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Hello everyone I was wondering if there was some kind of app out that could keep track of where we receive 4G? I think it would really help out because sometimes I find myself Looking at the taskbar when I'm driving. It would also let me shut off the radio when I know its not around saving the battery. If anyone knows thank you in advance.
sprint has a coverage map....
Unfortunately for cities that aren't supposed to have 4G yet (I'm looking at you, Los Angeles) there's really no coverage map for us.. I've been looking for a good clearwire/wimax coverage google maps mashup myself for awhile...
Perhaps someone could write a 4G wardriving app for our phone =D
Yeah well their map shows all of Kansas city highlighted when in fact it is hit or miss.. Kansas city is a very spread out metropolitan area. I find that their coverage map is inaccurate..
There are two Market apps that I have found for mapping cell coverage.
1)CellMapper
2)CDMA, GSM & WiFi Map Viewer (yes that is the full name as it appears in Market)
(1) says it supports 4G, but I haven't used the app extensively.
(2) does not specifically mention 4G, but their back-end servers can probably tell the difference. I found it more enjoyable to use, and it has more existing data available. (Look at San Francisco; there is a lot of data for all of the big 4 carriers) Just remember that it only tracks your coverage in the foreground, unless you specifically put it in background mode. Also, you'll probably want to disable "passive scanning" which will eat up your battery.
Whatever you choose, I would recommend only using them while driving so you can keep the phone on the charger while mapping. It eats a ton of battery. Plus, there's not really any point to mapping coverage while you're stationary!
thanks dude Im gonna try these today.. appreciate the info.
Any updates on what you tried, any results?
Yea, Sprint's coverage map is a joke. In most places around here, you have to shorten the border of 4G by about 1500-3000 feet of where you'll actually get coverage.
Im in the northern chicago area and I'm able to connect to 4g but the connection is slow and unstable...(even with 4 bars). Ive extended the idle time using ##data# but still I have the same issues??? Anybody with a solid connection care to share their ##data# settings? Im thinking the issue might in the settings......
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I'm in Seattle and see similar 4G behavior. Usually 2 bars or so and not great performance (marginally better than 3G). I'd be interested to see if this can be improved by tweaking the settings also.
the 4G antenna in the EVO is half the size of the USB one, I don't even get signal at my house on my EVO, yet I get 1.5MBs on my USB stick. Size matters.
Idk about 4G but i just moved into a new house and i have TERRRIBLE reception no matter where i am. If im not outside, it sucks. Its funny though, as soon as i step out the door, 5-6 bars. Im keeping the phone in hopes that as soon as they get 4G around here (Elmont, NY... Long Island), things will change. =\
sprints 4g is in a horrible part of the spectrum. it's frequency is too high to pass through anything
This thread does not belong here. Take this drivel to the appropriate subforum.
unless you are a running a stock rom with the latest updates, i don't think you can make any of these complaints that you all are unless 4g isn't fully up and running in your city. My girlfriend just got the white evo and we installed the latest updates and she gets a very good 4g signal, i have the black evo running fresh 0.5.3 and i get a pretty good signal myself. Not to mention we live in mpls and 4g isn't even officially here yet. A lot of these problems people are having are user errors, flashing things with no knowledge of what they are doing. I would say go back to stock do to ota update with the new radio and wimax enhancements then tell me what type of 4g coverage you are getting. otherwise you are just trusting the chef that everything is set up right which i would take with a grain of salt because non of them seem to understand exactly how the wimax radio works as of yet. Proof of this is all the problems people are having after trying numerous roms
BB15 said:
I'm in Seattle and see similar 4G behavior. Usually 2 bars or so and not great performance (marginally better than 3G). I'd be interested to see if this can be improved by tweaking the settings also.
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That's not very encouraging, I am very disappointed by Sprint's 3g speeds. I have yet to see over 1mbs, and over the 4th of July weekended saw .2-.7 mbs. Yes, .2 as in 192kbs. This was in Miami.
vespoli said:
This thread does not belong here. Take this drivel to the appropriate subforum.
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I started this thread with the intentions of looking into the settings of the wimax ##data# menu....not too rant about the service. I believe with the good signal I'm getting and the fact that I do connect shows that there's an issue with either the roms were flashing or the setting mentioned above. Anybody care to post their settings?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Changing the wimax idle sleep time from 10 secs to 300 secs could help. My 4G stays on pretty much constantly now instead of switching back and forth between 4G and 3G. You would need your MSL to edit the settings though.
I have similar issues in the chicago land area as well. Very frustrating. I am using a stock rooted rom, but I am using an older OTA update. When I'm outside I always have a strong 4G signal. However, as soon as I go in doors I either loose the signal or have a very weak one. Before you say anything about updating, my GF's EVO is completely stock with the newest OTA update and her 4G behaves very similarly. I actually pick up a better signal at times. It just sucks because if the signal was just a LITTLE bit stronger I would be really happy.
Thats just due to the spectrum used for wimax is at such a high frequency that it does not penetrate walls very well. I'm not sure how sprint will try to remedy this problem, I'm not sure but I get strong signals at my work office and thats inside a building. At home I can get 4G if I am outside once inside I cant seem to get it at all.
What's "##data#" ? I would search it but haven't quite figured it out yet on the app. Google didn't help either (surprisingly).
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
jrpointer said:
Im in the northern chicago area and I'm able to connect to 4g but the connection is slow and unstable...(even with 4 bars). Ive extended the idle time using ##data# but still I have the same issues??? Anybody with a solid connection care to share their ##data# settings? Im thinking the issue might in the settings......
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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jr - I am in Gold Coast and recently noticed the 4G signal was junk. It used ot be great inside my 13th floor apartment. I went to the sprint store and they said one of the towers was being serviced (they called a tech. and he said this while I was there). They said end of this week it would be fixed. I was going to give them another week or so and see what the deal is then.
IMO it kind of defeats the purpose of having 4G then. 90% of the time that I want to surf the internet or use 4G I'm indoors, and I would imagine that goes for pretty much everybody. I know this isn't a problem for everybody so it seems, but I think for a lot of people it is.
interesting you say 4 bars of 4g. when i look at my phone i can get up to 6 vertical bars for 3g's signal strength, but with 4g on, and outside i can get 3 "bars" more like "upper wifi arcs" above the 4g signal. and inside my 4g doesn't even register anything, it just shows 4g with no arcs...
however my technique is to put the phone right next to the window and run my micro usb cable from there to my computer. and i then get great data connection...
still experimenting, (had the phone for less than a week) but i think it might work better to go to menu/settings/wirless&networks/ and uncheck mobile network so the phone doesn't use the 3g for data connection when 4g isn't there...
thus if the 4g signal is low, it doesn't drop it to grab the higher signal 3g...
lastly. i'm heading to the store to try to pick up a 2 buck plastic soap dish with a suction cup for the "high tech holding station" on my window. that and a 10 foot micro usb cable i think that will help even more...
best of luck.
I have figured out where in my neighborhood I can get a 4G signal (and I too keep my phone near the window when I want to use it at home). However since the OTA, I noticed that if my 4G signal drops it won't come back unless I toggle the 4G radio. It will just sit in "scanning" and use 3G.
Anyone else noticing this problem?
I would assume that one of the settings/timers need to be tweaked, but I have no idea what my those values were before the OTA.
oreoOozZz said:
Idk about 4G but i just moved into a new house and i have TERRRIBLE reception no matter where i am. If im not outside, it sucks. Its funny though, as soon as i step out the door, 5-6 bars. Im keeping the phone in hopes that as soon as they get 4G around here (Elmont, NY... Long Island), things will change. =\
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4G has nothing to do with 3G. Clearwire maintains the 4G network and Ericsson maintains the 3G/1X network do if your 3G is bad now, it won't be any different when 4G launches unless Ericsson improves the situation.
If I'd got this device predominantly for 4G...Id've returned it in day one...(IN Chicago also). In fact wouldn't have bought it going in knowing what I knew about the spottiness of tapping into 4G frequency wirelessly.
that makes absolutely no sense.
per your words, 4G has nothing to do with 3G as in Clearwire has nothing to do with Ericsson so what would it matter if Ericsson decided to step its game up if Clearwire is the 4G company?
4G is on a whole different frequency not to mention a whole different tower technology and tower location possibly so there's definetly a good chance that I can maintain a great 4G signal once it arrives in my area compared to the terrible 3G coverage I get.
well see what happens... my luck they will never put 4G by me lol.
It looks like Clearwire has been putting in some work, after almost a year of having a 4G phone I just found out tonight I can actually use it now. And looking on sensorly map viewer it looks like it is popping up everywhere.
Anyone else just get it? Now seems like a good time to go hunting for it.
Nope
I live in the metro-detroit area.
I don't blame Clearwire/Sprint, I wouldn't waste my time either.
mattykinsx said:
Nope
I live in the metro-detroit area.
I don't blame Clearwire/Sprint, I wouldn't waste my time either.
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I'm really surprised Detroit doesn't have it yet, Sprint must not be very popular there I'm guessing? Next time you're outside somewhere try holding your phone from the bottom right corner and seeing if it tries to connect to Sprint, when I was driving around earlier there where a bunch of places where it would say Connecting to Sprint but disconnect and sitting the phone down or blocking the wimax antenna killed the signal like no other.
xHausx said:
I'm really surprised Detroit doesn't have it yet, Sprint must not be very popular there I'm guessing? Next time you're outside somewhere try holding your phone from the bottom right corner and seeing if it tries to connect to Sprint, when I was driving around earlier there where a bunch of places where it would say Connecting to Sprint but disconnect and sitting the phone down or blocking the wimax antenna killed the signal like no other.
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I would say Sprint is pretty popular here in the Metro Detroit area. Everyone I know has Sprint. I just can't believe how they just randomly pick areas to turn on 4G. Makes no sense to me.
Memphis here, by the time we get 4g it will be a thing of the past...
still nothing here :/
In Alabama, no 4G yet, probably will get it 2 days after the apocolypse.
Check www.clear.com/coverage and zoom in on your city, they are turning on random towers all over the place.
Darn it... I'm surrounded by 4g on all sides!!!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Man, I cant believe we dont have it in Coffeyville Kansas yet. WTH,
I have the Epic and I've been seeing this happen too... they just lit up 4g in the Lansing, MI area.
I wonder if their Feb announcement is going to be SVDO, cmda iPhone or 4g nationwide coverage.... what's your gut feel?
According to the map, Bowling Green, KY has 4G coverage???????
But not the major Kentucky cities?????? Wow!
jefbal99 said:
Check www.clear.com/coverage and zoom in on your city, they are turning on random towers all over the place.
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Strange, that map shows downtown Memphis lit up light a Christmas tree with 4g, guess I'm gonna have to drive to the ghetto and see if it's for real......
dmoses1969 said:
Man, I cant believe we dont have it in Coffeyville Kansas yet. WTH,
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**** i live in wichita and there ain't no 4G that i've found yet. Hopefully we get it before Coffeyville does!
Well just drove downtown Memphis and its for real, 4g is on here, now why the hell they turned it on in that part of town instead of out where all their customers are is beyond me....
I'm 1000% sure you will have it long before Coffeyville does. I'm just happy I have 3G and that its a lot faster than Verizon 3G in this area.
Sprint and Verizon has the only 3G in my area.
Neipas09 said:
**** i live in wichita and there ain't no 4G that i've found yet. Hopefully we get it before Coffeyville does!
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We arent even mentioned on clearwire's map yet but I'm sitting here with a signal right now
snowmanwithahat said:
I have the Epic and I've been seeing this happen too... they just lit up 4g in the Lansing, MI area.
I wonder if their Feb announcement is going to be SVDO, cmda iPhone or 4g nationwide coverage.... what's your gut feel?
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my guess would be a 3d phone and an announcement about LTE 4G or using Nextel's band for 4G as well. My friend still has a nextel phone and he just said last night he was starting to have a hard time finding a signal where he didn't before.
According to the map, Bowling Green, KY has 4G coverage???????
But not the major Kentucky cities?????? Wow!
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Maybe Sprint just likes Corvettes.
DanWalker said:
I would say Sprint is pretty popular here in the Metro Detroit area. Everyone I know has Sprint. I just can't believe how they just randomly pick areas to turn on 4G. Makes no sense to me.
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Whether they can get the 4G turned on in specific areas depends on a variety of factors - including obtaining the permits from the local cities, easement rights from the property owner if they're not hopping on an existing tower, etc.
Places they WANT to provide service versus where they're ALLOWED to provide service don't always go hand in hand.
jefbal99 said:
Check www.clear.com/coverage and zoom in on your city, they are turning on random towers all over the place.
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Just like the Sprint map it says I'm covered, but the damn 4g signal sucks at penetrating buildings. I have to be next to a window to get a "poor" connection on my phone.
4G is up and running in Clinton Township I think the tower is in front of 7/11 on 18 and Hayes. I had 4G spuratic from Clinton River and Hayes all the way past 59. Anyone else notice this??
Funny as i used to live in macomb and worked at lakeside mall for 9 years. Good too see former neighbors on xda. I miss it over there.
If u look at senorly 4g is poping up all over, I check it every couple days and everytime I check it looks like one of those zombie outbreak maps where the infection keeps spreading and showing up in new places
Sent from my Evo using the XDA app
They are adding a ton of areas but if my town is an example, it's hardly worth it. They added 4G here recently but it only covers one tiny area of town. I honestly think they just stuck it on one tower. It's in the shopping/everything else district but really no one lives down there. So it's not like anyone is getting 4G at home.
Clinton Township? Really? Wonder why they chose to drop a tower there? Nothing against that area, just wondering why it's there instead of Ann Arbor, of or Lansing.....some place a little busier?
They are throwing up a ton of single towers everywhere to just show the FCC they are using their spectrum. Very simple to see if you look around the maps on clear.com.
They need to do Jackson
They are spectrum holding towers to ensure that clear doesn't lose their licenses. Check out clear.com/coverage to see all the areas that are popping up. These may not be full power or full bandwidth sites, so YMMV
schufly said:
Clinton Township? Really? Wonder why they chose to drop a tower there? Nothing against that area, just wondering why it's there instead of Ann Arbor, of or Lansing.....some place a little busier?
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Lansing downtown does have 4g
Great news for Port St. Lucie, FL. We now have 4G!
I just drove down US-1 to see if it was true and all be damned. I have an app, Sensorly Map Viewer, that maps out the coverage areas for a couple different signals, such as 4G, CDMA, GSM and WiFi. and I've been keeping an eye on the 4G, anxiously awaiting.
A few days ago I looked and it was showing an area that covers US-1 (from about White City, down to Port St. Lucie) and extends inward stretching down Floresta Dr. (Prima Vista Rd., down to Port St. Lucie Blvd).
So today I had to run out and do some errands over off US-1 and was finally able to find out if it was true or not. I was so excited when I connected and ran a speed test, 6 megs download. That's what I get with being on my home WiFi.
Now the ****ty part for me is that the coverage, according to the map, ends just a handful of blocks north of my house. It's ok though, like I said, my Wifi is the same.
So if there's anyone down here, that I was able to bring a smile to, hit the thanks button.
Also, IF there is anyone around here, hit me up if you would like to share info about our beloved phone. I have so much knowledge but I would love to meet someone that knows how to theme or something.
PEACE TO ALL
Cool story bro.
May want to change the title so the rest of the country doesn't read the thread.
I'm going to try out that app as I'm curious to my local coverage, thanks
spencer88 said:
I'm going to try out that app as I'm curious to my local coverage, thanks
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Yea, I was hoping that at least one person would find it useful. I've been watching the map ever since I downloaded the app. The closest 4G was about 40 minutes south of me for the longest. I was beginning to wonder when they were going to reach us. Glad I could help.
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