[Q] Cell signal problems - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So for a couple of months now my Vibrant would just all of the sudden drop its data connections. Would be streaming Pandora or surfing the web (or even maybe doing nothing at all) and the data would just stop. Now it would still show me having a strong signal (full bars) and the upload/download arrows would be flashing like it was getting data, but nothing. Some things I noticed:
1) Usually lost data when on 3G. Forcing GSM seemed to work without data loss
2) Indoor, Outdoor, at Work or Home. Location didn't mater, it lost data all over the place
3) Ran a ping test when I lost data and this is what I got:
HTTP Client Test = Fail: IOException
Ping Hostname = Fail: Host Unreachable
Ping IP Address = Fail: IP Addr not reachable
Average Signal Strength: -80 dBm
4) Happened on stock 2.1, Nero, Bionix-v
Just this past few days, it has not started losing a signal all together. Only happens at home and I think it happens after I turn on my Wifi and the phone goes to sleep (guess I should pull the log files and see if anything is happening). Tried doing a search for a signal but get nothing. I have to reboot the phone to get a signal back.
Anyone got any ideas, suggestions, help? Thanks!

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Ok, now it's happening 3 to 5 times a day. Anyone got any ideas?

i actually was having this same issue with signal loss and data loss. i could take my wife's phone which is a vibrant and hold the 2 side by side and her phone would have full 3g. Mine would have maybe 1 or 2 bars of edge. then sometimes it wouldn't have any signal or data. i flashed back to stock 2.1 and the problem didn't go away. I called tmobile and they took me off the towers and re-registered my phone back again and it didn't fix the issue. they sent me in for a new sim card and that didn't fix the issue.
well i had to break down and get a replacement phone sent under warranty. just got the phone today and my signal is back to where it should be. and i would like to add the my problems started after we had a pretty bad storm come though my area this past friday. don't know if it had anything to do with my signal issues or if it was just coincidence
but i didn't want to get a replacement phone because i know it would not be a new phone and it would most likely be a refurb. and i was correct they sent me a refurb in a white box. sucks that it is a refurb but at least i got my signal back

Related

3G and 4GLTE symbols randomly disappear

Literally every single day my "3G" or "4GLTE" symbol disappears and thus lose my data connection. The bars will remain, even with 3 or 4 bars (full signal), but the symbol is gone. I do not have the SLIGHTEST CLUE why it does this, I have tried different roms and different radio combinations and it still does it. It could be gone for 1 minute, 8 minutes, or like today THIRTY (30) minutes at one point! I use my phone for work AND HAVE TO HAVE a reliable connection. I literally sat on my tushy for 30 minutes trying to get my 3G or 4GLTE symbol back and it took restoring a different ROM for it to come back. Later in the day I restored back to the ROM I was on and the 3G was there with no problem.
I do not understand this for the Godforsaken life of me and am about ready to hurl my Thunderbolt at a train.
Help. Please.
flooritnfly said:
Literally every single day my "3G" or "4GLTE" symbol disappears and thus lose my data connection. The bars will remain, even with 3 or 4 bars (full signal), but the symbol is gone. I do not have the SLIGHTEST CLUE why it does this, I have tried different roms and different radio combinations and it still does it. It could be gone for 1 minute, 8 minutes, or like today THIRTY (30) minutes at one point! I use my phone for work AND HAVE TO HAVE a reliable connection. I literally sat on my tushy for 30 minutes trying to get my 3G or 4GLTE symbol back and it took restoring a different ROM for it to come back. Later in the day I restored back to the ROM I was on and the 3G was there with no problem.
I do not understand this for the Godforsaken life of me and am about ready to hurl my Thunderbolt at a train.
Help. Please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the bars indicate voice connection only, not data connection. It is possible to have a good voice signal, yet a weak data connection.
You're probably encountering this as your phone switches from 4g. Some reason it is not always a seamless transfer.
Sent from my Eternity Infected TB
It's happening to me too. I'm not sure if it's because of issues switching from 4G to 3G, because prior to the most recent Gingerbread update, I was pretty consistently getting 4G, and now it'll drop the data connection even if I leave my phone on my nightstand all day.
I'm wondering if it has anything to do with my battery life getting way worse after the update? I've never done it before, but I'm seriously thinking about rooting and installing a custom ROM... or saving up and buying a Rezound at full retail.
I believe this is a known issue with this phone (and most other 4G phones). I don't see this problem when I'm in a very strong 4G area. But, at home, I have to use LTE On/Off to lock it into LTE-only mode. It's the only way to keep it from switching back and forth from 3G to 4G. (Sadly, I also need to leave the phone near a window to receive a 4G signal.)

Vibrant signal reception non existent while in hand ?!?!

I need some help troubleshooting a puzzling problem. This morning, i noticed that my phone had a edge connection in my house, which was strange to me, because i always have a solid 3g connection on my vibrant. I then realized my signal would completely vanish when my phone was in hand. The phone would literally say that i did not have service, but once i place the phone down, it would regain some sort of signal, but the signal would still be rather weak. Im not able to call or text with phone in hand, but i can (barely) when i place the phone down. My signal strength now never gets out of the -100 dBm range, which i know isnt good.
So, I began to try changing modems. i was originally on a 2.2 froyo based rom on KB5, i tried installing the following modems KA6,J16,JFD and KA7, but the problem persisted with all of the modems. As a last resort, i odin'd back to stock froyo 2.2 and im still having terrible reception, is there anything else i can try, or is it time to get another phone???
Did you pay your bill?
Lol yes, its funny that you say that tho, because my bill was due today and i paid it today, but i did not get the usual "thanks being with tmobile" text that usually comes with after a payment.

HTC Titan II drops cellular data connection randomly

Curious issue with my Titan II. Cellular data connection just fails at random intervals. Cycling airplane mode or rebooting the phone is the only way to get it back. HTC blames it on AT&T and AT&T blames it on HTC. I've spent hours on the phone with each. Even got a new Titan II from AT&T, but it went into this constant reboot loop, so I went back to the first unit.
Now comes the interesting part: I live in Detroit and have been traveling to FL quite a bit, this year.. and the issue DOES NOT HAPPEN IN TAMPA. Phone runs perfectly well, there. Here in Detroit, cellular data "up" time ranges from 5 minutes to 14 hours when static. 2 minutes to 20 minutes when driving around town. Drops are less frequent when streaming something.
HTC Titan II stock (FW: 2180.0400.118011.502)
Windows Phone 7.5 (7.10.8112.7)
4G SIM card (3rd one)
Appropriate data plan
Serious thanks for any ideas anyone has. Do I add an APN, throw the phone against the wall, or what? Please do not suggest I change to a different phone as that is not an option.
DrDon995 said:
Curious issue with my Titan II. Cellular data connection just fails at random intervals. Cycling airplane mode or rebooting the phone is the only way to get it back. HTC blames it on AT&T and AT&T blames it on HTC. I've spent hours on the phone with each. Even got a new Titan II from AT&T, but it went into this constant reboot loop, so I went back to the first unit.
Now comes the interesting part: I live in Detroit and have been traveling to FL quite a bit, this year.. and the issue DOES NOT HAPPEN IN TAMPA. Phone runs perfectly well, there. Here in Detroit, cellular data "up" time ranges from 5 minutes to 14 hours when static. 2 minutes to 20 minutes when driving around town. Drops are less frequent when streaming something.
HTC Titan II stock (FW: 2180.0400.118011.502)
Windows Phone 7.5 (7.10.8112.7)
4G SIM card (3rd one)
Appropriate data plan
Serious thanks for any ideas anyone has. Do I add an APN, throw the phone against the wall, or what? Please do not suggest I change to a different phone as that is not an option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm facing the same issue.
It seems something related to wifi sleeping when the phone goes stand by and the solution could be keeping it alive in some way....like streaming..
I hope this will be fixed with AT&T Tango 8773 Update (Once it finally come....)
DrDon995 said:
Curious issue with my Titan II. Cellular data connection just fails at random intervals. Cycling airplane mode or rebooting the phone is the only way to get it back. HTC blames it on AT&T and AT&T blames it on HTC. I've spent hours on the phone with each. Even got a new Titan II from AT&T, but it went into this constant reboot loop, so I went back to the first unit.
Now comes the interesting part: I live in Detroit and have been traveling to FL quite a bit, this year.. and the issue DOES NOT HAPPEN IN TAMPA. Phone runs perfectly well, there. Here in Detroit, cellular data "up" time ranges from 5 minutes to 14 hours when static. 2 minutes to 20 minutes when driving around town. Drops are less frequent when streaming something.
HTC Titan II stock (FW: 2180.0400.118011.502)
Windows Phone 7.5 (7.10.8112.7)
4G SIM card (3rd one)
Appropriate data plan
Serious thanks for any ideas anyone has. Do I add an APN, throw the phone against the wall, or what? Please do not suggest I change to a different phone as that is not an option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you aren't hitting "black spots" on your network? If you have random connection drops in only particular area it is likely the masts and AT&T issue. I've swapped my provider from the one which did 2G/3G signals to 3G only provider. 3G only has better coverage and lesser black spots on the network and hence I hardly see any drops in connectivity. Don't hard reset or anything, it will only make you re-do the whole phone, won't help the cause.
Have you checked if two golden pins on the back cover are making good contact with phone?
drupad2drupad said:
Are you sure you aren't hitting "black spots" on your network? If you have random connection drops in only particular area it is likely the masts and AT&T issue. I've swapped my provider from the one which did 2G/3G signals to 3G only provider. 3G only has better coverage and lesser black spots on the network and hence I hardly see any drops in connectivity. Don't hard reset or anything, it will only make you re-do the whole phone, won't help the cause.
Have you checked if two golden pins on the back cover are making good contact with phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to rule all of that out as it doesn't happen at all in Tampa. I can drive from Ybor City to Clearwater and back and never need to reset the phone. Here at home, I have four bars and will lose cellular data with the phone in a static location. Driving around in Detroit is guaranteed to make it drop cellular data even with the phone lit up and active. I can have Navigator running and it'll just quit loading maps and giving directions until I cycle Airplane Mode. In Tampa, this doesn't happen.
In Tampa, I've gone the whole week without any need to reset the phone. I can't walk from the gate to baggage claim in Detroit before it loses its data connection.
DrDon995 said:
Have to rule all of that out as it doesn't happen at all in Tampa. I can drive from Ybor City to Clearwater and back and never need to reset the phone. Here at home, I have four bars and will lose cellular data with the phone in a static location. Driving around in Detroit is guaranteed to make it drop cellular data even with the phone lit up and active. I can have Navigator running and it'll just quit loading maps and giving directions until I cycle Airplane Mode. In Tampa, this doesn't happen.
In Tampa, I've gone the whole week without any need to reset the phone. I can't walk from the gate to baggage claim in Detroit before it loses its data connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UPDATE: Cellular data connection is a little better with WiFi turned off. It won't lose it as quickly in a static location, but still loses it as I move between towers. Also had to reinstall a couple of apps that had stopped launching.
Is forcing Tango an option?
I have the same problem,
I live north of detroit.
my phone has been in to htc repair 3 times, i think they have replaced every part in it, the last time i got it back it held connectivity for 11 minutes.
this is on my home tower as well as several towers around me.
Normally all testing was done with wifi off, on towers where the lumia 900 and my wifes iphone have never lost data.
i have been waiting a week for a htc level 2 rep to call me.
we shall see
Keep me posted. Last time I spent time with HTC, they decided that - since the issue only happens in Detroit - that it was AT&T's problem. AT&T, naturally, claims that the problem doesn't appear on any other device, so it must be the device.
Can't wait for Windows 8 phones. I'm getting one.. ANY one.. the first day they go on sale.
Well I just got off of the phone with a level 2 rep from HTC, who seemed pretty confident that the problem is the rear cover. He is sending one out, and says if that doesn't fix it then it will be a phone replacement.
jjmorgan64 said:
Well I just got off of the phone with a level 2 rep from HTC, who seemed pretty confident that the problem is the rear cover. He is sending one out, and says if that doesn't fix it then it will be a phone replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While entirely skeptical, I certainly hope it works. PLEASE post your results.
DrDon995 said:
While entirely skeptical, I certainly hope it works. PLEASE post your results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm more skeptical than you, trust me, but it would explain how so many people get the same problem with replacement handsets, as that piece is often not replaced
So, I'm in Florida for the week and noticed something.
In Detroit, the status bar says "4G"
In Tampa, the status bar says "LTE"
As before, I have not lost cellular data connection since I landed in FL. Kind of rules out the battery cover as the issue is gone, here. It appears the issue goes away in LTE areas while it's present in areas yet to get LTE. Detroit's LTE rollout hasn't happened, yet. So, it appears I've got another month of suffering before the problem is rectified.
One other note. With Internet Sharing set to ON...
In Detroit, my wife's laptop connects to the phone and can get internet.
In Tampa, my wife's laptop connects to the phone, but cannot get internet. It gets the error msg: "your computer is trying to use a dns server that is incorrect or doesn't exist"
My laptop works flawlessly connecting to the phone's Internet Sharing both in Detroit and Tampa. For the life of me, I can't find anything different in her settings over mine. Both are Win7. Hers upgraded from Vista, mine x64 and new this fall. Also, two internet-capable televisions connect to the phone and get to the internet flawlessly. But something with LTE doesn't like my wife's computer. Odd.
Honestly, I adore everything about this phone except for the data connection issue in Detroit (and a few other areas, it seems).
There HAS to be a setting or SOMEthing I can tweak to get this thing to work in Detroit.
Check battery cover, radio negotiation, firmware of radio
DrDon995 said:
So, I'm in Florida for the week and noticed something.
In Detroit, the status bar says "4G"
In Tampa, the status bar says "LTE"
As before, I have not lost cellular data connection since I landed in FL. Kind of rules out the battery cover as the issue is gone, here. It appears the issue goes away in LTE areas while it's present in areas yet to get LTE. Detroit's LTE rollout hasn't happened, yet. So, it appears I've got another month of suffering before the problem is rectified.
One other note. With Internet Sharing set to ON...
In Detroit, my wife's laptop connects to the phone and can get internet.
In Tampa, my wife's laptop connects to the phone, but cannot get internet. It gets the error msg: "your computer is trying to use a dns server that is incorrect or doesn't exist"
My laptop works flawlessly connecting to the phone's Internet Sharing both in Detroit and Tampa. For the life of me, I can't find anything different in her settings over mine. Both are Win7. Hers upgraded from Vista, mine x64 and new this fall. Also, two internet-capable televisions connect to the phone and get to the internet flawlessly. But something with LTE doesn't like my wife's computer. Odd.
Honestly, I adore everything about this phone except for the data connection issue in Detroit (and a few other areas, it seems).
There HAS to be a setting or SOMEthing I can tweak to get this thing to work in Detroit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hum.. that's curious. I had the original titan with similar issues.
I disabled wifi when not connected. I replaced battery cover also. The titan2 supposedly fixed that issue with the battery cover because it was a design flaw.
The radio supports 2G, 3G/4G/H and LTE. You may want to check it. You can set the radio it uses and not let the firmware decide which radio to use. You can check the service menu, I forgot the code. Just search for it.
If you use 2G, data and voice are not supported simultaneously. Check and make sure the contacts on the battery cover and on the phone are clear of debris. Use a solution to clean the contacts on the phone.
In the past I manually set the radio to 3G (HSPA and HSPA+) [HTC Pure, HTC HD2 on at&t]. The 3G radio is mature and should have less issues with the radio negotiation.
BTW, there is a keep alive wifi app also.
Thanks. I'll have to look for the codes. It's pretty obvious after going back and forth so much that the Titan II has a flaw with the way it handles AT&T's 4G. Scanning the maps from others who have had problems all show that they're in areas with 4G but without LTE.
Yeah, if I could force this thing to do LTE or 3G I think we'd be fine. It's the Best Phone Ever so long as it gets LTE, 3G or Edge. Anything else and it's crap.
Yes, back connector is okay and I've done this every way one can think of and kept notes. WiFi doesn't matter. On or off, the T2 will lose cellular data connection randomly in 4G areas. NOT in LTE areas. I'm only unable to test it on other carriers.
Similar problem with data
So I have had a similar problem -
I had a Samsung Focus, great phone, but I wore out the USB port - wouldn't charge consistently or sync. I figured I might as well use the insurance I had been paying. They sent me a Titan I - it had the bad microphone issue. So after some messing around they sent me a Titan II.
It has never had consistent data connection. I am in an area where I get the 4G icon (not LTE).
My experience tells me that if I move around and change cell, or lose signal in the cell I am in for any reason, then the phone will NOT connect back to data. It can (almost always) still get phone calls and send/receive texts and so on, but no data. Toggle airplane mode always fixes the problem, until the next time.
Originally HTC wanted to send me a new back cover - AT&T have been completely useless, they have no idea. Eventually after messing around with factory resets, powering on and off continuously, another new SIM card, HTC decided they want the phone repaired or replaced (level 2).
It is still inside the 30 day limit for exchanges from Assurion (AT&Ts insurance carrier) so it's getting replaced. I'll let you know if it fixes the issue, but I haven't been in an LTE area so I can't check that.
Personally I think it is a problem with handing off/reconnecting to 4G tower service - we'll see......
Anyone have the radio codes?
I've had the same problem since I got the device as well; but have noticed that it doesn't happen in all areas around me. My house is one of those areas though that I always lose connections. I've tried every APN / idea I've found on the internet with no luck. It's clearly something to do with AT&T towers. The only think I've not been able to try is a different SIM card in the same phone since it requires a '4G' sim card to even work at all. However the same SIM does work fine in '3G' only phones.
Going with the radio idea, does anyone have the codes to turn off the LTE radio? I just saw the list saying this phone will be long gone before AT&T ever gets LTE in Colorado so maybe just turning it off would help. Every code i found was for the T1 though and it didn't work on my phone.
jjmorgan64 said:
I'm more skeptical than you, trust me, but it would explain how so many people get the same problem with replacement handsets, as that piece is often not replaced
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UPDATE: HTC insisted on sending me a new SIM card cover (since it contains the radio's antenna). Despite my argument that the fact it works in Florida negates antenna as a suspect, they sent it along, anyhow. Naturally, there is no change. It still randomly drops cellular data. And now, I've picked up another spot on the freeway where my calls get dropped. Granted, it happened ONCE, so that could be any number of things. Long story short, it's not the antenna.
Next idea?
Well, I'm in Florida and found a spot where the phone fell back to 4G from LTE. Data issue returned. So, that takes geography out of the equation. The phone can't hold a data connection when using 4G. So, should I go for a fourth unit?
My addition:
AT&T recently rolled out LTE to my area in CT. I never had the problem before on straight 4G. Now, when I go from LTE to 4G (my drive every morning) data just stops working. I push it in to airplane mode and back out again and it works.
BTW - I am running Tango, so that is not likely to be a fix unless a radio update is released with it.
N!njaDuck said:
My addition:
AT&T recently rolled out LTE to my area in CT. I never had the problem before on straight 4G. Now, when I go from LTE to 4G (my drive every morning) data just stops working. I push it in to airplane mode and back out again and it works.
BTW - I am running Tango, so that is not likely to be a fix unless a radio update is released with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T just switched on LTE metro-wide, last night. Now, the Titan 2 performs just as it does when I'm in Florida. It's nice having a data connection that'll stay good all over town, again.
I have spent some time discussing this with HTC and AT&T. Actually just got off the phone with HTC level 2.
I too have gone through all the options - new phone, new cover, new SIM card (you can just go into AT&T and ask for one, no charge), hard reset, everything.
From the information in this thread, and elsewhere I can say that the phone drops data on one of two things happening:-
- connection to tower is interrupted in current cell, but is re-acquired
- connection is handed off to adjacent tower as you travel to a new cell
Both these things will drop data IN 4G AREAS ONLY. If you are lucky enough to have consistent LTE in your area, you shouldn't have any problems.
Right now I'm working on getting the service menu codes so we can play with the radio settings. It sounds like HTC support reps have been forbidden to give these to end users on windows phone devices (I wonder why??!!).
If I get this information and it provides a fix for this issue, I will (obviously) post it, and I imagine HTC will as well. Here's hoping.....
Andy

Signal Strength Issues

I've been having a lot of issues today with my signal strength dropping to where it's become unusable. I have an AT&T US Atrix 4G. The signal strength is normally very strong, and is now barely showing 1 bar in and out. I'm also have data issues where I can not connect to HSPA normally.
I did update to the leaked ICS last night, and have reflashed and wiped several times. Since then, I have went back to GB 4.5.91. I am still having the problem back on GB. I'm using radio 37P.
One thing that I originally did not think had any bearing on this issue was I did hurl the phone across the room this morning (landed on carpet) as my phone kept rebooting during calls on me. I opened up the phone to see if anything was noticeably disconnected and it looks like the cord is still okay.
Is there anything else besides the radio that could be causing me the grief? Anything that I can try besides erasing the radio and re-flashing? Anything with any settings? APN settings? I reset the APN settings to default and I see the 4 AT&T APNs load.
Thanks in advance.
Also wondering if there would be any use in me changing the kernel.
Any suggestions?
Not to pester anyone who may have advice, but just wondering if this Atrix (which is running well other then then having an incredibly weak signal for mobile networks) is ready for the trash.
Please do not bump your thread superfluously. Thanks!

[Q] Wifi problems?

I've had the International HTC one Max for about 4 days so far.I've noticed extreamly bad Wi-Fi reception. In places where my old Razr had 2-3 signal bars, I can't even connect to my wifi. While standing right next to the router I have about 3 bars, and I have more when I turn the phone around the other way. I've turned of WiFi optimization, factory reset my router and phone, even got a new router. I need some help with getting the WiFi to work. Any tips will be helpful. I'm running stock, unrooted sense 6 with android 4.4.2. Any easy way to fix this?
Excudent said:
I've had the International HTC one Max for about 4 days so far.I've noticed extreamly bad Wi-Fi reception. In places where my old Razr had 2-3 signal bars, I can't even connect to my wifi. While standing right next to the router I have about 3 bars, and I have more when I turn the phone around the other way. I've turned of WiFi optimization, factory reset my router and phone, even got a new router. I need some help with getting the WiFi to work. Any tips will be helpful. I'm running stock, unrooted sense 6 with android 4.4.2. Any easy way to fix this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The fact that you reset the router, bought a new router, and reset the phone, leads me to believe its a hardware issue with the wireless card in the phone. To test this, can you connect to other wireless routers say at a coffee shop or friends house?
After playing around with my phone for a while, im pretty sure its fixed. Not sure if it was s-off that helped, or taking the phone apart.

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