Database Users

[Q] Convince me NOT/TO get a VIBRANT (& Dump Epic)

So, I'm not very happy about the 150kbps upload, the crawling 3G overall and the crawling of the phone along with it. I love the phone itself, but I essentially hate the CDMA Golem that's attached itself to it. And I notice this has been the case with almost every one of my old CDMA devices. GSM has historically been slower but development was always MUCH faster for GSM devices, and GSM variants. And every time I get a new phone I go through this and end up back on CDMA with Sprint (plus cheap Verizon service, via roaming agreements) mainly because of the data speeds.
But T-mobile has an AMAZING new data network at least in my area (Chicago) that seems very impressive. Apparently the Vibrant can take advantage of HSPA+ up to 7.2MBPs which is faster than what I'm averaging now on wimax (although I understand the EVO got quite a boost in wimax speed with froyo as well). So the way I see it, Vibrant has the following things going for it:
+FROYO NOW (unofficial, but still its progress)
+Same data speeds
+Better overall developer community
+Gets 4G speeds IN BUILDINGS (to me, this is a HUGE advantage. Yes I understand there is still signal loss and therefore speed loss, but I'd imagine this is still much better than wimax dying after 2 inches of concrete or evdo's lower speed)
+TV Out
-No Keyboard
-No Front Camera (although supposedly this can be fixed if you're really risky)
-No Flash
-Entire network not 3G like Sprint's is, only some
-5GB "soft cap" (edge-only after 5gb)
I'm hoping the upload speed issue gets resolved. Also, I can't help but think the Epic MAY get left behind like the moment was in terms of updates. My friend has had a motorola cliq for about a year now and he's still stuck on 1.5-1.6 (they promised 2.1). I really don't want to commit to a phone for a year that may not be supported past a few months.

Not this topic again.

Please go get the Virbrant. It's a much better phone. It will make you much happier. Then you can talk of your love for the phone on the vibrant thread.

Yup. I say go get the Vibrant.

Sorry, I didn't necessarily see a thread (made AFTER both were out on the market for a week or so) actually comparing the two. This is not meant to slam the Epic (my current and possibly will remain my current) phone. If you notice there are both advantages AND disadvantages listed. I'm simply trying to get people's opinions, especially if there is something I missed. I think they are both great phones, just trying to decide between them. I don't generally get "attached" to hardware to the point that I'll try and "defend" or "attack" it, just trying to discuss it. If this thread still bothers you, by all means, there are many others.

Id say go for the Vibrant, because you are correct about the 3g data speeds, also even though we have wimax, it seems in alot of areas you need a damned directional antenna to get a signal, and you can pretty much forget about inside the house service. With tmobiles 3g, you dont have to worry about bad spots in a metropolitan area for the most part, and it penetrates houses MUCH better. Also, while the epic has great hardware, the battery life is horrendous, and the vibrants is a bit better.
Cons for the vibrant include no ffc, no flash, no keyboard (con for some), and no notification light. The absence of the latter is pretty stupid in my opinion.
Also, its not a 5gb cap, you have up to 10gb till getting throttled.

Thanks, I didn't know about the notification light missing. Also I've ONLY ever had CDMA phones. Quite a few of them on many different OS'es, but its hard to try and make an informed decision when you have no experience with the service. Not sure exactly what attributes about signal and penetration will change based on where I live and work. That's why I've got you guys/gals!

Go get a vibrant and make yourself happy. I am currently happy with the Epic and those issues that you have means that you must be extremely picky. Good luck.

I really don't care what you do but there's not an option for that in your poll.

please do.

go buy a vibrant and return your epic

There is a wonderful DEV team here that works their butts off to make these devices "all devices" better. Instead of throwing in the towel why don't you try their ROMs out, and donate if you can. Looking at the vibrant forums I see folks complain about other stuff so it doesn't much matter what you go with. Like I said not all phones are perfect.

agonzalez1010 said:
There is a wonderful DEV team here that works their butts off to make these devices "all devices" better. Instead of throwing in the towel why don't you try their ROMs out, and donate if you can. Looking at the vibrant forums I see folks complain about other stuff so it doesn't much matter what you go with. Like I said not all phones are perfect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the point everyone else is making albeit a bit less verbose. Sometimes people just need to go to the other side of the fence and see that even if the grass looks greener, it's still just as bitter.
And the Devs are terrific at what they do and it's awesome to see so much support for a phone less than a month old.

yeah the Epic community is not as large.. but i'm sure it will grow.
Do what makes you happy.. even if I vote it won't make a difference.
They are both good phones.. just don't get the facinate.. yuck.. lol

The problem with giving an answer to this question is that everyone's needs are different. My wife and I both plan to get an Epic in about a month or so (when our AT&T contract is up). The 3G upload cap will affect her much more than me because she likes to take pics/video and send them to Facebook, where I don't do that very much. I also work in a large metro area that will have 4G coverage, where my wife will (mostly) be in our home town that will not likely get 4G signal for quite a while yet. So I won't be as affected by the 3G cap as she would be. But this could be a deal-breaker for her.
My one gripe with the Vibrant is lack of flash for the camera. I don't mind the lack of the front facing camera or the keyboard. Those are "nice to haves" in my opinion. But I will never understand why a phone manufacturer would bother to put a 5MP (or higher) camera in a phone and not include a flash. It just baffles me. Surely, a flash doesn't add THAT much cost to the phone? It's the one downer about that phone for me, and it's something I will have to live with if things don't work out for us with the Epic. If it wasn't for the fact that I get a Sprint discount through work we'd likely be going with T-mobile, as their coverage is very good in our area.
I suspect that Sprint/Samsung will sort out the upload cap in the next month or two. It's a shame that this was even a problem upon release of the phone, but I think they will right this ship. Unfortunately, this means that folks who have their 30-day trial coming to an end soon will either have to jump ship or take a leap of faith. I feel bad for those people and am glad that I and my family have to wait a while to switch to Sprint so we don't have to be faced with the decision for a couple of months yet. Hopefully the fix will be out by then.
Good luck, whatever you decide!

greengoldmello said:
Cons for the vibrant include no ffc, no flash, no keyboard (con for some), and no notification light. The absence of the latter is pretty stupid in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The absence of a notification light would be a 100% dealbreaker for me. I had an iPhone for a single day and took it back immediately in part because of this, which I didn't realize ahead of time. I use my phone for both personal and business emails, and if I have to keep turning on the phone every ten minutes to manually check my email, then it's not worth having that phone...
This really should be a basic, required feature on any phone.

badasscat said:
The absence of a notification light would be a 100% dealbreaker for me. I had an iPhone for a single day and took it back immediately in part because of this, which I didn't realize ahead of time. I use my phone for both personal and business emails, and if I have to keep turning on the phone every ten minutes to manually check my email, then it's not worth having that phone...
This really should be a basic, required feature on any phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I meant by my previous post. Everyone has their own needs and none of us can really answer his question for him because of this. You need the notification light for your own reason, while I am used to not having a notification light and can live without it on future phones.
I don't think anyone but the OP can realistically answer the question because our answers will always be biased towards what we think is necessary on our own phones.

othan1 said:
That's the point everyone else is making albeit a bit less verbose. Sometimes people just need to go to the other side of the fence and see that even if the grass looks greener, it's still just as bitter.
And the Devs are terrific at what they do and it's awesome to see so much support for a phone less than a month old.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and I think this is mostly my issue. I've never been on the other side of the fence. I'd almost like to get a 2nd line for a month just to try it out... I have been coming to this site for years and if it wasn't for these wonderful developers (and the testers that provide useful feedback) these devices wouldn't be half as attractive as they are.
I too hope they get the upload issue sorted out, otherwise I do love this phone. I appreciate everyone's input (well, at least those who were helpful) and it will help me about when my 30 days is up and I have a decision to make (unless they fix it, PLEASE sprint!)
I'll consider the issue closed as I know have all the information I believe I need to make my decision, whatever it ends up being. Plus, something tells me if this goes on anymore I'll end up with more people who just get annoyed that I asked...

Another thing to consider, especially since you're in the midwest: WiMax might or might not have good indoor coverage today, but EVDO has pretty reliable coverage just about everywhere I've been (including Ohio and Pennsylvania). I'd seriously recommend asking some T-Mobile users who live in areas where you go a few times a year (parents, vacation spots, lakeside resorts, campgrounds, etc) how their 3G coverage is THERE. From what I've seen, T-Mobile has decent 3G coverage in Florida and California, but the more miles between you and the Atlantic or Pacific, the less likely you are to get reliable UMTS 3G from them. In many parts of the midwest, you'll be lucky to get EDGE. In quite a few shockingly non-rural areas, all you'll get is GPRS.
Don't just look at official "coverage" maps... get the Sensorly map viewer (which uses crowdsourcing to have users voluntarily sample signal strength in various areas and report it to them) and check the 3G coverage in specific places where you're likely to spend time (including malls, shopping centers, homes of friends and family members, etc). Sprint is far from perfect, but T-Mobile's 3G coverage looks horrifyingly ragged once you start zooming in to specific neighborhoods, regardless of how good it might look when you're zoomed out so a city the size of Chicago fills a 320x480 screen.
It's been years since Sprint has even *had* meaningful service as slow as GPRS (as in, Samsung SPH-i300 circa 2001-2002), but I can tell you... GPRS is about as close to useless as you can get. It's almost worse than no service at all, because at least when there's no service at all, you won't waste your time bothering to even try using it.
GPS wise, a stock Vibrant will never be more than a week or two ahead of a rooted Epic -- the moment any real fix gets released for the Vibrant, it'll get ripped and grafted onto Epics anyway. The same holds true in the other direction as well. How many hours did it take for Epic's GPS improvements to make their way onto rooted Vibrants? Like, maybe... 6?
The 150k EVDO cap is a bug, and I suspect the only reason it hasn't been fixed YET is because it probably requires taking a cell site down for maintenance, so Sprint is loath to do it outside of a regularly-scheduled maintenance window. Whatever phone you go with is going to be with you for at least another 10 months... do you really want to commit yourself to 9 of them based on a problem that's likely to resolve itself by the end of next month?
Also, don't forget that the Vibrant has only a small amount of "fast" flash, and relies on an internal microSD card for the other 16gb. On an Android phone, the only place slower than MicroSD for storage is a remote server accessed over the 'net.
In short, don't cut off your nose to spite your face... at least, not without spending some serious time researching what T-Mobile is like in the specific square blocks of land you care about. T-Mobile's best areas might be better than Sprint, but it's a lot worse than Sprint in quite a few more (especially the middle parts of the country, and more than a mile away from a transcontinental interstate highway). You'll be able to make voice calls & do text messages just about everywhere, thanks to roaming agreements with AT&T... but AFAIK, you can't roam on 3G, and I'm pretty sure AT&T won't allow you to roam on EDGE either. In contrast, Sprint can roam on Verizon and enjoy at least 1xRTT speeds anywhere Verizon has service. 1xRTT isn't fast, but there's a blurry line somewhere between "annoyingly slow" and "unusable" -- 1xRTT is somewhere on the good side, and GPRS is absolutely on the bad side of it.

Yes, the speed vs coverage issue is definitely something I'm weighing in my decision making. I don't travel OFTEN but when I do its most likely for work which means both voice AND data matter. Its very rare that I can't get EVDO even in the middle of nowhere (do they even HAVE 1x towers anymore?), only 1x when I have like 1 bar and the SNR is just too poor for EVDO. I am going to "do my best" to stick it out with sprint. Hopefully they can make up my mind for me before the 4th

[Q] Vibrant with weak/no signal strength, options?

I recently purchased a used Samsung Vibrant. Returning it is not an option at this point. Suffice to say, its not stolen, I've paid my idiot tax, and now I want to move on and try to make someting of the money I 've already wasted. If I had to do it over again, I'd buy a new one.
Basically, the phone unable to show enough signal strength to make a phone call or data connection. Now and then it may show one bar, most of the time no bars or a blue circle/slash icon. AFAIK, even without a SIM the phone should still connect for 911 service. After checking the phone and reading this forum I can verify the phone is running the stock firmware, is not currently rooted or unlocked. As I see it have the following options;
1. Attempt some of the firmware options I find available in this forum. I'm fairly experienced with flashing HTC phones, especially the Touch Cruise, with various radios and Android builds. There seem to be many choices, I'm not sure which to start with but prefer stability over bleeding edge.
2. Contact Samsung support for possible repair, either warranty or at cost. If this is a know simple issue and would cost around $100 or so I'd considering it worth it.
3. Take it to T-mobile and see if I missed something obvious.
4. Slap my self on the back of the head for a bone-head choice, and use my repair money toward a mytouch. At least its Android.
Any helpful suggestions?
Thanks,
Nomedias

New JI6 OTA fixes signal problems
Also avoid palming the phone in left hand on a weak signal, covering the bottom left corner your signal strength drops.. Ive personally only seen this effects data not voice

demo23019 said:
New JI6 OTA fixes signal problems
Also avoid palming the phone in left hand on a weak signal, covering the bottom left corner your signal strength drops.. Ive personally only seen this effects data not voice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the directions at forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=732458 to update to JI6 update. The problem is still there. FYI, the only 512.pit I can find is the one included with the stock ROM. Is that good or is there a more recent one I couldn't find mention of?

you dont need to update pit file. its the same that you already have

demo23019 said:
you dont need to update pit file. its the same that you already have
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that makes sense.
An update on the issue. I changed the screen timeout to 10 minutes, then set it down. After a couple minutes it might get 2-3 bars (-95 to -105 dBm), but the moment I pick it up it drops to nothing. And no I'm not using a deathgrip, and other phones I have get a solid signal, also on T-mobile. I'm thinking I gonna contact Samsung tomorrow and see what repair options I have, if any.
Thanks for the assist.

Nomedias said:
Thanks, that makes sense.
An update on the issue. I changed the screen timeout to 10 minutes, then set it down. After a couple minutes it might get 2-3 bars (-95 to -105 dBm), but the moment I pick it up it drops to nothing. And no I'm not using a deathgrip, and other phones I have get a solid signal, also on T-mobile. I'm thinking I gonna contact Samsung tomorrow and see what repair options I have, if any.
Thanks for the assist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't have to be death grip it happens just by covering the bottom left side...like i said in my OP just palming in left hand can cause this.
This only happens when you're on a weak signal.
I have this problem even on JI6 you have to hold phone certain way so you're not blocking antenna with hand.
This happens to me at home but noticed when i get real strong signal on the road or at girlfriends house it doesn't happen
I'm pretty sure nothing is wrong with your phone i think its just a design flaw on the vibrant
BTW here is an old post i made few weeks back before understanding what was actually going on
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=791058
EDIT
hey if you do find a solution with Samsung over the phone could you give me a heads up/PM on what they had you do?

demo23019 said:
......
This only happens when you're on a weak signal.
......
hey if you do find a solution with Samsung over the phone could you give me a heads up/PM on what they had you do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that also follows. FYI, I get a strong signal with other phones at my location using my SIM, even on unlocked AT&T phones. However the Vibrant never gets better than -95 dBm.
I've already sent an email to Samsung support. I'll post an update once that is resolved.
Nomedias

Nomedias said:
Yeah, that also follows. FYI, I get a strong signal with other phones at my location using my SIM, even on unlocked AT&T phones. However the Vibrant never gets better than -95 dBm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you my nexus and diamond never had this problem.
What i was getting at is the vibrant antenna is **** or just a bad designed flaw.
and requires "stronger" signal
Anyways from my understanding there still isn't a real solution for this... but i know JI6 helps
but now battery drains faster because of the new JI6 modem

demo23019 said:
I agree with you my nexus and diamond never had this problem.
What i was getting at is the vibrant antenna is **** or just a bad designed flaw.
and requires "stronger" signal
Anyways from my understanding there still isn't a real solution for this... but i know JI6 helps
but now battery drains faster because of the new JI6 modem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you talking about? The Nexus One and ESPECIALLY the Diamond has typical HTC garbage cell reception. My Vibrant has excellent reception, better than the new G2 with it's antenna at the top (don't cover it, you'll switch over to EDGE) If there is something wrong with yours you should get that checked out!

heygrl said:
What are you talking about? The Nexus One and ESPECIALLY the Diamond has typical HTC garbage cell reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea ok what ever you say
heygrl said:
If there is something wrong with yours you should get that checked out!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing wrong with mine, like i said before ...
This happens to me at home but noticed when i get real strong signal on the road or at girlfriends house it doesn't happen
its a known issue with vibrant phones..even yours
Just not as noticeable the closer you're to cell towers

demo23019 said:
Yea ok what ever you say
There is nothing wrong with mine, its a known issue with vibrant phones..even yours
Just not as noticeable the closer you're to cell towers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know this because?
1) No, I am NOT near any cell towers
2) Took my Vibrant out to the interstate, had EXCELLENT reception - better than my other T-Mobile phones.
3) Like I said, next to the G2 the Vibrant reports a far better signal
4) if it's not reporting anything higher than -95dBm you have a serious problem. That's probably why it was for sale. Lots of people like unloading junk. It's still under warranty, get a new one from T-Mobile.

this is my 2nd phone not for that reason but old one did same, my friends does same when tested in same spots..ect my phone is fine
considering im in a spotty 3g area even states this on tmobile site on map..
Im talking about about data here not voice...i drop to Edge 3-4 bars when i cover the bottom left i dont lose signal completed. I think there is miss communication between us
=

demo23019 said:
this is my 2nd phone not for that reason but old one did same, my friends does same when tested in same spots..ect my phone is fine
considering im in a spotty 3g area even states this on tmobile site on map..
Im talking about about data here not voice...i drop to Edge 3-4 bars when i cover the bottom left i dont lose signal completed. I think there is miss communication between us
=
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what does spotty 3G coverage have to do with the phone?

OMG forget it

UPDATE...
Called Samsung support today. The phone is still under warranty, so they issued an RMA number and sent me a UPS label via email. I'll ship it to them and as long as it isn't due to physical damage, it will be covered at no cost to me.
As expected I had to go through the usual steps such as making sure I had a good signal where I was on another phone. Once it was clear it was either a hardware issue or a problem with the software I can't resolve, they had no problem with an RMA. FYI, I was up front about it being purchased from another T-mobile customer, but this did not appear to be an issue.
This is my first time dealing with Samsung support, and all things considered I'm feeling very positive right now. I deal with tech support lines alot in my job and so far I'm happy. Will update when I get the phone back.
Nomedias

I really want to buy this phone... But when I google around, I find tons of forum threads like this and youtube videos like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEnYzEjjwM
Not too encouraging....
heygrl, you seem to be the only one here who is extremely happy with your reception, so it's hard for me to take your word for it!
Is there any natural way to hold this phone without making the signal drop? The bigger problem for me is that I'm on Wind Mobile, which does not have an EDGE network. So if I lose 3G, I lose my signal alltogether.
I could buy a Motorola XT720... But the screen is just incomparable to the Vibrant

Faruk88 said:
I really want to buy this phone... But when I google around, I find tons of forum threads like this and youtube videos like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEnYzEjjwM
Not too encouraging....
heygrl, you seem to be the only one here who is extremely happy with your reception, so it's hard for me to take your word for it!
Is there any natural way to hold this phone without making the signal drop? The bigger problem for me is that I'm on Wind Mobile, which does not have an EDGE network. So if I lose 3G, I lose my signal alltogether.
I could buy a Motorola XT720... But the screen is just incomparable to the Vibrant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read the poll 6 people suggested that the OP try a different firmware. Listed in the JI6 bug fixes
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa...ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=560&AT_ID=341559
Radio: 3G antenna bar patch
SNS Sync: The interval value for synchronizing has been changed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering the fact that this thread has low replies after the JI6 firmware has dropped and the fact that it sounds like a problem with this particular device, This thread proves much of nothing. The only people that have problems are the ones that complain.

Believe me, I'd be happy to buy this phone if I knew for sure that reception wouldn't be a problem... But seriously, 3g antenna bar patch? That's so Apple-esque. It does nothing to fix the underlying issue that people are having, which is a 20dBm drop in signal when holding the phone at the bottom.
Edit: 30dBm in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYzI2j3A78E (-81dBm to -111dBm)
It seems hard to believe that Samsung could have let something like this slip...

Faruk88 said:
Believe me, I'd be happy to buy this phone if I knew for sure that reception wouldn't be a problem... But seriously, 3g antenna bar patch? That's so Apple-esque. It does nothing to fix the underlying issue that people are having, which is a 20dBm drop in signal when holding the phone at the bottom.
Edit: 30dBm in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYzI2j3A78E (-81dBm to -111dBm)
It seems hard to believe that Samsung could have let something like this slip...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem was with the bars. It reflected a much poorer level of service. It's hard to tell someone that has no idea how the signal is measured why their service isn't gone or bad because you have "0 bars". The Vibrant only went to -81dBm and that was obviously wrong because the Android system should reflect -dBm up until -51. -0dBm is an amazing signal, which we'll never see on any phone. It would often bounce between -111dBm and -0dBm when it showed no bars of coverage. I don't know how many more times I have to explain this.
The bars WE'RE wrong. People took this to mean that their reception was bad when in reality there was nothing wrong with it. You can't explain this to everyone because they won't understand it or care. You could go into Samsung's service menu to see actual -dBm reception because the bars we're broken and so was the Android readout.

Yes I'm an engineer so I know that 0dBm is a gain of 1 and therefore an amazing signal. However, Android just displays 0dBm when it loses service, NOT when it has a perfect signal (obviously this is technically incorrect, but this is what they chose for whatever reason).
And why was it wrong that the Vibrant in the video started off at -81dBm? That's a pretty reasonable value to have indoors.
But even if it should have started off at -51dBm instead of -81dBm, it doesn't matter because that can easily be fixed with a software patch. What CAN'T be fixed with a software patch is the 20-30dBm DROP in signal when the phone is held. So instead of my phone dropping from -81dBm to -111dBm, it will drop from -51dBm to -81dBm. Are you telling me that's supposed to be a good "fix"?
What's more concerning of course, is in low signal environments, where you can lose service alltogether. Sometimes I pull my Samsung phone out of my pocket and it shows "No Service" for a few seconds, until it gets connected to the network again. (what I'm trying to say is that it loses service in my pocket)
If I don't hear anything more convincing, I'm probably gonna go ahead and order a cheap MyTouch Slide... Way inferior to this phone, but at least it's nearly half the price and I can be confident about my reception.

[Q] Reception/Connection issues severe/widespread?

Hi G2 users. I'm torn about buying this phone. I've played with it at the store and love the keyboard, speed, looks, and build quality. However, I've seen comments in this forum and others and in some reviews that the G2 has difficulty getting/maintaining a signal. (I've seen similar reports for the desire z). Though, it does seem like these reports were more common in October than in November. Was the issue addressed (by updates or replacement hardware?) or did users just get used to the issue and decide to focus on the phone's strengths? Or, was the issue never that widespread to begin with?
No matter how great the features of the G2 are, I don't think I could put up with the frustration of not being able to depend on it working when I needed it to. So, what's your experience been? (Interested in everyone's experiences, but would especially love to hear any comments from anyone in the New York City area.)
Also, as I'm new to T-Mobile, I'm curious if building penetration at such high frequencies is an issue I should be concerned about. I know Sprint's Wi-Max is using even higher frequencies, but I've read some very daunting tales about it's lack of building penetration.
Thanks very much for your help.

My experience has been meh. WiFi calling has made my experience better than I could ever have hoped for though.
Any signal issues are probably t-mobile's fault IMO.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.

I have a TP2 and a G2.. the TP2 has better reception than the G2.. the G2 slips a bit from the TP2.. with my TP2 inside my house, i will always have 4 bars (max).. with my G2, it'll switch between 3 & 4 bars.
also, it seems like data connection hangs randomly at times (data icon (H) stays lit tho).. not sure why this happens.. i don't have random data hang ups with my TP2.

My G2 has had absolutely worthless internet lately. I am getting quite pissed off that I'm spending the money on a data plan, I understand it sucks in my house, but when I am out around town I still barely get a signal. I'm literally getting speeds like 15kbps.

theratdude64 said:
My G2 has had absolutely worthless internet lately. I am getting quite pissed off that I'm spending the money on a data plan, I understand it sucks in my house, but when I am out around town I still barely get a signal. I'm literally getting speeds like 15kbps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u must be away from a HSPA+ tower.. i pull in 8mbps with my G2.

It used to do about 3500 down was my best... now it's WORTHLESS. I can barely even check a website for a phone number all over town where it used to work.

theratdude64 said:
It used to do about 3500 down was my best... now it's WORTHLESS. I can barely even check a website for a phone number all over town where it used to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
must be your towers.. they might be temporarily down, or your being throttled until your next billing cycle.

I just switched from a Nexus One, which can't hold a single worth crap. My G2 hasn't switched to EDGE at all and I get great speeds on HSPA+. Granted, T-Mobile has my area fully covered for HSPA+. I haven't taken it up into the mountains, yet, with it being winter here in Utah.

I'm in Brooklyn, so the reception is good outside, but once I get home, where I have only about 1 or 2 bars with edge and 3G, it will drop the signal sometimes. Sometimes even while texting, it will drop the signal, and will have to wait until the phone gains reception to send the message.

In Light of NS4G Signal Problems - Advice Wanted

Hey guys, I'm wondering what actions Sprint or Google will take if the radio problems on the Nexus S 4G end up being hardware problems or NOT fixable via OTA update. Will there be a recall of the device? Hardware replacements? Will it be covered under Samsung's manufacturer warranty?
In other words, I'm just wondering if I should return/exchange it before I might be stuck with a device with faulty hardware.

My ns4g works just fine id exchange it of I were you.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

Had same problems, took it back waiting on evo 3d. I've never had good luck with Samsung phones.

Mine works great also. Take yours back. Bye.

I'm really happy for you that you're not experiencing any problems on your devices, but the fact remains that a lot of people are. My 3g speeds are slower and 4G coverage seems to be a lot harder to connect to than it did on my EVO. (Granted, I don't have the EVO to compare it to anymore) My signal over time is around -86 or -90 dbm and sometimes drops down (or above?) 100 or so. I've also noticed that the signal bars sometimes drop to 0 and/or I lose 3G and return to 1X.
Anyway, back to the main point, I just want to know how Samsung/Sprint/Google will handle returns or warranty replacements if it's not fixable via OTA update

Im sure a new update will include a radio to handle the -dm spectrum and data. Sprint is not known for the fastest internet out there so that is something to consider. If you are within your 30 days take it back. If not, go thru the proper channels and be polite. You will get it replaced or something will be done. If your phone is unusable, they cant make you keep it. Verizon has good 3g, but then again, i live on the outskirts of a major city. All about provider and location. Have you had missed calls or dropped calls? I think the reception is no worse than any other. It is just displayed differently.
Uncle Jimmy says hello

Switching carriers isn't really an option. My family pays for my plan and we've been with Sprint for 11 years or so. Honestly, I'm pretty happy with Sprint. I'm just on the fence about this phone. If anything, I'll go for the EVO3D and be happy with that. I had a good time on my EVO. I'm sure it won't be problem free with a hardware version 1, but there's a few things I like about the 3D more than the Nexus and vice versa.
Anyway, thanks for the response

I simply contact via chat on their page. They had me update the profile then update the PRL - during which the reset my connection on their end. I was instructed that after an hour I should see improvement with signal. Sure enough it seems to be working fine now. So give that a shot. Also the agent I chatted with instantly went to solving the issue without the need for me to describe in any detail of the signal issue. It was like he new how to resolve the issue. So maybe sprint has updated their profiles and PRL which resolves the issue. But from the chat he was particular about me following the steps to update from his prompts like he was performing action on his end.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

Do you by chance have the transcript from the webchat? I'm kinda curious to see it (Not that I don't believe you)
Oh, also... I exchanged my 2nd Nexus for a new one today because of a weird issue that the phone would lock up/freeze with a really dark, greenish tint and only showing part of the screen (Not sure if it was the screen or the whole system) and I'd have to battery pull to get it back.
Anyway... while I was there the Best Buy manager(?) said I wouldn't be able to exchange it for the Evo3D if I decided I didn't like the Nexus? But doesn't exchanging renew the 30 days?

gmap516 said:
Do you by chance have the transcript from the webchat? I'm kinda curious to see it (Not that I don't believe you)
Oh, also... I exchanged my 2nd Nexus for a new one today because of a weird issue that the phone would lock up/freeze with a really dark, greenish tint and only showing part of the screen (Not sure if it was the screen or the whole system) and I'd have to battery pull to get it back.
Anyway... while I was there the Best Buy manager(?) said I wouldn't be able to exchange it for the Evo3D if I decided I didn't like the Nexus? But doesn't exchanging renew the 30 days?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does not renew the 30 days.

But can I return it, buy a phone off contract, and regain my upgrade?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

This is a topic I love discussing. I can tell you from my nexus experience it does in fact get worse service than the EVO. It seems the same as what I got on the epic though. I live in a basement apartment so reception is something I am very aware of at home. I even exchanged my first nexus at the direction of sprint. While in best buy I sat my nexus next to the reps evo, his had full bars, -76 dBm, mine had 0-1 bar and dBm was -9x. He activated the new nexus and it was exactly the same. There is a reception issue with the nexus, the same reception issue ALL samsung galaxy phones have. I had a fascinate for a short time, got rid of it cus it got crappy reception. Same with the vibrant I had. Blame it on what you want, its a fact. With that being said, I think it is being blown out of proportion. I have noticed that most people complaining about the reception are coming from the EVO.

gmap516 said:
But can I return it, buy a phone off contract, and regain my upgrade?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, you can do that. If the reception is THAT bad I would. Im sure there will some sort of update to address the issue, I seriously doubt it will help that much though.

I want to point out one thing that should be kept in mind for anyone coming from the Evo:
The HTC software on the Evo was programmed to overstate the connection strength in terms of bars, and was not even capable of displaying switches to 1x.
AOSP-based icons in the display area seem to be overall much more accurate. I remember there were lots of people on the Evo who would get upset after flashing CyanogenMod because they were "only getting 1x all of a sudden!" when in reality they were always only getting 1x, HTC just displayed the 3G icon anyway no matter what the connection type was. Same for the bars: pretty much any working signal would get you 3+ bars.
I am not saying there is no possibility of legitimate signal issues with the NS4G (I wouldn't know first-hand, I switched to T-Mobile), but the above should be considered when evaluating vague reports of "I only get one bar and my Evo got 4 bars and i only get 1x and my Evo got 3g!!!!"
Also, for the last 4 months Sprint has been doing major, major work on their network. Speeds and connections varied wildly. Ultimately that was why I switched to T-Mobile; the constant dips in speed were just too much for me, even though I know Sprint's network will be better for it in the long run. So there is also the distinct possibility that any poor signal people might see is due to nothing more than network fluctuations.
The really get this ironed out, we would need to see multiple people in multiple locations testing both speed and signal strength using multiple methods, on both an Evo and a NS4G, side by side, over and over, and see the Evo (or any other Sprint phone) continuously demonstrating a clearly superior connection.
At that point I think we'd all pretty much concede that there is a major problem with the NS4G. Short of that, it's really just speculation.

matt2053 said:
I want to point out one thing that should be kept in mind for anyone coming from the Evo:
The HTC software on the Evo was programmed to overstate the connection strength in terms of bars, and was not even capable of displaying switches to 1x.
AOSP-based icons in the display area seem to be overall much more accurate. I remember there were lots of people on the Evo who would get upset after flashing CyanogenMod because they were "only getting 1x all of a sudden!" when in reality they were always only getting 1x, HTC just displayed the 3G icon anyway no matter what the connection type was. Same for the bars: pretty much any working signal would get you 3+ bars.
I am not saying there is no possibility of legitimate signal issues with the NS4G (I wouldn't know first-hand, I switched to T-Mobile), but the above should be considered when evaluating vague reports of "I only get one bar and my Evo got 4 bars and i only get 1x and my Evo got 3g!!!!"
Also, for the last 4 months Sprint has been doing major, major work on their network. Speeds and connections varied wildly. Ultimately that was why I switched to T-Mobile; the constant dips in speed were just too much for me, even though I know Sprint's network will be better for it in the long run. So there is also the distinct possibility that any poor signal people might see is due to nothing more than network fluctuations.
The really get this ironed out, we would need to see multiple people in multiple locations testing both speed and signal strength using multiple methods, on both an Evo and a NS4G, side by side, over and over, and see the Evo (or any other Sprint phone) continuously demonstrating a clearly superior connection.
At that point I think we'd all pretty much concede that there is a major problem with the NS4G. Short of that, it's really just speculation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good points. My argument is Ive had the EVO and NS4G in the same house, the EVO worked 100% in here, mms, web all of it. I cant make a call or send a text with my NS4G without the airave I had to buy when I got the NS4G. But, the same applied to my epic. It got terrible service in here also.
Lets just hope the update Ive seen mentioned will address signal and not free tethering

mikeyinid said:
Very good points. My argument is Ive had the EVO and NS4G in the same house, the EVO worked 100% in here, mms, web all of it. I cant make a call or send a text with my NS4G without the airave I had to buy when I got the NS4G. But, the same applied to my epic. It got terrible service in here also.
Lets just hope the update Ive seen mentioned will address signal and not free tethering
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't wish to invalidate your experience; I definitely believe you. But because there could be so many, many factors involved it is not really enough for ME to conclude that there is a fundamental flaw with the NS4G. But if a few people were able to perform the tests I mentioned, that might convince me (and maybe some folks at Google, too)!

matt2053 said:
I don't wish to invalidate your experience; I definitely believe you. But because there could be so many, many factors involved it is not really enough for ME to conclude that there is a fundamental flaw with the NS4G. But if a few people were able to perform the tests I mentioned, that might convince me (and maybe some folks at Google, too)!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not saying there is anything wrong with the NS4G. Im saying its samsung phones in general...

It's not a problem on the i9020.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

There was an android central, engadget, or phandroid article doing multiple tests in multiple locations between an Epic and a NS4G. The Epic displayed huge differences in data speed. Do a search on those sites and you'll find the article eventually.
I also remember a thread on the Google forums with hundreds of people in various locations performing tests.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

gmap516 said:
There was an android central, engadget, or phandroid article doing multiple tests in multiple locations between an Epic and a NS4G. The Epic displayed huge differences in data speed. Do a search on those sites and you'll find the article eventually.
I also remember a thread on the Google forums with hundreds of people in various locations performing tests.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read that Engadget article. They said they couldn't narrow down a signal problem to the NS4G.
They got faster WiMax speed on the Epic, but that has nothing to do with phone signal, which is what is at question.

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Troll of the day
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.