again, Verizon charges a hell of a lot more than T-Mobile....
Just do your homework when you shop for plans & phones. You can save lots of money if you pick the right plan and find it the right way.

I'm still waiting for my rebate confirmation. Just found out that they rejected my rebate for $100 for the N2! I paid full price for the phone! T-mobile used to be pretty good, now they are just ok as far as customer service is concerned. Their service is excellent in the NYC area. I've never had a call dropped and the data here are pretty fast.
Get the hell out of sprint!

Came from sprint only a few months ago. I was with them for over 10 years. Not sure why it took me so long to leave. I couldn't be happier with Tmobile and the Note II. I don't travel a whole lot a I get great coverage where I live. I'm on the $30 month, 100 mins unlimited text and data plan and it's been great. The speeds run circles around sprints data.
I guess that all comes down to where you live though.

What about when the iPhone deluge happens to T-Mobile soon?
Currently I get 10-22Mbps (avg ~15+Mbps down ~3+Mbps up) in my primary use area but still usually have access to 75/35 WiFi. Sprint was unenjoyable & expensive, T-Mobile has been great & relatively inexpensive with only limited slow-no zones in my use areas so far..:good:
whatsitsnamenow said:
Anything is better than the Sprint crap. I was happy with them til they started carrying the iPhones. I went from 1.3mbps, to 1, to .5, to .1, to .02, to constantly roaming on Verizon network around my home.
Location of course varies widely but I get between 3mbps to 20mbps around my home now. I have a GS3 and a Note 2 and I am happy/impress with them both.
I didn't have the Evo 4G LTE for long but man that phone has fantastic build quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Smartest move you can make, barring some unforeseen hoopla... hands down the GNII is the best phone on the planet available and TMO will be packin the best LTE punch before to long... yes other phones will be on the market soon but a majority will be barely getting to our level and those that are infact superior, wont be by much, atleast not for some time.. to think the S2 just got ICS... imagine our phone being capable of KLP and "L??" and beyond... 3 years maybe before I would get to be needing an upgrade by my math
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

Meanee said:
Sounds great. I am currently on contract with Sprint, but trying to get out. How's development? Active? With Evo 4G LTE it seems that most ROMs are just small rehashes and not updated often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Development is good.

I was with Sprint for 10yrs. I can't believe I stayed that long when realizing TMobiles speed compared to them. Sprint speed is garbage!
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

Depends on where you are. T-Mobile works well most of the time in NYC and I usually get several Mbps on HSPA.
---------- Post added at 08:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 AM ----------
awrnsmn said:
I was with Sprint for 10yrs. I can't believe I stayed that long when realizing TMobiles speed compared to them. Sprint speed is garbage!
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have chance to taste T-Mobile LTE while I read outgoing performance is good.

Well, my Note II is on a UPS truck to be delivered today. Free with 2 year contract. Will see how it goes. Will keep both services for 3-4 days and see which one works better. I am sure T-Mobile will beat Sprint. Just today, ran a speed test, 790 ping, 117kpbs down, 109kbps up, in midtown Manhattan.

Meanee said:
Well, my Note II is on a UPS truck to be delivered today. Free with 2 year contract. Will see how it goes. Will keep both services for 3-4 days and see which one works better. I am sure T-Mobile will beat Sprint. Just today, ran a speed test, 790 ping, 117kpbs down, 109kbps up, in midtown Manhattan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure you shall be happy with T-Mobile in NYC.
I used to have Sprint (Virgin Mobile) and the EV network does not work in Downtown Brooklyn, WiMax can be spotty at times, and LTE* does not exist in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
LTE test was done at corp stores.

Meanee said:
Well, my Note II is on a UPS truck to be delivered today. Free with 2 year contract. Will see how it goes. Will keep both services for 3-4 days and see which one works better. I am sure T-Mobile will beat Sprint. Just today, ran a speed test, 790 ping, 117kpbs down, 109kbps up, in midtown Manhattan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint pretty much suck on speed when it comes to Tmobile. I was with Sprint also and on the Evo 4g and only once did I switch to Tmobile and got the Note 2 did I experience heaven. My download speed at my home in Texas is 28 mbs and and upload about 4 mbps. I never go on wifi and I use my phone more than my computer now. Also, their plan is cheaper and I got unlimited everything with no cap, can't get better than that.

Meanee said:
Well, my Note II is on a UPS truck to be delivered today. Free with 2 year contract. Will see how it goes. Will keep both services for 3-4 days and see which one works better. I am sure T-Mobile will beat Sprint. Just today, ran a speed test, 790 ping, 117kpbs down, 109kbps up, in midtown Manhattan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Free on T-Mobile? How did u score that?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

whatsitsnamenow said:
Free on T-Mobile? How did u score that?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know someone in Business department of T-Mobile. He's able to arrange Note II or S3 for free if you sign up for a new 2 year plan. Has to be a new activation (new number or port-in). I am not sure if it would violate board rules, but if someone wants it, PM me for contact info.
Basically, I got my activation fee waived, free overnight shipping. GF already has it at home. Arrived few minutes ago.

Im in North Jersey and ran a speedtest to a NYC server. ran 3 tests and got an average of 22mb down and 3mb up

I think the note 2 is a nice looking, fast phone. However at the end of the day, it's still a smartphone. You'll probably use it much the same as you would any other nice enough smartphone

T-Mobile definition of 4G LTE speed is highly skewed

So after attempting to complete the Google Wallet fix for the galaxy s4 on T Mobile I ran into an issue where my 4G speeds and LTE speeds were much much lower than normal, somewhere in the range of 10 percent of normal. After attempting to remedy this every way possible short of flashing back to pure stock, including restoring modified rooted stock, I called customer care and was very surprised to find that the representative informed me that a mere 2mbit (2000kbps) classified as 4G LTE speeds to them.
Yeah you read that correctly; You will receive little to no support provided your connection is as fast as the average speed on Sprint's dilapidated and failing 3G network. I love T-Mobile for many reasons but this is just shocking. I did not spend 600 after taxes on a device capable of such insane speeds that it's faster than about 80 of American high speed Internet access, and 120 a month on a family plan with unlimited data, to be told that going backwards a decade in connection speed is "current generation".
I advise you call a rep today and confirm this, then email the ceo with me and let him know that this is not acceptable. Should he be serious about turning T-Mobile around, then he needs to cut the subscription to the typical carrier bs that helped me drive my friends away from sprint and att (crap service and speeds in our area) and into the welcoming service of T-Mobile.
Update: I had to ODIN pure stock to get my data speeds back.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

Cynagen said:
So after attempting to complete the Google Wallet fix for the galaxy s4 on T Mobile I ran into an issue where my 4G speeds and LTE speeds were much much lower than normal, somewhere in the range of 10 percent of normal. After attempting to remedy this every way possible short of flashing back to pure stock, including restoring modified rooted stock, I called customer care and was very surprised to find that the representative informed me that a mere 2mbit (2000kbps) classified as 4G LTE speeds to them.
Yeah you read that correctly; You will receive little to no support provided your connection is as fast as the average speed on Sprint's dilapidated and failing 3G network. I love T-Mobile for many reasons but this is just shocking. I did not spend 600 after taxes on a device capable of such insane speeds that it's faster than about 80 of American high speed Internet access, and 120 a month on a family plan with unlimited data, to be told that going backwards a decade in connection speed is "current generation".
I advise you call a rep today and confirm this, then email the ceo with me and let him know that this is not acceptable. Should he be serious about turning T-Mobile around, then he needs to cut the subscription to the typical carrier bs that helped me drive my friends away from sprint and att (crap service and speeds in our area) and into the welcoming service of T-Mobile.
Update: I had to ODIN pure stock to get my data speeds back.
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Were you able to get Google Wallet working again with Root after using Odin to get your speeds back to normal? I'm about to get a GS4 on Friday and ideally want to have Google Wallet, Root, Tethering and LTE working. Just wondering what might not work and will... Thanks!

It may just be my device or rom but I find that the connection justs seems to hangup for lack of a better word. I have a meter showing my data usage in kb/s and if I hit the go button for a webpage it seems to do nothing and not use any data.
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Daistaar said:
Were you able to get Google Wallet working again with Root after using Odin to get your speeds back to normal? I'm about to get a GS4 on Friday and ideally want to have Google Wallet, Root, Tethering and LTE working. Just wondering what might not work and will... Thanks!
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Take everything the rep says with a grain of salt, they often just say things because they aren't exactly sure. This, unfortunately causes confusion and people hearing different things. I get around 25-35 Mbps in my area and some people get even more.

Cynagen said:
So after attempting to complete the Google Wallet fix for the galaxy s4 on T Mobile I ran into an issue where my 4G speeds and LTE speeds were much much lower than normal, somewhere in the range of 10 percent of normal. After attempting to remedy this every way possible short of flashing back to pure stock, including restoring modified rooted stock, I called customer care and was very surprised to find that the representative informed me that a mere 2mbit (2000kbps) classified as 4G LTE speeds to them.
Yeah you read that correctly; You will receive little to no support provided your connection is as fast as the average speed on Sprint's dilapidated and failing 3G network. I love T-Mobile for many reasons but this is just shocking. I did not spend 600 after taxes on a device capable of such insane speeds that it's faster than about 80 of American high speed Internet access, and 120 a month on a family plan with unlimited data, to be told that going backwards a decade in connection speed is "current generation".
I advise you call a rep today and confirm this, then email the ceo with me and let him know that this is not acceptable. Should he be serious about turning T-Mobile around, then he needs to cut the subscription to the typical carrier bs that helped me drive my friends away from sprint and att (crap service and speeds in our area) and into the welcoming service of T-Mobile.
Update: I had to ODIN pure stock to get my data speeds back.
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T-Mobile isn't responsible for any modifications you make to your own device. You made the mistake of implementing the fix, so deal with the consequences. It's really that simple. :good:

That's why they use the term "up to." Not every single person will receive 20+ mbps. It also depends on the amount of towers, the distance of those towers and how many people are connected to them.

Towle said:
That's why they use the term "up to." Not every single person will receive 20+ mbps. It also depends on the amount of towers, the distance of those towers and how many people are connected to them.
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I agree 100% with this.
Also wish to comment that T-Mobile is VERY helpful when it comes to getting me better speeds. I was getting approx 100 kB/s download at my house which gets 4G HSPA and i called and complained. And they said that for 4G those speeds are horrible and sent a technition out to see what the issue was. The following day THEY called me back and explained there was some technical issues with the tower in my area. I think it had to do with the routing of the packets. But anyhow, they were extremely helpful with everything and now my speeds are back to 250 kB/s average And when i am at school, i get LTE my speeds there are NEVER below 1 MB/sand on good days sky rocket to 2 MB/s (advertised speeds) and sometimes even faster. I have already hit 3 MB/s it really depends on what towle said. Users on the network, what they are doing what you are doing etc etc.

NYCHitman1 said:
T-Mobile isn't responsible for any modifications you make to your own device. You made the mistake of implementing the fix, so deal with the consequences. It's really that simple. :good:
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I understand that, but when I've gone back to a STOCK rom and it's still happening, something's not right.
Towle said:
That's why they use the term "up to." Not every single person will receive 20+ mbps. It also depends on the amount of towers, the distance of those towers and how many people are connected to them.
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I understand this entirely, however, I was less than a quarter mile from a tower sitting at home getting ~5000kbps, when normally I get 20000+. I also had slow speeds between 3 towers that I know carry T-Mo service and it never once got better until I ODIN flashed the stock ROM again.
elesbb said:
I agree 100% with this.
Also wish to comment that T-Mobile is VERY helpful when it comes to getting me better speeds. I was getting approx 100 kB/s download at my house which gets 4G HSPA and i called and complained. And they said that for 4G those speeds are horrible and sent a technition out to see what the issue was. The following day THEY called me back and explained there was some technical issues with the tower in my area. I think it had to do with the routing of the packets. But anyhow, they were extremely helpful with everything and now my speeds are back to 250 kB/s average And when i am at school, i get LTE my speeds there are NEVER below 1 MB/sand on good days sky rocket to 2 MB/s (advertised speeds) and sometimes even faster. I have already hit 3 MB/s it really depends on what towle said. Users on the network, what they are doing what you are doing etc etc.
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You're measuring in Bytes, I'm measuring in bits, there's 8 bits to every Byte, and when you get 250kB x 8 = 2000kbps or 2mbit, the speed the T-Mo rep quoted me as what they expect you to get. When you were getting 2MB/sec, you're getting 16000kbps, which is normal for HSPA+ and decent T-Mo LTE.
Either way, I got it fixed, however their low-end expectations are very disheartening. I just wanted to bring it to everyone's attention that if you're getting more than 2000kbps (250kB/sec), don't bother calling T-Mo, they won't help you in regards to speeds, even if you're parked right under a tower that practically nobody else is on.

For the record, I consider this "decent LTE"

I just got LTE in my area and in getting 10 Mbps, about a mile away I was getting 20 Mbps.

Not too bad for a city that didn't have LTE when the i9500 1st dropped. I ditched the int'l version for the M919 and have no regrets !

I am having data problems as well.
I was getting awesome LTE speeds after the roll out here in the Dallas area. Went on vacation to the US Virgin islands in late June and upon returning, my speeds plunged to as low as 200 Mkbps where I was getting awesome speeds as high as 15000 mbps (as per speedtest) before this.
I'm not one to go only by test numbers or what the graph says. But I am experiencing real world page lags, drops, pages hanging up, no service notices and regularly seeing the Edge symbol.
As the OP says, I am getting lots of help from Tmo, even exchanging the S4 for a new one. (had to fight to get a surprise 150. fee rescinded after they claimed my pristine unit had a broken screen, but that is a different post)
But the problem has persisted. They have reset my account several times and are in the process of resetting it now. Said wait 72 hours and it will be fixed. Said should be fixed by weds. I remain skeptical, they said that once already....so much so that I bought a Experia Z Sat. (jury is still out on that)
The girl at tech support suggested I wait on replacing it but I've simply had enough of this.
I am convinced that it is on Tmos end.
And I can definitely confirm the gist of this post. Everyone I have talked to, literally a dozen people, have had the balls to tell me that Tmo considers 2000 a good LTE speed. I call BS.
I reall like my S4 a lot and don't like that the Z has a nonremovable battery. My wish is to keep the S4.
I've not had a chance to do much with this X, so can't yet compare performance.

no complaints
Cynagen said:
So after attempting to complete the Google Wallet fix for the galaxy s4 on T Mobile I ran into an issue where my 4G speeds and LTE speeds were much much lower than normal, somewhere in the range of 10 percent of normal. After attempting to remedy this every way possible short of flashing back to pure stock, including restoring modified rooted stock, I called customer care and was very surprised to find that the representative informed me that a mere 2mbit (2000kbps) classified as 4G LTE speeds to them.
Yeah you read that correctly; You will receive little to no support provided your connection is as fast as the average speed on Sprint's dilapidated and failing 3G network. I love T-Mobile for many reasons but this is just shocking. I did not spend 600 after taxes on a device capable of such insane speeds that it's faster than about 80 of American high speed Internet access, and 120 a month on a family plan with unlimited data, to be told that going backwards a decade in connection speed is "current generation".
I advise you call a rep today and confirm this, then email the ceo with me and let him know that this is not acceptable. Should he be serious about turning T-Mobile around, then he needs to cut the subscription to the typical carrier bs that helped me drive my friends away from sprint and att (crap service and speeds in our area) and into the welcoming service of T-Mobile.
Update: I had to ODIN pure stock to get my data speeds back.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app
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I have gotten speeds as high as 24.53 Mbps with google wallet installed. It blows my home internet away

You must be in love with Sprint to believe that 2 Mbps is sprints 3G. Sprints 4G Wimax barely...BARELY hits 3 Mbps. Sprint 3g is equal to T-Mobile 2G. I did a test in the Bay Area, California, and tmobile beat att and verizon, at 32 mbps and att was at 24 mbps while verizon only hit 8 mbps. All with 3 bars of lte.
I have been noticing that the internet speed has been dropping lately, and I believe its because of the purchasing of metro, along with them ALL wanting iPhone and lte. So people that have trouble paying their bills (ive seen the average customers, I know what they look like. Theres a few that are just like you and me, but most show off their lower class status with their huawei and zte phones.) So its Metros fault for selling out. I noticed that my internet on an att unlocked iphone 5 has been dropping and lagging the past few days, and switching to a gs4 shows that its the carrier, or my account. So, I doubt your phone is the problem.
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matistight said:
You must be in love with Sprint to believe that 2 Mbps is sprints 3G. Sprints 4G Wimax barely...BARELY hits 3 Mbps. Sprint 3g is equal to T-Mobile 2G. I did a test in the Bay Area, California, and tmobile beat att and verizon, at 32 mbps and att was at 24 mbps while verizon only hit 8 mbps. All with 3 bars of lte.
I have been noticing that the internet speed has been dropping lately, and I believe its because of the purchasing of metro, along with them ALL wanting iPhone and lte. So people that have trouble paying their bills (ive seen the average customers, I know what they look like. Theres a few that are just like you and me, but most show off their lower class status with their huawei and zte phones.) So its Metros fault for selling out. I noticed that my internet on an att unlocked iphone 5 has been dropping and lagging the past few days, and switching to a gs4 shows that its the carrier, or my account. So, I doubt your phone is the problem.
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I used to be one of those "lower class status" users, I had a stupid little Huawei Ascend on cricKet (MetroPCS partner), and while I rooted and modded it to hell, the service sucked. I migrated to AT&T and found they weren't much better, then moved back to my old carrier, T-Mo and have been happy overall. I know that after the purchase of MetroPCS, that cricKet would be the partner of T-Mo out here and all those phones (more people in the area that I -lived- in the same area as me (not out of town college kids in for the semester) have cricKet) would be bogging the network down, but it still performed well enough. In the thick of the cricKet area called Mesa, AZ, I still got over 20mbit on HSPA+ and LTE. I knew as soon as they announced all the high end phones prior to the purchase of MetroPCS for both they and cricKet that they wouldn't have the network to support it, then T-Mo purchase happened, I knew I would suffer in areas where everyone and their dog has these phones. I also know their model of pre-pay month to month was highly abused out here so I expect that bandwidth is gonna be extremely limited at times, but dropping from 24mbps normally to 2mbps is 1/12th, ridiculous. Anyways, it's back to normal, I just try to stay as far away from towers with large groups of idiots on them which is kind of hard to do around here.
EDIT: My dad has Sprint (I tried to steer him far far away from that BS but he wouldn't budge), he gets like 2-5mbps on his Note 2 which doesn't get WiMax AFAIK, only 3G, it's ready for the 4G/LTE but Sprint has lied for 4 years straight about LTE deployment out here, I'm just waiting for him to get fed up with unsent messages and dropped calls enough to give up and jump ship finally, however that won't be until he finishes his new 2-year contract like a fool.