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3G drops to GSM when receiving calls and during calls

I searched all the threads and found nothing on this as far as I can see. I have been having this since day one with my G1. Every time I receive a call on my G1 or during the call it drops from 3G to GSM. I had stock T-Mo roms on my G1 (Pre/Post Cupcake) then JF 1.51 and now cyanogen 4.0.2 and this problem persists. I called T-Mo a few times on this and they exchanged my G1 3 times and gave me a new battery and charger free of charge. Does anyone else have this issue or know of a work around? This happens when I am at home and work. I travel for work to different locations and it still happens. When my phone rings it automatically drops 3G and goes to GSM (no icon next to the radio icon in the status bar). While making calls it stays on 3G for about a few seconds before it craps out and drops to GSM. It totally skips EDGE and GPRS. T-Mo said they sent out radio antenna tech's to the antennas near my home and they said all is fine and dandy. I live In Queens NY and work in the Bronx. When I travel to Brooklyn its the same as well as driving though Manhattan. I hope someone can help me with this.

PeterC18st said:
I searched all the threads and found nothing on this as far as I can see. I have been having this since day one with my G1. Every time I receive a call on my G1 or during the call it drops from 3G to GSM. I had stock T-Mo roms on my G1 (Pre/Post Cupcake) then JF 1.51 and now cyanogen 4.0.2 and this problem persists. I called T-Mo a few times on this and they exchanged my G1 3 times and gave me a new battery and charger free of charge. Does anyone else have this issue or know of a work around? This happens when I am at home and work. I travel for work to different locations and it still happens. When my phone rings it automatically drops 3G and goes to GSM (no icon next to the radio icon in the status bar). While making calls it stays on 3G for about a few seconds before it craps out and drops to GSM. It totally skips EDGE and GPRS. T-Mo said they sent out radio antenna tech's to the antennas near my home and they said all is fine and dandy. I live In Queens NY and work in the Bronx. When I travel to Brooklyn its the same as well as driving though Manhattan. I hope someone can help me with this.
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ive always had this as well .. just never considered it a bug lol ... but i could see why someone would wanna keep their 3g while on a call .. reminds me of how sidekicks would lose data connectivity due to a call

xidominicanoix said:
but i could see why someone would wanna keep their 3g while on a call .. reminds me of how sidekicks would lose data connectivity due to a call
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Could you elaborate?
If you've had 3 G1's and a tech says there's nothing wrong with the network then it's clearly an issues with cupcake, be it a feature or a bug...
I don't really see why you would want to keep data conectivity while in a call, (unless you're downloading something in the background..?) so it sounds like a way to save battery..

AdrianK said:
Could you elaborate?
If you've had 3 G1's and a tech says there's nothing wrong with the network then it's clearly an issues with cupcake, be it a feature or a bug...
I don't really see why you would want to keep data conectivity while in a call, (unless you're downloading something in the background..?) so it sounds like a way to save battery..
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Here's a perfect example where 3G would rule when working properly.
I'm talking to my wife on my BT headset while driving home from work. I have my G1 on my dash with google maps running with traffic patterns showing. While talking I am able to talk clearly on 3G and still see where traffic is building so I can avoid it. Being stuck in rush hour in NYC sux homeless man [email protected] Whenever I do this and my 3G connection drops my call quality drops and we both hear it while we're talking and then it cuts in and out and the call drops then I dont get updates. It's a feature I would really like to have. Even when Im working and talking and downloading a new update of an app. This happens when I am at a static location as well. I know driving from cell tower to cell tower can have bad effects but it does the same when I'm just at home or any of my work locations. When 3G works properly which is rare its amazing. Its helped me get un lost and find my way many of times.
Point being when T-Mo released the 3G statement they said all users with 3G phones will expierence higher call quality from the extra bandwidth. Why would they cap or or disable it when they are promoting it? I see the the point of saving battery life but it still shouldnt be happening. 3G is made for that feature to work voice + data being accessed together.

It might just be there 3g network, imo tmobile reception is horrible. Like at my house it is so f'ed up, I can sit in my chair and have 3 bars then walk 2 feet and lose service. It does this all through my house and at my work. They said it must be something in the buildings I am in, bull**** I say because ATT never does that nor did vzw when I used them.

same thing happens with me and 3g and calls..also about the house thing, hows this one for u ill be sitting in the same spot and have good 3g reception and all of a sudden it drops to edge. I know a way around this is to set phone to 3G only but then in areas where theres non im screwed

I don't get it. My wife who had the original iPhone and then 3g and now 3gs never had this issue. She would stay on Edge and 3g depending if she waned to save batery life. My old BB 8700g would always stay on Edge never drop to GSM in my apartment. My 3G doesnt even fall to Edge it goes right to GSM. This is really annoying.

every t-mobile phone I have does this
I'm pretty sure its normal

No one knows if this is a hardware, software, or network problem. Except maybe HTC/T-Mobile/Google.
If your phone stays connected to 3G, it's all good. If it drops down to EDGE, even if for half a second, it will NOT reconnect to 3G until you hang up.

c2tmdsn said:
every t-mobile phone I have does this
I'm pretty sure its normal
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My coworkers Samsung t819 doesn't. That's regular cell phone not a smart phone.
Gary13579 said:
No one knows if this is a hardware, software, or network problem. Except maybe HTC/T-Mobile/Google.
If your phone stays connected to 3G, it's all good. If it drops down to EDGE, even if for half a second, it will NOT reconnect to 3G until you hang up.
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If any of those 3 know they should fix it or at the very least advertise that the calls you make are dropped to the lower bandwidth of the GSM network.
T-Mo finally got 3G for the last year don't dumb it down guys. Fix this.
Yes it is true once your phone drops beneath 3G it will not go to 3G until you hang up the call.

try running 3g only or wdma only by creating phone info shortcut on anycut .. im going to try that out and see if it ever drops .. should be a temporary fix for you atleast with the whole maps thing and such but if you ever in an edge only are your screwed

turboyo said:
try running 3g only or wdma only by creating phone info shortcut on anycut .. im going to try that out and see if it ever drops .. should be a temporary fix for you atleast with the whole maps thing and such but if you ever in an edge only are your screwed
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I changed it to wcdma only in phone info. Hopefully this works. Everywhere I travel to throughout NYC has 3G. Hopefully this works. Also I have noticed that when downloading anything from 3G be it the market or browser it would drop from 3G to Edge as well.

PeterC18st said:
I changed it to wcdma only in phone info. Hopefully this works. Everywhere I travel to throughout NYC has 3G. Hopefully this works. Also I have noticed that when downloading anything from 3G be it the market or browser it would drop from 3G to Edge as well.
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*UPDATE*
While at home downloading apps from Android Market on 3G with wcdma only selected the radio dropped with no netowkr connection. Bust.

PeterC18st said:
I don't get it. My wife who had the original iPhone and then 3g and now 3gs never had this issue. She would stay on Edge and 3g depending if she waned to save batery life. My old BB 8700g would always stay on Edge never drop to GSM in my apartment. My 3G doesnt even fall to Edge it goes right to GSM. This is really annoying.
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Did she use att or tmobile with the iphone? Because att has a much stronger 3g network then tmobile which could be why. I am pretty sure it is something to do with tmobiles network and not your phone, perhaps your area has to many users for it to stay on 3G. I have read about how the cell towers work and they have only so many bands for each user to access at any given time so if tmobile doesn't have enough towers or those things mounted on the towers it may be set up so you only get 3G for data usage and not calls since they don't technically require it to work.

crpercodani said:
Did she use att or tmobile with the iphone? Because att has a much stronger 3g network then tmobile which could be why. I am pretty sure it is something to do with tmobiles network and not your phone, perhaps your area has to many users for it to stay on 3G. I have read about how the cell towers work and they have only so many bands for each user to access at any given time so if tmobile doesn't have enough towers or those things mounted on the towers it may be set up so you only get 3G for data usage and not calls since they don't technically require it to work.
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My wife is on ATT. Isn't lower frequency better at penetrating through walls and such? (T-Mo 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz compared to ATT 1800 MHz) They haven't booted their 850 MHz antennas yet so I hear.
If that is true then why not boot me down to Edge or gprs why all the way down to gsm? I been living in the same area for 26 years. I have been with T-Mo before they even had antennas in my area and walking outside was the only way to get a signal with my phone. Now I get full reception in and out of my apartment and 3G connectivity in my apartment with a signal strength of -93dBm through out my apartment on 3G and -79 dBm on Edge.
T-Mo stated that this should not be happening. Hence the 3 phones new battery and charger and techs to the antennas. I'm starting to think its a HTC Android problem and not a T-Mo problem. Hopefully a new radio update can fix it.

I didn't even know GSM was still used in that way, I thought GPRS would be the bare minimum. How can you tell the difference? I use to only get a G icon and I looked it up and for the g1 it said that meant GPRS, what does it show for GSM? Not like any of this matters though.
I really have no idea why all this is happening to your G1 but I hope it gets resolved, good luck.
edit: on the tmobile coverage map it says edge/gprs and 3g, no gsm. does that make any difference? I checked for NYC overall not any specific boroughs.

crpercodani said:
I didn't even know GSM was still used in that way, I thought GPRS would be the bare minimum. How can you tell the difference? I use to only get a G icon and I looked it up and for the g1 it said that meant GPRS, what does it show for GSM? Not like any of this matters though.
I really have no idea why all this is happening to your G1 but I hope it gets resolved, good luck.
edit: on the tmobile coverage map it says edge/gprs and 3g, no gsm. does that make any difference? I checked for NYC overall not any specific boroughs.
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GSM is what Edge Gprs and 3G run off of. Think of it as a progression. GSM>GPRS>EDGE>3G.
The way I know it is on GSM is to the left of the Radio icon on the home screen there is another icon that shows the network your on. 3G=3G E=EDGE G=GPRS and no icon means GSM. GSM is still being used. Most SMS and MMS messages get sent to your from through GSM while you are on a call.

weak signal?

Is your signal very weak? One or no bars here where I had 2 or 3 with the hero on Vodafone uk

I had the same issue except it would only pick up edge instead of 3g. My g1 would have full bars and the nexus would be edge. I called HTC and had no help. Finally I manually selected T-Mobile as my network. Then it switched to 3g. I still randomly switch to edge if I use wifi or reboot. I hope there is an update soon that takes care of it.

Signal in and out on my g2

I got my G2 a couple days ago and I must say this phone is amazing..coming from a g1 I had for 2 years its quite an improvement. The only minor problem I'm experiencing is with the radio signal..most notably in my house..on my G1 I always had signal and internet connection. Now with the G2 I constantly loose connection all through out the house and the only way to get it back is to switch the airplane mode on and off and it picks it up right away, only to go away a few minutes later..I don't seem to have the problem anywhere else.
Was wondering if any of you guys can shed some light on if there is a way for me to figure out why the signal is so random in my house and it was ok with the G1. And why airplane mode seem to fix it for a short while.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

I have the same issue, I disable/enable wifi to get reception back on...I initially had really good reception but as the days went by my reception varies a lot at my house
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

JonathanFermin said:
I got my G2 a couple days ago and I must say this phone is amazing..coming from a g1 I had for 2 years its quite an improvement. The only minor problem I'm experiencing is with the radio signal..most notably in my house..on my G1 I always had signal and internet connection. Now with the G2 I constantly loose connection all through out the house and the only way to get it back is to switch the airplane mode on and off and it picks it up right away, only to go away a few minutes later..I don't seem to have the problem anywhere else.
Was wondering if any of you guys can shed some light on if there is a way for me to figure out why the signal is so random in my house and it was ok with the G1. And why airplane mode seem to fix it for a short while.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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did u activate the sim card that came with the phone or still using the old one?

I'm still using the "old" one still but considering I got it 2 months ago I wouldn't think its a big deal unless the sim that comes with the G2 is any different?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

JonathanFermin said:
I'm still using the "old" one still but considering I got it 2 months ago I wouldn't think its a big deal unless the sim that comes with the G2 is any different?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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I asked because i was told to activate the new sim card to avoid issues likes the ones u seem to be having.

I was told to replace the sim card as well. After doing so there was no change in the reception of the unit. The downside is that the sim card does fine in my Vibrant but does not work at all in My Nexus One. Tried two different new sim cards and each time the Nexus One refuses tacknowledge it while the G2 and Vibrant do. I have found no difference in signal quality or strength with the new sim. The new sim card has a much smaller gold contact area and that area is a slightly different shape,

I went ahead and activated my new sim card to see if maybe it'll fix the problem..ill let you guys know how it goes
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Changing the simcards will not work. If I put my simcard in my iPhone 3G or my G1, I'll have 2 or 3 bard with 3G, but with the G2, It switches up all the time, from Edge to 3G or no data at all, with 1 or 2 bars. I also have five other family members that also have T-Mobile phones and their getting about 4-5 bars on their phones. So it's not the sim or a tower issue.
There's cleary a problem with these phones.
This mourning I woke up and found the phone with no service, no bars. I reset it and came back, this afternoon I left the phone on my bed, came back to it, and again no service, it seems the service keeps going out for no reason.
Another is, I live in a big building, when walking in and out the building, my data connection will drop, or sometimes I won't even have any service, and again the only remedy is to restart the phone to get service back, airplane mode won't even fix it.

Yea the new sim hasn't really fixed anything at all..
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

JonathanFermin said:
Yea the new sim hasn't really fixed anything at all..
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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damn i was about to try that... guess i'll keep waiting... maybe an OTA radio update will help this cause it's really getting annoying.

I don't have a problem with my G2 dropping signal completely, but I have noticed that my 3G is very spotty. It's probably because I was spoiled the the MyTouch Slide's 3G only option.

Yes, I've noticed that the signal isn't quite as good as my G1. It's seems to be about on par, if not slightly below my friend's Vibrant.
But remember, the G1's radio really sucked once upon a time. Radio updates. They will come. Every phone that has OTA updates always gets new radio, in my experience.

I'm on my 3rd G2, mostly for manipulating the purchase price, and have noticed on this 3rd one that the spring is looser than the first two, the phone resets itself and often, and I'll loose data even though it shows I'm connected. This will happen in edge or hspda. I'm taking the phone back tomorrow.
Crappy thing I just put the ZAGG complete invisi shield on it. WIll Zagg comp me another cover you think?

If only Tmobile would activate the UMA calling over wifi. This would be the perfect phone with perfect service.
I am going to call tmobile in the morning and see if I can get any word on the UMA release. If not, the phone may have to go back.

I'm having the same problem, not at my house but at a local ihop that happens to be walking distance from where I'm moving in a week. I tried a reboot, airplane mode, even pulled the sim card and nothing worked. I got signal back once I left, but since it's right by the new place I would like to not have to deal with this.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

well ive been searching around and i think ive found something that could help..
if you dial *#*#4636#*#* you will get a little screen of information about your phone, go to phone information, under phone information scroll down until you see select network type, the network should be automatically set to "WCDMA preferred" ive been playing around and i set mine to GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) and since then (about an hour roughly now) i havent lost my signal or connection in the same spot i was loosing it in my house every 10 minutes or so. not sure if this fixed anything but so far so good. definately will let you guys know if it continues to be good or if it doesnt stay consistent.
heres some information also in case you dont know which one would be best for you.
WCDMA preferred - The GSM phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 3G is favored more.
GSM only - The GSM phone is capable of using only 2G data communication. When the 2G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
WCDMA only - The GSM phone is capable of using only 3G data communication. When the 3G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
GSM auto (PRL) - The GSM phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 2G is favored more. This one is a bit confusing to me since PRL is associated mostly with CDMA technology and not GSM technology.
CDMA auto (PRL) - The CDMA phone is capable of using both 2G and 3G data communication and when signal strength is low 2G is favored more.
CDMA only - The CDMA phone is capable of using only 2G data communication. When the 2G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
EvDo only - The CDMA phone is capable of using only 3G data communication. When the 3G signal is too low you get nothing at all.
GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) - Some phones are equipped with both GSM and CDMA capabilities. This setting appears to just have the phone attempt to stay connected to the data communication type that works the best. (Maybe the Samsung Galaxy S will take advantage of this???)
Unknown - If none of the above fit or the phone is acting weird as far as connecting to the carrier, you will see your preferred network type is set to this
source- http://www.google.ie/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=6a327a95211ac789&hl=en

Having same issue with the signal. Swapped for a new sim but still the same. Sometimes service drops completely and I have to go through the settings menu to search for a signal in order to get some reception
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

phone came in wcdma preferred stock... I came by that option too but I would much rather suffer with spotty signal [HSPA] over Slow edge speeds...
that said I may turn on GSM only when I'm indoors with little coverage, should save a lot of battery.

is there a setting that forces the G2 to go for the G3 or H setting instead of the edge? I live in an area where my phone can get both and it always goes for the edge signal instead of a weak H signal and the edge is soooo slowww.

hipertec said:
is there a setting that forces the G2 to go for the G3 or H setting instead of the edge? I live in an area where my phone can get both and it always goes for the edge signal instead of a weak H signal and the edge is soooo slowww.
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*#*#4636#*#* then phone information, then scroll down and change the drop down from auto to wcdma only. Only problem with that is if u go to an area with no 3g, u get no service and have to change it back or go under the settings and wireless to enable 2g connections
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

4G network issue or my Epic?

In a spot where I get very strong signal, today it will connect but won't actually work. Toggling 4G mode and rebooting have no effect. 3G works normally. Anyone else having this issue? Wish I could test it in another 4G area to narrow it down to the local tower.

Happens to me intermittently. I wondered if it was maybe just maintenance on a tower but that would not account for it showing that 4g was connected, plus my buddy was connected on his Evo at the same time, getting pretty good speeds. Its very curious.
From Epic With Love

Well, at least I know now it wasn't my phone. 4G is back, although weaker than before. 100% uptime doesn't exist in this world, yet.

Horrible Cell reception with T-Mobile?

my previous Nexus 6P had 4 bars constantly whist sitting around the house. After recieving my S8, ive noticed it only has one bar and frequently drops signal. anyone elce noticed this? i just popped my sim from the 6P into my S8, would using the SIM it came with potentally fix this? or is it just the phone?

IRX120 said:
my previous Nexus 6P had 4 bars constantly whist sitting around the house. After recieving my S8, ive noticed it only has one bar and frequently drops signal. anyone elce noticed this? i just popped my sim from the 6P into my S8, would using the SIM it came with potentally fix this? or is it just the phone?
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I'm getting better reception, but I'm in NY. I didn't use the old SIM card because this phone is the only one capable of using MIMO in T-Mobile Network. I decided to use the SIM card that came with the phone. It's recommended for you to be able to use WiFi Calling.

If I understand correctly what I was told, there is a bug between the Wi-Fi calling to preferred calling method, AND an issue with the fast.tmobile apn. If you switch Wi-Fi calling off and change it to the 2G/3G setting, the phone SHOULD go to the the 4G (HPSA) mode for whatever reason and work.
It's there some other work around I've missed? I'm a noob so go easy on me. Lol