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anyone recommend a good cell phone repeater (affordable) to use at house? I have t-mobile usa and get horrible reception in and out of my house. Usually 1 to 0 bars inside and 1 or 2 outside. Phone constantly loses signal completely. Nothing wrong with phone though, just my location.
I don't know what's your price range, but just looking at Amazon there's a few that doesn't seem to have bad reviews, check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Spotwave-z190...6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1280364508&sr=8-6 (Most affordable)
http://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Electr..._13?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280364508&sr=8-13
http://www.amazon.com/zBoost-YX-510..._1_1?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280364508&sr=8-1
You could always check other ones yourself and see if they work with T-Mobile.
Hope it helps.
I looked at quite a few on Amazon and elsewhere. I may get this:
http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Extenders-YX-500-Booster-Coverage/dp/B000A3OLZC
Was hoping some people in here might recommend or not recommend something before I made a decision.
Budget: under $200.00
none of those work with AWS 3G though.
That shouldn't matter if he has WiFi at home. I assume all he needs is the GSM signal to make phone calls.
Something to look forward to: T-Mobile is testing an Android based UMA software which will allow you to make and receive calls using your T-Mobile number over WiFi so that should really solve your problem. I would hold off on the repeater purchase if possible because the UMA is supposed to go live in Q3 and I don't want you to lay out all that cash unnecessarily.
ebay. You can grab them for 50-100
They are also illegal as the frequencies you are retransmitting are licensed. Chances are that they will never find you, but if you cause a degradation in the cell sites in the area and they do find it. You will be told to turn it off or face a $10K fine from the FCC. Just an FYI.
You know your can call tmobile and they well send a tech to your area. I had to call them and 3 weeks later I had 5 bars.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
First of all you should Know your operator, the friequence that is comportable to each booster is different, after you should know the coverage you want your booster to cover whether it is a big parking zone, office or room. Only according to these principles I'll be able to buy the amplifier
Background: I've always had negligible reception in my basement here in Arvada (near Denver, CO). With AT&T (GSM), I generally had 0 to 1 bar, sometimes getting calls, sometimes not. With Sprint, I rarely got a signal and soon returned the handset. Now on T-mobile (GSM again), I get about the same reception as AT&T though the Vibrant holds onto it better very rarely dropping entirely. I most often connect to an Edge 2G tower, but occasionally can hold a 3G connection here.
I've been curious about boosters for some time though wasn't ready to pay several hundred dollars. A few weeks ago, I came across the YX-300 zBoost zPersonal for $50 that seems to normally sell for $120. Admittedly, its pretty basic; it's antenna is meant to be within a few feet of the handset. It just arrived and I'll be testing it using Cell Mapper 2 and Tasker.
Another option you all may want to explore are external antennas which physically connect to the phone. I've confirmed that this (like most) phones has a plug hidden under a little rubber cover next to the SIM card.
I'll share what results I can in hope it helps those considering boosters...
2010.08.21 5am Initial test
After testing for about 30 minutes, I haven't seen much difference having the booster powered on or off. Wish I had something more significant to report. I'll keep watching and see if I ever fully lose signal (w/blue circle, crossed out icon) while using the booster. If not, I'll consider it worthwhile.
2010.08.21 6am Same test, later
Actually, now I'm seeing a very notable difference in 2G signal with the booster powered on. Specifically, it shows 4/4 bars consistently for over 10 minutes and then instantly drops to 0/4 bars when unplugged. Once plugged back in, back to 4/4. I'm not expecting any 3G improvement given the bands this booster enhances but this round seems promising. No idea what could be different from my earlier test. All I did was pop out to setup Tasker to record outages. ::shrug::
One thing is for certain with this particular booster. The phone must be VERY close to the desk antenna to benefit. Now that I'm getting results, moving the phone mere inches further away makes a significant difference. A foot away and the signal's gone. I expect I'll be hacking together a DIY desk dock built around this antenna.
2010.08.27 9am After about a week of testing
As advertised, the $50 zBoost zPersonal seems to consistently give me a full signal where I normally barely have one with calls and SMS both working great. But as mentioned, this particular booster has a very limited rebroadcast range of just a foot or so (at the desk). Beyond that, I've lost signal a few times while elsewhere in the same room. I'd be curious how the larger, more expensive boosters work many suggesting the improved signal extends throughout several rooms.
others have reported that socket next to the sim card as a socket for an optional GPS antenna - as a FYI
I would definitely recommend the SpotWave unit. I have one for ATT that was use in a large office complex for a few years and worked wonders. From what I understand, they actually work directly with the various carriers to make sure their repeaters don't interfere with the cell towers.
larryccf said:
others have reported that socket next to the sim card as a socket for an optional GPS antenna - as a FYI
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I've heard people suggest that. I've never seen it formally documented on these phones nor tested it myself. However, I do know that every phone I've owned, dating back to my first (a Nokia 6190 from 1998), discreetly included this same jack. None of these earlier phones had any kind of GPS built-in. Beyond this, I do know that jack is wired into the main GSM antenna (found under the bump) as seen in these teardown photos. This suggests the external antenna definitely extends GSM cell reception in our phones. It could potentially extend GPS as well, but only if GPS used the same antenna (as opposed to one located along the top). Either way, it would help with phone calls and SMS.
Moved into a new house last year around the same time my phone at the time, the droid maxx, got kit kat....initially thought kitkat killed battery life on the phone and as a result i eventually sold it and got a g2, tried out a couple other phones as well, but they were smaller battery phones, s5, m8, x etc...ended up staying on a g2 until the note 4. The note 4 battery was so bad i thought i had a defective unit and had verizon swap it...same issuse. I then swapped the note 4 for a turbo and im STILL dead by 5pm even with this things massive battery.
Finally occurred to me, its likely my location since it started with the maxx when i moved here.
Called verizon on it suspecting i may be dead center between two towers and the phones are constanrly switching between them, killing the battery quickly. On the phone with them they had me check the mobile data battery bar for breaks, which i hadnt noticed before because the break color is barely different than the non break color, but WOW, CONSTANT BREAKS throughout the bar.
Verizon says they are i"nvestigating", sending an engineer to my location to test etc, but i have little faith in them so thought i would ask here if anyone knows of a way to resolve this bouncing between towers?
Also, put the phone on my tylt charger last night (it was at 8% and I had already fully charged it again mid-day) around midnight, at 7am it had only managed to get 60% charge due to this issue.
Any thoughts, ideas how to resolve? I already use wifi all the time at home, with no effect on battery (as again, it seems to be the bouncing between towers thats killing it, not lte usage).
I'm 100% convinced its a tower bounce causing this, my 4g LTE signal bounces between 95dbm and 108dbm or so...stays on 4g most of the time, but bounces constantly from tower to tower.
Thanks in advance!
Dang, that must be a pretty heavy power draw. My TYLT gives me the illusion of my turbo charged. Seems faster than a normal charger.
Sent from my XT1254
Try downloading LTE discovery from the play store. It's supposed to lock you on a tower when you're not getting signal, and its worked well to do that for me on multiple devices. I don't know if it will lock to a specific tower though, I feel like radio auto-switching would take precedence. I don't know if just turning off LTE would help either.
For you guys that have this phone now are you having any signal issues? Like the phone randomly dropping signal for a little bit then it comes back?
I have a nexus 6 and it is going from 2 bars -100dbm to no bars -120dbm and its killing the battery, i have at least 10-18% time with no signal in my battery stats when i never had this issue on my galaxy S5. I'm looking to replace the nexus but I don't want a phone that will do the same thing and I'm hoping the moto x will perform like my S5 did
Thanks in advance
Where are you from and whats your carrier? I am considering buying this phone so i am also interested to hear the experience of those who already got it in their hands. This doesnt sound right, and i would expect no issues with a signal on a brand such as Motorola.
I'm in Akron Ohio and was using Verizon with the nexus 6. I just took the nexus 6 back and got a moto x pure at best buy. It cost me $54 more to swap phones.
So far I haven't seen the moto x go below 2bars in my house and checking the battery stats I have no time at all with no signal.
The turbo charger for this phone is a beast, it charges the phone very fast. It's way easy to handle this phone compared to the nexus 6, that phone was huge.
I'll see how my signal goes for the rest of the weekend but so far so good
I had to go down in my basement thinking my signal must be lying to me. I haven't seen 3g yet. Lowest signal I've seen was two bars.
Went in the basement and it still held lte. I was streaming music and browsing the web at the time
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
So false alarm then, thanks for your input guys
I'll reply tomorrow night and let you know how it's been
Better than the Nexus 6, which was better than most... I have -85 at office with this and -98 with the N6...
Is anyone else having overheating issues ? It seems to be very bad when using 5g the phone gets so hot it has to go into "cool down" mode. I have a warranty replacement coming I was just wondering if anyone else was having the same issue.
I cannot use 5g on my phone without overheating issues. I noticed it happens more if im travelling, possibly because of 5g and LTE signals changing so frequently back and forth in 5g dead zones. This is also the first thread i find on this device and issue. Is TMobile sending you a new device. I had touch screen issues with my S10 Plus before 30 days of having it since launch date and TMobile refused to send me a new device. They said they send devices people return within their 14 day period.
cesar.mk4 said:
I cannot use 5g on my phone without overheating issues. I noticed it happens more if im travelling, possibly because of 5g and LTE signals changing so frequently back and forth in 5g dead zones. This is also the first thread i find on this device and issue. Is TMobile sending you a new device. I had touch screen issues with my S10 Plus before 30 days of having it since launch date and TMobile refused to send me a new device. They said they send devices people return within their 14 day period.
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They are sending me a new returned device and they reimbursed me the $26 shipping fee and the $20 replacement fee with a $50 bill credit. I had to get a little nasty with them and escalate it to a supervisor but whatever works right lol.
I turned 5G completely off on my device. I get 5G is part of the device but i bought it mainly for it being Oneplus device. You can't get the 7T Pro in the US unless thru T Mobile
tserv95 said:
I turned 5G completely off on my device. I get 5G is part of the device but i bought it mainly for it being Oneplus device. You can't get the 7T Pro in the US unless thru T Mobile
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It does run decent with 5g off for me too but with not many people making mention of having issues with the overheating I don't wanna wait too long to get a replacement Incase it's due to a defective phone.
Are you getting an actual overheating message? The phone getting warm using a 5G modem is perfectly normal. If the phone is shutting itself down to cool down or giving you some overheat message then it is indeed overheating. You might be able to use an app like cpu-z to see the temperature too.
tserv95 said:
Are you getting an actual overheating message? The phone getting warm using a 5G modem is perfectly normal. If the phone is shutting itself down to cool down or giving you some overheat message then it is indeed overheating. You might be able to use an app like cpu-z to see the temperature too.
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Yes getting an actual overheating warning , and after it cools it gives another message saying it's back to normal but it runs really laggy for awhile afterwards.
ruthlessnature said:
Yes getting an actual overheating warning , and after it cools it gives another message saying it's back to normal but it runs really laggy for awhile afterwards.
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Ugh, that's no good. I hope Oneplus put a proper cooling system in this device with 5G in mind.
Reading all the negativity leaves me wondering if I should of gotten the Samsung galaxy s10 5g?
I mean I still have 4 days for the t mobile 14 day return policy. Hmmm
Crisisx1 said:
Reading all the negativity leaves me wondering if I should of gotten the Samsung galaxy s10 5g?
I mean I still have 4 days for the t mobile 14 day return policy. Hmmm
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I haven't had a single issue with my phone. Granted I'm not sure about the whole GPS thing as I don't use gps that much. Though heat wise my phone's gotten warm on gaming but has not overheated once. Even when I was using it with 5G
I've gotten a lot of dropped calls, a lot more than my s8+.
I just used the GPS for a 7hr drive and it worked great. No issues.
My battery life is getting a bit better after disabling battery optimization.
I've gotten my replacement device, I have been trying to purposely get it to overheat and have not been able to . So I'm assuming it was an issue with the phone itself.
I got mine yesterday. New tmo customer.
I played DC Legends. Within 3 minutes it was hot. Not warm but hot. Never had any other phone get that hot. I played maybe 15 minutes but it was hot. I could feel the heat an inch away without touching. So I’m returning it.
The home screen won’t rotate and the heat problem I am returning it. I can’t imagine why in the world OnePlus refuses to let you rotate the home screen. I need that.
Plus default settings the phone said I wasn’t connected to cell when I was in play store. It said 5g up top but changed to 4g and back to 5g several times real fast. Web sites sometimes hesitated to load for awhile.
I don’t know if I should try another considering that you can’t rotate the home screen and how hot it got and the connection issue.
---------- Post added at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 AM ----------
I got mine yesterday. New tmo customer.
I played DC Legends. Within 3 minutes it was hot. Not warm but hot. Never had any other phone get that hot. I played maybe 15 minutes but it was hot. I could feel the heat an inch away without touching. So I’m returning it.
The home screen won’t rotate and the heat problem I am returning it. I can’t imagine why in the world OnePlus refuses to let you rotate the home screen. I need that.
Plus default settings the phone said I wasn’t connected to cell when I was in play store. It said 5g up top but changed to 4g and back to 5g several times real fast. Web sites sometimes hesitated to load for awhile.
I don’t know if I should try another considering that you can’t rotate the home screen and how hot it got and the connection issue.
buggs1a said:
I got mine yesterday. New tmo customer.
I played DC Legends. Within 3 minutes it was hot. Not warm but hot. Never had any other phone get that hot. I played maybe 15 minutes but it was hot. I could feel the heat an inch away without touching. So I’m returning it.
The home screen won’t rotate and the heat problem I am returning it. I can’t imagine why in the world OnePlus refuses to let you rotate the home screen. I need that.
Plus default settings the phone said I wasn’t connected to cell when I was in play store. It said 5g up top but changed to 4g and back to 5g several times real fast. Web sites sometimes hesitated to load for awhile.
I don’t know if I should try another considering that you can’t rotate the home screen and how hot it got and the connection issue.
---------- Post added at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 AM ----------
I got mine yesterday. New tmo customer.
I played DC Legends. Within 3 minutes it was hot. Not warm but hot. Never had any other phone get that hot. I played maybe 15 minutes but it was hot. I could feel the heat an inch away without touching. So I’m returning it.
The home screen won’t rotate and the heat problem I am returning it. I can’t imagine why in the world OnePlus refuses to let you rotate the home screen. I need that.
Plus default settings the phone said I wasn’t connected to cell when I was in play store. It said 5g up top but changed to 4g and back to 5g several times real fast. Web sites sometimes hesitated to load for awhile.
I don’t know if I should try another considering that you can’t rotate the home screen and how hot it got and the connection issue.
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It's a great phone, my replacement has no overheating issues. I have had pretty much every flagship phone up to date and this is by far my favorite. If you can get over the home screen not rotating you should just return it and get a replacement. If the rotating home screen is a deal breaker for you just return it and get a phone that you are happy with. As far as the 5g goes I am really enjoying it. I'm getting very good speeds in my area and can't really say I have any complaints.
Thanks. I'm going to exchange it. I just used the merge call feature with tmo support for a 3 way call and that's awesome. Plus I do like the phone. And someone said there's an app that forces landscape. So I'm going to try it.
I wonder though if the phone should get as hot as I described. I never got any overheating message but I could hold my hand over the screen an inch or so and feel the heat. Plus I consider that it was very hot when I would touch the screen and I've never had a phone this way before.
buggs1a said:
Thanks. I'm going to exchange it. I just used the merge call feature with tmo support for a 3 way call and that's awesome. Plus I do like the phone. And someone said there's an app that forces landscape. So I'm going to try it.
I wonder though if the phone should get as hot as I described. I never got any overheating message but I could hold my hand over the screen an inch or so and feel the heat. Plus I consider that it was very hot when I would touch the screen and I've never had a phone this way before.
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Well I have been playing cod alot on the highest brightness setting with no overheating, the original one I had that I exchanged I couldn't play more than a few min. Without it overheating, I couldn't even watch YouTube without overheating. The only way to get it to work without overheating was to turn off 5g. I do not have any heat issues with the new one.
I could not get over the home screen not rotating. So I got the note 10 +. I have that with xfinity.
But I’m still not sure if I want to keep it. I really liked the mclaren but it got so hot and home screen won’t rotate.
Tmo charged me $50 restock because I did not prove to them the issue. I didn’t want to waste my time. I had already reset it and wanted to just get out. So I’m so disappointed that I don’t really like any phones out that tmo has.
Ugh.
At least 10 times a day, I'm dropping signal. It does not affect voice or text messages.
For no reason I will simply not have mobile data. I'll have full bars and it still shows LTE, however chrome and any games I might be playing simply hang. Sometimes if I go airplane mode on and off, and I'll fix it. other times I'll just wait a minute or two and I will have restore data.
I have tried restarts which usually fixes the problem. I've tried updating profile and PRL, but that doesn't help.
I figured I would reach out to the community to see if someone has more information.
Thanks for any insight y'all might have.
I wasn't sure if this was a Sprint issue or if perhaps the v20 is outdated in the bands that it supports? Or perhaps some other issue and I am unaware of.
Did these issues just recently start out of nowhere?
I'm pretty sure Sprint has had the same LTE bands (25, 26, 41) since around 2013, so unless they have been messing around with new 5G stuff in your area, I wouldn't expect your coverage to change. I'm on a Sprint MVNO, and coverage in my area has always been the same over the years.
Maybe it's some kind of hardware issue (antennas gone bad?) with your V20.
C D said:
Did these issues just recently start out of nowhere?
I'm pretty sure Sprint has had the same LTE bands (25, 26, 41) since around 2013, so unless they have been messing around with new 5G stuff in your area, I wouldn't expect your coverage to change. I'm on a Sprint MVNO, and coverage in my area has always been the same over the years.
Maybe it's some kind of hardware issue (antennas gone bad?) with your V20.
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I hadn't really considered the antennas, but I don't know of any way to check them. Generally the signal works and I don't have any issues. The problem is the frequency that I am lacking internet connection for are between 30 seconds to a minute is unnerving.
Some days it rarely happens, but often I am experiencing this at least a dozen times per day. I did go in and fully reset the network settings, that might have helped. Too soon to tell. Of course I have updated the PRL and Network, funny how it just says though settings are updated whether or not they actually install a new update.
I am an addict to the second screen and I love the removable battery of my v20. I also have a hard time upgrading because I don't like the screen ratios of most of the new phones and I refuse to go to a Galaxy line because I don't like the curved screen,those things are just too darn expensive to replace and fragile! (I do miss some of the features of the galaxy line though... How the settings are laid out and the sms delay option, etc)
Thank you very much for taking your time to share your thoughts!
Hopefully the network settings reset did the trick. I've had this phone for about a year and a half now and never experienced connectivity issues when on cellular data although I'm a low mobile data user.
I'm totally with you when it comes to hanging on to the V20. The removable battery is not something most of us are willing to give up easily. Battery life itself can be pretty good, too, if you have one of those 4100–4300 mAh 3rd party Lithium polymer batteries.
For sending delayed/scheduled SMS, have you ever tried other texting apps? I've been using an older version of Textra for a long time coming from previous phones as it is one of the few where MMS works over Wi-Fi cleanly for me, and the scheduled message option had always been there.
C D said:
Hopefully the network settings reset did the trick. I've had this phone for about a year and a half now and never experienced connectivity issues when on cellular data although I'm a low mobile data user.
I'm totally with you when it comes to hanging on to the V20. The removable battery is not something most of us are willing to give up easily. Battery life itself can be pretty good, too, if you have one of those 4100–4300 mAh 3rd party Lithium polymer batteries.
For sending delayed/scheduled SMS, have you ever tried other texting apps? I've been using an older version of Textra for a long time coming from previous phones as it is one of the few where MMS works over Wi-Fi cleanly for me, and the scheduled message option had always been there.
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Thanks for your help!
I ended up just buying a pixel 3a xl. Starting to get some image bleeding and other strange issues. The v20 still has resale value and the 3a xl is a great value.
Paid 170 with a 30 day return policy. Considering 3a will continue to have updates for 2 years and I haven't gotten an update in 2 years... Felt it 2as a good time to change.
I am going to greatly miss the second screen though!