Hi everyone,
A month or so ago I got sick of the locked bootloader of the ATT I337 variant of the Samsung Galaxy S4. The early firmware versions on this phone (before MK3) had boot loaders that while locked, could be worked around with known exploits, allowing proper recovery installations like TWRP and CWM, and full ROM installations and custom kernels. Alas, starting with MK3, the bootloaders were locked up tightly. The only recovery possible was SafeStrap, which only supports the use of Touchwiz ROMs. My phone was NC1, so for me it was only Safestrap-compatible ROMs.
I had heard that some people with ATT service used the M919, but I couldn't find a decent thread that talked about the specifics, to give me assurance that everything would work OK. But it seemed like a good bet, so I bought one off Swappa. The phone has worked great for me with no problems or limitations whatsoever. I decided to post a description of my experiences to help others that may be interested in doing like I did.
Using the phone, stock, on ATT:
My phone came SIM unlocked, and from what I've read many of them are this way. All I had to do was insert my SIM card, boot the phone, and it found the network. However, to get it to work, I had to replace the T-Mobile APN information with suitable ATT APN. The settings are here, but for convenience the settings are as follows:
1. Go to Settings > Wireless and Networks > More Settings > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names
2. Click the "+" at the bottom
3. Enter settings from one of the configurations below
4. Click "menu" button and "SAVE"
LTE Configuration
Name: ATT Phone
APN: phone
Proxy: Not set
Port: Not set
Username: Not set
Password: Not set
Server: Not set
MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
MMS proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
MMS Port: 80
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
Authentication type: None
APN Type: default,mms,supl,hipri
APN protocol: IPv4
APN Roaming protocol: IPv4
Turn APN on/off: APN turned on
Bearer: Unspecified
Mobile Virtual Network Operator Type: None
Mobile Virtual Network Operator Value: Not set
Note that the last two settings were not visible on my phone on 4.2.2, so just ignore them.
You may also need to go into the Prefered Network Type and set it to LTE... mine stuck on 4G until I remembered to do this step. After this, it worked fine on LTE networks.
If yours comes without being SIM-unlocked, this thread is the best resource I've found for methods to do the unlock procedure. There's also this thread.
Rooting & Custom ROMs:
My M919 came from a vendor that sells a lot of refurbs from T-Mobile. I lucked out and got one that has the MDL bootloader, which is fully unlocked and knox-free. If I had gotten a later one, such as the NB4 that is probably most common now, it would have had the unlocked boot loader but would have the knox counter. There's no known way to remove knox, so flashing a custom boot loader on MK2 and later versions of the M919 will irreversibly trip the knox counter, which is generally reported to void any warranty on the phone. See this great thread on knox, if interested.
Anyway, my goal was to install custom ROMs, so after I was satisfied the phone was working well on the ATT network, I flashed TWRP recovery to it via ODIN. There was no need to pre-root the phone to do this. I just put it into download mode and flashed TWRP. I used 2.7.1.0 although there are newer versions (2.8.0.1 is latest as of this writing).
I had no need of a backup, as I hadn't done much setup on the phone, and I could always flash the original firmware from the Mega links.
I used the Dirty Unicorns ROM, and flashed it according to the Dev's instructions.
I eventually updated to the NB4 GSM modem (the modem.bin only), but was careful not to mess with the LTE modem that is paired with the bootloader (wifi/sound problems happen if you flash an unmatched LTE modem). Here's the thread that describes how. I didn't notice any particular improvement in the use of the phone, but the phone works pretty well in most places I find myself.
Here is a thread I did comparing signal strength bars from phones which may be of interest if you feel your custom ROM "isn't getting good signal." It's mostly that AOSP reports lower bars for any given signal strength versus Touchwiz (or iPhone for that matter).
Since I'm using a ROM that is already rooted, I didn't have to perform a root procedure on my phone, but here is a thread discussing rooting 4.4.2, and an earlier thread with a wealth of information about rooting and such.
I hope this collection of links and experience information is helpful to someone out there. This community has been such a great resource to me in my use of Android devices, I wanted to give back a little, even if it is just putting some experiences together with handy links.
So for any of you out there with ATT devices, thinking of coming over to T-Mobile to get unlocked boot loaders, I can confirm my experience was a pleasant one, and all is working well on ATT with the "T-Mobile" M919 S4.
I did the same thing, though I came from a i9505 with LTE channels that are not compatible with US channels. I bought a new M919 from amazon for $429. So far the phone works with my Straight talk sim running on ATT network. I get good LTE signal.
Only problem I have noticed is the battery drains a lot faster on the M919 compared to my i9505. They both ran unrooted TW 4.4.2 when I did the test.
How is your battery so far? On my i9505, it drains about .5 to 1% per hour. On my M919 it drains 2.5% and higher. This is with google+ and all other bloatwiz disabled.
One other thing: Before buying the M919, I compared the frequency bands it is capable of receiving, to ensure it had all the same ones that that were in the I337. Wikipedia has a useful comparison chart, but there are other comparisons out there too. I found this from several sources:
The AT&T variant is model SGH-i337 with the following compatible bands:
GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS850 (B5), UMTS1900 (B2), UMTS2100 (B1), LTE700 (B17), LTE1700/2100 (B4)
The T-Mobile variant is model SGH-m919 with the following compatible bands:
GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS850 (B5), UMTS900 (B8), UMTS1700/2100 (B4), UMTS1900 (B2), UMTS2100 (B1), LTE700 (B17), LTE850 (B5), LTE1700/2100 (B4), LTE1900 (B2)
So, the T-Mobile has a bit more band range than the ATT version, but contains all the necessary ATT bands.
Regarding battery: On my I337, fully debloated with GoldenEye, I had about 0.3% per hour battery drain (wifi/cell enabled). I hadn't done much customization myself, but GoldenEye was by default pretty battery-thrify in terms of default settings.
When I was on M919 4.2.2 stock, not rooted, wifi/cell on, I had drain about 1.0%. After moving to Dirty Unicorns ROM (4.4.4) it's about 0.8% per hour, but I've done NOTHING to improve battery usage, and DU isn't by default as thrifty as GoldenEye was. I'm sure I can review the settings and go through the "Insane battery life" thread and get down to around where I was on the I337/GoldenEye... it's just a matter of taking the time.
For me, I get through the work day with 75% left on my phone most of the time, and top it off overnight, so I'm not that worried about the details enough to spend the time optimizing it.
Marc
The more LTE bands and the unlocked bootloader were the reasons I bought the M919 against the ATT variant too. I am really happy with my i9505 but I thought I was missing out on the faster LTE signals. I think my faster battery discharge is attributed to poor LTE signal in my bedroom. Thanks for starting the thread. I am sure it will help others trying figure out which one is the better model, and M919 it is.
I had my phone SIM unlocked from T-Mobile and have been on AT&T for the past 4 months. When I started out I was on 4.3 and had absolutely fantastic service. Until about 2 months ago when I randomly decided to update to 4.4.2 and had that update virtually ruin the phone for me. I became one of the lucky recipients of constant random connection loss that gives no indication that it has happened. The only way to get signal back from this is to reboot the phone. From what I've read it is a network switching issue of some sort and thus far the only way to have the phone work for an extended period of time is to put it in GSM only mode, which basically locks me to EDGE speeds. The phone will not lose connection in GSM mode. I have gotten a new SIM card and also tested the SIM in a Windows phone and have no issues. So it's almost certainly tied to the phone and not specifically AT&T, however I wonder if it has anything to do with having a T-Mobile phone on AT&T. I have links to a couple threads on the issue, but I cannot post outside links yet.
I have researched as much as I can and tried quit a few different things to alleviate the problem. My KNOX flag is tripped, so any warranty service is unlikely. I have tried multiple custom ROMS, from TW to AOSP. One AOSP ROM seems to be able to reconnect to 4G after a few minutes of losing the signal, but the loss of signal is anywhere from 5-10% of the time, which is pretty poor considering I'm within line of sight of the cell tower I'm connected to.
I am currently on a 4.4.4 AOSP ROM, with the NH7 Baseband. I've thought about and tried to research a bit about flashing a different modem, but haven't seen any solid information on if I can do that safely being on 4.4.4. At this point I'm personally out of ideas for what to do about this. I don't have too many options other than AT&T at the moment, so my goal is to continue to stick with them and keep moving forward to resolve this phone's issue.
Punkamonk said:
I had my phone SIM unlocked from T-Mobile and have been on AT&T for the past 4 months. When I started out I was on 4.3 and had absolutely fantastic service. Until about 2 months ago when I randomly decided to update to 4.4.2 and had that update virtually ruin the phone for me. I became one of the lucky recipients of constant random connection loss that gives no indication that it has happened. The only way to get signal back from this is to reboot the phone. From what I've read it is a network switching issue of some sort and thus far the only way to have the phone work for an extended period of time is to put it in GSM only mode, which basically locks me to EDGE speeds. The phone will not lose connection in GSM mode. I have gotten a new SIM card and also tested the SIM in a Windows phone and have no issues. So it's almost certainly tied to the phone and not specifically AT&T, however I wonder if it has anything to do with having a T-Mobile phone on AT&T. I have links to a couple threads on the issue, but I cannot post outside links yet.
I have researched as much as I can and tried quit a few different things to alleviate the problem. My KNOX flag is tripped, so any warranty service is unlikely. I have tried multiple custom ROMS, from TW to AOSP. One AOSP ROM seems to be able to reconnect to 4G after a few minutes of losing the signal, but the loss of signal is anywhere from 5-10% of the time, which is pretty poor considering I'm within line of sight of the cell tower I'm connected to.
I am currently on a 4.4.4 AOSP ROM, with the NH7 Baseband. I've thought about and tried to research a bit about flashing a different modem, but haven't seen any solid information on if I can do that safely being on 4.4.4. At this point I'm personally out of ideas for what to do about this. I don't have too many options other than AT&T at the moment, so my goal is to continue to stick with them and keep moving forward to resolve this phone's issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried flashing the full NH7 firmware and making sure you are on NH7 bootloader as well?
serio22 said:
Have you tried flashing the full NH7 firmware and making sure you are on NH7 bootloader as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before I installed a custom recovery I flashed the Official Stock 4.4.4 via ODIN (Downloaded from sammobile) as I had been rooted and couldn't OTA update. I don't recall verifying the boot loader, but I would assume that it was NH7. It honestly got worse in 4.4.4. In 4.4.2 it seemed drop connection every 12-36 hours, whereas on 4.4.4 it will take anywhere from minutes to a few hours, but it's never lasted more than 12.
Go into terminal emulator and type this: getprop ro.bootloader and make sure you have NH7 if not flash firmware again.. If you do have NH7 I would flash firmware again anyway and use stock for a while to see if the issue persists on stock as well.. Maybe other M919 users on at&t can chime in on this
@Punkamonk,
Since lots of ATT network users use the M919 version of the phone (because the ATT version has a locked bootloader), and this problem isn't a general thing that affects us all, I'd say it's something with your phone. Once you've ensured you are fully on the NH7 bootloader so that you don't have to worry about mismatched bits and pieces, as serio22 said run stock for a while. Doublecheck your APN settings (see all things att thread and my first post) to make sure they match what is needed for ATT... and be sure your preferred network mode is set to LTE. I'd also be curious to get some signal strength readings (in db) from the status screen.
My M919 is still on the MDL bootloader, and thus the MDL LTE modem (LTE modem is paired to the bootloader), but I use the NB4 GSM modem (baseband). For the record, I didn't see any improvement when I flashed the NB4 GSM modem replacing the MDL GSM modem. So I have no plans to flash the NH7 modem.... everything is working fine for me so I'm not messing with anything.
If stock, with ATT APN, and you keep losing network, I would start to suspect a problem with the phone hardware.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes!
Marc
Frankenscript said:
@Punkamonk,
,,,,,,,If stock, with ATT APN, and you keep losing network, I would start to suspect a problem with the phone hardware.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes!
Marc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on the NH7 Bootloader.
I was stock 4.4.4. for about a week before I flashed a custom recovery for the first time and started trying custom ROMs . I had rooted 4.4.2 only after having major issues with losing connection. When I upgraded to 4.4.4, with hopes that the issue would be fixed, I left it completely unrooted and stock and lost connection within a few hours. APN settings have been check and rechecked quite a few times, as well as being re-setup with AT&T Customer support.
During the time that the phone actually works and connects properly, it works great. I had installed stock 4.4.4, confirmed it working at home, traveled to work, had it work there for an hour or so, and eventually have it lose connection and have to reboot to restore it. The phone will also work consistently in GSM only mode, but being locked to 2G speeds is almost pointless. There are AT&T cell towers directly next to my home and my work, so lack of reception isn't the issue.
I'm almost tempted to transfer to T-Mobile again and see if I still have the issue on their network. However, T-Mobile doesn't have service inside my home OR at my job, so being able to identify an issue with reception would be extremely difficult. I feel like it's not specifically a hardware issue as there are enough near exact reports of the same issue with the same bandaid solution (GSM only mode) remedying the problem.
Sounds to me like a glitch in the LTE modem that could be either hardware or firmware related. It may seem extreme, but you could always buy another m919 off swappa, use for a while (stock), and see if the problem follows. Recoup most of cost by selling one of the phones after sorting the problem out. If it does, you've ruled out the phone a hardware and software and can then start fighting with ATT over an LTE service issue in your area.
This kind of thing would drive me insane... Spending some $ to figure it out conclusively would be worth it to me, but I'm not sure how many would similarly prioritize this kind of troubleshooting.
Marc
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
I thought of another test you could do. It is known that mismatching the LTE modem (non-hlos.bin) with the rest of the firmware causes problems with sound / WiFi.
As a short term test, what if you flashed the full MDL LTE / GSM modem package (non-hlos.bin and modem.bin) to your phone. This would cause the problems above but would let you test LTE signal retention on the older firmware. If the problem is solved you will eliminate hardware and network issues from consideration.
Once test is complete you can Odin back.
Marc
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Punkamonk said:
I had my phone SIM unlocked from T-Mobile and have been on AT&T for the past 4 months. When I started out I was on 4.3 and had absolutely fantastic service. Until about 2 months ago when I randomly decided to update to 4.4.2 and had that update virtually ruin the phone for me. I became one of the lucky recipients of constant random connection loss that gives no indication that it has happened. The only way to get signal back from this is to reboot the phone. From what I've read it is a network switching issue of some sort and thus far the only way to have the phone work for an extended period of time is to put it in GSM only mode, which basically locks me to EDGE speeds. The phone will not lose connection in GSM mode. I have gotten a new SIM card and also tested the SIM in a Windows phone and have no issues. So it's almost certainly tied to the phone and not specifically AT&T, however I wonder if it has anything to do with having a T-Mobile phone on AT&T. I have links to a couple threads on the issue, but I cannot post outside links yet.
I have researched as much as I can and tried quit a few different things to alleviate the problem. My KNOX flag is tripped, so any warranty service is unlikely. I have tried multiple custom ROMS, from TW to AOSP. One AOSP ROM seems to be able to reconnect to 4G after a few minutes of losing the signal, but the loss of signal is anywhere from 5-10% of the time, which is pretty poor considering I'm within line of sight of the cell tower I'm connected to.
I am currently on a 4.4.4 AOSP ROM, with the NH7 Baseband. I've thought about and tried to research a bit about flashing a different modem, but haven't seen any solid information on if I can do that safely being on 4.4.4. At this point I'm personally out of ideas for what to do about this. I don't have too many options other than AT&T at the moment, so my goal is to continue to stick with them and keep moving forward to resolve this phone's issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to do a NV Rebuild ... you can find info in the unlocking thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2283068
Frankenscript said:
I thought of another test you could do. It is known that mismatching the LTE modem (non-hlos.bin) with the rest of the firmware causes problems with sound / WiFi.
As a short term test, what if you flashed the full MDL LTE / GSM modem package (non-hlos.bin and modem.bin) to your phone. This would cause the problems above but would let you test LTE signal retention on the older firmware. If the problem is solved you will eliminate hardware and network issues from consideration.
Once test is complete you can Odin back.
Marc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hadn't tried this yet since I thought that it might cause more problems than it would help. But, since it might be able to rule out the hardware, I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the advice!
Frankenscript said:
I thought of another test you could do. It is known that mismatching the LTE modem (non-hlos.bin) with the rest of the firmware causes problems with sound / WiFi.
As a short term test, what if you flashed the full MDL LTE / GSM modem package (non-hlos.bin and modem.bin) to your phone. This would cause the problems above but would let you test LTE signal retention on the older firmware. If the problem is solved you will eliminate hardware and network issues from consideration.
Once test is complete you can Odin back.
Marc
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, I hadn't gotten the chance to try this until today. I had been using a AOSP ROM and just left it in WCDMA mode and it worked fine for the time being. Now I am trying to do this, however I'm not completely sure of how to do it. I've used ODIN before, but none of the guides I've been able to find dictate exactly what I'm supposed to do having both files. I have downloaded the MDL firmware and have extracted modem.bin and NON-HLOS.bin from it. Do I flash both of them the same way, one right after the other? Or do I have to do something else?
I believe the right way to do it is find the modem package in flashable form, then flash using ODIN in one of the slots ODIN has for doing it... Someone likely has a link handy...
I ended up setting up a new T-Mobile account with their $30 prepaid plan to test if there are any issues with LTE on T-Mobile. I learned that T-Mobile has deployed LTE service in my neighborhood now and that I have very good reception if I'm not inside of my metal house. Using T-Mobile, I had been away from home all yesterday and over 12 hours, I have 0% time without signal. So, from that test I'm going to say that my issue most likely isn't an issue with the phone alone.
I put in my AT&T SIM last night and was delighted to see that it connected with LTE immediately. I've left Wifi off and have now used the phone for about 18 hours without any interruptions. I'm honestly confused as to what is going on since right before I put the T-Mobile SIM in I had tested it and lost the LTE connection within an hour. I'm home and charging the phone and everything seems to be working great. I'm stumped.
Very good troubleshooting. Your problem is a very strange one. I've never quite heard the like of it. But I'm glad that things are going well for the moment, though I don't want to jinx you.
Marc
About 36 hours into using the phone on AT&T, it went back to its same old ways. LTE stopped working and regular WCDMA worked perfectly.
However, I've been using the phone exclusively with T-Mobile for a week now and aside from actual T-Mobile coverage issues, the phone is working flawlessly. I have been traveling over a roughly 80 mile area this week and it switches modes without issue.
So, is it possible there's some sort of an issue with my account setup with AT&T? I tried to call them and explain the issue but they gave me nothing but "we don't guarantee LTE on non-AT&T branded phones". I tried to get the rep to escalate me, but she just kept reading from her script telling me more random things about how it's probably my phone's issue or an APN issue, which I'm fairly sure it isn't since it will connect to LTE and have everything working for some amount of time.
I'm kinda baffled what to do other than try and argue my way up the ladder again.
Related
I wonder if anybody is using this phone in Mobi here in Canada, a friend of mine got one and the first thing we noticed was that it takes FOREVER to pick the signal, even u do a manual search is painfully slow to stick to Mobi's network, also the Wifi spot is locked, and so we wonder if anybody knows a way to work around these issues without rooting (at the moment !!!).
Thanks for any input!
Btw, the phone is great, thin, light, no way that crappy mapple mockup will be even close, I mean, it does even come with Si....I mean Voice command, which works amazing!
I don't think there's another radio out yet so, i think the radio searching issue you're having isn't fixable?
I haven't heard anyone complain about the signal search so maybe it's your area or something with your particular phone. Try setting it to WCDMA preferred/only. Also, call into Wind and ask for a network reset.
Also, it seems like the wifi-spot is locked down by the t-mobile ROM. I doubt there's any fix for that other than rooting and installing a non-crippled ROM. I stand to be corrected though as I have yet to get mine in.
I know on mine when I do a Factory Reset it does take a minute or two to find the Mobilicity signal, but then it locks on, and is fine when I restart the phone. No work around for the Wifi Tethering unless you root and freeze the Tethering Manager. Sorry.
it works, i'm using it on Wind as you can see
just set the phone to look for WCDMA only as mentioned above, and it will bypass scanning the Rogers, Bell, Telus signal
so you get the Wind and Mobi towers to show up quickly that way
Funny you have the same problem as couple of other guys here (including me):
http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...-S2x-unlocked-Wont-find-network-automatically
My response remains the same:
It's definitely a problem with Mobilicity not your phone. It happens to me too when I boot up the phone it says "No Service" even though I previously registered with Mobilicity network and phone setting is set to register automatically. Don't worry. Boot up the phone, do nothing and wait for 2-3 minutes and see what happens. I usually have to wait 1 minute or so for the phone to auto-register to Mobilicity, not instant.
Also, in your mobile settings, set it to "WCDMA only" instead of the default "GSM / WCDMA auto" because Mobilicity uses WCDMA bands only. It may speed some things up.
Also, if you want to speed things up even more, go to your dialer, dial *#*#2263#*#*, select "WCDMA Band Preference", and then select "WCDMA 1700" so that the phone looks by default in the 1700 band (the band the Mobilicity uses exclusively).
---------- Post added at 09:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 PM ----------
goonx said:
I don't think there's another radio out yet so, i think the radio searching issue you're having isn't fixable?
I haven't heard anyone complain about the signal search so maybe it's your area or something with your particular phone. Try setting it to WCDMA preferred/only. Also, call into Wind and ask for a network reset.
Also, it seems like the wifi-spot is locked down by the t-mobile ROM. I doubt there's any fix for that other than rooting and installing a non-crippled ROM. I stand to be corrected though as I have yet to get mine in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not true.
You can root your phone, use Titanium Backup (paid version) to freeze the system app called "Tethering Manager", after that you can do wifi-hotspot with no problem. T-Mobile uses that software to block this feature.
513263337 said:
It's definitely a problem with Mobilicity not your phone. It happens to me too when I boot up the phone it says "No Service" even though I previously registered with Mobilicity network and phone setting is set to register automatically. Don't worry. Boot up the phone, do nothing and wait for 2-3 minutes and see what happens. I usually have to wait 1 minute or so for the phone to auto-register to Mobilicity, not instant..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is interesting
in WIND i do not have that problem
i power on the phone and it automatically picks up the WIND tower by itself during boot time
so by the time you see the lock screen, it already says WIND Home
AllGamer said:
this is interesting
in WIND i do not have that problem
i power on the phone and it automatically picks up the WIND tower by itself during boot time
so by the time you see the lock screen, it already says WIND Home
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the (Howard Forum) thread that I linked to, a lot of people are having this problem with registering this phone with Mobilicity. And I can personally vouch for it that every time phone boots up it takes an additional 2 minutes before you see Mobilicity.
Thx guys, so I was rt about switching the AWS setting, still it bothers me, in any case and in regards to the Wifi hotspot, what about after installing a ROM, does it stay locked or the app becomes the standard manager for the Wifi hotspot?, I wish I could rewrite the app on the stock ROM but I don't really know how to get into that...
fenrry said:
Thx guys, so I was rt about switching the AWS setting, still it bothers me, in any case and in regards to the Wifi hotspot, what about after installing a ROM, does it stay locked or the app becomes the standard manager for the Wifi hotspot?, I wish I could rewrite the app on the stock ROM but I don't really know how to get into that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My SGS2x works fine with Mobilicity, been using it with them since the 30th.
wifi tethering worked from day 1 using the stock telus install. I'm now using several custom ROMs, and overall I'm really happy with the phone on mobilicity. their 3g internet leaves lots to be desired though, perhaps it will improve, but it is an unlimited carrier.
513263337 said:
This is not true.
You can root your phone, use Titanium Backup (paid version) to freeze the system app called "Tethering Manager", after that you can do wifi-hotspot with no problem. T-Mobile uses that software to block this feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He was asking for a non-root solution.....Glad there's another way out there using root. But I think if you root the phone, you mind as well throw another ROM on there. Removes all the bloatware as well.
fenrry said:
Thx guys, so I was rt about switching the AWS setting, still it bothers me, in any case and in regards to the Wifi hotspot, what about after installing a ROM, does it stay locked or the app becomes the standard manager for the Wifi hotspot?, I wish I could rewrite the app on the stock ROM but I don't really know how to get into that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a stripped down version of the stock ROM. Never tried it but maybe that will work. You should just use one of those custom roms if you're going to root it. They have tweaks and other whatnots that improve your phone's performance. Once you go custom, you don't want to go back to stock.
Liquid5n0w said:
My SGS2x works fine with Mobilicity, been using it with them since the 30th.
wifi tethering worked from day 1 using the stock telus install. I'm now using several custom ROMs, and overall I'm really happy with the phone on mobilicity. their 3g internet leaves lots to be desired though, perhaps it will improve, but it is an unlimited carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, it's been brutal. Hopefully they can get a few more cell towers up.
goonx said:
Agreed, it's been brutal. Hopefully they can get a few more cell towers up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue isn't cell towers, the issue is back end internet, after the IP transmission gets through their cell network to whatever centre they use, the internet connection to that that all of Toronto shares it ****ty and can't keep up. It's not a single overloaded tower that's the issue, as you can see by doing constant speed tests while roaming around.
Backend internet connections are expensive, especially the bandwidth on them. Small carrier can't afford to keep up to it's unlimited bandwidth demands.
Liquid5n0w said:
My SGS2x works fine with Mobilicity, been using it with them since the 30th. Wifi tethering worked from day 1 using the stock Telus install. I'm now using several custom ROMs, and overall I'm really happy with the phone on Mobilicity. their 3g internet leaves lots to be desired though, perhaps it will improve, but it is an unlimited carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this is not rooted yet so that's a huge difference since ur phone will for sure include modifications to the radio, in all (I just figured it) is about Samsung, I have a N8 and a NS, compared the 2 with the SMGS2 (T989) and there is a thing in common between the NS and the T989, getting signal from cold boot or out of dead spots is a pain, my N8 picks the signal almost immediately, on the NS running stock it takes a good 2 to 3 mins (or more if out of cold boot) to get signal but the NS running MIUI makes things faster, I presume and since the stock SMGS2 takes a long time (like the NS) the same will happen when u run the phone with a modded ROM, it will pick signal faster.
So I guess it's all about rooting
Liquid5n0w said:
The issue isn't cell towers, the issue is back end internet, after the IP transmission gets through their cell network to whatever centre they use, the internet connection to that that all of Toronto shares it ****ty and can't keep up. It's not a single overloaded tower that's the issue, as you can see by doing constant speed tests while roaming around.
Backend internet connections are expensive, especially the bandwidth on them. Small carrier can't afford to keep up to it's unlimited bandwidth demands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with the backend connection. But I think it's a bit of both. Some areas don't have as many cell towers as others. (in my area, i only have two) So I have a feeling it's both rather than just the backend.
Hopefully, they have a good new subs-to-upgrade interval so the speeds will get better.
well, regarding the nexus S
a lot of people in WIND also complains that it always stays in "emergency mode calls only, blah blah blah" basically unable to attach itself to the network.
i seldomly get that on my Nexus S, but that's probably because it's customized
but on the T989, i don't have that problem even in stock
so that's actually very nice
fenrry said:
Well, this is not rooted yet so that's a huge difference since ur phone will for sure include modifications to the radio, in all (I just figured it) is about Samsung, I have a N8 and a NS, compared the 2 with the SMGS2 (T989) and there is a thing in common between the NS and the T989, getting signal from cold boot or out of dead spots is a pain, my N8 picks the signal almost immediately, on the NS running stock it takes a good 2 to 3 mins (or more if out of cold boot) to get signal but the NS running MIUI makes things faster, I presume and since the stock SMGS2 takes a long time (like the NS) the same will happen when u run the phone with a modded ROM, it will pick signal faster.
So I guess it's all about rooting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AllGamer said:
well, regarding the nexus S
a lot of people in WIND also complains that it always stays in "emergency mode calls only, blah blah blah" basically unable to attach itself to the network.
i seldomly get that on my Nexus S, but that's probably because it's customized
but on the T989, i don't have that problem even in stock
so that's actually very nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That reinforce my statement, is not really the network but mostly the way Samsung works the radios on their phones on the 1700 Mhz freq or at least for us, don't know in the US.
My NS running stock is a pain, modded works nicely, takes a bit longer than my Nokia but gets the network faster than running stock Android, I bet the same happens with the T989.
I am currently on Mobilicity in Vancouver with a crappy cheap phone and it has a hell of a time getting reception on the network. I live in East Van near victoria and I get reception in only 1 room in my place. I am planning on getting the Telus GS2X in a couple of weeks. Would this help my problem? Can anyone who lives in Vancouver and has the GS2X comment on his/her reception in east van?
Thanks alot.
New_here said:
I am currently on Mobilicity in Vancouver with a crappy cheap phone and it has a hell of a time getting reception on the network. I live in East Van near victoria and I get reception in only 1 room in my place. I am planning on getting the Telus GS2X in a couple of weeks. Would this help my problem? Can anyone who lives in Vancouver and has the GS2X comment on his/her reception in east van?
Thanks alot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a new phone might not help if the tower is physically too far from your location
however a good phone with good reception could improve your problem
the only way to find out is to try the phone in your house and see if it works for you
Does anyone know the best place to buy this phone and have it shipped to usa. I know tmobile sells the phone but if I use a tmobile branded android phone they up the cost of my service.
If u want the phone not branded to T-Mo then u'll have to get the Telus version sine it comes with no T-Mo stuff, I don't know of this model to be able factory unlocked
On the other hand I have a couple of new questions:
1> Is there a way to fix/access the MMS?, on Mobi I'm getting errors when receiving MMS, the pixs come all blurry.
2> Any way to enable the Wifi Tethering?, using the T-Mo model is just impossible unless u have the T-Mo sim which is not the case and I haven't seen any of the existing ROM's addressing the issue (sorry if I missed the part, so pls let me know if it's fixed )
Thx
1) check the apn settings and match it to the mobilicity ones. Head over to hofo and there's a thread about it
2) you need to root your phone &, put a custom rom on it. There's another way of disabling a process but I suggest the former
Sent from my SGH-T989
First let me apologize if this has been answered somewhere else before, I've read at least 15/20 different threads that had an issue similar to mine but none of the fixes suggested in those threads were of any help. I cannot seem to find anything about LTE working perfectly on someone's phone then just stopping working; every thread I have found pertains to people losing LTE after flashing a new ROM or while traveling to different cities.
I have a SGH-T999L and am located in Chicago where there T-Mobile does have an active LTE network in place. I have had my phone for almost a month now and have had no problems; I have flashed several different ROMs onto it (cyanogenmod, liquid smooth, pacman) without issues as well. Early yesterday morning though my LTE suddenly stopped working. I have not updated the device or changed anything on the phone or ROM. I haven't even installed any new apps in a few days. I first called T-Mobile, they said their network is working properly in Chicago right now. After determining it wasn't a problem with the towers, I tried reflashing the modem for the device (I got it from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1880987) to no avail. Even though the IMEI was showing up properly I even did a NV restore to see if that would help, which it didn't. I then flashed the stock ROM (UVAMB7) to see if that would fix anything, however the phone is still not picking up LTE. I have even tried doing the diagnostic codes *#197328640# and according to that, the LTE radio is turned on and working properly.
As it is right now, the phone will go through periods where it cannot find any data signal for about 5 minutes at time then HPSA+15 turns on, which also confuses me as Chicago is HSPA+42 market and if I turn on my regular SGH-T999 and set it next to my SGH-T999L, it is able to pick up the HSPA+42 without a problem. Also, the phone hasn't been dropped or anything so I don't think it has to do with physical damage to the antenna or anything like that; literally I had my phone plugged in charging on the table all night and the next day the LTE had just stopped working. I have tried everything I can think of, if anyone can give me any help with this issue it would be very greatly appreciated
sandra361 said:
First let me apologize if this has been answered somewhere else before, I've read at least 15/20 different threads that had an issue similar to mine but none of the fixes suggested in those threads were of any help. I cannot seem to find anything about LTE working perfectly on someone's phone then just stopping working; every thread I have found pertains to people losing LTE after flashing a new ROM or while traveling to different cities.
I have a SGH-T999L and am located in Chicago where there T-Mobile does have an active LTE network in place. I have had my phone for almost a month now and have had no problems; I have flashed several different ROMs onto it (cyanogenmod, liquid smooth, pacman) without issues as well. Early yesterday morning though my LTE suddenly stopped working. I have not updated the device or changed anything on the phone or ROM. I haven't even installed any new apps in a few days. I first called T-Mobile, they said their network is working properly in Chicago right now. After determining it wasn't a problem with the towers, I tried reflashing the modem for the device (I got it from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1880987) to no avail. Even though the IMEI was showing up properly I even did a NV restore to see if that would help, which it didn't. I then flashed the stock ROM (UVAMB7) to see if that would fix anything, however the phone is still not picking up LTE. I have even tried doing the diagnostic codes *#197328640# and according to that, the LTE radio is turned on and working properly.
As it is right now, the phone will go through periods where it cannot find any data signal for about 5 minutes at time then HPSA+15 turns on, which also confuses me as Chicago is HSPA+42 market and if I turn on my regular SGH-T999 and set it next to my SGH-T999L, it is able to pick up the HSPA+42 without a problem. Also, the phone hasn't been dropped or anything so I don't think it has to do with physical damage to the antenna or anything like that; literally I had my phone plugged in charging on the table all night and the next day the LTE had just stopped working. I have tried everything I can think of, if anyone can give me any help with this issue it would be very greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might odin back to root66 and see if that works. If not, triangle away and warranty it out.
Hastily spouted for your befuddlement
start a downliad, then go to Settings, about device, status. what does it show under network type? roms dont always didplay things as we are used to. this will show your true connection.
Sent from my T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide(HTC Espresso) using Tapatalk 2
DocHoliday77 said:
start a downliad, then go to Settings, about device, status. what does it show under network type? roms dont always didplay things as we are used to. this will show your true connection.
Sent from my T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide(HTC Espresso) using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I do that, it shows up as UMTS until I start downloading, then it will connect to HSPA+15 then go back to UMTS once the download finishes. The phone network type used to show as LTE before I had problems, sometimes it would switch between HSPA and LTE while I was downloading or loading webpages but it would still show LTE under network type. Now it seems as though it isn't even connecting to the LTE at all.
i wouldnt worry about the hspa 42 so much. it may be the lte devices dont use it in order to save bandwidth for non lte devices. just a theory.
as for lte, you can try flashing the T999N modem to see if it helps. otherwise id agree with the other suggestion. odin flash your root66 firmware and see if it still happens. if so it may be hardware related.
Sent from my T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide(HTC Espresso) using Tapatalk 2
DocHoliday77 said:
i wouldnt worry about the hspa 42 so much. it may be the lte devices dont use it in order to save bandwidth for non lte devices. just a theory.
as for lte, you can try flashing the T999N modem to see if it helps. otherwise id agree with the other suggestion. odin flash your root66 firmware and see if it still happens. if so it may be hardware related.
Sent from my T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide(HTC Espresso) using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I will try flashing the modem. As for reflashing via odin, I tried doing that and the problem is still there so if flashing the modem doesn't work, I'll have to call Samsung for a warranty repair . I just wish I knew why it randomly decided to fail so I don't accidentally kill any other devices lol
Well, flashing the modem didn't work. Hopefully Samsung will be able to repair whatever is wrong with it. Thank you so much for taking the time to try to help though, I very much appreciate it
it could be something as simple as an antenna becoming disconnected, or something wrong with the radio itself. but once you are full stock, and still having issues it pretty much rules out a firmware/software type issue. Leaving the most likely cause to be one you probably couldnt fix.
just to make sure tmobile was correct, id try to go a few miles away and see if it connects though. just to be thorough.
Sent from my T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide(HTC Espresso) using Tapatalk 2
Hi folks,
I've got a T-mo M919, with MDL bootloader, which I use on ATT. I bought the phone after comparing the hardware and seeing all the same bands needed for ATT are supported on the TMo phone (but, not quite 100% the other way around).
Anyway, the phone works fine... calls get through, texts work, data speeds are the same as the S4 I337 (ATT variant) I was using before. My question is less functional and more cosmetic.
I've noticed that the LTE signal indicator is usually pretty low. Don't think I've seen it report all 4 bars... ever! It's usually showing LTE with 1-3 bars. This is in places I would get pretty much full signal, on the ATT phone.
Since my T-mo phone is on MDL, pre-Knox, and has an older LTE radio version, while the ATT phone I had (still have... gonna sell it!) is NC1 and thus has a later LTE radio version, would this explain the difference?
I've flashed the NB4 modem onto the phone (the modem.bin file only!) and didn't notice any difference, but I understand this is just for GSM. I get full bars on GSM (before and after flash).
Since the phone works fine, I am not too concerned, but it sort of bugs me that it shows such "low" signal. Is there some calibration I should run or something?
Marc
What build are you running?
Currently on Dirty Unicorns 7.8 but saw the same thing when I was on 4.2.2 MDL TMobile Samsung stock.
It is interesting. Here in my office I get between 1and 3 bars but no dropouts or anything noticed so far. Here it was 3-4 bars solid with the ATT S4. We have repeaters throughout the building for great coverage.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Having low bars is normal.
It's the towers, not us.
Sometimes I'd say a custom rom shows what your actually getting more accurately.
I'm on the latest cm nightly. Nb4 modem flashed as you described.
But, I'd expect to see more bars on 4.4.2. Stock.
But, there wouldn't be any difference in actual call quality, etc.
---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 PM ----------
Maybe you could used xposed to change or remove the offending task bar icons.
Frankenscript said:
Currently on Dirty Unicorns 7.8 but saw the same thing when I was on 4.2.2 MDL TMobile Samsung stock.
It is interesting. Here in my office I get between 1and 3 bars but no dropouts or anything noticed so far. Here it was 3-4 bars solid with the ATT S4. We have repeaters throughout the building for great coverage.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your at&t device was on official KitKat then that's why, signal bars are reported higher in KitKat, but not on aosp/cm ROMs, they will show your true strength.. Best thing to do is to compare your dBm strength to another at&t device on their network
Thanks everyone! At the end of the work day I realized I had my ATT phone with me in my computer bag. So, I first observed the T-Mobile phone for a few minutes in a few locations on my desk. Over that time the signal ranged from -89 db to -94 db, with most readings between -91 and -93.
I then swapped the SIM card into the ATT S4, and observed it for a similar time in the same locations. It ranged from -91 to -96, with most readings between -92 to -94. So, basically identical, maybe a db or two weaker reading.
Then I figured out how to get my work-issued iPhone 5S to give me readings (field test mode... seriously! ) and it ranged from -93 to -97 with most readings between -92 and -95.
I repeated the test here at home, where the readings range from -99 to -104. Same pattern of Tmobile S4 phone ever so slightly better reception than ATT S4 and ever so slightly better than iPhone.
So, my concern that perhaps the TMobile antenna was not as good for ATT as the native ATT phone has been disproven, and as the wise readership here has counseled, it's all in how the various Stock or custom ROMs report the signal.
Issue resolved.. Thanks for your input!!
Marc
I was having the same thoughts last week. Bought a M919N (MetroPcs) and odined with T-Mo stock. After root, recovery and roming, my signal was low. I usually get full bars on my i337, but only got 2-3 on this one. I changed my preferred network to 3G, then back to LTE. Getting full bars in my house ever since.
Frankenscript said:
Thanks everyone! At the end of the work day I realized I had my ATT phone with me in my computer bag. So, I first observed the T-Mobile phone for a few minutes in a few locations on my desk. Over that time the signal ranged from -89 db to -94 db, with most readings between -91 and -93.
I then swapped the SIM card into the ATT S4, and observed it for a similar time in the same locations. It ranged from -91 to -96, with most readings between -92 to -94. So, basically identical, maybe a db or two weaker reading.
Then I figured out how to get my work-issued iPhone 5S to give me readings (field test mode... seriously! ) and it ranged from -93 to -97 with most readings between -92 and -95.
I repeated the test here at home, where the readings range from -99 to -104. Same pattern of Tmobile S4 phone ever so slightly better reception than ATT S4 and ever so slightly better than iPhone.
So, my concern that perhaps the TMobile antenna was not as good for ATT as the native ATT phone has been disproven, and as the wise readership here has counseled, it's all in how the various Stock or custom ROMs report the signal.
Issue resolved.. Thanks for your input!!
Marc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically the t-mobile S4 gets better reception than at&t's S4 and iphone? WIN!! Lol joke, but you're welcome! This is a common concern for people, but when you test this things it's not about how many bars you see on your status bar, but dBm strength
serio22 said:
So basically the t-mobile S4 gets better reception than at&t's S4 and iphone? WIN!! Lol joke, but you're welcome! This is a common concern for people, but when you test this things it's not about how many bars you see on your status bar, but dBm strength
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely! +1
I would say the difference in reported signal strength was marginal but pretty consistent. Interesting to note, that even with -102 db signal, iPhone was reporting 4 out of 5 bars of strength...
Frankenscript said:
Interesting to note, that even with -102 db signal, iPhone was reporting 4 out of 5 bars of strength...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah my S4 on kitkat touchwiz shows 4 out of 5 bars on a similar strength. Guess Samsung wasn't the first to do this
how do you guys get LTE speed on at&t with the t-mobile s4? I tried several ways including changing the build.prop name, model and device to at&t values.. I do get the at&t 4G bar symbol but no LTE.. any other ideas? I'm running GNF1 V3 NB4
I have been meaning to write up my experiences, but in short:
1. On stock Samsung ROM (MDL build) I plugged my ATT sim into the phone, booted, edited the APN to the ATT values, and set the preferred mode to LTE. Done. LTE speeds (for me, 5-25 Mb/sec same as the ATT phone).
2. In Dirty Unicorns ROM I just selected the pre prepared ATT APN and made any edits to match my settings I usually use. Made sure LTE was preferred mobile mode and boom it works.
I think you have a ROM config issue. Are you set on that ROM or willing to try others? Best of luck.
Marc
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Frankenscript said:
I have been meaning to write up my experiences, but in short:
1. On stock Samsung ROM (MDL build) I plugged my ATT sim into the phone, booted, edited the APN to the ATT values, and set the preferred mode to LTE. Done. LTE speeds (for me, 5-25 Mb/sec same as the ATT phone).
2. In Dirty Unicorns ROM I just selected the pre prepared ATT APN and made any edits to match my settings I usually use. Made sure LTE was preferred mobile mode and boom it works.
I think you have a ROM config issue. Are you set on that ROM or willing to try others? Best of luck.
Marc
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so basically you're saying that I should go back to stock and after changing the apn it should be good? also, I would prefer TW for now, I might switch to cm later, but is GNF1 not good for LTE if i'm on at&t? any other suggestions?
Right. On stock rom, it should work fine after you edit the APN and change the preferred mode. If you want to stay on TouchWiz, a great rom I used on the atT phone was Goldeneye. Meanwhile I really like the dirty unicorns ROM on my phone. I am using version 7.8 and it is a a weekly build from August 10th or 12th I think. I haven't tried the new version 7.9.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Ok ill try and update. Do I need to install the at&t version of that rom or t-mobile?
My technique is to match the phone hardware during install, to make sure nothing like modules / radios gets messed up. Then manual APN and preferred mode edits which are easy.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Frankenscript said:
My technique is to match the phone hardware during install, to make sure nothing like modules / radios gets messed up. Then manual APN and preferred mode edits which are easy.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just flashed to stock now.. i get the at&t settings automatically but still no LTE.. are you using any different apn settings? you mind sharing your settings?
nir360 said:
I just flashed to stock now.. i get the at&t settings automatically but still no LTE.. are you using any different apn settings? you mind sharing your settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use exactly these from the All Things ATT thread, which match my stock ATT phone.
Name: ATT Phone
APN: phone
Proxy: Not set
Port: Not set
Username: Not set
Password: Not set
Server: Not set
MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
MMS proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
MMS Port: 80
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
Authentication type: None
APN Type: default,mms,supl,hipri
APN protocol: IPv4
APN Roaming protocol: IPv4
Turn APN on/off: APN turned on
Bearer: Unspecified
Mobile Virtual Network Operator Type: None
Mobile Virtual Network Operator Value: Not set
In some ROMs the last two don't show up, in which case I just skip them.
It's also important to set the preferred mode to LTE.
Marc
Hi,
I have a T-Mobile S4 and have seen several threads about installing a TMo ROM and kernel on an AT&T S4, but I just switched to AT&T and wondered about installing a stock 4.4.4 At&t ROM and kernel on my TMo S4. It's unlocked and I run Pacman on it now but for some reason, it very rarely gets an LTE signal and seems to choose "H" when my wife's at&t phone uses LTE. I've tried different combinations of Preferred Network Modes and nothing helps. I was hoping a stock at&t would run better. Is this possible or can anyone lead me in the right direction?
Thanks
First thing to do is check the APN. Make sure the settings match ATT stock, as shown here in the APN section.
Running an ATT ROM wouldn't actually give you better reception. However, it's well known that TouchWiz ROMS report higher signal strength than AOSP ROMs or iPhone for that matter. It's not that Touchwiz actually gets better reception, they just report it in terms of bars biased more highly. I did a study on this by reading signal strength (in db) on my M919 phone running an AOSP based ROM, next to an actual ATT I337, and an iPhone 5S. Actually the M919 got the best reception (in terms of db, by a small margin) but the reported bars were lower than the other two. Here is a link.
It's possible that the way your ROM/Kernel are set up, the threshold to switch to H+ instead is different than in TouchWiz. You could try running the M919 stock firmware for a while, and see how it does. You could also just try updating to the latest LTE modem (which requires bringing your bootloader up to current as well).
Good luck and let us know what you find.
Marc
Thanks for the awesome help. That's exactly what I wanted to know. I ended up deleting all of the extra APNs except for the necessary ATT phone one and its been working great. For some reason it would randomly switch to a worse APN when it had choices.
Glad I ran across this thread. I am running Net10 and deleting all extra apns changed my phone from unusable indoors, to always having 2 or 3 bars . I can't believe it took me this long to try it. Thanks for the help.
I live in an area with sometimes-spotty reception.
Is it at all possible that when running a non-TMO firmware (such as global or custom ROM) I can have a less reliable network connection even if I'm running a NON-HLOS modem pulled from T-Mobile firmware?
I have a 9Pro purchased from T-Mobile and am on the TMO cellular plan.
And I can swear that running custom ROM or global firmware can sometimes deliver worsened network behavior than when on TMO firmware.
Not sure if it's just in my head or if others have the same issue?
Please tell me about your experience?
CZ Eddie said:
I live in an area with sometimes-spotty reception.
Is it at all possible that when running a non-TMO firmware (such as global or custom ROM) I can have a less reliable network connection even if I'm running a NON-HLOS modem pulled from T-Mobile firmware?
I have a 9Pro purchased from T-Mobile and am on the TMO cellular plan.
And I can swear that running custom ROM or global firmware can sometimes deliver worsened network behavior than when on TMO firmware.
Not sure if it's just in my head or if others have the same issue?
Please tell me about your experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's just you since I'm running global without issues. I'm not crazy about my network signal being a tad bit lower, as long as it works. I have nearly identical signal compared to stock firmware.
No issues here. T-Mobile user, Indian firmware. WiFi speeds top at 400mbps at home for reference. Running the same modem from when the phone was released (TMobile OG stock modem).
I actually noticed an improvement in reception going from OOS12 to crDroid on my 2127 tmo op9p. The transition was tricky though so DM me if you need guidance.
I thought my issues were related to switching to global/EU firmware from T-Mo, but when my wife and kids started having network problems with their stock T-Mo phones, it turned out to be then network was garbage (in our experience). Garbled calls, dropped calls, slow data, generally useless. Tried in multiple parts of the country (west, east, middle, north) and had issues. Even the unlocked ones we brought over had issues. So they either sold us a several garbage phones, or their network wasn't up to snuff.
Got all phones unlocked, and switched back to AT&T. They all work fine.
The network might just suck where you use it.