I just switched to Tmobile to get the Vbrant. The phone is amazing but at home i have very, very poor reception. Unless my phone sits next to the window, i do not get any calls!! Missed calls, voicemail are completely lost.
I noticed that if someone from another carrier calls me (and my phone sits next to the window), I can receive the call and continue to talk. However, if I make a call, if i manage, the call gets dropped after a few minutes.
At work i have much better signal.. in the city much better signal. But here in the county it's poor,esp around my house, or if i am in a store at the nearby plaza..
The worst thing is I do not get the missed calls nor voicemails. If i get that, at least i know to call back whenever i am in good reception area..
WHat should I do. Will an update to JI6 or froyo fix any of that? Or should i go back to AT&T get the captivate and use limited data plan of 2 GB ?
I get great reception surprisingly... better than my 9700 bold, g1 or any beater phone I've used. Since the update, I've gotten an extra bar of 3g in my office, where I'd normally get 0(but stay on 3g).
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
To be honest dude, if your signal is that bad at home and you can still back out, do it. Get the fascinate on Verizon. No data cap there.
m4r10 said:
To be honest dude, if your signal is that bad at home and you can still back out, do it. Get the fascinate on Verizon. No data cap there.
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Click to collapse
No, i dont want verizon. It needs to be a gsm so i can use it in Europe..
JI6 has improved my signal quite a bit.
We're hopeful that UMP will be ported to the Vibrant eventually, but it's not a sure bet by any means. That would fix the signal while at home if you have WiFi. Other than that JI6 does seem to increase the signal strength.
~SB
JI6 does increase your reception because at work i usually get full Edge, and after JI6 I been getting one to two bar on 3G. The trade off is my battery drains more due to the stronger modem.
JI6 has a battery depletion bug that has nothing to do with reception as I've had JI2, JI4 and JI5 with the same reception. The JIx series brings a fix for -dBm/ASU and in return the Android is able to recognize actual signal strength far better than before.
Short answer.. YES it will...suggestions: use google voice for your calls/voicemails, this will ensure that you know of missed calls even if your phone is off..The way mine is setup. If you call me and my cell is off, the call is forwarded to Google Voice which rings my landline or goto voicemail..I have an option in the settings set to alert me of missed calls.
In addition to being more accurate in showing the right amount of bars, JI6 did slightly increase my signal strength. A few places where I was unable to place a call, it will easily hold onto a bar or two. Big upgrade if you ask me.
Guys, thank you very much for the advice! I upgrade my phone to JI6 and have noticed slight improvement. I am seeing 1-2 bars now at home and i am able to place a call ..Still testing if calls continue to drop.
ram130,
THANK YOU for this suggestion!!! Did not even think about it but that is exactly what i need!! It will suffice and make my overall service more reliable and I will be informed about voicemails. This is phenomenal. Now I think I can keep my phone thanks to your help guys!!
I hate to bring back the dead but I just recently got my vibrant and I am having some of the same issues.
I keep my phone in my pants pocket and when I go to the back of the store I almost always lose service. I never had this problem with my TP2. Will this JI6 fix reception or is it just a gps fix? How can I check to see if I have this? I did do a update when I received the phone so I am thinking I might have it already.
tecjunkie-
JI6 is more than just a GPS fix;it also adds a Media Hub and Task Manager app, and I believe there are a few software tweaks. However, I'm not sure that Samsung ever revealed all the things it was designed to do, and I don't remember hearing anything about a reception fix, but I'd say, install it and see....
It did improve my signal level.
ZX3ZX4 said:
tecjunkie-
JI6 is more than just a GPS fix;it also adds a Media Hub and Task Manager app, and I believe there are a few software tweaks. However, I'm not sure that Samsung ever revealed all the things it was designed to do, and I don't remember hearing anything about a reception fix, but I'd say, install it and see....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your replies.
I am afraid if the JI6 is the update that included the media hub functionality and task manager I do have that update.
Now I am at a lost. Do you think the weak signal strength is because it isn't hspda? My TP2 showed a H and like I said I never had a problem at work with it. Every time I walk in the back and send a text it says failed. When I am in the front near the windows(retail store) it works fine.
To the OP:
Perhaps you should upgrade to the leaked froyo. I say this for 2 reasons.
1 - it has wifi calling. You can use your homes wifi instead of the network.
2 - you can upgrade to the JK6 modem which has shown many a much better signal.
I have steps in my signature for option 1. Option 2 is at the top of the development section. I just flash JK6 and my up/download speeds doubled.
JK6 has excellent data throughput.
The new Motorola DEFY however has EXCELLENT reception. at least -5dBm better than my Vibrant.
Related
I've had consistently patchy call quality since day one on my UK T-Mobile Hermes. Recently it's been worse than ever. What I've noticed is that it has nothing to do with how many reception bars the phone is showing, but when I quit all the open apps it improves. It also fluctuates moment by moment in a call. Having a 3G connection online also seems to make it worse. This is shoddy of course, the phone should work independently of the rest of the system, but I'm not surprised. Just wondered if anyone else had noticed the effect of the PDA side of the device affecting the phone side in this way.
patp said:
I've had consistently patchy call quality since day one on my UK T-Mobile Hermes. Recently it's been worse than ever. What I've noticed is that it has nothing to do with how many reception bars the phone is showing, but when I quit all the open apps it improves. It also fluctuates moment by moment in a call. Having a 3G connection online also seems to make it worse. This is shoddy of course, the phone should work independently of the rest of the system, but I'm not surprised. Just wondered if anyone else had noticed the effect of the PDA side of the device affecting the phone side in this way.
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Click to collapse
There are some things to try including upgrading the radio or Bandswitch or Commgrpro to force certain bands only:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1129677
Mike
I read on another site to simply turn off the always on in the wireless settings (not the background data in the sync menu) and my battery life has at least doubled. I was worried that my e-mail would not download or other apps would not work, but all my email still comes. The trick is that while your phone is in sleep mode it does not look for email, but once you use it the phone will get your email. Unless you MUST get your email right away, I would highly recommend changing this setting. All input would be greatly appreciated, I want to see if my good luck is working for other people. On a side note I am using Fresh ROM 2.0d.
Could you post the specific path to the setting you're talking about?
If I set my wifi to anything other than "never sleep", then once my phone goes into sleep mode I have to follow a long, convoluted, pain in the ass procedure to get wifi to work at all.
Hopefully that's not the setting you're talking about?
I posted this exact same thing in another thread two days ago. I was so stoked on my battery performance that I wanted to tell others. It's incredible the difference it makes! If you want even better performance go into Settings>Location...uncheck the use wireless networks box, and check the use GPS. Believe it or not the GPS uses a lot LESS battery life to detect your location than the wireless networks.
I'm getting like 2 whole days out of my phone now after doing these things...and that's with pretty moderate use. Hope other people try it out too.
subliminalurge said:
Could you post the specific path to the setting you're talking about?
If I set my wifi to anything other than "never sleep", then once my phone goes into sleep mode I have to follow a long, convoluted, pain in the ass procedure to get wifi to work at all.
Hopefully that's not the setting you're talking about?
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Click to collapse
+1
where are these options?
I agree, I used the GPS as well, not the use wireless network. I forgot about that one. Your phone will only use the GPS when it needs it, not all the time like we used to think. The exact settings are at MENU/SETTINGS/WIRELESS & NETWORKS/MOBILE NETWORKS\AND UNCHECK ENABLE ALWAYS-ON MOBILE
alexthearmo said:
If you want even better performance go into Settings>Location...uncheck the use wireless networks box, and check the use GPS. Believe it or not the GPS uses a lot LESS battery life to detect your location than the wireless networks.
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Click to collapse
This will vary from person to person. It will depend A LOT on how good your coverage is in the spot you're currently at.
GPS is GPS. It will require the same amount of juice anywhere on the planet.
Cell chips are different. They are hardcoded to give more electricity to the radio circuit when the signal is weak, for obvious reasons. So if you have a cell tower in your back yard, then yeah, you'll get great battery performance relying on cell based options. If your nearest cell tower is 4 miles away, and you're one of those people that loses signal when you go into your basement, then telling your phone to use cell info is only going to chew up battery even faster....
no thanks. This isn't a fix, it's a pref change.
Fix would mean that everything stays the same and you just get better battery life.
But, good advice none the less, just not for me.
scirio said:
no thanks. This isn't a fix, it's a pref change.
Fix would mean that everything stays the same and you just get better battery life.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, people on the forum use the word "fix" WAY too quickly.
"Fix" means everything works like you would expect, and like it should. Around here, people use the word "fix" when what they really mean is "here's a half-assed workaround that's a complete pain in the ass, but it will get 10% of the people by until something better comes along...."....
scirio said:
no thanks. This isn't a fix, it's a pref change.
Fix would mean that everything stays the same and you just get better battery life.
But, good advice none the less, just not for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 - 6 minutes and counting to receive a test / text msg, while phone is sleeping. Nice the know though, if I need to really trade connectivity for battery duration. I should test whether sms polling is tied to the email polling interval. Cause it ain't interrupt driven with this setting.
edit: i know it's not really sms polling, but rather the lack of an interrupt(-ion of sleep).
Yes, you are right, it is not a fix, but a great way to increase battery life and like I said, everything works the same. I get messages the exact same way and email will go straight to my phone once I use it.
bigupurself7 said:
Yes, you are right, it is not a fix, but a great way to increase battery life and like I said, everything works the same.
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Click to collapse
You sure about that?
When my wife sends me a text, I want to see it 5 seconds later, not 5 minutes later.
That may not matter to you, but when you make a statement to the whole world, you have to realize that some of us care about things that you might not.
How thoroughly did you test before you decided to say "everything works the same"?
Did you really test EVERYTHING? Or did you just test "everything that matters to you"?
I used to turn off background data and stuff on my stock 1.5, and I was thrilled I could actually leave it on with 2.1 so I wouldn't have to wait for google voice texts and gmail to come in. With 2.1 I can go the whole day with moderate usage and still have 40% at least left when I go to bed. Let it charge overnight and I'm good. This is good to know though if I am out in the sticks in a pinch and need the extra battery.
maybe it's different in 2.1 but in 1.5 i tried turning off the "always on" setting under mobile network settings under wireless controls but i found that after a while the phone will fail to restart evdo upon awakening and the only way to fix it is reboot. Never tried it on 2.1 but to me between the time on without signal fix nd upgraded radio i get all the battery life i need...
I get messages right away. I just got another one, tested it with a friend and it came right away!
On a side note, messages and phone calls have nothing to do with the internet. Remember we used to get text messages and phone calls way before smart phones.
bigupurself7 said:
On a side note, messages and phone calls have nothing to do with the internet. Remember we used to get text messages and phone calls way before smart phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Key words... "Used to"....
trust me, it works for me, wish it worked for you guys. its great having amazing battery life!
bigupurself7 said:
trust me, it works for me, wish it worked for you guys. its great having amazing battery life!
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Click to collapse
But at what cost?
That's the big question here. Are you 100% sure that you're not missing any communications, or having them delayed?
I'd LOVE to have better battery life, but when it comes down to it my phone is a communication tool. If any battery tweaks delay messages, then they're WORSE then useless, they're actually harmful.
If I wanted to use my phone as a half-assed replacement for a PSP, then I'm sure I could squeeze some amazing battery life out of it, too. But above all, and with NO compromise, I must be able to send and receive communications instantly.
That's what a phone is.
bigupurself7 said:
trust me, it works for me, wish it worked for you guys. its great having amazing battery life!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you rebooted while in that mode?
Yes I have rebooted and just did another test. Got the text right away. Even more interesting is I have a program called Mobile Defense which can find your phone if it is missing and that works as well since it is all done through text messages.
just got a vibrant just now, new to the tmobile game and i lvoe the phone because i tryed it out as a demo at t-mobile store. only thign i was scared was about the bar problems which i heard are for osme people not all and gps which is coming in a fix. i just turned on the phone nad i noticed while playing with it the battery notification is off track compared to the real battery% is this a fixable in an update or whats the soultion? also friend of mine said it lags after putting apps on there? any word on that? thanks.
Please use the search function.
Im having 0-2 bars on my phone of siginal! My first t-mobile phone and its a lemon i might just resell it
You should just get an iPhone 4.... you seem more on the level of an apple user.
bigg12x said:
Im having 0-2 bars on my phone of siginal! My first t-mobile phone and its a lemon i might just resell it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try holding with your right hand
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
Yes the battery level is a common problem, but doesn't affect the phone performance. To see the actual battery level go to settings->about phone or download the t-mobile app my account/my device.
As for the bars, as others have reported the connection still works well even though it may display few or no bars. Again, not a big deal.
As for the gps, I have realized that it works really well OUTSIDE but sucks inside. To test this idea, disable "use wireless networks" in settings->location and security, but leave gps enabled. Then go outside and see how long it takes for your location to lock on in google maps. Then go inside and do the same. I have consistently noticed that the gps locks on accurately and quickly if I am outside, but takes horribly long inside. However, wireless network location compensates for the horrible gps signal when inside.
The battery thing is normal for android (i dont know why android hasnt fixed this yet) there are apps and widgets that can correctly display the percentage.
The signal this is not a big deal, its possible you are in a moderate coverage for tmobile. Do a few test calls, you will notice the call is still flawless.
Its not a lemon
I'm sure there will be some kind of software fix for this in the near future. in the mean time, I suggest downloading an app called "battery indicator" from the market.
Sent from Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
bigg12x said:
Im having 0-2 bars on my phone of siginal! My first t-mobile phone and its a lemon i might just resell it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The signal is fine but the bar readout is wrong. Have you tried calls? Data? They work fine I'm sure and I know that from experience.
sigeltek said:
You should just get an iPhone 4.... you seem more on the level of an apple user.
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LOL. Classic .....ROLF....
@bigg12x, try doing a complete reset on the phone. It wouldn't hurt. Also, the things you've heard from your friend is pretty dramatic. There's no serious issues...just some software quirks that can be ironed out.
Chalup said:
Yes the battery level is a common problem, but doesn't affect the phone performance. To see the actual battery level go to settings->about phone or download the t-mobile app my account/my device.
As for the bars, as others have reported the connection still works well even though it may display few or no bars. Again, not a big deal.
As for the gps, I have realized that it works really well OUTSIDE but sucks inside. To test this idea, disable "use wireless networks" in settings->location and security, but leave gps enabled. Then go outside and see how long it takes for your location to lock on in google maps. Then go inside and do the same. I have consistently noticed that the gps locks on accurately and quickly if I am outside, but takes horribly long inside. However, wireless network location compensates for the horrible gps signal when inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or the battery app which shows the Percentage on the notifications bar
so an update is possible to fix that signal bar display
Chalup said:
..........
As for the gps, I have realized that it works really well OUTSIDE but sucks inside. To test this idea, disable "use wireless networks" in settings->location and security, but leave gps enabled. Then go outside and see how long it takes for your location to lock on in google maps. Then go inside and do the same. I have consistently noticed that the gps locks on accurately and quickly if I am outside, but takes horribly long inside. However, wireless network location compensates for the horrible gps signal when inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've never had a dedicated GPS unit (Garmin, Tom-tom & magellan) that would get a signal inside my house - i've always been told GPS is line of sight, and anything from house roof, tree cover and heavy overcast or fog would block GPS signal - considering those satellites don't have onboard generators,suspect the signal they're shooting is that great in terms of wattage
smh @ samsung not even addressing the problem and how they will take care of it wow what a company!
Chalup said:
As for the gps, I have realized that it works really well OUTSIDE but sucks inside. To test this idea, disable "use wireless networks" in settings->location and security, but leave gps enabled. Then go outside and see how long it takes for your location to lock on in google maps. Then go inside and do the same. I have consistently noticed that the gps locks on accurately and quickly if I am outside, but takes horribly long inside. However, wireless network location compensates for the horrible gps signal when inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have obviously never used GPS before. If it connects at all when you are inside, you are ahead of the game. I have a $600 Garmin Nuvi that will not connect when I am sitting in my car in the garage.
i am able to make calls even showing zero bars of service, its not a big deal. the phone's other attributes out weight a single flaw
I am in BUM-FU## NC tonight, in a mill built in the 1800's with 22 inch brick walls... and I made a phone call perfectly. My parents live in a converted old River Mill.
This phone and T Mobile rock. My brother (iPhone), mother and father (Motorola RAZRs) could not make a phone call as their phones display "No Service".
HAHAHAHA
The bar reading on Vibrant looks too conservative.
I did a side by side comparison at the corp store with my nexus one and found Vibrant has one fewer bar than nexus one.
Please forgive me if this has already been asked, I tried searching several different ways for this and so far have had no results. This is also a two part question and mini-rant/background info into the issues I've been having with this phone.
So first off I'm wondering if any one happens to know how to access (or if it exists/enabled) the field test mode. The code for the Samsung SGH-i607, *#0011# brings up the test mode but only info you can get is the email and phone # for, my best guess, a Samsung dev. I know I can get the signal level from Status but I was hoping for some more info like SNR and such.
Now for the second question and mini-rant;
I'm not new to the cellular game or Android, in fact I just switched to Sprint from T-mobile (had the G1) because Sprints service is by far superior to T-mobiles out here. Yet this phone makes it quite the contrary, reception fluctuates wildly and even drops totally no matter what I do or where I am and this kills the battery with in a few hours of a full charge. Heck even Sprint's customer care hung up on me twice because they couldn't hear me...
I really want to believe this can be solved with a radio update or new ROM because I love this phone but the DI07 update hasn't made a difference as far as I can tell.
Before I return it and swap it out for a new one or possibly an Evo 4G I figured I might as well ask to see if any one has any advanced tricks/hacks/advice I can try before I do.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and if this is in the wrong forum, duplicate, or what not let me know and I'll remove it.
Kawauso
Hello everyone,
Since the beginning of the Android period, I've been experiencing reception problems, as well as a few friends of mine. The phone is continually searching for signal and losses it quickly, jumps from HSDPA to other means, and also has the problem of regaining the signal after going through a tunnel etc.
I am not a developer myself, but was wondering if anyone else was experiencing the same problems and if there is anything to be done about it.
I know there was a slight fix introduced not too long ago in Tytungs kernel, but for me things still pretty suck.
If you have something to say about this, please do. Otherwise, a mod can handle the positioning of this thread. No need to start flaming if you have nothing to say.
All Hail XDA!!
Cheers,
Chovav
Thread reported to forum mod, Why don't you realise even after placing [Q] in the heading that you need the Q&A forums.
As for your concerned problem, i havn't faced that till now except for the fact i have data drops seldomly.
I have the same problem. I've tested several ROM, radios, Magldr clk...
I always use the *#*#4636#*#* trick. But I always have to return to 2G only.
I think that there must be different kind of hardware that avoid getting a decent signal level.
I tried the Probable Hardware Fix For HD2 Poor Signal too. I have better reception but no as solid as with 2G
I love the phone but when I use only 2G I want to cry (almost everytime).
Thanks in advance, Paco
Just something I would like to throw out there, I also have reception issues on ANY rom, but its occurrence seems to be like the original iPhone 4 came out, terrible reception if you squeeze the whole phone with your hand. I prove that theory by doing that in my room, if i dont touch the phone (just the screen) and browse the web, I do it with full bars. But as soon as I pick up the phone and browse, it will drop very quickly to 1 or no bars (from 4). See if you can trial this yourself, put phone down and browse web, and then hold the phone and try it. See if that makes a difference. Does for me.
There was a thread a while back about this and it showed a screen that you can get to that shows how long you have had signal and I remember looking at it in mine and it showed that I was without signal at least a third of the time the phone was powered on. I don't remember how to get to it any more or I would show you a screen shot of it. I have constant full bars of H where I am and even not moving the phone still shows this same behavior of dropping connection to the towers.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App