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How is your 3G reception on the Vibrant? I just purchased a Vibrant as a replacement for my aging and bluetooth handicapped G1 and I am disappointed with the 3G reception.
T-Mobile's coverage in my area is moderate, and the G1 has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors, and may even flop back to 2G. It is fairly consistently on 2G in my home at 2 bars and at work I can only get 1 bar of 2G with this phone and spend the majority of the time with no signal at all.
I sat down and did some comparison between the Vibrant and the G1 and have found the following:
1. *#*#4636#*#* menu shows significantly worse signal levels on the Vibrant than on the G1, often times showing 0db and 0asu in the same location I am seeing -89db to -101db 3G on the G1.
2. The service menu on the Vibrant indicates a signal level which on 3G is fairly consistently 8db better than the one shown on the info menu. Interestingly, 2G signal levels as shown on the service menu seem fairly spot on with those shown from the info menu in Android.
3. The service menu 3G signal levels on the Vibrant seem consistent with those that I see on the G1 with a variation of perhaps only a couple of decibels.
That said, it seems interesting that battery usage on the Vibrant seems to indicate nearly 60% of its time with no service under cell standby when I get 0% in the same location with the G1. I am wondering if the time being recorded here is in fact the time spent with 0 bars being displayed even if the phone does, in fact, have a signal.
It is apparent that there is at least a software issue with the display here, as has been concluded in prior threads. However, ignoring the bar display I am wondering what others feel of the signal coverage with their Vibrant versus their old phone?
Does anyone have any experience with any of Samsung's other phone offerings? Do you think Samsung will post a radio update for this phone or possibly release one along with the GPS Fix/Froyo update in September?
I work in a position which requires me to be on-call a certain times during the year, and I can't really afford to have a phone that camps out at 60% no signal. I am really looking for reasons to keep this phone, as I like it otherwise, but practically, I need a phone that is going to receive phone calls. Any objective indications anyone can give that Samsung will continue to support this device may help sway my decision to keep it. My 14 days will be up on Thursday, so I need to make a final decision about keeping this phone before then.
Also, do any developers think that modifying the handling of the signal display in Android will cause a change in the amount of time the phone spends acquiring signal between 3G and 2G, or is this something that is purely handled within the radio firmware? If this is changeable, is this something that can be included in a future custom rom?
No coverage issues with mine.matches my mt3g in pretty much every location.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I made a call in the BOONDOCKS of NC, in an old river mill with 22 inch brick walls... NOBODY else was able to place a call other than me (all the big networks and nice phones).
I have pretty crappy 3g service here in new rochelle when at home the phone keeps fluctuating between 0-4 bars for 3G and the data speeds very inconsistent. Sometimes it even falls back to EDGE! This is pretty lame, i called t-mobile about it and they said there nothing they can do! If i am unhappy i should return the phone.
I live in NYC...
That is really all I have to say.
3-5 up speeds
constant 3g connection
The bars on the phone are funky though they look like there are none but you can still make calls. Its just the software is off just like the battery percentage.
Rishikesh said:
I have pretty crappy 3g service here in new rochelle when at home the phone keeps fluctuating between 0-4 bars for 3G and the data speeds very inconsistent. Sometimes it even falls back to EDGE! This is pretty lame, i called t-mobile about it and they said there nothing they can do! If i am unhappy i should return the phone.
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Click to collapse
If you're at home why aren't you on WiFi?
Seriously it's the most puzzling thing ever. 3G or not, I wouldn't be using it at home. Are you trying to replace your ISP with your phone or something?
You should do a search. Are you aware of the fact that -0dBm is impossible? The bars are off on this phone and the G1 is mediocre overall. It can hold on to a 3G signal for longer because your hand isn't blocking the antenna but the antenna itself is truly mediocre in fringe areas. Move your hand away from the bottom hump on the Vibrant. A lot of questions you're asking.. you're answering yourself.
I am not all too impressed with 3G coverage here at my home, but I mostly blame the network at my location and not necessarily the phone. TMO has spotty coverage near my house....period, and I live less than a mile from the tower. I have a Blackberry 9700 and it has similar issues with 3G. I've called and complained and they give me the usual "you're green on the map...return the phone....blah blah". I was closer to downtown Dallas yesterday and the phone had full bars and never got higher than -80dbm. Speedtest app showed about 3mbps downloads on average. I wouldn't say it was stellar but it's nothing like at home either. Only thing is my phone never automatically drops from 3G to E unless I am making calls. Once again the Blackberry 9700 does the same thing.
However, I am not completely convinced the phone isn't to blame either. I had a week with the new Motorola XT720, aka AWS Motoroi/Milestone that Magenta is/was rumored (who knows?) to get, and if Moto hadn't skimped on the CPU/RAM/screen/app memory of that phone I would have kept it instead of this Vibrant. That phone seemed to get much better 3G signal and HSPA was excellent compared to the Vibrant. I'm lucky if the Vibrant gets HSPA here at all. Overall network performance just seemed faster. It was quite obvious when I powered up the Vibrant the first time that 3G coverage is going to be an issue at my home with this phone.
FWIW my wife has an iPhone 3G which gets great 3G coverage here at the house on ATT. So I borrowed her SIM to test after I unlocked the Vibrant and it didn't make much difference. It did get 3G which I didn't think was technically possible until I saw that this phone has 1900 3G support as well as AWS. I do think the bars and definitely the battery indicators are not accurate whatsoever. I use Battery Indicator Pro and it's definitely obvious Samsung needs a software re-work.
Just because you live within 1 mile of a tower doesn't mean it's 3G or that there isn't something in the way of it's signal and your house.. I live within 1 mile of a tower and it's not 3G. It's supposed to get 3G soon.
heygrl said:
If you're at home why aren't you on WiFi?
Seriously it's the most puzzling thing ever. 3G or not, I wouldn't be using it at home. Are you trying to replace your ISP with your phone or something?
You should do a search. Are you aware of the fact that -0dBm is impossible? The bars are off on this phone and the G1 is mediocre overall. It can hold on to a 3G signal for longer because your hand isn't blocking the antenna but the antenna itself is truly mediocre in fringe areas. Move your hand away from the bottom hump on the Vibrant. A lot of questions you're asking.. you're answering yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I don't have WiFi in my house?
Maybe I would love to reduce my monthly expenditures by the $60 I throw away to Comcast?
I am well aware of the fact that -0dbm is impossible. This is simply what the phone is displaying. I also agree that the G1's reception is mediocre, but this phone seems worse than the G1. Blocking the antenna with my hand doesn't seem to make much difference on either the Vibrant or the G1.
I asked for objective answers to my questions which basically boil down to the following:
1. Do you think Samsung will provide support for the software on this phone (including the radio) over the long term ie. do you think there will be upgrades in this department?
2. Do you think this is something custom rom developers can address purely via modifying the OS?
Thanks for your snarky comments, but if you haven't got any objective input into the situation maybe this thread is not for you.
equid0x said:
Maybe I don't have WiFi in my house?
Maybe I would love to reduce my monthly expenditures by the $60 I throw away to Comcast?
I am well aware of the fact that -0dbm is impossible. This is simply what the phone is displaying. I also agree that the G1's reception is mediocre, but this phone seems worse than the G1. Blocking the antenna with my hand doesn't seem to make much difference on either the Vibrant or the G1.
I asked for objective answers to my questions which basically boil down to the following:
1. Do you think Samsung will provide support for the software on this phone (including the radio) over the long term ie. do you think there will be upgrades in this department?
2. Do you think this is something custom rom developers can address purely via modifying the OS?
Thanks for your snarky comments, but if you haven't got any objective input into the situation maybe this thread is not for you.
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Click to collapse
You're asking questions that we can't answer. Do we work at Samsung? No. Would stock Android fix this? Maybe.
It seems worse than the G1 because based on your comments the bars are having an affect on what you deem to be "worse". I've had tons of T-Mobile phones including the G1 and the Vibrant is not considerably worse than any. INFACT it will hold on to a 3G signal for longer than most. My CLIQ displayed 3 bars as -105dBm. Accurate? NO.
has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors,
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Click to collapse
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having any disconcernable change you're not doing it right
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
heygrl said:
You're asking questions that we can't answer. Do we work at Samsung? No.
It seems worse than the G1 because based on your comments the bars are having an affect on what you deem to be "worse". I've had tons of T-Mobile phones including the G1 and the Vibrant is not considerably worse than any. INFACT it will hold on to a 3G signal for longer than most. My CLIQ displayed 3 bars as -105dBm. Accurate? NO.
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having much of a change at all you're lying or not doing it right.
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
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Click to collapse
I know that nobody here is working for Samsung but there are plenty of people here who have developed for Android, and the question I am posing is if this is something that can be addressed in a custom rom.
I think my original post makes it clear that there is obviously a software issue with bar display, but I am wondering if this software issue is also causing the Android OS to force a switch to 2G in an instance where the G1 with a properly functioning display would keep 3G. ie, the phone is switching to 2G early because it thinks it only has -111dbm when it in fact still has -103dbm. I am not clear on whether this functionality is performed within the OS itself or purely within the radio firmware.
My hands are rather large, so holding the G1 basically covers the entire rear of the phone. The antenna is near the top of the phone whereas the antenna on the Vibrant seems to be on the bottom. Though holding both phones in various positions seems to have little effect on the received signal strength so far as I can tell.
The time spent without signal in cell standby I believe to be erroneous. I think it is tallying up that time any time there are zero bars, even if the phone still has a signal. This makes it very difficult to objectively compare the 2 phones. If the OS is in fact driving the switch from 3G to 2G this may explain my poor access in fringe areas as the phone will be constantly flapping between the two. If the functions that drive this behavior are within the AOSP source this could easily be something we can fix in a custom rom even without Samsung's help, even if a radio update would be ideal.
heygrl said:
Where is the antenna on the G1? If you're telling me you're putting your hand over it and not having any disconcernable change you're not doing it right
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Click to collapse
I can wrap my hand around the phone (Vibrant), either top, center or bottom and I do not see any change in either reception, call quality, network throughput or number of bars.
heygrl said:
If you don't have WiFi at your house you need to get some.
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Click to collapse
It is perfectly understandable that if he has good reception with a G1, an older phone, he expects at least a similar level or reception with a newer, higher end phone. WiFi would be considered a workaround.
I just received my Vibrant on Monday and it's sadly replacing my amazing Nexus One. I've noticed that the Vibrant antenna is AWFUL. Where I received 4-5 bars on the N1, I'm getting 1-3 bars now and it even goes down to Edge once every few hours.
Like the OP, I've been monitoring the db levels and they're frequently around -95 through -107. While my calls don't actually drop, the quality does get worse. I'm also getting many 3G connection errors when trying to browser or download apps from the Market. It's quite disappointing. The phone is made of plastic as well, so I'd imagine that the antenna reception should be better.
Being that there are only 2 pages on this particular thread, does this mean it's a fluke and others' phones are ok?
allen099 said:
I just received my Vibrant on Monday and it's sadly replacing my amazing Nexus One. I've noticed that the Vibrant antenna is AWFUL. Where I received 4-5 bars on the N1, I'm getting 1-3 bars now and it even goes down to Edge once every few hours.
Like the OP, I've been monitoring the db levels and they're frequently around -95 through -107. While my calls don't actually drop, the quality does get worse. I'm also getting many 3G connection errors when trying to browser or download apps from the Market. It's quite disappointing. The phone is made of plastic as well, so I'd imagine that the antenna reception should be better.
Being that there are only 2 pages on this particular thread, does this mean it's a fluke and others' phones are ok?
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Click to collapse
4-5 bars on a phone with a 4 bar scale?
Stop looking at -dBm on the Vibrant, it's not accurate.
If you don't want the phone to switch to EDGE lock it on 3G.
heygrl said:
4-5 bars on a phone with a 4 bar scale?
Stop looking at -dBm on the Vibrant, it's not accurate.
If you don't want the phone to switch to EDGE lock it on 3G.
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Click to collapse
How do you lock it on 3G?
javacody said:
How do you lock it on 3G?
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Click to collapse
This worked for me (copy/paste and remove spaces in http):
h t t p://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7438987&postcount=7
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7438987&postcount=7
Thanks. 3G is spotty at best in the Des Moines Area, so I'll leave well enough alone.
So, in follow up to this, I had downloaded and installed RF signal tracker from the market and went driving around until I found a tower. It seems that via Android OS the best signal strength received was -81dbm and that was sitting right next to the tower. The phone stayed locked at -81dbm for a few miles down the road so I suspect this is peak signal on this phone which should really be something like -65dbm. I think this pretty much confirms that there is indeed a software issue with the signal display.
I also took some time looking at Android code and found that the bars are driven on GSM/UMTS by asu as follows:
if (asu <= 2 || asu == 99) iconLevel = 0;
else if (asu >= 12) iconLevel = 4;
else if (asu >= 8) iconLevel = 3;
else if (asu >= 5) iconLevel = 2;
else iconLevel = 1;
So figuring up the dbm values from these, I went ahead and created a new asu scale which is adjusted -8dbm from "normal" since this seems to be the worst case of the mismatch between the phone firmware and what Android is reporting and applied that within the market app Real Signal to try and get an apples to apples comparison of signal bars between this phone and the old G1. Unfortunately, the degree if miscalibration means we can't set a negative ASU so we don't get any meaningful display on Real Signal until we hit the 3rd bar. In doing this if I go to a moderate overage area I am seeing the bars I would expect.
After my little drive with RF Signal Tracker its actually pretty clear that discrepancy is really more like -15dbm, which adjusting the figures should mean that this phone in reality gets slightly better reception than the old G1.
It seems we should be able to workaround this in a custom ROM by doing one of the following:
1. Modify getGsmSignalStrength() to add the -15dbm to the returned signal strength value(hackish).
2. Modify the vendor RIL to compensate for the -15dbm offset when on UMTS. (Probably the proper solution).
I'm not clear on whether the vendor RIL code gets posted to AOSP...
equid0x said:
How is your 3G reception on the Vibrant? I just purchased a Vibrant as a replacement for my aging and bluetooth handicapped G1 and I am disappointed with the 3G reception.
T-Mobile's coverage in my area is moderate, and the G1 has been able to hold on to a 3G signal in most locations. Typically, at home the G1 will hold on to 2-3 bars of 3G, and at work I am lucky to get 1 -- usually camps out on 2G with 4 or 5 bars.
The Vibrant pretty much always shows 0 bars of 3G while indoors, and may even flop back to 2G. It is fairly consistently on 2G in my home at 2 bars and at work I can only get 1 bar of 2G with this phone and spend the majority of the time with no signal at all.
I sat down and did some comparison between the Vibrant and the G1 and have found the following:
1. *#*#4636#*#* menu shows significantly worse signal levels on the Vibrant than on the G1, often times showing 0db and 0asu in the same location I am seeing -89db to -101db 3G on the G1.
2. The service menu on the Vibrant indicates a signal level which on 3G is fairly consistently 8db better than the one shown on the info menu. Interestingly, 2G signal levels as shown on the service menu seem fairly spot on with those shown from the info menu in Android.
3. The service menu 3G signal levels on the Vibrant seem consistent with those that I see on the G1 with a variation of perhaps only a couple of decibels.
That said, it seems interesting that battery usage on the Vibrant seems to indicate nearly 60% of its time with no service under cell standby when I get 0% in the same location with the G1. I am wondering if the time being recorded here is in fact the time spent with 0 bars being displayed even if the phone does, in fact, have a signal.
It is apparent that there is at least a software issue with the display here, as has been concluded in prior threads. However, ignoring the bar display I am wondering what others feel of the signal coverage with their Vibrant versus their old phone?
Does anyone have any experience with any of Samsung's other phone offerings? Do you think Samsung will post a radio update for this phone or possibly release one along with the GPS Fix/Froyo update in September?
I work in a position which requires me to be on-call a certain times during the year, and I can't really afford to have a phone that camps out at 60% no signal. I am really looking for reasons to keep this phone, as I like it otherwise, but practically, I need a phone that is going to receive phone calls. Any objective indications anyone can give that Samsung will continue to support this device may help sway my decision to keep it. My 14 days will be up on Thursday, so I need to make a final decision about keeping this phone before then.
Also, do any developers think that modifying the handling of the signal display in Android will cause a change in the amount of time the phone spends acquiring signal between 3G and 2G, or is this something that is purely handled within the radio firmware? If this is changeable, is this something that can be included in a future custom rom?
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Click to collapse
I haven't done any detailed tests but I can state that in real world use, I am not happy with my Vibrant's reception. My G1 was very noticeably better at getting and holding 3G and Edge connections in the same locations where my new Vibrant won't.
Next to a tower on GSM(GSM/GPRS/EDGE) you should see -51dBm at the most with Android. W-CDMA is different because they really don't use -dBm to determine signal quality. They use power/noise.
I have a very strange issue. At home I get outside / inside I get 1 - 2 bars. If i drive two / three blocks left or right from my house I get 5 bars 3G. I have called t-mobile, and they have sent engs to test. First eng said its the phone and not their service. I explained to them I have 2 blackberrys and two android phones. Same signal on each! They sent another tech out and he said they are not going to improve the coverage in my area. I've been looking around for repeaters, boosters, etc, but I see that nobody makes a booster for the 1700 MHz.
Does anyone have any ideas?
im in chicago and i get the same thing. i get 1 bar 3g, or 2-3 bars on edge. sometimes, my signal drops all together and then comes back a few seconds later. i've told tmobile about this and they said there is no outage in my area. however, my dad's phone is fine; granted it's us cellular but still fine. just has to be tmobile. any of my friends who have tmobile, always lose signal at my place.
but good luck finding any company who will admit that their is something wrong with their service.
I am having the same problem in my house but outside is perfect. I notice that many Samsung Vibrant user has same problem at their residential. Why? Don't know...
im thinkin it could be the phone. cuz i didnt have problems with my old iphone..
It is not the phone. This is typical behavior for 2100 mhz signal. (t-mobile uplink frequency)
Yeah, I know the higher the mhz the harder it is to reach through buildings...one reason why hand radios such as police, fire, ems still use 700 / 800 range.
For my location its like the 3G towers get so close they lose signal near me. There are 3 tmobile towers within a 1 mile radius of me. Im right in the middle of all three.
This has been confirmed by tmobile and their tower website.
http://www.t-mobiletowers.com
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
i was using tmobile when i had my iphone.. so i still think the phone plays a role in this also
If you've never had a 3G device on T-Mobile there is no comparison to be made.
Secondly just because you're near a tower doesn't mean all of them will have 3G. 1 of those towers could be 3G while the other two are 2G.
T-Mobile's legacy 2G network is PCS AKA 1900 - already a high frequency network. There are a NUMBER of reasons why 3G isn't as strong as 2G. First of all 2G and 3G signal strength is measured differently. 1 bar (or 0 on the Vibrant) can mean choppy, garbling calls on 2G/GSM but on 3G, 1 bar can give you crystal clear calls and good-enough data service. EDGE with 1 bar is next to unbearable.
I actually have a problem because my neighbor has an illegal repeater that is tagged for AT&T. Because AT&T has really poor service in this area, he has it cranked up so high that if you get within half a block of his house all other GSM/EDGE/3G devices start to flake out. I doubt he even gets much better service in his house (I'm sure the repeater is just amplifying garbage signal anyway).
quetwo said:
I actually have a problem because my neighbor has an illegal repeater that is tagged for AT&T. Because AT&T has really poor service in this area, he has it cranked up so high that if you get within half a block of his house all other GSM/EDGE/3G devices start to flake out. I doubt he even gets much better service in his house (I'm sure the repeater is just amplifying garbage signal anyway).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
report him to the feds and that'll get rid of all your problems
Yeah, report him to the FCC. There is the threat of a $10K fine but usually thats all it takes to get them to turn of the repeater. If you don't want to be the bad guy, call t-mobile and rat him out.
quetwo said:
I actually have a problem because my neighbor has an illegal repeater that is tagged for AT&T. Because AT&T has really poor service in this area, he has it cranked up so high that if you get within half a block of his house all other GSM/EDGE/3G devices start to flake out. I doubt he even gets much better service in his house (I'm sure the repeater is just amplifying garbage signal anyway).
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Click to collapse
I wonder if thats why my signal just drops like a rock. I literally turn the corner and I go from 5 bars to 2 bars.
The Vibrant has 4 bars max, not 5. The bar display is very sensitive on the Vibrant, just the same as any other Samsung. Stop focusing on the bars, they're totally different when compared to any other Android phone.
heygrl said:
The Vibrant has 4 bars max, not 5. The bar display is very sensitive on the Vibrant, just the same as any other Samsung. Stop focusing on the bars, they're totally different when compared to any other Android phone.
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Click to collapse
I agree, I have 0 bars inside my house but I am able to place calls upstairs but not downstairs. During my testing I used the bar status and *#*#197328640#*#* for the reading. You can tell with bar status though that it will be 5 bars and drive 2 more blocks its down to 2 bars. Same with *#*#197328640#*#* by the signal numbers.
I didn't read everything just wanted to give a reply really quick to the OP, I live in the chicago land area, work closer to the city and live in the west burbs, on Tmo, at work and around work area i get 3-5 bars all day long on 3g but once i get intside of my house it drops down to 0-1 and phone call quility is very poor.
To help my issue, once i get home i switch to "Use only 2G networks" under Mobile network settings, and once it switchs over i have full 5 everywhere with in my house on edge only and use my wifi if i want to surf the web. But the thing is call quility is back up to 100% when switching over once at home.
IDK if this will help you but worth a shot.
or you might try a more neighborly approach, ie warn him first
i had a problem years ago with a new neighbor (young kid) had rented a house few doors down from me - and was obviously selling drugs - this was in the inner city, the historic district, cars would pull up from time to time and the driver would jump out and run in his back door, spend 5 - 15 minutes and leave, and there'd be 5 to 10 cars a night when he had a shipment in. Problem was, the guy or guys left waiting in his car would be eyeballing the BMWs, volvos etc parked in the center of the block (center of block had two alleys, with a small private parking lot between them. they see or think these cars were easy prey for breakins, and they were - after he moved in we started seeing a breakin every 2-3 weeks
i told him one of the neighbors had asked me was he dealing drugs, as it sure looked like it, and hoping he'd get the hint, i told him it's none of my business but if you are, you might ask the customers to come to the front of your house - we've had way too many breakins into the cars and that neighbor that asked is ready to call the cops.
he didn't get the hint - cops were called, but only after giving him a chance, and they ended up raiding him
you get the point - use a "hypothetical" neighbor that had complained to you, so you don't unnecessarrily start a fence war
dougE24 said:
I didn't read everything just wanted to give a reply really quick to the OP, I live in the chicago land area, work closer to the city and live in the west burbs, on Tmo, at work and around work area i get 3-5 bars all day long on 3g but once i get intside of my house it drops down to 0-1 and phone call quility is very poor.
To help my issue, once i get home i switch to "Use only 2G networks" under Mobile network settings, and once it switchs over i have full 5 everywhere with in my house on edge only and use my wifi if i want to surf the web. But the thing is call quility is back up to 100% when switching over once at home.
IDK if this will help you but worth a shot.
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Click to collapse
I usually get maybe 1-2 bars of service at my house, and on a lot of days it's worse. Sometimes I can't maintain a call at all because the conversation is so broken. I tried doing what you've mentioned here and was surprised when my bars immediately jumped to full and stayed that way....for about 1 minute lol. Then I watched as they slowly dropped again to 1 bar. Which it then flickered up to 2 occasionally. I'm glad it works for you though. It was just funny for me because I'm yelling at my girlfriend "LOOK LOOK!! I HAVE FULL SIGNAL NOW!! Then I got sad face lol.
dougE24 said:
I didn't read everything just wanted to give a reply really quick to the OP, I live in the chicago land area, work closer to the city and live in the west burbs, on Tmo, at work and around work area i get 3-5 bars all day long on 3g but once i get intside of my house it drops down to 0-1 and phone call quility is very poor.
To help my issue, once i get home i switch to "Use only 2G networks" under Mobile network settings, and once it switchs over i have full 5 everywhere with in my house on edge only and use my wifi if i want to surf the web. But the thing is call quility is back up to 100% when switching over once at home.
IDK if this will help you but worth a shot.
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Click to collapse
Thanx Doug, This actually helped a lot in the house
laristech said:
..................., but I see that nobody makes a booster for the 1700 MHz.
Does anyone have any ideas?
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Click to collapse
actually there are quite a few wireless repeaters / boosters for 1700/2100
do a google for 1700/2100 repeaters, it'll pull up quite a few
here's one http://www.jdteck.com/jd55-pr-consumer-repeaters-p-2.html
I have had many phones with tmobile and a previous android the euro hero and never had I only had 0 to 1 bars on 3g in my house and best 3 bars on edge. All my previous had full 3g signal in my house til I got my vibrant so I can say that is the phone and not the service.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Hi.
I may possibly be moving about 30 mins away and the location has inconsistent signal...I get 4 bars of LTE in one spot, move literally 2 feet away and I am down to 1 bar of 3G signal. I need to have a very solid 4G-LTE signal as I use my phone for tethering as my main internet to my desktop and I also work a bit from home so this is important.
I am wondering if there is any product out there that can enhance my 4G-LTE signal on my phone that you can get and does not require a separate internet connection to work?
To my knowledge, the current Verizon network extender requires an internet connection and can only distribute/extend 3G speeds....this won't do.
flooritnfly said:
Hi.
I may possibly be moving about 30 mins away and the location has inconsistent signal...I get 4 bars of LTE in one spot, move literally 2 feet away and I am down to 1 bar of 3G signal. I need to have a very solid 4G-LTE signal as I use my phone for tethering as my main internet to my desktop and I also work a bit from home so this is important.
I am wondering if there is any product out there that can enhance my 4G-LTE signal on my phone that you can get and does not require a separate internet connection to work?
To my knowledge, the current Verizon network extender requires an internet connection and can only distribute/extend 3G speeds....this won't do.
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Some may claim to extend LTE passively, but if you look at the specification, it's pretty much impossible to do passively. About the closest you can get is to build a picocell; a cell that covers a small home or office area. The reason they don't work is because LTE, like GSM, uses time division duplexing. This requires an advance in signal broadcast to compensate for the speed of light so that the handset's signal always reaches the tower inside it's assigned time window. The delay is a function of distance. Once your distance is greater than the allowable advance of the specification, the tower will drop your signal regardless of how strong it might be.
loonatik78 said:
Some may claim to extend LTE passively, but if you look at the specification, it's pretty much impossible to do passively. About the closest you can get is to build a picocell; a cell that covers a small home or office area. The reason they don't work is because LTE, like GSM, uses time division duplexing. This requires an advance in signal broadcast to compensate for the speed of light so that the handset's signal always reaches the tower inside it's assigned time window. The delay is a function of distance. Once your distance is greater than the allowable advance of the specification, the tower will drop your signal regardless of how strong it might be.
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Sooo.....anything on here won't help me out?
flooritnfly said:
Sooo.....anything on here won't help me out?
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Nope. None of that will help at all unless you're planning on making your own cell.
What's the point in them selling them then?
And how do I solve my problem aside from moving somewhere closer to a tower?
flooritnfly said:
What's the point in them selling them then?
And how do I solve my problem aside from moving somewhere closer to a tower?
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Judging by the fact they all have coax leads on them, they're specifically designed for permanent client installations such as home broadband or to build a small cell within or very near a home or building. Doing what you're wanting to do, as in creating a local cell that extends to where you're at and uplinking via LTE, is possible, but you'd have to clone a device that would authenticate on Verizon's network and I'm pretty sure that would be pretty illegal on a couple fronts.
Not sure where you live, but around where I'm at in the rural areas WiMax is a common broadband solution that provides pretty good data rates.
loonatik78 said:
Judging by the fact they all have coax leads on them, they're specifically designed for permanent client installations such as home broadband or to build a small cell within or very near a home or building. Doing what you're wanting to do, as in creating a local cell that extends to where you're at and uplinking via LTE, is possible, but you'd have to clone a device that would authenticate on Verizon's network and I'm pretty sure that would be pretty illegal on a couple fronts.
Not sure where you live, but around where I'm at in the rural areas WiMax is a common broadband solution that provides pretty good data rates.
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Are you suggesting I dump VZW?
omg people are you serious
loonatik78 said:
Some may claim to extend LTE passively, but if you look at the specification, it's pretty much impossible to do passively. About the closest you can get is to build a picocell; a cell that covers a small home or office area. The reason they don't work is because LTE, like GSM, uses time division duplexing. This requires an advance in signal broadcast to compensate for the speed of light so that the handset's signal always reaches the tower inside it's assigned time window. The delay is a function of distance. Once your distance is greater than the allowable advance of the specification, the tower will drop your signal regardless of how strong it might be.
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Are you for real LTE is nothing like gsm and tdma is completly different than gsm as well which stands for time division multiple access LTE is an IP. Based technology. With that said im waisting no more text on this fool.
Passive LTE Boost
flooritnfly said:
Are you suggesting I dump VZW?
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I know this is an old thread but just in case your still interested.
I have the Wilson Sleek LTE Booster. It took my Thunderbolt from Zero 3G to full 4G at my home. It was designed for mobile use but it works great. I know use it with an iPhone 5 with which it is even better. Wilson has a full home system that uses a directional outdoor antenna, and an indoor antenna that will connect an unlimited number of LT E devices all at once. I am getting this device soon.
So I've been reading up on the sprint airave, seems great. But I use my phones internet on my laptop and don't have a dedicated itnernet line....... Therefore using an airave is out of the question. Are there any other similar ways of boosting my signal strength or am I sh*t out of luck
[Edit]
Other than prls and different radios
Sent From My Eco 4g Using Mean 4.2
Phutt89 said:
So I've been reading up on the sprint airave, seems great. But I use my phones internet on my laptop and don't have a dedicated itnernet line....... Therefore using an airave is out of the question. Are there any other similar ways of boosting my signal strength or am I sh*t out of luck
[Edit]
Other than prls and different radios
Sent From My Eco 4g Using Mean 4.2
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I have an airave setup at my work & it works great. Have had very little problems with it. My only complaints with the airave is you can restrict which sprint #'s it will work on which is a great feature (can be any sprint # doesn't have to be on same account) however after settings it up over time #'s you put in seem to drop off. If your not authorized for the airave and you come into the office the airave actually makes the signal worse for the person on the phone over the tower. So if your not authorized the phone will see it but won't connect to it so the bars jump up and down making the signals even worse. I ended up shutting that feature off cause I was sick of having to re add numbers to the list. I just have it set to open now works fine. Also when your coming in from outside it won't let you hop on to the airave but if you are leaving it will transfer over to the tower. However I found this feature doesn't work very and a lot of times will drop the call. Sometimes it works but the handoff is not smooth at all and it breaks up. Also there is a very annoying dining sound when you are using the airave when a call first connects or you answer it. I have got use to it but there is no way to shut it off.
I also have a Wilson 841262 booster on order which doesn't need an internet connection. Although I can't provide a review for you since I haven't set it up yet, it does have great reviews and after much research seems to be the best value repeater. I didn't want a junk one or spend a grand on one so I think this is a good price point. I would stay away from the "desk ones" you want entire house coverage with decent signal output. I can let you know how it works once I get it running but if it works well at $350 while still steep is manageable. My only concern with this unit is how it will handle handoffs although your not really doing a hand off because say you start a call inside your house it's on the repeater then walk outside it should stay on the same tower it's not really handing off to a different tower but the phone still has to transition from the repeater base to the tower itself so I'm curious to see how well that works.
So, I live in a rural area, and this isn't likely to change for the next year or two. We have a marginal DSL connection, which has problems that ATT is extremely apathetic about solving. So I've come to rely on my DNA on an unlimited plan to tether. We actually have an LTE tower here, which is great! However, as 4g phones have become more prevalent, naturally the quality of my service began to suffer. I believe I'm roughly 2 miles from the nearest tower.
In the beginning, I would get 20 down, 5 up. Way more than I was used to and plenty for streaming Twitch/Netflix and surfing the web. The connection was rock solid and of course great for gaming. Lately, I'm lucky to get 5 down, 2 up. From 8pm to midnight, There are periods that I'll get .5 down. Point 5. One half. 500kbps. 2 bars of 4g. 500kbps. Even right now, at 5pm, I'm buffering frequently on a 2Mbps twitch stream, doing nothing else with the connection.
So I guess I need to end with a question. Is this a tower issue, can it possibly be that congested? Is it the radio on my DNA somehow? I'm running the stock ROM (rooted, s-off, unlocked stock ROM from the forums here.) and latest radio. Is there a radio version that's reputed to perform better? I'm not much of a phone guy when I'm at home, so if there's some way I can arrange it to be more reliable, putting it on a high shelf or something weird or crazy, I'm open-minded. Is there a ROM that'll make it easier? I used to run Viper, but I didn't use all the features so felt like stock was reasonable.
Basically, any suggestions for improving my LTE performance are welcome.
It could be the tower is congested. I know if I go downtown Phoenix area during the day, I cannot get above 250kbps, but uptown areas like Glendale and Peoria, I never go below 10mbps. It is because downtown towers are congested.
If it is the tower like my experience above, no radio flash will help you.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using XDA Free mobile app
Thanks for the input. That's pretty much what I'd concluded about my location as well, even though we aren't a high population area. It's a one-intersection town in the midwest. I suppose the tower could be located differently from where I believe it is, but that one would be even less populated.
What is your 4G coverage like in an urban area as opposed to at home? I'm also s-off, rooted and on stock ROM and live in the country. I'm almost smack in the middle of two towers, one two miles to the east and one a mile and a half to the west. When I'm at home my speeds are 15 down and 2-3 up with one to two bars. When I'm in the city area my speeds are almost 35 down and 15-20 up with full bars. In populated areas Verizon lines to have many towers covering an area so the phone can triangulate between the towers to get the best speed and coverage. Those of us in the country usually have only one tower in town and towns are sitar apart so the phone can't triangulate a signal. Once the line tower becomes congested we have no other towers to fall back on and speeds are effected. Which sounds like the problem you describe.
that makes a lot of sense sabres. I don't get out much so I can't really gauge how things work out of a home situation, unfortunately.