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My brother and I both got S4s almost 2 weeks ago. He upgraded from an S3. Me from a Rezound. He also has a work phone that is a Verizon Note 2.
We were out at our parents' house over the weekend. Our dad has a RAZR Maxx and a 4G Verizon MiFi for his house. All 5 of these phones/devices are on Verizon.
Both of Dad's devices and my brother's Note 2 were maintaining a steady 4G LTE connection. The Note 2 only showed about 2 bars, but it held it steady and never dropped back to 3G at any time while we were there.
But, both my and my brother's S4s would not hold 4G. We played around with network settings. Changed them from CDMA/LTE to Global, and then back. They would both occasionally switch to 4G for a minute or so, then always switch back to 3G.
I called Verizon tech support and they walked us through things including turning off the phones, pulling the SIMs and letting him push a new PRL to us. Nothing helped, so he told us to go get new SIMs. I did that yesterday and went back out to my dad's and it's still the same. My dad's phone and his MiFi maintain a steady 4G LTE signal and my S4 mostly just stays on 3G.
I also noticed that I went to the movies yesterday and when I was in the theater lobby, which is right in the middle of town, where there is strong 4G signal, my phone had dropped back to 3G there, too.
I'm still within my 14 day return period and I am seriously thinking of returning the S4 and getting a Note 2.
Does anybody have any better suggestions?
I found a thread on the AC forums where a guy reported the same issue I'm having. He took the SIM out of his Rezound, cut it down, plugged it in, and he said that fixed his 4G reception problem.
I'm going to VZW after work and trying a 3rd SIM. This time, one of the old style, that doesn't support NFC.
I went to Verizon after work yesterday and got a new non-NFC SIM. Then went back to my dad's house. The SIM does not appear to make any difference. My phone still wanted to switch to 3G and stay there.
But, I did figure out one encouraging thing. I used Battery Monitor Widget to get into the Testing screen. There, I was able to change the phone from "CDMA/LTE (Auto PRL)" to "LTE Only".
After doing that, the phone went into 4G mode and stayed there, and actually worked fine. I turned on my hotspot and connected to it with my tablet and surfed for a while, with no issues.
This tells me that the phone's LTE reception is pretty much just as good as the Note 2 and other devices I mentioned before. It's just a software issue that is switching it to 3G mode when it doesn't need to.
Hello everyone.
I just got my phone back from Samsung after it wouldn't power on, then had trouble getting it to stay connected long enough to activate. So, I brought it in to town, hooked in to wifi, and had no issues. Got the phone activated, waited for a while, updated the PRL and Profile, and waited around to see if it would start working for me. Unfortunately, it was still not working very well. Put on the 1x/3g mod to see if it was actually getting 3g. Found that it was not... Finally, I contacted sprint to see if they could help on tech support. He said he would contact the network people...
I was like, hmm... at different location now, checked at the sprint store, updated one of their phones PRLs, and it seemed to start running slowly too... so I downgraded my PRL to see if that would help, it did not. Finally, I put on the 00001 PRL really quickly to see if I could get 3g... seems it didn't leave sprint or the 1x.
So, put it back to the original... was wondering if anyone has some advice?
Thanks much.
UPDATE: So, the radio has been flickering on and off for data reception, went up to Green Bay today and it went into 4g, then 3g, then nothing for a while, then back again...
Right now it is on 4g again.
Is there any way to check if the radios may have something not working? I would say maybe it is just network upgrades, (really, really hoping this is the case), but then I would think that Sprint would have said something when I contacted them about there being upgrades....
Thanks.
Take it to a store and ask them to test the radios. They could be faulty.
Mines been acting the exact same way...altho mine has not had problems before needing to be sent to Samsung.
2 weeks ago it just started not going into 4g as much as it used to...and RANDOMLY totally dropping any data connection 10x a day. Literally no 3g/4g for 2+ minutes at a time..no amount of airplaine mode/restarts fixes it......its like im back to the SgS2 days.. ****im sick of Sprint/samsung
Snazarian said:
Mines been acting the exact same way...altho mine has not had problems before needing to be sent to Samsung.
2 weeks ago it just started not going into 4g as much as it used to...and RANDOMLY totally dropping any data connection 10x a day. Literally no 3g/4g for 2+ minutes at a time..no amount of airplaine mode/restarts fixes it......its like im back to the SgS2 days.. ****im sick of Sprint/samsung
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Click to collapse
It's sprints fault, not samsung. I have the same data drop problems, especially around NYC/NJ. I've had the same issue on my previous S3. My GF has no such issues on her S4 or her previous S3, but she has AT&T. Chances are Sprint is doing something with the network in your area currently.
Try this
1 - update profile
2 - update prl
3 - open the dialer and enter ##72786#
Your phone will reboot and go thru the activation process
If that does not help, call sprint and find out if there are any network vision enhancements in progress for your area. Unfortunately when Sprint does their updates it gets REALLY BAD until they are done
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
So I bought my wife what I thought was a good deal and got her the N910H not knowing that it was 3G only. Ok, well, on her verizon branded unlocked note 2 she can get HSPA speeds with her sim, but with the note 4 that's unlocked, she hasn't seen above the edge network, and her signal is garbage. APN settings are what they should be, tried a few different variations, and nothing. Bought a Verizon 4G LTE sim from straight talk for her, before I realized it was 3G only and only assumed it would help. But would it help? Both ATT and Verizon get LTE coverage in the area, or what can I do to fix my signal? Oh yeah, and I can't send or receive pictures...ugh. HELP
*apparently she can now receive pictures, but still can't send them
sweet_2th said:
So I bought my wife what I thought was a good deal and got her the N910H not knowing that it was 3G only. Ok, well, on her verizon branded unlocked note 2 she can get HSPA speeds with her sim, but with the note 4 that's unlocked, she hasn't seen above the edge network, and her signal is garbage. APN settings are what they should be, tried a few different variations, and nothing. Bought a Verizon 4G LTE sim from straight talk for her, before I realized it was 3G only and only assumed it would help. But would it help? Both ATT and Verizon get LTE coverage in the area, or what can I do to fix my signal? Oh yeah, and I can't send or receive pictures...ugh. HELP
*apparently she can now receive pictures, but still can't send them
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Click to collapse
Try changing the modem, i should help, cheers:fingers-crossed:
I almost purchased the 910H myself but luckily found out it doesn't support LTE before pulling the trigger. If you can still return it, get the 910C model instead. It supports LTE for both AT&T & T-Mobile.
I'm using my 910C on Straight Talk AT&T ATM.
Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk
So, just tried the only 2 other modems I could find for my N910H running KitKat, and signal is no different. Any more ideas?
update
Ok, so playing around with some of the settings in more networks, mobile networks I changed the network mode from gsm only to wcdma/gsm (auto connect) and data speeds are NOW where they should be, which is 3G, and with a full signal got 8MB down speed, so, that's good. Now the question becomes why can i receive pictures and not send them. Actually managed to get a couple to go through, but no clue how or why they went through.
So, since the forum search won't work... I'm making a new thread.
I was previously running Chroma ROM and I couldn't get my Project Fi sim to work for the life of me, so I figured it was the sim card that was the problem and I ordered a new one. New one arrived Monday, popped that sucker in and... nothing, still not working, so I reluctantly reverted to stock OTA and finally got it to read the sim card. Everything was working well except I cannot get a signal from T-Mobile on band 12. I'm in a area where band 12 is the only T-Mobile coverage. According to their map I should be getting "Good Signal" outdoors and somewhat indoors, well I get nothing, zip, notta. Now while I do get 1-2 bars on sprint 3g, I would obviously prefer T-Mobile LTE for many reasons. But even using the dialer codes to force T-Mobile, it would just time out or revert back to sprint after 5 minutes of no signal. So I chatted with a Project Fi rep and she tried her best but couldn't figure it out. So that is why I am here. If anyone has any ideas on how to fix this, please help. Other than stock I do have the bootloader unlocked but that shouldn't matter. So if there is some magic script or file(s) I need to delete/change, let me know. Thanks everyone!
Oh, and I was running a verizon sim before that and was having the LTE bug. That's why I switched to Fi.
gvfd65 said:
So, since the forum search won't work... I'm making a new thread.
I was previously running Chroma ROM and I couldn't get my Project Fi sim to work for the life of me, so I figured it was the sim card that was the problem and I ordered a new one. New one arrived Monday, popped that sucker in and... nothing, still not working, so I reluctantly reverted to stock OTA and finally got it to read the sim card. Everything was working well except I cannot get a signal from T-Mobile on band 12. I'm in a area where band 12 is the only T-Mobile coverage. According to their map I should be getting "Good Signal" outdoors and somewhat indoors, well I get nothing, zip, notta. Now while I do get 1-2 bars on sprint 3g, I would obviously prefer T-Mobile LTE for many reasons. But even using the dialer codes to force T-Mobile, it would just time out or revert back to sprint after 5 minutes of no signal. So I chatted with a Project Fi rep and she tried her best but couldn't figure it out. So that is why I am here. If anyone has any ideas on how to fix this, please help. Other than stock I do have the bootloader unlocked but that shouldn't matter. So if there is some magic script or file(s) I need to delete/change, let me know. Thanks everyone!
Oh, and I was running a verizon sim before that and was having the LTE bug. That's why I switched to Fi.
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Click to collapse
Where do you live, check this link if you haven't already and make sure you're in one of the good areas and not near the edges. That's all I can think of.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=zYsWXH8QR36Q.k_csKbu63eVk&hl=en_US
I was previously on Verizon and was running PureNexus, I connected to T-Mobile just fine on band 12, but my problem was it never connected to Sprint.
Anyone else on Sprint with the S10?
Note 8, and S8+ works fine. My S10+ is getting 1x and when I'm on the road, it would come in and out all day long. Without WiFi the phone is almost useless.
dannieboiz said:
Anyone else on Sprint with the S10?
Note 8, and S8+ works fine. My S10+ is getting 1x and when I'm on the road, it would come in and out all day long. Without WiFi the phone is almost useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have the exect same issue with s10e..i thought it was only s10e because its a cheaper model..what do we do..plus also my wifi is pritty bad..only on this device
My wifi works fine but I have very limited if any data signal and I can hardly send or receive text messages....
No one has a fix?
I called the sprint store and the guy said lots of these new S10 series phones have connectivity issues.
He said their tech has a fix for it but it may not be effective. He said Samsung needs to release an update to fix it.
I've got the S10+
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Switch to verizon, att, or cricket. Sprint is bottom of barrel of carriers sadly. I learned that the hard way back when carriers has 2 year contracts.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
johnwayne27 said:
Switch to verizon, att, or cricket. Sprint is bottom of barrel of carriers sadly. I learned that the hard way back when carriers has 2 year contracts.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I used to believe in this statement.. But when I walk around with a phone from Verizon (business), Srint (Personal) and AT&T hotspot service, I realized this is very not true.
There are locations where each carrier is stronger than others. At one of my job site, Verizon and AT&T fail to connect at all constant roaming and drop calls while Sprint skips along like no body cares.
Point, additionally, as each carrier acquire and deploy new bands, they need to be built out so the newer devices that support the bands can utlize it relieving the crowded older bands.
HOWEVER, this stupid phone, with SignalCheck Pro installed, I can see the bands I'm on but the signal stregnth is horrible, like at the moment, i'm connected to band 41 but LTE is at -117dBm, that's almost like not having signal at all. Likewise when I'm connected to band 25 and 26.
I tried disabling all those bands and force it onto the lower frequency with hardly any success.
dannieboiz said:
I used to believe in this statement.. But when I walk around with a phone from Verizon (business), Srint (Personal) and AT&T hotspot service, I realized this is very not true.
There are locations where each carrier is stronger than others. At one of my job site, Verizon and AT&T fail to connect at all constant roaming and drop calls while Sprint skips along like no body cares.
Point, additionally, as each carrier acquire and deploy new bands, they need to be built out so the newer devices that support the bands can utlize it relieving the crowded older bands.
HOWEVER, this stupid phone, with SignalCheck Pro installed, I can see the bands I'm on but the signal stregnth is horrible, like at the moment, i'm connected to band 41 but LTE is at -117dBm, that's almost like not having signal at all. Likewise when I'm connected to band 25 and 26.
I tried disabling all those bands and force it onto the lower frequency with hardly any success.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you disable or remove that signal check program? Not all sognal check programs are legit.
What country are you in?
That may be part of the problem.
I agree, carriers do have their own pros and cons.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
johnwayne27 said:
Switch to verizon, att, or cricket. Sprint is bottom of barrel of carriers sadly. I learned that the hard way back when carriers has 2 year contracts.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
johnwayne27 said:
Can you disable or remove that signal check program? Not all sognal check programs are legit.
What country are you in?
That may be part of the problem.
I agree, carriers do have their own pros and cons.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I'm in the US
and yes the program can be uninstalled, but it was only installed because I need to troubleshoot this issue, so it's not the program that's causing the problem. It's just telling me what band I'm on and the signal.
dannieboiz said:
Anyone else on Sprint with the S10?
Note 8, and S8+ works fine. My S10+ is getting 1x and when I'm on the road, it would come in and out all day long. Without WiFi the phone is almost useless.
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Click to collapse
It's not just you. There are multiple threads on Sprint's forums with users complaining. My phone constantly roams, the WiFi calling keeps timing out on location and though it says LTE most of the time data doesn't work. Lucky for me I keep a spare phone so I'll be switching back to my iPhone X until they resolve this but there's been no official word on any of this getting resolved so I'm not expecting a solution any time soon. I'm wondering if it was the update I installed that caused this because it seemed like day 1 the phone was ok. Maybe a solution is to use Odin and flash back to the original stock.
winb83 said:
It's not just you. There are multiple threads on Sprint's forums with users complaining. My phone constantly roams, the WiFi calling keeps timing out on location and though it says LTE most of the time data doesn't work. Lucky for me I keep a spare phone so I'll be switching back to my iPhone X until they resolve this but there's been no official word on any of this getting resolved so I'm not expecting a solution any time soon. I'm wondering if it was the update I installed that caused this because it seemed like day 1 the phone was ok. Maybe a solution is to use Odin and flash back to the original stock.
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They had me reset network settings which I did and it didn't help. They're sending me a replacement phone... Once I get it I'll prevent the Samsung update and see if that helps. Idk I really wanted to like this phone.
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Sadly this is a known issue:
https://community.sprint.com/t5/Samsung/Galaxy-s10-plus-wont-stay-connected-to-LTE/td-p/1035678
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sprint/comments/b1hxkp/galaxy_s10_data_failure/
Strange I get signal better than I did on my note 9
Do you guys have a Sprint phone or the unlocked version from factory? I have the factory unlocked version, could it be it? The sprint guy @ the store said they sold a few s10's and no one has come back *****ing yet
dannieboiz said:
Do you guys have a Sprint phone or the unlocked version from factory? I have the factory unlocked version, could it be it? The sprint guy @ the store said they sold a few s10's and no one has come back *****ing yet
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Click to collapse
I have the sprint version purchased from S
Spent an hour with samsung to no resolution. Took my verizon sim and dropped it on the S10 and the phone was getting good signal and speed then dropped for a couple minutes then back to good speeds. But as it's doing this, the phone started to get very warm. Sprint tech support doesn't know crap, just make me repeat their written process multiple times and the guys at the sprint stores are just salesman.
Since the verizon seems shows intermitten connections as well, i'm going to see if samsung can send me a replacement.