Database Users

Houston 4G connectivity issues

Greetings folks, long time no see
Anyone having a difficult time staying connected to 4G in Houston? From my experience so far, all 3 locations I have tried it out... (BB, Work, Home) are all in "In-Building" 4G coverage area. NONE of them can connect "In-Building". If I walk outside, it will connect then drop sporadically, or not connect at all. 3G has connectivity issues as well, but I want to focus on the big selling point of 4G here.
Any other experiences to speak of?
-Rock

Guess I should have posted this in the Q&A. MOD: Please feel free to relocate thread.

I have the same experience in the Memorial City (I-10 BW8 W) and East Katy (Fry) area. I'm happy with the 3g speed for what I use the phone for and have only turned on 4g for testing.

Im guessing it might be an issue with both signals from the towers and radio on the EVO. I have called Sprint to express my disappointment with the 4G service. I hope that HTC will make some magic happen with software upgrades. I also have tried the newer radio upgrade but still have issues once im inside of buildings.

just like when the iphone came out there were problems the same is happening now. i was getting good speeds up until a few hours ago here in NJ. my phone says 3G but im getting edge speeds

Not Houston, but same for me...
I am in St. Louis, and although 4G isn't official here yet (last I heard was 6/21) I am seeing the same thing. Indoors, it is almost a crap shoot.
Outside, it will get one "bar" of 4G... sometimes. Never really solidly locks on 4G.
I think it is an issue with the EVO radio firmware, at least I hope so, because I have the luxury of testing it side-by-side with an Overdrive, and I can consistently maintain a 4G signal of 2-3 bars on the Overdrive, if I put it in the window of my office.
Sadly, the Overdrive is seriously outperforming the reception of the Evo in my experiences so far.
-Rob

I'm in Houston. After doing the PRL update I got great coverage, everywhere except my downtown office (15th floor...so thats to be expected)

had connectivity issues the first day, here on the Northside, but if you update your profile, prl, and take your battery out a few times you may find a change..i did

THIS NEEDS TO BE SETTLED! I think I have an objective view.
I'm in Houston, TX so we have 4G coverage with ClearWire. I got my EVO on Friday, along with everybody else. I went to Best Buy to look at some accessories, while I was there I was chatting with the ClearWire rep running the demo and trying to sign up new customers. He was inside with store with his Clearwire USB dongle and laptop. We decided to run some speed comparisons, so I downloaded 2 speedtest apps from the Android market, one of them being for Speedtest.net. The best speed I got on my EVO with 4G enabled (and 1 bar of 4g) was about 2.25 Mbit down, and 1.1 Mbit up. I ran this test multiple times with me standing next to him, then putting my EVO next to the USB dongle to make sure I was getting the same signal. The rep's laptop, again running the speedtest from Speedtest.net and us using the the SAME servers, he got at least 6 Mbit down and almost 2 Mbit up. The best he got that I saw was like 7.2 Mbit down. He said that earlier that day he got as high as 10 Mbit down.
This is just telling me that it's either the processor that is limiting the speed, or it's the 4G antenna in the EVO. I saw that his 4G signal was pretty good being a bit outside the city, in Katy at Fry Road and I-10. I live just outside downtown I do get 4G inside my home, but again 1 or 2 bars. With my limited investigation I'm going to have to conclude that the network speed is NOT ClearWire's fault, but more like a hardware limitation on the EVO. If someone modded the phone with a better antenna the speed might improve.
About the existing 3G speed and with EVO is WOW! 3G response is soooo much faster on the EVO that it was on my G1. Another comparison is my home AT&T U-verse: I get 5.71 Mbit down and 0.94 Mbit up. I'm trying to think of a way that I can get my TV another way and get ClearWire for home instead of U-verse.

More likely clear is capping us to maintain QoS for direct customers.
Sent from my EVO

Hmm, I'm inside my house on Katy "Fry Rd. @ I10" and have 2 bars. Walk outside the front door no change. Typically outside around the Katy area I get about 2-3 bars.

Grims said:
More likely clear is capping us to maintain QoS for direct customers.
Sent from my EVO
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It's not "Clear" but Sprint is capping for Qos.

nunyabiziz said:
It's not "Clear" but Sprint is capping for Qos.
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Not you're just arguing symantecs

Grims said:
Not you're just arguing symantecs
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Just a little upset for the reason being that Sprint would state that their 4G is 10x faster than EVDO. Taking the lower results of EVDO(600Kbps) and comparing it to the higher 4G(6Mbps). I have yet to see 3Mbps downstream on their 4G network in Houston. I have tested Clear's and Sprint's usb side by side and ofcourse it's only capped on Sprint. So on that point its not the same.

nunyabiziz said:
Just a little upset for the reason being that Sprint would state that their 4G is 10x faster than EVDO. Taking the lower results of EVDO(600Kbps) and comparing it to the higher 4G(6Mbps). I have yet to see 3Mbps downstream on their 4G network in Houston. I have tested Clear's and Sprint's usb side by side and ofcourse it's only capped on Sprint. So on that point its not the same.
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I can see that, but even 3G on this phone seems way faster than other phones. I'm sure it has to do with the CPU beign able to render pages much quicker than previous devices.
That said, my 4G speeds are averaging about twice as fast as 3G

Drove down 45 from the medical center to Spring yesterday and got 4G all the way. As far as the downspeed goes, I agree, it's probably QoS since Sprint's 4G network is still in its infant stage.

Antebios said:
THIS NEEDS TO BE SETTLED! I think I have an objective view.
The best speed I got on my EVO with 4G enabled (and 1 bar of 4g) was about 2.25 Mbit down, and 1.1 Mbit up. I ran this test multiple times with me standing next to him, then putting my EVO next to the USB dongle to make sure I was getting the same signal. The rep's laptop, again running the speedtest from Speedtest.net and us using the the SAME servers, he got at least 6 Mbit down and almost 2 Mbit up. The best he got that I saw was like 7.2 Mbit down. He said that earlier that day he got as high as 10 Mbit down.
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Thanks for this info, I think you are right, something is capping our throughput. I hope Sprint come out with new firmware patch to resolve this. I am not happy with my less than 2Mbit download speed on 4G!

Well, I wish I was seeing the same coverage as everyone else. I can't get 4G inside at all. I got all the updates last week, but see there is yet another PRL update I was unaware of. *Finders crossed.

I don't think wimax will ever have good indoor coverage. The frequency it runs at is much too high.
Sent from my EVO

Since I work for Clear, I can tell ya'll that we do not cap anything. Also, as far as Sprint goes, they just use and resell our service. I will, however, be willing to be that there may be something with the device that maybe a firmware upgrade may fix but honestly who knows.
I have yet to see anyone get above 4mbs on the Evo...I think it has something to do with the device.

4G Signals in NYC

Currently getting a strong 4G signal on the upper east side of Manhattan, zip code 10029, averaging about 3.3 MB down, 1.2 MB up.
I'm new here, just got my Evo a couple weeks back (chose it over upgrading from my iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4, no regrets). I figured it might be helpful to those of us in NY to post locations where you're getting 4G signal in NY, since I know it's spotty at the moment. I've heard people getting signal in Brooklyn & some parts of the Bronx, but I'm just confirming that I'm getting it where I am now.
EDIT: Sorry guys, I see now there is a similar thread to this already up, can't figure out how to delete this thread.

4G in hunts point area of the bronx.
i agree, i had an iphone 3g, have the same services and save about $50 per month on my bill by switching to sprint, i dont regret it either. I get full 4g in hunts point now where i work, also in uptown manhattan by george washington bridge area and the west side of bronx. Only thing i didnt like was the fact i could use voice and data at the same time on at&t, but noton sprints 3g, and its a must for me. but i guess thats not a problem anymore with 4G!, overall better call quality, im still waiting to drop a call which i havent, it was a shame, i use to know all the spots on the f.d.r. drive and the i-87 where my calls would drop! The phone is tremendous, i am impressed. still havent installed one update yet to the evo, and battery life, i am surprised by what i am reading at times, on 3g with gps turned off and wifi off, i get about 6 hrs with usage. the iphone would be dead in 2 to three hours. as with any high powered phone, you need a charger everywhere you frequent, car, office, home, i also bought 2 batteries with a charger from ebay for $15!!, i was skeptical of this cheap crap, but dammit, i must say they work perfect too, so far its lasting as much as the oem and the charger shuts off auto as well. im good, looks like i will be here for awhile.

4G in Boston Area

Anyone able to get 4G consistently in the Boston area? I was down on Mass Ave. in Cambridge and had it working momentarily, anyone know good spots to go to get a steady 4G connection?

I had good 4g constant at my workplace in Medford, MA. The thing about 4G is that it has a very short 10 sec idle sleep setting. So pretty much if you are not downloading or using the connection it will disconnect. Connect back to 3G and then it scans and reconnects back to 4G.

I also saw it briefly connect last night, but signal strength was low in Central Square.

I HAD full 4G signal in Downtown Crossing but have since lost it. Unable to connect. Scanning, to Connecting to Sprint, to Obtaining IP Address, to Disconnecting and then starting the same process all over again. I can def. say that this started happening after flashing a custom ROM (DC 3.2.3) in addition to Radio/Wimax. Since then I have not been able to get it back. I saw one other member mention the same thing. Is anybody still seeing 4G signal anywhere in Boston Metro area?

Question:
For kicks, in methuen, MA over the weekend, I turned on 4G.
I kept getting a cycle (not exact wording):
Scanning
Found 4G connecting to Sprint
then back to scanning
Is there actually 4G available this far from Boston?
I am in Lowell, MA now and I just get a constant: Scanning...

I know for sure 4G was up and running in Boston a couple weeks ago. I was using 4G constantly. I work in Downtown Crossing and was getting sick connection on 4G. But it seems as though it's gone now. At first I thought it was because I had rooted my EVO and applied a custom ROM but now I'm beginning to think something is up with the 4G as I am seeing the same thing with the Scanning, Connecting to Sprint, Obtaining IP Address, Disconnecting and then back to Scanning. I don't know how far the 4G signal reaches.

I get pretty consistent 4G in the Allston/Brighton area right on Harvard ave.

I am unable to connect in South Boston. It was working fine before, now it will get stuck at obtaining ip address then just disconnect. I think this has to do with the rollout since they're still testing it.

zeuzinn said:
I am unable to connect in South Boston. It was working fine before, now it will get stuck at obtaining ip address then just disconnect. I think this has to do with the rollout since they're still testing it.
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I get a very spotty connection in southie too. some days are better than others

I am also having the same issue in Downtown Crossing, been happening for a week now. It's not a rooting issue as I've been rooted since I bought the phone. It seems to be happening in Providence as well.

Not sure if this is related, but I am now able to connect to 4G after flashing the *FINAL* Official 2.2 rooted update. Not only that, even with the same radio, I am now getting AWESOME consistent download speeds, averaging 6mbps.

Same here...I work in Burlington...SPEEDS are INCREDIBLE....4G is BAAACK

i'll out 4g later on today... does anyone else out there find it sad that our 4g speeds tend to be only a little better than tmo's speeds. My boy has a mytouch slide and he consistently get 3.7mbps - 4.3mbps down

looneylu said:
i'll out 4g later on today... does anyone else out there find it sad that our 4g speeds tend to be only a little better than tmo's speeds. My boy has a mytouch slide and he consistently get 3.7mbps - 4.3mbps down
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Well 4G hasn't even launched officially here yet and they're still optimizing the network even in officially launched markets. Some people are reporting 10+mbps download speeds. It'll only get better.

After being down for a week and a half, 4G - wimax is back up in Needham - but I am only getting 3.4 down and .4 up

A friend with an EVO says they're in the process of installing the antanea/tower (whatever the correct term is) on top of his office roof in Salem, MA. (As of a week or two ago.) The Clearwire tech said planning a full area launch in October/November, but 4G will be available in some areas sooner.
I'm in Haverhill, and no luck yet.

xdalaw said:
A friend with an EVO says they're in the process of installing the antanea/tower (whatever the correct term is) on top of his office roof in Salem, MA. (As of a week or two ago.) The Clearwire tech said planning a full area launch in October/November, but 4G will be available in some areas sooner.
I'm in Haverhill, and no luck yet.
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Yeah, I know this is kind of off topic but here's a public hearing notice I saw back in January. Clear was requesting to build a tower/antenna at 678 Mass Ave. That's right in Central Square, Cambridge

I work at Copley/South End and it goes in and out. I live at the border of Milton & Mattapan, and i get a faint signal and works for awhile. Even with a faint signal, its still a very fast connection. I have a friend in Lynn who gets good reception.

4 g is here
Hello all,
Just wanted to note that I'm getting 4g both in south Lowell near exit 37 off of Rt. 495 and stronger signal in Cambridge near central sq. I just used speakeasy for a speed test and download was just over 5 Mb. That was with one bar of signal strengh shown on the phone.

Just turned my 4g radio on today for kicks. Was getting one bar on the water in Quincy. 5.3 to 5.6 down and about 600 up. I like it!

Just switched from T-Mobile to Sprint and am getting much worse coverage...?

Couldn't really post my entire question in the title. But what I wanted to finish asking if it this was to be expected? I live in the south Houston region around League City(77573) where the coverage map claims that mostly I'll get optimal performance in and out doors. However my 3G speeds are a joke most of the time. Up at work, where my desk is right next to tons of windows, I get 5-6 bars constantly, but 3G speeds are constantly fluctuating. I recently transferred from T-Mobile and of course am using the Epic flashed with Syn. Frozen.
One test will yield 500-800ms ping, with 200-300 kbps down, 50-100kbps up, and SOMETIMES the upload will be higher than the download.
Sometimes I'll get 1200-1500kbps with about half of that as my upload, with around 100-200ms ping.
At home, in my house, I constantly get 0 to 1 bars constantly, and often enter data roaming. Speedtest results usually report 800ms(if it can even find a server), and about 30-100kbps down and even lower than that in upload.
I honestly didn't expect it to be this bad. Can anyone share their thoughts? I doubt its the device or the towers; I suspect its just a low quality network.

Welcome to the club of Sprints slowness. I kind of regret the switch as well but I had to leave Att. I'm in Atlanta and 4g constantly sleeps even downtown where I'm suppose to have the best connection. And 3g is slower than a Snail.
I hate "Top Flight Security Mods"

I would say your speeds of 1200 to 1500 down should be about average for 3g (I'm in ohio).
However network strength is a tricky subject as 9000 things can be going on at any given time. But I can not speak for your market. Sometimes sprint has the best tower alignment in an area, sometimes t-mobile, verizon, and I guess in theory at&t.
Honestly it sounds like you have 2 separate issues going on. The 3g bouncing around like that is not normal and sounds like something is going on.
Your house however sounds like you just have crappy coverage.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

crazynotion said:
.....Your house however sounds like you just have crappy coverage....
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that is what I am also thinking, Daj don't put 100% on the 3g coverage map it is a joke and the 4g coverage map is even more of a joke like a hit and miss. I been with Sprint 13 yrs so I am already a pro on the areas that have 3g coverage and the limits/cut off signal level down here in S. Tx

I get 5-6 bars at work and depending on the time of day can get 400kbps, to 1.7mbps on 3G. I cannot really complain about the speeds I get...
At home though, I get bad coverage. Called Sprint and complained and they sent me an Airave free of charge. Now I get great speeds at home.

How much did u need to tell sprint to get that?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

When I had sprint for the past 10 years, signal at my house was terrible. In the past year, signal was drastically improved. T mobile has terrible signal at my house even now. It varies but sounds like you need an airave.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

as retarded as this might sound i don't really want to go the airwave route. I just might just return the phone and get a g2. the airwave sounds like a half baked fix; ive NEVER talked to anyone in my life whos needed some sort of external apparatus(in this case itd be like having a hearing aide)to help them with their cell service and quite frankly, where i'm at, there really should be no excuse for the low signal.

Count your lucky stars... at work with full signal I get 50 kilobits down. Sometimes the speedtest won't even run. Halfway home this evening I was next to a tower with full signal again. 29 kilobits down / 90 kilobits up! WOOHOO!! Full 3G signal.
I roam on Verizon 3G quite a bit at work due to the slow speeds

Been a Sprint customer for over a decade and finally canceled service today due to having to put up with painfully slow 3G and spotty to no 4G coverage as compared to my new Verizon 4G LTE phone. Been hanging on hoping for improvement but it's wishful thinking.

If you update your prl and profile once a month to stay current your 3G should be fine. But thrn again some areas just have bad coverage.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

you can get tmobile family plan with 5 phones all with 200mb 4g for about 190 with university discount (google). I'm currently paying $270 for 5 phones with sprint w/ my university discount! i know its a little off topic but just throwing it out there..

[Q] Recent Radio Problems

Is anyone having any major radio problems recently? I heard a few days ago something happened with Sprints network, but haven't verified it.
I'm currently running CM7-n94 and the past few days my 3g speeds using speed test are in the double digits! O_O I mean to say like 87b/s. It's worthless for me to even use the browser now if I'm not using wifi.
I'm flashing back to Froyo STOCK right now, (leaving it S-OFF) and calling sprint to complain.
Two Questions:
1.) Anyone else recently having really piss poor (more than usual) data speeds with 3G?
2.) Can I update to the OTA the from Froyo stock with S-OFF and still be rooted?

mintee said:
Is anyone having any major radio problems recently? I heard a few days ago something happened with Sprints network, but haven't verified it.
I'm currently running CM7-n94 and the past few days my 3g speeds using speed test are in the double digits! O_O I mean to say like 87b/s. It's worthless for me to even use the browser now if I'm not using wifi.
I'm flashing back to Froyo STOCK right now, (leaving it S-OFF) and calling sprint to complain.
Two Questions:
1.) Anyone else recently having really piss poor (more than usual) data speeds with 3G?
2.) Can I update to the OTA the from Froyo stock with S-OFF and still be rooted?
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1. There are some cities that are subject to some slow speeds. Where are you located?
2. As long as your radio is s-off you're good to go.

About 5 miles from Center City Philadelphia.

mintee said:
About 5 miles from Center City Philadelphia.
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Haven't ever read any complaints from anyone in Pennsylvania.
Try updating your prl and data profile.
Maybe call Sprint as well.
You could also completely unroot back to 3.70 and then reroot and see if it might help.
Also, updating your radios to the latest.
There's a thread in the development section.
I'm mobile or I'd give you a link.

Oh, ya, been there and done all that. This is even my 3rd EVO and I've never been able to break the 250-300k/bs limit on any of them, but this 87 is just getting ridiculous.

So sprint is sending me an Airave, but the guy said it's most likely not going to fix my problem. My next solution is to argue my way out of the contract and go with a more reliable carrier... Sadly there are no other phones out I want right now.

mintee said:
So sprint is sending me an Airave, but the guy said it's most likely not going to fix my problem. My next solution is to argue my way out of the contract and go with a more reliable carrier... Sadly there are no other phones out I want right now.
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"reliable carrier" changes per the area you live.
If you make a note of the issue and it isn't fixed within a reasonable amount of time they will waive your ETF as they are technically violating the contract.

Akron, Ohio here and my data speeds have been crap all day. Phone keeps pulsing between 0 and 2 bars, but never seems to lock on to the tower reliably.

Akron, Ohio here and my data speeds have been crap all day. Phone keeps pulsing between 0 and 2 bars, but never seems to lock on to the tower reliably.
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Could just be a temporary area issue.

Personally, my data speeds absolutely SUCKED on the 05.02 radio. Ive since flashed back to 04.08 and all is well.

It's been a while, but one evening a 6 pack of beer and I sat down and flashed every single radio, and did 3 speed tests on each radio combo. Took about 2 hours all done and said, but there never was a huge difference.
The sprint rep said my location should have full coverage (I live in NJ, right outside of Philadelphia. Every carrier has full coverage here). I asked him what the average 3G speeds were, and he said I should be getting anywhere between 600kb/s and 1.2Mb/s.
I've never seen either of those numbers except when I use 4G. Keep in mind that I've used this phone everywhere from Utah, Colorado, NC, VA, DC, NYC, Philly, Trenton, etc and it's all the same. I, as the Spring rep, would like to blame the hardware, but this is the 3rd Evo I've had in a year.
My 4G speeds are usually about 2.5Mb/s. Friend of mine has the Atrix and he's getting 2.5Mb/s on 3G as AT&T hasn't rolled their 4G network out yet. I also have a friend with a Thunderbolt, and he's getting ~22Mb/s average. (Yes, that's Twenty Two)
So, again, as far as I'm concerned, the Evo is the best phone on the market still, however the service is a deal breaker for me.
I'm going to try this Airave thing out, but if it doesn't work I'm going to be shopping/waiting for the next LTE phone assuming Verizon gets a phone that's worth half a crap.

In addition...
This won't help at all but I need to add that I've switched from T-mobile to Sprint, and the 3G speed of T-mobile was incredibly fast in NYC. Sprint was bareable, but since the update it's been speeds of 0.19Mbs d/l and around 0.15Mbs up. It sucks because at my job I'm indoors with no 4G around so I'm confined to 3G. But at school when I have 4G full blast it's almost close to fiber optic speed.