Database Users

Vibrant signal strength -110 :((

I do not know why but i get extremely poor signal with my new vibrant and T-mobile at my house. Outside the house and inside it is averaging - 110 db. My work is 1.5 miles away and I get 4-5 bars and excellent signal and 3G. T-mobile store is 1 mile away and i get excellent service there... Even 4G is offered in my area.
I called tech support, first they told me i had an old sim card, so today I changed the sim, but that did not help. I called them again, all they did is take me off the system and add me back on, did a test call, i received the call and that was it. Am I stuck with poor service or it is the the vibrant that is too sensitive.

I am looking at the signal strength at work now, and again, I work 1.5 miles away from my house, literary straight down the road.. I am getting -65 to -75 db with full 5 bars. When I hold it with my left hand supposedly blocking the antenna, I get a drop of -5 db, but it still stray very strong..
So I guess, it is not a phone issue. It is definitely Tmobile and their crappy signal!

azsamsancho said:
I do not know why but i get extremely poor signal with my new vibrant and T-mobile at my house. Outside the house and inside it is averaging - 110 db. My work is 1.5 miles away and I get 4-5 bars and excellent signal and 3G. T-mobile store is 1 mile away and i get excellent service there... Even 4G is offered in my area.
I called tech support, first they told me i had an old sim card, so today I changed the sim, but that did not help. I called them again, all they did is take me off the system and add me back on, did a test call, i received the call and that was it. Am I stuck with poor service or it is the the vibrant that is too sensitive.
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azsamsancho said:
I am looking at the signal strength at work now, and again, I work 1.5 miles away from my house, literary straight down the road.. I am getting -65 to -75 db with full 5 bars. When I hold it with my left hand supposedly blocking the antenna, I get a drop of -5 db, but it still stray very strong..
So I guess, it is not a phone issue. It is definitely Tmobile and their crappy signal!
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Do you want XDA crew come and hug you?
Which baseband are you running? JFD, JI2 or JI6?

azsamsancho said:
I am looking at the signal strength at work now, and again, I work 1.5 miles away from my house, literary straight down the road.. I am getting -65 to -75 db with full 5 bars. When I hold it with my left hand supposedly blocking the antenna, I get a drop of -5 db, but it still stray very strong..
So I guess, it is not a phone issue. It is definitely Tmobile and their crappy signal!
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what rom are you running? What you're describing seems to be similar to what happened with the original vibrant radio.

Group hug aside
The above comments are excellent. Check what radio you are running. Then, check your tower locations
I am on an Island and there are places that every carrier has problems covering here. Not sure why it is that way but, that is the way it is. T mobile is pretty good on a whole compared to ATT and the others.

lqaddict said:
Which baseband are you running? JFD, JI2 or JI6?
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I was running stock at first, and then I upgraded to JI6 as it supposedly improves the signal.. i seem to have had some improvement but still extremely poor service at or around my house. last night as a test, I called my work and left a voicemail. When I got to work, I saw a missed call, but no voicemail!
The scary part is reliability, not being able to rely on important calls/voicemails to my phone. I tried to use google voice at least the voicemails to be covered, but I found out that google voice is not reliable either, a couple of times already it tells 'Cannot leave a voicemail servers are busy" something like that.. It is insane, and I have 4G in my area!

Have you tried another phone?

lqaddict said:
Have you tried another phone?
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I have not because I do not have another T-mobile phone. I used to be with AT&T for years and I never ever had a an issue with reception.

azsamsancho said:
I have not because I do not have another T-mobile phone. I used to be with AT&T for years and I never ever had a an issue with reception.
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it could be that your place is under a sub-optimal coverage for TMO.
Without a second phone to try there is little you can do to confirm or deny it.

azsamsancho said:
I have not because I do not have another T-mobile phone. I used to be with AT&T for years and I never ever had a an issue with reception.
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lol isn't obvious to you yet that AT&T network has wider coverage than T-Mobile? T-Mobile is still building out their 3G network, they still don't have the type of coverage AT&T have. I suggest you unlock you Vibrant and go back to AT&T if your not on a contract. Otherwise you will just have hope T-Mobile cares about coverage than SPEED.
I love T-Mobile but their coverage have me on the edge at times.

ram130 said:
lol isn't obvious to you yet that AT&T network has wider coverage than T-Mobile? T-Mobile is still building out their 3G network, they still don't have the type of coverage AT&T have. I suggest you unlock you Vibrant and go back to AT&T if your not on a contract. Otherwise you will just have hope T-Mobile cares about coverage than SPEED.
I love T-Mobile but their coverage have me on the edge at times.
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I unlocked the phone, but I can't go back to AT&T right, I will have to cancel the 2-year Tmobile contract and return the phone as well..

azsamsancho said:
I unlocked the phone, but I can't go back to AT&T right, I will have to cancel the 2-year Tmobile contract and return the phone as well..
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Well I guess you have some bad luck. Looks like your stuck until T-Mobile does something, which can take upto two years either way...I wish you luck.
Have tried switching to EDGE?

I had the same signal quality problems and switched to att as a result. Problems resolved and I still have my beloved Vibrant.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

ram130 said:
lol isn't obvious to you yet that AT&T network has wider coverage than T-Mobile? T-Mobile is still building out their 3G network, they still don't have the type of coverage AT&T have. I suggest you unlock you Vibrant and go back to AT&T if your not on a contract. Otherwise you will just have hope T-Mobile cares about coverage than SPEED.
I love T-Mobile but their coverage have me on the edge at times.
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I'm sorry, but that's the stupidest generalization i've seen here in a long time.
While T-Mobile is building out coverage, there are many areas that they serve and ATT doesn't (cheyenne, wyoming), and where TMO brought 3g first (peoria, IL; manhattan, ks).
If you don't like their coverage, then switch. But don't make silly generalizations based upon talking points from 5 years ago. Coverage is ALWAYS subjective.

I usually sit around -105dBm and I'm in Sacramento where supposedly HSPA+ was just rolled out (I know I can't get HSPA+, but I thought it was supposed to improve the network here )
So I feel your pain...

reuthermonkey said:
I'm sorry, but that's the stupidest generalization i've seen here in a long time.
While T-Mobile is building out coverage, there are many areas that they serve and ATT doesn't (cheyenne, wyoming), and where TMO brought 3g first (peoria, IL; manhattan, ks).
If you don't like their coverage, then switch. But don't make silly generalizations based upon talking points from 5 years ago. Coverage is ALWAYS subjective.
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Hey it's the facts..t-mobile network is still "spotty"...stop making them seem like god, they cover 96% while AT&T has 97%,,We don't even want to mention Verizon..but hey, nothing is perfect, it's just what's best in your area.

ram130 said:
Have tried switching to EDGE?
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Yes, I did experiment with EDGE (GSM only) setting. It seems to be a bit better -100 dB (compared to the -110 dB I get on 3G).
I know Tmobile has less than perfect coverage, but I think it is extremely unfortunate that a mile from my house networks are blazing fast. My 3G is super fast and internet pages load very, very quickly. I do not live in a mountain area either..
I guess I will have to live with it. Use hands free to talk when I am at home so antenna is not blocked.. and use google voice for voicemail so important calls are not lost. if gogole voice fails, at least ppl won't be able to leave voicemail, and thus forcing them to call me back..

azsamsancho said:
Yes, I did experiment with EDGE (GSM only) setting. It seems to be a bit better -100 dB (compared to the -110 dB I get on 3G).
I know Tmobile has less than perfect coverage, but I think it is extremely unfortunate that a mile from my house networks are blazing fast. My 3G is super fast and internet pages load very, very quickly. I do not live in a mountain area either..
I guess I will have to live with it. Use hands free to talk when I am at home so antenna is not blocked.. and use google voice for voicemail so important calls are not lost. if gogole voice fails, at least ppl won't be able to leave voicemail, and thus forcing them to call me back..
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Funny, I use Google Voice for all my voicemails and never got the error you had..oh well..i wish you luck

You may try returning it for a G2. TMo is supposed to release Wifi calling for it soon. It's probably coming to the Vibrant too, but I doubt before 2.2 is released.

Kubernetes said:
You may try returning it for a G2. TMo is supposed to release Wifi calling for it soon. It's probably coming to the Vibrant too, but I doubt before 2.2 is released.
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I am still within my 14-days (until tomorrow), but the problem is I did not buy directly from Tmobile. I bought from online retailer so I cannot just go and swap phones I think. I think if I can back out of the contract and keep the phone and go to AT&T might be a good option (not sure how good the 2 GB data limit is)..

It pays to complain about poor 3g data speeds.

Been having horrable data speeds on 3g the past 3-4 months. And ive been calling and complaining everytime i have problems and making note of when i called sprint and what was done to the account. I have tried everything they asked including going to the store and getting a refurbed evo. But at the store when i got the refub i dled speedtest and got the same results...so i told them to keep it and give me my original phone back.
Point of this post is to DEFINATLY call and complain...dont let it go and look it over. Take notes on what they said and did to your account and spit it back at them the next time you call. They wanna charge me an etf for something that is not my fault since i want to cancel. I wont accept that...this is there problem...i shouldnt pay for full service if i aint getting it or be punished for cancelling when it is a problem on there end. Here is notes from todays convo with them as an example for others that should do the same. It may be the only way for them to fix there service or the only way they look at you and be like...hes to much of a pain in the ass to keep him so let him go. I will continue to call and complain until it is hopefully fixed or worst case they cancell my contract...todays notes.
Feb 15 spoke to 3 sprint reps and 1 supervisor in the cancellation dept..had my bill adusted to 101.09 dollars for poor service the past 3-4 months. So far total credits issued for poor data the past 4 months is $16 for invisable screen protecter..$20 for data booster at home...$30 for a credit issued for january for poor data speeds and $36 today for february's bill of poor data speeds. Total of $102.00

I've also noticed slower speeds for some time now, along with my home comcast internet. too many people online these days? (my internet used to be blaazzzing fast for 9 years!)

This has happened to me since November. I got my evo on launch day, and was getting great speeds, about 1500kbps down consistently. One day in November, my 3g crapped out. Since then, sprint has given me 6 phones, 3 refurbs and 3 brand new ones. All have the same problem. This leads me to believe its a network problem, I mean how could 7 phones have the same exact problem. But, my friend has an evo, and side by side his is normal, while I get less than 70kbps. And the evo's in the sprint store are fine as well, along with all the other phone models.
I have spent HOURS and HOURS on the phone trying to get this taken care of. I'm not trying to get anything from sprint, I just want my 3g to work. I love the evo, and I love sprint's coverage in my area.
They have given me 6 phones, and I haven't paid my bill in 3 months, since they keep giving me credits since they cant figure out the problem. I really could care less, I just want my 3g to work correctly.
So no, it really DOESN'T pay to complain. I have spent hours of my life complaining about this, and have gotten nowhere.

Same thing here. My 3G data speeds crapped out last November also. Sprint has no idea what the problem could be. I think everybody who is experiencing slower than normal data should raise serious hell with Sprint every single day. This is NOT a coincidence. I suspect something fishy is going on and I'm not going to pay these premium unlimited data fees for terrible 3G data speeds! I'm going to demand Sprint to credit my account 50% every month until they turn 3G back on like it used to be. If not I want out of my contract. Either way I can easily sell my two EVO's on Craigslist to cover the etf's.
I can't watch Sprint TV, YouTube, or stream any online video content. Web browsing is VERY slow. My data speeds have gone from 1.6mbps to .30kbps since last November and now I never get speed results faster than .76kbps on a good day. It seems like Sprint flipped a switch one day out of the blue and data speeds went to **** ever since.

tx_dbs_tx said:
Same thing here. My 3G data speeds crapped out last November also. Sprint has no idea what the problem could be. I think everybody who is experiencing slower than normal data should raise serious hell with Sprint every single day. This is NOT a coincidence. I suspect something fishy is going on and I'm not going to pay these premium unlimited data fees for terrible 3G data speeds! I'm going to demand Sprint to credit my account 50% every month until they turn 3G back on like it used to be. If not I want out of my contract. Either way I can easily sell my two EVO's on Craigslist to cover the etf's.
I can't watch Sprint TV, YouTube, or stream any online video content. Web browsing is VERY slow. My data speeds have gone from 1.6mbps to .30kbps since last November and now I never get speed results faster than .76kbps on a good day. It seems like Sprint flipped a switch one day out of the blue and data speeds went to **** ever since.
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What happened was more people got on the data network and Sprint hasn't invested in capacity like Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T has to support more 3G data traffic.

What's the best internetz speed tester?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Search tbe market for speed test
Sent from my RLS5 Sprint HTC Evo

Have you tried this?
Avalaunchmods said:
PLEASE READ L-E-T-T-E-R FOR L-E-T-T-E-R, W-O-R-D FOR W-O-R-D.
As we all know, HTC and Sprint borked downloads for apps like Rhapsody, Mog, Thumbplay.
I recently ran across the subject and i found a fix. It is very simple.
1. Get your MSL, There are many ways, call Sprint, Download the app MSL Reader from the market, CDMA workshop
2. After you have your MSL go to your phone and type ##3282#
3. Click Edit Mode
4. Click Advanced
5. Scroll down to HTTP PD Proxy Port & HTTP PD Proxy Address
6. Change HTTP PD Proxy Port to 0 (zero)
7. Change HTTP PD Proxy Address to 0.0.0.0
8. Go enjoy Downloads and a .20-.60 mbps increase in 3G speeds!
-All credit to original finder of this fix, i am just passing it along and found the speed increase. Also when you flash a new rom it will back to old settings so remember to re-apply and it wont make you more vulnerable to anything.
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Sent from my RLS5 Sprint HTC Evo

The Proxy changes do indeed help. Be sure to give them a try. That being said. my 3G and 4G data speeds are roughly half of what they were four months ago (Baltimore market). The only thing that has not changed is my RSSI or signal strength which comes in at -62.00 dBm every day, all day. The Rx signal to noise ratio has been reading "Not ready" for the past couple of months. What happened to it? How do I calculate CINR without this part of the equation?

I've complained numerous times about my poor signal coverage and pour 3g and ay first they gave me a airvana airave unit which really doesn't work to well with the evo..... but at least they did something....

I have an Airwave on the way. Sprint has also credited a month's bill yet again. Let's hope Sprint/Clear can get their collective acts together soon.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

For slow 3G speed, an Airvana is not the answer for the simple fact that it hooks into your existing broadband connection.. you could just get a WiFi router.

That's what I told them. They said it was an "Airwave 2.0" and acts like a repeater of the 3G signal. Either way, it is of no cost to me. It does show a willingness of Sprint to work with me, even if the proposed solution is no solution.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

It's obvious the more people who start using smartphones will start to slow down the service, but its the same with Comcast internet as much as I hate it. The companies all get u with the little filler words "up to". The speeds are not and never will be garunteed, at least not in the near future. Let's just hope these clowns actually give us TRUE 4g speeds in the next few years(70-100Mbps) as the technology grows.

Not 100% true. My company says up to as well, but its only allowed to be 5-10 percent off that speed, otherwise they send someone out.
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aimbdd said:
Not 100% true. My company says up to as well, but its only allowed to be 5-10 percent off that speed, otherwise they send someone out.
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I mean there is wiggle room. But when a company says 20Mbps and u only get 13, u r within that range u are talking about. I know Comcast, if u pay for 20mbps service, u can be getting 12 and they can do nothing about it on their end. It's because some units share a single.signal, same with cell towers, the more people using , the slower it'll be. And grandma and grandpa are starting to get smartphones, so it'll keep getting slower unless sprint stays on top of their game.
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heygrl said:
For slow 3G speed, an Airvana is not the answer for the simple fact that it hooks into your existing broadband connection.. you could just get a WiFi router.
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Yeah pretty much if you have a WiFi capable device.

I've gone from amazing 3G reception to constant dropouts and I work downtown Chicago across from the Sears Tower...I have no idea what has happened but being connected to 3G is hit or miss.

They also sent me an airave, which did indeed help in my home. But that does nothing outside of my home. Also, if the 3g works with the airave, that should mean that there is no problem with the 3g radio, so its not a hardware problem, but a network problem.
It's obvious the more people who start using smartphones will start to slow down the service
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I dont think this is the problem. As I stated earlier, two of my friends have evo's, and side by side, their two get normal speeds, while mine gets crap. Also, in the sprint store, I tested their display evo, just fine, and a few other random phones, all were fine.

Tuffgong4 said:
I've gone from amazing 3G reception to constant dropouts and I work downtown Chicago across from the Sears Tower...I have no idea what has happened but being connected to 3G is hit or miss.
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I live in the north subs and my parents are downtown Lake n Deerborn, and my parents phones have been crap lately too. Maybe sprint is over emphasizing the 4G downtown(much faster there then where I'm at) and could be messing w 3G speeds. Probably not the exact case but I can see sprint concentrating highly on 4G where it is abundant and short changing 3G a little bit.
I'm no pro so don't take my theory to heart, just thoughts.
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My email about Sprint's degrading 3G speeds to Dan Hesse's Office

Below is my lengthy, but I think fair email about my past year with Sprint's nearly unusable 3G data network in my area.
To whom it may concern in Dan Hesse's office at Sprint:
Dear person reading this email, I have unfortunate news about how your network performance has been slowly degrading at the towers around the valley that I live in.
First off, here is the account info:
I live in in South East , which isn't the billing address (which is the office), but the home where I live when I'm not at the office.
When we signed up with Sprint last June, it was our first time using your network. You offered affordable family plans and had great service, according to your coverage maps and Consumer Reports ratings except that has ultimately not been the case the majority of the time.
As you can see for yourself, according to the coverage maps below (from sprint.com), there's perfect or nearly perfect voice and 3G data coverage at the billing address:
The first month or two that we had our EVO 4Gs, your network performed great and we were very happy with the service, but then in Sept. of last year, the 3G data completely stopped working/was slower than dial-up at the tower by the office. After calls to tech support, several techs claimed that the towers in the area had just been upgraded/updated...I asked: to what, dial-up?, since it wasn't just the tower by the office, it was the majority (and by majority, I mean 70%+ of the time) the 3G data barely worked or was slower than dial-up from the towers in and all around the Caldwell, ID area. Dropped calls were also a often occurrence.
When the Airvana Airave was released, I called in to tech support again, explained the situation and the tech found that we were experiencing upwards of 10% dropped calls, which is much higher than the avg. Also, tech support as never once admitted that it might possibly be the towers/network that's the problem; it's always: your phone must have issues, it mustn't be updated, ect., which I could see, except the same poor network performance was happening on all 3 of our EVOs, as well as all of my friend's EVOs in the areas. Several of them had also gotten the same story/runaround from tech support, too. Anyhow, relations sent us a free Airave, which was very nice of them, and that has made the phones work at the office/billing address, except the CSR in relations said that the coverage was 'very spotty' at that address, which I clearly don't see in your advertised coverage maps. With the Airave, 3G actually works and the calls are better, except the only reason for this is because it uses our ISP/internet to do so. The tower's 3G is still incredibly slow and much slower than advertised nearly a year later. I'm not at the office very often myself, so I can't provide you with speed test recent results, but I would suspect them to be in the 100-200k range.
Next, lets talk about the horrible service at the house. Home address is:
The service here (mainly data/3G speeds) haven't been any better than at the billing address; the sprint.com coverage maps also say that there is perfect or nearly perfect service here.
Surprise, surprise, it's also the tower that doesn't work in this case! By the way, there is an app called Antennas in the Android Market that locates which tower the phone is currently connected to, then plots it on a map - in case you were wondering.
I've called tech support and gotten the same story about how it must be the phone, not the tower...of course. Yes, my (previous) phone was rooted, but fully updated with the latest radios, PRI, NV and PRL), but other's EVOs on the plan are not rooted (but still fully updated) and they receive the exact same type of degraded service, therefore, it makes no difference to be rooted or not, even though the techs insist that it does. Finally, I gave up trying to communicate with tech support; retentions wouldn't send another Airave out for the house, either. The 3G data speeds have been hovering around 75 - 100kbps (1/6th of your lowest advertised 3G data speed, which is 600k) for almost a year - sometimes they reach upwards of 300kbps in the early hours of the mornings. For instants, one day I installed the latest Google Maps update which was about 5.75MBs; it took 28 minutes to download while I was out and about, but still in the radius/connected to the tower by my house...that's about 190kbps and probably a slightly more accurate speed test than using the Speed Test app since it was a larger file download.
Anyhow, I was in a 50MPH t-bone motorcycle wreck last week when a driver crossed the road directly in front of me when I was 10 feet from the intersection. In the wreck, my EVO was completely ruined and I was forced to get a new one. I just got home with a brand-new, fully updated, not even rootable (yet) EVO (I've been in recovery, without a phone, and haven't been home for 8 days) and guess what...the 3G data speeds have dropped even lower at the tower by my house since I was home last. Now, I can't provide a screen shot of the latest speed test results (because you have to be rooted for screen shot apps to work), but the results aren't good. The highest 3G data speed result is 23kbps, with the lowest being 4kbps; upload is slightly higher (typically is/has been) with 89kbps high and 37kbps low - that's out of 10 tests over 5 hours (every 30 minutes). Those speeds are completely unacceptable and less than half the speed of dial-up. Sprint's advertised 3G speeds are 600 to 1400...I'm getting 25.
And this continues, since its not just the towers by my house or the billing address, its about half of them, if not more. Like I said, I have several friends with EVOs who live in ; some of the EVOs are rooted, some are update, some aren't, ect. They're all experiencing the same lackluster service, even though they're in 'good' coverage - ALL depending on what tower their phone is currently connected too!
I finally stopped in to some of the local Sprint stores the other day and asked the employees there: What's up with the horrible 3G speeds? The guy at one store lied to me and showed me how he was getting perfect 1800kbps 3G speeds...of course the store had an Airave hooked up in the back, which the phone was connected to (when connected to an Airave, phones make beeps when initiating calls). The other 2 stores smugly agreed with me about how the speeds are super slow, even on their phones. On a side note, I really wonder how the hell you've been selling phones, except I know its most likely because 90+% of the customers don't know that its the crappy 3G speeds that make their email take forever to load, for Facebook to display a photo, ect.. One store did tell me that all they knew was that all of the towers from Portland, OR to SLC, UT were being updated and the ones here should have been fixed months ago.
Now, I know I'm not the only person experiencing these problems while also paying monthly for Sprint's completely and utterly unusable 3G data speeds, here, or in other parts of the nation. I know I'm not the first to email Dan's office about this problem with these same types of problems, too. I know what the replies from Dan's office have been about these types of network problems to other's. I don't expect a canned response. I don't except or want to get the runaround about the problems. I don't want to hear about how they'll be fixed by the 1st of some month in the near future, since that promise have always been broken when given to others. And I don't want a new phone because this one is the reason while I'm experiencing poor network performance.
What I expect is:
- A network/tower tech in my area to call and talk directly to me - I do do computer and tech work for a living and have read hours of information on forums and the internet; I know what I've been experiencing and I know what I'm talking about.
- Monthly discounts on all (3) lines until I receive your advertised 3G data speeds and service the majority of the time, not just when the phone is connected to an Airave our about 1 out of 7 towers.
In the end, I'm just your customer, asking for your advertised speeds and coverage, with no lies, runarounds or bull****. I'm not mad, just disappointed at how nothing has been resolved in almost a year. This is not how a business should be run.
Regards,

Man you sure do whine a lot. First about your bike accident, which I'm more than willing to bet was your fault and now about this.

Evo4eva said:
Man you sure do whine a lot. First about your bike accident, which I'm more than willing to bet was your fault and now about this.
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Not my fault; couldn't have been my fault, so STFU.
You try living with 3G speeds half the speed of dial up, in fact, cancel your home internet and sign up for Netzero's dialup because I'm sure it'll save you a few bucks a month; I hear they even have a free dial-up optimizer that gets you an extra kbps or two.

Hrshycro said:
Not my fault; couldn't have been my fault, so STFU.
You try living with 3G speeds half the speed of dial up, in fact, cancel your home internet and sign up for Netzero's dialup because I'm sure it'll save you a few bucks a month; I hear they even have a free dial-up optimizer that gets you an extra kbps or two.
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just ignore the troll dude he is a n00b hope they give you a response will watch for one from you to see what they say and sorry about the wreak man!

I'm actually curious as to what the response will be.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App

Evo4eva said:
Man you sure do whine a lot. First about your bike accident, which I'm more than willing to bet was your fault and now about this.
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Wow. Lol. That's all the input you have to give back?
Anyway, I'd like to see what the response is also. I had problems for about 2 months and after about 20-30 phone calls they came out and fixed the towers and haven't had any problems anymore. Hope it works out for you!
Sent from the Evo using XDA Premium

Evo4eva said:
Man you sure do whine a lot. First about your bike accident, which I'm more than willing to bet was your fault and now about this.
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Troll of the day
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Hope you get a quick response. Please update us

Evo4eva said:
Man you sure do whine a lot. First about your bike accident, which I'm more than willing to bet was your fault and now about this.
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I hope your stay at xda is a short one.

Evo4eva said:
Man you sure do whine a lot. First about your bike accident, which I'm more than willing to bet was your fault and now about this.
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SMH!!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

Color me unimpressed with 3G speeds, too. Though this is my first 3G capable phone, so I don't really have anything to compare it to.

dsf3g said:
Color me unimpressed with 3G speeds, too. Though this is my first 3G capable phone, so I don't really have anything to compare it to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am shocked that its your first must have really liked the old one lol

ckoadiyn said:
i am shocked that its your first must have really liked the old one lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My old phone was a Chinese copy of an HTC Touch 3G... but without the 3G. It was a fairly decent phone as far as Windows Mobile 6.1 phones go. I still use it at the gym as an MP3 player with a set of Sennheiser MM100 bluetooth stereo headphones because its A2DP music quality is far superior to my Evo. Before that I only had flip phones. I was on T-Mobile then.
The Evo, of course, outshines the old phone in every other way. It's a bonafide, pocket-sized Android tablet.

I too, want to know what the response will be. Please update this thread when you receive a response.

my 3g speeds have sucked every from Sacremento in the north, san diego in the south, tucson in the east, and all along the western coast from San Diego to Monterrey.
WHere did I get a good speed? Anytime I roam on the verizon network, and anytime I am in Mexico......Yes, it works great in Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada...
This latest update seems like it helped fix my speed though. Its still not the best, but hey I last checked in Tucson (yuck) and will check several locations between here an Los Angeles as I drive towards home!

Ahh, I miss Ensanada....
Great town to party in.

Hrshycro said:
Not my fault; couldn't have been my fault, so STFU.
You try living with 3G speeds half the speed of dial up, in fact, cancel your home internet and sign up for Netzero's dialup because I'm sure it'll save you a few bucks a month; I hear they even have a free dial-up optimizer that gets you an extra kbps or two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lmfao
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I'll keep y'all posted on any replies from Sprint!

As soon as you used the word "bull****", you invalidated the entire email.

IMHO, you will probably get a canned response with no followup. The wording and flow of your message was more akin to what a kid would send in. But good luck, I hope you do get a real response, along with some satisfaction.

Now an unpleasant surprise from Sprint

EDIT: Signal improvement went away... see followup post below.
Original posting:
---------
Meant to post about this two days ago, and got busy.
I've been one of those with near zero signal in my home neighborhood. I live in Scotts Valley, near Santa Cruz CA. Since I got my Epic last October, I have been extremely frustrated that I get 0/1 bars at home, the signal is too weak to be usable for phone calls (constant digital dropouts -- conversation is impossible), and of course pathetic data rates when I can actually get a connection, which ALSO is never reliable.
When I bought the phone, a tower within sight of my home on another ridge was scheduled to get a Sprint site before the end of the year (2010), according to their website map. Then, this upgrade disappeared. I called, and no one knew anything, of course.
I've been roaming on VZW, who have a 4/5 bar signal here, via Roam Control ever since I got the phone. Fine for calls and text, no data worth speaking about.
Woke up two days ago, and was at first mystified, then thrilled to see 5 solid bars on Sprint!!!! 3G data rates consistently 1100/750 down/up!!!
Apparently, they finally got around to upgrading their coverage in the area. 'bout time
4G? Don't even go there. Not yet, not expecting it... Ever.

Wow my 3g speeds are 200 down max and I have no 4g
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

In a way, I have Sprint's poor coverage in my hood to thank for me needing to root and get acquainted with XDA. Otherwise no Roam Control. But it would rock to get a similar upgrade around here. Zoning and landscape just make it really unlikely. If I go just half a mile north or west it's totally different, with 4G and all. Hell, I can watch Netflix over 4G at my office, just not where I stay. I hope your story is repeated far and wide.

I've had the same experience as you. I've been with sprint for 11 years now and my signal is now amazing at the house. 2600 kbps dl, 550 ul. On average, of course. They upgraded the tower nsar my house last year.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App

My rwception got worse so to u took my tower I want it back
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

Network Vision...

Whosdaman said:
Network Vision...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this network vision thingy. Do they have a timeline on what cities get it first? Or am I just a needy young man? ahah

Congrats. Anybody else?

UPDATE: After some joy, Sprint decided to turn off whatever they did. Back to 0/1 bars here at home, inability to use voice without constant dropouts, no data to speak of...
Back to Roam Control and cursing Sprint. I am so close to walking away from my contract into VZW's arms. The SG2 could be enough...
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk

Someone with a car airave spent the nite? Lol...
Sent from my Epix 4G using XDA

I live in Missouri (right next to sprint hq), and my service is never steady, usually shabby. But with the new EG22plus modem I get 4 bars constant. U might want to look into updating/rollbacking ur prl and/modem?
Sent from a Random epic

dwallersv said:
Back to Roam Control and cursing Sprint. I am so close to walking away from my contract into VZW's arms. The SG2 could be enough...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Staying exclusively on roaming is the easiest way to break your contract; they'll show you the door, or so I've been told...

double-post - ignore

cresny said:
Staying exclusively on roaming is the easiest way to break your contract; they'll show you the door, or so I've been told...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's more true if you use a load of data. I use roam control for voice and text constantly because my apartment is a dead zone, and I use my wireless router for data, never got anything about it from sprint

Wizard Knight said:
that's more true if you use a load of data. I use roam control for voice and text constantly because my apartment is a dead zone, and I use my wireless router for data, never got anything about it from sprint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That describes me. At home forced roaming so I can actually make and receive calls, data over wifi.
With the RC tasker plugin, phone automatically switches between forced roaming when in range of my home network, then back to "automatic" when out of range.
It's a workable solution, but not something I should have to do.
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk

You guys having problems in your house complain enough they will send you a Airrave for free.

Would that not be a Pleasant surprise instead of unpleasant? My signal seems to have gotten better lately as well

tazfanatic said:
You guys having problems in your house complain enough they will send you a Airrave for free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. The only reason I'm still with them is because of the free Airrave. Without it, signal in my home was unacceptable.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App in the DC metro area

This may be a bit off topic, but I roam ALLLLL day when I'm at work, it gets me quite angry, and I continue to use data and phone while I "roam" , and saw a charge for roaming one time but called sprint and asked them how the **** I am roaming within my coverage area. They fed me some BS but took the charge away. I've never seen a charge for roaming since. Do you guys get charges?

So far as I know, with my family 2 phone everything plan, roaming is included.
Edit:
I just looked, it doesnt say roaming anywhere, but when looking at changing my services, the only roaming option given is Canada Roaming.
Edit 2:
Found it.
lookpic. com/c1/i2/3841/jL9LKNCy.png

[Q] Signal Booster on T-Mobile Nexus 4?

I just picked up the Nexus 4 16GB unlocked from Google. Awesome phone and I have it on the TMobile $30 a month (100 min; unlimited data/text). I get pretty good reception everywhere except in my house. Now one window upstairs, if I hold the phone next to it I'm pulling 2 bars in and can make calls.
My question is, what's the best way to boost the signal and which ones are compatible with TMobile and the Nexus 4? I was looking at something like the zBoost SOHO but wasn't sure if it would work or if there were better options.

On regular tmobile phones they have WiFi calling butt he nexus 4 does not soooo my suggestion would be to try to get tmobile to send you a micro cell tower for your house. That way you can get full bars and good data speeds. If they don't want to send you one see if you can buy one on craigslist. That's what my friend did for his att phones. When I was in sprints network they sent me one right away because they knew that their network sucked in my area.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Don't get the one from T-Mobile. It sucks bad. I have had horrible reception and dropped calls with previous phones in my house. T-Mobile must have known I was having dropped calls because I received a text message from them about it saying to call about a free in home booster.
You have to sign a 2 year contract for it again and the thing blows. Numerous times a week I have had to restart both pieces because I could not make or receive any calls in my house even though I had full bars. Once I got my Nexus 4 I unplugged the booster and have not needed it with my N4. I have learnt to switch to 2g at the house and use WiFi for data and have had no issues. Just my 2 cents.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Use Vonage to make outgoing calls, I guess, that might help a bit. It uses your T-Mobile number and it's free, and it uses Wifi, but not sure what to do for the incoming calls and things like that.

So does anyone know which one is compatible or best? Will the zBoost YX545 work with the Nexus 4 on T-Mobile?

Monk4Life said:
Don't get the one from T-Mobile. It sucks bad. I have had horrible reception and dropped calls with previous phones in my house. T-Mobile must have known I was having dropped calls because I received a text message from them about it saying to call about a free in home booster.
You have to sign a 2 year contract for it again and the thing blows. Numerous times a week I have had to restart both pieces because I could not make or receive any calls in my house even though I had full bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only had mine a few days, so I don't have a lot of experience with it, but I haven't seen anything like that so far. Voice calls are nice and solid, and I'm getting the same data rates inside the house that I get outside. Also, the effect on my battery life has been significant. I work at home, so I went from spending most of my time with 0-1 bars to spending most of my time with 4 bars. Whereas I was previously ending the day with about 10% battery left, now I'm averaging around 40% left when I plug in at bedtime. I'm quite happy with my signal booster so far.

Can i get a link to this cell booster! i need one bad

famoustito said:
Can i get a link to this cell booster! i need one bad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-4683
http://support.t-mobile.com/community/phones_data_devices/t-mobile/signal_booster
http://cel-fi.com/

Dopamin3 said:
I just picked up the Nexus 4 16GB unlocked from Google. Awesome phone and I have it on the TMobile $30 a month (100 min; unlimited data/text). I get pretty good reception everywhere except in my house. Now one window upstairs, if I hold the phone next to it I'm pulling 2 bars in and can make calls.
My question is, what's the best way to boost the signal and which ones are compatible with TMobile and the Nexus 4? I was looking at something like the zBoost SOHO but wasn't sure if it would work or if there were better options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too had the $30 TMo plan and was going to get a booster but after reading all the reviews I could find I decided to just go with ST AT&T instead and save myself the $200 for the booster. TMo had horrible reception inside every builbing I'd been in. As far as the boosters go the more you pay the better off you are, teh cheap ones don't seem to work. But If you read the reviews carefully it's still about a 50/50 ratio of people who actually got one to work and all of them had to install the antenna on the roof of their house and you need at least 2-3 bars to begin with. As far as the cell fi systems from TMo go they seem to work best but thet are only for 2 year subscribers and not pay as you go plans. You can find one on-line for aroung $500.

Monk4Life said:
Don't get the one from T-Mobile. It sucks bad. I have had horrible reception and dropped calls with previous phones in my house. T-Mobile must have known I was having dropped calls because I received a text message from them about it saying to call about a free in home booster.
You have to sign a 2 year contract for it again and the thing blows. Numerous times a week I have had to restart both pieces because I could not make or receive any calls in my house even though I had full bars. Once I got my Nexus 4 I unplugged the booster and have not needed it with my N4. I have learnt to switch to 2g at the house and use WiFi for data and have had no issues. Just my 2 cents.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had the Cel-fi from Tmo since I got the Sensation a couple of years back. Just a FYI, you can buy the same setup on ebay as well if you don't want to be tied to a contract. I did it because I just got the Sensation as an upgrade in tmo and then within a week, got the tmo cel-fi system for free with the contract extension.

Monk4Life said:
Numerous times a week I have had to restart both pieces because I could not make or receive any calls in my house even though I had full bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as a follow-up to my earlier reply to this: after another couple of weeks, I have still not had any problems like this with my booster. I haven't had to reboot either unit, and everything is working fine.

I hope yours doesn't but mine started having issues after a few months not few weeks of use. 2 of the same issues I have had with mine others are experiencing too. I am sending mine back but not wanting one returned. Good luck!
https://t-mobile.jive-mobile.com/#jive-discussion?content=/api/core/v1/discussions/21923
https://t-mobile.jive-mobile.com/#jive-discussion?content=/api/core/v1/discussions/35681
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Called T-Mobile about one of these a few days ago and was told they're out of stock until mid-summer.

Question, do you guys base your signal quality on the signal bars?
Supposedly tmo doesn't need to show as many bars or as high a signal to get call service and better voice quality than most other networks.
Straight Talk throttles, although AT&T service is pretty good.
I was hoping tmobile and it's refarming to 1900 had made some improvements.
Signal booster requires you to have wifi. It's an ok solution if you have wifi in your house, work or where ever you intend to apply the signal booster. But useless if you're moving around and getting crappy service/ signal.
If I'm within wifi access I'm probably not needing to use data on my phone anyways. But are you able to get cell service at least or is that lacking still would be my concern.

clockcycle said:
Question, do you guys base your signal quality on the signal bars?
Supposedly tmo doesn't need to show as many bars or as high a signal to get call service and better voice quality than most other networks.
Straight Talk throttles, although AT&T service is pretty good.
I was hoping tmobile and it's refarming to 1900 had made some improvements.
Signal booster requires you to have wifi. It's an ok solution if you have wifi in your house, work or where ever you intend to apply the signal booster. But useless if you're moving around and getting crappy service/ signal.
If I'm within wifi access I'm probably not needing to use data on my phone anyways. But are you able to get cell service at least or is that lacking still would be my concern.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who told you the signal booster requires WiFi? Mine doesn't and that was part of a requirement on my end to get it. T-Mobile told me that if I had WiFi at my house and my phone supported WiFi calling T-Mobile would not give me a booster.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

No need for Wi-Fi for the celfi to work. I got a celfi off eBay, to tide me over until some one gets Wi-Fi calling working.
The Cell fi works great with nexus 4.
Just adding my two cents as I have virtually no service in my house.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Monk4Life said:
Who told you the signal booster requires WiFi? Mine doesn't and that was part of a requirement on my end to get it. T-Mobile told me that if I had WiFi at my house and my phone supported WiFi calling T-Mobile would not give me a booster.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the "information". I see that it's not like Sprint's "signal booster" which requires a broadband connection.
https://t-mobile.jive-mobile.com/#jive-document?content=/api/core/v1/documents/4683
---------- Post added at 08:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:57 AM ----------
arvonn said:
No need for Wi-Fi for the celfi to work. I got a celfi off eBay, to tide me over until some one gets Wi-Fi calling working.
The Cell fi works great with nexus 4.
Just adding my two cents as I have virtually no service in my house.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious what steps are required to get it set up after getting one from ebay or cl?

I've used a signal booster supplied free by T-Mobile for 2-3 years. Works fine, I never have to touch it or give it a thought.
https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-4683?noredirect=true
Linux user #266351. Android since v1.0