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I searched all the threads and found nothing on this as far as I can see. I have been having this since day one with my G1. Every time I receive a call on my G1 or during the call it drops from 3G to GSM. I had stock T-Mo roms on my G1 (Pre/Post Cupcake) then JF 1.51 and now cyanogen 4.0.2 and this problem persists. I called T-Mo a few times on this and they exchanged my G1 3 times and gave me a new battery and charger free of charge. Does anyone else have this issue or know of a work around? This happens when I am at home and work. I travel for work to different locations and it still happens. When my phone rings it automatically drops 3G and goes to GSM (no icon next to the radio icon in the status bar). While making calls it stays on 3G for about a few seconds before it craps out and drops to GSM. It totally skips EDGE and GPRS. T-Mo said they sent out radio antenna tech's to the antennas near my home and they said all is fine and dandy. I live In Queens NY and work in the Bronx. When I travel to Brooklyn its the same as well as driving though Manhattan. I hope someone can help me with this.
PeterC18st said:
I searched all the threads and found nothing on this as far as I can see. I have been having this since day one with my G1. Every time I receive a call on my G1 or during the call it drops from 3G to GSM. I had stock T-Mo roms on my G1 (Pre/Post Cupcake) then JF 1.51 and now cyanogen 4.0.2 and this problem persists. I called T-Mo a few times on this and they exchanged my G1 3 times and gave me a new battery and charger free of charge. Does anyone else have this issue or know of a work around? This happens when I am at home and work. I travel for work to different locations and it still happens. When my phone rings it automatically drops 3G and goes to GSM (no icon next to the radio icon in the status bar). While making calls it stays on 3G for about a few seconds before it craps out and drops to GSM. It totally skips EDGE and GPRS. T-Mo said they sent out radio antenna tech's to the antennas near my home and they said all is fine and dandy. I live In Queens NY and work in the Bronx. When I travel to Brooklyn its the same as well as driving though Manhattan. I hope someone can help me with this.
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Click to collapse
ive always had this as well .. just never considered it a bug lol ... but i could see why someone would wanna keep their 3g while on a call .. reminds me of how sidekicks would lose data connectivity due to a call
xidominicanoix said:
but i could see why someone would wanna keep their 3g while on a call .. reminds me of how sidekicks would lose data connectivity due to a call
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you elaborate?
If you've had 3 G1's and a tech says there's nothing wrong with the network then it's clearly an issues with cupcake, be it a feature or a bug...
I don't really see why you would want to keep data conectivity while in a call, (unless you're downloading something in the background..?) so it sounds like a way to save battery..
AdrianK said:
Could you elaborate?
If you've had 3 G1's and a tech says there's nothing wrong with the network then it's clearly an issues with cupcake, be it a feature or a bug...
I don't really see why you would want to keep data conectivity while in a call, (unless you're downloading something in the background..?) so it sounds like a way to save battery..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's a perfect example where 3G would rule when working properly.
I'm talking to my wife on my BT headset while driving home from work. I have my G1 on my dash with google maps running with traffic patterns showing. While talking I am able to talk clearly on 3G and still see where traffic is building so I can avoid it. Being stuck in rush hour in NYC sux homeless man [email protected] Whenever I do this and my 3G connection drops my call quality drops and we both hear it while we're talking and then it cuts in and out and the call drops then I dont get updates. It's a feature I would really like to have. Even when Im working and talking and downloading a new update of an app. This happens when I am at a static location as well. I know driving from cell tower to cell tower can have bad effects but it does the same when I'm just at home or any of my work locations. When 3G works properly which is rare its amazing. Its helped me get un lost and find my way many of times.
Point being when T-Mo released the 3G statement they said all users with 3G phones will expierence higher call quality from the extra bandwidth. Why would they cap or or disable it when they are promoting it? I see the the point of saving battery life but it still shouldnt be happening. 3G is made for that feature to work voice + data being accessed together.
It might just be there 3g network, imo tmobile reception is horrible. Like at my house it is so f'ed up, I can sit in my chair and have 3 bars then walk 2 feet and lose service. It does this all through my house and at my work. They said it must be something in the buildings I am in, bull**** I say because ATT never does that nor did vzw when I used them.
same thing happens with me and 3g and calls..also about the house thing, hows this one for u ill be sitting in the same spot and have good 3g reception and all of a sudden it drops to edge. I know a way around this is to set phone to 3G only but then in areas where theres non im screwed
I don't get it. My wife who had the original iPhone and then 3g and now 3gs never had this issue. She would stay on Edge and 3g depending if she waned to save batery life. My old BB 8700g would always stay on Edge never drop to GSM in my apartment. My 3G doesnt even fall to Edge it goes right to GSM. This is really annoying.
every t-mobile phone I have does this
I'm pretty sure its normal
No one knows if this is a hardware, software, or network problem. Except maybe HTC/T-Mobile/Google.
If your phone stays connected to 3G, it's all good. If it drops down to EDGE, even if for half a second, it will NOT reconnect to 3G until you hang up.
c2tmdsn said:
every t-mobile phone I have does this
I'm pretty sure its normal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My coworkers Samsung t819 doesn't. That's regular cell phone not a smart phone.
Gary13579 said:
No one knows if this is a hardware, software, or network problem. Except maybe HTC/T-Mobile/Google.
If your phone stays connected to 3G, it's all good. If it drops down to EDGE, even if for half a second, it will NOT reconnect to 3G until you hang up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If any of those 3 know they should fix it or at the very least advertise that the calls you make are dropped to the lower bandwidth of the GSM network.
T-Mo finally got 3G for the last year don't dumb it down guys. Fix this.
Yes it is true once your phone drops beneath 3G it will not go to 3G until you hang up the call.
try running 3g only or wdma only by creating phone info shortcut on anycut .. im going to try that out and see if it ever drops .. should be a temporary fix for you atleast with the whole maps thing and such but if you ever in an edge only are your screwed
turboyo said:
try running 3g only or wdma only by creating phone info shortcut on anycut .. im going to try that out and see if it ever drops .. should be a temporary fix for you atleast with the whole maps thing and such but if you ever in an edge only are your screwed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I changed it to wcdma only in phone info. Hopefully this works. Everywhere I travel to throughout NYC has 3G. Hopefully this works. Also I have noticed that when downloading anything from 3G be it the market or browser it would drop from 3G to Edge as well.
PeterC18st said:
I changed it to wcdma only in phone info. Hopefully this works. Everywhere I travel to throughout NYC has 3G. Hopefully this works. Also I have noticed that when downloading anything from 3G be it the market or browser it would drop from 3G to Edge as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*UPDATE*
While at home downloading apps from Android Market on 3G with wcdma only selected the radio dropped with no netowkr connection. Bust.
PeterC18st said:
I don't get it. My wife who had the original iPhone and then 3g and now 3gs never had this issue. She would stay on Edge and 3g depending if she waned to save batery life. My old BB 8700g would always stay on Edge never drop to GSM in my apartment. My 3G doesnt even fall to Edge it goes right to GSM. This is really annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did she use att or tmobile with the iphone? Because att has a much stronger 3g network then tmobile which could be why. I am pretty sure it is something to do with tmobiles network and not your phone, perhaps your area has to many users for it to stay on 3G. I have read about how the cell towers work and they have only so many bands for each user to access at any given time so if tmobile doesn't have enough towers or those things mounted on the towers it may be set up so you only get 3G for data usage and not calls since they don't technically require it to work.
crpercodani said:
Did she use att or tmobile with the iphone? Because att has a much stronger 3g network then tmobile which could be why. I am pretty sure it is something to do with tmobiles network and not your phone, perhaps your area has to many users for it to stay on 3G. I have read about how the cell towers work and they have only so many bands for each user to access at any given time so if tmobile doesn't have enough towers or those things mounted on the towers it may be set up so you only get 3G for data usage and not calls since they don't technically require it to work.
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Click to collapse
My wife is on ATT. Isn't lower frequency better at penetrating through walls and such? (T-Mo 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz compared to ATT 1800 MHz) They haven't booted their 850 MHz antennas yet so I hear.
If that is true then why not boot me down to Edge or gprs why all the way down to gsm? I been living in the same area for 26 years. I have been with T-Mo before they even had antennas in my area and walking outside was the only way to get a signal with my phone. Now I get full reception in and out of my apartment and 3G connectivity in my apartment with a signal strength of -93dBm through out my apartment on 3G and -79 dBm on Edge.
T-Mo stated that this should not be happening. Hence the 3 phones new battery and charger and techs to the antennas. I'm starting to think its a HTC Android problem and not a T-Mo problem. Hopefully a new radio update can fix it.
I didn't even know GSM was still used in that way, I thought GPRS would be the bare minimum. How can you tell the difference? I use to only get a G icon and I looked it up and for the g1 it said that meant GPRS, what does it show for GSM? Not like any of this matters though.
I really have no idea why all this is happening to your G1 but I hope it gets resolved, good luck.
edit: on the tmobile coverage map it says edge/gprs and 3g, no gsm. does that make any difference? I checked for NYC overall not any specific boroughs.
crpercodani said:
I didn't even know GSM was still used in that way, I thought GPRS would be the bare minimum. How can you tell the difference? I use to only get a G icon and I looked it up and for the g1 it said that meant GPRS, what does it show for GSM? Not like any of this matters though.
I really have no idea why all this is happening to your G1 but I hope it gets resolved, good luck.
edit: on the tmobile coverage map it says edge/gprs and 3g, no gsm. does that make any difference? I checked for NYC overall not any specific boroughs.
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Click to collapse
GSM is what Edge Gprs and 3G run off of. Think of it as a progression. GSM>GPRS>EDGE>3G.
The way I know it is on GSM is to the left of the Radio icon on the home screen there is another icon that shows the network your on. 3G=3G E=EDGE G=GPRS and no icon means GSM. GSM is still being used. Most SMS and MMS messages get sent to your from through GSM while you are on a call.
Hi,
after having several missed calls going straight to my answering machine on my new HTC Hero. I was getting a bit paranoiac, so I've decided to test in/out calls.
Basically, 90 of my incoming calls were going straight to my answering machine. Out-call were about 30% KO
After several tests, to make sure there was a problem, I've decided to request for support from HTC.
Support told me that I should shut the 3g connection every time I would want to receive a call .
So I tried and Bingo, if 3G is activated, I get 10% of the calls, if I deactivate it 90% success.
So you'll say, I should be happy? Right? Wrong!
The main use of that kind of phone is to have a data integration, otherwise I would have kept my old nokia from 10 years ago..
Here basically, if I follow HTC idea, I should keep the 3g closed, sometime, I should switch it on to get my mails, thanks to the non true push capacities (ok this one is not htc) then wait for the sync, maybe force it , get my mails, and then, shut 3g back and pray that no Über important call would have been done.
Well that plain sucks!
Never had such a thing on my previous Data friendly mobiles, why should I accept it on the Hero?
If someone have come across this bug, cause it is a bug, how did he/she managed to fix it?
Thanks
works fine on mine....i suggest you are on a ****e network, or on only 2G where you are. that's what usually causes this.
I guess they suggested this because it sounds like your network hasn't figured out how to route calls properly on their network when data is active, and they dump it straight to voicemail when there is a data connection active.
not the phone's fault, the phone won't even know that the call has been missed, the network simply does not route the call through and sends it to voicemail instead.
i had this on O2 a while ago. went to t-mobile (who knew how to set up their network properly for data) and never had this issue since when i am on 3G coverage. if i'm on 2G signal and have active data then yes, i miss calls. but that's how 2G networks operate.
it's truly shocking how many networks out there have absolutely no idea how to set up their networks properly for data!
Well I wish it would be that, my signal goes from -63 dbm 25 asu(80% of the time) to -81 dbm 16 asu.
Just after my post, I called one of my friend working in carrier terminal validation.
What he told me was, 2 options:
- Same bug was on the htc cruise, bug got corrected after a fw update.
- Some of my carrier radio are buggy and 3g goes over gsm.(SFR/VOdaphone France)
I bet for the first option since I had the problem in various places since I didn't want to ask support for nothing and get busted for a " feeling and not facts" (did the test in 3 differend location 80 tests in total(I used to be a tester....).
I will update the topic if I get news about it
nmuncer said:
!
Never had such a thing on my previous Data friendly mobiles, why should I accept it on the Hero?
If someone have come across this bug, cause it is a bug, how did he/she managed to fix it?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't accept it - but most people don't have this issue!
It's unlikely to be a "bug" per se, because otherwise it would be endemic behaviour, so it's either:
1. Your physical device (get it changed!)
2. Your network.
In addition, just an FYI in case you've got the new Sprint Hero, but most CDMA networks (including Sprint) do not support simultaneous voice and data. I've no idea what happens in practice on Sprint, but I'd imagine if you were actively using data your voice calls would get diverted to voicemail unless Sprint automatically suspends data when a voice call is pending.
Regards,
Dave
You're on SFR?
OUCH!!!!
Sounds like you have a nice strong signal, but is it 2G or 3G? (do you see a G, E 3G or H at the top of the screen?
if you see G or E, it's cos you're on 2G, If you get 3G or H, it's on 3G.
And yes, there were a few issues with the P3300 and the cruise, but they were mainly on Bouygues, not so much on SFR.
There's nothing known of on the hero, and as SFR sell the Magic, i would have thought they would have ironed out any issues already...
Hi,
I'm mostly in HSDPA or 3G.
I still have contacts with people at SFR (used to work there till recently) they might share a bit of info.
Idk if yours is CDMA or the GSM one but on mine (CDMA) under the mobile network settings, I have the option to switch the mode of operation to ether Hybrid, EVDO only, and 1X only. Now, I know how Sprint's network works, not sure if it's the same for any other networks but if I set it to Evdo only (3g) I'll miss all my calls because Sprint does voice over 1X. Hybrid mode does EVDO when you're using data and switches to 1X when you're doing voice/sms.
rhedgehog said:
if you see G or E, it's cos you're on 2G, If you get 3G or H, it's on 3G.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding this and your suggestion that 2g and data will result in missed calls, Can you suggest how to avoid this happening? I live and work in the country and only have 2g, so have found quite often people have mentioned my phone not even ringing- straight to answer phone. This explains it.
Nice to know, but annoying if I can't solve it- I run a business and my phone is very important.
Cheers,
ajones7279 said:
Idk if yours is CDMA or the GSM one but on mine (CDMA) under the mobile network settings, I have the option to switch the mode of operation to ether Hybrid, EVDO only, and 1X only. Now, I know how Sprint's network works, not sure if it's the same for any other networks but if I set it to Evdo only (3g) I'll miss all my calls because Sprint does voice over 1X. Hybrid mode does EVDO when you're using data and switches to 1X when you're doing voice/sms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have sprint as well and when someone calls you when youre running hybrid, you should not miss calls. you will get disconnected from the internet when someone is calling though
ajones7279 said:
Idk if yours is CDMA or the GSM one but on mine (CDMA) under the mobile network settings, I have the option to switch the mode of operation to ether Hybrid, EVDO only, and 1X only. Now, I know how Sprint's network works, not sure if it's the same for any other networks but if I set it to Evdo only (3g) I'll miss all my calls because Sprint does voice over 1X. Hybrid mode does EVDO when you're using data and switches to 1X when you're doing voice/sms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I'm on hybrid
that is what i hate about hero, it is really great except for the fact that it switches from 2g to 3g without notice. i want it to be permanently stuck in 3g for faster downloads and mms, but when it uses 2g, i cant send and receive mms and surfing the web is slow as heck! im still looking for an app that would permanently put the device in 3g just like with winmo it which you can use wcdma ONLY.
cheers!
If you use AnyCut, you can create a short cut by selecting:
New Shortcut->Activity->Phone info
This will create a shortcut on your homescreen which beings up a hidden "engineering" screen on which you'll find an drop down for "Set preferred network type" where you can select WCDMA only.
Regards,
Dave
alternatively, open the phone app
dial *#*#4636#*#* and select phone info
scroll down and set it to WCDMA only.
does the same thing but saves installing an app.
rhedgehog said:
alternatively, open the phone app
dial *#*#4636#*#* and select phone info
scroll down and set it to WCDMA only.
does the same thing but saves installing an app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
holy monkey! im going to try this!!! do i have to di it everytime i turn the phone of or is it permanent?
orouborus said:
that is what i hate about hero, it is really great except for the fact that it switches from 2g to 3g without notice. i want it to be permanently stuck in 3g for faster downloads and mms, but when it uses 2g, i cant send and receive mms and surfing the web is slow as heck! im still looking for an app that would permanently put the device in 3g just like with winmo it which you can use wcdma ONLY.
cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is not specific to the Hero. The fact is, every carrier's 2G network has better coverage than their 3G network. When the phone cannot detect strong enough 3G signal, it jumps back to 2G network. The idea is that slow data transmission is better than no data transmission at all. Many smartphones have the option to lock the mobile network to 2G only. One advantage is that it gets better reception, and another advantage is longer battery life (the 3G chip eats battery much faster than 2G).
If you instead lock the phone to its 3G network. The first thing you will notice is that battery life is significantly shorter. And chance is that you may be getting very spotty reception, because you are not allowing to phone to switch to 2G when it gets no 3G signal. When there is no 3G signal, forcing the phone to "3G only" mode won't give you faster download, it gives you no download.
tsekh501 said:
That is not specific to the Hero. The fact is, every carrier's 2G network has better coverage than their 3G network. When the phone cannot detect strong enough 3G signal, it jumps back to 2G network. The idea is that slow data transmission is better than no data transmission at all. Many smartphones have the option to lock the mobile network to 2G only. One advantage is that it gets better reception, and another advantage is longer battery life (the 3G chip eats battery much faster than 2G).
If you instead lock the phone to its 3G network. The first thing you will notice is that battery life is significantly shorter. And chance is that you may be getting very spotty reception, because you are not allowing to phone to switch to 2G when it gets no 3G signal. When there is no 3G signal, forcing the phone to "3G only" mode won't give you faster download, it gives you no download.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
true true. i usually charge my phone everynight though. problem that i have with 2g is that i cant send and recieve mms and yeah data connection is slow. in our place 3g signal is ok. i also lock my topaz for wcdma only. but it is ok that it switches to 2g in low signal areas.
Thanks!
You actually use mms?
Wow, they do exist.
barryallott said:
You actually use mms?
Wow, they do exist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah... mms is great. i use it to send items that i wish to purchase etc.
What NOM1 Networks are there in the UK? I only get 2g in my area (booo) and could do with an operator that works right. T-Mobile forums suggest they still have an issue
Hi
I've checked it with Hero running in PlusGSM in Poland.
Regardless if I select 2G/3G or even "WCDMA preffered/GSM Only/WCDMA only" setting the phone is not available for incoming voice calls during data transfer. Every time when I start internet connection (example: SSH session) I'm not available for incoming calls. At this site I do have both strong 2G and strong 3G networks.
I would like to mention that a few days ago I've swapped Samsung SGH-i600 (WinMo 6.0) for HTC Hero - so I'm using the same SIM card in the same network and the same place. SHG-I600 was able to perform both data transfer (on 2G) and voice (on 3G) on the same time. HTC Hero is not...
I wonder if this is 'feature by design' or a bug in software?
I was trying to find out if this was possible on this phone? I have tried it and it worked once, but then didn't after that. I was in 3G but cannot get the browser to load. Is there a setting that I need to change to allow this? Thanks in advance for the help....
bump.... anyone??
i guess no one has any ideas....
mine works fine.
chutio13 said:
I was trying to find out if this was possible on this phone? I have tried it and it worked once, but then didn't after that. I was in 3G but cannot get the browser to load. Is there a setting that I need to change to allow this? Thanks in advance for the help....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am able to do this as well....
what is your data connection set as?? epc.tmobile.com or wap.voicestream.com
i am on wap.voicestream.com (has been more consistent less issues) and could call my other number... sit on the call... even edit my data connection... and get on cnn.com and espn.com with no problem.
how does one change the data info?
chutio13 said:
how does one change the data info?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You go to the start menu, click on settings > then on connections then manage existing connections then click on whatever you have (T-mobile Data or something of the sort)...
then you click edit to actually open that connection, then you click next (nothing to edit on the first screen) and on the second screen thats where you will see the APN... and you change it accordingly.. in this case what I personally use is wap.voicestream.com
then click next, leave the 3 fields blank, and then click finish. and you are done.
You can use data while on voice but only when on a 3G type connection. If you drop to EDGE, you lose the data connection in favor of voice.
I think the problem is on how weak tmo's 3G coverage right now. I barely can get stable 3G signal inside my apartment. I've actually noticed some sweet spots inside my room where I can get 3G signal, and those are the only places I can get it. Move the phone away from that spot, and welcome to EDGE again.
But good news is, I'm starting to get HSPA here, but barely and rarely. So hopefully Tmo is working hard to expand their 3G coverage now.
baymon said:
I think the problem is on how weak tmo's 3G coverage right now. I barely can get stable 3G signal inside my apartment. I've actually noticed some sweet spots inside my room where I can get 3G signal, and those are the only places I can get it. Move the phone away from that spot, and welcome to EDGE again.
But good news is, I'm starting to get HSPA here, but barely and rarely. So hopefully Tmo is working hard to expand their 3G coverage now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strangely enough I think they might have upped their signal here today lol. I used to only get EDGE in my bedroom, and my house in general, but now I'm getting full HSPA
And I am 100% certain it's HSPA since I've seen my phone jump from "3G" to "H" and in my room now it stays 5 bars of "H"
I see the option for 2G only but is there a way to lock it to 3G only? (Don't need advice as to why I shouldn't do this) I've found on other phones I get a more solid 3G connection w/o back and forth switching between edge and 3G at my house.
*#*#4636#*#*
Phone information
WCDMA only
Thanks man! Don't know why they didn't just put it in the regular network setting but nonetheless glad the option is there.
advantage?
why does it go to EDGE in the first place? would there then be NO signal rather than E or G?
Slapinfunk said:
advantage?
why does it go to EDGE in the first place? would there then be NO signal rather than E or G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Setting it to 3G only means that if it can not get 3G, it will not drop down to E or G, you will get 0 connection.
Advantage? In normal everyday usage, none. I personally use it for testing purposes.
I've found due to less than perfect network management software my phones will often switch between 3G and edge when its not necessary and there is a perfectly good 3G signal. When I lock on 3G in my home it stays on 3G and does not fluctuate to edge just because the 3G signal may get a little weak.
jerrycycle said:
*#*#4636#*#*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or, if you want to avoid cryptic codes, install AnyCut from the Market; that will allow you access to internals not normally exposed through the normal menus.
Slapinfunk said:
advantage?
why does it go to EDGE in the first place? would there then be NO signal rather than E or G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an advantage because all too often phones will switch away from 3g back to edge even though there was perfectly usable 3g sitting there, but due to network configuration etc the phone jumps around. Locking to 3g stops this from happening and it will just stay on 3g the whole time rather than bouncing around.
Using N9005, I've noticed that I get stuck in 2G after making/receiving calls. On very rare occasions, I'll be on 3G after the call, but usually I just get stuck on 2G for long periods after that, unless I go into Network Settings and toggle it to WCDMA to force it out of 2G, then toggle back to LTE/WCDMA/GSM.
Alternatively, does anyone have any way to completely disable 2G?
paulk_ said:
Using N9005, I've noticed that I get stuck in 2G after making/receiving calls. On very rare occasions, I'll be on 3G after the call, but usually I just get stuck on 2G for long periods after that, unless I go into Network Settings and toggle it to WCDMA to force it out of 2G, then toggle back to LTE/WCDMA/GSM.
Alternatively, does anyone have any way to completely disable 2G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah 4G does not work on call it will go to h+ or 3g or g it should take about a minute to back to 4g or whatever it was on, all phones do this
jaythenut said:
Yeah 4G does not work on call it will go to h+ or 3g or g it should take about a minute to back to 4g or whatever it was on, all phones do this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know, just that it seems to be very rare that my phone is on 3.5G or 3G after ending a call.
Taking a closer look at the 3G reception in my office (pretty much the only place I make/receive calls), I realize that the spottiness of the 3G reception could be making my phone choose 2G over 3G. Guess I have to test this out somewhere with better reception.