[Q] How do we stop constant signal type shifting? - Galaxy Note II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I was wondering does anyone know how to stop the phone from constantly changing signal type within a certain network setting? So if it finds moderate signal strength in one type it doesn't start aiming for the skies?
So for instance you have your network setting on the 'any of 2/3/4G' option, you have a decent 4-bar 3g signal, and then it suddenly decides to go for glory and get a crappy/weak 4g signal and then keeps flipping back and forth! In the UK signal strength varies from street to street literally so it would be ideal to have the setting on 'any of 2/3/4G' with the phone attempting to find the highest speed signal type as long as the singal strength meet a minimum of say '3 bars' or '2 bars'. That way you don't have to spend your life manually forcing the network settings every time you wall down the street! Its 2013 after all lol.

thesignalwhisperer said:
I was wondering does anyone know how to stop the phone from constantly changing signal type within a certain network setting? So if it finds moderate signal strength in one type it doesn't start aiming for the skies?
So for instance you have your network setting on the 'any of 2/3/4G' option, you have a decent 4-bar 3g signal, and then it suddenly decides to go for glory and get a crappy/weak 4g signal and then keeps flipping back and forth! In the UK signal strength varies from street to street literally so it would be ideal to have the setting on 'any of 2/3/4G' with the phone attempting to find the highest speed signal type as long as the singal strength meet a minimum of say '3 bars' or '2 bars'. That way you don't have to spend your life manually forcing the network settings every time you wall down the street! Its 2013 after all lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think there's a way to control how it switches in that situation, after all that's why it's called "Auto Mode"!
What I usually do is switch the phone manually to "GSM Only" unless I need fast internet, then I manually switch it to "CDMA Only" (I have non-LTE Note 2). In Oxford I'm lucky to get even a decent 2G signal, never mind 3G...
GSM Only also massively increases battery life, in my experience.

RandyKaoss said:
I don't think there's a way to control how it switches in that situation, after all that's why it's called "Auto Mode"!
What I usually do is switch the phone manually to "GSM Only" unless I need fast internet, then I manually switch it to "CDMA Only" (I have non-LTE Note 2). In Oxford I'm lucky to get even a decent 2G signal, never mind 3G...
GSM Only also massively increases battery life, in my experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Randy, yeah I do the same, ie just force it to be at 2g the whole time, usually an 'E' sign in London. But even then I'm thinking there must be a way to change the network signal setting by going in to the hardcore settings area, and putting in some sort of algorithm that says 'choose the best signal available, and do not move/change/search for another until prompted by the user'. If they really want people to use the phones for downloading and watching Sky sports etc then you can't have the phone messing around mid download
Maybe this sort of problem only happens in the UK, so no one's got round to sorting this, other countries seem to have their 3G coverage, and maybe 4G too, running smoothly!

You've got to remember that the phone e is designed to be used by the average user, who doesn't care about any of that sort of stuff.
Also, once data is established and being used construction, the phone is less likely to change mode. It still will if it has to though.

thesignalwhisperer said:
Thanks Randy, yeah I do the same, ie just force it to be at 2g the whole time, usually an 'E' sign in London. But even then I'm thinking there must be a way to change the network signal setting by going in to the hardcore settings area, and putting in some sort of algorithm that says 'choose the best signal available, and do not move/change/search for another until prompted by the user'. If they really want people to use the phones for downloading and watching Sky sports etc then you can't have the phone messing around mid download
Maybe this sort of problem only happens in the UK, so no one's got round to sorting this, other countries seem to have their 3G coverage, and maybe 4G too, running smoothly!
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Click to collapse
I agree that some additional options would be nice. One in particular would be to always switch to 2G when the phone is not requesting (much) data.
It's always going to be difficult to maintain a good 3G/4G signal if you're moving around. I think it will be a good 5 years yet until we're all reliably watching HD content on our mobiles. At that point 3G will be solid, 4G patchy, and 5G only in London

Related

Random Reception problems

My Trinity has decided it's had enough of working and is doing some crazy stuff. Firstly if you have the phone in Automatic registration it never gets signal but will say G or 3G etc. At this point I cannot make or receive calls or texts. The only way I have managed to get it to work is by turning Auto to Manual and selecting the network..yet sometimes this doesnt work, it will show reception but calls and texts still dont work, Data works tho!!
The only way I can get a working phone is selecting GSM from the network type instead of Auto. Obviously it sounds like a 3G/UMTS problem with the phone, Sim works fine in other phones. Have tried reflashing ROM and Radio.
ANy Ideas
are you sure you have good 3G coverage in your area?
I would phone your operator.
I had a similar problem on Vodafone only when set to auto. The phone tries to pick up the 3G weak signal and so it's always droppin off and on.
The guy at Voda suggested that my phone was paired to a 3G base station several KM away, when it could have used the GSM station a few 100 metres away.
A plus of using GSM is battery life lasts much longer!
Of course there could be a hardware fault which would be unfortunate.
Additional suggestions:
sickboy555 said:
are you sure you have good 3G coverage in your area?
I would phone your operator.
I had a similar problem on Vodafone only when set to auto. The phone tries to pick up the 3G weak signal and so it's always droppin off and on.
The guy at Voda suggested that my phone was paired to a 3G base station several KM away, when it could have used the GSM station a few 100 metres away.
A plus of using GSM is battery life lasts much longer!
Of course there could be a hardware fault which would be unfortunate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume that you've configured your phone to your operator and that you've tried different radio ROMS to ensure optimal "fit" between your specific PDA and network operator. If you haven't and none of sickboy555's suggestions work, maybe you should check these two alternatives out as well?
Cheers!
hoja67
Well the problem initially started at random, did actually do anything, also I have tried about 4 different ROMS now and all have the same problem. I'm on
In terms of reception I have full 3G signal (4 bars according to the screen) as I am just outside the centre of the city yet nothing comes through but data. tis V strange. I may retry 3G when I'm somewhere else just in case its down to the local Cell.
I've decided to bite the bullet and just disabled 3G most of the time, if I need faster data I'll turn it on for that until I can upgrade to the TyTN 2. mmmmmm

[T-Mobile] Touch Pro 2 - Curious about the options of choosing radio towers...

Was wondering if it is at all customizable in the phone connection settings itself, or if it is only do-able through calling up customer support and asking to be able to pick up signals through ATT/Sprint/Verizon towers. Just upgraded from a steep monthly bill through Cingular, and went to T-Mobile, and now cell service at my house sucks horribly - 1 or 2 bars, with an occasional spike to 3/4 bars and I haven't seen it hit 5 bars yet at all even when I was in town.
I've seen the Radio ROM posts, but am not sure if thats what is needed to fix the issue of being able to pick up the other cell towers.
Since I am fairly new to the Smart Phone scene - feel more then welcome to guide me where its needed - I am very high on techy garble, so I can get my hands dirty when needed.
Thanks ahead of time!
Not possible you are stuck with the signal you have. You can only get an att signal with a att sim card.
WowMike2002 said:
Was wondering if it is at all customizable in the phone connection settings itself, or if it is only do-able through calling up customer support and asking to be able to pick up signals through ATT/Sprint/Verizon towers. Just upgraded from a steep monthly bill through Cingular, and went to T-Mobile, and now cell service at my house sucks horribly - 1 or 2 bars, with an occasional spike to 3/4 bars and I haven't seen it hit 5 bars yet at all even when I was in town.
I've seen the Radio ROM posts, but am not sure if thats what is needed to fix the issue of being able to pick up the other cell towers.
Since I am fairly new to the Smart Phone scene - feel more then welcome to guide me where its needed - I am very high on techy garble, so I can get my hands dirty when needed.
Thanks ahead of time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well 4 bars is max you can get. the phone only displays only 4 bars. wich is maximum signal
a radio will most likely give you beter signal. i went from 1-2 bars in my room to 4 bars all the time it rarely drops below 3 in my room. but also remember. u cant get signal where it dont exist.
you cant use sprint or verizon towers period. and u only pic up att signals for emergancy calls if u dont have signal. or ur roaming
Hmm - yeah.. thats what I was curious about - in the Manual Networks settings, I can pick up ATT towers all the time, and finally after 10-15 seconds a TMobile tower pops up - as the default in the phone (Was told through Customer Care) that if any TMobile tower is in range, it has to be selected. I'm curious if there is a way to edit the registry on the pickups for the tower and make it so it doesn't have to be the default as TMobile.
But, other then that I am currently looking at the Radio's are doing some searching to find the better one to use...
Thanks again!
just because it picks up att towers dont mean that you can actually register on the network. the phone will default to any carriers sim card so if the phone is unlocked and you put in a att sim it will default to att.
u can force it to use att but i wouldnt recomend it because 1 tmobile only has roaming agreements with att in certain spots and once your out of that spot no signal. and 2 you can only use atts network for so long before tmobile vuts your service.
so best bet just keep it on auto
I have no issue making calls or using the internet with 1-2 bars with my tp2. I prefer more, but if i am somewhere with less, as long as i have any signal, it works fine. Only place i have issues with signal is in the red line subway in chicago. Edge only and the signal between the stations gets really low and strong a lot. Makes like hell with my phones.

bad reception on sgn

I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
12/7 Update - More information on what I have attempted
Setting APNS for 4g on ATT
getting correct 4g data plan on account
New Sim cards
Replacement Galaxy Nexus
Different Roms
Stock Restore Rom
restore to default and install nothing
different radio
update to 4.0.1
Once the signal drops to almost unusable levels , the only way to get it back is either reboot the phone or toggle airplane mode. After that the signal returns to a solid 89-93 DBM. After roughly 30-60min it will then drop and I have to toggle it again. All other phones in my location have no problem including my iphone 4s with the exact same sim card.
I am in a decent location for signal. On the nexus reboot its at -89 dbm , my iphone 4s is at -87. The iphone stays that way and the galaxy nexus over time drops to -105 to -111.
Still no conclusion.
I only have problem with Wi-Fi where the reception is considerably weaker than any other device just around it.
aimetti said:
I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bars mean very little, as devices have their indicators calibrated differently. You should be comparing signals, in dBm for a meaningful comparison.
The acid test, of course, is whether you can make and hold a call, and or send/receive data.
aimetti said:
I am on att wireless
I have noticed that in a low service area i get none at all.
However my wife on her iphone has 1/2 bars and my bro on his atrix also has 1/2 bars.
Anyone else having similar issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah kind of hard to gauge from bars. Nokia and motorola are known for excellent reception. Samsung not so much. They do seem to be improving on all fronts though, including wifi and gps.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong country.
I havent got too in depth with testing but its simple to see there is an issue. Everyone around me can make calls and i cant. Cell standbye taking up battery life as well and has been out of signal for a while
I'm seeing a similar issue.
When I have 2g only selected, I get 2 bars -98 asu 7. When I have it deselected I have no bars and signal is -111 asu 1.
Well ive had similar issues
Today I wiped phone and came back to initially 4/5 bars and download speeds of 4 down 1 up.
Then after about 10 min , right back down to 1/0 bars and 800 kbps down 200 up.
popped off back cover and then pulled sim , reset sim and then reboot. Again it initially came back with 4/5 bars with hsdpa. Again about 10 min later back down to 1/0 bars and a -113 dbm reading,
Then oddly enough i was in the status screen just watching it hover around -113 to -105 , it clicked to edge full 5 bars , then came back to 3G 4 bars and now at -93 dbm.
Does this sound at all normal? I havent changed location more than a few feet through all this. My wifes Iphone seems to be having 0 issues right next to me.
just watched it do it again.
Was at 1 bar went to 0 , got stuck on -113 dbm for about a minute or 2 clicked over to edge-2 -87 dbm then back to hsdpa -93 dbm
:/ i got no clue at this point
there is a video showing some of the issue
http://youtu.be/dbSAEHVcosI
aimetti said:
just watched it do it again.
Was at 1 bar went to 0 , got stuck on -113 dbm for about a minute or 2 clicked over to edge-2 -87 dbm then back to hsdpa -93 dbm
:/ i got no clue at this point
there is a video showing some of the issue
http://youtu.be/dbSAEHVcosI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this at home or a place where you frequently are? If so, I would do one of two things (provided you want to keep the device):
Write an NFC tag that you can tap on your way in (and presumably on on the way out as well) that would switch you over to "2G only" (which it seems gives you a better signal), and back to 3G/3.5G on your way out the door. or...
Either write yourself, or wait for one to be written, a kernel that will throw more power to the radio (at the expense of battery life however- but if you are constantly searching for signal your phone is probably wasting a ton of battery right now anyways)...
ya i am at home.
My wife consistently gets 3 down 1 up on her 4s.
No one else seems to be having issues , perhaps mine is just defective?
this is what happens when i lightly grip phone
http://youtu.be/-eqlMUoeq_I
aimetti said:
ya i am at home.
My wife consistently gets 3 down 1 up on her 4s.
No one else seems to be having issues , perhaps mine is just defective?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, but I can't think of a way to reliably test whether it is defective or not. My Samsung phones have always had lightly weaker radios than my HTC and Moto phones, and my sister's iPhone, so I will wager that it is just that in the name of battery life the radio is under-powered, which can be changed in the kernel. I was in a similar boat back when I was on T-mobile (right on the edge of service), and luckily someone had posted a custom ROM for the G1 that routed more power to the radios, and gave me just enough to hold a signal and use my wifi for data. Whatever that kernel in that ROM did, it gave me about 10 dbm difference. You might want to throw a request in the development section.
you can also try exchanging the device (if ever unhappy at all you should try to), but I am wondering if it will actually make a difference. Do you know someone with a recent Samsung phone like a SG2 (not LTE/Skyrocket) or maybe one of their Windows phones (I don't know what radios/speeds they use), to see if it gives similar results?
s.m.knipe said:
Maybe, but I can't think of a way to reliably test whether it is defective or not. My Samsung phones have always had lightly weaker radios than my HTC and Moto phones, and my sister's iPhone, so I will wager that it is just that in the name of battery life the radio is under-powered, which can be changed in the kernel. I was in a similar boat back when I was on T-mobile (right on the edge of service), and luckily someone had posted a custom ROM for the G1 that routed more power to the radios, and gave me just enough to hold a signal and use my wifi for data. Whatever that kernel in that ROM did, it gave me about 10 dbm difference. You might want to throw a request in the development section.
you can also try exchanging the device (if ever unhappy at all you should try to), but I am wondering if it will actually make a difference. Do you know someone with a recent Samsung phone like a SG2 (not LTE/Skyrocket) or maybe one of their Windows phones (I don't know what radios/speeds they use), to see if it gives similar results?
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Click to collapse
Ya , i was at my brothers house yesterday with no service at all.
My bro had an atrix with 1/2 bars and service.
my wife had an iphone 4 with 1/2 bars and service
and my sister in law had a galaxy s2 with 1/2 bars and service as well.
I had 0 at all.
The odd thing is , every time I reboot my phone it holds on to 4/5 bars at the location im at right now for a good 10 minutes , then flatlines.
aimetti said:
Ya , i was at my brothers house yesterday with no service at all.
My bro had an atrix with 1/2 bars and service.
my wife had an iphone 4 with 1/2 bars and service
and my sister in law had a galaxy s2 with 1/2 bars and service as well.
I had 0 at all.
The odd thing is , every time I reboot my phone it holds on to 4/5 bars at the location im at right now for a good 10 minutes , then flatlines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what APN are you using? Use the same APN settings as your Sis-in-law's GS2- when my Nexus first came I noticed the APN did not match my Atrix and it would not hold an HSPA+ signal for long; I changed it to match the Atrix and speeds/holding towers has been much better. Try the APN thing.
The GN and GS2 would have the same radio chip (I would imagine), and be set to draw the same amount of power by the kernel. If the APN thing doesn't work then you might want to consider an exchange I guess, maybe it is defective
The fact that it flatlines AFTER 10 minutes (presumably after all the syncing is finished for the various apps and services) is suggestive of a sort of "demand" model- like maybe the device amps up the radio when it knows there will be a lot of need, then scales back when demand is less- or over compensates at first, then under compensates later after some sort of calibration? The ten minute thing sounds odd, but sounds like something software/firmware/kernel-based...
[Keep in mind that there is much speculation contained in that advice, the true test for defective or not would simply be another GN at the same location- as that is unreasonable we'll have to speculate. Also, if your sis-in-law comes back over, check her phone status for her signal strength (not bars but dbm and asu) and see if it matches yours. The bars that you see are a software representation of those two numbers, and can be modified to under represent the actual signal.]
I am using the default cingular 410 apn
ive been reading that if support put a 4g data plan on my phone that it could potentially cause data loss. Is that correct?
also changed to 2g only for now and have 5bars -81 dbm constant.
aimetti said:
I am using the default cingular 410 apn
ive been reading that if support put a 4g data plan on my phone that it could potentially cause data loss. Is that correct?
also changed to 2g only for now and have 5bars -81 dbm constant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure I follow, if AT&T made your data plan a 4G data plan, it would interrupt your service?
I think you are asking if changing these APN settings will trigger something at AT&T, and they will "bump" you to a 4G plan- in which case I don't really know, I had to jump onto a "4G" plan when I got my Atrix. I think it would never reach that point though, when you set up the new APNs, that step where you touch the dot to select the HSDPA APN, it would default back to your cingular 410 apn if it were not able to connect (via SIM provisioning or whatever). If unavailable it wouldn't be connected at that rate to begin with.
How old is the data plan you are on (is it prior to the tiered plans)? If you are worried about the connection (APN) not matching the SIM, you could request a new (4G) SIM. Maybe stop in your local store, or call customer service and tell them you are thinking about buying a 4G phone, your friend's brother's uncle' pizza delivery boy's nephew has an unlocked phone you could test speeds with, could they switch out your old SIM for a newer 4G one to see if it will be worth your while at your house, then just pop in that new SIM, change the APN and away you go? (Or to be even less complicated take your old phone in with your old SIM, and just ask for a new SIM card, that yours isn't working right, and it should be a new 4G (not LTE) card...
Well, at least the phone is usable on the 2G band for you, and will save a lot of battery. Meanwhile we'll try to get you connected to an HSPA+ tower.
s.m.knipe said:
Not sure I follow, if AT&T made your data plan a 4G data plan, it would interrupt your service?
I think you are asking if changing these APN settings will trigger something at AT&T, and they will "bump" you to a 4G plan- in which case I don't really know, I had to jump onto a "4G" plan when I got my Atrix. I think it would never reach that point though, when you set up the new APNs, that step where you touch the dot to select the HSDPA APN, it would default back to your cingular 410 apn if it were not able to connect (via SIM provisioning or whatever). If unavailable it wouldn't be connected at that rate to begin with.
How old is the data plan you are on (is it prior to the tiered plans)? If you are worried about the connection (APN) not matching the SIM, you could request a new (4G) SIM. Maybe stop in your local store, or call customer service and tell them you are thinking about buying a 4G phone, your friend's brother's uncle' pizza delivery boy's nephew has an unlocked phone you could test speeds with, could they switch out your old SIM for a newer 4G one to see if it will be worth your while at your house, then just pop in that new SIM, change the APN and away you go? (Or to be even less complicated take your old phone in with your old SIM, and just ask for a new SIM card, that yours isn't working right, and it should be a new 4G (not LTE) card...
Well, at least the phone is usable on the 2G band for you, and will save a lot of battery. Meanwhile we'll try to get you connected to an HSPA+ tower.
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Click to collapse
thanks for all the help really appreciate it.
Anyways a few things have happened since I last posted.
I had an iphone for the last 3 years. I went into ATT last week and got a normal 4g sim card in advance. Today I called my buddy who is a manager at a corporate store and he checked my account. Found that the lady had the wrong data on it. He ended up setting the sim to the 4g plan etc (which is unlimited)
I was able to add the ATT HSDPA apn and successfully connected to it. Prior to this I actually installed modaco's rom and restored everything.
At this point I am getting consistently 3 bars in my house (which is more than my wifes iphone 4s) on 4g.
Seems to be working much better now. The only other issue that remains is when I turn on WIFI. If i turn it on the cell reception goes to 1 bar or sometimes 0. I dont have the exact dbm values right now unfortunately. Calls and text still seem to go through however. Is it possible the wifi is drawing power designated for the radio?
Thanks again !
aimetti said:
thanks for all the help really appreciate it.
Anyways a few things have happened since I last posted.
I had an iphone for the last 3 years. I went into ATT last week and got a normal 4g sim card in advance. Today I called my buddy who is a manager at a corporate store and he checked my account. Found that the lady had the wrong data on it. He ended up setting the sim to the 4g plan etc (which is unlimited)
I was able to add the ATT HSDPA apn and successfully connected to it. Prior to this I actually installed modaco's rom and restored everything.
At this point I am getting consistently 3 bars in my house (which is more than my wifes iphone 4s) on 4g.
Seems to be working much better now. The only other issue that remains is when I turn on WIFI. If i turn it on the cell reception goes to 1 bar or sometimes 0. I dont have the exact dbm values right now unfortunately. Calls and text still seem to go through however. Is it possible the wifi is drawing power designated for the radio?
Thanks again !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, glad it worked out.
And possibly yes, depending on how the kernel relegates power wifi could "commandeer" a little from the cell radio, and reduce the dbm just enough to reflect in the "bars" algorithm.
perhaps a new radio will eventually come out that I can test.
either way seems to be at least in service now , signal definitely drops when i hold the phone but as long as I can make calls it should be fine.
aimetti said:
perhaps a new radio will eventually come out that I can test.
either way seems to be at least in service now , signal definitely drops when i hold the phone but as long as I can make calls it should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in the meantime i'll suggest using the open signal widget https://market.android.com/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en
which will tell you the real reception in the phone, and see what you are getting behind those bars
don't expect to make a good call when the signal drops to -90 dbm and above
and if you have multiple phones like i do, then you can compare if other phone in the same spot, connected to the same tower, is having higher or lower dbm than SGN
for example my Nexus S had worse reception than my Milestone XT720.... go figure
AllGamer said:
in the meantime i'll suggest using the open signal widget https://market.android.com/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal&hl=en
which will tell you the real reception in the phone, and see what you are getting behind those bars
don't expect to make a good call when the signal drops to -90 dbm and above
and if you have multiple phones like i do, then you can compare if other phone in the same spot, connected to the same tower, is having higher or lower dbm than SGN
for example my Nexus S had worse reception than my Milestone XT720.... go figure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will try it out,
Overall i dont think the issue is fixed at all now. Went to bad and signal dropped all the way again. Stuck at -111 dbm. I held the phone i saw it switch to edge 5 bars and then click over to H 4 bars.
I really believe its some kind of software thing. If I cycle airplane mode on / off I get 4 bars (unknown dbm but its working) of 4g service. I know the service is here and working as my wifes iphone is fine but something is causing it to not hold the signal and eventually drop and not recover.
Makes no sense
Downloaded the app ,
Was at 42% signal strengh, I noticed when I picked up phone and lightly held it , it dropped right on down to 5% and got stuck there. This wasnt death gripping it either , barely holding it. Does anyone else have this issue or is it just mine? I know all cell phones have this issue but this seems excessive , worse than my iphone 4 ever was. I then cycled airplane mode again and signal strength went right up to 65% again -89 dbm

Anyone else hating SPARK?!

I really wanted to like it.
I have been running PA/CM rom since they first came out, flipping back and forth. ZVA came out and i was excited and TOT to it. my signal went to ****.
95% of my day is in a 4g area, on ZV8, I see 4g (and pretty fast speeds) most of my day.
I flashed to ZVA, and i can watch the 4g (at my desk, so basically the same place everyday) flip to 3g for no reason. the worst part is it does it in the middle of something. if i go into airplane mode and back out it goes to 4g, for a few minutes and flips to 3g again. so frustrating.
on the way home we drive by an antenna and with ZV8 i see 40 megabit speeds (i can see the antenna from the car)
on ZVA, it will NEVER flip to 4g. we will come into, and go out of the coverage area for that antenna and it will stay in 3g the whole time. if i flip airplane mode, it will kick into 4g.
absolutely terrible!
so ZVC comes out, I TOT to it for a day. same exact problems. 0 4g like the phone does not even try to look for it! also a co worker has the same phone and the same issues. He requested i flash him back to ZV8 just because of the terrible signal on ZVA/ZVC (he has never run a rom or anything other than stock)
is anyone else experiencing these problems?
is there anything that i can do that might help? id like to rock ZVC, but without reliable 4g its a no go
Have you tried disabling band 26 and 41 to see if you get same 4g as before. If not give it a try. ##DATA# and edit LTE. You will need your MSL. Maybe that would help. You will lose the other bands but maybe that is your problem. Maybe trying to connect to those bands but have bad signal so stays on 3g.
Working well for me surprisingly enough
Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk
Had the same exact problems and disabling bands 41 and 26 helped a lot. However, that means you basically are back to non-Spark, but that was still better than the frustrating fall back to 3G and staying on 3G. Some people say that just disabling band 41 helps too.
However, I've noticed much less of a problem recently with this issue with all 3 bands enabled on ZVA. I suspect that Sprint is upgrading towers around my area to better address this issue. So maybe it's not a software issue on our phones.
Sent from my LG-LS980 using xda app-developers app
The problem is ecsfb (enhanced circuit switched fallback) spark phones can't connect to the voice network and lte at the same time because they only have one antenna instead of two. But to be able to switch back and forth between lte and 3g the towers you're on need to have ecsfb enabled. I had the same problems before but it seems in my area (nyc) that they're starting to enable it as I'll be on lte get a call and then get put back on lte right after the call is up. The coverage for lte in my house is pretty horrible though the signal is like -120dbm outside its much better like -90ish. I just got an airave for my house because I was getting some dropped calls and it worked great for like the first hour the signal went to like -47dbm for the voice/3g network. However after a while it stopped using the airave and it went back to using lte and regular voice towers. I switched my phone to cdma only and it started using the airave again but just now I switched it back to lte/cdma and its no longer using the airave. So that kind of sucks lol. But back to spark it seems to be improving regarding switching to 3g/lte but the coverage hasnt changed much atleast in my house. Whenever I check which band I'm on its either 25 or 41 I have yet to see it go on 26. Hopefully they can hurry it up I considered switching to tmobile last week after sprint tried to charge to say my next bill would be $240 after they told me two weeks before it would be $180 smh. I complained like crazy and they decided to pay the difference and lower my bill so I'll stick with them for now.
OfficialPerson said:
However after a while it stopped using the airave and it went back to using lte and regular voice towers. I switched my phone to cdma only and it started using the airave again but just now I switched it back to lte/cdma and its no longer using the airave.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, another known issue with triband phones... The Airave won't connect if your phone is in LTE. But because your phone gets crappy signal at your house, you'll get crappy LTE that intermittently connects, so therefore airave only intermittently connects when you are on CDMA.
I have Tasker automating the switching between LTE/CDMA and CDMA only when I enter and leave my house, but I this solution isn't the best.
beezar said:
Yeah, another known issue with triband phones... The Airave won't connect if your phone is in LTE. But because your phone gets crappy signal at your house, you'll get crappy LTE that intermittently connects, so therefore airave only intermittently connects when you are on CDMA.
I have Tasker automating the switching between LTE/CDMA and CDMA only when I enter and leave my house, but I this solution isn't the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was gonna say I hope theres a way to get it to switch between the two when I leave and come back home thanks for the suggestion I'm going to check it out now.
beezar said:
Yeah, another known issue with triband phones... The Airave won't connect if your phone is in LTE. But because your phone gets crappy signal at your house, you'll get crappy LTE that intermittently connects, so therefore airave only intermittently connects when you are on CDMA.
I have Tasker automating the switching between LTE/CDMA and CDMA only when I enter and leave my house, but I this solution isn't the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I downloaded tasker and I can't seem to figure out how to automate it to turn on 3g when I'm home and 4g when I leave would you mind letting me know how you set yours up?
OfficialPerson said:
I downloaded tasker and I can't seem to figure out how to automate it to turn on 3g when I'm home and 4g when I leave would you mind letting me know how you set yours up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4G uses a lot of battery, I stick to 3G which is fast enough for me plus LTE is not compatible with my Airave 2.5+. Also why not use WiFi at home it does wonders for battery life?
abhinav.tella said:
4G uses a lot of battery, I stick to 3G which is fast enough for me plus LTE is not compatible with my Airave 2.5+. Also why not use WiFi at home it does wonders for battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3g is way too slow for me I get 1mbps on average up and down. 4g may take more battery but for me it lasts long enough and the benefits are much greater. I do use wifi at home though but if you have the network set to lte the phone won't fully connect to the airave atleast for me because
the lte signal in my house is very low (about -120dbm). So in order to take advantage of the airave I have to set it to 3g even though I'm using wifi. The only alternative I have thus far is the anycut app I put a network settings widget on one of my home screens I can click that and it brings me to the lte/3g setting but its still not as good as having the phone switch itself instantly.
Yep, Airave doesnt support LTE, but do turn off data at home as its an unnecessary drain, dont know about your internet but my Comcast 30Mbps is faster than using the network, plus Airave uses 3G by drawing fom main internet anyway. Also restrict your Airave in settings to only your family numbers unless you want unnecessary connections from neighbors causing bandwidth loss. If you have a big home, call and Airave support will increase your Airave power output to cover about 5,000 Sqft.
Sorry, but theres no reason the phone should not be switching dynamically to 4g as the signal comes available. When I'm at work, and on 4.4.2 it will stay on 4g, and flip itself to 3g in the middle of a file transfer!!
on ZV8, it will get 3 bars of 4g in the same spot.
johnzm said:
Sorry, but theres no reason the phone should not be switching dynamically to 4g as the signal comes available. When I'm at work, and on 4.4.2 it will stay on 4g, and flip itself to 3g in the middle of a file transfer!!
on ZV8, it will get 3 bars of 4g in the same spot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Airave does not support LTE, so if you dont set it to CDMA only it wont connect to Airave. Thats why even Sprint support says to set to CDMA only, when near an Airave.
OfficialPerson said:
The problem is ecsfb (enhanced circuit switched fallback) spark phones can't connect to the voice network and lte at the same time because they only have one antenna instead of two. But to be able to switch back and forth between lte and 3g the towers you're on need to have ecsfb enabled. I had the same problems before but it seems in my area (nyc) that they're starting to enable it as I'll be on lte get a call and then get put back on lte right after the call is up. The coverage for lte in my house is pretty horrible though the signal is like -120dbm outside its much better like -90ish. I just got an airave for my house because I was getting some dropped calls and it worked great for like the first hour the signal went to like -47dbm for the voice/3g network. However after a while it stopped using the airave and it went back to using lte and regular voice towers. I switched my phone to cdma only and it started using the airave again but just now I switched it back to lte/cdma and its no longer using the airave. So that kind of sucks lol. But back to spark it seems to be improving regarding switching to 3g/lte but the coverage hasnt changed much atleast in my house. Whenever I check which band I'm on its either 25 or 41 I have yet to see it go on 26. Hopefully they can hurry it up I considered switching to tmobile last week after sprint tried to charge to say my next bill would be $240 after they told me two weeks before it would be $180 smh. I complained like crazy and they decided to pay the difference and lower my bill so I'll stick with them for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
data connected on voice channel is 2g, not 3g
there are 3 channels: 1xRTT, EVDO, and LTE
un1ocked said:
data connected on voice channel is 2g, not 3g
there are 3 channels: 1xRTT, EVDO, and LTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I'm more referring to is the settings in mobile networks. You have to put it to 3g/cdma depending on your rom and whatnot to be able to connect to the airave.
Band 26 isn't out yet if i'm not mistaken. I believe 41 is limited also. Disabling 26/41 will bring you back to nonspark band 25
i dont know how airave got involved in this thread. i could care less if i get solid 3g at my house, i am more concerned about the spark rom's delivering a reliable 4g connection when its available (which it does not)
OfficialPerson said:
I downloaded tasker and I can't seem to figure out how to automate it to turn on 3g when I'm home and 4g when I leave would you mind letting me know how you set yours up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a great of a solution, but it is automated. I have a profile with the state being connection to my home wifi. Enter task turns off keyguard, then enters mobile data settings, turns on the screen, and then uses two touchscreen taps to tap mobile networks then CDMA.
To execute screen taps, you use a Run shell command of "input tap x y" where the x and y are coordinates of where you want to tap. You figure out the coordinates by showing touch data in the developer options in settings. Be sure you enable root access for the run shell command otherwise it won't work.
Then you can shut the screen off with a system lock. The exit task is just opposite.
beezar said:
It's not a great of a solution, but it is automated. I have a profile with the state being connection to my home wifi. Enter task turns off keyguard, then enters mobile data settings, turns on the screen, and then uses two touchscreen taps to tap mobile networks then CDMA.
To execute screen taps, you use a Run shell command of "input tap x y" where the x and y are coordinates of where you want to tap. You figure out the coordinates by showing touch data in the developer options in settings. Be sure you enable root access for the run shell command otherwise it won't work.
Then you can shut the screen off with a system lock. The exit task is just opposite.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yikes thats a bit of a setup I'm using anycut with a network settings shortcut on my home screen it goes straight to the setting page for switching to lte/cdma.
OfficialPerson said:
Yikes thats a bit of a setup I'm using anycut with a network settings shortcut on my home screen it goes straight to the setting page for switching to lte/cdma.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, Tasker can enter the same page that switches lte/cdma via the Mobile Data settings. The issue is there is no Tasker setting or plugin or anything I've seen that lets you actually change the setting without simulating button taps via a run shell command.
Like I said, not a great solution, but it works. When I enter my house, I'm on CDMA, and when I leave, Global setting without me doing anything.

Weak antenna?

Seeing 4 bars of LTE signal strength on my phone is like seeing a unicorn.
I live in Upstate NY and I have the A705MN phone.
I have tried three different sim cards, all of them of course GSM compatible. The result is exactly the same among all three. I typically get 1 or 2 bars LTE.
My previous phones under the same carrier and same sim card were typically 4-5 bars. (The Wifi strength, BTW, is equal to what I've seen from my other phones.)
What can I do to improve the signal strength?
I've seen posts by those with S10's where they do something to disable specific bands. But I'm not sure how to do that on the A70 phone. I've tried the specific codes that were mentioned in threads for the S10, but those codes do not work on the A70.
Please help. As much as I like the Samsung otherwise, this factor might be the reason I return the phone.
Yes same problem here
106IFA said:
Seeing 4 or 5 bars of LTE signal strength on my phone is like seeing a unicorn.
I live in Upstate NY and I have the A705MN phone.
I have tried three different sim cards, all of them of course GSM compatible. The result is exactly the same among all three. I typically get 1-3 bars LTE.
My previous phones under the same carrier and same sim card were typically 4-5 bars. (The Wifi strength, BTW, is equal to what I've seen from my other phones.)
What can I do to improve the signal strength?
I've seen posts by those with S10's where they do something to disable specific bands. But I'm not sure how to do that on the A70 phone. I've tried the specific codes that were mentioned in threads for the S10, but those codes do not work on the A70.
Please help. As much as I like the Samsung otherwise, this factor might be the reason I return the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try LTE only settings in settings>connections.
senseijtitus said:
Try LTE only settings in settings>connections.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the screenshots.
I edited the access point that I'm using and changed it to LTE. But then when I go to select network mode, I cannot chose LTE Only. That option does not show up. I have tried rebooting after editing and selecting the Access Point, and I still do not see that option.
I have tried using apps such as 4g Network Only and have switched to LTE only, but that change does not seem to make a difference or the network goes down altogether.
Any suggestions?
senseijtitus said:
Try LTE only settings in set5ings>connections.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was a post in the forum for using settings editor app to enable LTE only option. It will enable this option for both sims.
senseijtitus said:
There was a post in the forum for using settings editor app to enable LTE only option. It will enable this option for both sims.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't been able to do this or find what it is you're referring to. I've tried adding a few values through Settings editor apps. Values such as "hw_networkmode_preference" etc.
Doesn't work.
But besides, why would setting the connection to LTE only fix this problem? I don't see how this is not a herring.
Most of the times I am see 2 bars of strength. Every now and then I get 3 bars, and more frequently than that I get only 1 bar. 4 bars is quite rare.
The real problem with this antenna is that if I step inside a supermarket or bathroom then my connection is gone. If I'm traveling around the state of NY, in more remote areas, I'm sure I will not have a chance of any connection.
I would LOVE this phone if it had a better antenna. I can deal with the subpar fingerprint reader. Just give me a strong antenna like all of my previous phones and then I'd be a happy camper!
I decided not to return the phone so I am stuck with this phone.
106IFA said:
I haven't been able to do this or find what it is you're referring to. I've tried adding a few values through Settings editor apps. Values such as "hw_networkmode_preference" etc.
Doesn't work.
But besides, why would setting the connection to LTE only fix this problem? I don't see how this is not a herring.
Most of the times I am see 2 bars of strength. Every now and then I get 3 bars, and more frequently than that I get only 1 bar. 4 bars is quite rare.
The real problem with this antenna is that if I step inside a supermarket or bathroom then my connection is gone. If I'm traveling around the state of NY, in more remote areas, I'm sure I will not have a chance of any connection.
I would LOVE this phone if it had a better antenna. I can deal with the subpar fingerprint reader. Just give me a strong antenna like all of my previous phones and then I'd be a happy camper!
I decided not to return the phone so I am stuck with this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Setting the band to lte only would help in better reception even at low signal strength. One thing I had noticed in lte band is its consistency in connection speeds and call quality even with low signal. I think this is because of the high bandwidth of the lte signals. But I'm not an expert in it. Try changing the band to lte only. It should work better.
senseijtitus said:
Try LTE only settings in settings>connections.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did get this theme and icons in screen shots ?
Maystro said:
Where did get this theme and icons in screen shots ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bodhosativa theme from xda apps section.
senseijtitus said:
Setting the band to lte only would help in better reception even at low signal strength. One thing I had noticed in lte band is its consistency in connection speeds and call quality even with low signal. I think this is because of the high bandwidth of the lte signals. But I'm not an expert in it. Try changing the band to lte only. It should work better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I'm trying to get better signal, rather than better reception with low signal.
There's got to be something wrong with my phone. It blacks out if I step inside a bathroom in a building and such and it's very rarely at 4 bars.
A thing I noticed. If I go and select 2g/3g only (switch off 4g lte) my signal reception instantly switches to full (4 bars) Usually I get around 2 bars with LTE active.
The strange part is that even with lte off I can still receive an lte 4g signal when outside..this is perfect for me as it means i have a really strong signal (reception) indoors but still have the benefit of 4G outside. I don't quite understand it tbh. I mean i have switched to "2g/3g only" yet i still see 4G pop up in the status bar on my commute, and it definitely receiving 4G speeds. I'm not sure if it's a bug or not but I kinda like it.
Con500 said:
A thing I noticed. If I go and select 2g/3g only (switch off 4g lte) my signal reception instantly switches to full (4 bars) Usually I get around 2 bars with LTE active.
The strange part is that even with lte off I can still receive an lte 4g signal when outside..this is perfect for me as it means i have a really strong signal (reception) indoors but still have the benefit of 4G outside. I don't quite understand it tbh. I mean i have switched to "2g/3g only" yet i still see 4G pop up in the status bar on my commute, and it definitely receiving 4G speeds. I'm not sure if it's a bug or not but I kinda like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a terrific idea. Thank you for bringing that up.
I am implementing your suggesteion and it's nice to see 3-4 bars of strength again.
I don't need the fastest data connection. I just need a strong or secure basic data connection, since most of the time I'm not doing anything data intensive with my phone anyway when I"m away from a wifi connection.
But I'm not sure if my phone hops up to LTE at anytime.. I wish had the same "bug" that you do. I just started testing with your settings so I'll see if I can get it so that 3g is the preferred and basic network and 4g is the optional...
After another day, I'm back to LTE/3g/2g auto.
The general reception even for 3g or 2g is lower overall than what I saw from every other phone I have used. So in areas where I can expect to have a relatively low signal I get a particularly low signal for all bands, 4g, 3g, and 2g. That being the case, there's no practical difference if I cap my connection or not.
Samsung better warranty this phone. Does anyone know who I should call?
Since I bought my phone through an Ebay seller and the phone is West Carribean stock, not USA stock, which is where I am, I have no warranty on this phone.

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