Database Users

Switching from 3G to 2G giving me better reception? or is it just me?

T-Mobile in my area is shown as the best they have on their coverage map, but my calls always get dropped
I'm still under my 30 days and I want them to somehow boost up my reception because I seriously want to keep the HD2.
It might just be me, but when I turn off my 3G signal, my 2G coverage is almost perfect, but I still get occasional dropped calls. Is it just me?
And also, do any of those signal booster stickers work? Should I try foil?
I am open to all comment and suggestions..thanks

i usually leave my phone on GSM (2g) through the band properties because it saves battery, and yes i do get more bars. in some locations my 3g or H connection is just as strong.
Not sure about boosters, i heard that the antenna is located at the base of the phone though.

stickers are a scam.
I can't believe those stickers are still available.
Dropped Calls are almost inevitable with today's technology.
2G and 3G coverage are different. if you have trouble with 3G at your location, simply turn it off in order to ensure a stronger connection and more stability during phone calls.

where do you turn off your 3G on a stock HD2?

adamhlj said:
where do you turn off your 3G on a stock HD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
settings-->wireless controls-->click phone(not on/off)-->band-->choose gsm

Tmobile is still rolling out it's 3g coverage, so it makes sense that their 3g is not nearly as available as 2g.
Furthermore, Tmobile's 2G frequencies are lower than 3G so they penetrate better.

Svegetto said:
Tmobile is still rolling out it's 3g coverage, so it makes sense that their 3g is not nearly as available as 2g.
Furthermore, Tmobile's 2G frequencies are lower than 3G so they penetrate better.
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Click to collapse
Lawl.....I am so tempted to use the internet meme here but.....ah well.

Svegetto said:
Furthermore, Tmobile's 2G frequencies are lower than 3G so they penetrate better.
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Click to collapse
Could you elaborate on that? Curious about the science behind "higher" and "lower" frequency penetration on the different bands...

htc707 said:
T-Mobile in my area is shown as the best they have on their coverage map, but my calls always get dropped
I'm still under my 30 days and I want them to somehow boost up my reception because I seriously want to keep the HD2.
It might just be me, but when I turn off my 3G signal, my 2G coverage is almost perfect, but I still get occasional dropped calls. Is it just me?
And also, do any of those signal booster stickers work? Should I try foil?
I am open to all comment and suggestions..thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call them and tell them your problem. T-Mobile's help desk has always been amazing for me and perhaps they know something that you don't.
If all else fails, you can use the call to drop your contract without penalties. I'd much rather have an older phone that works than a new one that doesn't!

Snarksneeze said:
Could you elaborate on that? Curious about the science behind "higher" and "lower" frequency penetration on the different bands...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's just the basic physics of RF signals...the lower the frequency, the higher the penetration capability (as a general rule of thumb). Same generally holds true for sound frequencies as well.

I don't get dropped calls at all on T-Mobile here in NY (AT&T is a different story).
However, especially indoros, 2G signal is generally stronger than 3G.

Snarksneeze said:
Could you elaborate on that? Curious about the science behind "higher" and "lower" frequency penetration on the different bands...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to give you some very simple insight (you can always google it if you'd like detail explanation; it's actually quite simple, I just don't want to have to type all of it). In simplest terms, Tmobile 3g runs on 1700 and 2100 which is much higher then its 2g which runs on 850. Lower frequencies don't go as far, but have better penetration.
If you'd like another way to think about it, think of when you hear someone playing music from a good stereo system in a building. You'll likely only be able to hear/feel the bass because it's able to penetrate the walls and you won't hear the the actual lyrics/treble because that's higher frequencies.
Hope this helps

T-Mobile 2G runs on PCS, always has and always will.
The reason for 3G not being as strong can be a number of things, the reception on the HD2 really doesn't seem to be good and the 3G network buildout is incomplete at the moment as mentioned before in this thread.

gsvnet said:
I don't get dropped calls at all on T-Mobile here in NY (AT&T is a different story).
However, especially indoros, 2G signal is generally stronger than 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only dropped calls when in my poor reception apartment. It seems to be worse at keeping a signal than my HTC Dream.
However it still bugs me that the HD2 doesn't scan or update quick enough when I exit the metro. It might say I have full 3g, but it won't let me call for a few minutes. Sometimes it will decide to disconnect from the signal and reconnect even when I haven't moved to a weaker area and it's still full 3g bars. I'm also in NYC/Manhattan.

update
The data services with this phone are also going under maintenance soon, basically the software of the phone has a defect within the radio, HTC is releasing an update on May 17th to help fix this, you might see some luck having a better connection this way, but everyone is right about the different types of signals, the fact lies that there are 2 towers for each spot, the 2G network is more established where the 3G towers might not have as good of a penetration because they use a higher frequency.

Confirmation
My apartment has terrible reception. My signal will go out for about 5 mins then come back with only 1-2 bars. I turned off 3G and now my 2G signal remains around 1-3 bars with no blackouts so far (3 days).
Its just a minor hassle to remember to switch back to 3G when I go out.

firedragon64 said:
The data services with this phone are also going under maintenance soon, basically the software of the phone has a defect within the radio, HTC is releasing an update on May 17th to help fix this, you might see some luck having a better connection this way, but everyone is right about the different types of signals, the fact lies that there are 2 towers for each spot, the 2G network is more established where the 3G towers might not have as good of a penetration because they use a higher frequency.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you find this out? I really want an update, the hardware is great, but the phone quality is horrible sometimes due to all my daily location (and reception) changes.

aceo07 said:
Where did you find this out? I really want an update, the hardware is great, but the phone quality is horrible sometimes due to all my daily location (and reception) changes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
This would be great news if it's true (and actually addresses the issues)....has the date (or even the release itself) been substantiated at all?

X10a dropping 3G?

Has anyone else had an issue with having the phone drop out of 3G coverage, and not want to reconnect by itself?
It seems to me as if when there is no 3G coverage it falls back onto GPRS and doesnt check if 3G is available.
I've set it to WCDMA (3G) only mode just to get on 3G, but it sucks cause I have no fallback and am out out of coverage often enough to take some advantage of GPRS.
Also 3G signal seems pretty weak compared to my HTC Magic in same locations...
Any ideas?

Might be something about your area, I haven't lost 3G once since I got my phone.

Once I put it on 3G only mode it seems to be alright but the odd building I wont have anything cause I have no GPRS to go to unless I manually switch it back and forth.
Maybe I'll call up rogers tech support and see if theres any known issues, but usually Im more informed then they are. :S

I have had this problem, for the first week or so the 3G was rock solid and i was getting pretty good speeds. Then things started playing up and Orange in the UK told me to switch to GSM only, data speeds sucked big time, timescape would fail to update etc etc. So i called up and they are sending a replacement handset out.
The 3G coverage where i live and work is excellent according to the Orange website, so there shouldn't be any issues there.
I could not put up with the slower internet speeds, so i hope it was just a duff handset.

i drove across the US and i had 3g where there were 3g and it was on edge where there weren't any 3g. it went back to 3g once i reached 3g area.
my setting is on gsm/wcdma preferred.
i dunno why yours isn't going back up to 3g in a strong 3g area ??

which carrier are you with?

Rogers in Canada

i would check with your carrier and see a map of coverage. did you get the phone from them?
the only other way is to repair the phone. but losing 3G in a 3G covered area is the first i've heard from the X10. i've heard that the NEXUS ONE has somewhat of the same issue....

Well I know the coverage is there because when the phone is set to WCDMA (3G) only mode, I will have coverage. But when it is set to dual mode, as soon as it drops to GSM it seems like it doesn't even bother checking or reverting back to 3G, even though I am back in 3G coverage.

i'd probably talk to the carrier about it and troubleshoot it. maybe you can see if the phone is defective or not by doing that. and hopefully get a new device.

arcticreaver said:
i'd probably talk to the carrier about it and troubleshoot it. maybe you can see if the phone is defective or not by doing that. and hopefully get a new device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol troubleshooting with rogers is like putting a sawed off 12 guage in your mouth and pulling the trigger...

wow rogers service is that bad?

yup sadly. I have dealt with all the majors in North america (even worked for att) and rogers is THE WORST.
"power concedes nothing without a demand. it never did. it never will."
They have been the premier carrier in canada for many years, only recently has telus been catching up. So now they're changing... but they still hire idiots for tech support.
Case in point, instead of giving me apn settings they said my x1 was defective. Found the apn settings and x1 worked perfectly.

Ive had pretty good luck with rogers so far, and I've worked for all the big carriers.
I think with tech support its really hit and miss but id have to say bell is probably the worst for issues, account and phone related...
IMO ...
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

Funny you said that, I just was toying with my X10 (running on AT&T in Bay area, bought from Rogers Wireless) and its doing the same. Once it goes to Edge, doesnt bother to check for the 3G.. hmmmm.... let me play a bit more.. if i find something .. i will update !!

I lost 3G while in a tunnel today, lots my radio stream and it went Edge, once I was back in the clear it recovered properly.
The program Power Manager, has a 2G / 3G toggle on it, maybe you can use that to force switch it back if its not auto switching.

Ya that would probably work, I'll try it out. Thanks
I was just hoping for fix rather than a work around, lol :S

midnight79 said:
Funny you said that, I just was toying with my X10 (running on AT&T in Bay area, bought from Rogers Wireless) and its doing the same. Once it goes to Edge, doesnt bother to check for the 3G.. hmmmm.... let me play a bit more.. if i find something .. i will update !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my rogers on us atnt switches back to 3g. is it because the 3g signal where you are is weak so it just stays on the stronger edge signal ?
cause i swear i drove from somewhere with 3g though many many parts without 3g and now i have 3g again. strange.....

I can go to a location where i know there is full 3G coverage (by switching to 3G only mode) but it wont switch back after being dropped (down to EDGE in low coverage) but it doesn't want go back to 3G by itself for whatever reason?

dan.expo said:
I can go to a location where i know there is full 3G coverage (by switching to 3G only mode) but it wont switch back after being dropped (down to EDGE in low coverage) but it doesn't want go back to 3G by itself for whatever reason?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HSPA+ Upgrades going on in Red Deer/Lacombe

Network issues?

Anyone else seeing the slide jumping from E to G to 3G consistently? This may be a local issue (hoping) though, I never had this issue with my Cliq in the same exact areas this is happening (ie; home, work etc)
Nothing debilitating, just weird seeing it jump around so often.

none of that on the 3g slide. 3g holds pretty damn strong here in hawaii.

Mine did, my solution: download anycut from the market, make new short cut activity phone info.. in there switch from wcdma prefered to wcdma only (or gsm only if you want edge instead of 3g) in there you can also turn off your radio there

ah hah! Awesome, thank you

So far so good here in Antioch, California. 3g is stable compared to other phone.

I too have actually seen this happen. All over the place from GPRS to EDGE to 3G then back to GPRS. I haven't seen it get fixed yet from my reboot. I also noticed it gets a little worse reception then I did one my G1.

hobbiteer said:
I too have actually seen this happen. All over the place from GPRS to EDGE to 3G then back to GPRS. I haven't seen it get fixed yet from my reboot. I also noticed it gets a little worse reception then I did one my G1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May it is the place you live in and does not have good 3G coverage

vikramdhani said:
May it is the place you live in and does not have good 3G coverage
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Click to collapse
I won't deny that possibility. I live in NJ... it's not the best coverage to start. But my G1 was doing well enough. Still, I'm sure I could do with better coverage for the WCDMA/UMTS

hobbiteer said:
I won't deny that possibility. I live in NJ... it's not the best coverage to start. But my G1 was doing well enough. Still, I'm sure I could do with better coverage for the WCDMA/UMTS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The G1 had a great radio. My Nexus One and my new MT3G Slide seem to be a notch below the G1 in terms of pulling in a weak signal. In my office in Cherry Hill, both phones will bounce from 3G to EDGE to "no signal", where the G1 always consistently held a 3G signal.

Question for ATT users

I currently have the the G2 on the T-mobile network. I frequently switch back and forth between 3G and Edge which is driving me nuts. Is this a phone issue or a network issue? Do people with the Desire Z on the ATT network have the same issue?

Its a network issue with your location, It happens on any phone including the iPhone. Its if the carrier has that service available where you are.

I am located in Minneapolis which supposedly has very good T-mobile 3G coverage. A friend of mine who has a G1 on T-mobile here in Minneapolis always sees solid 3G. This makes me wonder whether this is a phone issue. Flashing the 17 radio did improve reception, but not satisfactorily. Could any ATT users share their experience?

I mean, the phone and radio and rom will play a factor somewhat in it but not that much. To be fair, edge and 3G dont have too much a difference in speed or at least not here in Florida, but i run 4G almost everywhere anyways.

GermanGuy said:
I currently have the the G2 on the T-mobile network. I frequently switch back and forth between 3G and Edge which is driving me nuts. Is this a phone issue or a network issue? Do people with the Desire Z on the ATT network have the same issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the MOST part, this is a network issue. The phone Radio will have an impact on the quality of cell signal you get but the network carries the most weight. Not all phones are created equal as far as reception goes. My DZ is average. Its not great like my previous BB Bold was but doesn't drop calls like my gf's phone.
I do on occasion drop from 3G to Edge but only when I'm in rural areas. I work in a jail on occasion and of course the concrete walls aren't great for cell signal. I usually switch from 3G to Edge when I'm there because Edge just holds the signal better rather than the phone killing itself trying to find a solid 3G signal.
Also, like the other user mentioned, 3G and Edge aren't night and day per-say. For example, sometimes Edge can be FASTER depending on how much traffic is on the network at that time. I experienced this on a day trip to San Francisco. With 3 gazillion Iphones in the city, I couldn't get my phone to connect to anything with 3G. When I switched to Edge, it was moving steady no problem...
Just my 2 cents.

Is Negri Electronics still the cheapest place to buy the Desire Z NAM or are there other sites with better offers? I checked ebay and all the phones there are more expensive when you calculate in shipping.

Possible Fix
Here is one thing that may fix the problem, as it has for me. Set your phone to WCDMA only by dialing *#*#4636#*#* . A menu will then appear. Select Phone Information. Change Set Preferred Network Type to WCDMA Only.
Hope this helps!

KingAndroid said:
Here is one thing that may fix the problem, as it has for me. Set your phone to WCDMA only by dialing *#*#4636#*#* . A menu will then appear. Select Phone Information. Change Set Preferred Network Type to WCDMA Only.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, already tried that as well, but then I lose connection completely intermittently instead of switching between edge and 3G.

Are u running a custom rom? Check ur apn
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

m0bstar said:
To be fair, edge and 3G dont have too much a difference in speed or at least not here in Florida
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel very sorry for you then. EDGE makes me want to claw my eyes out versus 3G. Everywhere in New England on AT&T, the difference in speed between EDGE and 3G is like the difference between throwing a bullet and shooting it. Even more so with the "4G" HSPA+ backhaul recently done by AT&T in many areas. But even before that, it was a big difference.
My Desire Z very seldom switches from 3G to EDGE. When it does, its in areas of very weak 3G coverage. As others have mentioned, its likely a network issue. Flashing a new radio is pretty easy (and you can always flash back to stock), so it may be worth a try. But it may or may not have any significant impact.

[Q] LTE preferred

I have huge LTE issues. The coverage where I live is amazing, but my phone will not prefer LTE no matter what I do. Does the phone software just suck or is there something I can do?
LTE only - works, but then I cannot make or receive calls. All other modes will prefer 5.9 bars of 3G over 5.8 bars of LTE. Which doesn't make any sense.
Btw I am on CloudyPro II but I don't think it is a ROM issue because I never had had the phone prefer LTE even though I have almost max LTE everywhere.
I have also tried with fast dormancy enabled and disabled. It makes no difference.
Is there a way to make this phone prefer LTE?

Same problem here. Even though i got 4g on my place, it will connect on edge or 3g. Sometimes i got no signal at all. I dont have thos problem on JB. Im on rooted stock KK international. Is this a kernel or baseband issue?
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

jefbeck said:
Same problem here. Even though i got 4g on my place, it will connect on edge or 3g. Sometimes i got no signal at all. I dont have thos problem on JB. Im on rooted stock KK international. Is this a kernel or baseband issue?
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... I had the same problem on JB stock...

Another thing that I noticed is that if I for instance set this phone to LTE/GSM/WCDMA it will go nuts. Sometimes changing between H and 3G almost every second. Just back and forth.
It is almost as if this phone will poll the network several times each second and then prefer the strongest signal while completely disregarding data speed.

First, why are creating new threads when already exist similar topics? Do you read old topics? Maybe it has contained answer
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2474244
Gnarfsan said:
Another thing that I noticed is that if I for instance set this phone to LTE/GSM/WCDMA it will go nuts. Sometimes changing between H and 3G almost every second. Just back and forth.
It is almost as if this phone will poll the network several times each second and then prefer the strongest signal while completely disregarding data speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what could it possibly do? You prefer it to connect to some 5miles fay away LTE cell only if it's speed is faster but your modem will then constantly drop packet and reestablish connection to drain the battery? Or should phone grab a nearest and most powerful signal from 3G cell?
And third, wait for Kitkat, it contains a newer 190084 baseband, maybe it will relieve your pains
Then again, why do you complain here instead of going straight to you operator office? It surely is their fault to tweak their cell wrongfully. We can't change their settings
---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:14 PM ----------
Almost forgot, read this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660471

Billy Madison said:
Then again, why do you complain here instead of going straight to you operator office? It surely is their fault to tweak their cell wrongfully. We can't change their settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried with different basebands and in case you didn't read my first post I have full LTE signal (6 of 6 bars) if I force it to pick LTE only. If I don't, it will pick 6 Bars H/3G.
I have also tried many different ROMs and I have checked the settings of the Sim card. It is set to prefer LTE.
Btw, did you read the last post in the thread that you linked to?

With LTE i get a ping of 34 ms and 15/5 Mbps. But the phone will pick a HSDPA connection with 47 ms ping and 6/1 Mbps.
And I am on the stock KitKat baseband but like I said I had the same issue on JB
If I force it in my office downtown I get up to 70 Mbps. And as soon as I switch back to default settings (if I boot) I go back to good old HSDPA if the phone is in a good mood. Otherwise I get 3G.
Sent from my LG-D802 using xda app-developers app

I have the same issue, I don't get why WCDMA preferred exists and not an LTE preferred (in *#*#4636#*#*). I'm running stock everything, only thing I've done is rooted, and I'm updated to the lastest firmware with Knockcode that T-Mobile pushed out.
Best way to discribe it is the phone gets "stuck" on whatever band it falls on. If my LTE is weak, it will fall back on 3G or 2G and just stay there - it seems like networks aren't prioritized. The phone should (in a perfect world) look for 1) LTE, 2) WCDMA, and then 3) GSM in that order and only pass one over if weak or doesn't exist, and should it pick up a higher ranked connection it should switch back. It seems the LG G2's just don't... If it falls back on 2G it's perfectly happy staying there until force it back to something else (default mode LTE/GSM/WCDMA) and it's rather annoying. LTE only is viable only when T-Mobile enables VoLTE on the G2's, but as of right now it stops all calls from happening, and I can't even change my phone to only use LTE/WCDMA, because where I work we just got a tower upgrade to LTE and they took the 3G offline, so calls still won't go through since it has to fall back to 2G.
I'll give Samsung some credit when I had my S3 and S4 on AT&T they would always follow the pecking order of what I stated above (in a perfect world) and I never had an issue, but the G2 blows the S4 out the water in performance in my opinion.