Related
Was wondering if it is at all customizable in the phone connection settings itself, or if it is only do-able through calling up customer support and asking to be able to pick up signals through ATT/Sprint/Verizon towers. Just upgraded from a steep monthly bill through Cingular, and went to T-Mobile, and now cell service at my house sucks horribly - 1 or 2 bars, with an occasional spike to 3/4 bars and I haven't seen it hit 5 bars yet at all even when I was in town.
I've seen the Radio ROM posts, but am not sure if thats what is needed to fix the issue of being able to pick up the other cell towers.
Since I am fairly new to the Smart Phone scene - feel more then welcome to guide me where its needed - I am very high on techy garble, so I can get my hands dirty when needed.
Thanks ahead of time!
Not possible you are stuck with the signal you have. You can only get an att signal with a att sim card.
WowMike2002 said:
Was wondering if it is at all customizable in the phone connection settings itself, or if it is only do-able through calling up customer support and asking to be able to pick up signals through ATT/Sprint/Verizon towers. Just upgraded from a steep monthly bill through Cingular, and went to T-Mobile, and now cell service at my house sucks horribly - 1 or 2 bars, with an occasional spike to 3/4 bars and I haven't seen it hit 5 bars yet at all even when I was in town.
I've seen the Radio ROM posts, but am not sure if thats what is needed to fix the issue of being able to pick up the other cell towers.
Since I am fairly new to the Smart Phone scene - feel more then welcome to guide me where its needed - I am very high on techy garble, so I can get my hands dirty when needed.
Thanks ahead of time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well 4 bars is max you can get. the phone only displays only 4 bars. wich is maximum signal
a radio will most likely give you beter signal. i went from 1-2 bars in my room to 4 bars all the time it rarely drops below 3 in my room. but also remember. u cant get signal where it dont exist.
you cant use sprint or verizon towers period. and u only pic up att signals for emergancy calls if u dont have signal. or ur roaming
Hmm - yeah.. thats what I was curious about - in the Manual Networks settings, I can pick up ATT towers all the time, and finally after 10-15 seconds a TMobile tower pops up - as the default in the phone (Was told through Customer Care) that if any TMobile tower is in range, it has to be selected. I'm curious if there is a way to edit the registry on the pickups for the tower and make it so it doesn't have to be the default as TMobile.
But, other then that I am currently looking at the Radio's are doing some searching to find the better one to use...
Thanks again!
just because it picks up att towers dont mean that you can actually register on the network. the phone will default to any carriers sim card so if the phone is unlocked and you put in a att sim it will default to att.
u can force it to use att but i wouldnt recomend it because 1 tmobile only has roaming agreements with att in certain spots and once your out of that spot no signal. and 2 you can only use atts network for so long before tmobile vuts your service.
so best bet just keep it on auto
I have no issue making calls or using the internet with 1-2 bars with my tp2. I prefer more, but if i am somewhere with less, as long as i have any signal, it works fine. Only place i have issues with signal is in the red line subway in chicago. Edge only and the signal between the stations gets really low and strong a lot. Makes like hell with my phones.
I have a problem with my Tmobile g2 running 2.2, it is all stock no modifications whatsoever other than handcent and fancy widget.
The problem is I can not connect to 3g or hsdpa network when I am at home. By this I mean the cell tower that provides service when I am at home. I have txt and calling capabilites but I have no data whatsoever. I have to manually switch to 2g or edge to check email or use the browser. I have called tmobile and they keep telling me that the problem is with my phone, however when I am 2 or 3 miles from my house and it goes to any other tower on the planet everything works fine.
I have searched the g2 forum here but could find no answers. I apologize in advance if this has been indeed covered or discussed to death and I have just failed to find it.
I did find the *#*#4636#*#* option and when it is on 2g I can run a ping test and it finds the server just fine, but on 3g it always fails to connect. Again this only occurs of course when I am sitting at home!
Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on this or point me in the right direction because leaving it up to tmobile has proven to be fruitless.
It might also be worth mentioning that i replaced the sim card today as well, this too had no effect on this phenomenon.....
My mom's nexus s has the same problem. Only difference is that when i walk out the door i get 3g. Once i walk back in, I get edge...... I think its might be just tmobile frequencies poor ability to pentrate walls.
Sounds like a problem with the 3G network in your area, or just a weak signal there.
I know its not the signal strength, I always have full bars at home Its something to do with the network....
DefiantMenace said:
I know its not the signal strength, I always have full bars at home Its something to do with the network....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Full bars on 3G or 2G ? If you have full bars on 3G then it sounds like a network problem.
I have the exact same problem, but my building is probably over 100 years old with 300 coats of lead paint on it. It depends on your building. Signals can bounce off of mirrors for example and other materials. The more material the signal has to go through, the more attenuation happens.
I have a similar problem, my G2 can't maintain a consistent connection, I will go from 4 bars of HSPA+ to 4 bars of Edge to nothing (lost connection to network) and it will jump around wildly between these three states (every few minutes). My wife's MyTouch 4G doesn't do this, my G1 did not do this, our kids (dumb) phones have consistent connections.
I know it's some interaction between my phone and the TMO network, I'd say it was a defective phone except the only place it happens is inside my house.
I wish that TMO offered a microcell.
There is no reception problem, I have had the phone working here for awhile and it always has full bars, like I said I can hop in the car and drive a couple miles and it works just fine. Tmobile finally got back to me today and said they are having their Engineers troubleshoot the tower that provides service when I am home. I hope they get this fixed soon, they said 72 hours.......
It's that anti-cellphonereception chemical they put into paint!!
Just wondering, what's the best modem for the SGS2? Right now I'm using the modem from the Blaze but don't really get good speeds and sometimes loses signal all together. Is there a better one?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA
Different modems work differently for each person depending on their location, kernel, and ROM. Just gotta try em and see what works best for you.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA
You really aren't giving us a lot to go by. Here is my experience, if you are interested:
I use Samsung Galaxy SGH-T989D flashed with BestMod 5.0 Gingerbread with the TELUS modem (KJ3), then the T-Mobile one (UVKL1), and finally the Blaze one (UVLB7). I tried all 3 and all 3 worked, but not quite the same. I am on a local carrier in Canada called Mobilicity, a startup running on a single band (AWS 1700Mhz) with barely enough towers to cover the area it claims to serve, which is parts of the GTA (Toronto) + parts of a few other major cities. Signal isn't exactly stellar, and there are dead spots, especially downtown. This is normal, this carrier is barely 2 years old. What I was looking for is reliable data: I don't care for speed too much, honestly there isn't much speed to be had with any modem.
Enter the TELUS modem:
This one worked well overall, I used it for 4 months as it shipped with my handset (T989D is the TELUS version of the handset), and noticed that it behaves quite well. Speeds are okay, I guess, but nowhere near what people claim they are getting on more established carriers here like TELUS, Rogers and Bell. If I get 1Mbps download, I feel happy. Signal strength hovers around the 50% mark here at home, which translates to about 500kbps download and 100kbps upload during peak hour, but is okay at work: I see 3 towers from there versus only 1 from home. I haven't had complaints about indoor coverage (except for the subway and the elevators for obvious reasons). I haven't had too many dropped calls, but data is shaky when I venture a few streets away from major intersections. I was questioning if I can do better.
Enter the BLAZE modem:
I ran it for a grand total of 5-10 minutes. In these 5-10 minutes it didn't perform in any way better than the TELUS one, and it gave me no indication that it would beat any aspect of its performance. It gave me the overall impression of being a bit shaky, which is to be expected given that it is meant for a different model handset. Other users in this form reported similar experiences, and they ran it for a lot longer than mere minutes, so I didn't try very hard to get this one to work. Data was fluctuating too wildly for my taste, but when it performed well, it performed as good as the TELUS modem.
Enter the T-Mobile modem:
Now this was the modem that interested me. I've been running it for about 2 hours now, and I am about to leave it on for a little while. Overall impression is that it gives me better signal strength, which hopefully would translate into more reliable performance. Data wasn't any faster than with the TELUS modem. No speed increase, but at home I get around the 60% mark for signal strength. I am cautiously optimistic that I might finally see the coveted 4G icon in the office (quite unlikely, but I am a dreamer. Ask me on Monday.)
So there you have it: all 3 modems perform, the first and the last perform well. The middle one is shaky. Data isn't getting any faster no matter what I do, but I appear to be getting slightly improved reception with the T-Mobile modem. Something about this modem is optimized for the AWS band.
Hope this helps.
Hi everyone,
My S4 drops a lot of calls and also if i walk in buildings like schools I lose service. It is not a hardware problem with my S4 because I have three S4s in the family and they all do this. It is not a problem with the place I live because I live in Chicago and almost anywhere I go I have these problems. Is there a kernel or something that I can do to fix or improve these problems?
Thank You
There's nothing you can do to fix it unless you want to modify T-Mobile's towers, it is a problem with where you live I've noticed poor signal strength and extreme signal attenuation (signal drops from -50 dbm when I'm right in front of a femto cell to -100 when I'm about a half mile away from it and inside my house) when switching to T-Mobile from VZW. I asked on here and apparently it's due to GSM requiring twice as many cells per area compared to CDMA, and also T-Mobile using higher frequencies which don't travel as far. Think of the difference between FM radio waves in the kHZ range (which can reach 50 miles) compared to WiFi radio waves in the gHZ range which only reach about a hundred feet or so. I'm regularly in -100 dbm service areas and I can make calls perfectly, signal drops occasionally but I can deal with it since I don't make calls that often.
This problem only really plagues areas which are still on EDGE/HSPA(+), once you get upgraded to LTE you won't have this problem anymore VoLTE will truly fix this problem though, but that's probably a year or two from now though.
brando56894 said:
There's nothing you can do to fix it unless you want to modify T-Mobile's towers I've noticed poor signal strength and extreme signal attenuation (signal drops from -50 dbm when I'm right in front of a femto cell to -100 when I'm about a half mile away from it and inside my house) when switching to T-Mobile from VZW. I asked on here and apparently it's due to GSM requiring twice as many cells per area compared to CDMA, and also T-Mobile using higher frequencies which don't travel as far. Think of the difference between FM radio waves in the kHZ range (which can reach 50 miles) compared to WiFi radio waves in the gHZ range which only reach about a hundred feet or so.
This problem only really plagues areas which are still on EDGE/HSPA(+), once you get upgraded to LTE you won't have this problem anymore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks of the great info!
When do you think we will be upgraded to LTE?
You're welcome, I have no idea. I don't work for T-Mobile lol I know they're on a roll with it and they wanted to have a bunch done by the end of the summer, I don't have LTE in my home (South-Central Jersey) but at work (50 miles away, right outside of Philadelphia but still in NJ) I have LTE. I'm going to take a guess that you may have it by the end of the year.
brando56894 said:
You're welcome, I have no idea. I don't work for T-Mobile lol I know they're on a roll with it and they wanted to have a bunch done by the end of the summer, I don't have LTE in my home (South-Central Jersey) but at work (50 miles away, right outside of Philadelphia but still in NJ) I have LTE. I'm going to take a guess that you may have it by the end of the year.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was editing it while you replied. I had an S2 and a HTC Sensation and I did not have calls dropped and I had service almost everywhere and they were on GSM, too. So I think it is a software problem.
We know how much you like to stream, ahem, "videos", and so cellular data is mega-important. Rate this thread to express how you think the Samsung Galaxy S8+'s LTE performs. A higher rating indicates that it's fantastic: throughput is excellent and signal strength is top-notch.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add.
I get a low 4g signal at work whereas on my s7 edge I didn't get anything
Mine is a lot better than any phone I've had before. Usually at home on all my other phones I have 1-2 bars and on the S8+ I have at least 4 bars.
Bars are no indication of true signal strength. My S8+ doesn't get nearly as strong of a signal as my Pixel XL. I drop signal a lot more often now. I was rather disappointed with the performance of the cell radio actually.
For me, the signal is about the same at home. But at work, the S8+ performs much better than the Note5 that I had... Must be an extra band or something. The Note5 would hang on to an unusable LTE signal or drop to 3G/1x inside my job. The S8+ stays on on LTE with a usable signal.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
It's worst Then S8 as I used that before shifting to S8 plus. But download speed is great.
My S7 was better. The S7 ised a new duel antenna tech, I am not sure the S8 used it or not.
My AT&T Note 4 and my new S8+ get about the same signal, which is really disappointing
I generally see around 5-8dbm better then I did with my pixel xl at home..notice the s8+ does drop signal little easier tho then my pixel in fringe areas
Tested right outside my house. Never had these speeds on my Note 5.
Comming from a S6, the signals and speeds are far better, also my s6 was missing a few bands so never ever got speeds like this on my Jio 4G Network in India
At work on LTE Im getting 31 Mbps down and 6 Mbps up. Not bad! Faster than our company wifi!
webtech9 said:
At work on LTE Im getting 31 Mbps down and 6 Mbps up. Not bad! Faster than our company wifi!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to get 54Mbps which WAS faster than the company wifi. Then we bumped up to 500Mb.
Poor Reception in Canada on Bell Mobility
I just got an unlocked S8+ that was apparently originally from Sprint (because that is where the home page goes in Samsung Internet).
I do not get very good reception on it – even in urban/suburban areas. Sometimes, when I am inside a building, it disappears altogether. I often get 1 or 2 bars on the reception indicator. If I check the “Sim Card Status” screen under settings I get -105 dBm 3 asu. I don’t really know what those numbers mean.
Is there anything I can do to improve reception? Should I be calling Bell and maybe they need to know what kind of phone I have? Should I expect an S8+ purchased directly from Bell (they also carry this phone) to have better reception? Or is the reception of “105 dBm 3 asu” fine and it’s just the indicator showing low levels?
As much as I like this phone I cannot be missing calls randomly. I have a business to run.
Thanks.
The Fish
thefish123 said:
I just got an unlocked S8+ that was apparently originally from Sprint (because that is where the home page goes in Samsung Internet).
I do not get very good reception on it – even in urban/suburban areas. Sometimes, when I am inside a building, it disappears altogether. I often get 1 or 2 bars on the reception indicator. If I check the “Sim Card Status” screen under settings I get -105 dBm 3 asu. I don’t really know what those numbers mean.
Is there anything I can do to improve reception? Should I be calling Bell and maybe they need to know what kind of phone I have? Should I expect an S8+ purchased directly from Bell (they also carry this phone) to have better reception? Or is the reception of “105 dBm 3 asu” fine and it’s just the indicator showing low levels?
As much as I like this phone I cannot be missing calls randomly. I have a business to run.
Thanks.
The Fish
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey fish you want it down, the dBm i mean. Here's a quote "-50 dBm is great signal or full bars. -120 dBm is very poor signal or a dead zone." you at 105 dBm is garbage, no wonder your missing calls.. Since you are experiencing network issues, you could get a replacement, but i don’t think it will make much difference. as it's all same hardware. Why not get a Google Pixel XL i heard they got awesome reception! Or if you’re at home a lot, purchase an lte repeater booster ? Problem Solved!
Drop in signal & Block sign
Im living in UAE - and my service provider is etisalat, and my 4G signal is dropping and sometimes i get block sign, i tried my sim in different device it working.
i have started a thread on the subject if anyone could help me please.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...block-sign-t3851575/post77823171#post77823171
N1NJATH3ORY said:
Hey fish you want it down, the dBm i mean. Here's a quote "-50 dBm is great signal or full bars. -120 dBm is very poor signal or a dead zone." you at 105 dBm is garbage, no wonder your missing calls.. Since you are experiencing network issues, you could get a replacement, but i don’t think it will make much difference. as it's all same hardware. Why not get a Google Pixel XL i heard they got awesome reception! Or if you’re at home a lot, purchase an lte repeater booster ? Problem Solved!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went through a whole “carrier switching” routine (details found somewhere on these forums) and after changing the CSC to Canadian I flashed Bell Mobility's firmware. The phone now shows that it’s an SM-G955W which is the Canadian model. And apparently now supports additional LTE bands 29(700) and 30(2300) which were missing from the SM-G955U (I determined this by dialing *#2263#).
I have no idea if it *really* supports these bands or just *says* that it does but my gut tells me that it really does support them. I suspect that the hardware for the SM-G955U and SM-G955W is 100% identical and any differences are controlled through software only.
And I seem to have better reception now. I am getting 4 to 5 bars in most places and under -100 dBm in most places. Plus Wi-Fi calling works now so I have reception in my basement at my house.
The true test will be when we go camping next summer.
The Fish
thefish123 said:
I went through a whole “carrier switching” routine (details found somewhere on these forums) and after changing the CSC to Canadian I flashed Bell Mobility's firmware. The phone now shows that it’s an SM-G955W which is the Canadian model. And apparently now supports additional LTE bands 29(700) and 30(2300) which were missing from the SM-G955U (I determined this by dialing *#2263#).
I have no idea if it *really* supports these bands or just *says* that it does but my gut tells me that it really does support them. I suspect that the hardware for the SM-G955U and SM-G955W is 100% identical and any differences are controlled through software only.
And I seem to have better reception now. I am getting 4 to 5 bars in most places and under -100 dBm in most places. Plus Wi-Fi calling works now so I have reception in my basement at my house.
The true test will be when we go camping next summer.
The Fish
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Happy days for you i do suffer poor signal in my house:crying: i'll see if i can flash the CSC to fix it, thanks for the update!
s7 does lot better than 8+ in the same room