What controls the switching between 4g and 3g? - Sprint Galaxy Note 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I use a Sprint Note4 rooted On OBAR ROM. While at work, my service switches from 4g to 3g very often. The only way i can get it to switch back after it goes to 3g is to either turn off data or turn on airplane mode and off again. It is very annoying. I also use the gtools program and lock it on LTE. It works until i guess i lose they lte signal. Then i lose all connection. So i change the setting ball to lte/Gsm/cdma.
Any and all suggestions are very well appreciated.
Blessings

This is very common in areas where Sprint is upgrading their towers. It might be some time before it gets resolved. Besides toggling airplane mode or updating PRL/profile, one fix is to turn off LTE Bands 41 and 26 leaving only Band 25 on until it gets resolved.
Not sure how to do that on Note 4 (Google will be your friend here), but it works for me on a previous phone

Thank you! I will try that. I was changing the priorities. I use gtools.
Blessings! !!

Related

[Q]Force gsm nexus to automatically switch to 2G sooner in low reception area?

i noticed that i get much better 2g reception in my house than 3g so would it be possible to set the galaxy nexus to make the switch to 2g sooner and automatic? im using a toggle right now but it would be nice to be able to set the point at which the phone will make the jump to 2g.
The 3g signal is so weak in certain areas that i dont lose the signal but i wont be able to receive calls and goes straight to voicemail but the annoying thing is that sometimes the phone doesnt make the jump to 2g. Im using the mod in aokp to see my signal in dBm instead of the bars and have found the difference is -111 to -113dBm for 3G and under -100dBm for 2G in the same spot. i would like to be able to set the phone to make to jump to 2G when the 3G signal is weaker than -110dBm for example.
anyone? do we know how the phone decides when to switch to 2g?
Why don't you just keep manually toggling it as needed? Problem solved. That said goto YouTube and watch the everything is amazing but nobody is happy video.
And remember kids. Your smartphone is not a pacifier.
iphone. helping computer illiteracy become popular since 2007.
cause it would be easier if it did it automatically like its suppose to. if i forget to toggle the 2g everytime i home then i miss a call in the house? this is a phone we're talking about im not asking for anything special just for it to work like its suppose to.
neotekz said:
? this is a phone we're talking about im not asking for anything special just for it to work like its suppose to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself. Now I need to go start a thread asking how come my phone won't clean my room. Ç'mon it's a smartphone.
iphone. helping computer illiteracy become popular since 2007.
receiving calls and making calls is not something special for a 700 dollar phone. this is the first phone i got that has this kind of trouble switching between 2g and 3g. go troll somehwere else if you have nothing helpful to add.
Seriously what is so hard about manually toggling your phone to 2g at home? I have to do it occasionally still even though 3g isn't the juice sucker it used to be a few years ago. Another alternative is to get a micro cell but I an sure you don't want to pay ~$200 and $20 a month. There are apps that will do the 2g toggle when you're on your home wifi. Nfc tag might be able to do it too. It seems you want somebody to write an app specifically for your "problem".
iphone. helping computer illiteracy become popular since 2007.
you're really not getting it, its not about a toggle and im not asking anyone to make an app so i dont have to use the toggle. im not talking about switching to 2g to save battery or data but when the 3g is weak or isnt there and there is a stronger 2g signal available. i am using a toggle right now but thats not a solution. this is a phone, i shouldnt have to toggle anything to make calls. All my previous android phones stayed in 2g 90% of the time in my house all by themselves.
Phones are suppose to be able to switch between 2g and 3g when 3g is not available or is too weak, the galaxy nexus is not doing that properly it hangs at 3g even to the point where it drops the signal and there's always is a good 2g signal that it should be going to. i have no 2g deadspots in my house but a few for 3g.
i've tried all the radios and they all have this problem some worst than others. i was just thinking if there is a way to mod the phone so that it will switch to 2g sooner or faster
And I am telling you to do it manually to solve your issue. You still want it done faster automatically and nobody here is going to be able to mod a radio for you. Aside from aaaaaaaall the barriers prohibiting devs from doing so, there is just plain and simple the issue of it actually transferring from 2 to 3 and 3 to 2, handshaking with the tower which is not instaneous. Like I said watch that video and get a grip and laugh. The best and fastest solution is manually. I have to do it myself occasionally for different reasons. If you don't like having to do something manually because you have a $700 smartphone then all I can tell you is good luck with the rest of your life.
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iphone. helping computer illiteracy become popular since 2007.
i looked into this some more and it turns out there is a setting that can do exactly what i want but is disabled in the new 4.0.4 update. in the *#*#4636*#*# menu you can set network preferred type to gsm auto prl which will only switch to 3g if there is a strong signal and will favor 2g. With the new update(4.0.4) the setting cannot be changed and is stuck on wcdma preferred which is the opposite of gsm auto prl, favors 3g over 2g. hopefully this can be fixed somehow so that the network settings can be changed.
neotekz said:
i looked into this some more and it turns out there is a setting that can do exactly what i want but is disabled in the new 4.0.4 update. in the *#*#4636*#*# menu you can set network preferred type to gsm auto prl which will only switch to 3g if there is a strong signal and will favor 2g. With the new update(4.0.4) the setting cannot be changed and is stuck on wcdma preferred which is the opposite of gsm auto prl, favors 3g over 2g. hopefully this can be fixed somehow so that the network settings can be changed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd stay out of that menu on nexus. It has caused many a problem for gnex owners, one which is it automatically goes back to default setting no matter what you select and erasing smsc number randomly. Toggling 2g in settings or getting a 2g/3g toggle in power control is fastest and easiest solution still.
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iphone. helping computer illiteracy become popular since 2007.

[Q] Better WCDMA acquisition?

I was wondering if there is a way to make my tMob SGS3 do better at seeking and maintaining a WCDMA connection?
I know I can change the Mobile Network Mode to WCDMA only, and I do sometimes.
However, when it is in Auto mode, it switches back and forth constantly between GSM and WCDMA. In my home when I force WCDMA mode it has 2-3 bars of WCDMA and it does not drop the connection. When I put it on auto, it switches back and forth every minute or 2. I flashed and tried every modem possible but the results are the same.
Is there any way, besides WCDMA only mode, that I can make my phone more aggressively seek and keep WCDMA when it is available?
Thanks!
colorado_al said:
I was wondering if there is a way to make my tMob SGS3 do better at seeking and maintaining a WCDMA connection?
I know I can change the Mobile Network Mode to WCDMA only, and I do sometimes.
However, when it is in Auto mode, it switches back and forth constantly between GSM and WCDMA. In my home when I force WCDMA mode it has 2-3 bars of WCDMA and it does not drop the connection. When I put it on auto, it switches back and forth every minute or 2. I flashed and tried every modem possible but the results are the same.
Is there any way, besides WCDMA only mode, that I can make my phone more aggressively seek and keep WCDMA when it is available?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude I feel ya. I seriously think it all started once they switched to the 1900 band for 3g. Cause when I had my HTC HD2 it was mostly 3g in my house. Now it hardly ever switches to 3g unless I force it.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
It works great when I switch it to WCDMA only, however I keep forgetting to switch it to GSM/WCDMA when I leave the house or work. I'm thinking of getting some TecTile NFC stickers to cause my phone to remind me to switch or maybe try to find a way to automate it with them or something.
If it sits at G or E until you start a data transfer and then jumps to 4G this is how it was originally set up to operate. The intent was to save both battery and banwidth. It was like this for me until I updated and it stopped. It was annoying so I'm glad it was changed. But if you are on either build UVALEM or UVALG1 try updating to the latest official build UVALH2.
Otherwise it may just be the tower you're connected to is under heavy load and is trying to conserve bandwidth, or it may just not be functioning correctly.
One other thing it could also be is if your area hasn't been refarmed yet. (It may be that this is what changed it for me but its been a while and I know I had updated about the same time I noticed it, so I attributed to that) the more I think about it now, if updating doesn't change its behavior, this is probably what's going on.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
colorado_al said:
i was wondering if there is a way to make my tmob sgs3 do better at seeking and maintaining a wcdma connection?
I know i can change the mobile network mode to wcdma only, and i do sometimes.
However, when it is in auto mode, it switches back and forth constantly between gsm and wcdma. In my home when i force wcdma mode it has 2-3 bars of wcdma and it does not drop the connection. When i put it on auto, it switches back and forth every minute or 2. I flashed and tried every modem possible but the results are the same.
Is there any way, besides wcdma only mode, that i can make my phone more aggressively seek and keep wcdma when it is available?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wcdma only.
DocHoliday77 said:
If it sits at G or E until you start a data transfer and then jumps to 4G this is how it was originally set up to operate. The intent was to save both battery and banwidth. It was like this for me until I updated and it stopped. It was annoying so I'm glad it was changed. But if you are on either build UVALEM or UVALG1 try updating to the latest official build UVALH2.
Otherwise it may just be the tower you're connected to is under heavy load and is trying to conserve bandwidth, or it may just not be functioning correctly.
One other thing it could also be is if your area hasn't been refarmed yet. (It may be that this is what changed it for me but its been a while and I know I had updated about the same time I noticed it, so I attributed to that) the more I think about it now, if updating doesn't change its behavior, this is probably what's going on.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I am on UVALH2. I think the way it is supposed to be setup is to sit on UMTS while conserving bat/data and switch to HSPAP when moving data (Both WCDMA protocols). It actually has been much better today. Don;t know if the tower in my area was having issues the last few days.
I checked for NFC programs that would allow me to change my networks based on location and none have that fine level of settings.
It isn't really a problem if I switch it to WCDMA only, it's just that I forget to switch it back to both when I'm on the road and I end up missing calls.
Well, I guess that answers whether it was the update that did it for me! I'm guessing it must be due to the network refarming then. Like I said, it did the same for me for a while, but I haven't had it hapoen at all for some time now.
You could look for an app that lets you create location based profiles. You can set it to be one way at home and when you leave it'll automatically change to your other settings.
I would imagine Tasker could handle this as well, but I've never used it.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

[Q] Note 2 not auto switching to 4G?

Hi guys, I'm plenty familiar with the Note II having had mine since October release. I'm having an issue where I will be in a solid 4G coverage area (at my home) and my phone will stay in 2G mode.
There is a problem with either the tower or the phone, I'm leaning toward tower because my wife has my old Sensation 4G which is also staying on 2G. Have any of you encountered/noticed that your phone stays in 2G even though you are in a 4G coverage area? For me either on the Sensation or Note II, I just pick WCDMA, 4G pops in and works great. The only problem is that I have to remember to put it back on auto when I leave the area. I looked up and attempted the cell codes for making the phone prefer 4G, but without success there. Also my phone picks up 4G automatically when I'm at work, so again leaning toward tower (but how and why the tower can control this I have no idea).
I also noticed some threads claiming wifi calling would detect wireless networks nearby and disable 4G. I'm leaning towards BS on that because 1. my wi-fi is almost always turned off (true unlimited 4G plan), and 2. when I disable wifi calling all together it still exhibits the same behavior.
I'm running out of ideas - any help is appreciated!
vinas1 said:
Hi guys, I'm plenty familiar with the Note II having had mine since October release. I'm having an issue where I will be in a solid 4G coverage area (at my home) and my phone will stay in 2G mode.
There is a problem with either the tower or the phone, I'm leaning toward tower because my wife has my old Sensation 4G which is also staying on 2G. Have any of you encountered/noticed that your phone stays in 2G even though you are in a 4G coverage area? For me either on the Sensation or Note II, I just pick WCDMA, 4G pops in and works great. The only problem is that I have to remember to put it back on auto when I leave the area. I looked up and attempted the cell codes for making the phone prefer 4G, but without success there. Also my phone picks up 4G automatically when I'm at work, so again leaning toward tower (but how and why the tower can control this I have no idea).
I also noticed some threads claiming wifi calling would detect wireless networks nearby and disable 4G. I'm leaning towards BS on that because 1. my wi-fi is almost always turned off (true unlimited 4G plan), and 2. when I disable wifi calling all together it still exhibits the same behavior.
I'm running out of ideas - any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In settings>more settings>mobile networks>network mode:
You should ALWAYS be set to GSM/WCDMA (Auto mode)
This will automatically get you the best data signal available at your location. If you only get 2G in some locations, that's normal. You can try calling TMO support and have them check your address to see if you SHOULD have 4G at that location. If you really want to try to see what is going on, install an app called Open Signal Maps form the Play store. Among other useful things, it will geolocate the towers you are connected to complete with distance and mapped street address.
Where I live I only ever get 2 or 3 bars of 2G data. I use the TMO wifi calling app for all my calls and texting. This is only way I can get reliable service at home.
vouty said:
In settings>more settings>mobile networks>network mode:
You should ALWAYS be set to GSM/WCDMA (Auto mode)
This will automatically get you the best data signal available at your location. If you only get 2G in some locations, that's normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying vouty. When I switch from auto mode to WCDMA I have 4 full bars. That's the funny part. Speedtest is giving me around 12Mbps down 3 up on average (I live right by the tower - like .5 mile), so there is for sure something strange happening. If I keep wifi on it really isn't an issue, but I prefer to not mess with wifi and just keep it in 4G while at home, but as frustrating as this problem is, the phone refuses to switch from 2G on it's own. Once I toggle from AUTO to WCDMA, and then back to auto - it will stay on 4G. It's almost as if I am waking it up and causing the phone to re-detect the signal.
vouty said:
In settings>more settings>mobile networks>network mode:
You should ALWAYS be set to GSM/WCDMA (Auto mode)
This will automatically get you the best data signal available at your location. If you only get 2G in some locations, that's normal. You can try calling TMO support and have them check your address to see if you SHOULD have 4G at that location. If you really want to try to see what is going on, install an app called Open Signal Maps form the Play store. Among other useful things, it will geolocate the towers you are connected to complete with distance and mapped street address.
Where I live I only ever get 2 or 3 bars of 2G data. I use the TMO wifi calling app for all my calls and texting. This is only way I can get reliable service at home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool app, very useful, appears I am on 3g at home. Turning off wifi to see if it changes to edge while using data.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

[Q] 3G to 4G switching on sprint sucks. Is this normal?

I've found that this phone's ability to transfer from 3G to 4G data is absurdly slow, if not completely useless. It also seems that it will never switch if there is data transfer in progress. The only reliable way to make it work is to airplane for about 10 seconds, then turn it back on. If there is 4G coverage, it will come back on immediately into 4G. Now that I think about it, the same thing seems to happen going from 1X to 3G as well.
Example of a common daily routine... When I leave work and walk outside, there is full strength 4G. But the phone will be sitting on 3G from when I was inside. It will not switch to 4G unless I airplane it first to cut it off and back on. The 3G data here is literally like a dialup 14.4 modem. So it will just sit there trying to sync or do whatever its doing until the cows come home. It will never change to the readily available 15mbs 4G data.
It is so bad, I had to make a tasker function to airplane, wait 12 seconds, and turn it back on. I made it a widget called "Reset 3G/4G".
Any way to fix this crap?
Sorry if I missed it but are you stock? Or are you rooted? Or are you rooted and running stock/custom ROM? If so, what ROM?
D
DatDude123 said:
Sorry if I missed it but are you stock? Or are you rooted? Or are you rooted and running stock/custom ROM? If so, what ROM?
D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooted with the FreeGS3 ROM.
My EVO had the same behavior where it wouldn't switch from 1X to 3G if there was active data transfer. Which makes no sense. That's like not changing lanes on the highway because you'll have to look in the mirror first.
MCL1981 said:
Rooted with the FreeGS3 ROM.
My EVO had the same behavior where it wouldn't switch from 1X to 3G if there was active data transfer. Which makes no sense. That's like not changing lanes on the highway because you'll have to look in the mirror first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe not, but the phone has to pause the connection, disconnect one radio, start up the other, wait for it to be on, connect using that radio, and then finally resume the data transfer.
I don't expect it to happen in a matter of seconds. But what you describe should not take 5, 10, 20 minutes to accomplish. It will not switch between 1x, 3g, and 4g so long as there is data transfer in progress.
MCL1981 said:
I don't expect it to happen in a matter of seconds. But what you describe should not take 5, 10, 20 minutes to accomplish. It will not switch between 1x, 3g, and 4g so long as there is data transfer in progress.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, but it may just be the apps blocking it. If theyre using it, the connection wont get dropped until it goes inactive, if I remember correctly
Here's why that makes no sense. App needs data connection. Phone in 1x with a 20kbps connection, trying to download music or photos. 3g or 4g is available. But instead of switching to it, it will just sit there until the app crashes, or tomorrow when it is done downloading.
Hmm... I'm on stock rooted MB1, and I'm also roaming at work, but there's a somewhat reliable LTE signal right outside the building, and as soon as I walk outside, I see my phone go from roaming, to not roaming, and then I see it switch to 4G in a matter of seconds. I don't need to turn on or off airplane mode or any sort of trick like that. Maybe it's ROM related? Custom kernel related? I'm not saying it is, I'm just listing possibilities.
Then again, I'm also not trying to download music or photos when I see I have a 1x connection, though my current ROM doesn't really tell me if I'm on 1x or not, so I just don't do anything network intensive when in low connection areas.
I just changed some settings in the ##DATA# menu. We'll see if that helps.

Mobile Data stops working

Hello,
I live in an area (like many of us) there T-mobile service isn't that great. I daily drive through areas with zero service and I have almost no service at my house so we utilize WIFI Calling.
I have been finding for the past few months that when I return to an area of good service (phone showing full bars of 4G or 4G LTE) that I cannot move any cellular data. If I reboot the phone then everything works again for a while. I have tried to toggle into airplane mode and back but this does not help, only a full reboot helps.
Does anyone else get this? Its very annoying to have to reboot the phone when I need to use cellular data. Appreciate some input. Phone is NOT rooted and running the latest available software from T-mobile
M
madas said:
Hello,
I live in an area (like many of us) there T-mobile service isn't that great. I daily drive through areas with zero service and I have almost no service at my house so we utilize WIFI Calling.
I have been finding for the past few months that when I return to an area of good service (phone showing full bars of 4G or 4G LTE) that I cannot move any cellular data. If I reboot the phone then everything works again for a while. I have tried to toggle into airplane mode and back but this does not help, only a full reboot helps.
Does anyone else get this? Its very annoying to have to reboot the phone when I need to use cellular data. Appreciate some input. Phone is NOT rooted and running the latest available software from T-mobile
M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It happens all the time for me. I've not been able to figure out why it happens, but I've seen some speculation in other threads where people think it can break when switching between H+, 4G, LTE, etc. Some people have reported that switching to airplane mode and back fixes it, but it doesn't work for me. Only a reboot will fix it for me.
Here is another thread with some discussion on it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6-edge/help/mobile-network-data-connection-drops-t3097605
Thanks for the response. I'm not happy to hear it appears to be happening to everyone. I wonder if any of the carriers have reported this to Samsung?
I cleared the cache partition on my phone 2 days ago and I've been good since...that doesn't mean it fixed it but its been a while since I had 2 good days!
THIS HAPPENS TO ME OMG!!! I thought I was going crazy... it happens quite often in NYC where we travel by subway underground... Switching to Airplane mode then back indeed fix it majority of the time, but it doesn't work sometimes...
Also, this happens when i am on Wifi for extended period of time, and then leave WiFi, the phone will show 4G LTE but wont' push any data.
Going into Phone status will show that you have no IP Address...
edit: btw, i've done an exchange with Tmobile, and still happens on the phone, Swapped SIM card as well, doesn't solve the problem. T-Mobile ran diagnosis, and found nothing wrong. I suspect it might be T-Mobile's network configuration...
Also, I can almost 100% reproduce this when I am playing a game that requires periodic connection (like loading acount info), and then playing in the subway while doing data connection between subway station (we have internet at the station, but not in the tunnel) will break my 4G LTE data connection...

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