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My boss bought a Treo 650 and I showed him how to put the SIM in. I noticed his signal strength had 5 bars. He wanted to see if it was unlocked so I put in my Tmobile SIM. When I turned it on, he had 2 bars. I kept it on and moved it around a bit and it moved between 1 and 2 bars. Confused, I put his Cingular SIM back in and up popped 5 bars...sometimes 4, but mostly 5.
Now, does it make any sense that my Tmobile SIM would cause his phone to have less strength than his Cingular SIM?? Or was this just some type of flook?? His Treo is Cingular branded...if that matters, but his SIM is left over from AT&T days.
His phone is a branded, unlocked Cingular. Mine is an unlocked i-Mate K-Jam.
Anyone with any thoughts?
Tom
Well if your in America. Sad to say the T-Mobile is smallest in coverage in area, and members. So the area you in might not have as much as Cingular. In america, Cingular, Verizon, and Sprint has the best coverage.
BTW, want to now how to get a promotion, introduce him to Windows Pocket PC's.
First, giving him a WM5 product is not going to get me a promo. He'll have such a tough time using it he'll get mad at me for recommending it. Believe me....I've thought about that as I have a K-Jam and love the heck out of it. Some people need the simple things.
Regarding Tmobile, I switched from Verizon to Tmo about 6 years ago when I started traveling to Europe several times a year. Initially the service sucked, but over the past 2 or 3 years I've had 0 problems with it. I travel around the country and internationally and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with it. I'm sure it's a "your mileage may vary" situation. Matter of fact, I don't know anyone who complains about their service regardless of who it is.
That being said, even if Tmo sucked majorly, that wouldn't explain why my SIM would cause him to get weaker reception than his AT&T SIM. Keep in mind, I'm using the same Treo with 2 different SIMs and get 2 different readings.
Thanks,
Tom
I have heard from some post over at Howard Forums that the Cingular 64k SIM's get better reception than the AT&T 32k SIM's.
I migrated over from an AT&T SIM to a Cingular one and noticed that my reception improved a signifigant amount. So there may be something to do with how the SIM's are designed.
Well, I'm going to run down to the Tmobile store today and see if I can't pickup another SIM. I'm pretty interested in seeing what happens.
Tom
deathMiata said:
I have heard from some post over at Howard Forums that the Cingular 64k SIM's get better reception than the AT&T 32k SIM's.
I migrated over from an AT&T SIM to a Cingular one and noticed that my reception improved a signifigant amount. So there may be something to do with how the SIM's are designed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
of course it did
Your phone went from sticking to AT&T towers to Cingular towers.
OP: I doubt a new SIM from TMobile will help you. Chances are TMobile coverage in your area, as most, isn't good.
SIMs and Signal Strength
The reason a sim can dictate the signal strength is the sim has a certain amount of programming on it that tells the phone and its receiver about the services on the network. Have you ever seen a text message with "OTA OK" ? That's an Over The Air update to the sim updating things such as service pointers and things to make it easier for the phone to use the services on the network and find towers easier and quicker. You can have a sim go bad and not be able to take an update causing alot of problems or very little but noticeable problems like not receiving SMS or sending MMS. It's a modular network built on a lot of small pieces and all of them have to work together to make the services work correctly.
Sorry for the diatribe.....
I'll go back to my corner now.....
Hi all,
I have an HD2, T9193 (Telstra model), running Artemis v9.0 & radio 2.09. It works nicely with AT&T here in the US (including 3G), except for coverage in my house (I know - you're all shocked that AT&T has coverage issues ). Anyway, I decided to buy an AT&T Microcell to improve things here at home, but my HD2 doesn't seem to want to connect to it. Since the HD2 isn't an official AT&T phone I had to use my wife's phone (my old AT&T Fuze/HTC TouchPro) to set up the account. The Fuze seems to be able to connect fine (5 3G bars all over the house). I added my HD2 cell number to the Microcell whitelist and went through all the resets etc. that they recommend for troubleshooting, but nothing seems to work.
The only thing I can think of is that AT&T isn't licensed for 850MHz where I live (west of Boston), so the Microcell is only configured for 1900MHz on 3G, which isn't supported on the T9193. As I understand it AT&T uses the GPS location data they get over the network connection to configure the microcell.
Has anyone else had any experience with this setup?
Thanx.
John
same problem
Ive had my HD2 (T9193) for a few days and have no luck connecting to the 3g microcell, let me know if you haveany luck.
I am in california btw
Ditto
Im in PA and spent over an hour with tech support yesterday trying to get it to work. I'm returning the unit today and exchanging it for a new one per their advice. If the new one doesn't work I'll be giving up.
It wont work
Ok, I got a new one last night and again spent 2 hours with support and I couldn't get it it to work. I don't know why it wont. I'm giving up till someone can post some sort of voodoo to make this work.
Is ATT broadcasting on 3G 850 where you are?
I also just spent a long time on the phone with AT&T enterprise care. They couldn't get my HD2 to work with a micro cell. Their thought was that the micro cell was using 1900 because this market is an 850 market and the micro cell might be configured to avoid causing interference with other users. Of course, this was conjecture. I'm going to test the micro cell at the office tomorrow where I have access to other phones to test with.
If you're able to test with other phones, read up on the various test apps that are out there so you can clearly read what the microcell is broadcasting on. E.g. the fieldtest mode of the iphone, theres an old network details app for winmo, etc.
Att Razor, Att Samsung Eternity both work on Microcell but not my HTC Telstra HD2
IME not registered with ATT could be the culprit but ATT would slap $40 data plan to register it.
A listing exclusive for HD2 for now until work around.
Kokkos
I tested with an old Samsung BlackJack and it saw the microcell immediately when using my SIM, even though AT&T still had my HD2's IMEI registered. I moved the SIM back to the HD2 and cannot associate with the microcell.
Kokkos said:
A listing exclusive for HD2 for now until work around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by this? What is a "listing exclusive for HD2," how does one get it, and does it really allow the T9193 to work with the AT&T microcell?
AT&T responds...
The tier-2 AT&T guy who was helping me last night just called me back. He did some more checking after we spoke and learned that the AT&T Micro Cell is configured to work only with AT&T-sold devices, not unlocked devices used on their network.
He pointed me to page 7 of the User Manual where it says in the Performance Highlights box, "Supports AT&T 3G wireless phones and devices." Apparently, this is to rule out non-AT&T-sold 3G devices.
I suspect that changing the IMEI or ESN or whatever the "unique hardware identifier" is might work, but I'm not willing to screw with my HD2 to find out and discussions about that kind topic are frowned upon on XDA.
My Micro Cell is being returned as it doesn't work for non-AT&T devices.
manicotti said:
I tested with an old Samsung BlackJack and it saw the microcell immediately when using my SIM, even though AT&T still had my HD2's IMEI registered. I moved the SIM back to the HD2 and cannot associate with the microcell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again... if you could load up a field test app that would be great. For the BlackJack, punch in *#0011#, see if you can find the frequency. If not, try browsing to Windows/Test Mode/Test Mode.exe, look for the frequency. Lastly, try http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2219019&postcount=2
manicotti said:
The tier-2 AT&T guy who was helping me last night just called me back. He did some more checking after we spoke and learned that the AT&T Micro Cell is configured to work only with AT&T-sold devices, not unlocked devices used on their network.
He pointed me to page 7 of the User Manual where it says in the Performance Highlights box, "Supports AT&T 3G wireless phones and devices." Apparently, this is to rule out non-AT&T-sold 3G devices.
I suspect that changing the IMEI or ESN or whatever the "unique hardware identifier" is might work, but I'm not willing to screw with my HD2 to find out and discussions about that kind topic are frowned upon on XDA.
My Micro Cell is being returned as it doesn't work for non-AT&T devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not convinced. AT&T would put that down to differentiate between their 3g vs. Verizon, et. al.; not to differentiate between devices they sell and devices that are compatible with their 3G. Further, the amount of 3rd-party-but-still-3G-compatible-devices out there are extremely low relative to everyone else, particularly those who buy 3rd party phones and are stuck on EDGE. It just wouldn't make sense to write down that line and have it mean that - it comes across as extremely nit-picky. The only worthwhile carrier that has 3G overlap is Telstra, and I can assure you the number of Telstra 3G phones stateside are rounding errors.
It's possible that it only supports valid ATT IMEIs and there's a footnote in some internal technical document, but it's also possible it's just broadcasting on 1900 3G for all of you . Can you escalate beyond tier-2?
I think the problem is the lack of 1900mhz band on Telstra phones. My Telstra Touch HD will not connect to my microcell, but my unlocked Nokia E71 and N97 mini have no problem. Sad since the microcell gives five bars throughout the entire house!
rastx said:
I think the problem is the lack of 1900mhz band on Telstra phones. My Telstra Touch HD will not connect to my microcell, but my unlocked Nokia E71 and N97 mini have no problem. Sad since the microcell gives five bars throughout the entire house!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, great post! N97 was never officially released on ATT but yet it works. The microcell is supposed to be able to use both frequencys (850 or 1900), but from this thread, it seems to prefer 1900? Maybe manicotti can get a Tier-3 rep to throw a "force 850" switch.
I also had both an E71-2 and N97 Mini using Microcell today and they worked fine, as long as I didn't move. I'm having problems with both Nokias keeping a signal and I tried the Microcell to see if it would fix it. It didn't. They both dropped calls when I went outside and had a path to the local tower. Iphone worked flawless with and without MCell.
Cheers
AT&T speaks
Our rep got back to me on Thursday. Unfortunately, it looks like no micro cell for my HD2 in the Philadelphia market.
She wrote "Regarding the micro cell, it's not going to work for the device you are using, but it's actually not due to it being a non-AT&T phone. I have been advised that activation of it is not based off IMEI. It is not picking up your device because the MicroCells in our market are purely 1900mhz, they will pick up any device activated with an AT&T number with 1900mhz. So, if you get, have or use a device with that, the MicroCell should be useful,otherwise it will not be."
I have asked if there is a "force 850" setting and why the micro cell uses 1900 here? (My guess is that the microcell always uses the "opposite" frequency of the market it's in. Of course, the first tech guy that I spoke to told me the exact opposite, but he's the one who came up with the IMEI thing and he said it as a certainty rather than as a guess.)
OK, let's get a few things straight.
I have the same issue, a T9193 and a microcell.
When you enter phone numbers online that will use the microcell, AT&T's computer sends the IMEI number associated with that phone number to the microcell.
Since my T9193 IMEI is not on AT&Ts network, the microcell cannot "see" the phone....it is looking for my old Tilt2.
When they entered the IMEI number for my T9193 into AT&Ts system, it told them it is a 2G phone. Now, I took a chance on this as I may not even get 3G from an AT&T tower anymore.
However, the good part is my microcell MIGHT recognize my phone.
I will test later this week (I am traveling) and revert with the results.
Well two things...
1. Thank God for you guys...I was pulling my flipping hair out on this. Same issue as the rest of you and no luck. More than one unlocked phone and a few ATT handsets all work great (including my family and friends). Just my Telstra HD2.
2. How much does this suck? If anybody figures out a way to make the Microcell operate on 850 (assuming the hardware that Cisco ships them is even capable) please reply on this thread.
HD2 T9193 and AT&T micorcell NOT wokring even with proper IMEI number
Good day,
Unfortunately I am in the same boat with my HD2 T9193 not working with the microcell from AT&T.
I called AT&T support and had them update their records to reflect my HD2's IMEI (they had my HTC Athena IMEI on record). Rebooted my phone BUT no joy. My family all have iPhone’s (3GS and 4) and they pick up the M.cell connection immediately.
So I guess the microcell transmits at 1900 not 850 and I am SOL.
Anyone have a solution for us HD2 users, please don't hesitate to share the news.
;(
Thanks,
anyone ever get their HD2 to work?
Just wanted to start a quick lil thread about possible ways to boost 3g speeds.... Other then moving, lol...
I live right outside the la metro area and my 3g speeds are deplorable, downright suck, its not like I life in the boonies either, I live in a highly concentrated area with 2 sister towns of over 300k people and always have a 3g symbol on my phone... But for the most part I can't ever get speeds over 300KBS DL/UL and that's on a good day....
I'm currently running eugene's vibrant6 2.1 rom that is supposed to boost data connectivity, and for me it doesn't, along with the lag fix which seems to only effect the normal tasks and application uses of course not the actual speed at wich they operate on the 3g network.
I was reading in a thread about the possibility of using the 850 3g band of att's listed on the phones debug menu but it doesn't seem to actually work although there's a possibility we can use att's 1900 band along with our own t-mobile 1700 and 2100 bands and am certainly interested to see if we can always connect to those 1900 towers for sure short of
unlocking our phones and slipping in an att sim card...
I am by no means an expert on the subject but figure this could be a good paver for every one to compile their mods, fixes, hacks for this very subject making it very easy to find this sort of info.
Pooped from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA app...
Dont mind the skidmarks...
Bump for the day, place holder for list of possible resolutions
Pooped from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA app...
Dont mind the skidmarks...
Location, location, location. If the tower is in the neighborhood of doctors and lawyers, full speed. A tower on the other side of the tracks might not get the best pipe.
attached is a pic of my normal at home speed and a test I ran where a known brand new tmobile tower was built(the better of the 2) using xtremelabs app.... oddest thing is for some reason both tests say they were ran on the edge network when I most certainly had 3g symbols visible at time of test???
Hello there new guy here, and XDA noob
For a while now, about 2 years i have been stuck on a maximum of 250 kbps. Previously i had a HTC Desire Rooted and with custom rom Redux. I could never get above 250 kbps on 3g.
Now i have a HTC One X, and yet im still getting the same speeds, which kinda rules out any hardware bottlenecks. I can run on both T-Mobile and Orange Uk (because they merged). My brother owns a HTC Sensation and runs on the exact same carrier as i do and uses the same mast and manages to gain over 500kbps.. HOW?!
I tried ringing orange and asking if there was any limitations and they said no, they even put me through to the best tech service they had :l. Any ideas guys? I would be very rgateful if you could give me any insight. thanks
need more info. this doesnt sound right at all. where do you live? ever checked your distance to nearest cell tower? do you know of anyone else getting better speeds on the same network?
do you have proper network selected in settings? correct APN?
perhaps network build.prop tweaks? sometimes they help other times they can hurt..
also *#*#INFO#*#* select phone information and radio band.
could also have a bad SIM card if it is old.
I live in the UK, Around Birmingham and Coventry. I'm usually always on full signal and iv'e even been as close as the "Danger Radiation" sign lol My brother typically gets over 500 kbps and is pretty consistant... lucky B... :l
Correct APN? I presume you mean Carrier? im with Orange and it all seems grand.. so i think anyways.
Build.prop, i wouldn't know where to start with that ,i presume make a backup and try flashing an update.zip, if any problems use restore?
Not quit sure what im looking for in Phone info, help me out ?
And im sure it's not the sim card, it's the new micro sim that came with the phone !
APN = access point name
and you would only have access to your build.prop(properties) if you are rooted.
phone info; try entering this into the dialer : *#*#4636#*#*
select phone information (then you might need to press menu button) and choose radio band from there. You may also be able to change this in settings.
Is 500kbs the fastest speed you guys have seen? sounds very odd. I think I may have heard of this.. being too close to a tower causes terrible speeds, if it is fact the case, you may want to try connecting to the next closest tower. there should be some free apps around to view your cell tower info and possibly even change towers.
500kbs is not 3g.
Yeah it looks like all my APN settings and band is correct, if they weren't i wouldn't really be on a 3g signal what so ever. No other useful information is seen in info, Also, i have tried switching between carriers and tried the speed test on many many differen't towers. Im really stumped myself, and my phones rooted, but without RUU i can't install any Radio drivers can i?
3G service usually does not get above 2mb which in reality is only 200kbs.. i ran a speed test on a buddy's iPhone and it was only 1.54mb which is only 150kbs.... So you are right in the mid grade of speed... Get a 4G cell...
Those are horrible speeds for 3G at the least. Absolutely atrocious!
Have you tried consulting your carrier? Perhaps they could resolve the issue.
emuhack said:
3G service usually does not get above 2mb which in reality is only 200kbs.. i ran a speed test on a buddy's iPhone and it was only 1.54mb which is only 150kbs.... So you are right in the mid grade of speed... Get a 4G cell...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My brother has a HTC Sensation and is able to get 600 kb/s+ I hope your not confusing it with kbps ! Sorry if i confused you !
And yeah i contacted them a while ago and they said everything was fine from their end !
I have a HTC ONE X, surely that's capable of H+, Something isn't right.
Just got 2 s4's and signal strength lower in house than my htc one s
i checked default bands and set to lte/gsm
changed to lte/gsm/cdma preferred and better dl speeds
is there a best setting
i obviously need to do more testing in other locations, just curious
It all depends on where you are and what equipment is on the towers you happen to be around at any given time. Also, like you just found out, some devices will get better reception than others. It's just something that you have to play around with on your own to see what works best for you.
I'm with Sprint, which in my area completely SUCKS. I hate Sprint and am seriously considering paying the etf to switch to AT&T (which in my area gets LTE almost everywhere). What I'm getting at is when I'm around my home I turn 4G off. When I get a couple of miles out I'll turn it back on if I need to, then when getting around our downtown area when going to work I'll turn it back off.
well i put it back to default. will recheck coverage maps. tmo was bad here too, in valley. but, i think they were improving cells getting ready for lte here. that was when my signal got better. before that it was bad also.
really need to check work and the real bad areas I had were tmo's coverage was real bad even on map.
Where is this setting? I'm getting no signal indoors unlike my previous phone which got near-full signal. Weird thing is that I kind of remember getting a better signal when I first got the phone. Seems to have gotten worse.
yeahmann said:
Where is this setting? I'm getting no signal indoors unlike my previous phone which got near-full signal. Weird thing is that I kind of remember getting a better signal when I first got the phone. Seems to have gotten worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*#*#4636#*#*
Tao on Device Info
scroll down to Set Preferred Network
let us know what works best for you
rugmankc said:
Just got 2 s4's and signal strength lower in house than my htc one s
i checked default bands and set to lte/gsm
changed to lte/gsm/cdma preferred and better dl speeds
is there a best setting
i obviously need to do more testing in other locations, just curious
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Setting it to that is NOT improving anything...... do you even know what CDMA is? This phone does not have any CDMA bands.... CDMA is what sprint, Verizon, and us cellular run on setting it yk that won't improve anything...
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
hyelton said:
Setting it to that is NOT improving anything...... do you even know what CDMA is? This phone does not have any CDMA bands.... CDMA is what sprint, Verizon, and us cellular run on setting it yk that won't improve anything...
Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know what cdma is and who has it--
Just saying when changing bands it improved quite a bit, could be many reasons. Also, I am comparing signal strength in same spot with tmo and att. Two different carriers. I am sure they can have different readings in same area. So, until I test the areas were I really need the better coverage and att map says it should be there in those areas, I won't know if it the radio or not. The only reason I swithched was to get better coverage in my business appt areas. Where I live and am currently testing att shows solid 4g.
Actually today no real difference, I seem to do a little better at first. But, it is defaulting back to lte/gsm. So, will just give it some time and see how other areas do. Was just curious if anyone had tried other bands. I may do great where I need it.
Thanks,
Mod can close this thread--
I actually have to force WCDMA only in one area constantly get between no service and service if I don't.
hyelton said:
I actually have to force WCDMA only in one area constantly get between no service and service if I don't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it can make a diff. But, shouldn't have to do it. I will report how i do in other areas of Dayton over the next few days. Haven't left house today. Yard work.
I hope as lte rolls out here, things will improve like tmo did.
Doesn't make a difference. I have to swap phones or something. Signal is so weak, it's unusable. Most of the time I'm getting no signal at all. I haven't had full bars yet anywhere!
That doesn't sound good. Today I went to store we shop at about 20 miles away in Springboro. I could not make calls from inside with tmo. Also, could not with att. It was just a tad better toward front of store. Tried a couple other highway locations and speedtests were always lower than tmo. Son's phone the same. This week I will appts north and see how it compares. I can't believe att is not outperforming tmo here. I know one day is no test. But, their maps show much wider coverage than tmo.
I will call them and have them reconnect me. Also, check apn's. Can't find a good apn list yet. But, also can't edit them. When I go to check networks, it just says default setting and doesn't list att or anyone. Never saw that before.
I think it is what it is since both phones run the same on the network--
Hurry up lte
Educate me if I am wrong. But, my slower than tmo speeds may be due to lack of 21mb network on att in Dayton.
tmo had that here, i don't think att does EDIT: Acording to sales rep we do--just never see it on phone--more research needed
i only get hspa 11 or 15. assume that is 11mb and 15mb
so, until i get lte am stuck with these speeds, which are 3g, NOT 4g att
Actually, looking at map and reading their Legend, I should get HSPA+ here. Haven't seen it. It is not listed on gsmarena phone specs
May try a different sim and not sure what my exact apn's should be here. Anyone have them?
Any Dayton S4 users here???