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[Q] The moment I get to my door... NO SIGNAL

So I got the Nexus S yesterday and LOVE everything about it.
I'm unable to get any acceptable reception inside my apartment (on the lowest level of a three story complex thats surrounded by other apartments).
I live in Hermosa Beach, CA and TMO says I have good coverage here... and they're right... because once i walk outside I'm blazing... like literally once I'm outside my door... what gives??? How can I go from 3G 4 bars lit up in green to that stupid EDGE with one bar... lucky to be green... or no reception at all.
Will I be stuck with not being able to use my phone inside my apartment? I called TMO and they are sending someone out here to check the reception I guess... but I'm stuck using WiFi inside my apartment without being able to use the phone.
Anyone else experience similar issues like that? My sprint phone never did this.

look into getting a signal repeater or something

T-Mobile definitely has issues penetrating buildings, in my opinion. Both my home and one of the two work-sites I frequent are almost dead-zones on T-Mo.
I purchased one of those zBoost cell repeaters for my home, which greatly improves reception, but you need to be able to run a cable to an outside antenna for best results.
Here's an Amazon link for a starting point to different models: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=mobile&field-keywords=zboost+tmobile&x=0&y=0
That said, it's ridiculous to have to pay $250 to get your cell signal. I only did it because the one I got does both AT&T and T-Mo frequencies (not T-Mo 3G, though) and my AT&T phones can get signal inside the house, but just barely.

I too have issues in buildings not necessarily my house but businesses

This is a T-Mobile issue. Not a nexus issue. Also is not a new issue.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

cpcrazyfly said:
This is a T-Mobile issue. Not a nexus issue. Also is not a new issue.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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Technically correct, but if the Nexus S is your first T-Mobile phone, you might not know this. It would be easy to think the NS has a poor antenna. It's a valid question to ask, in my opinion.

redhatyellow said:
So I got the Nexus S yesterday and LOVE everything about it.
I'm unable to get any acceptable reception inside my apartment (on the lowest level of a three story complex thats surrounded by other apartments).
I live in Hermosa Beach, CA and TMO says I have good coverage here... and they're right... because once i walk outside I'm blazing... like literally once I'm outside my door... what gives??? How can I go from 3G 4 bars lit up in green to that stupid EDGE with one bar... lucky to be green... or no reception at all.
Will I be stuck with not being able to use my phone inside my apartment? I called TMO and they are sending someone out here to check the reception I guess... but I'm stuck using WiFi inside my apartment without being able to use the phone.
Anyone else experience similar issues like that? My sprint phone never did this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is just a fundamental issue with the frequencies t-mobile uses for their 3g network, 1700 and 2100mHz. Those have poor building penetration vs for example lower bands like the 850mHz on ATT which penetrates buildings much stronger. It requires them to build towers closer together but that isn't always possible, its hard enough to get towers up as it is.
This is one reason I've tried to stay on ATT 3g as their 3g band performs much better in these situations, when its available.

distortedloop said:
T-Mobile definitely has issues penetrating buildings, in my opinion. Both my home and one of the two work-sites I frequent are almost dead-zones on T-Mo.
I purchased one of those zBoost cell repeaters for my home, which greatly improves reception, but you need to be able to run a cable to an outside antenna for best results.
Here's an Amazon link for a starting point to different models:
That said, it's ridiculous to have to pay $250 to get your cell signal. I only did it because the one I got does both AT&T and T-Mo frequencies (not T-Mo 3G, though) and my AT&T phones can get signal inside the house, but just barely.
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Do you think TMO will provide this for me? Have people got TMO to do this before?
And yeah, I know this isn't a NS issue... I LOVE THE NS -- MY FAV PHONE OF ALL TIME!!, but i am new to TMO and love them as well EXCEPT for inside my house !!
Has anyone ever got TMO to provide better reception inside their home?? You would think they would provide people with like wireless routers for their homes!

I had the G1, Nexus One, G2, and MT4G before the Nexus S and have to say that the Nexus S gets hands down the best reception in my apartment.
The G1 was worthless, the N1, G2, and MT4G were pretty much on par but only got reception in certain parts of the apartment which means I couldn't move very much when on the phone (unless when on wifi calling of course).
The Nexus S has reception everywhere in my apartment with superior call quality throughout. Very impressed with it so far. T-mobile still sucks inside buildings but you're better off with the Nexus S than other T-mobile devices.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

find another place lol
why you are living deep down under. afraid of nuke or something ?

Also, I live in Los Angeles and we've been having lots of rain here... will that affect reception at all?
And what about femtocell technology? Does TMO use it??

redhatyellow said:
Also, I live in Los Angeles and we've been having lots of rain here... will that affect reception at all?
And what about femtocell technology? Does TMO use it??
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Im about an hour away from you and the rain is horrible but i havent had any issues...
and I dont think they do

LOL! I cannot stop laughing reading this comment
ll_l_x_l_ll said:
find another place lol
why you are living deep down under. afraid of nuke or something ?
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Rain seems to be affecting my T mobile service, I'm in the valley and areas I normally get 3g on have been edge or no service since the rain storms began.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Hopefully someone will port the tmobile wifi app to the nexus s. I may return mine and wait for it because I don't want to keep switching phones at home because one has the ability for wifi calling and the other doesnt.
Also I have tried sip calling to no avail on both nexuses.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Rain is known to sometimes cause interference with reception; I notice this as well in NYC. I have noticed that the Nexus S is pretty good at keeping the signal alive, certainly better than my N1 or Vibrant.
To improve your reception, set the phone to airplane mode and then turn it off a few seconds later to get the closest towers. Also call 611 and ask them to reset your phone on the network from their end. Surprisingly, this sometimes does help. As someone said previously, the higher the band (2100 mhz for Tmo 3G), the worse penetration is unfortunately. I think Tmo stopped selling their repeaters earlier this year or last year (hotspot @ home).

I tweeted on Sunday my dissatisfaction with T-Mobile service. I was 75' outside one of their own stores in an area marked as 3G on their maps, couldn't get data at all inside another store, couldn't get better than EDGE outside in the parking lot.
Their reply was to try a new SIM. The SIM I have is from my N1 original, it's not even a year old. Anyone think it's worth the effort swapping? Do SIMS actually "wear out" that fast?
I suspect that's one of those "we don't really have an answer or fix, but give the customer something to try so we look proactive" kind of answers. LOL

have you tried setting up SIP + GVoice over Wifi?
This doesn't resolve the tmobile issue, but at least you can make and receive calls on wifi without eating up your minutes...
It's not ideal, but it works.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=877879

My friend had this problem with his ATT phones. He contacted them, *****ed, and they set up one of those repeaters in his apartment. He's the only one that could log into it and set up a filter to use only phones he registers. Maybe you can talk to Tmobile about this, though I'm not sure if they're eager to give everyone these things (or if Tmobile even gives them).

Frustrated...

I work and go to school full time so 90% of the time I'm inside of a building. I'm finding that even seated in front of a huge window I have no data signal it just says "emergency calls only" and the wifi is so terribly weak I can't even connect to the campus wifi. Anything I can do to improve this before I consider other options?
Sent from my Nexus S

Bronk93 said:
I work and go to school full time so 90% of the time I'm inside of a building. I'm finding that even seated in front of a huge window I have no data signal it just says "emergency calls only" and the wifi is so terribly weak I can't even connect to the campus wifi. Anything I can do to improve this before I consider other options?
Sent from my Nexus S
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T-Mobile will NEVER be good at building penetration with their current network; it's the high frequencies they use and the lack of close-together towers.
WiFi seems to be hit or miss for people. I have zero issues with WiFi on my phone, but lots of people complain the NS is weak. You might consider a swap if you're still in the remorse period. Other than that, unless you get closer to the WiFi, there's nothing you can (currently) do to the phone that will boost the reception, but software updates might address that (new modem software, etc).

that is the nature of AWS 1700+2100 (t-mobile) signal
some areas are really good, some areas are horrible
i myself i'm victim of that, no much you can do about it, other than to report weak signal areas, so that they can put up more towers to cover the black spots (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI)
as for WiFi signal... i don't seem to have that trouble
i can connect to WiFi G and N just fine, fast and strong 3 bars, or 4 bars, but never max

Bronk93 said:
I'm finding that even seated in front of a huge window I have no data signal... and the wifi is so terribly weak I can't even connect to the campus wifi. Anything I can do to improve this before I consider other options?
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I find that I am having the same problem.
The understand network signal issue that "AllGamer" and "distortedloop" mention. But I am came to the Nexus S from a G2. I wanted a purely Google phone and paid for the Nexus S. In the same buildings (Work & School), My G2 would report a stronger WIFI signal.
Any reason for this noted discrepancy? I'm not complaining, just trying to understand and find out if there is a solution.
I think I'm still in my 14 day period, so I may swap it out. But it feels like I've been setting up phone preferences and reinstalling programs for months. I've been through several G2s because of that darn hinge and now another Nexus-S.
Please somebody--- say there's a fix.

I get 2 bars of wifi only 10 feet from my home router even. Im out of my grace period but I have the 10$ a month best buy insurance, could that be used? Sadly I'm looking at the g2 and hd7, some form of reliable data is a must for me.
Sent from my Nexus S

I live in a terrible service area. With my Sprint phone I had to actually go outside to be able to make and receive calls and I live in the Northwest. Its f***ing wet here. On Tmobile I get great service...on my couch only. Its better than having to go outside, and I don't mind it that much to be honest. I just leave my phone on my couch while I'm at home and all is well. As for WiFi, I've never had any issues though I've read about all the people complaining. My wife and I both have great WiFi reception or at the very worst, reception on par with every other phone I've owned. She goes to class inside a concrete building from the 70s and gets fine WiFi and no one on any carrier gets any real cell reception in those buildings.

I don't have experience with any other carrier, so I have no basis for comparison, but I've never found T-Mobile to be particularly bad inside buildings in general. Some are just really bad. I suspect it has a lot to do with the design and materials of the building. I've never had an experience of having such bad coverage by a window, though. Maybe you're only in range of one tower, and the window you're standing at is just on the opposite side of the building from that tower? I dunno.

Thanks for all the feedback fellas. I'm going to see if the best buy insurance will cover a phone swap.
Sent from my Nexus S

It most likely won't. Your best bet would be an exchange if you're within the 30 days or selling the nexus and buying a different phone off contract.
Sent from my SubCyan CM7 Google Nexus S!

zorak950 said:
I don't have experience with any other carrier, so I have no basis for comparison, but I've never found T-Mobile to be particularly bad inside buildings in general. Some are just really bad. I suspect it has a lot to do with the design and materials of the building. I've never had an experience of having such bad coverage by a window, though. Maybe you're only in range of one tower, and the window you're standing at is just on the opposite side of the building from that tower? I dunno.
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T-Mobile's overall service is definitely location-dependent.
I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles. My house is single story, wood frame & 1/2" stucco construction built in the 50s. It's in the "hills", but in direct line of sight of two different towers. One's maybe 3/4 miles, the other just over a mile.
Until a couple of months ago, I could not get any signal in my house, on either voice or data. They did something in the fall and I started getting voice and EDGE, and occasionally I'll get a single bar of 3G in some rooms of the house.
AT&T and Verizon, 5 bars inside my house, but in fairness to T-Mobile, in the early days of the iPhone, I remember having lots of dead spots inside the house with the iPhone.

distortedloop said:
T-Mobile's overall service is definitely location-dependent.
I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles. My house is single story, wood frame & 1/2" stucco construction built in the 50s. It's in the "hills", but in direct line of sight of two different towers. One's maybe 3/4 miles, the other just over a mile.
Until a couple of months ago, I could not get any signal in my house, on either voice or data. They did something in the fall and I started getting voice and EDGE, and occasionally I'll get a single bar of 3G in some rooms of the house.
AT&T and Verizon, 5 bars inside my house, but in fairness to T-Mobile, in the early days of the iPhone, I remember having lots of dead spots inside the house with the iPhone.
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Crazy. I never had a smartphone when I lived in Rochester (MN), so I know nothing about 3G there, but I never had problems with voice calls unless I was in the subway or I buried myself in the core of one of Mayo Clinic's monstrous stone buildings. In Saint Cloud the only place I can recall getting no signal was in the middle of the cinder block labyrinth known as our student union building. In Portland, I get reception pretty much everywhere, though 3G coverage just doesn't exist still in sizable patches outside the city's core.
But yeah, I imagine it's like that with pretty much any carrier; some places, coverage just blows.

I've decided that I am willing to give up my nexus to get service through another carrier with better service in my area. Does anyone have experience with at&t? Does their band allow for better reception in buildings?
Sent from my Nexus S

Yes if you live in an 850mHz area for ATT then building penetration is spectacular. But It's not totally common.
Also I read an ATT version of the nexus s is confirmed now. So that's an option.

I concur with RogerPodacter on AT&T. Their 1900 mhz signal isn't much better at building penetration than T-Mobiles 1700/2100 AWS, but 850 should be. I don't think a lot of areas are actually 850 yet.
If coverage and building penetration are your main concerns, I really feel Verizon is the way to go. Everywhere I hang out that I don't get a signal on either my T-Mo or my AT&T phone, the folks with Verizon are getting good strong coverage. I live and work in the suburbs and surrounding areas of Los Angeles; since cell service is very much dependent on the area you live in with all the companies, your experience may be much different.
Along those lines, I was at Lake Mohave (Bullhead, AZ area) recently, and neither my AT&T i9000, iPhone 4, or T-Mobile Nexus One could get a signal at all for voice or data, but the guys with old original model iPhones were pulling in a signal. Go figure.

My Own Fustration
Hmm...my problem is that 50% of the time when I am on the subway and the signal drops off, when I arrive at the next station, it remains off. There seems to be some kind of glitch (either in the actual OS or else something caused by something I have running in the background) whereby the phone antenna just turns "off", so to speak, and the only way to fix it is to restart the phone.

TokyoGuy said:
Hmm...my problem is that 50% of the time when I am on the subway and the signal drops off, when I arrive at the next station, it remains off. There seems to be some kind of glitch (either in the actual OS or else something caused by something I have running in the background) whereby the phone antenna just turns "off", so to speak, and the only way to fix it is to restart the phone.
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Click to collapse
Or you can try turning airplane mode off and on, see if that helps

How would I know which AT&T signal is available in my area?
Sent from my Nexus S

Bronk93 said:
How would I know which AT&T signal is available in my area?
Sent from my Nexus S
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I'm not sure how accurate this is, since it's 2 years old, but it's a good start: http://www.cellularmaps.com/att_850_1900.shtml

distortedloop said:
I'm not sure how accurate this is, since it's 2 years old, but it's a good start: http://www.cellularmaps.com/att_850_1900.shtml
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wow! i'm actually surprised there are less 850 coverage than 1900 areas (according to that map)
on a related note.
wish more Cell phone carriers had this feature
http://www2.windmobile.ca/en/pages/storesandcoverage.aspx
using google map, to check live coverage, and you can report weak spots, so they can build a new tower to cover the weak spots

Cell signal boosters/repeaters

Hey,
Just moved into a new basement apartment and am getting horrible cell reception, and sometimes none at all. I have been researching cell signal boosters/repeaters and they seem to be pretty solid - although very very expensive.
Wilson technology seems to have the best products. I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with these devices? The other stipulation is that I won't be able to mount an antenna on the side of the house, it'll have to sit in a window.
If anyone has any advice that would be great.
Cheers
Sent from somewhere fun with my Nexus Prime

there was a post/thread (either on this forum or some other forum) back then about someone using T-Mo down in the states and having bad cell reception in the kitchen at their home. He/she went to T-mobile and complained or something and T-Mobile gave them a signal booster of some sort to place at home to use.
ask Rogers maybe?

[Q] Signal issues I've tried hardware fix

So i just got a sim card for my phone. Well i get amazing service at my moms house and thats cause theres a tower right next to us at the local ski resort. However at my fathers house i get horrible service. If i pick up my phone i loose service completely, ive done the hardware fix, which didnt help, and when i do have service its always JUST edge. When according to T-Mobile's coverage map i am flooded with 3g and some 4g all around me.
So im guessing it MUST be the phone. In addition to the hardware fix, im thinking about soldering a 26-30 gauge wire to the two prongs and laying the wire around the device. like the perimiter of the Mobo. Giving it an antenna like my HTC Touch Pro 2.
Also, would flashing a newer radio help any? If i am able to flash a newer radio cause i know in order for android to work that it must be a certain radio. Howerver now that android is set up will i be able to flash one? Im on CLk btw.
Secondly, when i have service its EDGE, but occasionally it will jump to H symbol (Im guessing this is HSDPA) now the reason its jumpping would have to be lack of service, my guessing that is. To me its the equivelant of jumping from 3G to 1x on Sprints network.
Also what is G? lol i am at G now not E or H just G lol. Sorry for my noobishness but im coming from a Sprint CDMA network

Does anybody else have issues like this?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk

I've noticed it's horrible when I hold it, could it be my sim card?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk

Similar problem
Hey, I've had my HD2 T-mob for over a year now imported to New Zealand. And I'm running on 2degree's(Vodafone) here which runs on GSM and UMTS, I only get reception in cities and it still cuts out when I'm in very low residential areas. I get absolutely no reception outside of any city and it's just completely unreliable, My baseband is 15.42.50.11U_2.15.50.14 I don't know too much about this stuff but I'm pretty sure I'm running the most up to date radio. Any help or recommendations would be superb.

Revelients said:
Hey, I've had my HD2 T-mob for over a year now imported to New Zealand. And I'm running on 2degree's(Vodafone) here which runs on GSM and UMTS, I only get reception in cities and it still cuts out when I'm in very low residential areas. I get absolutely no reception outside of any city and it's just completely unreliable, My baseband is 15.42.50.11U_2.15.50.14 I don't know too much about this stuff but I'm pretty sure I'm running the most up to date radio. Any help or recommendations would be superb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well after much googling hoping to find a software fix, there isnt any. Its the hardware of the phone(in my case anyhow) T-Mobile's coverage says i have strong 3G and some 4G (like if i drive 5 mins) but yet i can barely pic up edge. So i took apart my phone and solderd two wires the the prongs and BOOM easily 3G was picked up two - three bars. BUT i couldnt reassemble the device because the wires were too big. All in all it comes down to HTC putting in a lowsy antenna. It works good if youre right next to a tower but second you go away it sucks. I mean heck, i bought a cheap 29 dollar T-Mobile prepaid samsung phone and that had 2 bars solid of 3G. So i know the service is there but its just that the phone cannot pick it up.

Building my own cell repeater site

So its pretty easy to setup a cell signal booster/repeater these days for a pretty good price. We run one at work and it works great. 5 bars consistently inside the building, while the outside has 1-2 with most phones.
Problem is, we do a lot of work outside, and it sucks not having cell service. Would it be possible to setup some kind of mini cell repeater/booster site that can catch the signal and boost it within a certain area that is about 1 mile by 1 mile?
Basically thinking of putting up another one of these to pick up the cell signal.
http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/Pr...ain+800+MHz+Yagi+Antenna+(301111)&Category=28
They work great for the indoor repeater sites we have setup.
From there I would need five exterior 180 degree antennas that would rebroadcast the signal. We already have a tower in place that everything could be mounted on.
Is this legal? What kind of equipment would I be looking at? Any help would be appreciated.

There are no definitive regulations set forth by the CRTC (assuming you live in Canada). In theory, as long as the signal is low powered IE does not leave your property, it should be fine.

For enough money, I could make it work. Not sure how much a 50dbm amplifier will do though, when you split the signal off onto 3-4 sector antennas.
I'll have to look more into it.

Could I build one in my house I live in Arizona.what would it cost?what kind of service do you get with it such as speeds,etc.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA

These are the sector antennas I would want.
http://www.tenxc.com/products/multi-band-bi-sector-array
Not sure how much they cost.
This is seriously a long term project.
If you're in the states, I would talk to your carrier about perhaps putting up a cell site on your property if you have poor service.
I'm with a regional cell phone provider, and they have pretty crappy service in my area with no plans to make it any better.
Which is ridiculous, because its not like I live in the boondocks.

I'm buying there $500 amp set-up sweet.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA

To bump my own thread.
This company makes industrial repeaters for outdoor towers.
http://www.telcosat.com/
Currently in the process of getting a quote from them. I'll update it as it goes.