Hi
Anyone else get random disconnects from mobile network? My device says H+ has a good signal but can't transfer data. Enabling/disabling flight mode fixes. I believe it's linked to cell handover or LTE <--> WCDMA handover. Does not do it if device is stationary. Sim works fine in my xperia z3, likewise sim from Z3 (different network) has same issues when installed in TAB S.
To complicate things, I have also seen issues with BT tethering, using phone for data transfer when device in this non working state. Again, in/out of flight mode fixes. WiFi works just fine.
Device is latest stock firmware, not rooted because I like OTA, and have no time to fiddle these days.
Just switched it to WCDMA-only for a test tomorrow. I commute same route by train each day.
Really annoying. Afraid tab is headed for fleabay if I can't solve. Beginning to think it's a designed-in Samsung issue. [emoji20]
Nigel
I am experiencing the same issue with my LTE signal. it says 4g with 2 bars of signal then suddenly the arrows stops so transmission of data also stops then airplane mode sometimes no longer work. i would have to put the device to WCDMA only then back to LTE.. I can force my device to use LTE only bad sadly the signal drops almost 1 minute after connection
Is your device exynos based or snapdragon. There are two variants doing the rounds with the snapdragon only in the US. On exynos based devices, an Intel LTE chipset provides the LTE connectivity. I believe the US version uses the (faster and better) snapdragon due to a lack of LTE band support in the frankenstein exynos/intel solution. I wonder if the intel lte chip does everything or if the exynos is left to do 2g/3g?
I have disabled 4G on my tab s and the random disconnects appear to have stopped. Did not buy a 4G tablet to have to disable 4G to make the ruddy thing usable though!
Device is also very jerky in comparison to my snapdragon based phone. Not enjoyable to use really. Prob due to all the junk (touchwiz) that samsung shove on it. Its a huge shame because I love the design and build of it, as well as the elegant way in which the stock cover attatches. Good hardware let down by very poor software for the most part.
I think i'll give up on it as a bad job, shove it on ebay and buy a Z3 Tablet Compact instead which is snapdragon 801 based.
Nigel
*#0011#* Service Mode SM-T705
Hi
Been fiddling with band settings in the service menu in order to solve this issue.
See: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/help/unlock-aws-tab-s-8-4-lte-t2860001
I have disabled the 2G,3G and 4G bands that my network does not use - at least it will save the device from hunting for stuff that it is never going to find. Of course, it will need to be re-enabled when I go abroad.
Will see if it makes any difference. One thing it is useful for is preventing the device switching from LTE to 3G where the LTE signal is marginal, and the 3G signal strong. Just disable the 3G band, and the device is forced to hold onto the LTE signal. Its also useful if you have a tablet and thus find 2G useless. Disable all the 2G bands and the device is prevented from connecting to 2G networks. It will then hold onto that 3G signal as much as possible rather than dropping down to a stronger 2G signal.
Nigel
I have the exynos version of tabS 8.4.. this fooled me when I bought my device since I was hoping for a Snapdragon version.. but too late. I had to live with this.
what I normally use is *#2263# same with my galaxy note3.. I disable the wcdma and gsm. so forcing the device to LTE only. but this problem is that data transmission drops frequently.
when I tried what you said. signal seems to be better.. I'm still testing it out. thanks for this!
*update. same problem but less frequent.. so still crap:crying:
Guys
Possibly related is the S5 DUOS phone is also reporting issues with dropouts on LTE.....users are having to reset or enter Airplane mode to 'reset', could be a common chipset/firmware/modem issue perhaps.
So... I fixed my issue by buying a Sony Xperia Z3 Tab Compact.
Superb device, and so so so much faster than my Tab S + battery lasts much longer. Not had it long, but some initial thoughts here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=56721334&postcount=11
Tab S 8.4 LTE (Exynos version) on fleabay soon!
Rather expensive mistake, and my final Samsung device for a while I think.
Nigel
it's a LTE band problem ; this is how to fix it
hello
first before u do anything , you have to look for the LTE frequencies used by ur provider , for example here in Morocco my provider Orange works on 800Mhz , 1800 Mhz and 2600 Mhz , which i LTE B3 ,B7,B20 .
So , i had to select only those bands only in the service menu (*#0011# : Back Back /UE setting & information/ Setting / Protocol /NAS/Network Control/Band Selection/[1] LTE BAND
All you need to select in the service menu is the Bands used by ur provider to avoid lost of network by ur Tablet when it s switching between bands which causes rebooting everytime .
i hope it works for u , because it works just fine for me
Related
I used my Galaxy S3 a few weeks ago
It is the Rogers i747m Galaxy S3 LTE
The major issues I am having are:
Weak Wi-Fi: the Wi-Fi is weaker than my iPad 3... It disconnects and connects... Even in my living room, next door from my router, my signal is either 1 bar or 0 bar for Wi-Fi, and sometimes it disconnects... My iPad in the same living room gets around 2/3 or 3/3 bars
Weak Cellular Reception: the weak cell signal is also an issue... It is not as weak as dropping my calls, but it is weak and slows down my data speeds...I am using in the wide open in Scarborough in Toronto, there are no high rise buildings.. On 2G, I get full bars... On 3G, I get a bar less than full. On 3.5G (HSPA+), I get 2 bars to half bars. And on 4G LTE, I get 2 bars or even worse no bars and it switches back to 3G or 3.5G HSPA+...
Never had these Wi-Fi and cellular signal issues with my Samsung Captivate and Samsung Wave S8500.....
Anyone can tell my if my phone is defective?
Or is this the phone hardware issue and it widespread with the North American LTE variant of the Galaxy S3?
Thanks.
Good Question, one of which I like to know myself. I'm in the west end (Brampton (for now lol) ), it seems like the signal strength varies even in the same city with only a 3 min drive apart and no tall building in sight lol. I'm talking 1248 kbps to 31743 kbps download.
Not sure about the cellular signal but the WiFi connecting and disconnecting is a known issue(by us, not sure if Samsung) and is being worked on. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1790187
Following the instructions in the OP fixes it for me but when I reboot the device, problem is back.
I haven't had any WiFi issues. I don't use it a lot. But I was testing it out tonight and it hasn't disconnected on me at all. I'll keep testing it out
and let you know if I lose WiFi connection. I do recall when I had the S2 i9100, I was losing WiFi connection quite a bit. I wonder if this is a random Samsung device issue? Or could it be an issue with the type of router you have?
Wirelessgirl said:
I haven't had any WiFi issues. I don't use it a lot. But I was testing it out tonight and it hasn't disconnected on me at all. I'll keep testing it out
and let you know if I lose WiFi connection. I do recall when I had the S2 i9100, I was losing WiFi connection quite a bit. I wonder if this is a random Samsung device issue? Or could it be an issue with the type of router you have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have this issue, you'll notice right away as it'll connect and disconnect you every 5 seconds or so. I've only noticed it with one WAP and that's one at work, at home and elsewhere it works fine.
I am getting weak Wi-Fi signals around 0-2 bars.. And it disconnects sometimes at random but not as often as 5 seconds though...
Also, the question with the Wi-Fi issue being mass spread might be the International Tegra 3 version
The North American GS3 used the Qualcomm 89xx with has integrated Wi-Fi.. Possibly the North American model use a different antenna design...
I barely talk on my phone but the bars are about the same levels as my iphone 3gs before it was. My wifi I use it in 5ghz, and across my apartment, through 2 walls, im getting near wired speeds.
No issues with wifi here. I at least that I've noticed seems about the same compared to my iPhone and transformer tablet..
for me I am using it on wireless N on the 2.4 ghz band
I have yet to try on a 5 ghz band wireless N
My WiFi feels like it can go 1mb/second..
I do sometimes get roaming messages when I'm at home which confuses the heel out of me
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda premium
I just accessed the *#0011# and turned the Wi-Fi Power Save to OFF and my S3 Power Save is also OFF
Wi-Fi signal is still VERY WEAK 1-2 bars and sometimes no bars... Did a Speedtest and got around 3Mbits/sec downlink and around 0.2Mbits/sec uplink...
On my laptop, I am getting 19Mbits/sec down and around 8Mbits/sec up.....
I checked the service menu's Wi-fi Information page on my S3 via dialing *#0011# -> MENU softkey -> WiFi
In the Wi-Fi Information, it shows my phone is connected to my router using 802.11b ONLY
What the heck??? ICS Software glitch???
You are getting 1MB/sec down ??!?
Damn how do you do it??
It seems like the North American GS3 with the Qualcomm LTE chip suffers the same Wi-Fi as the International version
Check thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1724838&page=6
But you must have a good Wi-Fi unit.. I will go to the store and exchange my White S3 i737m tomorrow and see if the Wi-Fi problem still persists..
Before you exchange your phone, could it be your router? Did you test your phone out with a different router or in someone else's house? I have no issues with mine. Like I said in my previous post, I had issues with WiFi on my S2. So I'm thinking it's a random Samsung issue with certain routers.
I have 3 different routers at home
1. Standard D-Link Dual-band N router which I bought last year
2. D-Link Xtreme N
3. Linksys Wireless N
| have tried on my Xtreme N and my Linksys on both 2.4ghz and 5.0ghz and the phone just has really low Wi-Fi signal either 0-2 bars of signal and it disconnects and reconnects at random...
The only way for me to get a good signal it basically using my phone 10cm from the router...
I tried the phone at a friend's house, in which case he has a Belkin Wireless N router. Also I tried it on University of Toronto St. George campus' WiFi... Both scenarios results in the same, low WiFi connection signal it seems to fluctuate randomly, Low down/uplink speeds and disconnection and reconnects at random...)
From the phone's service menu for WiFi, it show the phone is only connected to 802.11b (It will NEVER connect to g or n no matter what router I tried to connect to)
Non of these WiFi issues happen to my Samsung Captivate... When I use my Captivate, even when I am in the basement (my router is in the 2nd floor), my Captivate is getting around 50-75% WiFi signal strength on 802.11n
It seems like I did not have time today to exchange my phone due to some University essay due... Will probably exchange it on the weekend.
Will definitely report back on my exchanged model on XDA...
mms6 said:
You are getting 1MB/sec down ??!?
Damn how do you do it??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its just damn good lol
Coming from Rogers Galaxy S II LTE, the LTE connection is weaker on the GSIII. Even when comparing it to the iPad3 at the same location at the same time, iPad connects fine on LTE and the GSIII at times is on 4G.
I did my exchange yesterday..
My WiFi disconnection seemed to have stopped. But the weak signal issue is still present..
I could not pick up public WiFi spots in my University... This is a ludicrous issue... Even in my house, I could barely pick up my own WiFi (if I am literally in the same room or a room next to the router).. My GS3 cannot even pickup any of my neighbors' WiFi. On my iPhone, Docomo Sharp SH-06D and my Samsung Captivate, I could pick up WiFi from neighbors across the street......
Well at least my new unit do not randomly disconnect and reconnect the WiFi now... But the weak signal link is still a MAJOR issue...
Hopefully Samsung will acknowledge the WiFi issue soon....
I have the exact same wifi issues as you. I've called Samsung and their support tech concurred with me that my phone is defective. I verified it with AT&T also when I took the phone to an AT&T corporate store and sat down with a salesperson there with an SGS 3. Connecting to the in store wifi the salesperson had full bars. I had barely one, and it kept reconnecting. I have to wait another couple of weeks before I can do a warranty exchange with At&t because I didn't buy my phone from a corporate store, I got it off of craigs list, and AT&T warranty services won't step in and help until the phone has been on sale for 31 days. So I'm having to wait until then. Meanwhile My data plan started on the 16th of July and I got a warning that I've used 65% of my 4g data up already. I'm sure I'm going to go over and they issued me a 10 dollar credit to take care of that.
It's inconvenient yeah, but at least I'll be taken care of.
AT&T actually gave you credits for data even your phone was from Craigslist?!!
If it was Rogers, they wouldn't even cared.. lmao...
Samsung should make the WiFi issue public... This is NOT AN ISOLATED ISSUE.... It is much more widespread, not just on the ATT/Rogers/Bell/Telus Galaxy S3 i747(m) variants...
The WiFi problem persists on the International i9300 version as well....
....
mms6 said:
AT&T actually gave you credits for data even your phone was from Craigslist?!!
If it was Rogers, they wouldn't even cared.. lmao...
....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More than that, they would probably laugh in your face for even asking.
Got a Japan version note 2 SC-02e, after flashing MIUI rom, everything works fine except the phone function. There is no data, no signal, no reception whatsoever. I tried to manually search the service operator, but it turns out nothing. I suspect it may be a problem caused by its unique band. I appreciated any fix suggestion.:laugh:
you might have accidentally unknowingly regretfully ****ed up your imei i.e. ****ed phone features.
before regretting try restoring nand/stock firmware etc.
if you made a backup of your efs then there shouldn't be much to worry.
if not and restoring stock doesn't work, then go to a service center and convince them that you are a innocent cute little guy whose phone was ****ed up in the morning.
Good Luck
Most common mistake for most people or noobs is that they did not know what they are
doing with their devices. Most probably you have screwed your EFS folder.
Read here: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/backup-and-restore-your-efs-folder-on-samsung-devices/
AND NOW
you have to do it the hard way.
Read here:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1264021
I hope this isn't too late to help you but are you running the SC-02E in Japan, and if so are you using Docomo or are you trying to use it on a different network?
I've experienced similar problems in the past and in my case the cause there were two separate causes. First of all Docomo Xi phones sometimes have issues when trying to connect to a non-LTE network (such as with B-mobile or softbank) yet often have had the menu options for turning off LTE removed. I had a similar issue when I used my SC-06D with a 3G B-mobile sim (which uses the same 3G network as Docomo) and at first I had the issue of not getting any connection. However after I used a 3rd party app to disable LTE (LTEOnOff) I was able to connect without any issues.
The other cause may be as you said from the unique bandwidths. Japan's LTE network is different from other countries, and traditionally the only common 3G bandwidth used in Japan that is used in other countries often is the 2100mhz one (although Softbank did recently implement 900). Therefore if you managed to flash a ROM for one of the overseas N7105's then it's quite possible your phone is having trouble due to the LTE bandwidths. You could try disabling LTE (as above) and then seeing if your phone connects via the 2100 bandwidth. If that works then then you will probably need to try flashing a Japanese radio (from the SC-02E) to get it to work. This is something that I am trying to get working myself.
For the record Docomo's network runs on 2100/1700/800 for 3G (although 1700 seems to be rarely used) and 2100/1500 and possibly 850 for LTE. Softbank has 2100/900 for 3G and 2100 for LTE. AU runs on CDMA and CDMA2000 technology and thus their network isn't compatible with Docomo's phones.
Hi All. Long time since I’ve posted but looking at getting a note 2 tomorrow.
Now I live in Australia and on the Optus network but using a cheap provider that at the moment only uses their 3G network.
At the moment I have a sim card setupfor the 3G network.,
At the moment Vaya don’t have access to the Optus 4G network (1800MHz frequency) but it is gonna happen.
Can I buy a LTE version and use my current sim and run on the 3G (H+ even) using my existing sim card and the 4G note 2?
Then when Vaya release their 4G plans I can grab a 4G sim (or is 4G just account and phone dependant??) and away I go?
I believe it shouldn’t be a problem as the phone still operates on the 3G network as if I bought a N7100 if 4G is not enabled. But it will use more power just having that chip sitting in there.
yes, it will work.
it will only work in 4g if a 4g network is supported from your carrier. otherwise it will revert to the fastest network from your carrier that is supported by the device, which in most cases is hsdpa.
Souai said:
yes, it will work.
it will only work in 4g if a 4g network is supported from your carrier. otherwise it will revert to the fastest network from your carrier that is supported by the device, which in most cases is hsdpa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply.
Now I've been searching everywhere for good analysis on the 3G and 4G battery comparison but there isn't much out there but personal thoughts. Well there is more on the S3 so maybe that is a good guideline.
So the 4G version with LTE turned on can only achieve half the screen on time of the 3G version. Wow that terrible. With LTE off it last about 7-8 hours screen time rather than closer to 10 hours to the 3 version.
Has anyone got some good links that compare the battery life between the two models? I can live with turning 4G off most of the time if it doesn't drain too much but I don't need the speed if it has a big toll on the battery life even with LTE turned off.
http://www.samsungupdate.com/tag/battery-life-3g-vs-4g-galaxy-note-2
Its touched on here but still not sure.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1979246
Hello gang,
I picked up a new T-Mobile Note 10.1 2014 edition 2 days ago. So far, everything seems to be great. There is one issue however that seems perplexing. My tablet connects to 4G and LTE networks just fine but for some reason, it will not connect to 2G/Edge networks near my home. I live in a rural part of PA where T-Mobile doesn't have 4G/LTE coverage. My Samsung Galaxy S3 connects to the Edge network near my house without issue. However, my tablet does not connect and simply shows a small X where the signal meter is.
I spoke to T-Mobile tech support this morning and they seem to think that the band covering 2G may be dead. Could this be possible when 4G and LTE work just fine?
Also, the options under Network mode are now limited to 2: LTE/WCDMA (auto connect) and WCDMA only. My SGS3 has a GSM only option which the tablet seems to be missing.
I am running Android 4.4.2. Any thoughts / suggestions?
Thanks!
amstel78 said:
Hello gang,
I picked up a new T-Mobile Note 10.1 2014 edition 2 days ago. So far, everything seems to be great. There is one issue however that seems perplexing. My tablet connects to 4G and LTE networks just fine but for some reason, it will not connect to 2G/Edge networks near my home. I live in a rural part of PA where T-Mobile doesn't have 4G/LTE coverage. My Samsung Galaxy S3 connects to the Edge network near my house without issue. However, my tablet does not connect and simply shows a small X where the signal meter is.
I spoke to T-Mobile tech support this morning and they seem to think that the band covering 2G may be dead. Could this be possible when 4G and LTE work just fine?
Also, the options under Network mode are now limited to 2: LTE/WCDMA (auto connect) and WCDMA only. My SGS3 has a GSM only option which the tablet seems to be missing.
I am running Android 4.4.2. Any thoughts / suggestions?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't state this as a fact for the tmo P607T but remember that the tmo 3g version of the
Samsung galaxy tab plus 7.0 had a similar situation. Users were looking to add phone functions
to this device.
Turned out on the xda threads that the tmo tab plus 7.0 had no hardware
to support phone functions as the international version did.
amstel78 said:
Hello gang,
I picked up a new T-Mobile Note 10.1 2014 edition 2 days ago. So far, everything seems to be great. There is one issue however that seems perplexing. My tablet connects to 4G and LTE networks just fine but for some reason, it will not connect to 2G/Edge networks near my home. I live in a rural part of PA where T-Mobile doesn't have 4G/LTE coverage. My Samsung Galaxy S3 connects to the Edge network near my house without issue. However, my tablet does not connect and simply shows a small X where the signal meter is.
I spoke to T-Mobile tech support this morning and they seem to think that the band covering 2G may be dead. Could this be possible when 4G and LTE work just fine?
Also, the options under Network mode are now limited to 2: LTE/WCDMA (auto connect) and WCDMA only. My SGS3 has a GSM only option which the tablet seems to be missing.
I am running Android 4.4.2. Any thoughts / suggestions?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GSM mode only makes it so you can force the Device into 2g or Edge mode. If you do not want to use LTE just pick WCDMA which is 3g/HSPA+ and GSM(2g/edge). If you are looking to turn off the T-Mobile data part Pull the Sim card out or just put the Tablet into Airplane mode which you can till turn on Wifi. I bought my Note just for Wifi, and using EIP. So i am not using it with T-Mobile Data. getting a data plan on the tablet is a big waste when you can just hotpsot your phone.
Prod1702 said:
The GSM mode only makes it so you can force the Device into 2g or Edge mode. If you do not want to use LTE just pick WCDMA which is 3g/HSPA+ and GSM(2g/edge). If you are looking to turn off the T-Mobile data part Pull the Sim card out or just put the Tablet into Airplane mode which you can till turn on Wifi. I bought my Note just for Wifi, and using EIP. So i am not using it with T-Mobile Data. getting a data plan on the tablet is a big waste when you can just hotpsot your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it turns out that my tablet is defective. T-Mobile is sending me a replacement. I spoke to several tier 2 techs including one Samsung specialist and they all concurred that the band governing 2g on my Note must be inoperative. Weird right?
Well I got my replacement Note in the mail yesterday and it also will not connect to the 2G/Edge network near my house. I highly doubt I could have gotten 2 bad tablets in a row so there's something else amiss here. Perhaps the specs on T-Mo's website is incorrect and this new device simply doesn't have the capability to go to 2G/Edge or the modem firmware being used is a crippled version.
Very disappointed to say the least; yes Edge is horrendously slow but can be beneficial in a pinch sometimes. Any thoughts?
amstel78 said:
... or the modem firmware being used is a crippled version. ... Very disappointed to say the least; yes Edge is horrendously slow but can be beneficial in a pinch sometimes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I think you're right; despite unlocking mine and using it on AT&T (which does have better coverage), there's places on my commute where there's 4 bars, yet no data transfer. I've yet to see an "E" or "3G" symbol, either.
I'm thinking about trying to flash the P605M radio, but that'll have to wait 'till the weekend.
kcrudup said:
Yeah, I think you're right; despite unlocking mine and using it on AT&T (which does have better coverage), there's places on my commute where there's 4 bars, yet no data transfer. I've yet to see an "E" or "3G" symbol, either.
I'm thinking about trying to flash the P605M radio, but that'll have to wait 'till the weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please keep me posted on your results if you do end up flashing the modem. I'd be very interested to see what you discover.
I wonder if this move by T-Mo to cut 2g/Edge compatibility has something to do with their rumored intention of converting all of their 2g spectrum to 4g? Even if that were true though, that precludes using this as an unlocked device in other areas or countries that may only have 2g/3g coverage. What about data roaming?
amstel78 said:
Please keep me posted on your results if you do end up flashing the modem. I'd be very interested to see what you discover.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, turns out that I might put that off a little bit later than the weekend- I've since had mine unlocked and as it gets the VZW LTE bands, I'm going to see how well it does on that (VZW drops back to CDMA in non-LTE areas, so I'd be completely without service). VZW LTE is pretty ubiquitous from what I'd seen with my OG Xoom, but if it turns out I lose service on the train in large spots I'll revisit GSM options again.
Besides, I might just flash the radios just to see what happens
When you call granny, does she keep saying "Huh?! Wut?!" or does the conversation flow pretty well? Rate this thread to express how you feel about the ZTE Axon 7's call quality. A higher rating indicates that calls are clear and crisp, and that regardless of background noise, you can hear the other party clearly (and with ample volume) and they can hear you.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Please let us know if calls are clear and how speakerphone sounds and thanks.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
Call quality is perfectly fine. Good volume too.
Speakerphone is among the best I've ever used on a smartphone. Good volume and doesn't have that raspy, tinny characteristic that plagues many smartphones.
On tmobile it is used volte and hd voice. Tested by calling note 5 and nexus 6p.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
erm1001 said:
On tmobile it is used volte and hd voice. Tested by calling note 5 and nexus 6p.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use TMobile also. How is your signal strength compared to other phones and thanks.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
huntnyc said:
I use TMobile also. How is your signal strength compared to other phones and thanks.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is seem fine. Compared to my wife Note 5
T-Mobile user here. My previous phones all got full service at home, this one - on a brand new nano sim mind you, gets one bar and -116dBm and 24asu. Calls sound poor. Called T-Mobile and they said their system wasn't detecting the phone as an LTE device - but (Settings > About Phone > Status > SIM Status) shows LTE Cellular Network Type!
I've tried with VOLTE both enabled and disabled and received the same signal strength.
When I disable WiFi , my data shows 4G LTE but that doesn't change the signal strength for voice. (Settings > About Phone > Status > SIM Status)
T-Mobile was opening a trouble ticket to check the local tower I am connecting to but I suspect this is a phone radio or firmware issue and not SIM/Carrier related.
Anyone else found setting changes to make optimal signal strength?
I am on TMobile also and want to order this phone but reports of poor signal strength and wifi connection have got me hesitating. Please keep your feedback coming and thanks.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
taijo said:
T-Mobile user here. My previous phones all got full service at home, this one - on a brand new nano sim mind you, gets one bar and -116dBm and 24asu. Calls sound poor. Called T-Mobile and they said their system wasn't detecting the phone as an LTE device - but (Settings > About Phone > Status > SIM Status) shows LTE Cellular Network Type!
I've tried with VOLTE both enabled and disabled and received the same signal strength.
When I disable WiFi , my data shows 4G LTE but that doesn't change the signal strength for voice. (Settings > About Phone > Status > SIM Status)
T-Mobile was opening a trouble ticket to check the local tower I am connecting to but I suspect this is a phone radio or firmware issue and not SIM/Carrier related.
Anyone else found setting changes to make optimal signal strength?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also on T-Mobile and have noticed some issues with signal strength and other radio related problems. I'm actually returning the phone to Newegg today because of the issues I describe below. I definitely think it's software related. The signal strength is mostly fine but it does seem too low in places compared to what my Nexus 6 had.
The major problem I'm having is with incoming calls either not ringing and going straight to "missed" or auto answering without ringing. It's happened at least 4 times where I see a missed call notification despite no ringing or vibrating and I never have my phone on silent. Just straight to missed call.
On several other occasions a call will come through and be answered automatically while in my pocket. It's the strangest thing I've encountered with a phone. The call just comes in without any warning or input on my behalf and I can hear the caller talking before I take the phone out of my pocket. There is an auto answer feature in the settings but it's been disabled. Even if that feature was on it should ring at least once.
I love the phone but these two issues are massive deal breakers. I need to be able to receive calls properly for business and don't want to wait around for a fix or void my warranty trying a new ROM when development picks up.
RaDeN305 said:
I'm also on T-Mobile and have noticed some issues with signal strength and other radio related problems. I'm actually returning the phone to Newegg today because of the issues I describe below. I definitely think it's software related. The signal strength is mostly fine but it does seem too low in places compared to what my Nexus 6 had.
The major problem I'm having is with incoming calls either not ringing and going straight to "missed" or auto answering without ringing. It's happened at least 4 times where I see a missed call notification despite no ringing or vibrating and I never have my phone on silent. Just straight to missed call.
On several other occasions a call will come through and be answered automatically while in my pocket. It's the strangest thing I've encountered with a phone. The call just comes in without any warning or input on my behalf and I can hear the caller talking before I take the phone out of my pocket. There is an auto answer feature in the settings but it's been disabled. Even if that feature was on it should ring at least once.
I love the phone but these two issues are massive deal breakers. I need to be able to receive calls properly for business and don't want to wait around for a fix or void my warranty trying a new ROM when development picks up.
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I've used this at home on TMO in Seattle for about a week and did not have the same issues. I also have active AT&T SIM and have not had problems. Other phones I carry with me are Nexus 6, Huawei Ascend Mate 2, LG G4, and RedMi Note 2. Compared to these other devices I did not notice a stark difference with signal strength.
Regarding the "not detected as LTE" on TMO that sounds fishy to me. I'd suggest trying something, go into phone information menu from dialer *#*#4636#*#* and set network to LTE Only. Bounce the radio from the same menu (not required but a good idea). Then check if you're on LTE, if the phone is set to LTE Only and you have signal you're on LTE but to make it easier Google Play has a ton of apps to check this like G-NetTrack Lite or Network Cell Info Lite both will tell you specifically if you're on LTE and show eNB, etc.
If you do set phone to LTE Only you must go back into Settings --> Dual SIM settings --> Network Mode and set back to LTE/WCDMA/GSM
You'll notice this menu in Network Mode does not have options for "LTE only" or "WCDMA (UMTS "4G" HSPA+) only" which is why the going into the Phone Information menu is required for this.
Right now I am out on business travel and one thing I can say is that the dual SIM is pretty good roaming. I got myself into a bad situation as I set my phone to LTE only for testing a few things and did not switch back. The carrier I am roaming on does not have VoLTE so I broke my voice for a about a day and did not notice until I tried to make an outbound call and it failed.
Regarding call quality I've been using it abroad for about a week making voice calls on WCDMA/UMTS networks (no VoLTE here) with local SIMs and it's been just fine. No signal issues.
mdkathon said:
I've used this at home on TMO in Seattle for about a week and did not have the same issues. I also have active AT&T SIM and have not had problems. Other phones I carry with me are Nexus 6, Huawei Ascend Mate 2, LG G4, and RedMi Note 2. Compared to these other devices I did not notice a stark difference with signal strength.
Regarding the "not detected as LTE" on TMO that sounds fishy to me. I'd suggest trying something, go into phone information menu from dialer *#*#4636#*#* and set network to LTE Only. Bounce the radio from the same menu (not required but a good idea). Then check if you're on LTE, if the phone is set to LTE Only and you have signal you're on LTE but to make it easier Google Play has a ton of apps to check this like G-NetTrack Lite or Network Cell Info Lite both will tell you specifically if you're on LTE and show eNB, etc.
If you do set phone to LTE Only you must go back into Settings --> Dual SIM settings --> Network Mode and set back to LTE/WCDMA/GSM
You'll notice this menu in Network Mode does not have options for "LTE only" or "WCDMA (UMTS "4G" HSPA+) only" which is why the going into the Phone Information menu is required for this.
Right now I am out on business travel and one thing I can say is that the dual SIM is pretty good roaming. I got myself into a bad situation as I set my phone to LTE only for testing a few things and did not switch back. The carrier I am roaming on does not have VoLTE so I broke my voice for a about a day and did not notice until I tried to make an outbound call and it failed.
Regarding call quality I've been using it abroad for about a week making voice calls on WCDMA/UMTS networks (no VoLTE here) with local SIMs and it's been just fine. No signal issues.
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mdkathon, Thank you for the detailed reply! Please note below the results:
So I followed your instruction to no additional positive result. Using the two apps you recommended as well as the LTE Discovery app here is what I see:
When I first enable the radio (whether LTE only or LTE/GSM/WCDMA) it comes up on LTE Band 12 and I have excellent signal (about 4 bars) with < -80 db and then about 30 seconds later it will fall over to LTE band 4 and the signal drops to > -110 or worse and I go to 1-2 bars of signal. I have no idea why the LTE band changes on it's own. Maybe I can force it to stay on Band 12 somehow?
I looked up the TMobile frequencies and they are here: Frequencies: Band 2 (1900 MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz), Band 12 (700 MHz)
The ZTE LTE Band support list is here: LTE: B2/B4/B5/B12/B13/B17/B7/B3/B1/B20/B29/B30/B25/B26/B41
Seems like I should be good. I don't know why a good Band 12 signal would fall back to Band 4 though. Can anyone explain that?
I also noticed in the Testing menu (*#*#4636#*#*) the ability to select from the band menu: USA Band, Band Mode 6 or Band Mode 7. I haven't made any changes there since I cannot tell what the current selection is, nor what the difference between the 3 choices would be. *Edit: This is for GSM/UMTS so I'm not sure if it has any effect*
Of those three LTE analysis apps I am not sure what any of the data is telling me (eNB etc) so if there is a primer for those I have not yet looked for it.
Has anybody tried the SIGNAL BOOST feature? Is it any good or just a gimmick?
taijo said:
mdkathon, Thank you for the detailed reply! Please note below the results:
So I followed your instruction to no additional positive result. Using the two apps you recommended as well as the LTE Discovery app here is what I see:
When I first enable the radio (whether LTE only or LTE/GSM/WCDMA) it comes up on LTE Band 12 and I have excellent signal (about 4 bars) with < -80 db and then about 30 seconds later it will fall over to LTE band 4 and the signal drops to > -110 or worse and I go to 1-2 bars of signal. I have no idea why the LTE band changes on it's own. Maybe I can force it to stay on Band 12 somehow?
I looked up the TMobile frequencies and they are here: Frequencies: Band 2 (1900 MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz), Band 12 (700 MHz)
The ZTE LTE Band support list is here: LTE: B2/B4/B5/B12/B13/B17/B7/B3/B1/B20/B29/B30/B25/B26/B41
Seems like I should be good. I don't know why a good Band 12 signal would fall back to Band 4 though. Can anyone explain that?
I also noticed in the Testing menu (*#*#4636#*#*) the ability to select from the band menu: USA Band, Band Mode 6 or Band Mode 7. I haven't made any changes there since I cannot tell what the current selection is, nor what the difference between the 3 choices would be. *Edit: This is for GSM/UMTS so I'm not sure if it has any effect*
Of those three LTE analysis apps I am not sure what any of the data is telling me (eNB etc) so if there is a primer for those I have not yet looked for it.
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Hi - I'm not a cellular engineer so I could be wrong, but I believe T-Mobile's network management itself is the variable in determining which LTE frequency your phone will use. So, even though you have a stronger band 12 signal available, the network will often push you to band 2 or 4 if it can do so as these frequencies yield better throughput in general and will free up spectrum on band 12, which is usually a bit more scarce (low band airwaves are typically more congested, so higher band airwaves like band 2 and 4 are preferred for network management purposes).
The only way to limit your phone to band 12 that I know of is hack into the non-volatile memory via the diagnostic mode and QXDM and manually enable/disable LTE bands 2 and/or 4...but that's probably more trouble than it's worth, especially if you don't want to permanently remove these bands. Plus, diagnostic mode can be super hard to get into on some devices and there are some protections which make it hard to make changes stick permanently, depending on the device.
Also, I should mention that Verizon and AT&T do the exact same thing as T-Mobile in my experience - for instance, band 13 for Verizon seems to only be used when band 4 or 2 are super low strength or completely unavailable. I often find my Verizon SIM sitting at around -115 dBm or so on band 4 and sometimes see it dip into the -120-ish area before switching to band 13.
Constantly told that It sounds muffled out, I can hardly hear as well... great via bluetooth but that's not always available. .. don't know any solutions right now other than maybe return the device..;.WIND Mobile.. Canada here. Never had any problems with the LG G4
efendi011 said:
Has anybody tried the SIGNAL BOOST feature? Is it any good or just a gimmick?
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What signal boost feature?
dennis96411 said:
What signal boost feature?
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See here, right above the "Performance" chapter:
devicespecifications.com/en/editor-review/f9c817
Thought if this can have something to do with the SD 820's TruSignal feature...?
efendi011 said:
See here, right above the "Performance" chapter:
devicespecifications.com/en/editor-review/f9c817
Thought if this can have something to do with the SD 820's TruSignal feature...?
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Odd, they removed the menu from the A2017U.
As I mentioned in the cell strength review, this phone seems to have a small issue with reception. It is getting worse reception of 5-10db than an old s4, when everything is the same. There is a thread on reddit that has more info about this.
Not sure if this specifically for our US chums. But I have to say I am disappointed with my EU version. The call quality is bad. Not so much about network in terms of stuttering/cutting conversations but in terms of the sound quality. There is a clearly audible background buzz and I can only liken the sound to a low quality audio file. By that I mean you can hear it but the 'noise' and subtle distortion is not what I expect. Imagine having an MP3 at 128KB and one at 320KB - I expect the latter and feel like it's the former.
I am wondering if it is software or hardware.
I'm reluctant to send back as I don't want to end up with a 'refurb' packaged and sent as a new one.
test878 said:
As I mentioned in the cell strength review, this phone seems to have a small issue with reception. It is getting worse reception of 5-10db than an old s4, when everything is the same. There is a thread on reddit that has more info about this.
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I compared my A2017G to my older phone using the "Mobil Signal" app from the play store.
My old phone has one of the best receptions signals compared to other OEM. I even confirmed that with two CM devs that have like 15+ devices around and they confirmed that the phone has the best reception signal off all.
I setup the Mobil Signal app and changed the widget to show "percentages" instead of dbm.
Dbm's don't tell me much.
I hit refresh every time I had the chance too on both devices on different locations. Both Sim's are from the same provider both support the same bands.
The Axon 7 _always_ came 5% lower in signal strength than did my old phone. Telling by this results I think the A2017G has no issues in signal strength overall. As I compared it to a phone which is known to have an exception good reception.
I think it is on par with other OEM's.