Database Users

Can a Canadian SGS be put to 2G?

I heard that sometimes switching to 2G has given some people better reception in certain areas. Can I do this on my Samsung Vibrant (Bell Mobility)? I don't see the option in the menu

The Bell Galaxy S unfortunately cannot be put into 2g mode on Bell's network, and here is why:
Bell's current 3g/HSDPA network uses GSM cell technology, enabling SIM devices such as the Galaxy S and IPhone to work on it's network. Prior to launching this network Bell used a CDMA network similar to Verizon and Sprint in the states. Bell launched their new GSM network in order to be able to get the newest phones and stay competitive with Rogers. Because Bell's 1g and 2g networks are CDMA based they are not compatible with the GSM radio chip in the Galaxy S. This is why newer Bell phones have SIM cards but older ones do not.
If the option to use 2g networks were there (and it was in my original Bell Galaxy i7500) you would completely disconnect from the cellular network if you enabled it. The option is available on Rogers Android phones and does work as Rogers has a 1g/2g GSM network that the phone can fall back on.
This isn't much of a problem in urban centres (and most places in Southern Ontario) as Bell's 3G network is quite large and reliable. You may run into trouble in rural areas where Bell may not have upgraded their towers to broadcast the new network. I believe in these areas the phone goes into roaming and utilizes Rogers 1g/2g network.
Hope this clears up the issue for you

Nirvana388 said:
The Bell Galaxy S unfortunately cannot be put into 2g mode on Bell's network, and here is why:
Bell's current 3g/HSDPA network uses GSM cell technology, enabling SIM devices such as the Galaxy S and IPhone to work on it's network. Prior to launching this network Bell used a CDMA network similar to Verizon and Sprint in the states. Bell launched their new GSM network in order to be able to get the newest phones and stay competitive with Rogers. Because Bell's 1g and 2g networks are CDMA based they are not compatible with the GSM radio chip in the Galaxy S. This is why newer Bell phones have SIM cards but older ones do not.
If the option to use 2g networks were there (and it was in my original Bell Galaxy i7500) you would completely disconnect from the cellular network if you enabled it. The option is available on Rogers Android phones and does work as Rogers has a 1g/2g GSM network that the phone can fall back on.
This isn't much of a problem in urban centres (and most places in Southern Ontario) as Bell's 3G network is quite large and reliable. You may run into trouble in rural areas where Bell may not have upgraded their towers to broadcast the new network. I believe in these areas the phone goes into roaming and utilizes Rogers 1g/2g network.
Hope this clears up the issue for you
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Wow...thanks for the great info! Weird thing is, the ONLY place i have ever had any problem is at my work (a university in lower mainland). Is there anything I can do? Seems like most calls go straight to voicemail. Thanks for the great info again!

Unfortunately some buildings are just great at blocking signal due to their construction or design, I know a lot of University campus buildings are designed to block cell reception to prevent phones from being used in class. My workplace building is particularly bad at blocking cell reception. On my old bell phone which was on their cmda network I got no reception at my desk. On my galaxy S with their new network I get anywhere from 1-5 bars but never lose service. If you're in a building that does block signal, there's unfortunately not a lot you can do outside of holding the phone in a location where it gets the best signal.

it will automatically switch between G, 2G and 3G
as long as you are close enough to a window

Nirvana388 said:
Unfortunately some buildings are just great at blocking signal due to their construction or design, I know a lot of University campus buildings are designed to block cell reception to prevent phones from being used in class. My workplace building is particularly bad at blocking cell reception. On my old bell phone which was on their cmda network I got no reception at my desk. On my galaxy S with their new network I get anywhere from 1-5 bars but never lose service. If you're in a building that does block signal, there's unfortunately not a lot you can do outside of holding the phone in a location where it gets the best signal.
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I would of thought it was the building too....but my co-workers get full reception. No static, no dropped calls, crystal clear reception. Could it be a Bell dead spot?

Singhman said:
I would of thought it was the building too....but my co-workers get full reception. No static, no dropped calls, crystal clear reception. Could it be a Bell dead spot?
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very possible
some areas have towers from Fido/Rogers, other areas have towers from Bell
in areas where you get all 3 towers (signal crash)
and you get sporadically excellent signal to almost no signal for data even if you are standing outside or near a window.
if you drive a bit further away then everything is back to normal

Reception issue

I've placed my Omnia 7 next to my girlfriend's Focus in a place in my house that has traditionally been very poor in reception. She is able to get 1-2 bars on 3G compared to my NO SERVICE-zero bars on EDGE under the same network (ATT). Is anyone else getting fairly weak reception on their Omnia and is it all possible that my 4 year old SIM card is accounting for the difference in signal strength?
Next chance I get, I'll try swapping our SIMs....

I am not too sure of this but maybe the Omnia 7 isn't using its full potential on the US carrier since it is a EU device. (this shouldn't matter really but I am trying to say that it might be a software issue of how the phone switches connections)
By that I mean that some forum members (check the Focus Forum) have fiddled with the diagnostic codes to make their Focus phones have a more stable 3g or above connection.
Trying looking into that and posting there since the Omnia community is a little bit smaller it seems.
Or the phone is just not up to scratch ;D

Eriatarka said:
I've placed my Omnia 7 next to my girlfriend's Focus in a place in my house that has traditionally been very poor in reception. She is able to get 1-2 bars on 3G compared to my NO SERVICE-zero bars on EDGE under the same network (ATT). Is anyone else getting fairly weak reception on their Omnia and is it all possible that my 4 year old SIM card is accounting for the difference in signal strength?
Next chance I get, I'll try swapping our SIMs....
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It could be your SIM if its old and not a 3G sim. Do you get 3G elsewhere?
The reason i ask is that EDGE is a 2G tech.
I work in mobile tech support myself, and i have seen SIM cards cause some seemingly random issues. (1 in particular was a handset unable to read SIM contacts, but his prior phone was OK)
On the other hand, i have also noticed 1 bar less then was displayed by my prior HD2. I have dismissed this as you should not reply on the number or bars to determine signal strength. They are coded differently. There is no standard, and in fact, changes by the Carrier can effect 'bars' displayed on the phone. (Think of a little buzz box with a 20ltr tank reporting 1/2 full, while a 4x4 with a 40ltr tank reporting 1/4. Both have the same amount of fuel)

ive noticed i get a bar or two less than my girlfriends desire and my diamond2 all on the same network & with new sim cards. this generaly means when she has 3G or HSDPA im stuck with GPRS unless were in an area with 3 or 4 bars.

Not entirely sure, but I think the Omnia 7 doesn't support US 3G frequency bands, that's why it's limited to EDGE - and then it depends on where you live... I suppose it's entirely plausible AT&T has a strong 3G network in your area, but not an EDGE one

mine has a good reception ... as good as other devices ...

In my House I sometimes got 4 dots but when a call comes through the connection is lost between talk without walkin on the same spot.. First I thought ok bad reception (had not before with my xperia1) But yesterdaynight I got the same problem outside my home. So the conversation gets totally jammed.
And I live in the Netherlands and not in the county side but in the big city...

So I managed to switch the SIMs on my girlfriend's Focus and my Omnia and unfortunately the poor signal remained on the phone, ruling out the SIM card having any negative effect.
I will get 3G outside my home and sometimes 3G+ (I'm not sure what the difference is), but inside my house, side-by-side, the Focus gets better reception and is more often on 3G whereas my Omnia will get worse reception often on EDGE.
Lame!
I might have to drop some cash for ATT's Microcell... Damn you ATT.

I notice it as well.
When I used my HD, the reception was fine inside MRT tunnels. Now with my Omnia 7 (same SIM card, by the way), I can't get a clear signal inside MRT tunnels during my commute.
Shame.
I don't know what caused it, though.. Anyone can shed a light on the issue ?

Mine has just suddenly started to not have any signal ANYWHERE in the house... the other 2 Vodafone phones here have near-full signal.

Eriatarka said:
So I managed to switch the SIMs on my girlfriend's Focus and my Omnia and unfortunately the poor signal remained on the phone, ruling out the SIM card having any negative effect.
I will get 3G outside my home and sometimes 3G+ (I'm not sure what the difference is), but inside my house, side-by-side, the Focus gets better reception and is more often on 3G whereas my Omnia will get worse reception often on EDGE.
Lame!
I might have to drop some cash for ATT's Microcell... Damn you ATT.
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Hi I think I have found you a solution. Having been on the Focus forums I have noticed that people have enabled full "3g" through the root menu in diagnosis software.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=839154&page=8 ..... read this first please. Looks like it enabled full 3g but messed up his GPS settings (could be that he configured it wrong) Always make sure that you write down your original settings when using Diagnosis tool!!!!!!
If this doesn't help you then maybe flashing a different rom onto it would work.

I played around with some of the diagnostic settings but nothing really changed.
How exactly do I access the root menu to change the 3G settings you mention?

*#197328640# - Root Menu
Things you can do with this code
Speed up your internet by enabling hspda/hsupa
*#197328640#
1,8,3,5,2,3,[END]
Just be careful with this stuff. And always remember to back up your previous settings by writing them down somewhere so that you can restore it.
The link I gave you above leads to these codes.
BTW .. samsung updated the diagnosis tool .. if you have 0.9 something you might be fine! But if it updated then you will not be able to get into the root menu.

[Q] 4G LTE Handoff to 3G Issue (Sprint - LS980)

Sprint LS980
Looks like most of my issues have been solved so far with this phone except for the fact that sometimes when a call comes in (or sometimes even out) the hand off between the 4G network to the 3G network is either very slow or doesn't take place; as in I get missed calls with a full signal or the phone gives up and makes me roam even though I have a full Sprint signal.
Anyone else have this issue or could offer any advice on a fix for this?

Are you aware of this?
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/...-due-to-circuit-switched-fallback-technology/

Unfortunately I have read that article before. It does look like all of the towers in my area were upgraded last month and the service bulletin confirms this. Wasn't sure if anyone else was experiencing a hand-off issue; doesn't seem to be there when I set the phone to 3g only...

Signal problem theory/research

Hello, i live in a relatively small town where my service provider has very poor 4G signal. but pretty good 3G signal. With the Axon 7 i have a lot of signal problems that i didnt have with any of my previous phones, where outdoor signal is pretty bad and indoor signal is almost unusable. It also connects almost exclusively to 4G, and in contrast all of my previous phones connected almost exclusively to 3G. Over the last weekend i traveled to a major city where my service provider has very strong 4G signal, and the signal problem was almost non existant. I even had signal in places where other people with the same service provider did not. So my theory is the following, assuming that the hardware (antenna) used for 4G and 3G is the same, it may not be a hardware problem, but a problem with the software having a hard time knowing which band/signal it should connect to. It seems that in my case it prioritizes 4G signal and the cost of a VERY unstable cellphone service. This is also assosiated with the fact that when it connects to 3G (incredibly rare), the phone goes inmediately from 1/2 bars to 4/5 bars. I also changed the SIM configuration to leave LTE out, but either for a visual bug or a software bug, it keeps connecting only to 4G. So could this be the problem that me and a lot of people in low 4G signal zones are having? Is there anyway i can force the phone to connect exclusivly to the 3G signal to test if that is indeed the problem?
Regards!

Nehuen said:
Hello, i live in a relatively small town where my service provider has very poor 4G signal. but pretty good 3G signal. With the Axon 7 i have a lot of signal problems that i didnt have with any of my previous phones, where outdoor signal is pretty bad and indoor signal is almost unusable. It also connects almost exclusively to 4G, and in contrast all of my previous phones connected almost exclusively to 3G. Over the last weekend i traveled to a major city where my service provider has very strong 4G signal, and the signal problem was almost non existant. I even had signal in places where other people with the same service provider did not. So my theory is the following, assuming that the hardware (antenna) used for 4G and 3G is the same, it may not be a hardware problem, but a problem with the software having a hard time knowing which band/signal it should connect to. It seems that in my case it prioritizes 4G signal and the cost of a VERY unstable cellphone service. This is also assosiated with the fact that when it connects to 3G (incredibly rare), the phone goes inmediately from 1/2 bars to 4/5 bars. I also changed the SIM configuration to leave LTE out, but either for a visual bug or a software bug, it keeps connecting only to 4G. So could this be the problem that me and a lot of people in low 4G signal zones are having? Is there anyway i can force the phone to connect exclusivly to the 3G signal to test if that is indeed the problem?
Regards!
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Without knowing which model Axon 7 you are using, where you are using it, and who your provider is, there is little anyone can do to help you. All I can say is that it helped me A LOT to go into settings and turn off
VoLTE.

tabletalker7 said:
Without knowing which model Axon 7 you are using, where you are using it, and who your provider is, there is little anyone can do to help you. All I can say is that it helped me A LOT to go into settings and turn off
VoLTE.
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U model last update, using it from Argentina, and the provider is Claro. I have LTE disabled in SIM confg as i already said and VoLTE turn of as well but the phone keeps connecting to 4G no matter what i do, even if i configure it to only GSM
I don't think its a matter of position or provider (version could be if different software is provided), but a general issue with the phone and band/signal interpretation coupled with the apparent innability to go off 4G
Refards!

Nehuen said:
U model last update, using it from Argentina, and the provider is Claro. I have LTE disabled in SIM confg as i already said and VoLTE turn of as well but the phone keeps connecting to 4G no matter what i do, even if i configure it to only GSM
I don't think its a matter of position or provider (version could be if different software is provided), but a general issue with the phone and band/signal interpretation coupled with the apparent innability to go off 4G
Refards!
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ok when it connects to LTE it says "4G LTE". The 4G that you are getting is probably HSPA or something. And we had someone on here a few months back using Claro in Argentina and they had to seek answers from their Claro

tabletalker7 said:
ok when it connects to LTE it says "4G LTE". The 4G that you are getting is probably HSPA or something. And we had someone on here a few months back using Claro in Argentina and they had to seek answers from their Claro
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If "4G LTE" is 4G and "4G" is HSPA, when only a "G" appears, what band am i connecting too? Its still pretty weird that im having major signal issues in my town, but when i go to a big city my signal is even better than other phones, it seems inconsistent with the whole "bad hardware" theory. I talked to Claro and it seemed like from their end it was a non issue, can you point me to the thread to see if he got it fixed somehow?
Regards!

Nehuen said:
If "4G LTE" is 4G and "4G" is HSPA, when only a "G" appears, what band am i connecting too? Its still pretty weird that im having major signal issues in my town, but when i go to a big city my signal is even better than other phones, it seems inconsistent with the whole "bad hardware" theory. I talked to Claro and it seemed like from their end it was a non issue, can you point me to the thread to see if he got it fixed somehow?
Regards!
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/Trolling a bit/
I'm always LMAO when I hear US people talking about that 4G scam (which is H+ for real btw)
G is for 2G
E is for 2G+
3G is 3G
H is 3G+
H+ is 3G++ (an intermediary protocol up to 42MBps)
4G is LTE (up to 150Mbps in the EU most of the time)
4G+ is LTE-A (which is available in most of the EU, SK & JP) - up to 600Mbps, 200MBps in most tests
I've not heard of an app that could modify the way the phone "clings" to 4G LTE, since that might likely be the modem firmware doing it on its own.

RedWave31 said:
/Trolling a bit/
I'm always LMAO when I hear US people talking about that 4G scam (which is H+ for real btw)
G is for 2G
E is for 2G+
3G is 3G
H is 3G+
H+ is 3G++ (an intermediary protocol up to 42MBps)
4G is LTE (up to 150Mbps in the EU most of the time)
4G+ is LTE-A (which is available in most of the EU, SK & JP) - up to 600Mbps, 200MBps in most tests
I've not heard of an app that could modify the way the phone "clings" to 4G LTE, since that might likely be the modem firmware doing it on its own.
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Then this is even weirder, because is G is not 3G, but 2G it means that the phone NEVER connects to the major band that all of my previous phones and Claro users connect to. Is there anyway to force to only connect to 3G?
Regards!

i have the G european model, in my town i have bad lte signal 1/2bar, when with my previously xiaomi mi4c was got 4/5 bars (maximum). In the big town i have got in the most of cases 4/5 bars. I think the "signal problems" are relatives of a lack of somehow software. i told this because i've read with the china model with the last updates an improvement of the signal reception of the phone.

Nehuen said:
Then this is even weirder, because is G is not 3G, but 2G it means that the phone NEVER connects to the major band that all of my previous phones and Claro users connect to. Is there anyway to force to only connect to 3G?
Regards!
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You can however force a specific protocol indeed, but you will lack the ability to autoswitch networks. Just download 4G LTE Switch (here) which is a glorified secret code dialer. Just click on prefered network and change at your convenience (4G LTE only, WCDMA only - H+ - and so on). Remember that if you force 4G LTE in an area in which you have no coverage, you won't have internet, and no 2G/3G fallback (so no texts, no calls)

I don't know if this is the same problem, but my wife has an iPhone 6+ and I have an A2017U on B29 stock root. We both use the same network (Movistar Mexico) and while her iPhone often registers LTE, my A7 often registers 4G or even E in the same place. The A7 is receiving the same bands but appears to be "choosing" or locking into the slower protocols more often.
EDIT: NEVER MIND… an xposed module was messing with my network settings. Fixed it. Now I get LTE right away.

nuserame said:
EDIT: NEVER MIND… an xposed module was messing with my network settings. Fixed it. Now I get LTE right away.
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Which module?

What if flash any Custom OS?Would it give better signal ?

Signal loss

Hi everyone,
I already looked for an answer in the forum but nothing conclusive.
My moto g4 play loses signal during calls. The sim card is 3G and so I changed the network manually to 3g on the phone. However the problem continues and I think it even got worse. It happens especially when I'm moving, in the car, etc.
Is there any real solution for this problem? I have seen many users complaining but I did not realize if there was a solution or not.
Can you help me?
Thank you

Since the SIM is 3G, I'm going to assume the network you're using is GSM (ATT/Tmo). It is possible that the cell towers in your area operate on a specific type of GSM frequency, and your signal loss is due to the phone trying to connect to towers not supported by your carrier. If a call drops again, check the Roaming status of your phone in Settings and see what turns up.
Also, it seems odd that you would have to change the network settings at all. Even if the phone is set to prioritize LTE, it should automatically detect the 3G signal and adjust accordingly.