Database Users

Slow hspa speeds on T-Mobile?

I got around 12 Mbps with my old s3 at work and I did a speed test with my n4 same spot and can only get maybe 6 Mbps what gives I thought this phone had the 42 Mbps radio??
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Same here, my internet doesn't seem to be working like before. Sometimes it will work other times it won't.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Exactly.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

it can be many different factors:
- location
- case/grip
- kernel
- baseband

thought i was the only one

horr1blek1tten said:
I got around 12 Mbps with my old s3 at work and I did a speed test with my n4 same spot and can only get maybe 6 Mbps what gives I thought this phone had the 42 Mbps radio??
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
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Check about phone > status and make sure you are getting an hspa+ connection. Check it when the mobile network is active and data is transmitting because it will drop down to regular hspa while idle. Also, in order to get DC-HSPA (which is required for 42mbps) it has to be available in your area. Not a lot of markets have it yet.

I get anywhere from 15-22 Mbps here in NY and that's with the $30 plan.
Sent from my Nexus 4

24mbps in seattle area

This might not seem like much to you guys but I live in a rural area with no 4g and on my HTC sensation I got about 1mps
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I'm getting between 5Mbps to 10Mbps speeds with my Nexus 4 in Phoenix AZ.
Which is an improvement from my Galaxy Nexus that got 1Mbps to 3Mbps (yeah, that was HSPA+).

I'm on T-Mobile here in NYC and just received 19.5mb down and 1.6mb up.

dcarpenter85 said:
Check about phone > status and make sure you are getting an hspa+ connection. Check it when the mobile network is active and data is transmitting because it will drop down to regular hspa while idle. Also, in order to get DC-HSPA (which is required for 42mbps) it has to be available in your area. Not a lot of markets have it yet.
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I am getting hspa+:15 in the settings with speed test running in the background. What does that mean? 42mbps? Speed tests 6-7mbps at best with 1sec latency! Latency is worse than what I had on hspa 14 on the Samsung exhibit ii.
I am in Philadelphia. I thought we got hspa+ 42 a long while ago here. Although the network seems to always be congested here, often coming to a complete halt, forcing me to go to edge to send and receive emails.
[EDIT]: I think I was wrong on HSPA+ 42 being available in Philadelphia. We're still on 21. According to an article on android central we will get HSPA+ 42 on the 1900Mhz band here instead of 1700Mhz AWS. HSPA+ category 15, which is what the reading in the settings are showing, refers to HSPA+ 21 ... so no DC-HSPA here ... I hope the upgrades come soon, and take care of the congestion issues around the busy parts of the city during the day. It's stupid to have a smart phone that cannot even send an receive emails !

Here in Charlottesville, VA (where HSPA+ 42 is supposedly available), I am getting less than 512 kbps down with over 1000 ms ping. This was in an area that indicated HSPA+:15.
Did I get a phone with a bad radio? Or just a location thing?

This is consectutive tests on different servers further and further away (started with closest last is in south Dakota - pings suck but speeds are great)

glenroebuck said:
This is consectutive tests on different servers further and further away (started with closest last is in south Dakota - pings suck but speeds are great)
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You have a 3G icon... my Nexus 4 only shows H for HSPA. Are you on a custom ROM?

nope stock it switches back and fourth from 3 to H when I am not using the internet it is 3 I do something internet and H pops up.

glenroebuck said:
nope stock it switches back and fourth from 3 to H when I am not using the internet it is 3 I do something internet and H pops up.
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I've never seen 3G pop up on my Nexus 4. Strange. Either way, I guess my terribly slow speeds are a result of being in Central VA.

it is to save battery life it sits on idle afaik on 3g until you call up 4g - there is a post on it on the qa forums.

[Q] LTE and building penetration

Anyone suggests rooting my Nexus 4 (with Tmobile) to enable LTE, to help with some data drop offs I'm experiencing indoors? My service is great outside at work but inside is a different story, didn't know if LTE would help with that? Thanks for any help.

My TMo LTE on my Nexus 4 with Stock ROM/Franco r203 is great. Outside I can get 30-35Mb/ down versus around 20-25Mb/ down inside. Extremely consistent and smooth for me.

Tmo LTE is the same frequency as their hpsa network. I'd guess this means building penetration would be similar. I don't think all towers are upgraded to lte so I get less bars in general with LTE. That said, even with 0-1 bars on LTE I can pull down pretty good speeds in the high single digits.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

[Q] Nexus 4 LTE not strong?

I got a Nexus 4 after trading away my Blackberry Z10 which I have been using for the past year or so and I rooted it yesterday and flashed a couple of LTE-capable radio zips. Unfortunately, the best modem only shows 2 bars out of 4 when on 4G LTE when I am indoors and at most only 3 out of 4 bars when I am outside.
I did a speedtest outdoors and I am only getting 10-15 mbps at most which is not significantly different from what I got with just HSPA+. I used to own a Motorola Atrix HD LTE and I got speeds of over 20 mbps on that phone before it got stolen (similarly with my Blackberry z10).
Does anyone know if this is normal for the device? Or is it just my network is bad?
Thanks.

Androiddeveloper1991 said:
I got a Nexus 4 after trading away my Blackberry Z10 which I have been using for the past year or so and I rooted it yesterday and flashed a couple of LTE-capable radio zips. Unfortunately, the best modem only shows 2 bars out of 4 when on 4G LTE when I am indoors and at most only 3 out of 4 bars when I am outside.
I did a speedtest outdoors and I am only getting 10-15 mbps at most which is not significantly different from what I got with just HSPA+. I used to own a Motorola Atrix HD LTE and I got speeds of over 20 mbps on that phone before it got stolen (similarly with my Blackberry z10).
Does anyone know if this is normal for the device? Or is it just my network is bad?
Thanks.
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The bars are not mobile data. That's your voice side. The E, 3g, H, H+ etc is your mobile data.
LTE on these things is only band 4 and is not officially sanctioned. If your carrier doesn't use band 4 for LTE, you'll never see it.

Are you a T-Mobile customer?

i constantly get 62mbps download speeds in my area,lte. your data speed is influenced by how busy the network is, and how far from the tower you are on. oh, and btw, i get hspa+ speed around 40-41mbps download. just because your h/h+ speeds are similar to your lte, it means nothing. it means thats the results of how busy your network is and how far from you the tower is. there are places that i get higher h+ speeds than lte. but your lte upload speed will almost always be much more than h+.

simms22 said:
i constantly get 62mbps download speeds in my area,lte. your data speed is influenced by how busy the network is, and how far from the tower you are on. oh, and btw, i get hspa+ speed around 40-41mbps download. just because your h/h+ speeds are similar to your lte, it means nothing. it means thats the results of how busy your network is and how far from you the tower is. there are places that i get higher h+ speeds than lte. but your lte upload speed will almost always be much more than h+.
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Now those are some great speeds in my area i get in the 20s - 30s with H+ usually around 10-15 but they are more than enough for what I need.

playya said:
Now those are some great speeds in my area i get in the 20s - 30s with H+ usually around 10-15 but they are more than enough for what I need.
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in my part of southern brooklyn(manhattan beach), it doesnt make any difference which i use for download speed. but for uploads its a huge difference. hspa+ upload speeds of 3-3.5mbps, lte upload speeds of 22mbps. also, i get a full hour more sot on lte than on hspa+

Just curiosity but which lte hybrid modem are everyone using? I cant figure which one 'are the best' like you said OP. Simms22 is absolutly right. Lte connection and speed depends on your local area. There are some people out there who hasnt lte connection at all (like me)

I use the older 33/84 hybrid radio

T-Mobile Speed Tests

I was wondering what type of speeds everybody was getting and whether they noticed worse or improved cell coverage. These are a few speedtests I ran in my area while I was out. Cell service seems just as good as before but would love for them to turn on band 12 so I can convince coworkers to switch.

Pretty good speeds....

i wish i was getting speeds in the 60 mbps range.

Seeing good speeds in midtown Atlanta.

Crontab-e said:
Seeing good speeds in midtown Atlanta.
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WOW 85 Mb down? I wish it was that fast here in Norcross. Here it's around 20Mb/s down.

Oh no.

Speeds faster after update. But I couldn't complain then or now I've got great speeds...lol
.

I'm getting way better signal.
This one is from this morning after the update.
The second one, I included WiFi because, I get 30 more megs download speed compared to my LG G3, it's so weird.
I'm also able to get 4G inside my house now where's to with my LG g3 I was only getting a 2 G signal.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

They probably turned on band 2 LTE in your area. The Note supports band 2 and G3 doesn't.

I'm using mine on AT&T and I have a lot better speeds than on my note 3 both cellular and WiFi

After the upgrade speeds are insane. I'm in Houston Texas.

I ask the question why do phone need such crazy speeds lol

20 or so. Not too happy about it either.

Is band 2 faster than band 4? Is it one or the other or does the phone pair them together?
My 6+ (band 2 and 4) gets 35 Mbps while my hotspot (Sierra 313u, band 4) gets 24 Mbps.

Where the crap do you guys live to get such fast wireless speed?I don't even get that on my at home cable internet...
I get 10-20 on my Wi-Fi and 1-5 on my "LTE"...

Are you guys kidding me !. the top speed I have experienced is around 5mbps !! __ india

If you post speeds, please post location also. I'm going to switch to T-Mobile from Sprint and would like to see coverage.

North Columbus Ohio area . I was on sprint for 16 years. . Now I am happy.
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My coverage and speeds are very similliar to my GS5 so I am pleased . I am in the St.Louis Area . I max out at around 60 Mbps and average 30 Mbps which is more than good enough considering I use no more than 1 to 2 GB a month since Im on wifi 90% of the time.

htc_doc said:
Is band 2 faster than band 4? Is it one or the other or does the phone pair them together?
My 6+ (band 2 and 4) gets 35 Mbps while my hotspot (Sierra 313u, band 4) gets 24 Mbps.
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do you mean carrier aggregation?

What TMobile Band are you using and how is signal strength

I am one of the folks seeing terrible signal issues with my phone. It drop service in areas where no other TMobile phone has. I have an open ticket with essential and have not heard back.
Some folks seem to have no issues with TMobile and the phone. I am wondering if it is related to what TMobile bands they are using.
I am using band 4.
Are folks that are not having signal issues on different bands? I know it is a long shot but would be curious to know if those that don't have problems are on different frequencies.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

How do you check which band you're on?
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

Download the LTE Discovery app from the Play Store. You will see your connected LTE band in the top left box. You can download it from here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.simplyadvanced.ltediscovery
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app

I'm on band 12. My TMobile LTE+ data connection throughput sucks.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

knome said:
I'm on band 12. My TMobile LTE+ data connection throughput sucks.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
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What phone are you coming from and how did it compare. I was really hoping that those on the lower mhz frequencies would be doing better than those on the higher frequencies.
This was based on the fact that folks on Verizon and ATT seem to have less signal issues and they generally use the lower frequencies where TMobile still has a ton of Band 4 higher frequency coverage.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

This phone doesn't work for $#1t on T-Mobile. I tried to cancel before they sent, they ignored me, and now trying to get anyone to respond to return the damn thing. They've been ignoring requests to communicate. I hate this company. Worse experience than buying a no name Chinese phone.

My phone is working perfectly on T-Mobile band 4, I have no problems with either data or signal. Phone calls, internet, display, everything is perfect. This phone is one of the best experiences I have so far this year, and believe me I got several phones during this year. One plus 3T, one plus 5, Huawei 9 Pro, Xiaomi Mi Mix, galaxy S8 Plus, HTC U11 international version, pixel XL, Huawei P10 plus, I have my note 8 still in the package because this phone is so good. And this phone is in my top 4 so far.
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app

I'm on band 12 and have a slightly better connection than with my old HTC 10. And overall it's been a tiny bit better for me everywhere.

Lucky people on band 12, I'm rarely on that band. Always always on band 4 on Tmo even though the Cali bay area is supposed to be blanketed in band 12...

I'm in the Foothills area of North Carolina and almost always using Band 4. I have had terrible service with this phone similar to you. No other phone I have has struggled to connect to the cell towers like this one does. It either loses signal completely or the signal is so weak the phone doesn't work. This is happening in areas where my iPhone 7 Plus, Axon 7, and Pixel XL work fine. I've had to resort to WiFi calling for it to be reliable. I started a support ticket last week and after trading emails with them and waiting an average of 30 hours for each response after 3 days I got fed up and I filed a complaint with the BBB. The very next day I received an email stating they had "initiated your return request" claiming I will receive a package within 5-7 business days. They are exchanging it for a new one. We'll see. That was Friday 09/08/17 and so far I have not seen any kind of a shipping notice. I may not get one however so I'll just have to wait the number of days and see what happens. The email said I will receive a package from their partners at Asurion so they may not send tracking info. Essential the company is very hard to deal with. I was never able to talk to someone over the phone. When I called I basically was told by a voice message to send in an email "for faster service". Boy that's a joke. I'm hoping I will receive a new phone and not just a box and label to send the original one back in.
Anyway, my signal strength varies from 3 bars to no bars in the areas where other phones have 3-4 bars with reliable service.Using a signal strength app it reports an average of -10 dBm weaker signal than all those other phones.

I just got my phone today and it's working beautifully on TMO Band 2. Not having any issues at all!
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

foopy said:
I'm in the Foothills area of North Carolina and almost always using Band 4. I have had terrible service with this phone similar to you. No other phone I have has struggled to connect to the cell towers like this one does. It either loses signal completely or the signal is so weak the phone doesn't work. This is happening in areas where my iPhone 7 Plus, Axon 7, and Pixel XL work fine. I've had to resort to WiFi calling for it to be reliable. I started a support ticket last week and after trading emails with them and waiting an average of 30 hours for each response after 3 days I got fed up and I filed a complaint with the BBB. The very next day I received an email stating they had "initiated your return request" claiming I will receive a package within 5-7 business days. They are exchanging it for a new one. We'll see. That was Friday 09/08/17 and so far I have not seen any kind of a shipping notice. I may not get one however so I'll just have to wait the number of days and see what happens. The email said I will receive a package from their partners at Asurion so they may not send tracking info. Essential the company is very hard to deal with. I was never able to talk to someone over the phone. When I called I basically was told by a voice message to send in an email "for faster service". Boy that's a joke. I'm hoping I will receive a new phone and not just a box and label to send the original one back in.
Anyway, my signal strength varies from 3 bars to no bars in the areas where other phones have 3-4 bars with reliable service.Using a signal strength app it reports an average of -10 dBm weaker signal than all those other phones.
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I am in Raleigh NC and have mostly band 4 and connection issues. I still have not heard back from Essential service on a replacement.
It almost seems as if they are trying to wait me out for the return period and not respond.
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In West L.A. and currently on Band 2 and getting about 50Mbs down.

I know his might sound bad,but I had the same connection issues and tried to reach out to support with no luck. Ended up selling the device for more than I paid on a reputable site which I won’t name..... within about ten minutes also?

I've tried the phone all over LA and being on band 12 Tmobile, I've basically noticed that the phone really flies when the signal is good, but when the cell signal is slightly sub-optimal, the data throughput goes into the toilet. I don't know if the antennas just suck, if I'm holding it wrong, or if the design just hinders the performance, but compared to my pixel XL, the slower speed is extremely noticeable.
I have a guess as to why the antennas struggle though, they might just be too small or obstructed for anything but strong/clear signals because even though the back is ceramic, signals are not able to go through it. At the essential launch event in LA. they showed how the ceramic was laminated over a solid titanium backing on the frame. There aint no antennas under there
All I know is, this made the phone unusable for me, which sucked because I loved the design.

I finally got my replacement phone and the reception is no better. I have never had an issue with reception except for this phone. The essential phone is the first phone that can not hang onto a signal in my house.
I agree with the above this is an antenna issue and no software can fix it. The phone is unusable unless you have perfect signal.
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Yeah I gave up on using Tmo on this phone. Swapped it back to my Verizon sim and the service works well enough.

I live in Philadelphia northern suburbs and the PH-1 phone either hop on Band 12 (700 MHz) or Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz or AWS). When my phone is on Band 12, the speed test is in no more than 25 Mbps down/8 Mbps up at best. On Band 4, I get anywhere from 40-90 Mbps down/15-45 Mbps up. I thought that it was odd when I first got the Essential PH-1 phone but then I checked against "old" HTC 10, HTC A9 and Axon 7 mini. They all behaved the same, the signal strength was about the same and the same features, like VoLTE, HD Voice, etc. worked the same. The place where I work is a black hole for any mobile signal due to how the building is constructed so I have been relying on Wi-Fi Calling with all of my phones, including PH-1, for many years now. At home, the T-Mobile tower is about 500 ft. away but most of the time it is on Band 12 in my area so BW is no too high.
I read somewhere that in general T-Mobile only owns a small, 5x5 MHz chunk of bandwidth on Band 12 in most places in the US and probably cannot do 10x10, 15x15 or 20x20 MHz aggregations on Band 12. That is why T-Mobile went aggressively after Band 71 (600 MHz) and is doing Band 2 (1900 MHz or PCS) refarming and adding Band 66 (1700/2100 MHz or AWS-3) support. A lot of issues that I am experiencing with signal strength may be attributed to the T-Mobile tinkering with towers or doing some weird crap with their network. Simply not having enough bandwidth (i.e. 5x5 MHz vs. 15x15 MHz) could be a big factor. Here is the link to check how much bandwidth T-Mobile has in your corner of the US - http://www.spectrumgateway.com/t-mobile-spectrum-holdings. Pop your zip code in and you'll exactly what you have to play with.
Another factor that I can think of that separates this phone from the others is that it has 6 magnets crammed too close to other components and how they may affect an RF signal reception no one knows?

Hmm if it's all the Tmobile network shortcomings and them experimenting with weird configurations, I would assume that would affect my Pixel XL reception... but the pixel XL usually has 2x to 10x the speed of my PH-1. Maybe it's the magnets, or the titanium laminated ceramic back doesn't allow for enough antenna to be exposed to get a good signal when reception is not optimal...

How do you change lte bands on essential phone?