Help bought used nexus s 4g, cant cannot to 3g - Nexus S General

hey, i bought a used nexus s 4g, and the condition is excellent.
having a slight issue, the guy i bought it from, had CM7 already loaded on the phone, well im having terrible signal problems.
seems like the phone cannot connect to 3g at all. Its either nothing no data, or if i turn on 4g, it can connect to 4g, but theres never any 3g. as you know, 4g isnt available everywhere and it kills my battery, so i wanna just have it hooked up to 3g but it cant.
i have an sprint arrive, which connects to evdo fine, and my friends evo 4g connects to 3g fine also.
i read nexus s 4g has signal issues, but how bad it is right now is just crazy.
still pretty new and trying to understand this stuff, so bare with me

Be sure to check your radio. Sprint released an update a while back and I believe you can find it in the stickies. Also, dont forget to update you profile and prl.

doooope!! updating PRL did it!!! thanks!!! i was thinking about getting rid of the phone because it became so annoying! life saver, thanks!

Related

3G - what is the issue?

hi there,
I have my new N1 shipped to Hong Kong. I knew there is an issue on 3G for US. but don't think it will affecting if in here....
Unfortunately I experience that when I want to use internet thr. 3G network, it is unable to auto-enable (after the phone is sleeping a while). Now it only can use wifi or completely re-boot it. It is weird for such on HTC machine. I haven't have such issue on magic or hero?
The 3G issue is a android prob and i had it with my other android phones:
Cliq/Dext
Magic
dream
hero
behold 2
Not sure why it has a prob with 3G but i hope it gets fixed soon.
it is so strange, after re-boot the phone, then no such problem
It's weird that some people are having these issues and some aren't. I have a mytouch, G1 and Nexus One and I never lose 3G in my city. I just don't see how it could be a problem with Android when not everyone is experiencing it. I've also never heard of anyones phone having to be restarted to get 3G, that's really weird.
JoshHart said:
It's weird that some people are having these issues and some aren't. I have a mytouch, G1 and Nexus One and I never lose 3G in my city. I just don't see how it could be a problem with Android when not everyone is experiencing it. I've also never heard of anyones phone having to be restarted to get 3G, that's really weird.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on your area and your towers. I've had my N1 work just perfectly on 3G - with great download speeds even. Then I move just a mile or two away and suddenly it is giving me all sorts of problems where my G1 has 3G just fine. I've had it work just fine in areas with a weak 3G signal, and I've had it be a nightmare in an area with a (supposedly) strong 3G signal.
<halfbakedtheory>My particular theory is that there are some towers in T-Mobile's network that use a configuration that the N1 doesn't want to listen to and so it then oscillates between wanting to use Edge on that nearby really strong signal (which supports 3G, but the N1 is blind to that), or using 3G on some weak signal from a neighboring tower. It then flip-flops unable to make up its mind. Other phones with a firmware that trusts all of the T-Mobile towers would simply use 3G on the local tower and avoid the quandary. And if you have never been in an area served by such a tower then you've never seen the problem...</halfbakedtheory>

weak 3g reception?

especially from a g1 user's perspective, for me it seems the slide has noticably worse 3g reception; anyone else notice the same?
Yes it does, I'm sure t-mobile will send out radio firmware updates as they did for the g1. I know the last one gave me a big boost. For now you can choose for it to use 3g only and you'll see a lot less dropping to edge, I have mine set like this and sometimes have very low signal but haven't found a spot yet where it was completely dead.
Hmm, that's weird. I used to have the G1 and as soon as I clapped my hand due to my phone getting atleast 1bar of 3G signal it would drop to E. Which meant me not clapping anymore. But with this phone I am clapping once again.
turboyo said:
Yes it does, I'm sure t-mobile will send out radio firmware updates as they did for the g1. I know the last one gave me a big boost. For now you can choose for it to use 3g only and you'll see a lot less dropping to edge, I have mine set like this and sometimes have very low signal but haven't found a spot yet where it was completely dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as I understood the g1 radio update mainly made the phone hold onto a weaker 3g signal longer rather than any substantial improvement in overall reception; where I work I get no signal at all if I lock 3g only whereas with my g1 I had nearly 100% 3g uptime, the g1 might not have been state of the art but it's cell radio sure was pretty impressive compared to every other phone I've owned
i get better reception than what i did with my mytouch 3g and way better uplaod and download speeds to
N1M1TZ said:
Hmm, that's weird. I used to have the G1 and as soon as I clapped my hand due to my phone getting atleast 1bar of 3G signal it would drop to E. Which meant me not clapping anymore. But with this phone I am clapping once again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this, my G1 gets crappy 3G reception even on the most recent radio. I'm picking up my MT3GS tomorrow.
My G1 was next to my old Razr in having near perfect signal. My slide drops out of 3G quite often, even at my house sitting right next to my wife with my old G1 that is still on 3G.
I've noticed this. It seems to have horrible horrible 3g reception. I was in a tiny guard shack, maybe 10'x10', walls were thin, and most of the side walls were made of glass patio doors. Inside the shack I would get E all the time, I could literally step 6" outside of the shack, right on the curb, and I'd get 4 bars of 3G.
in my building i get 3g in the elevator, must be practically living right under a tower!!
my AT&T phones used to drop the signal as soon as the elevator doors closed.
Upstate NY here and I'm getting the in/out 3G with Tmo, wish they would get their 3G working right before even trying to consider releasing 4G (as I was told by a rep)
My phone can drop in and out of 3G and 2G. If u put the phone on wcdma only it doesn't happen. Mine will hold 3G all day long without a problem and it downstairs burn as much battery either.
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Sorry double post
a few question:
Does anyone know when the radio update will be available?
How does one go about getting the radio update?
Will the radio update work on a rooted phone?
Thanks.
Really??
Are you kidding me??!! I am so surprised (and disappointed) to read this.
First, the Nexus One, then the HD2 (which I owned), and now the MyTouch Slide?? I think I even heard that the Incredible having these issues.
What is it with HTC phones losing reception?
It's one of the reasons (but not the only one) I returned the HD2. I've been strongly considering the MyTouch Slide, but after hearing this, I have to scratch it off the list until/if/when they fix it.
For those who already own this phone, I sincerely hope they fix it for you.
I've noticed weaker 3G speeds also while at work. I've just activated wcdma only it's a lot better now, but I'm at home right now, so I'll post an update tomorrow to see of it is better at work
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
I've noticed it really sucks. I'm sitting in my kitchen right now, where I always had a strong 3G signal on my G1, yet now I don't have one. If Tmobile doesn't fix this soon, I'm considering canceling my contract and going elsewhere.
Ive been having issues for the past 2 months or so (dating back to the G1 btw) where Id be on 3G with full service surfing the internet then everything would stop loading, Id drop down to GPRS and it would stay like that for a few minutes. Then 3G would pick back up again.
Ive been having that issue ever since they started rolling out HSPA+. The TMO reps keep saying that it shouldnt happen, but it is. And not just on my phone. My brothers G1 and now his slide did the same thing and my friends MT3G did it as well.
And this issue isnt in a localized area. Its happening all over VA. Im a roving technician and I get this issue wherever 3G is. If the area only offers Edge, I dont have any issues. When the 3G holds though, its decently quick (check signature).
/rant
Thongvilay said:
Upstate NY here and I'm getting the in/out 3G with Tmo, wish they would get their 3G working right before even trying to consider releasing 4G (as I was told by a rep)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tmobile isn't releasing 4g, is expanding its HSPA+ network, which is technically faster than 4g. Be careful when you ask the reps anything. I have had reps tell me things that I know for a fact weren't true but majority of them don't know any better.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
laphoneuser said:
It's one of the reasons (but not the only one) I returned the HD2. I've been strongly considering the MyTouch Slide, but after hearing this, I have to scratch it off the list until/if/when they fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take what you read here with a grain if salt. Yes some people experience some 3g coverage issues but that doesn't affect everyone and there are a lot of factors to consider. Nonetheless, if you scratch this phone off your list, you'd be missing out on a great device.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
forgot about this thread... turns out due to some strange coincidence at the time I first bought my slide the cell tower where I worked went on the fritz and the tech people weren't updated on it yet. I have 3g again at work but still notice that I drop to edge a bit more often than with my old g1... and the data works absolutely horridly on edge with latency issues and timeouts that the g1 never did. oh well, still a solid device although I have my upgrade credit saved for whatever emerald/vision/vanguard madness TMO has planned for this fall

Sprint's 4g connection not stable...

Im in the northern chicago area and I'm able to connect to 4g but the connection is slow and unstable...(even with 4 bars). Ive extended the idle time using ##data# but still I have the same issues??? Anybody with a solid connection care to share their ##data# settings? Im thinking the issue might in the settings......
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I'm in Seattle and see similar 4G behavior. Usually 2 bars or so and not great performance (marginally better than 3G). I'd be interested to see if this can be improved by tweaking the settings also.
the 4G antenna in the EVO is half the size of the USB one, I don't even get signal at my house on my EVO, yet I get 1.5MBs on my USB stick. Size matters.
Idk about 4G but i just moved into a new house and i have TERRRIBLE reception no matter where i am. If im not outside, it sucks. Its funny though, as soon as i step out the door, 5-6 bars. Im keeping the phone in hopes that as soon as they get 4G around here (Elmont, NY... Long Island), things will change. =\
sprints 4g is in a horrible part of the spectrum. it's frequency is too high to pass through anything
This thread does not belong here. Take this drivel to the appropriate subforum.
unless you are a running a stock rom with the latest updates, i don't think you can make any of these complaints that you all are unless 4g isn't fully up and running in your city. My girlfriend just got the white evo and we installed the latest updates and she gets a very good 4g signal, i have the black evo running fresh 0.5.3 and i get a pretty good signal myself. Not to mention we live in mpls and 4g isn't even officially here yet. A lot of these problems people are having are user errors, flashing things with no knowledge of what they are doing. I would say go back to stock do to ota update with the new radio and wimax enhancements then tell me what type of 4g coverage you are getting. otherwise you are just trusting the chef that everything is set up right which i would take with a grain of salt because non of them seem to understand exactly how the wimax radio works as of yet. Proof of this is all the problems people are having after trying numerous roms
BB15 said:
I'm in Seattle and see similar 4G behavior. Usually 2 bars or so and not great performance (marginally better than 3G). I'd be interested to see if this can be improved by tweaking the settings also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not very encouraging, I am very disappointed by Sprint's 3g speeds. I have yet to see over 1mbs, and over the 4th of July weekended saw .2-.7 mbs. Yes, .2 as in 192kbs. This was in Miami.
vespoli said:
This thread does not belong here. Take this drivel to the appropriate subforum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I started this thread with the intentions of looking into the settings of the wimax ##data# menu....not too rant about the service. I believe with the good signal I'm getting and the fact that I do connect shows that there's an issue with either the roms were flashing or the setting mentioned above. Anybody care to post their settings?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Changing the wimax idle sleep time from 10 secs to 300 secs could help. My 4G stays on pretty much constantly now instead of switching back and forth between 4G and 3G. You would need your MSL to edit the settings though.
I have similar issues in the chicago land area as well. Very frustrating. I am using a stock rooted rom, but I am using an older OTA update. When I'm outside I always have a strong 4G signal. However, as soon as I go in doors I either loose the signal or have a very weak one. Before you say anything about updating, my GF's EVO is completely stock with the newest OTA update and her 4G behaves very similarly. I actually pick up a better signal at times. It just sucks because if the signal was just a LITTLE bit stronger I would be really happy.
Thats just due to the spectrum used for wimax is at such a high frequency that it does not penetrate walls very well. I'm not sure how sprint will try to remedy this problem, I'm not sure but I get strong signals at my work office and thats inside a building. At home I can get 4G if I am outside once inside I cant seem to get it at all.
What's "##data#" ? I would search it but haven't quite figured it out yet on the app. Google didn't help either (surprisingly).
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
jrpointer said:
Im in the northern chicago area and I'm able to connect to 4g but the connection is slow and unstable...(even with 4 bars). Ive extended the idle time using ##data# but still I have the same issues??? Anybody with a solid connection care to share their ##data# settings? Im thinking the issue might in the settings......
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jr - I am in Gold Coast and recently noticed the 4G signal was junk. It used ot be great inside my 13th floor apartment. I went to the sprint store and they said one of the towers was being serviced (they called a tech. and he said this while I was there). They said end of this week it would be fixed. I was going to give them another week or so and see what the deal is then.
IMO it kind of defeats the purpose of having 4G then. 90% of the time that I want to surf the internet or use 4G I'm indoors, and I would imagine that goes for pretty much everybody. I know this isn't a problem for everybody so it seems, but I think for a lot of people it is.
interesting you say 4 bars of 4g. when i look at my phone i can get up to 6 vertical bars for 3g's signal strength, but with 4g on, and outside i can get 3 "bars" more like "upper wifi arcs" above the 4g signal. and inside my 4g doesn't even register anything, it just shows 4g with no arcs...
however my technique is to put the phone right next to the window and run my micro usb cable from there to my computer. and i then get great data connection...
still experimenting, (had the phone for less than a week) but i think it might work better to go to menu/settings/wirless&networks/ and uncheck mobile network so the phone doesn't use the 3g for data connection when 4g isn't there...
thus if the 4g signal is low, it doesn't drop it to grab the higher signal 3g...
lastly. i'm heading to the store to try to pick up a 2 buck plastic soap dish with a suction cup for the "high tech holding station" on my window. that and a 10 foot micro usb cable i think that will help even more...
best of luck.
I have figured out where in my neighborhood I can get a 4G signal (and I too keep my phone near the window when I want to use it at home). However since the OTA, I noticed that if my 4G signal drops it won't come back unless I toggle the 4G radio. It will just sit in "scanning" and use 3G.
Anyone else noticing this problem?
I would assume that one of the settings/timers need to be tweaked, but I have no idea what my those values were before the OTA.
oreoOozZz said:
Idk about 4G but i just moved into a new house and i have TERRRIBLE reception no matter where i am. If im not outside, it sucks. Its funny though, as soon as i step out the door, 5-6 bars. Im keeping the phone in hopes that as soon as they get 4G around here (Elmont, NY... Long Island), things will change. =\
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4G has nothing to do with 3G. Clearwire maintains the 4G network and Ericsson maintains the 3G/1X network do if your 3G is bad now, it won't be any different when 4G launches unless Ericsson improves the situation.
If I'd got this device predominantly for 4G...Id've returned it in day one...(IN Chicago also). In fact wouldn't have bought it going in knowing what I knew about the spottiness of tapping into 4G frequency wirelessly.
that makes absolutely no sense.
per your words, 4G has nothing to do with 3G as in Clearwire has nothing to do with Ericsson so what would it matter if Ericsson decided to step its game up if Clearwire is the 4G company?
4G is on a whole different frequency not to mention a whole different tower technology and tower location possibly so there's definetly a good chance that I can maintain a great 4G signal once it arrives in my area compared to the terrible 3G coverage I get.
well see what happens... my luck they will never put 4G by me lol.

MT4G Reception...

Well i took the plunge and switched from ATT to tmobile for the MT4G...what i noticed is that the reception is really spotty here in LAs Vegas. It is mostly on E, and doesnt hold H that well...is this how Tmobile is? With my ATT N1 i had way better reception...did i make a mistake when i switched???
I'm in NYC and coming from a G2 where the phone would ALWAYS switch between H and E (very annoying), the MT4G is quite nice sitting on H. Now, there is an option where you can force HSPA, so you may want to try it by doing:
Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks > Network Mode > WCDMA Only
That will not allow the phone to go to Edge at all. This obviously can be bad if TMo doesn't have good coverage in your area, so check their coverage viewer.
TMo pushed out an update to fix the G2 dropping data connection today. Heh!
RiNo808 said:
Well i took the plunge and switched from ATT to tmobile for the MT4G...what i noticed is that the reception is really spotty here in LAs Vegas. It is mostly on E, and doesnt hold H that well...is this how Tmobile is? With my ATT N1 i had way better reception...did i make a mistake when i switched???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wondering if you've had any more thoughts on this given a few more days with the phone... I also switched from ATT and experienced spotty coverage in the Kansas City area on the first day with the new phone (e.g., fluctuating between 2 bars on E to a total lack of a connection while sitting in one place where ATT would have never given me a problem).
my internet is really slow out here in cali. i get at the most 500kbps i cant even come close to 1mb per second and my "h" shows all the time even though i am not near 4g at all lol. but idk if it needs an update or not but my htc hd2 always said 3g and my internet was never slow like it is on the mytouch 4g. so im not sure if it needs an update or not but i still love my phone and im not gonna complain to much since this phone blows my hd2 out the water. it was nice selling my hd2 so it could pay for my mytouch 4g lol
I am having no issues staying on HSPA+ I am also in Las Vegas (Herderson Acutally, but close enough). I do notice in my house though I switch to Edge. No worries though cause inside there is WiFi
well, i have been using the phone for a few days now and it is an awesome phone, but T-mobiles reception is just killing me. Compaired next to my N1 on ATT, thats another story. ATT has better reception on my N1 then on MT4 on tmobile. i can only wait for tmobile to update their reception.
Its a double edged sword.
with Tmobile you have a great phone with an okay reception, and a phone that is not locked down...
with ATT you have crappy phones with better reception, but phones are locked down. And to get a better phone you have to wait and pry that there is an unlocked vanilly phone that has the ATT frequencies...
Where are you located?
The myTouch 4G doesn't have good reception. It drops over to EDGE next to my Vibrant on 3G, same for the G2. But T-Mobile's 3G network isn't fully developed in Las Vegas yet and that's part of the reason. Certain towers don't have 3G yet, apparently it's on track to fixed soon. AT&T's network quality is truly garbage here. You can have all of the bars in the world but the worst call quality out of all the carriers. This isn't universal as there are hotspots where this problem is exacerbated (ie the Strip) Latency over 3G is pretty bad too.
I'm noticing that my MT4G has really horrible reception here at home. I have it side by side with my G1 and the G1 has full bars Edge and the MT4G has nothing! Sometimes it'll go to 1 Edge bar, but that's it.
Now I know location-wise the house is bad and can only pick up Edge, but I would expect the MT4G to at least display the same amount of bars as the G1.
I'm glad I have wifi-calling capability on this thing, otherwise I would have a nice phone that can't make calls!
Man, bummer for you guys. I've had my mt4g here in New Orleans and all over NYC since it came out and reception and speeds have absolutely blown away my old iPhone 3gs on ATT in both areas.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
werk said:
Man, bummer for you guys. I've had my mt4g here in New Orleans and all over NYC since it came out and reception and speeds have absolutely blown away my old iPhone 3gs on ATT in both areas.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That speaks more of the T-Mobile network than anything else. The MT4G next to my Vibrant was dropping 3G. Happened often in the same place with the G2..
RiNo808 said:
Well i took the plunge and switched from ATT to tmobile for the MT4G...what i noticed is that the reception is really spotty here in LAs Vegas. It is mostly on E, and doesnt hold H that well...is this how Tmobile is? With my ATT N1 i had way better reception...did i make a mistake when i switched???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was also having problems. I went and got a 3G sim card and that fixed allot of problems I was having with reception. Not sure if it will work for you but worth a chance if you dont already have a 3G sim.
Chop.
you're holding it wrong
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Please post questions in Q&A section.

Why can't I get internet with my 4G sometimes?

when I am at work or around outside at my work I cannot connect to the 4G network. No wireless is around, so 4G is on. I try to browse a site like this one, nothing happens. it just loads and never gets to the next page.
yet I pick up my phone right now and it instantly works using browser.
Most likely the room operator try another sim card and operator
Wixej said:
Most likely the room operator try another sim card and operator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what does that mean?
I was able to get 4G at work fine today, watched youtube.
is my phone defect? why would internet get stuck loading?
4G is still a new system. It's buggy and the signal is awkward. You're fine in one spot but move two steps to the left and you won't have it anymore. Just gotta hope that where you're standing has reception.
I don't actually understand how you get internet at all if it's not wireless. I suppose I could wikipedia that.
anyway, can I go down to 3G or 2G if I am not getting internet on 4G?
Yea, just turn off the 4g option. You'll go to 3g.
I bet it's verzion the most, "Verizon Wireless has the nation’s fastest, most reliable 4G network". It's starting too make me a bit mad, but any way I hope turning the 4g off works for you.
I have been geting the same crap so yea.
not Verizon it's Rogers. I live in Canada currently.
Hi
Is it clear
Rogers will not work everywhere in canada. It has verrrry low coverage.
Sorry
Verizon customer with 4G issues
I am almost always in 4G areas with Verizon, Fayetteville and Charlotte, NC, and Charleston, SC. The speeds are generally pretty good (varies between 14 Mbps to 6, starting to trend lower more consistently with more customers hopping on). I will generally lose signal on the lower floor of any multi-story building. But there seem to be noticeable outages, both from my phone (Samsung Droid Charge) and from the network.
I can generally tell which one it is by restarting my phone, so that may be a good way to diagnose whether the outages you're experiencing are hardware or network based. I can vouch for the fact that 4G coverage in Fayetteville has almost daily down times that vary from about 5-10 minutes.
Wow I thought 4G freezing was just a SideKick 4G problem.
My fix is to just turn mobile data off then back on.
Sent from the phone everyone has forgotten about!

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