I have seen in reviews about reception on the 3d. Can anyone with one reply with how the reception really is in day to day use
Thanks
Epic-ly wanting a new phone
grimduk said:
I have seen in reviews about reception on the 3d. Can anyone with one reply with how the reception really is in day to day use
Thanks
Epic-ly wanting a new phone
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Click to collapse
My data speeds are better and Call quality is good.
DDiaz007 said:
My data speeds are better and Call quality is good.
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Click to collapse
+1 same experience
On my EVO 4G in my condo it always showed 5-6 bars With the 3d its currently showing 3-4 bars. Haven't noticed any difference in call quality though, and I talked to a few folks the other night that said it sounded clearer then my old phone.
howie411 said:
On my EVO 4G in my condo it always showed 5-6 bars With the 3d its currently showing 3-4 bars. Haven't noticed any difference in call quality though, and I talked to a few folks the other night that said it sounded clearer then my old phone.
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Click to collapse
I'm noticing less bars as well
Well, I live in Alaska and there isn't a single Sprint store in the state... Even though they have coverage here, you can't even order a device here (normally, but I'm awesome and I can lol).
My EVO usually got 1-2 bars, around my house/work areas, more if I went into a downtown area with more Verizon coverage. My 3D gets 3-4 bars now in my house, and my bandwith test is increased by about 20% from the tests I've done so far.
TL;DR version:
I get much better signal, and better up/down speeds where I live.
This guy tested his e3d vs his e4g side by side. Seems like the e3d had a slight edge.
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/360306-signal-strength-analysis-evo-3d-evo-4g.html
ballr4lyf said:
This guy tested his e3d vs his e4g side by side. Seems like the e3d had a slight edge.
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/360306-signal-strength-analysis-evo-3d-evo-4g.html
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Can't dispute hard facts... thanks for the link. I think it was engadget that said signal was weak, but I am too lazy to search it out.
shortbus182 said:
Can't dispute hard facts... thanks for the link. I think it was engadget that said signal was weak, but I am too lazy to search it out.
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Engadget also assumed that with the two phones being made by HTC and on Sprint that the bars corresponded to the actual same strength.
donatom3 said:
Engadget also assumed that with the two phones being made by HTC and on Sprint that the bars corresponded to the actual same strength.
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My thoughts exactly.
Sent From My HTC Evo 4G Using Tapatalk On The Now Network From Sprint.
Its a world better than the NS4G
3g is horrible even after applying the fix listed in another thread.
Phone signal strength consistently is 1/2 that of my EVO....now, I haven't lost any calls BUT I am also not able to make calls in areas which had less than stellar signals where my wifes EVO will still make the call with no issue and show 2 bars while the 3D shows absolutely none.
jfenton57 said:
3g is horrible even after applying the fix listed in another thread.
Phone signal strength consistently is 1/2 that of my EVO....now, I haven't lost any calls BUT I am also not able to make calls in areas which had less than stellar signals where my wifes EVO will still make the call with no issue and show 2 bars while the 3D shows absolutely none.
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Haven't gotten the 3d yet, but I have seen this problem with my Evo 4g. Try to update your PRL, then update your Profile (In that order). See if that helps.
I'm getting almost the same bars as in my 4G or maybe 1 bar less, but I definitely think that call quality and data speeds (at least for me) are way better than my 4G. And also another thing I noticed is that I get better WiFi reception, now I get full bars in my house in places that my 4G use to get 1 to no bars!
Yeah yeah, its a shooter,we call it 3VO and I'm not afraid to use it...
I live in a fringe area where I always got either zero or 1 bar with the Evo 4G, but even with zero bars I could always hold a call, probably because these phones freely roam on Verizon towers too. Now with the 3D, I have to be honest: I think my Evo 4G was slightly better with reception just because I notice the 3D switching back and forth between Sprint and Verizon towers more often (roaming notification goes off more). If I had to quantify it, I'd say my old Evo 4G got maybe 10% to 15% better signal. But I expect that to improve via updates so I'm not too worried about it, especially since, well... it still works.
For the few who report "horrible" reception: do you keep your roaming enabled? You should: roaming within the U.S. only means you'll roam on Verizon towers which means we get the best of both worlds. The only place we can "roam" in the U.S. is Verizon towers and we roam them for free (both voice and 3G data). So leave roaming on!
Mike
Is it better in this area than the Sensation, I haven't heard any reports of death grip for it?
Related
So what's the truth behind the signal. Is it as bad as the reviews?
Evo
0 problems with my signal .. i compared my 4g to 3d and they both had the same reception here @ work.
I think It's fine....and I get bad signal in my house.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
3 bars at home, 3g/4g seems a little funky.
I'm interested in the Evo 4G/3D comparison too as I have an Evo 4G now and am thinking about the 3D. I live in a fringe area with 0-1 bars though (but I can still hold a call). Need to know how the 3D compares for cell call and also 3G signal retention compared to the old Evo. So please keep the replies coming!
Mike
Zero issues, signal is actually better than my Epic here.
mikeyxda said:
I'm interested in the Evo 4G/3D comparison too as I have an Evo 4G now and am thinking about the 3D. I live in a fringe area with 0-1 bars though (but I can still hold a call). Need to know how the 3D compares for cell call and also 3G signal retention compared to the old Evo. So please keep the replies coming!
Mike
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Click to collapse
I talked to a sprint rep yesterday and because my signal at my house is bad they are sending me what's called a airave. They say its like having a cell tower in your house . It's suppose to boost your signal . It's complety free for two years , and if you don't like it you can send it back , no contract .
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Live where I get no signal and its doing great at least as well as its older bro
parmend said:
I talked to a sprint rep yesterday and because my signal at my house is bad they are sending me what's called a airave. They say its like having a cell tower in your house . It's suppose to boost your signal . It's complety free for two years , and if you don't like it you can send it back , no contract .
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
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Click to collapse
I think I may contact sprint about that.. my reception has always been poor here. Then again if you ain't Verizon your f*** around here
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
signal for me seems the same as all phones I have had, two bars and in the right spot three. I would say call quality is fine as well, I dont know what the reviewers thought was going to happen, a 3D phone call? lol
cordell12 said:
signal for me seems the same as all phones I have had, two bars and in the right spot three. I would say call quality is fine as well, I dont know what the reviewers thought was going to happen, a 3D phone call? lol
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yeah.. when i made my first call..everything i read about it came to mind and when i heard my gf spoke.. i was like wtf really? you call that bad? in my personal experience, I call that an improvement.
snarebum said:
yeah.. when i made my first call..everything i read about it came to mind and when i heard my gf spoke.. i was like wtf really? you call that bad? in my personal experience, I call that an improvement.
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Click to collapse
agreed, a friend of mine has the iphone from verizon, not sure what it is but he sounds like **** over the phone! its hard to explain, i guess he sounds over-modulated. anyway i called him this morning to see if he had a drv receiver (work for directv), to my surprise his voice sounded so much better than on the 4G. i was stunned for a second, only thing i could say is "what", not because i didnt hear him. but because i was shocked
The call signal is the same side by side with my Evo4g but the wifi signal seems to be stronger. On the top floor of my home I get 4-5 bars and the evo only got about 2. No issues here so far.
I have close to perfect signal at my house and I literally just watched my 3G shut off and now my EVO 3D says i have no voice signal either...wtf...tried updating the profile but doesnt seem to help. If I continue to have problems I guess I will have to swap for a new one.
I'm in Sprint's home state, and although they don't list my town as having 4G coverage they are testing it here and sure enough 4G found a signal to connect with. 0 bars, but the web browser worked fine and so did my email client. 3G is a much stronger signal but didn't seem to be any better of a connection than I had when 4G was active and 3G was off. Phone signal wavers from 3 to 4 bars, and so far I haven't dropped a call.
I could be wrong, I don't know a ton about the data packet construction for cdma, but the way I understand it is... For cdma the number of bars is somewhat irrelevant when compared to the way a gsm network works. For cdma, its either connected or its not. For gsm, as signal strength drops calls get fuzzy and choppy, for cdma it will likely remain clear up until it is gone completely. So far the signal on my 3vo has been perfect. No complaints. If yours is dropping or having problems it may be a product defect.
Again, I may be wrong on my understanding if the technology, but for my experience it has held true.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
parmend said:
I talked to a sprint rep yesterday and because my signal at my house is bad they are sending me what's called a airave. They say its like having a cell tower in your house . It's suppose to boost your signal . It's complety free for two years , and if you don't like it you can send it back , no contract .
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your getting screwed. i have had it for 4 yrs. old model then new. never paid a penny for it. it is free service. even shows as 0 on my sprint.com account.
Mine's better than my 4G ...no doubt, mainly via faster ping time. 4g'd get hung up there. 3d quick there.
gruppe3942 said:
So what's the truth behind the signal. Is it as bad as the reviews?
Evo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me the EVO 3d has been great "CLEARLY" better signal reception than my old EVO 4G, I think alot of those so-so negative were smoking wanky weed....I'm glad that I ignored them the EVO 3d rocks
gruppe3942 said:
So what's the truth behind the signal. Is it as bad as the reviews?
Evo
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Click to collapse
I'm having buyers remorse with this phone, I used to be able to talk on my EVO 4G in my house with no issues at all, but with this Evo 3D I can not hold a conversation in the house without dropping the call, even outside my house I'm having problems. I love the idea of dual cores and 3D but I also need to be able to use it at home, hopefully a radio update will fix this soon.
I use my Evo's at the fringe area of sprint's network. Yesterday I had the 3D and the 4G ( within a couple of min of each other) try to sync friend stream. The original Evo 4G did it with no problem. I ended up having to allow data roaming on the 3D so it could access the "ether".
BTW the wife's evo shift had 3G so wtf 3D ?
I'm wondering it this is a singular experience or the radio needs a tuning upgrade? Probably another point for having an unlocked boot loader. Hey if sprint pays the roaming ....
willy900wonka said:
I use my Evo's at the fringe area of sprint's network. Yesterday I had the 3D and the 4G ( within a couple of min of each other) try to sync friend stream. The original Evo 4G did it with no problem. I ended up having to allow data roaming on the 3D so it could access the "ether".
BTW the wife's evo shift had 3G so wtf 3D ?
I'm wondering it this is a singular experience or the radio needs a tuning upgrade? Probably another point for having an unlocked boot loader. Hey if sprint pays the roaming ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm noticing reduced 2G and 3G reception too...judging by the Sense "bars" at home I'm in a kinda fringe area....and on the 4G I would get 3...sometimes 4, more often 2 bars. On the 3D I get 0 to 2 bars, most often 1.
Though perhaps they changed those bars to reflect 3G instead of 2G....I know the 2G coverage around here better than 3G by a small bit. As far as usability/performance I have noticed no difference....except at work in the bathroom, noticeably lower speeds/threshold for roaming...potential deal breaker
But I imagine a radio update would be able to address this, perhaps it already has been...I'm not applying any OTA for now though.
But, yeah, slightly weaker 3G performance....but I can live with it.
It gets me thinking though, if we can't get this thing unlocked in the 30-day window and I take it back and wait for the SGS2, which will likely have the usual lackluster Samsung radios....will that be roughly the same as this? Cuz i can live with that, or will it be worse? Cuz I couldn't deal with reception less than this...not even by a hair, I'm already on cusp.....but, if it is the same or better then I have no concerns....
I've been trying to get this problem noticed by the community here but i think there may have been a bad batch of phones. I'll try to get mine replaced
Edit: download open signal on both devices and compare the dbm level on both phones
I live less than 10 miles from the Sprint headquarters and can't get 4G connection in my neighborhood. I certainly didn't expect this to be what all the hype was about.
willy900wonka said:
I use my Evo's at the fringe area of sprint's network. Yesterday I had the 3D and the 4G ( within a couple of min of each other) try to sync friend stream. The original Evo 4G did it with no problem. I ended up having to allow data roaming on the 3D so it could access the "ether".
BTW the wife's evo shift had 3G so wtf 3D ?
I'm wondering it this is a singular experience or the radio needs a tuning upgrade? Probably another point for having an unlocked boot loader. Hey if sprint pays the roaming ....
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Click to collapse
I used to need an Airave, then I moved. I had full bars in my home on my EVO 4G and my wife did also on her Palm Pre. I called Sprint and told them I no longer needed the Access Point and to send a return kit. I picked the EVO 3D up two days later, and I now need to keep the Airave. My wife still enjoys full bars on the EVO I gave her, but I get 1 bar consistently, at home.
I also used to get 5 bars in my office with my EVO, I get 2 if I'm lucky with the 3D. Between the ****ty reception and the lag, its probably going back before the 30 days are up. I love the hell out of the phone otherwise, but it lags too much. Poor reception, though, thats a deal breaker for me.
I have both phones and I can tell you I get much better reception with the 3D than I do with the evo. On 4G I get 1 bar with the evo and 2 bars with the 3D. Im also noticing that on the 3D 4G stays on all the time on my evo it would switch drop the 4G connection all the time and I had to disable/enable 4G in order for it to connect again.
I've been noticing a LOT of roaming happening on my 3d lately, in comparison to my OG evo, it's a lot worse. Otherwise, I have an airrave at home, I wanna get something like that for work. I guess you have to make a tradeoff somewhere, amazing battery life with ****ty reception, or decent reception with horrible battery life. I take the 1st one.
Plus I'm finally finding 4g in my area
Noticing a lot of roaming on my 3D as well. Never saw it on my Evo.
I may be, at a cross roads in some twenty days.
At least Sprint will be able to verify my issue, since roaming is probably logged.
The signal strength is just HORRIBLE on this phone for me.
Places where I was getting at least 1-2 bars before, I get a nice "X" now (or roaming).
I have my brothers Evo 4G right next to my 3VO and he's got 2 bars while I got none.
Is it like this for everyone or should I just go replace the phone?
Try updating your prl and profile..
If no difference,
Call sprint and go to "troubleshooting" department
They can reset some stuff on their end and force prl and profile updates
If still no difference the buy a nexus s 4g and see a real "signal problem". To make you feel better about the evo3d
sent from a 3devo
nate420 said:
Try updating your prl and profile..
If no difference,
Call sprint and go to "troubleshooting" department
They can reset some stuff on their end and force prl and profile updates
If still no difference the buy a nexus s 4g and see a real "signal problem". To make you feel better about the evo3d
sent from a 3devo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol.. thanks brah.
I plan on calling Sprint tomorrow.
And I actually had the Nexus S 4G for two weeks before I got this phone and signal was actually good with that one. I had 3-4 bars to where the Evo4G would have 1-2.
Probably the best signal phone I've ever used.
Thanks again though.
Mine is identical to the Epic...so either the Epic signal strength sucked or they are both fine. I do notice that I don't get a signal inside our local Walmart and in our home we barely get a signal. I just assumed it had something to do with the service since T-Mobile was slightly worse (at least with Sprint we don't get dropped calls in our home).
Have been having issues here in NE MA with horrible 3g, GPS dropping too often and a bad phone signal to the point of not being able to make or receive calls in areas that are marginal...but areas where my EVO always showed 2 bars and worked fine.
In what I would call "strong" signal areas, still had GPS and 3G issues no matter what. What I found with the phone signal is that in these areas, mit works fine, although it fluctuates every few seconds from a full set of bars, to 2 or 0 and then jumps back up again....constantly.
In the "marginal signal" areas where my EVO 4G worked fine and always showed 2 bars, the 3D shows none and won't make or receive a call. What is most perplexing is that even though it is set to "automatic" on the networks, it is not roaming to Verizon...and my buddy taking the ride with me had a full boat signal on his Verizon phone.
I was totally unable to get on the internet in these areas, although I could still send a text.
I don't get it???
Sprint re-provisioned the phone twice, and today a service center wiped and reloaded everything and also claims to have installed a "fifth update" which my phone never got.
My tests were done post upgrade and it did NOTHING to fix these issues.
With your fifth update did you check to see if you had S-OFF? lol
I just sent a reply back to HTC regarding Bluetooth and Roaming data issues and GPS issues... I await their response... However, I may be returning it and going to some other device.
I've found my old Evo3D, and the exchanged one to show 0 bars in places the Evo4G showed 2-3 bars. For the first time in my life, thanks to the Evo3D, I've had a dropped call, and it was in a place the Evo4G gets 2 bars and perfect voice.
Yeah, today at work I missed 3 calls and couldn't read XDA in the bathroom. That was the final straw. I reactivated my 4G, did some tests...and...well...the 3D has gone back home. Perhaps just for now. The 3G radio on that thing sucks. Maybe a radio update will fix it, but I'm not so sure.
Since I'm impatient and have kinda decided to go the Nexus rout from now on I stopped by the sprint store afterwards and did some signal tests with the NexusS4G--which has known 3G reception issues. Well, it had identical bars...that was a good sign, so I dug in a little deeper and it had nearly identical reception as my E4G.
The .3" of screen size will be missed, and it'll be hard to get used to the light weight...but I think tomorrow I'm gunna buy it. Sure, no SD slot, but, 16gb should be pretty damned good...I never did replace my 8gb card, though I did bump the limit a lot. I'm also sure the camera is way better...
...or I'll just wait for the SGS2. I'm not so antsy to get a new phone now after anticipating one so hard and being mostly disappointed. It's funny, the one thing I was the most critical of beforehand ended up being the only thing I'll really miss...the 3D. Lol to that.
Unfortunately I did a stupid thing and traded my EVO 4G in when I "upgraded" to the 3D.
I tried to get Sprint to do a swap....take back the 3D, take away the $150 trade in credit and give me a new or used EVO 4G for the time being and they absolutely refuse to do it without using up my upgrade to get back what I traded in.
Looks like will deal with this phone and return it on day 29, activate my BB Tour (YUCK) and live with that till something reliable comes out hopefully at the end of July or more likely in August.
This sucks.
I am having nearly similar issues. I am dropping calls in area's that have 4-5 bars. I look and when it reconnects it will be down to 0 signal and then back up 4-6 bars. Really odd.
Sad thing is I am coming from ATT and I only have till early next week to decide to stay with sprint or not.
Ohh decisions... not fun and not a good sprint evaluation.
Yeah, I really hope this is something that they can tweak with a radio update. My old Hero got a lot better reception than my Evo 3D.
w9sig said:
I am having nearly similar issues. I am dropping calls in area's that have 4-5 bars. I look and when it reconnects it will be down to 0 signal and then back up 4-6 bars. Really odd.
Sad thing is I am coming from ATT and I only have till early next week to decide to stay with sprint or not.
Ohh decisions... not fun and not a good sprint evaluation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can assure you it is not Sprint...it's the phone. I had the same/similar with my 3D...but never with the 4G.
Download Open Signal Maps. It will show you what tower you're connected to. I noticed something similar with my phone (the signal bars fluctuating). I checked Open Signal and lo-and-behold, my phone was tower jumping between 5 different towers in my area... I didn't even know I had 5 different towers in my area.
Ideally, your phone should lock on to the strongest signal in your area and not jump from strong signal to weak signal to slightly-less-weak signal, to strong again... Also, check out this thread:
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/361044-official-solution-3g-issues-3d.html
This problem doesn't affect everybody. For instance, my brother got a 3d the same day I did, and he's consistently getting 500-700 kbs d/l in the same places I'm getting 11 kbs d/l.
ballr4lyf said:
Download Open Signal Maps. It will show you what tower you're connected to. I noticed something similar with my phone (the signal bars fluctuating). I checked Open Signal and lo-and-behold, my phone was tower jumping between 5 different towers in my area... I didn't even know I had 5 different towers in my area.
Ideally, your phone should lock on to the strongest signal in your area and not jump from strong signal to weak signal to slightly-less-weak signal, to strong again... Also, check out this thread:
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/361044-official-solution-3g-issues-3d.html
This problem doesn't affect everybody. For instance, my brother got a 3d the same day I did, and he's consistently getting 500-700 kbs d/l in the same places I'm getting 11 kbs d/l.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do ##786# (or 768, not sure). Then click menu key and due a reset. This will also factory reset your device unfortunately. But I was having eh same problems, getting horrid 3gs speeds of around 50 kps. Once I did this my evo3d is constantly getting better 3g speeds than the 4 other evos in my family.
For some reason a lot of the evo 3d did not get the data set up right on one end or another. This seems to fix it.
Looking at that link now. Yes I've had open signal maps installed and I too have noticed that I am jumping between towers "a lot" say every 10-15 seconds or so. And that can be just sitting still in a parking lot and dropping calls :-( Will take a look and glad to hear that it is more with the phone than the actual network. I may have to downgrade to the 4G or NS4G.
BlueGoldAce said:
Do ##786# (or 768, not sure). Then click menu key and due a reset. This will also factory reset your device unfortunately. But I was having eh same problems, getting horrid 3gs speeds of around 50 kps. Once I did this my evo3d is constantly getting better 3g speeds than the 4 other evos in my family.
For some reason a lot of the evo 3d did not get the data set up right on one end or another. This seems to fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anybody confirm that this works? My girlfriend's 3D gets a lot worse signal than mine. I'd definitely try this but only if it might actually work. She really doesn't like the factory resets because she has to redo all of her preferences.
Her's is so much more worse than mine that we've been thinking about getting it replaced.
BlueGoldAce said:
Do ##786# (or 768, not sure). Then click menu key and due a reset. This will also factory reset your device unfortunately. But I was having eh same problems, getting horrid 3gs speeds of around 50 kps. Once I did this my evo3d is constantly getting better 3g speeds than the 4 other evos in my family.
For some reason a lot of the evo 3d did not get the data set up right on one end or another. This seems to fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
##786# will do a factory reset on your phone. ##72786# will do a "Data Only" reset (i.e. you don't lose any installed apps). I would try that before ##786#. You will need your MSL for both. I have done both. Unfortunately, in my case, the 3g improved for only a couple of hours and then it went back to tower jumping both times. I now have an appointment with the sprint store to replace my 3d later this evening.
do this guys... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1153371&referrerid=1002610
xanadu1979 said:
Anybody confirm that this works? My girlfriend's 3D gets a lot worse signal than mine. I'd definitely try this but only if it might actually work. She really doesn't like the factory resets because she has to redo all of her preferences.
Her's is so much more worse than mine that we've been thinking about getting it replaced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#786## worked to fix my 3G speeds. I was consistently getting under 100 Kbps up and down before walking through this procedure with Sprint a week ago. Since then, latency has gone down and speeds have improved significantly.
It did not fix persistent problems with GPS not locking and having poor signal reception compared to the 4G. Between these issues, overheating and the locked bootloader, I am pretty close to returning this phone (although I like most other aspects of it).
Looks as though the Photon 4G cleared the FCC today.
I think I will live with the 3d a bit longer just in case they come out with some miraculous software fix, otherwise return it, activate the BB until the Photon comes out.
Hopefully, for where I live and work at least it will have much better reception.
That's strange that a few of you guys have had every issue that was reported in some of those awful reviews. I've actually found my 3D has the exact same signal as the 4G sitting right next to it. It also recognizes changes in signal faster than the 4G. I must have been lucky to get one with no issues.
My EVO 3d is straight out of a snoop dog song, my calls are droppin like their hot!
My 4G never did this crap!
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
I'm sorry to hear that from you guys.. My experience is the opposite, I'm getting 6 bars in my basement which I used to get 2-3 and I can always stay connected to 4g in the upper parts of my house when my 4g could not..
Irishman42 said:
That's strange that a few of you guys have had every issue that was reported in some of those awful reviews. I've actually found my 3D has the exact same signal as the 4G sitting right next to it. It also recognizes changes in signal faster than the 4G. I must have been lucky to get one with no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe that there is anything wrong with the phone itself, however I do believe that there was a bad batch of radios installed on some of the 3vo's. Like I said, my brother's 3vo is working just fine while mine seems to be a lemon.
Am thinking about the evo 4g lte because I've read excellent reviews about the call quality. I already know I won't be getting lte in my area for a long time. Are the 3g speeds actually worse on this model as compared with other Sprint models ? (some reviews have claimed this)
My 3g is slow enough as it is on my HTC Touch (can live with it though), but won't be able to accept anything slower.
i have kno problems with this phone.. its perfect for me im just bored with it... i need a new phone every 6 months i think!!! lol..
I'm hoping the following review is incorrect:
The ugly:
This is where the phone starts to fall apart for me. The network capabilities are awful. They are a clear downgrade from my Evo 4g. I live in Kansas City, and my old Evo 4g had both excellent 3g coverage, and excellent WiMax coverage. Ping times were the only problem I had with WiMax (typically in the 200-300 range), but I typically got 3-7Mbps down and ~1Mbps up with very reliable coverage, especially in my home. Outside of WiMax range, I reliably got 3g coverage that pulled ~1-2Mbps down and up. This is what I would expect, given that I am in Sprint's home market.
I upgraded to the Evo 4g LTE after hearing that LTE was officially "live" in Kansas City. Unfortunately the news that I missed was that by "live", they really mean "about 30% live". There is little to no actual LTE coverage in the city. At my apartment, where WiMax was previously very strong, I can only connect to LTE rarely, and when I do the signal is so weak that my connection times out regularly. Watching antenna strength, the LTE connection sits around -115 to -120dBm (in non-technical terms, that is just a hair above zero bars). I actually disabled the LTE antenna on my phone because it is disruptive FAR more often than it is useful.
"So what", you might say. "Just use 3g". I would agree with you. 3g should be able to get me by in the next few months while Sprint continues their LTE rollout, hopefully with an antenna near my home. Unfortunately the phone's 3g antenna is also highly problematic. 3g signal pickup is weaker than my old Evo 4g, and speeds are considerably worse than my previous phone. Pings usually sit around 200, which is acceptable, but I almost never get above 0.5Mbps down, or up. Additionally (and even more importantly), the phone has a habit of dropping the 3g signal. I tether often, and when I do I tend to lose 3g every few minutes. This is in close proximity to a 3g tower, and with a strong signal (4-5 bars, in the -70 to -80dBm range). The phone will just inexplicably lose 3g connectivity. Google around a bit and find out: this is a known problem that many people are dealing with, and HTC/Sprint have acknowledged the issue and are trying to rectify it. Problem is, it isn't fixed. I truly hope that in the near future an OTA update will fix the problems... after all, I'm basically stuck with this phone for the next 23 months. The network issues are bad enough that I really do miss my old Evo 4g, and I'm very tempted to reactivate it.
Conclusion: at the end of the day, the Evo 4g LTE is a phone, and as such I think the network issues are a pretty big deal. If you are on WiFi constantly, then they won't be an issue for you, but if you're dependent upon Sprint's network in any way, be very careful... this phone has some major baggage.
Update 9/25/2012: A couple OTA updates later, and it is still in pretty bad shape. I am very used to 500ms+ ping now, and 0.1Mbps download/upload speeds. 4g coverage is still nonexistant. According to xda and s4gru, this problem is SPECIFIC TO THE EVO 4g LTE. As in an iPhone 5 and SGIII will both connect just fine to 4g, but an Evo in the same room will not.
Try this neat trick: Go to craigslist and search for Evo 4g LTE. See how many nearly new Evos are being sold for less than half the price of a new one? That speaks more volumes than my review does
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http://wireless.amazon.com/customerreviews/B007ZUN6GS/ref=cr_detail_histogram_top
These post really make me scratch my head...In Memphis LTE is only a month old and only in the northern parts of the city...constant 15mbs+ and elsewhere 4g isnt on yet 3G is maxed out....I never have any problems maintaining a over decent connection on 3G.....it's just odd how much I hear how crappy the ELTE is.....Is it really a bad phone and I'm just in a city where Sprint has it act together or are some of you vice-versa??
jauger said:
These post really make me scratch my head...In Memphis LTE is only a month old and only in the northern parts of the city...constant 15mbs+ and elsewhere 4g isnt on yet 3G is maxed out....I never have any problems maintaining a over decent connection on 3G.....it's just odd how much I hear how crappy the ELTE is.....Is it really a bad phone and I'm just in a city where Sprint has it act together or are some of you vice-versa??
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I sure would like to know before I upgrade to this device.
TravisBean said:
Am thinking about the evo 4g lte because I've read excellent reviews about the call quality. I already know I won't be getting lte in my area for a long time. Are the 3g speeds actually worse on this model as compared with other Sprint models ? (some reviews have claimed this)
My 3g is slow enough as it is on my HTC Touch (can live with it though), but won't be able to accept anything slower.
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My 3g has been much better than my old HTC Hero and better than my Dad's og Evo(not to mention my mom's Samsung Nexus S, My brothers' Samsung, Motorola, and my sister's iCrap 4s).
As long as you stick to stock based roms, you'll be fine. HTC has some great tweaks that cm10 and aosp roms don't have that seem to boost bandwidth and 3g speeds.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Test it out. Set a timer for 13 days just to be sure.. Thats why carriers give you the 14 day trial period to make sure your happy before being stuck 2 more years with them.
I for one am happy with my EVO LTE. I also have a GS3 and from time to time go back and forth.
I had a chance to spend about 3 minutes with this device today at the Sprint store. Love at first sight. I can't put into words how elegantly this phone felt in my hand.
Didn't have time to check out the 3g connectivity, but call quality did seem above average for a Sprint phone.
Can you download a larger format dial pad for this phone (that works properly) ?
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I'm in Boston mass 4g is 27-34 mgb and 3g is about 3-5 on my lte no issues
pbedard said:
I'm in Boston mass 4g is 27-34 mgb and 3g is about 3-5 on my lte no issues
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Are you saying you're getting 3-5 Mbps download speeds while connected to 3G?
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2