Ok, here's a challenge.
I am a uk t-mobile subscriber. In the uk t-mobile and orange merged their cell networks into one big network (tmob bought out orange) with the original t-mobile cells still showing up as "t-mobile" and the now merged orange cells showing up as "t-mobile orange". Tmobile offered their subs the option to also connect via orange cells and orange the same to their subs.
At the time i thought this was a good idea. More cells, more signal in more areas, better experience.
I was very wrong.
Basically the orange cells are absolute crud compared to any of the tmobile cells. You notice a massive drop in bandwidth between a tmobile cell and an orange cell and i wish i had never opted to use both.
So, i am looking for a method to allow me to block the switching to the orange cells so i can stay on my native (faster) tmobile cells all the time and never ever have the phone connect to an orange cell ever.
Any ideas?
I know each network has a numerical value that denotes it so there must be some way to tell the baseband never to switch to this particular network right?
Any advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
I was looking for the same solution and came accross your post, judging by the lack of replies theres still nothing to sort this out. Annoying when Orange forces to take over and is usually a weaker signal!
A Post in Themes section re call blocking .
Dont know if that dev would have more knowledge .
jje
I thought you could manually select the network? TMo and Orange come up separately as an option there?
Sent from the town of Waterlooville
I'm also looking for something so I can select a mast... the closest mast to my home is only 2.5mbit while a mast just a few miles away is HSPA+ and peaks at over 10mbit.. when my local mast was down I was able to connect to the HSPA+ one and have full bars... there must be a way of telling the phone to ignore a mast?
You can manually select the network in network settings however the phone freaks out then whenever there is no signal instead of quietly waiting for new signal.
This sort of solves the problem but creates the additional annoyance of notifications of no signal.
I couldnt find any way of blocking individual masts. Im not sure it can even be done on the user end.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Try updating to lg8 firmware with lh1 modem.
I'm on orange/t mobile and everything works much better now as far as the network switching goes
did you ever get a solution to this ? Orange is doing my head in and its just terrible..
Related
So Im sure any of you on Tmo UK will be aware of this new option they've given us whereby you can opt-in to use the orange networks if you lose reception from Tmobile........
I thought to myself "yeah...... why not..... cant hurt"
Seeing as I barely get a 3G / HSDPA signal where I live I thought that perhaps it might kick into "orange mode" and give me some 3G action.... (sadly it doesnt)...
Anyway since I opted in Ive noticed that sometimes when Im on the Tmo/Orange signal, the "Edge" (E) symbol is displayed in my taskbar......
Its definitely a lot faster than GPRS but doesnt seem to be as quick as HSDPA, I thought that perhaps it was there in place of the 3G symbol but sometimes that will appear too.....
I thought "Edge" was only available in the US.....
Does Orange have some kind of in between speed that I was previously unaware of??
conantroutman said:
So Im sure any of you on Tmo UK will be aware of this new option they've given us whereby you can opt-in to use the orange networks if you lose reception from Tmobile........
I thought to myself "yeah...... why not..... cant hurt"
Seeing as I barely get a 3G / HSDPA signal where I live I thought that perhaps it might kick into "orange mode" and give me some 3G action.... (sadly it doesnt)...
Anyway since I opted in Ive noticed that sometimes when Im on the Tmo/Orange signal, the "Edge" (E) symbol is displayed in my taskbar......
Its definitely a lot faster than GPRS but doesnt seem to be as quick as HSDPA, I thought that perhaps it was there in place of the 3G symbol but sometimes that will appear too.....
I thought "Edge" was only available in the US.....
Does Orange have some kind of in between speed that I was previously unaware of??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know it fore sure, but France Telecom (Group holder of Orange) have invest a lot in UMTS maybe it's that you got.
g
edge
3g
H
in order of speed, edge has been used in the uk for years
So you texted Yes to 2121 as well.. I honestly cannot spot any difference, still haven't gotten Orange coverage yet
Richy99 said:
g
edge
3g
H
in order of speed, edge has been used in the uk for years
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didnt realise that........
about edge anyway........
cheers...
Don001 said:
So you texted Yes to 2121 as well.. I honestly cannot spot any difference, still haven't gotten Orange coverage yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol you probably wont need it in London........
coverage is poor out here in the sticks though..........
it perhaps won't auto switch networks, because it knows t mo is the preferred network, unless there is no t mo reception at all.
you maybe need to add the orange network as a preferred network
settings menu all settings personal phone network tab set networks let's you set the preferred order and such, so if you find yourself in an orange dominant area move orange above tmo in the list.
conantroutman said:
lol you probably wont need it in London........
coverage is poor out here in the sticks though..........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I'm generally a proud Londoner (Not a bad thing lol).. But sometimes I've been in the middle of Oxford Street and notice I have no reception, London isn't a great place for good reception is some areas, you get better reception in residential areas then main high streets
@sam...
Mine seems to switch even when I have a reasonable amount of signal.
9 times out of 10 today when I looked at my phone I had the roaming and edge symbols sitting in my taskbar....
I generally never struggle for basic network coverage so I was surprised at how often I'm on orange signal...
@don..
Yeah I guess there are plenty of things that could hamper you're signal...
Maybe it's that famous london smog I've heard so much about
conantroutman said:
@sam...
Mine seems to switch even when I have a reasonable amount of signal.
9 times out of 10 today when I looked at my phone I had the roaming and edge symbols sitting in my taskbar....
I generally never struggle for basic network coverage so I was surprised at how often I'm on orange signal...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good to know, i guess it must do some signal strength comparing.
conantroutman said:
@don..
Yeah I guess there are plenty of things that could hamper you're signal...
Maybe it's that famous london smog I've heard so much about
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe lol
Battery Drain
I've also just signed up to this as I get poor signal thru T-Mobile when in some buildings whilst at work.
Problem is that I've noticed a significant drain in battery since subscribing presumably as the phone is always comparing signal strength of both Tmo and Orange and switching between the two periodically.
Is there a way to change carrier manually through some form of *#*# dial code rather than to switch to manual and select the desired network as this takes a while? I don't seem to have the option to set my preferred networks as a previous poster mentioned.
I've had mixed experience with this - make sure your sense and activesync settings are set to NOT download data when roaming - the Orange/T-mobile thing calls itself roaming and I kept getting password incorrect responses from gmail on activesync, I assume because it was trying to access the servers from different IP addresses rapidly. You do not get 3G etc from Orange - your data comes over t-mobile, you just roaming onto the Orange network when there is no signal on t-mobile, so it should give you better call coverage, but for data switch off roaming so it only tries to access data when on t-mobile.
bmcconalogue said:
I've had mixed experience with this - make sure your sense and activesync settings are set to NOT download data when roaming - the Orange/T-mobile thing calls itself roaming and I kept getting password incorrect responses from gmail on activesync, I assume because it was trying to access the servers from different IP addresses rapidly. You do not get 3G etc from Orange - your data comes over t-mobile, you just roaming onto the Orange network when there is no signal on t-mobile, so it should give you better call coverage, but for data switch off roaming so it only tries to access data when on t-mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying that there are charges for data usage whilst using the orange side of things?......
Hope not........ Lol
Sent From 1998 Via 56K Dial Up
Hi,
Got HD2 on Orange.
problem is that it does not switch to T-mobile on weak orange signal.
Tried all the "set preferred networks2 but it does not seem to save it.
I can switch manually.
Also, when on T-mobile it sees it as roaming and stops all my apps.
any ideas how to sort it?
Thanks
xewonder said:
Hi,
Got HD2 on Orange.
problem is that it does not switch to T-mobile on weak orange signal.
Tried all the "set preferred networks2 but it does not seem to save it.
I can switch manually.
Also, when on T-mobile it sees it as roaming and stops all my apps.
any ideas how to sort it?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
enable roaming to keep apps running. As for the signal from what i've seen being on tmob you need to lose signal before it auto switches, signal is still a signal whether it's weak or strong
mine wil switch before a total loss of signal....
could just be that the t mobile signal is even weaker than your orange signal.
t mobiles coverage is balls...(in scotland anyway)
hi,
no... orange is bollox at my house... t-mobile 5 bars..
but it just does not auto switch... even without signal...
Could it be because I unlocked the phone?
When I set the preferred networks, it always goes back to the original settings...
i could use phonealarm with network snapshot but was hoping that phone could do it by itself..
hard reboot the phone and set to tmbile on 1st boot
xewonder said:
hi,
no... orange is bollox at my house... t-mobile 5 bars..
but it just does not auto switch... even without signal...
Could it be because I unlocked the phone?
When I set the preferred networks, it always goes back to the original settings...
i could use phonealarm with network snapshot but was hoping that phone could do it by itself..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that I had to register with my mobile company (T-Mobile UK) that I wanted to do the switching. The switching between Orange and T-Mobile had been available for about a month, but my phone never switched prior to signing up for it by text.
For some reason there is a room in my house that doesn't get a T-Mobile signal. Now it automatically goes to Orange.
fred_up said:
The switching between Orange and T-Mobile had been available for about a month, but my phone never switched prior to signing up for it by text
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because you hadn't signed up for it!?!?!? makes sense when you think about it.............
bates_1974 said:
Because you hadn't signed up for it!?!?!? makes sense when you think about it.............
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
{Sarcasm}
Wait a minute while I go and have a think about it...
{about a minute later}...
Yeah it does make sense, and I'm not talking about the HTC Sense.
{/Sarcasm}
I read about the switching facility, and that they were rolling it out. Since the OP was with Orange I could not say whether they were automatically updated or they had to sign up for it or they wouldn't be getting it till much later. T-Mobile & Orange will automatically update everyone sometime in the near future.
where i live t-mobile is poor, i pull up outside my house and its allready telling me i may be charged for roaming, and switched to orange.
I have read somewhere that some people are experiencing their data connection to freeze or have idle times even with good reception.
Now I have never had an Aussie firmware, in particular the modem part of the firmware which I believe is the part related to the phone performance?????
I have tried disabling and enabling the fast dormancy. Turning off data and enabling it again fixes the problem. The hang isn't permanent so things like email, syncing, weather all update fine, its just web pages can sit loading for ages or time out with no acitivity shown. But try again a few minutes later and the internet is super quick without the reception of tower changing.
Does anyone else with Optus Australia, or vodafone or telstra for that matter, have the data stalling issue? What exact modem version are you using?
Yeah i think this is actually related to Optus's network.
I have scrubbed my phone and applied the XXKH3 firmware and it seems a bit better to me. I also disabled Fast Dormancy.
Simmo3D said:
Yeah i think this is actually related to Optus's network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have too agree with Simmo3D the current state of not just optus is abysmal.
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel with the NBN it should is ease the congestion that we have been having to deal with because of the explosion of people updateing there facebook status.
Also we have both telstra and vodafone putting in new 850MHZ tower which can handle a much larger amount of traffic which means the Que time or "Idle time" will be reduced.
I had wondered about it being Optus... but turning data off and back on straight away seems to fix it instantly so wondering whether it isn't because of congestion otherwise it wouldn't always fix the problem temporarily .... but I am no expert. It isn't a slow down, its a complete stop with no data going either way. Occasionally it will sit there sending permanently but that isn't always the case when it stalls.
I am not disagreeing just trying to confirm whether this is definately optus or something else related ot the wrong modem component for optus network.
I never noticed this on my previous phone (i8000 on win mo and alos a buggy android port) but to be honest I didn't really play around on the net so much because I didn't have anywhere near this amount of data I have now and it wasn't as appealing to play round with online....
Were either of you on Optus with another phone you used data on a lot? Did that experience the same stalling of data.
no problems on telstra here
My dad is optus and has the same issue on his phone. Me and my gf are on Vodafone and have a slight issue but not as bad becuase were mainly on the new network. Telstra finally turned on QoS so there is no problem on that network.
Remember there are 800 open cases with the ombudsman over optus's delivery of service.
There are tweaks to the build.prop file to mitigate phone issues but won't help as much as if optus fixed there infrastructure
Sent from my GT-I9100T using xda premium
Thanks all. Looks like concensus says optus is the main culprit and i don't need to head down the flashing of a typical optus modem firmware with my imported phone to fix these dramas. Thankfully its not all the time so I can live with the slight frustrations at times. At least the voice calls aren't doing the same thing...
Was reading 2 articles this morning that you might like.
http://m.itwire.com/it-industry-news/deals/49770-optus-to-use-huawei-for-700mhz-lte-trial
http://m.itwire.com/business-it-news/networking/49768-optus-announces-lte-rollout-for-2012
Sent from my GT-I9100T using xda premium
As far as I know there is a known bug in the phones software that stalls data transfers when switching between 3g and h. The fix is to lock the phones data out of h.
To do this use the stock phone dialpad and key in *#301279#
Select option 2
Select option 1
Then use menu key and go right back or end.
Should not be using h network now and your stalling should be fixed.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Try the Irish Modem stronger locks .
jje
i thought this would be the best place for a problem i started having about2 weeks ago. i am on vodafone uk.
i used to get 3-4 of the 4 bars reception while sitting at home(as an example). suddenly i was getting 1-2 and sometimes none (all blank).
i thought i would try and eliminate things one by one so here is what i did...
checked with my sim in another phone and another sim in mine. from memory the other phone having my sim was slightly down but not much and my phone with the other sim didnt really change much.
i checked with vodafone by calling them, they said they couldnt see any problems on the network, birmingham uk, but would send a new sim, after getting the sim activated when it arrived, no better. their onling forum is still waiting for a response back from their technical whether there is any problems. i dont see how the phone department can instantly tell me when the technical need many days to find an answer.
i thought it could be the rom so i first updated lite'ning rom to resurrection remix and then to a later version of RR and no change. the newest version of RR has a different kernel, flux i think, than the siyah in the 2 previous roms but again that different kernel didnt improve it. lastly i even changed the modem/radio trying to different ones to the default, xxlpx and kh3 and again no difference.
the only thing that improves it is turning 2G on instead of 3G. the bars go back up to 3-4. even with 3G on previously as i never changed it before it was always fine.
i know this is a long post but i wanted to be thorough as i really appreciate any help as i am now lost as what could improve this.
Mispost
anyone?
I have been having a similar problem on Three for about five weeks now. Despite numerous reloads of Android and modems etc I was getting no results, 5mb dl speeds have dropped to around 150kb despite having a good signal.
After many many calls to so called customer service I have discovered that a new cell tower near to me has been activated as part of the network expansion program and because this cell is closer to me than the one I used to connect to I now get a stronger signal from this so my phone always chooses this. Problem is this cell has only got a 2mb feed INTO it, its a TMobile/Orange cell now being shared with Three....so I am basically fooked.
Check with Vodafone if they have done anything similar recently near you. Three are adamant there are no problems my end, technically they are correct I suppose, its all working, I just cant access the net without it timing out constantly now.
Atb
SST
I am having the same issue with my phone. I get only one bar (sometimes none!) whenever I'm home & I'm on WiFi; however, I get full signal strength when I'm out & on 3G.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
i thought it could be the cell tower thing as there is only 1 vodafone one in quite a large radious, about 2 miles, and many of all the other networks. i dont know why vodafone are happy to have 1 compared to at least 3-4 each for all other providers.
this morning i drove that 1 mile to the vodafone mast and ran fresh network and surely that would have connected to that as i was 5 meters from it. still no better. ??
Just try NELP3 modem once... I had done similar issue once.. Now my network is better..
is nelp3 okay for uk though?
Try flashing another Modem. Im from Germany but i had similar problems. A new Rom would do too i think
All
Sent from my MB525 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
Christiancs1969 said:
All
Sent from my MB525 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure what you mean with 'all'
Number of options, tower may be having problems, maybe some form of interference, try a different modem, try different sum card if you have one spare?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
i do have the same problem as above, no signal in the building and 50% signal outside building. I swithch my SIM with fren's (he use another telco), and his SIM not work on my S2 and my SIM work on his phone (not SIM issues).
I tested many modem as recommented , LP2/LP3, LP9, LPX, KI3, KI4, KF2, no luck.
I flash different ROM, (some old version that work before), from CM9, AOKP, Sammy. no luck.
I restore old back up ROM. no luck
Fix permission, no luck.
any advice ?
OK next step is to flash a different modem
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
i've tried a few modems including the ones people believe better, all have this problem so far.
it may be the network mast in my case. i discussed with vodafone what 3G mast i was connected to and then which 3G mast is next closest. i then went right next to that other 3G mast and the signal was full bars, no fluctuation at all. this surely means it is either, 1-the network mast i keep locking to having problems or 2-all the modems i have used favouring battery over strength and not getting enough power to get a good signal.
is there a way of finding out which modems are better for battery and which are better for signal strength?
Umm not that I know of, best thing to do for that is either research the modems for better strength or battery etc, or just test some yourself, however that is time consuming,
Personally I think it is just the mast having problems, however I may be wrong
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
i thought i would add a little research to this thread, not too much but just my experience with 3 specific modems.
the background is that recently i have started getting very poor network signal as i believe the closest 3g mast to me is having problems. if i turn to 2g its better as the phone then connects to the closest 2g tower which gives better network signal.
i know that a modem should be left for 2-3 days before judging but i thought that if a modem is currently better than another then that is only likely to stay the same with time as long as they were given the same short period of time.
i used the app network signal info and did 3 5 minute tests for each modem and then averaged the percentage of the signal and also averaged the -dbm also.
i first used the modem i currently had on there, BUKI1
- average percentage was 19%
- average -dbm was -103
both very poor scores
the signal was very jumpy up and down also
i then flashed the custom modem, i think by krs007, M250S
- average percentage was 44.6%
- average -dbm was -90.66
obviously a huge increase
the signal was very steady, hardly changing from that average
lastly i flashed NELP3
- average percentage was 30.66%
- average -dbm was -97.33
better than at first but not as good as M250S
i am now going to let M250S bed in for a few days while keeping my eye on here for how NELP4 performs but so far i have a huge increase in signal in a previously very poor area. as this is also due i believe to the tower having problems, hopefully it will only get better.
Try downloading OpenSignalMaps from Google Play Store. For starters, you can determine the approximate location of the offending cell tower (if the cell tower was indeed the culprit). Sometimes, i realise that the phone tends to stick to certain cell towers when others are in closer range and could purportedly provide a better radio link. For this, the app provides a refresh feature that allows you to manually trigger a cell tower refresh. I am aware that most apps requiring connectivity have this feature but i don't suppose you can call the refresh on trigger.
Hi Marc
Tracked down a copy of M250S(dont know if its the same as you have installed though), and very briefly, as in 30 secondsish, I had 4 bars and dl`s around 5mb again!.But midway through it dropped out and that seems to be the pattern. Seems to be having problems locking onto a cell, signal bars frequently grey out, maybe its a compatibility issue with CM9, I dont know.
Anyway, let us know how you get on,
Cheers
Chris
it probably is the same as i dont think any others have that name.
it probably just needs to bed in for a few days. i have noticed mine go between 3g and H quite regular but it always does that, i havent had any dropped calls or similar so far.
Hi All,
I am having a strange problem with my S2 since last few months. I am from Mumbai, India and using Airtel network. There is a spot in my apartment which has very poor network reception of Airtel and I face issues whenever my cell is in that spot for a while. It happens that whenever I take my cell in that area, it starts losing signal bars till no bars are highlighted on the status bar at the top. It keeps showing zero bars but does not show "no signal" icon. Then, after keeping my cell in that spot for a while when I bring it in a better connectivity spot, signal bars start increasing and it appears that my cell has better reception again. However, if anyone tries to call me or I try to call anyone, they get "Out of coverage area" message or I get "Network registration failed" message respectively. I am having this problem since the day I started using Airtel and have tried a lot of remedies but only thing that works is rebooting my cell. I have tried using OpenSignal app to reset my connection whenever my cell comes back from the spot but even that fails to revive it and ultimately I have to reboot.
Has anyone faced such an issue and any ideas about a fix? Does it look like an issue with my cell or could it be an issue with my network provider? I would prefer not to root my S2 since I have 3 years warranty on it but if you think that it's the only way out of this, please let me know your opinion.
Thanks.
Sounds like a carrier issue to me. You pretty much said exactly that yourself when you said 'There is a spot in my apartment which has very poor network reception of Airtel and I face issues whenever my cell is in that spot for a while'.
That's normal in many buildings. Particularly if the network coverage in your area is borderline or poor. I have a similar issue in my house, in a few rooms I get no bars & sometimes coverage drops out completely, whereas in my loungeroom/dining/kitchen at the back of the house I get good coverage (for me, anyways).
You could try different modems, which might improve things. You don't have to be rooted to flash these, you can flash them using Odin. Tho it is easier to flash them with CWM if you're rooted.
I use to had the same issue with my 3 carrier at my desk in the office, and still on 2g services. I but since last month they already improved to hsdpa network added more bts and now my blank spot became H.
Yes you may try to change other service providers
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Thanks for your suggestions guys. Yes, it might be only related to the carrier. But, I think that if signal goes down to zero and then when my cell is back in better coverage zone, shouldn't the modem take care of network registration by itself? My problem is that it doesn't. I have to reboot my cell every time after I come to know that my cell is showing signal bars but is not actually registered on the network. If I reboot my cell, everything becomes normal and so if it was just an issue with the carrier, shouldn't it continue like that even after reboot? If I think about it logically, I think following should help me out:
1. Try out a different cell for a few days and see if I face this issue or not.
2. If answer to 1 is no, then try out different modems on my S2 and see if that helps.
Actually, I just wanted to check if anyone else has faced this issue and figured out that something is not right with S2 drivers or something? That would help me with quick resolution of my problem.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
Yep, your logic is sound ;-)
One thing tho. With regard to trying your sim out in another phone, you have to keep in mind the radio hardware is obviously different in different phones. And what that means is (and this is something I've observed on XDA), chances are you'll find the sim works perfectly in the other phone & you have no issues at all. This might be due to the actual equipment your carrier is using in the cell tower(s) you're close to, also the frequencies that gear is using might also be playing a part in your problems.
So definitely try it out in another phone & see what happens, but you could do worse than try out a bunch of modems in the S2 & see if that improves things.
crypticlight said:
1. Try out a different cell for a few days and see if I face this issue or not.
2. If answer to 1 is no, then try out different modems on my S2 and see if that helps.
Actually, I just wanted to check if anyone else has faced this issue and figured out that something is not right with S2 drivers or something? That would help me with quick resolution of my problem.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are carrier issues, and maybe even the material of the constructions, in my house there are rooms where there's almost no signal at all, and in the living room it's ok, you should try to see in which tower you are connected maybe thats the problem
I have also had these problems on various networks here in Australia. If you don't need the data network, you could try using 2G only option. But that's not really a fix, is it? I suggest you try a pre-paid SIM from another network provider, to test them out first, before re-contracting.
Good luck. :fingers-crossed:
MistahBungle said:
One thing tho. With regard to trying your sim out in another phone, you have to keep in mind the radio hardware is obviously different in different phones. And what that means is (and this is something I've observed on XDA), chances are you'll find the sim works perfectly in the other phone & you have no issues at all. This might be due to the actual equipment your carrier is using in the cell tower(s) you're close to, also the frequencies that gear is using might also be playing a part in your problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I was also thinking about it. It could be the combo of cell tower and S2 that are not liking each other that well.. And, if that's the case, I really hope that the issue can be resolved by switching modem drivers. I will have to do some what-ifings to nail this down now.
I like the other suggestion by HotrodHarry on trying out 2G only option - not the best way out but will help me in zeroing down on the cause.