Interesting experience recently - Huawei Ascend Mate 2

My girlfriend went up to Coloma-ish, Michigan this past weekend. Like always, my T889 Note 2 on T-Mobile stayed on E and G, only picking up 4g and LTE when we went into a large town.
This time I also brought my AM2 with my tablet sim in it. That picked a usable LTE signal very often while the Note was on E. I didn't check to see which band it was on and it seemed to drop LTE after a while, but it was still nice to see and gives me a little more hope about going voip only on it or my LTE Nexus 7 (that decision will likely boil down to slightly smaller with vibration and backup 911 capabilities vs. better device).

Related

[Q] Anyone switch from Verizon?

My contract with Verizon ends this week. Really thinking hard about switching from Verizon to AT&T to get this phone. I went and played with one at the store yesterday. Screen was amazing! I have unlimited data with Verizon right now and thats the only thing holding me back right now. Anyone make the switch and care to comment.
Had the iphone and other android phone with verizon madebthe switch day one the Gnote came out And love it i also had unlimited data l and gave it up just got 5 gbs and i dont thin it will.make a big difference As im on wifi at home most of the time butbi rarely hit 5 gbs while on verizon but the GNote is totally worth the switch to AT&T specially if yu got LTE in your city
Sent from my SAMSUNG-Gnote using XDA
I did the same thing! The note is the craziest phone ever! I'm in the same boat I usually use wi fi at home so it wasn't a huge deal to go down to 3 gigs a month. Plus the deal killer with verizon was the spotty 4G lte coverage. If I switched from lte to 3g I was losing data for about 5 minutes at a time, or I would lose it altogether! I complained so much they let me out of my contract almost 2 years early. Best thing I ever did!
Sent from the awesomesauce of phones...the Note!
Well major bummer! Was excited to switch to AT&T this week for the Note. Thought my contract was up on the 15th. Seems I'm eligible for a discount on the 15th and my contract goes through July. I'll be keeping an eye on this forum and if the Note/Journal or whatever they might call it doesn't make it Verizon by then...see ya Verizon!
I'm making the switch and can't wait. I'm also giving up unlimited data but have never used that much data anyway. That may change when I get this phone because I may have better HSPZ+ and LTE coverage .
Verizon
My contract with Verizon is up in June.
If no news on the Journal by then: it's AT&T and The Note.
Been with Verizon for eleven years. First and only carrier.
Swedishmafia;23519403 Plus the deal killer with verizon was the spotty 4G lte coverage.[/QUOTE said:
You find ATT's LTE coverage less spotty than Verizon?
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I LOVE my note, but if I wasn't locked into AT&T I would have looked hard at the galaxy nexus. I'd miss the bigger screen of the note, but the nexus screen is pretty big as well, and it's always nice to have a google phone. It's still LTE, already running ICS, and probably will have better/more sustained devleopment over its lifetime. Plus, I think overall verizon coverage is a little better and more reliable, although in my area, AT&T is fine.
A potential upside to AT&T is that if you are in an area where Verizon doesn't have LTE, I think (but I'm not sure) that Verizon falls back to CDMA, which is slower than even 3G on AT&T. But if you don't have LTE on AT&T, there's a good chance that HSPA+ 4G is available instead, which is noticeably faster than 3G on AT&T, which, again, is itself faster than Verizon's CDMA. This is to say, that if I'm not mistaken, if you're with Verizon and you don't have LTE, you're looking at pretty slow data on CDMA. But if you have AT&T there's a good chance you're on HSPA+ instead and still looking at some pretty stout speeds.
Coming from my iphone 4 on AT&T 3G, I find that their 4G HSPA+ is noticeably faster (in real usage, not just tests) than 3G was. And the HSPA+ coverage is nice... in fact, I'm not sure I've been on a 3G network yet anywhere I've been, it's all been at least HSPA+ or LTE, even out in the country. My understanding is that Verizon's LTE rollout is quite a bit more widespread than AT&Ts at this point, but I haven't been on it to say for sure just how far past the cities it really is. If their LTE coverage gets to the areas you frequent, you're good to go already, but if it's not much further out than around big cities, depending on where you spend your time, you could see faster speeds with AT&T by utilizing their 4G HSPA+ in areas where Verizon does not yet have LTE. So that's my long winded version of what I *think* I know, but I'm sure someone will correct me.
Anyway, after having the big ass screen, I don't think I could ever go smaller. Bigger, sure, maybe another half an inch or more, but I would struggle adjusting to something smaller.
Another Verizon to AT&T GNote user here. Had unlimited 4G on a Thunderbolt. Was worth it to switch back to AT&T (which I had before Verizon) since we now have LTE in New York.
I even broke contract with ETF to do it. Still worth it to me.
I just switched from a iPhone 4S on Verizon with unlimited Data to the Note on AT&T
I'm not even looking back NOTE=WIN
I had the Verizon galaxy nexus.....I switxhed to tmobile to get the galaxy s2...withing 14 days I broke contract to at&t....lol....the galaxy nexus is nothing to brag about...tmobile s2 is faster to me..but crappy customer service and signal....so far the coverage on At&t where I live is awesome..and the note rooted...with v6..scripts makes this phone a blazing beast by far the best phone I've owned
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA

3G

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

Something is seriously not right with the One LTE antenna

This is a typical speedtest where i work with S4 vs my One.
As we know from my other thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2451516 the S4 is a complete and total joke when it comes to voice recognition so I swapped it out for the One. The only problem I have with the One as the voice recognition is second to none, is the data speed. Some days it decides it's not going to pick up an LTE signal under any circumstances and some days it does but it seems that the download speed appears to bleed off to almost nothing as seen in this pic. No programs are running at the time I did the speedtest here and both phones ran their speed test separately.
Something is not right.
I'm not having that trouble with my One. I'd take it back and get another. My LTE is usually around 20Mbps and I've had it as high as 37Mbps.
Something is wrong with your phone. While I wish T-mobile had better coverage, when I am in a good area I am getting fantastic speeds on my One.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
While I don't have two tmo LTE phones, I did switch from straight talk and my tmo LTE is horribly inconsistent while the ATT LTE signal on the same phone is solid wherever I had reception. It also has a weird issue with speed test in particular where it keeps routing me to a server in Denver or Albuquerque even though the location services work fine.
Tmo hspa isn't great in my area but still more consistent by far. I may just switch back to straight talk even with the cap as I have zero issues on ATTs LTE network and don't stream anything other than music. The phone is by far my favorite, even compared to my friend's N4 (the camera and screen spoil you, and I can't see feeling the need to upgrade for a few years now that I have a camera I'm satisfied with)
edit: t-mo LTE is -103 inside or out, ATT LTE is -88 with excellent and consistent speed (ping is a bit higher at 240 as prepaid often is, but that's fine for everything I do). And it's certainly not an issue of grip, as I actually get better ATT LTE while holding it than setting the phone down

Need advice from NYC members

Hi guys,
I've been doing research but wanted to pose this question to everyone in this forum as well.
Thinking about making the switch over to T-Mobile from Sprint to test their network and see how I like it.
Unfortunately I'd have to get an HTC One capable of receiving the LTE signal so I'd have to swap phones (at least that's what I've seen online). Kind of a pain in the ass but whatever.
I just wanted anyone's opinion who has used T-Mobile in NYC/Queens and can tell me about their recent experience. I'm most concerned with building penetration which I've found to be pretty solid with Sprint (granted the data speeds suck).
Any input would really help. Love this phone but I might have to test a new network.
Thanks
Ok so I made the switch six months ago from Verizon and I live in Queens, NY. I live in the first floor of an apt building and in the middle room I barely had 3G with Verizon, on my one I get at least 2 bars of lte. I have had no problems getting signal in Queens, I have even gone as far as Central Islip, LI and get lte, although in some areas I do drop to HSPA plus but get good signal. I have had no dropped calls or signal thus far. Really loving Tmobile and this phone. The only place that I can think off not getting signal would be in a basement maybe and ofcourse the subway.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
I've been on T-Mo for 3 years. Previously VzW and AT&T.
VzW is better in many places.
But I have no complaints about T-Mo coverage in NYC and LI.
Where there isn't any, I use the WiFi calling/data with no issues.
I can't imagine T-Mo wouldn't be better than Sprint.

Signal reception is worse compared to other phones, how to improve it?

I have a standard EU model on Vodafone. Several times now I have gone to the same pub with friends. Inside, I always drop to GSM connection while my friends' S3, iphone 4 and galaxy nexus consistently manage to hang onto HSDPA+. This happened during a trip in the mountains as well. It's becoming increasingly obvious that my G3 has a worse reception than most other phones.
Is this expected? how can I improve the situation?
I agree with signal issues. I'm sat next to my partner both on Vodafone.she got a iphone 5s. She has 4bars of signal and im on zero.
welshandy2322 said:
I agree with signal issues. I'm sat next to my partner both on Vodafone.she got a iphone 5s. She has 4bars of signal and im on zero.
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+1
The G3 has known problems on Vodafone(Vodafones fault)
I have had an M8, 1+1 and the G3 at the same time and the G3 is by far the best and on a par with my Nokia 1520 and the 1+1 was the worst. I have now sold both the M8 and 1+1 but they both lost signal quicker and were slower to get it back again and the G3 has slightly faster speed over 10 tests each. The WiFi was better on the M8 as it connected to my home WiFi before I got out of the car when I parked outside. They all work fine in the house so no difference.
My phone is a sim free 855 on EE and the WiFi is Sky. I haven't tested my other one yet but it seems to be the same.
It's happening to me. Also I had lost completely but fixed when reboot. I don't understand why. I heard put copper tape under the back cover for improve signal. I'll try and then let you know.
LG-D855 cihazımdan Tapatalk kullanılarak gönderildi
Vodafone Portugal I have issues too. Too much I think.
You people do realise "bars" of signal are meaningless? A "bar" is not a measurement of signal (it happens to be a measurement of pressure but thats is besides the point.) Phone signal doesn't really have a unit of measurement so it is given ASU (Arbitrary Strength Unit) which is based off the power of the signal (dBm) Go into settings, about phone -> Network and you will see the quoted ASU and dBm.
Therefore the way signal is represented by bars on a phone is entirely down to how the manufacturer chooses it to be displayed. For example 1 bar could represent 1 ASU on an iPhone, therefore a full 5 bars would mean anywhere from 5 ASU upwards. Whereas on a G3 1 bar could represent 3 ASU, therefore giving a larger display range.
Now I have plucked these figures out of thin air but I think you can see from that example how 1 bar on the G3 and 3 bars on the iPhone would actually be the same signal strength.
Granted if you have NONE and your partner has some, then that is clearly an issue. But don't compare bars, compare ASU.
Just wanted to add my experiences that I've had with my G3 for the past 2 months.
My G3 continuously gets a weaker and more unreliable signal (Three UK) than I have had on any other smartphone I have (One M7, One X+). It's incredibly frustrating as it means I never get LTE indoors but more importantly, my phone will very frequently lose data and cellular connection if I put it in my pocket. What good is a phone if it drops signal while its in your pocket?
573W1E said:
Just wanted to add my experiences that I've had with my G3 for the past 2 months.
My G3 continuously gets a weaker and more unreliable signal (Three UK) than I have had on any other smartphone I have (One M7, One X+). It's incredibly frustrating as it means I never get LTE indoors but more importantly, my phone will very frequently lose data and cellular connection if I put it in my pocket. What good is a phone if it drops signal while its in your pocket?
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Wow, you got 4g on Three network, I went to Three from giffgaff and I had faster speeds on giffgaff 3g than I did with 4g on Three. I'm not on EE and very rarely lose 4g
Are you using a sim adaptor buy any chance?
GTCC said:
Wow, you got 4g on Three network, I went to Three from giffgaff and I had faster speeds on giffgaff 3g than I did with 4g on Three. I'm not on EE and very rarely lose 4g
Are you using a sim adaptor buy any chance?
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I moved to Three from giffgaff and my speeds over both 3G (HSPA+) and 4G LTE have been consistently faster than anything I had on giffgaff. The city where I'm at (Newport) was not on the list of planned 4G cities for 2014 from Three, but it just started rolling out near the start of this month. I'm wondering if it was a rushed rollout to cover the area for the NATO Summit that was in the area a few weeks ago. I've averaged 20mbps download over LTE and about 7/8 down on HSPA+ which are both better than the 3mbps average I had on giffgaff. I'm not using a SIM Adaptor either, the Micro SIM that was in my HTC One M7 fit right into the G3.
I just wish the G3 kept a stronger and more reliable signal, these signal drop outs in my pocket and less reliable elsewhere are defo not Three's (or another carrier's fault), I've never had this issue with any other smartphone I have had. Poor show LG....
573W1E said:
I moved to Three from giffgaff and my speeds over both 3G (HSPA+) and 4G LTE have been consistently faster than anything I had on giffgaff. The city where I'm at (Newport) was not on the list of planned 4G cities for 2014 from Three, but it just started rolling out near the start of this month. I'm wondering if it was a rushed rollout to cover the area for the NATO Summit that was in the area a few weeks ago. I've averaged 20mbps download over LTE and about 7/8 down on HSPA+ which are both better than the 3mbps average I had on giffgaff. I'm not using a SIM Adaptor either, the Micro SIM that was in my HTC One M7 fit right into the G3.
I just wish the G3 kept a stronger and more reliable signal, these signal drop outs in my pocket and less reliable elsewhere are defo not Three's (or another carrier's fault), I've never had this issue with any other smartphone I have had. Poor show LG....
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I would have to disagree with you about the reception on the G3 in my case at least. Both my G3's have better reception than my M8 or my Oneplus One. The G3 even keeps signal(albeit low) in my lift.
I'm in Solihull by the way and according to Three I should of had 4g inside but didn't even get it outside and only got good 4g when I went into Birmingham. Must also say that when I tried Three it was in my Nokia 1520
No problems here compared to my xiaomi mi2.
Same or even better reception.
I have the G3 on T-mobile (USA) and its the best reception phone i've had. Constantly gets LTE where all my previous phones struggled...
(I had HTC One m7, Nexus 5, Z1s, Galaxy S5... to name a few)

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