My vibrant when holding it like normal will switch to zero bars and then switch to edge when i am in a strong 3g area i think this phone has poor 3g recpeition and a problem with it reciveing 3g signals.When it switches to edge it will display a full 3 bars and then 2 and none less than 2 then when on 3g will go from 4 bars when sitting on a table to none when i am holding then to edge.
Yes, my phone always switches back and forth from 3g to edge. I live in a strong 3g area too. My old g1 never had this problem.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant
RIP my beloved rooted G1
get a new phone the vibrant is not for you....
It's an issue that I am experiencing as well. In my case, simply lifting the phone from the table, with a single finger, will cause the data speeds to slow by half or more. Calls will always drop to EDGE, and sometimes, disconnect entirely.
If I had to guess, it's probably an engineering problem. I will try replacing the phone (again), to see if anything is improved.
temperbad said:
get a new phone the vibrant is not for you....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nor is customer service for you.
The phone is not perfect and I seem to have the same 3G issues.
Your a D!ck
temperbad said:
get a new phone the vibrant is not for you....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^...Really? WTF would the phone be, "Not for you". Its got nothing to do with the end users ability to understand how to use their phone.
I don't mean to feed that negative comment. But, seriously....
bennyha said:
^^^...Really? WTF would the phone be, "Not for you". Its got nothing to do with the end users ability to understand how to use their phone.
I don't mean to feed that negative comment. But, seriously....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Negative? That couldn't be any less negative.... if he experiences signal droppage especially where he lives, I say pick a new device cause the vibrant has this issue, so if it effects him or bothers him, the vibrants not for him... and abbreviating what the **** is pretty negative itself.... man funny.. hell you even called me a ****? So hows that good? Can you say that when people are dicks? Your the ruler on who gets to be rude when and where? Or are the only one that can capl people dicks?
I think I get harped on so much from my screen name, but I wasn't being negative. ..
Simply put, if it bugs you the vibrant is not for you....
Cause this is what it does...
Negative. .. lmfaoooo people say way more negative stuff and get away with it.
And no customer service for me? Huh? Didn't even make sense.
Op, the vibrant is not for you man... they all have this misreading....
And what should have been said to the OP IS, please search the forums before posting this... there's many many threads on it....
If this is a such a issue then why does everyone with the problem still have your phone? I mean if my phone dropped to edge just by a finger I'd get a new device.
I just don't get it? If its a issue for some, why do ya guys still have the device. Is the device so nice ya hoping it'll get better? Hoping Samsung has a fix?
They won't, they can display the bars better but that's it, that will do virtually nothing for real world speeds/ reception. It doesn't effect me where I live I can't even get it do drop a bar in some areas if I try, and coming from a n1 it was way worse. .....
Just don't get it, if y'all could answer that would be great, what are you waiting for? Why ya still got the device?
I still have mine honestly because I can give a rip about 3G. Never really used it nor need it. I mean its a phone for phone calls, grabbing some email and now and then updating my market apps. I think when I used my G1 for the close to two years I used 3G twice. Once to uh and ah at it and the second because I wanted to update my maps app faster.
I have wifi everywhere so sometimes I consider 3G overated at least in my house and work, however with that said. Its rather horrid when it comes to a connection. My G1 would easily connect and stay connected. Vibrant connects, disconnects, connects, disconnects. 1 bar, 3 bars, back to edge, no bars.
All over the place. Its like dating somebody with a split personally disorder. I only tested it because others have complained and wanted to either confirm or deny their comments. I can confirm it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=738327&page=4&highlight=signal
I just called tmobile and they confirmed getting a new sim card 50.01 does help the 3G signal.
The new SIM will probably help. Mine phone has no 3G issues. Just GPS and compass issues.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
1 post and no follow up? please
Lock into 3g speeds.
Hey, I posted this in a different forum. This helps lock into 3g speeds. I kind of found this on my own, so I don't know how accurate my instructions are, verify with others before trying, but it worked for me
Tired of edge speeds, want to lock in 3g? Okay this next one, do at your own risk ask usual, use with caution. I kinda figured this one out on my own, through trial and error, so I’m not sure how stable or accurate, or even how safe it is to do this. I did notice though, if you screw up, you can use the factory reset code above and things should go back to factory defaults.
Okay…so again do at your own risk. Also by locking into 3g speeds, if you ever go into a non 3g area, or if your 3g signal is poor in your area, then your phone calls will drop and data will stop, unless you go back and set the phone to its default automatic gsm/cdma settings.
Dial: *#*#197328640#*#*
Click [1] debug screen
Click [8] phone control
Click [7] network control
Click [2] band selection
This is where you make a change, default setting is [1] automatic, which means it chooses automatically between gsm/cdma (Edge vs 3g). So we are going to change this and set it to wcdma band which is 3g.
Click [2] wcdma band
Click [1] wcdma all []
Now it should display “select wcdma all bands [*]"
Now on the bottom of your phone, click the menu key, it’s the one next to the home key, now click back, menu again one more time, back one more time, this is just to confirm it set to number 2 wcdma band.
Now click menu key one last time, click end.. and you are done. Now to double verify that the phone is locked into 3g, dial in: *#*#4636#*#*
Then click phone information Then scroll down to “set preferred network type” It should now have listed “wcdma only.” PS, if you tried to do a shortcut, and just set wcdma this way first without doing the lock above, it would just go back to gsm/cdma auto once you exit the screen.
Your phone should now be locked into 3g.
Related
If you're in a major city all the time, is it safe to lock 3g? For whatever reason, my Vibrant keeps switching back and forth to Edge and I don't know why. I am in the middle of Houston where coverage should be strong. When it's 3g it works fine, but then it switches off even though I haven't moved an inch. I realize I just lose calls/all data if I actually lose 3g, but I am curious of the risk of that actually happening or if the 3g/Edge swapping is unnecessary.
I've locked 3g using the trick I read on this forum...seems OK so far in my office and I plan to test it out more obviously. But in theory, if you are in a major metro area (TMobile's coverage map shows full strong coverage for anywhere I plan to be), is this OK to do? Is anyone else doing this by chance or having similar 3g/edge issues?
thanks
I have this same issue and I tried to lock it but it keeps reverting back to the nonlocked option.I get alot of edge they need to put out a radio update or something.if you figure out a way to lock it let me know
my signal changes to EDGE only when I get into a building or something like that, that has low service inside, otherwise is always on 3g
barmanham said:
I have this same issue and I tried to lock it but it keeps reverting back to the nonlocked option.I get alot of edge they need to put out a radio update or something.if you figure out a way to lock it let me know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This locks it for me...even holds after a reboot.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=741197 (sorry, can't link properly due to being a noob on this forum)
I did lose a call on my way home, but otherwise 3g was pretty steady. I wish someone can make an app or something where I can just click something to do this instantly and easily switch back and forth.
sjetexas said:
This locks it for me...even holds after a reboot.
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=741197 (sorry, can't link properly due to being a noob on this forum)
I did lose a call on my way home, but otherwise 3g was pretty steady. I wish someone can make an app or something where I can just click something to do this instantly and easily switch back and forth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look on the Android Market for the manufacturer "Curvefish".
I'm waiting on my replacement but I think I saw a free widget that did exactly that. Switch between 2g and 3g.
Hope this helps!
This is an issue that a lot of Hero users had. I was fortunate enough to not experience it with the Hero, but my current time without signal is 52% on my Epic. If I remember correctly, it was a PRL problem, but it might also be the radio. It would be the cause of serious battery issues. I've attempted updating my profile and PRL to no avail. Is anyone else having time without signal issues?
To check, go to settings -> about phone -> battery use -> cell standby.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I thought it was just a reporting issue
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
No. I remember what it was now. It was that the Hero wasn't set to use CDMA towers and was searching for GSM towers for some reason. Something to do with the fact that the Hero was originally a GSM phone, which would make sense here. Someone in the thread that was created just a bit ago suggested it had something to do with the PRL update, which is possible, because I did it and that's when I started getting bad battery life and a high percentage of time without signal.
I've been having a hell of a time with my data connection today, which would explain my poor battery.
I've got a very high time w/out signal as well... I'm surprised this hasnt gotten more attention. Its a huge battery drain.
...
I've got 50% time without signal on mine. It seems likely that the searching for GSM towers could be happening on this phone as well because of all the material that crossed over from the international versions. Is there a way to check and/or fix this problem and get the phone to only search for the CDMA towers?
Thanks,
-Rob
I've been trying to set the network mode to cdma auto using the network app i downloaded from the market. I dont think its fixing the issue though...
Strangely enough this is a similar issue I have seen with the Samsung Intercept. Especially having a hard time with keeping the data connection...
-CC
clockcycle said:
Strangely enough this is a similar issue I have seen with the Samsung Intercept. Especially having a hard time with keeping the data connection...
-CC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't have this issue and I live in Puerto Rico. We have 5 carriers on this tiny island and Sprint is the only one with CDMA.
I think I figured it out. I set my network to cdma auto and my time without signal dropped to 3%. Battery drain seems improved in the short term...
Did you set yours up to WCDMA only? If I went WCDMA Preferred, I can see it was trying and failing to connect to GSM.
HeroHTC said:
Did you set yours up to WCDMA only? If I went WCDMA Preferred, I can see it was trying and failing to connect to GSM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I set it to CDMA auto
I dont think WCDMA is available in the US.
...
Can you please elaborate a bit on how to change network preferences?
Thanks,
-Rob
TheRob44 said:
Can you please elaborate a bit on how to change network preferences?
Thanks,
-Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to the android market and search for an app called "Network"
Open up the app, you should see WCDMA Preferred in a drop down box near the bottom of the screen. Select that and change it to CDMA auto.
Exit the app.
Your Time without service should drop really low (mine went to 3%)
I've had the app behave strangely and revert my settings. I'm paranoid so i've been checking it pretty often. I'm not sure if there is a way to make this change permanent. I dont know if it reverts when the phone is rebooted.
The way that the problem was solved on the Hero was by accessing a system menu through a ##CODE## code and telling it to prefer CDMA towers. It was defaulted, for some, to GSM. Because I never had this issue, I don't know a whole lot about it. I know that ##CODE## codes are not available on this phone, though, so we might be out of luck until we can get into some kind of dev menu, I think. The app fix mentioned above sounds janky as hell to me, though, so I'll avoid it for now.
My phone has a hell of a time holding on to a data connection right now, but Juice Defender is really helping that not absolutely kill my battery. Aside from this one concern, my battery is actually lasting a surprisingly long time. I was expecting it to die nearly twice as fast as my Hero, but it is definitely giving it a run for its money. I'm very pleased with the Epic
...
I followed your directions. Got into Network, changed the dropdown box to CDMA Auto (PRL) and then hit the home button. Nothing changed, so I went back into the app to check if it stuck and it was back at WCDMA Preferred. Am I missing a step to make the change stick or something?
Thanks,
-Rob
TheRob44 said:
I followed your directions. Got into Network, changed the dropdown box to CDMA Auto (PRL) and then hit the home button. Nothing changed, so I went back into the app to check if it stuck and it was back at WCDMA Preferred. Am I missing a step to make the change stick or something?
Thanks,
-Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did it multiple times. =)
Mine is not sticking either...ah well..
Hero used to be
#*#*4636*#*#
I'm going to try the suggested fixes but we need a permanent solution. This drain is horrible, check out my battery usage from today in this pic. I really like this phone but I'm going to have to return it if this keeps up.
richse said:
I'm going to try the suggested fixes but we need a permanent solution. This drain is horrible, check out my battery usage from today in this pic. I really like this phone but I'm going to have to return it if this keeps up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, Thats what mine looked like until I fixed it with the Network app.
Yes, I have been playing lots of games/angry birds
I have been trying to use the Network app that people are suggesting but I am getting some weird issues. When I open the Network app it says I am on "WCDMA preferred" but then if I just let it sit for about 15-30 seconds it changes to "Unknown" without my pressing anything. I tried setting it to "CDMA only" and to "WCDMA only" but it doesn't save either setting. If I exit and reopen the program it goes back to "WCDMA preferred" and then changes itself to "Unknown" after a short duration. Anyone else have a problem like this? Any ideas?
Few issues...
1. This one has never been addressed... Even with my G2, and with vibration set to always, my phone never vibrates for incoming texts, MMS's or emails. How do I make this work? I have yet to use an Android ROM, even stock out of the box with the phone, where this works.
2. From time to time, T-Mobile is replaced with (No Service) on the lock screen, even though I have service. This also happened with my G2.
Both issues seem to be a bug with Android, probably at the kernel level. Anyone know of a fix?
agentfazexx said:
Few issues...
1. This one has never been addressed... Even with my G2, and with vibration set to always, my phone never vibrates for incoming texts, MMS's or emails. How do I make this work? I have yet to use an Android ROM, even stock out of the box with the phone, where this works.
2. From time to time, T-Mobile is replaced with (No Service) on the lock screen, even though I have service. This also happened with my G2.
Both issues seem to be a bug with Android, probably at the kernel level. Anyone know of a fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. easy fix, check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=981120
2. i had the same problem, check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=975282
lowrider262 said:
1. easy fix, check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=981120
2. i had the same problem, check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=975282
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Point 1's link seems to be for actual signal drops, which I don't really have, and plus I'd rather use 4G not 2G...
Your No Service issue is probably because you have your phone set to WCDMA Only instead of GSM/WCDMA auto. When the 3G signal is not present there is no GSM/Edge signal for your phone to fall back on.
Agoattamer said:
Your No Service issue is probably because you have your phone set to WCDMA Only instead of GSM/WCDMA auto. When the 3G signal is not present there is no GSM/Edge signal for your phone to fall back on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm...makes sense. How do I change that? Went into Wireless Settings, didn't see it.
Has it always been like this? Flashed a few roms and radios. But I think I never really thought about it or noticed it until now and it's really bugging me. I've read a few topics about 3g and 4g being "parallel" to our voice calls so we can't have both? I don't quite understand any of it.
Can someone tell me it's just my phone so I can try to solve the problem, or reassure me that we can't have both at the same time so I can sleep better tonight? lol
Thanks for any and all help!
Edit: Sorry meant to post this in the question thread.
Balut20 said:
Has it always been like this? Flashed a few roms and radios. But I think I never really thought about it or noticed it until now and it's really bugging me. I've read a few topics about 3g and 4g being "parallel" to our voice calls so we can't have both? I don't quite understand any of it.
Can someone tell me it's just my phone so I can try to solve the problem, or reassure me that we can't have both at the same time so I can sleep better tonight? lol
Thanks for any and all help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ALL GSM phones that are connected to HSPA or greater should be able to talk and surf at the same time. I do it frequently personally. Do you know if you drop to EDGE/GRPS when you get on a phone call?
I am also having this issue but its strange that the guy posting above me does not face this issue - may be it is a hardware issue like screen and emmc since I already tried different roms and radios?. As soon as I am in a call I am disconnected from network data. I noticed only recently when I was in a hotel room working on my laptop (tethered phone to provide internet) and just when I joined a conference call, I lost internet. It was so embarrassing I couldnt curse tmobile and htc enough. The iphone ad about talking and surfing at the same time never made sense to me before this incidence.
my phone does this too, but its on and off. Sometimes it does, others it doesnt. I really have no idea what could cause it.
Let me shed some light on this....if you are on H will less then 2 bars and theres an E with 3 bars or more and u get a call the phone will switch to E but once you hang up then its back on H. But if H has 3 bars or more when a call is received then I will stay on the H network and allow talk and data at the same time. Theres no hard ware issues trust me. Hspa is preferred but if there is a stronger signal then the phone switches. I hope that makes sense. You can not do data and talk together on E but you can on H.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Or, to put it in other words: when the phone is in a call, it'll hop to the "best sounding" base station, and if it would happen to be the old GSM/GPRS/EDGE base station - the data will drop. The missing bit is: once it drops - it isn't re-negotiated during the call, only after it. Thus, if the phone hops to EDGE base station even for a second during the call - you won't have data from this point and till the end of the call.
Perfectly normal behavior.
PureH2O said:
Let me shed some light on this....if you are on H will less then 2 bars and theres an E with 3 bars or more and u get a call the phone will switch to E but once you hang up then its back on H. But if H has 3 bars or more when a call is received then I will stay on the H network and allow talk and data at the same time. Theres no hard ware issues trust me. Hspa is preferred but if there is a stronger signal then the phone switches. I hope that makes sense. You can not do data and talk together on E but you can on H.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is definitely not the case. I have tried multiple times with different signal strengths but it drops completely every time. I just did another test, I was on H at 3.47mbps with all full bars and as soon as i placed a call to my friend, the data dropped completely.
chem.manish said:
This is definitely not the case. I have tried multiple times with different signal strengths but it drops completely every time. I just did another test, I was on H at 3.47mbps with all full bars and as soon as i placed a call to my friend, the data dropped completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not about the bars you see, but the signal strength (and not only) your phone sees - which is way more complicated than just bars. Read my post above.
And it's not an opinion either, it's a fact. This is how cellular handoff/handover works. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_handover
Thanks for the replies and insight everyone. Now I know a little bit more about how that handover works heh.
In my case, most calls were made from my office building. Yesterday, when I posted, I had the newest radio and data would drop immediately as soon as the person answers my call (not a steady drop from 4g-3g-Edge, icon just disappears completely). At best, I was able to download a few apps during a call (which was downloading before the call was made) but as soon my screen locked and turned off - the data was gone on wake and wouldn't turn back on until after the call was finished.
Went through 4 different ROMS yesterday with about the same results but I have recently reflashed RoyalGinger again along with the stock radio thereafter and it seems to be holding during calls, even on my ride to work this morning. I know this is against what most people have said in this thread but maybe I just messed something up on my phone with the new radio? Guess I'll stick to this radio for now. Thanks again everybody.
Radio is the one responsible for determining the best possible connection, and flashing new radio might change things.
I'm in a good 3G/H coverage zone, with new radio, and just tested - the data remained on during the call in any conditions, screen off, screen on, wifi toggling - still worked.
Jack_R1 said:
Radio is the one responsible for determining the best possible connection, and flashing new radio might change things.
I'm in a good 3G/H coverage zone, with new radio, and just tested - the data remained on during the call in any conditions, screen off, screen on, wifi toggling - still worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I'm on 4g and turn the screen off the data turns off, normally after an extended period, which its good for battery.
Sent from my HTC Glacier
This has happened to me since I had my blackberry 9700. My experience has been that it loses all data (H/3G/E), even in good H/3G signal area and won't reconnect until I end the call. However the data loss only occurs while on a call. While not on a call, just surfing the net or using data any other way does not cause lost data connection nor a drop from H/3G to Edge. I saw somewhere on these forums that switching to H/3G only will prevent this from happening. I've tried this and it seemed to help, but I haven't been checking on every call.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
I have Straight Talk AT&T, and so far my experience has been mixed. Sometimes I get full reception and generally awesome speeds (coming from Sprint's slow ass network), other times I get absolutely no service, sometimes it randomly jumps into roaming and i can't get data.. and it stays 'stuck' in roaming mode.. I have to turn airplane mode on/off to fix it.
This all happens without my leaving my desk.
Apparently it isn't limited to Straight Talk AT&T though http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2038963 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2037780
What's going on.. Am I part of a small group, or is this a larger issue..
OpenSignal Screenshots..
http://i.imgur.com/Zwohw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XxBBF.jpg
Notice the jump in bars between the two screenshots
same. hopefully they fix all these issues with a new radio. and also losing data while on a phone call!!!
Weird...on mine the bars go all the way down but when i do internet test i still get high connection. Also my internet works fine. Usually bars go down when i hold phone from top right.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
sometimes I lose all bars and am still talking on the phone. so strength meter is off and doesn't mean much at this point.
Mine goes all over the place with ST ATT just sitting it on a table
well hows att reception in your area in general? mines pretty steady as far as 1 bar give or take. but theres sometimes I will sit at zero bars all together and still have service. I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as your able to make and receive phone calls etc
daddioj said:
same. hopefully they fix all these issues with a new radio. and also losing data while on a phone call!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's been determined that it's not a hardware problem?
well its still early to tell. the phone is still very new so they have plenty of time to tweak the radio and fix bugs. lets hope its not some kind of weak radio hardware issue.
I've been having these as well. Quite annoying, but the data connection still pulls data and works. I've requested an RMA device and should be here tomorrow. Going to test with that, if it's the same then I'd keep this one I already have. Sometimes even if I have full service 5 bars, data will not work. The H will still be on stop of the signal bars, but it won't download/update any data, if I'm using any apps, it'll just hang.
xdviper said:
I've been having these as well. Quite annoying, but the data connection still pulls data and works. I've requested an RMA device and should be here tomorrow. Going to test with that, if it's the same then I'd keep this one I already have. Sometimes even if I have full service 5 bars, data will not work. The H will still be on stop of the signal bars, but it won't download/update any data, if I'm using any apps, it'll just hang.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the process for going about getting a replacement... and keep us posted on whether or not you see any changes..
let us know If the replacement is better. which I don't think so. but if your on original 4.2 with older baseband stay there. don't update and play with the data then. see if its good. then when satisfied update and see if the same problems arise then you know its software bugs
daddioj said:
let us know If the replacement is better. which I don't think so. but if your on original 4.2 with older baseband stay there. don't update and play with the data then. see if its good. then when satisfied update and see if the same problems arise then you know its software bugs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will do, I'll keep you guys updated.
xdviper said:
I've been having these as well. Quite annoying, but the data connection still pulls data and works. I've requested an RMA device and should be here tomorrow. Going to test with that, if it's the same then I'd keep this one I already have. Sometimes even if I have full service 5 bars, data will not work. The H will still be on stop of the signal bars, but it won't download/update any data, if I'm using any apps, it'll just hang.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My N4 pretty much does the exact same thing. Actually, I'm on my replacement phone and it does the same thing as my first one.
which makes me believe its a software bug. or hardware fault. i'm having some faith in software lol :good:
I sure hope it's a software issue, because my connection really sucks. It drops out constantly, but never dropped out a single time on my Backflip during normal hours (only 2 times around midnight during server maintenance or something)
Do you think I should try T-Mobile and see if my issues are resolved..
I just discovered this phone info settings, via *#*#464 or whatever it was.. Is there a particular setting it should be on, not WCDMA Preferred?
I'm having the same problem: the signal strength is very erratic. I'm on Rogers in Canada, which is same frequencies as AT&T.
I've never seen such erratic signal strength before.
On the other hand, though I haven't had it very long and haven't put it through its paces, I haven't noticed any significant signal issues, like dropped calls. So, I don't want to jump to any conclusions that what I'm observing is actually a problem.
Does anyone know of an app that tests the quality of my data connection? I know everyone uses speedtest.net but that just tests burst speed and I'd like something that will test the consistency of my connection too.
same problem
I'm having the same difficulty. Signal can be at 3 bars then all of a sudden goes to 0 bars.
Has anyone determined if this is a software or hardware fault? Any solutions?
Thanks
Raul69.atl said:
Weird...on mine the bars go all the way down but when i do internet test i still get high connection. Also my internet works fine. Usually bars go down when i hold phone from top right.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same exact behavior I'm seeing. I hope this is a software issue.