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I've been getting fed up with T-Mobile lately, the coverage at my house is limited, if not non-existent.
I was wondering if anyone would care to share their experiences with Sprint's network (4g speeds/coverage, reliability, etc). Also, experiences with the Evo itself (battery life, durabilty, accessory quality/quantity, etc)
I'm currently using a Nexus One, if that makes a difference.
Thanks!
Seems like your biggest issue is your coverage at your house. Best advice I can give you is go get an EVO, go home, check to see if you have good signal and 4G.
U can download map viewer from the market check the Sprint 4g coverage
And as for battery life it was not until I rooted that I felt I was getting the most out of it my battery life dramatically changed
And I've had nothing but a good experience I came from a moment so honestly tht was not the best Android experience so this phone have to say im really surprised by this device and what it can do if u have played around with one it really is not the same as owning it and since Sprint has the 3o day money back guarantee u should defin try itout and see if its for u
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
jesziicuh said:
U can download map viewer from the market check the Sprint 4g coverage
And as for battery life it was not until I rooted that I felt I was getting the most out of it my battery life dramatically changed
And I've had nothing but a good experience I came from a moment so honestly tht was not the best Android experience so this phone have to say im really surprised by this device and what it can do if u have played around with one it really is not the same as owning it and since Sprint has the 3o day money back guarantee u should defin try itout and see if its for u
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Punctuation is so overrated these days.
You will love an Evo, Sprint is a great company and the customer service has come a long way.
Try it for 30 days free, if not satisfied then return it, (yes you can root it and still return it)
wdfowty said:
I've been getting fed up with T-Mobile lately, the coverage at my house is limited, if not non-existent.
I was wondering if anyone would care to share their experiences with Sprint's network (4g speeds/coverage, reliability, etc). Also, experiences with the Evo itself (battery life, durabilty, accessory quality/quantity, etc)
I'm currently using a Nexus One, if that makes a difference.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint actually has pretty good coverage in the San Francisco area. It's really hard to build new towers there nowadays so younger networks (T-Mobile) or older networks that are now overloaded (AT&T) have a really tough time working well there.
I suggest you take advantage of Sprint's 30-day unconditional return policy and test drive the EVO 4G for a few weeks. If you don't like it, or it doesn't work well for you, you can return the device and pay nothing (no restock fee or prorated usage fee, or anything).
Reiterating what others have said, signal in your home/area is going to vary, and your best bet is to try it out.
Sometimes while you are in the 30 day window, if you try to cancel due to lack of signal in your home the store will offer the signal booster thingy (I can't remember the name) and wave the monthly fee. It connects to your router and essentially gives you a tower in your home over the internet.
As for the EVO, I've had a Hero and a T-Mobile G1, and I love the EVO. It does everything I want, and then some. Rooting is key though, and I think the best battery life comes from the custom roms on these forums.
Give it a go for 30 days without canceling your T-Mobile phone. At the worst, you'll pay for a month of service on both lines. Once you test it out though and determine Sprint is the way to go, you can transfer your number from T-Mobile.
Oh, and 4G sucks the battery from your phone, so it's really rather useless in my opinion, unless you're tethering and plugged in, otherwise it's as good as a cable connection.
jesziicuh said:
U can download map viewer from the market check the Sprint 4g coverage...
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Click to collapse
This map is crap. The map indicates that I have excellent coverage at home and work and is not so. Do what tgruendler said. Get the phone, take it home and test it and see what you think.
When I first got my Evo a lot of people I knew were saying "it's a nice phone and all, but you had to go to SPRINT?"
Now the Evo also marks my maiden voyage with Sprint, so I don't know the history that may have gotten them this bad rep ... but I have to say I've been nothing but pleased. I bought my phone a mere 2 weeks before my road trip across 4 states in 3 weeks (started in Georgia and ended up in Washington DC). During the ENTIRE road trip I had signal. Now I didn't call people, but I did use google maps and Nav and I maintained data the entire time (some minor blackouts in Mentone Alabama looking for an old friend's wedding ... but if you saw where I was you'd completely understand too ... and GMaps still got me there fine).
So while during this trip I saw 4G go up and down ... I will say their data was consistent. I uploaded photos to facebook nightly, took pictures all day, and even occasionally handed the phone to the kids to stream you tube videos (OK I had to plug in for that ... phone can't handle 4-6 hours straight youtube).
My only complaint with this phone while on 2.1 an touring ... was that 4G would destroy my phone (only when connected ... 4G seemed to idle fine in areas with no coverage). By destroy i mean that doing the same heavy uploading of images would kill the phone in about 4 hours.
Now back in the home land of LA ... vacation is over and I'm making more calls than you tube videos. In this case it's more of a Sprint vs ATT conversation (my old provider) and I have to say: Sprints coverage blows away ATT in all areas here. I consult .... meaning i travel all corners of the southland. While Sprint may have bad signal reception occasionally ... it _never_ disconnects. In contrast my ATT signal was always clear .... when it bothered to connect and would disconnect _constantly_ even when driving down major highways. So I like the Sprint service much better.
My Phone has "evolved" with me which is huge. 4G is now here where I live ... but I've also learned to root and tweak my EVO ... and I leave 4G on all day now and can make it from wake up to home with the wife and kids on one charge without having to plug in (I do tend to car charge every so often if i know I'm going to be on a long conference call or can't resist flashing a new ROM during my lunch break ... but that's not suprising). Between 2.2 improvements and wonderful after market ROMs and tweaks, the EVO isn't nearly as bad of a battery vacuum as it was when I first got it so it's to the point that I just leave all the features enabled (except wifi ... i don't see a point when 4g is faster than _any_ free wifi spot that is always over congested).
The ONLY thing I really don't like about Sprint is that i don't get voice and data at the same time. 4G fixes that (another reason i leave it on all the time)... but it's coverage is honestly spotty ... unlike Sprint 3G this one really is location sensitive.
The phone itself ... is awesome. I just can't complain as it still feels cutting edge after 6 months of having it (or is it 7 now ... i forget).
Summary: the battery used to be BAD with 4g turned on. 2.2 improvements and a good community changed all of that... and the phone is flexible and powerful enough that I don't care what's been released sense. I would love a longer battery life (who wouldn't), but considering I basically have a PC in my Pocket I'm OK with that trade off.
EDIT: one other negative I should note: I noticed with the stock HTC ROM having 4G turned on would occasionally make the whole phone stutter and lag, even when doing trivial things like scrolling between home screens. It would actually made the phone feel slower with 4g turned on if i wasn't directly doing a data intesive task. Custom ROMs _completely_ solved that problem. For the record i currently use Myn's Warm 2.2 RLS4 on the HTC17 kernel with the battery tweak, and all sense ripped out I could get away with (rosie pulled out compeltely, gingerbread keyboard, etc), and those stutters are a thing of the past.
Fantastic phone! Great network. Sprint is working hard to improve the quality of their customer service and doing a good job. They have already rolled out WiMax, so if you are in a coverage area you should be getting some pretty snappy speeds there. I also like the fact that Sprint isn't afraid to look at other technologies. I read an article the other day indicating that Sprint will probably begin developing an LTE network to work alongside the WiMax. All things considered, I would definitely recommend the Evo and Sprint
Pierceye said:
Fantastic phone! Great network. Sprint is working hard to improve the quality of their customer service and doing a good job. They have already rolled out WiMax, so if you are in a coverage area you should be getting some pretty snappy speeds there. I also like the fact that Sprint isn't afraid to look at other technologies. I read an article the other day indicating that Sprint will probably begin developing an LTE network to work alongside the WiMax. All things considered, I would definitely recommend the Evo and Sprint
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Click to collapse
Yeah - I couldnt have said it better my self...
Been with Sprint now for 9 years and have no complaints, they are like brandy - only getting better with age...
EVO is by far the best phone out there and Sprint is (IMO) by far the best carrier out there...
wdfowty said:
I've been getting fed up with T-Mobile lately, the coverage at my house is limited, if not non-existent.
I was wondering if anyone would care to share their experiences with Sprint's network (4g speeds/coverage, reliability, etc). Also, experiences with the Evo itself (battery life, durabilty, accessory quality/quantity, etc)
I'm currently using a Nexus One, if that makes a difference.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey i had tmobile< i had the blackberry 9700 and an unlocked iphone i loved the phones but the coverage was horrible inside buildings, i went to best buy and got an evo on a temp number and carried both my phones around and sprint was gret in buildings or where ever i went u should go get the evo and test like i did
jesziicuh said:
U can download map viewer from the market check the Sprint 4g coverage
And as for battery life it was not until I rooted that I felt I was getting the most out of it my battery life dramatically changed
And I've had nothing but a good experience I came from a moment so honestly tht was not the best Android experience so this phone have to say im really surprised by this device and what it can do if u have played around with one it really is not the same as owning it and since Sprint has the 3o day money back guarantee u should defin try itout and see if its for u
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Oh wow. -.-
Not one period in all of the rambling and misspellings/retarded text speak. Please act like you have an education. kthnx.
thetakara said:
Oh wow. -.-
Not one period in all of the rambling and misspellings/retarded text speak. Please act like you have an education. kthnx.
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Click to collapse
So, you came in here SOLELY to flame that kid? Hahaha
@everyone else: Thanks! All great info. Once I get the cash together I'll test it out for sure.
thetakara said:
Oh wow. -.-
Not one period in all of the rambling and misspellings/retarded text speak. Please act like you have an education. kthnx.
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Click to collapse
Hey no reason to be grumpy
I type quick used to jus doing tht way
And I honestly think ignite have nothing nice to say Dnt say it
But hey I guess it take one to kno one
Have a nice night kthnks
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
wdfowty said:
So, you came in here SOLELY to flame that kid? Hahaha
@everyone else: Thanks! All great info. Once I get the cash together I'll test it out for sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea a lot of grumpy people on here but also a lot of nice people who can actually offer help instead of nasty remarks blah but way r u gonna do any way good luck and happy holidays
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Not having a signal at home isn't an issue if you're with Sprint. When my wife and I moved into our new house back in May, we found out a little too late that our house was in a dead zone and there was absolutely no signal inside on any carrier. We had to step outside to make a call or send a text. After a couple months, I called Sprint and told them what was up. Without question, they offered me a free Airave. No equipment cost, no monthly charges. All they asked was that I send it back to them if I ever leave Sprint in the future. We both get full signal in every room of the house now.
iamthebigcheeze said:
Not having a signal at home isn't an issue if you're with Sprint. When my wife and I moved into our new house back in May, we found out a little too late that our house was in a dead zone and there was absolutely no signal inside on any carrier. We had to step outside to make a call or send a text. After a couple months, I called Sprint and told them what was up. Without question, they offered me a free Airave. No equipment cost, no monthly charges. All they asked was that I send it back to them if I ever leave Sprint in the future. We both get full signal in every room of the house now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O wow really I'm kinda in a similar situation jus moved to a new area like 3 months ago and I get zero reception unless I'm near a window and hanging out of it lol guess ill have to call sprint
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
jesziicuh said:
O wow really I'm kinda in a similar situation jus moved to a new area like 3 months ago and I get zero reception unless I'm near a window and hanging out of it lol guess ill have to call sprint
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I was pretty surprised. I didn't have to beg, argue, or demand anything. As soon as I told them what was up, the dude just asked if it would be okay if they sent me one for free. Uh... yeah, that's okay with me! lol
I'm in an area far from 4G coverage (Southern Illinois) but after 10 years with Sprint I've been nothing but pleased. I've gotten free upgrades, free features, and all sorts of perks from some very helpful customer service people. On top of that I've never had a billing issue (unlike nearly everyone else I know on a certain other network). The only issue I have is I don't particularly care for their website, but that's just me.
As for the EVO, I upgrade from the Hero two weeks ago and I LOVE it. I definitely don't regret getting it.
Oh, another thing I like about Sprint: When I call customer service, 9 times out of 10 I'm connected to somebody in CONUS and not someone with English as a 3rd language. lol
For anyone who doesn't stray too far from the G2 section of XDA I found this thread in the my old stomping ground Vibrant section.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=815637
Basically, T-Mo is doing a pilot of a home 3G booster for select customers. It is a physical unit they ship to you, and it's basically just a cell repeater. You need to have at least a small amount of 3G reception somewhere in your house, according to the thread.
I sent my email about an hour ago to tmo and they responded within about 30 min saying that I might qualify and gave me a number to call. I called and the loyalty rep asked me a couple questions to verify eligibility. You need to live in a single family home and have a landline (though they did not verify this, just asked and continued on when I responded in the affirmative).
The rep said it would be mailed out Tuesday morning 100% free, the only thing I need to do is fill out the surveys they send periodically to see how the service is working.
Basically, if you get crappy 3G coverage in your house, give this a shot. Several people in the thread have already received the device and said it works great, and I can report back once I receive mine.
So all we do is shoot them an email saying our 3G service is sort of low and that we want to be a tester? Can you post the number?
Apparently if you call a standard CSR they will not know what you are talking about. There is a special email. Here is the email exchange. They gave me their number to call in their response, but I am not 100% certain whether you need to email them first or not. Their email is [email protected].
Here's my exchange:
from MORESIGNAL <[email protected]>
to T***** Bunch <[email protected]*******.com>
date Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 3:02 PM
subject RE: Weak Home Signal
hide details 3:02 PM (1 hour ago)
Dear T-Mobile Customer,
We have reviewed your recent coverage concern, and you may qualify to be part of a free, in-home device trial! The device is designed to boost 3G signal inside your home. We look forward to speaking with you regarding your eligibility. Please call us at 1-877-724-4659 for details!
T-Mobile Customer Loyalty Team
Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you have questions, please call us at 1-877-724-4659.
From: T***** Bunch [mailto:[email protected]********.com]
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2011 2:13 PM
To: MORESIGNAL
Subject: Weak Home Signal
- Hide quoted text -
I'm a long-time T-Mobile customer (509-***-****) who's on the verge of cancellation due to difficulty in getting a signal at my house. I read some internet forum posts about a T-Mobile trial of a Nextivity signal booster that sounds like it might allow my phone to work at home and enable T-Mobile to salvage a customer account.
I have a G2 and my wife has a MyTouch3G Slide and only in a couple areas of our house we can get 3G coverage. Unfortunately this is very frustrating for us as we pay almost $150 per month for our service and have very low-speed data while we are in all the common areas of our house.
I live in WA and am willing to fill out surveys on my experiences with the booster. Please let me know if I can be included in your trial.
T***** Bunch
[email protected]********.com
509-***-****
I'm sending an email, just because of my interest in the technology Thx for this.
Thanks for the info! I just sent them a letter
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Sent one as well.. My phone has two bars of 3G sitting beside me but when I pick it up it will go to Edge or even GPRS in certain areas of my house. However I go a few blocks down the street and I am full tilt "4G"
I've seen this happening a bit with AT&T customers with bad reception, getting phemtocells to boost 3G performance inside their house.
Although I don't really get why you would do this with T-mobile? especially if you have a G2, why not just use WiFi calling and call it a day?
I am really excited to see if we qualify for this. In my room I get 3G alright, but most of our house is on edge, and our living room gets little to no cell reception at all. If someone who still has 3G coverage in their house can get this, than we should definitely be able to as long-time (10 years +) T-Mobile Customers.
Our housing association turned down building a cell tower near my house not too long ago to address the concerns of everyone in this area and I was really ticked at them for not doing it.
martonikaj said:
I've seen this happening a bit with AT&T customers with bad reception, getting phemtocells to boost 3G performance inside their house.
Although I don't really get why you would do this with T-mobile? especially if you have a G2, why not just use WiFi calling and call it a day?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is of course assuming one has wifi in their house to begin with.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
TJBunch1228 said:
This is of course assuming one has wifi in their house to begin with.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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Click to collapse
ya its nuts that some people still dont have wifi, it costs like 20-30 bucks at walmart for a router lol.
i wonder if those same people are still paying for 56k speed on AOL.
TJBunch1228 said:
This is of course assuming one has wifi in their house to begin with.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I find it hard to believe that someone reading XDA doesn't have WiFi in their house.
And even lighter, I'd be surprised if someone who has an android phone with a $70+ phone plan including data doesn't have WiFi lol.
Just sayin it would be easier to just turn on WiFi calling then order a microcell.
martonikaj said:
I find it hard to believe that someone reading XDA doesn't have WiFi in their house.
And even lighter, I'd be surprised if someone who has an android phone with a $70+ phone plan including data doesn't have WiFi lol.
Just sayin it would be easier to just turn on WiFi calling then order a microcell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is for people who don't have home internet or only have slow DSL obviously. Of course if you have a great ISP and a wireless router this thread is moot for you.
Don't sign up for the free equipment if you are happy with your wifi calling and wifi data. Simple as that.
martonikaj said:
I find it hard to believe that someone reading XDA doesn't have WiFi in their house.
And even lighter, I'd be surprised if someone who has an android phone with a $70+ phone plan including data doesn't have WiFi lol.
Just sayin it would be easier to just turn on WiFi calling then order a microcell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed lol
I've got a really beasty Net gear router with 8 internal antennas and almost 800mhz processor in it.... and I STILL get barely enough wifi to do wifi calling in my bedroom
So this thing would be perfect for me. I get great data outside, and other parts of my house, but I swear my room has lead walls *it's an addon to the old house*
i ordered mine today hopefully i will no longer have dead spots in my bathroom and back bedroom. and they waived the shgipping cost. tmo is really trying to keep their customers happy.
Thanks for sharing. I ordered one today. I didn't bother with the email and just called the number. The rep asked if anyone else needed one. My folks got two more, one for home and another for office. No shipping, no strings, lifetime use. They may ask you to answer some questions by email about the product. No big deal there.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
tsalate said:
i ordered mine today hopefully i will no longer have dead spots in my bathroom and back bedroom. and they waived the shgipping cost. tmo is really trying to keep their customers happy.
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Click to collapse
Service in the bathroom? sounds like a 1 way ticket to water damage.
But yea it seems like T-mo is really trying to keep their customers. I'm on a non-contract plan and they treat me amazingly lol.
You're gonna sit there with a straight face and tell me you throw birds at pigs while you are deucing?!
Madness
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
What number are you calling? I called the one in the thread, and I get some real estate company. I have yet to get an email response.
brfield said:
What number are you calling? I called the one in the thread, and I get some real estate company. I have yet to get an email response.
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Click to collapse
The number in the 3rd post of this thread, my email from them, is the one I called..worked fine yesterday.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
TJBunch1228 said:
Dear T-Mobile Customer,
We have reviewed your recent coverage concern, and you may qualify to be part of a free, in-home device trial! The device is designed to boost 3G signal inside your home. We look forward to speaking with you regarding your eligibility. Please call us at 1-877-724-4659 for details!
T-Mobile Customer Loyalty Team
Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you have questions, please call us at 1-877-724-4659.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for this post. It gave me an idea of what we needed to do to get into this program. Here's my experience: We called into the program (at the number listed above) and told them that we had a weak signal in our house and heard about this pilot program to provide cell boosters to customers. The representative was extremely friendly through the whole call, and asked us some of the questions above or listed in the other post (landline, home, 911, etc). Good thing we were prepared with this. After going through all that they told us they'd be sending it free with the stipulation that we return it if they end the program and that we answer 3 surveys. Fully worth it from our perspective.
Our reception problems are bad here...
I didn't tell them this, but I think the problems got way worse with our new roof. In most of our house we either get edge or no reception (in two particular places incl our home office) but in my room we get 3G (Lucky!). I'm really excited about this program and that I found this post my first day on the "Normal" G2 forums (I'm normally reading the Dev section).
Aloha
Hi,
I live in New England and I currently have the Focus with AT&T. The signal here with the focus is bad, constantly losing calls, signal fluctuates from 4 bars 3G switches to edge and then loses signal totally. During this the call quality gets progressively worse. They can't seem to fix the problem so they said they would get me a new phone. They did recently have me change out the Sim as well as a multitude of other things that haven't worked.
I was just wondering what is the best smartphone they currently carry that has good signal quality? I do need a smartphone but one that doesn't lose calls all the time. I'm not far from a tower here and other phones I have had work fine here but the Focus just isn't working out. I do like the focus for the most part and wouldn't mind another Window 7 phone as long as the signal isn't a problem. If I have to go to Android that's fine too, although that would be my last choice.
Thanks for any help.
Fiberop said:
Hi,
I live in New England and I currently have the Focus with AT&T. The signal here with the focus is bad, constantly losing calls, signal fluctuates from 4 bars 3G switches to edge and then loses signal totally. During this the call quality gets progressively worse. They can't seem to fix the problem so they said they would get me a new phone. They did recently have me change out the Sim as well as a multitude of other things that haven't worked.
I was just wondering what is the best smartphone they currently carry that has good signal quality? I do need a smartphone but one that doesn't lose calls all the time. I'm not far from a tower here and other phones I have had work fine here but the Focus just isn't working out. I do like the focus for the most part and wouldn't mind another Window 7 phone as long as the signal isn't a problem. If I have to go to Android that's fine too, although that would be my last choice.
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you should consider that in your area the signal might just be bad, for your carrier. Unless you have other reasons to think different.
In any case, you are likely to hear subjective opinions on this matter.
One important thing to understand from the beginning is reception vs call quality.
While good reception should insure good call quality, that isn't necessarily the case. As it also depends on the hardware of the phone (bad or low quality ear piece). However, a good call quality depends on the signal quality/strength.
What I can tell from my experience, is that phones with stronger antennas have better reception but not necessarily good call quality. I found out that for me, the best sound quality was in Sony Ericsson phones. However, that was back in Symbian era.
Stronger antenna usually means bigger SAR (radiation).
I can most certainly say the Focus doesn't excel in call quality and I've heard far better. It is reasonably ok.
EnderPsp said:
I think you should consider that in your area the signal might just be bad, for your carrier. Unless you have other reasons to think different.
In any case, you are likely to hear subjective opinions on this matter.
One important thing to understand from the beginning is reception vs call quality.
While good reception should insure good call quality, that isn't necessarily the case. As it also depends on the hardware of the phone (bad or low quality ear piece). However, a good call quality depends on the signal quality/strength.
What I can tell from my experience, is that phones with stronger antennas have better reception but not necessarily good call quality. I found out that for me, the best sound quality was in Sony Ericsson phones. However, that was back in Symbian era.
Stronger antenna usually means bigger SAR (radiation).
I can most certainly say the Focus doesn't excel in call quality and I've heard far better. It is reasonably ok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other friends have come over here with ATT as their provider and they have good signal and don't lose calls. I was just out yesterday in known good 3g areas in my town and lost 2 calls out of 3.
I'm gong to have to get a new phone. I talked with ATT yesterday and they made me do a hard reset on the phone. I told him I've already done that before but I did it again. They are calling back Friday to see how things are going and if nothing has changed he said they will give me a new phone. I did tell him I don't want another Focus as this is my 6th one. Pain in the backside.
I just hope they give me a choice and don't try to pass off a 2 year old phone on me. Hopefully the damn thing has good call quality.
If you can hold out until September you should. The new phones with Mango will be coming out and maybe one of them will be better for you.
Have you tried a Microcell? Maybe one of them in your home would make the phone much more tolerable. That's what I did but only because AT&T gifted it to me.
TIGGAH said:
If you can hold out until September you should. The new phones with Mango will be coming out and maybe one of them will be better for you.
Have you tried a Microcell? Maybe one of them in your home would make the phone much more tolerable. That's what I did but only because AT&T gifted it to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm talking to AT&T about a microcell. Their own tech department suggested it. I still lose calls outside of my house but at least I could do business here. At first the customer service person said I could get a free one because of all my issues but he just informed me I'd have to pay for it. I told him no, that after 6 months of terrible service and constant lost calls that they should provide it for free. I told them either a new phone other than the Focus, let me out of my contract or a microcell. I'm waiting on the supervisor to call me back.
Damn, 6 months of crappy service. I've been using my home phone and my daughter's Tracfone to do business. $110 a month it costs me and I can't use this thing, what a rip. This is my 6th damn Focus too. I have a feeling I'll be switching to Verizon soon.
For signal quality what would you guys choose? The Infuse, the Atrix, or the HTC HD7S? I'd rather stay with windows 7 but I've heard the signal quality isn't that great with the hd7s? Anyone have an opinion?
Fiberop said:
For signal quality what would you guys choose? The Infuse, the Atrix, or the HTC HD7S? I'd rather stay with windows 7 but I've heard the signal quality isn't that great with the hd7s? Anyone have an opinion?
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Click to collapse
Btw, you should ask again all this in the Windows Phone 7 Q&A forum, not in the Focus thread, as this is a WP7 general question.
I don't have first-hand experience with a lot of AT&T's line-up, but I do find that my Dell Streak will catch much better signal in places (in particular, my office) than my Focus, as basically the entire back of that beast is a giant metal antenna plate. Now if only the Streak would run WP7...
Hi Fiberop did you sort out a good phone for the signal? I too am in the uk having similar issues using vodafone and o2, tried htc legend, htc desire HD, htc desire s, and getting cut off during a call and the singal is always up and down, So you are not on your own. I still love HTC phones but i wish they would sort the signal and battery issues.
I have an old XDA lls and this never had these problems. All the HTC phones were on the highest operating systems they could be at the time. Tried the gsm only settings but still gets signal up and down. You can help by how you hold the phone, e.g on the legend dont hold the rubber base cover.
I do have 2 friends, one on 3 with a desire S and one on the HTC sensation on orange and no signal issues apart from bad batterys they are ok with these phones.
You can always get a microcell. I went that route and now all my phones work great in and around the house. With a microcell you can use the phone you want instead of having to forego phones with lots of functionality and lousy reception, which is every smartphone I've ever owned.
I ended up getting a microcell. They did try to give me a Surround but I declined that. I mentioned a couple other phones but they suggested a micro cell. I do make a lot of calls from home so it made sense. It was free because of all my problems so that worked out well. They charge $200 for the damn thing. It works great though and it's the first time I have ever seen 5 bars on this phone. What a relief not to keep losing business calls.
By the way, the Presidents office is where you want to call if you have issues that tech support or customer care can't or won't fix. I found that number on the internet and they can actually authorize things like a free microcell where customer care won't even discuss it. Nice people there too.
Samsung Captivates are cheap and have amazing signal.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using xda premium
Fiberop said:
I ended up getting a microcell. They did try to give me a Surround but I declined that. I mentioned a couple other phones but they suggested a micro cell. I do make a lot of calls from home so it made sense. It was free because of all my problems so that worked out well. They charge $200 for the damn thing. It works great though and it's the first time I have ever seen 5 bars on this phone. What a relief not to keep losing business calls.
By the way, the Presidents office is where you want to call if you have issues that tech support or customer care can't or won't fix. I found that number on the internet and they can actually authorize things like a free microcell where customer care won't even discuss it. Nice people there too.
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Hey I have a question for you as I was in EXACTLY the same boat as you. I'm even in New England (Vermont, where are you?).
Anyhow, Samsung Focus here as well. About a month ago the cell signal degraded in my local area to the point I could only make and receive calls at home if I stood out on the front porch. There was no explanation given from AT&T and I spent a frustrating month going back and forth with tech support trying to get their field techs to find out WTF happened.
Long story short, they eventually credited me the full cost of a microcell AND my last months bill.
So, got the microcell, installed all fine and dandy. HERE'S MY QUESTION....have you noticed any change in your battery life? If my phone is connected to the microcell the battery drains REALLY fast. I can take it off charge at 7am, not touch the phone at all and by 4pm I'm way below half. If I do the same thing when the microcell is not on, I can get over 24 hours off a single charge.
Something causes the battery to drain extra fast when the Focus is connected to the MicroCell. Have you noticed this at all?
woodbane said:
Hey I have a question for you as I was in EXACTLY the same boat as you. I'm even in New England (Vermont, where are you?).
Anyhow, Samsung Focus here as well. About a month ago the cell signal degraded in my local area to the point I could only make and receive calls at home if I stood out on the front porch. There was no explanation given from AT&T and I spent a frustrating month going back and forth with tech support trying to get their field techs to find out WTF happened.
Long story short, they eventually credited me the full cost of a microcell AND my last months bill.
So, got the microcell, installed all fine and dandy. HERE'S MY QUESTION....have you noticed any change in your battery life? If my phone is connected to the microcell the battery drains REALLY fast. I can take it off charge at 7am, not touch the phone at all and by 4pm I'm way below half. If I do the same thing when the microcell is not on, I can get over 24 hours off a single charge.
Something causes the battery to drain extra fast when the Focus is connected to the MicroCell. Have you noticed this at all?
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The explanation is pretty simple: the weaker the signal from the nearest Network Cell, the greater the power on the phone's antenna has to be. The battery life is tied into this because the phone has to put extra juice to insure a good quality of the signal.
It won't matter what phone you're on, it will drain faster than if you would have a better signal.
I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm saying that when I'm connected to the MicroCell, i.e. Where there is a very strong signal, my battery drains faster than when I'm NOT connected to the MicroCell at the same location and am down to maybe one bar. The MicroCell causes my battery to drain faster which is the inverse of what should be happening right?
woodbane said:
Hey I have a question for you as I was in EXACTLY the same boat as you. I'm even in New England (Vermont, where are you?).
Anyhow, Samsung Focus here as well. About a month ago the cell signal degraded in my local area to the point I could only make and receive calls at home if I stood out on the front porch. There was no explanation given from AT&T and I spent a frustrating month going back and forth with tech support trying to get their field techs to find out WTF happened.
Long story short, they eventually credited me the full cost of a microcell AND my last months bill.
So, got the microcell, installed all fine and dandy. HERE'S MY QUESTION....have you noticed any change in your battery life? If my phone is connected to the microcell the battery drains REALLY fast. I can take it off charge at 7am, not touch the phone at all and by 4pm I'm way below half. If I do the same thing when the microcell is not on, I can get over 24 hours off a single charge.
Something causes the battery to drain extra fast when the Focus is connected to the MicroCell. Have you noticed this at all?
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Click to collapse
I'm in west central NH. I haven't noticed that much of a difference with the micro cell and the battery. I'm not using it as much as I was so maybe that has something to do with it. I do only charge it late at night and that remains the same. I don't recall anyone else that has received a micro cell talk about this. Maybe you should do a google.
Have a good one and good luck with those washed out roads over there.
Hey folks, First off, I LOVE my note. It's the only reason I stuck it out this long but to make a long story short it almost left my daughter stranded in a very unfamiliar place yesterday. I am currently on T-mobile and as you know we don't get much love as far as service with the Note. So I put up with the signal bar with a nice pretty little x in it many times because I flat out love my phone even though my wife would have 4 bars of 4g. Well this incident made me realize that while having an awesome phone that barely works as a phone or just about anything else without wifi that having service and signal is more important. So here is what I'm looking for:
Trade: My unlocked galaxy note (Currently running Asylum ICS V09) with black speck case and has liquid armor for display protection.
Want: Galaxy Nexus or and HTC One X ( maybe S for T-mobile as well )
Also willing to sell for $400 flat ( Nothing less will be considered )
So before I go to the craigslist or feebay I wanted to give my trusted XDA people a first shot at it So PM me if interested!
Hopefully I will be seeing you guys in the Note 2 forums one day as I will be dying to get my big momma back
seeing that many people complain about this, let me get it straight,:
can you not use an international unlocked phone in the states? why is everyone complaining about weak signal? it should either work on that frequency or not work at all ,right? so why work with low coverage?
either ways this sucks and is totally unacceptable
MR.change said:
seeing that many people complain about this, let me get it straight,:
can you not use an international unlocked phone in the states? why is everyone complaining about weak signal? it should either work on that frequency or not work at all ,right? so why work with low coverage?
either ways this sucks and is totally unacceptable
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Its not that it doesn't work. It's that it doesn't receive the 1700mHz band which T-mobile uses for it's 4g service. It will work fine on other gsm providers in US but unfortunately not on T-mobile until they convert to the 1900mHz band. So I pretty much get Edge wherever I'm at. One of our guys Bedwa has been working hard on getting it to work but there is no guarantees.
that should effect the speed not signal bars? I mean EDGE vs 4G is all about speeds
but you mention being with no coverage at all sometimes ? maybe their 4G coverage is better than 2G? is that it?
also I would suggest you change providers and not the phone ,cause you'll miss it
MR.change said:
that should effect the speed not signal bars? I mean EDGE vs 4G is all about speeds
but you mention being with no coverage at all sometimes ? maybe their 4G coverage is better than 2G? is that it?
also I would suggest you change providers and not the phone ,cause you'll miss it
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I used to work for AT&T so I refuse to go back to them lol. I know I will miss this beast, and I don't know the ins and outs of signal strength, I just know my wife has great service and laughs at me when I can barely send a text. If I wasn't invested into 3 lines of 2 year contracts with T-mobile however I would be gone in a heartbeat but I don't have the funds to quit right this minute. So I will reluctantly wait for the Note 2 and be back as soon as it releases
well then, good luck to you sir in buying your next phone
Both are good choices. If you like a pure experience go for the Nexus, if you like Sense go for the HTC One X.
Sent via carrier pigeon
Atomix86 said:
Both are good choices. If you like a pure experience go for the Nexus, if you like Sense go for the HTC One X.
Sent via carrier pigeon
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Yeah, I did quite a bit of research before I decided what I would "step down" to before I posted. I actually like both devices very much. They both have their own advantages and disadvantages that I can easily work with. So like I said, if anyone knows someone who has either device but wants to get their hand on a note. Im up for the transaction
If I were you I would avoid the One X. The reason I got my note was because of HTC's ineptitude.
I PM'ed you.
OP, maybe the phone is faulty? What is your location? If you have any older Android phones, put your sim card in it, and force the Android phone to stick to EDGE/2G connections only to test the signal. If your older Android phone gets a single just fine, something is wrong with your Note.
I'm in the same predicament as you in terms of being on T-Mobile. Thankfully, I'm always within the area of WIFI. In terms of GPS, I just use the lab feature in googlemaps to precache map areas....and it works!
P.S. Open a thread in the marketplace. And be wary of anyone "PM-ing" you. Take the whole sale to the marketplace before doing anything just to be safe. And pay attention to any offers you get, and the person who is making the offer and their joining date. Good luck.
I just got hold of a Note after getting the One X. I wasn't entirely happy with the One so it will be going on ebay. The One has a great screen, and the f2.0 camera lens made taking low light photos easy. The downsides of the phone however are numerous in my opinion.
Design - the layout makes it hard to wake the phone one handed, as the power button is tiny and the capacitive home button doesn't wake it. The front camera is recessed, which makes it a grime magnet. The rear camera protrudes, making it a scratch magnet
Camera - excellent lens and camera app, average at best sensor (I actually think the Note takes better photos), poor quality HD video
Sound - forget all the Beats audio marketing hype, the One X has the worst sound quality out of any phone I've ever owned. The amount of hiss/crackles coming from the DAC make it sound like a long wave radio. I use my phone a lot for music, so this really put me off the One X.
Battery - in standard form the battery was terrible. The only way I could get a full day from it was to install a custom rom, reduce the auto brightness levels (which are blindingly high by default), turn off all push notifications and disable 2 of the 4 cpu cores. It also took 4 hours to charge!
Performance - very quick, but probably too quick for what the hardware can take. The phone gets incredibly hot when gaming to the point where the screen is almost too hot to touch. If you try and game while it's charging, you'll be greeted with a message telling you the phone is too hot and whatever you're playing will be terminated.
All these things made me try the Note. While it's not as snappy as the X and doesn't have a screen that's as nice as the X, it still performs well, still has a decent screen, better designed, has much better audio and has a phenomenal battery.
I think I'll be sticking with it
I use my note on tmobile I always have service sometimes I notice 1 bar but mostly have 3
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA
PoisonWolf said:
OP, maybe the phone is faulty? What is your location? If you have any older Android phones, put your sim card in it, and force the Android phone to stick to EDGE/2G connections only to test the signal. If your older Android phone gets a single just fine, something is wrong with your Note.
I'm in the same predicament as you in terms of being on T-Mobile. Thankfully, I'm always within the area of WIFI. In terms of GPS, I just use the lab feature in googlemaps to precache map areas....and it works!
P.S. Open a thread in the marketplace. And be wary of anyone "PM-ing" you. Take the whole sale to the marketplace before doing anything just to be safe. And pay attention to any offers you get, and the person who is making the offer and their joining date. Good luck.
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Yeah I checked into all that. When I am at my buddies house I get perfect 4g service. I just can't stand the edge stuff. However I did not realize you could pre cache map data. That's awesome!! So thanks for heads up
The problem sounds like T-Mobile. Why not use your phone on Straight Talk, which is basically AT&T. I get excellent service on my Note. I highly recommend any AT&T compatible phone on Straight Talk. My wifes iPhone 4S works great on it as well. $45 a month unlimited everything, 4G speeds, not like T-Mobile's very slow speeds.
thanks to Poisonwolf for the comment on marketplace. I didn't even know about it lol. So anyway I am no longer updating in this thread but here is the link to the marketplace thread if anyone is interested:
FS Galaxy Note GT-N7000
I'll trade you my nexus and a 16gb HP TouchPad.
So i have the chance to pick up a N3 today, but I have heard there are issues with signal on the device. How bad is it? I talked to my buddy with one the other day and he was cutting in and out. Is this a major issue with them overall? Thanks
My signal is superb. Best phone signal ive ever had are this Note 3 and the S4 before it
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I see it this way...many ppl report issues with WiFi in particular but it's an issue with router and/or the channel that's being used. Matching the channel via the app Wifi Analyzer can assist with quickly fixing said issue
However, I voted yes to your poll because 4G signal works, but not consistently when on the train where AT&T would be a better network(at least with my Note 2) over the course of a 30 mile commute. This is in the Philadelphia area where I live, might be regional
Bottom line, I'm switching from Verizon to AT&T asap because it's cheaper, more reliable across town, and faster speedtest.net results in Phila area
Experience that applies
I'm in Ohio too (Go Bucks!) and I purchased 2 Galaxy Note 3s at the same time. Mine is phenomenal! The best cell reception of any phone I've ever seen. I truly can't go on enough about how this phone is the best I've seen out of about 15 phones.
My wife's phone is the opposite. She has had issues from day one. I just took her phone back to the Samsung reps at Best Buy Monday and they 'reflashed' the factory ROM from a laptop while I waited. The Rep, who spent most of the time I was there asking me questions about the N3, didn't seem like he knew that much about the phone. He said he's seen a handful of N3's come back and reflashing the factory rom seems to fix it. He did say that they were all the Verizon version. I don't trust too much of what he said, as I said, he clearly knew less about the phone and phones in general than I did.
Now having said all that. His flash did not fix the problem. We've been in multiple places where my wife's phone cannot make or receive calls while mine standing next to her has no issues. I truly believed it to be a software issue because it will show the same signal strength as mine. Or darn near the same. The last time I checked, mine was -93dBm while hers was -95dBm. Mine would call out, hers would not.
The Samsung Rep told me to bring it back in and they're going to swap it out as a defective product. Maybe it's because hers is the white model and mine is the black? Just kidding of course... but I am going to ask for her to get the rose gold model instead of the white, just because she's girlie and will like it.
Having said all this... I would not hesitate to recommend this phone to anyone and everyone. I do so on a regular basis. I believe this to be an unusual situation, not the norm. I think you should get it and if you notice any troubles, take it back and make them work it out. The phone is THAT good that it's worth the risk of possible hassle to get it right.
Jackseric said:
I'm in Ohio too (Go Bucks!) and I purchased 2 Galaxy Note 3s at the same time. Mine is phenomenal! The best cell reception of any phone I've ever seen. I truly can't go on enough about how this phone is the best I've seen out of about 15 phones.
My wife's phone is the opposite. She has had issues from day one. I just took her phone back to the Samsung reps at Best Buy Monday and they 'reflashed' the factory ROM from a laptop while I waited. The Rep, who spent most of the time I was there asking me questions about the N3, didn't seem like he knew that much about the phone. He said he's seen a handful of N3's come back and reflashing the factory rom seems to fix it. He did say that they were all the Verizon version. I don't trust too much of what he said, as I said, he clearly knew less about the phone and phones in general than I did.
Now having said all that. His flash did not fix the problem. We've been in multiple places where my wife's phone cannot make or receive calls while mine standing next to her has no issues. I truly believed it to be a software issue because it will show the same signal strength as mine. Or darn near the same. The last time I checked, mine was -93dBm while hers was -95dBm. Mine would call out, hers would not.
The Samsung Rep told me to bring it back in and they're going to swap it out as a defective product. Maybe it's because hers is the white model and mine is the black? Just kidding of course... but I am going to ask for her to get the rose gold model instead of the white, just because she's girlie and will like it.
Having said all this... I would not hesitate to recommend this phone to anyone and everyone. I do so on a regular basis. I believe this to be an unusual situation, not the norm. I think you should get it and if you notice any troubles, take it back and make them work it out. The phone is THAT good that it's worth the risk of possible hassle to get it right.
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Thanks for the detailed response. My only issue here is Im trading my LG G2 for the N3 (craigslist), so it wont be just as easy as walking into the store and swapping it out. Which is what has me worried. G2 is an awesome phone, just ready to have a new toy until the S5 drops.
jmill75 said:
Thanks for the detailed response. My only issue here is Im trading my LG G2 for the N3 (craigslist), so it wont be just as easy as walking into the store and swapping it out. Which is what has me worried. G2 is an awesome phone, just ready to have a new toy until the S5 drops.
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Just get the insurance and you should be fine. Good luck!
jmill75 said:
Thanks for the detailed response. My only issue here is Im trading my LG G2 for the N3 (craigslist), so it wont be just as easy as walking into the store and swapping it out. Which is what has me worried. G2 is an awesome phone, just ready to have a new toy until the S5 drops.
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I would encourage you to do the trade right in the Verizon store, even if Big Red won't get a dime. Here's why:
- both parties can get the IMEIs checked by Verizon to make sure that they are clean
- both parties can transfer the other phone immediately to their own account.
There have been a couple incidents reported here where folks bought phones off of craigslist, and - failing to register the phone to their account - later found their phones reported stolen. (Meaning, they suddenly had a worthless deactivated phone) That can only happen out of your control if you don't have it registered to your account.
Not only that, but if your counterparty refuses to meet you in a Verizon store, you will know that something is not square.
Good luck
Coming fomr a Verizon Galaxy Nexus in a good 4G coverage area, band 4, I have zero issues. In fact my speeds over 4G increased significantly compared to my Galaxy Nexus, and WiFi is as fast as ever.
Like any phone Your Mileage Will Vary, but I'd recommend this phone to anyone, even if I didn't like them, it's that good.
Signal is nearly always strong and phone is always fast!
Sent from my Galaxy Note III; Previous owner/hacker of Galaxy S III, Galaxy Nexus, Droid X, HTC HD2, HTC Touch Pro 2, HTC Tilt, HTC 8525, O2 XDA II, O2 XDA.
Big Cam said:
Coming fomr a Verizon Galaxy Nexus in a good 4G coverage area, band 4, I have zero issues. In fact my speeds over 4G increased significantly compared to my Galaxy Nexus, and WiFi is as fast as ever.
Like any phone Your Mileage Will Vary, but I'd recommend this phone to anyone, even if I didn't like them, it's that good.
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Yes but that phone was a big turd
Worst phone for reception/battery EVER.
jmill75 said:
Yes but that phone was a big turd
Worst phone for reception/battery EVER.
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I have never heard that. I loved the phone, Pure Android is the way to go for Rooting and Romming, but the battery life was SOOOO bad. I just assumed that was the way it was.
The Note 3 is leaps and bounds over the Galaxy Nexus. I'm happy you told me that, now I don't feel like I was wrong for *****ing about it. :laugh:
jmill75 said:
Yes but that phone was a big turd
Worst phone for reception/battery EVER.
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I came to the N3 from that phone too. I LOVED that phone for the ease of rooting/flashing... but you're right. Both battery and reception was terrible.
My phone, data and WIFI are all good with this phone. I had a Droid Maxx before this and the WIFI was terrible on that. Other than the locked bootloader this phone is the best on my opinion. I had a Nokia 822, Nokia 928, Razr M, S3 and a Razr Maxx all within the last year and the N3 kills them all. I don't want to turn this into a comparison thread but that's my experience and opinion.
Worst phone reception I have ever had on a phone. I barely get signal anywhere. Have a few dropped calls everyday. Never expected this from Samsung. I got the phone on release day and at first I thought it was me, but even after the updates, I absolutely hate the reception. I'm usually always around the -110 to -120 mark.
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
vikramjatt11 said:
Worst phone reception I have ever had on a phone. I barely get signal anywhere. Have a few dropped calls everyday. Never expected this from Samsung. I got the phone on release day and at first I thought it was me, but even after the updates, I absolutely hate the reception. I'm usually always around the -110 to -120 mark.
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Have you tried getting it replaced? I'm guessing you're probably beyond the warranty period, but if you have insurance you can probably get it swapped out. Sounds like that is not the norm...
The 30GB of data I pulled last month was problematic.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk