So far I'm really happy with my G2!
I'm in Milwaukee where we have H+ coverage. I'm getting around 12hrs from the battery with moderate use. I don't think this is terrible, but the "cell standby" uses 40-60% of the battery!
I did some research and found the "WCDMA Only" setting. That brought the "time without signal" down to around 30% from around 60% but I don't like the idea that if I leave WCDMA coverage I'll miss calls etc...
So, my questions is - Is it possible that this is an issue with the radio firmware? It seems to be unnecessarily switching from EDGE to 3G/H+ since if I force WCDMA only, it maintains connection.
Any ideas?
I suggest you change your setting to WCDMA Preferred.
That, obviously, will cause the phone to connect to the faster network if it's available, and if it's not, will connect to the slower EDGE networks.
Having -50dB HSPA at school, and marginal HSPA at home, this works great for me.
Sometimes there will be a handover to 2G even if a 3G signal is reachable. Possible causes are sudden increases in utilization of the 3G by other users or attenuation for other reasons. Setting WCDMA-only prevents the radio from performing battery-draining tower searches, but like you said there is the problem of occasionally not having any coverage at all.
This is a problem with T-Mo US's network. You can see symptoms of it on other devices (particularly so with the Nexus One).
How do I find this setting and set it?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
SuperDave81 said:
How do I find this setting and set it?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. It's in the first list item.
Edit: I see your location is Bay Area. I find that T-Mo 3.xG coverage is pretty lacking out on the edges of suburbia (think the hilly areas east of 680).
I have high Cell Standby as well. I checked it's details out and it claims that 50% of the time, my phone is without signal. Check this by going to:
Settings > About Phone > Battery Use > Cell Standby
It will tell me that 50% of the time, I do not have cell signal. I compared this to my brother's Vibrant and his is at 0% signal loss. Definitely something wrong here because my cell standby usage is twice as much as my brother's (we live in the same household so location shouldn't matter).
jashsu said:
Open dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. It's in the first list item.
Edit: I see your location is Bay Area. I find that T-Mo 3.xG coverage is pretty lacking out on the edges of suburbia (think the hilly areas east of 680).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And how do you un-do this if it does not work out?
NM! I figured it out~!
Edit: figured out how to change this setting. But when I set it to WCDMA at my office I get 1 to no bars And the internet is slow. I do have a H and it is using HSPA.
If I set it to GSM only I get 3 to 4 bars, mostly 4 bars max. And then I am on Edge, and the internet is a bit faster.
I am just wondering why the coverage sucks so bad for 3g? When the maps I can find seem to show good coverage. When I am out and about I get good bars on HSPA, but inside it just sucks.
I am in Houston, area code 77009 :/
jashsu said:
Open dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. It's in the first list item.
Edit: I see your location is Bay Area. I find that T-Mo 3.xG coverage is pretty lacking out on the edges of suburbia (think the hilly areas east of 680).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this info
Weird, I just checked my G2 and I have 0% time w/o signal.
I live in Houston, TX and this is a combo of downtown and my house.
Botched setting in the phone?
i got 14+ hours the other day, but did notice that my cell standby has been very high.. when i checked... 44% of the time is without a signal (not sure how that's calculated) as I rarely ever see signal loss.. except for an hour out of the day I go into airplane mode at the gym because i have 0 cell coverage there. But I just changed to GSM Auto (PRL), i'll see if anything changes tommorow.
SuperFly03 said:
Weird, I just checked my G2 and I have 0% time w/o signal.
I live in Houston, TX and this is a combo of downtown and my house.
Botched setting in the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you think this is a botched setting? This is exactly what it should be like. You don't want any signal loss.
jashsu said:
Open dialer and enter *#*#4636#*#*. It's in the first list item.
Edit: I see your location is Bay Area. I find that T-Mo 3.xG coverage is pretty lacking out on the edges of suburbia (think the hilly areas east of 680).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting trick. Changed my settings from GSM only to WCDMA only. My "time without signal" dropped from 50% to around 35% so it helped a bit, but not completely. On top of that, I noticed that my signal was a lot weaker and would drop more frequently so I had to switch back to GSM only.
Stryder5 said:
Why do you think this is a botched setting? This is exactly what it should be like. You don't want any signal loss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant on the OP's part.
I don't think it's a botched setting.
I just wonder if they have the phone is jumping between bands too frequently and unnecessarily. In my house the phone constantly jumps around from H-G-E suggesting that it's dropping signal and switching bands. However if I force it to WCDMA it never loses signal.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Related
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.
After posting in the wrong thread...sorry mods, wasn't thinking...thought I'd try this here.
I recently purchased an un-sub N1 for T-Mobile in the Melbourne, FL area. It has been painful moving from AT&T because the speeds that I've been getting on HSPA SpeedTest.net have been 700kbps down and 300kbps up consistently. As to my issue now, I noticed that my phone never switches from UMTS(3g indicated in the notification area) to HSPA any more. It used to stay in UMTS until data was used and then switch to HSPA. All over the area over multiple towers this has happened.
My wife has a stock N1 so I'll check her phone and see if it uses HSPA at all although with the stock radio she stays on EDGE most of the time while my phone, in the same car is on 3g but that's another problem.
Also, I do have the phone set to WCDMA only.
Can anyone think of a reason on my end that this could happen?
Rick
I think t-mobile is doing something on their end. I lost WCDMA usage after 6pm last night until about 11 pm.
(I'm in south florida)
I was having a similar issue in Orlando a few days ago. I agree with JCopernicus and believe its on Tmobile's end because I'm in Phoenix right now and its working fine.
I've been leaving my connection type on GSM auto (PRL) and I'm still connected to 3G/H 90% of the time but I have noticed a significant battery improvement. Check it out when tmo gets their 3g working right in your area.
Are there benefits to GSM prl over WCDMA preferred or always besides the obvious scenario when 3g is unavailable?
I am in the north Houston Tx are and I have been seeing some really odd stuff. At home I am full bars 3g and get 600-700 down, then drive over to a mall by me and get the H up top and no internet at all, it simply will not work, but it is HSPDA(two weeks ago) now in the same area it shows 3g with 1400 down. My house is always 600-700 but the mall area is acting really strange.
this is by no means a definitive list, but here are a few links to articles i have read that have helped improve my battery life drastically. if you have any other useful information, please share.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
instead of thinking, 'i need to replace the battery because it doesn't last long enough', try thinking 'how can i use my phone in a manner which doesn't unnecessarily drain its battery'.
HowToGeek.com - Complete Guide to Maximizing Your Android Phones Battery Life
Lifehacker.com - Android Task Killers Explained; What They do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them
Reddit.com - I Stopped Using a Task Killer Last Week to See if There is a Difference; There is, and its Huge
Reddit.com - Further Discussion on the Proper Use of Task Killers
Lifehacker.com - JuiceDefender Simplifies Automated Android Battery Saving
Lifehacker.com - Watchdog Monitors Your Android for Runaway Processes
Thanks for this -
Good tips. Thank you for posting.
I found a tip about reconfiguring the radio settings here:
community.htc.com/na/htc-forums/android/f/96/p/7495/34268.aspx
"I have an HTC Aria, I found out that the radio is setup completely wrong (power hungry) by default. I can now get over 48 hours of moderate use out of a phone that was barely able to make it to 12 hours before.
First of all, on AT&T, GSM (which is the 2.5G EDGE network) is much more power efficient than CDMA (which is 3G).
The default settings for 2-3G, have the phone constantly trying to find the strongest CDMA tower-signal it can find for 3G. If it can't find any 3G, it switches to 2.5G (EDGE). This eats your battery and is why your fancy new smart phone has a usable life of only 8-12 hours.
Now, the reason that your phone is always searching for the best signal is that, in area with only average coverage, the phone will always be trying to get you the best connection. This makes AT&T's 3G feel fastest and you will always get the most 'bars' available - at least while your phone's battery holds out.
Luckily, some engineer over a decade ago came up with a solution. Instead of scanning, have the phone ask the current tower for a list of nearby towers. This is called a PRL.
The way the PRL works, the phone contacts the tower to which it is connected and asks the tower for a list of nearby towers and their power outputs. Then the phone will base its decisions to switch towers based on that list.
Where I live, 3G is everywhere and making the phone constantly search for a better tower is a waste of time and energy. So instead, I switched my phone to prefer GSM (ie. EDGE) over CDMA unless there is a poor signal, then it switches to scanning for 3G (which supposedly has more range and less interference) just like it used to.
The settings to do this are normally hidden by the carrier. For AT&T on the Aria, I had to enter a USSD code:
*#*#4636#*#*
Then select Phone Information from the menu. The drop down you want is called Set preferred network type: and the option I selected was GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) and my battery life has been fantastic."
Has anyone tried this? How did it go?
Thanks.
--fnds
fnds said:
Good tips. Thank you for posting.
I found a tip about reconfiguring the radio settings here:
community.htc.com/na/htc-forums/android/f/96/p/7495/34268.aspx
"I have an HTC Aria, I found out that the radio is setup completely wrong (power hungry) by default. I can now get over 48 hours of moderate use out of a phone that was barely able to make it to 12 hours before.
First of all, on AT&T, GSM (which is the 2.5G EDGE network) is much more power efficient than CDMA (which is 3G).
The default settings for 2-3G, have the phone constantly trying to find the strongest CDMA tower-signal it can find for 3G. If it can't find any 3G, it switches to 2.5G (EDGE). This eats your battery and is why your fancy new smart phone has a usable life of only 8-12 hours.
Now, the reason that your phone is always searching for the best signal is that, in area with only average coverage, the phone will always be trying to get you the best connection. This makes AT&T's 3G feel fastest and you will always get the most 'bars' available - at least while your phone's battery holds out.
Luckily, some engineer over a decade ago came up with a solution. Instead of scanning, have the phone ask the current tower for a list of nearby towers. This is called a PRL.
The way the PRL works, the phone contacts the tower to which it is connected and asks the tower for a list of nearby towers and their power outputs. Then the phone will base its decisions to switch towers based on that list.
Where I live, 3G is everywhere and making the phone constantly search for a better tower is a waste of time and energy. So instead, I switched my phone to prefer GSM (ie. EDGE) over CDMA unless there is a poor signal, then it switches to scanning for 3G (which supposedly has more range and less interference) just like it used to.
The settings to do this are normally hidden by the carrier. For AT&T on the Aria, I had to enter a USSD code:
*#*#4636#*#*
Then select Phone Information from the menu. The drop down you want is called Set preferred network type: and the option I selected was GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) and my battery life has been fantastic."
Has anyone tried this? How did it go?
Thanks.
--fnds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about the stock rom, but on cm roms there is the option to add this option into the power widget bar and makes switching between modes a one click affair. I keep my phone on 2g (gsm) unless I'm trying to watch a video. It definitely helps.
Sent from my cm7 Aria using XDA App
fnds said:
Good tips. Thank you for posting.
I found a tip about reconfiguring the radio settings here:
community.htc.com/na/htc-forums/android/f/96/p/7495/34268.aspx
"I have an HTC Aria, I found out that the radio is setup completely wrong (power hungry) by default. I can now get over 48 hours of moderate use out of a phone that was barely able to make it to 12 hours before.
First of all, on AT&T, GSM (which is the 2.5G EDGE network) is much more power efficient than CDMA (which is 3G).
The default settings for 2-3G, have the phone constantly trying to find the strongest CDMA tower-signal it can find for 3G. If it can't find any 3G, it switches to 2.5G (EDGE). This eats your battery and is why your fancy new smart phone has a usable life of only 8-12 hours.
Now, the reason that your phone is always searching for the best signal is that, in area with only average coverage, the phone will always be trying to get you the best connection. This makes AT&T's 3G feel fastest and you will always get the most 'bars' available - at least while your phone's battery holds out.
Luckily, some engineer over a decade ago came up with a solution. Instead of scanning, have the phone ask the current tower for a list of nearby towers. This is called a PRL.
The way the PRL works, the phone contacts the tower to which it is connected and asks the tower for a list of nearby towers and their power outputs. Then the phone will base its decisions to switch towers based on that list.
Where I live, 3G is everywhere and making the phone constantly search for a better tower is a waste of time and energy. So instead, I switched my phone to prefer GSM (ie. EDGE) over CDMA unless there is a poor signal, then it switches to scanning for 3G (which supposedly has more range and less interference) just like it used to.
The settings to do this are normally hidden by the carrier. For AT&T on the Aria, I had to enter a USSD code:
*#*#4636#*#*
Then select Phone Information from the menu. The drop down you want is called Set preferred network type: and the option I selected was GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) and my battery life has been fantastic."
Has anyone tried this? How did it go?
Thanks.
--fnds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am trying that out and using GSM (PRL), it seems to do very well, and automatically switches between HSDPA and EDGE
Just switched mine from WCDMA preferred to the CDMA/GSM Auto (PRL)
I'll see how it goes.
that battery has lasted longer than usual, even with the extreme cold of the midwest, since I was shoveling for 3 hours. 8 hours off of charger, moderate use, still at 80% with GSM (PRL) on
tried the GSM(PRL) thing, works great! thanks for this thread
Been noticing the drain, too. I've switched to CDMA/GSM Auto (PRL), but it still shows the "H" at the top? I think that's correct, but wanted to ask.
So how often is it kicking you guys to EDGE? It may give you better battery life, but your data will be slow as hell if you aren't on 3G no? Or do you guys not care?
gtg465x said:
So how often is it kicking you guys to EDGE? It may give you better battery life, but your data will be slow as hell if you aren't on 3G no? Or do you guys not care?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I switched to cdma/gsm auto (prl) about a week ago and mine hasn't switched over to Edge at all.
Sent from my cm7 Aria using XDA App
fnds said:
Good tips. Thank you for posting.
I found a tip about reconfiguring the radio settings here:
community.htc.com/na/htc-forums/android/f/96/p/7495/34268.aspx
"I have an HTC Aria, I found out that the radio is setup completely wrong (power hungry) by default. I can now get over 48 hours of moderate use out of a phone that was barely able to make it to 12 hours before.
First of all, on AT&T, GSM (which is the 2.5G EDGE network) is much more power efficient than CDMA (which is 3G).
The default settings for 2-3G, have the phone constantly trying to find the strongest CDMA tower-signal it can find for 3G. If it can't find any 3G, it switches to 2.5G (EDGE). This eats your battery and is why your fancy new smart phone has a usable life of only 8-12 hours.
Now, the reason that your phone is always searching for the best signal is that, in area with only average coverage, the phone will always be trying to get you the best connection. This makes AT&T's 3G feel fastest and you will always get the most 'bars' available - at least while your phone's battery holds out.
Luckily, some engineer over a decade ago came up with a solution. Instead of scanning, have the phone ask the current tower for a list of nearby towers. This is called a PRL.
The way the PRL works, the phone contacts the tower to which it is connected and asks the tower for a list of nearby towers and their power outputs. Then the phone will base its decisions to switch towers based on that list.
Where I live, 3G is everywhere and making the phone constantly search for a better tower is a waste of time and energy. So instead, I switched my phone to prefer GSM (ie. EDGE) over CDMA unless there is a poor signal, then it switches to scanning for 3G (which supposedly has more range and less interference) just like it used to.
The settings to do this are normally hidden by the carrier. For AT&T on the Aria, I had to enter a USSD code:
*#*#4636#*#*
Then select Phone Information from the menu. The drop down you want is called Set preferred network type: and the option I selected was GSM/CDMA auto (PRL) and my battery life has been fantastic."
Has anyone tried this? How did it go?
Thanks.
--fnds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App
I have know idea how to do this. I dial *#*#4636#*#* and it calls it and says blah blah wrong number. Can somebody explain please. I'm a noober on this one.
"the only good bug is a dead bug"
Figured it out. I use dialer 2 app for my default phone. Apparently you have to use the stock dialer to enter ussd code.
"the only good bug is a dead bug"
hello everybody...just received my quantum 2 days ago (i live in italy)...it was locked to at&t so i unlocked it with a code...but the reception is very bad, so i wonder...if i debrand the phone from at&t perhaps it will get better reception...what u think? because the signal only shows g/3g and no 3g+ or H....i'm a bit worried about that...help please! =)
Beggy90 said:
hello everybody...just received my quantum 2 days ago (i live in italy)...it was locked to at&t so i unlocked it with a code...but the reception is very bad, so i wonder...if i debrand the phone from at&t perhaps it will get better reception...what u think? because the signal only shows g/3g and no 3g+ or H....i'm a bit worried about that...help please! =)
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If the phone is showing 3G at any time, then you are set up for the appropriate bands to get high(er) speed data transfer and 3G voice. If you only see E, then your carrier is using the other bands and unfortunately, there is no way to reconfigure the phone via firmware.
As far as general reception capabilities of the Quantum, I find it to be superior to the S-E X10 I used to use (I still have it), so I don't think there is anything wrong with the design. What phone were you using before?
drtolson said:
If the phone is showing 3G at any time, then you are set up for the appropriate bands to get high(er) speed data transfer and 3G voice. If you only see E, then your carrier is using the other bands and unfortunately, there is no way to reconfigure the phone via firmware.
As far as general reception capabilities of the Quantum, I find it to be superior to the S-E X10 I used to use (I still have it), so I don't think there is anything wrong with the design. What phone were you using before?
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i had an omnia 7...but it's the first time i use a phone that comes from the US...dunno, it's weird, because when the omnia was under hspa, tha phone showed me always 3g+...and with tha quantum it shows me always 3g, and very poor reception (only 1 bar)....but the most of time the signal is under gprs only....it's pissing me off =(
You are correct. This phone has really bad wifi and wireless reception. I had flip phone before this and in places where I had 1 or 2 bars before with LG I have nothing, no signal. Yesterday I had to leave Ikea building and turn phone off/on just to get reception because if after spending 2 minutes outside he couldn't lock the signal.
Regarding wifi, at home I have hi-gain antenna on my router. I can take my laptop outside on the parking lot, sit in my car and still browser on the internet. This is around 30m distance through 1 thick concrete wall. This phone is struggling to get signal on the opposite side of the home, behind 2-3 drywall walls.
I constantly have signal changing between 3G and H. Were unhappy with reception.
AT&T phones don't show H+ (3G+), it just reports it as 3G. Signal wise I live out in the middle of nowhere and I got pretty decent signal with it. You can change your primary band settings under the MFG app though (because its AT&T if 2100 is available it automatically swaps to it, although where youre at 2100 may not be a primary band).
preamble *** My 3G/HSDPA signal has improved greatly by setting the 'phone to 'WCDMA Only ***
Hi!
It has been a while since I have posted on this forum, but I made a discovery today that I thought that some of you could probably gain from too.
Apologies if it's old news in a Tips and Tricks thread somewhere in the depths of the forum, but I thought the behaviour was a bit weird and deserved a mention.
I live about 6 miles from a city. My village has on the face of it, always had a rubbish 'data' signal. Every 'phone I have ever owned (that automatically hunted for 2G/3G etc) always failed to get a 3G signal here. Mostly, I'd even have trouble to get any sort of speed connection on 2G!
Whilst fiddling with my handset today, I noticed the 'Network Mode' in 'Mobile Network Settings' of my Gingerbread build. Understandably it was set to 'Auto' GSM/WCDMA so that if it can't find a 3G signal it'll just default to 2G instead.
In a moment of madness, I thought that there was no point in using data *unless* I was in a 3G area. I set the 'phone to 'WCDMA Only' thinking that it'd only bother to connect when I went in to the City. I.e, I'm not using my home WiFi instead. What's the point in it trying to get 2G in a rubbish area. I'd rather it gave up until a decent 3G signal was available when I was on the move.
So that's my logic.. but the biggest surprise came when I checked the 'phone after! It has been locked on to a 3G/HSDPA signal all day whilst at home! I even downloaded the SpeedTest.Net app to make sure it was actually connecting and I have recorded over 3Mb connection speeds today!
Interesting, I haven't tried it though (but I'm generally in areas with good 3g reception).
Just be aware that setting it to "WCDMA Only" is not just about data. It means that when no such network is available you also can't be reached by phone (or make a call) or even send/receive SMS. The phone will then constantly search for a network, often draining the battery rather quickly. So keep an eye on weather or not you are connected with reasonable network strength.
Oh right! Eeek, I just assumed it would be just the data side of things and that the usual mob signal for texts and voice wouldn't have been affected. Thanks! I'll be sure to keep an eye on it!
Wow, you just found that option? Anyway, good find, it'll help the others who haven't found it/know about it yet :thumbup:
Sent from my S II Monster
Ha ha! I know! - And usually I'm such a geek too! I guess it's one of those options you look at and don't bother to do anything about. I'd just assumed my 3G in this area was so rubbish, it wasn't anything I could do on the 'phone to improve it! Such is life eh!