As far as making and receiving phone calls, do you use 3g? Any phone I've ever seen that uses 3g absolutely sucks. My dad's phone, my mom's phone, my girlfriend's phone, my phone. What happens is the call either doesn't go through. If you listen to the dial tone it has a small click right before each tone, if I hear that, it mean's the call isn't going through.
My mom and girlfriend have gone through replacements on their phone, but the 3g still sucks. I've even noticed they don't get that great of reception.
Even on my Tilt, if I switch to 3G i only have 2 bars and apparently people have complained of calling me but I never received the call. Now with Edge, I have full bars, and no one ever complains about the call not going through.
So what's your guy's take on 3g?
Similar to what you've experienced. I generally leave mine turned off the majority of the time, since I have the WiFi running when I'm at home anyway. I turn it on only when I need to browse the web or something when I'm out and about.
Not to mention the immense battery drain that 3G demands. My battery life is dramatically better on Edge as opposed to 3G.
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G) can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
Chainfire said:
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G), plus the Touch HD, Omnia and i780 can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
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I don't experience network issues as bad as the OP seems to have, but I've always had terrible battery life on my Tilt and my iPhone, my two most recent 3G devices. My 8525 was actually very good on the battery with 3G running all day long, never had a problem getting through the day.
Maybe the intermittent GPS usage on the latter two? I don't know.
Chainfire said:
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G) can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
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I should go in and ask them about it, just to see what they say. Ask them why the new and greatest 3g is worse than edge. I have AT&T, I live in Washington, and I live right by a Cell tower too (only a 2 or 3 blocks away from it).
I woudln't mind using it for data but the fees here are prohibitive for private use. We use it on our work phones for data and it works well on Telstra.
mikeeey said:
I should go in and ask them about it, just to see what they say. Ask them why the new and greatest 3g is worse than edge. I have AT&T, I live in Washington, and I live right by a Cell tower too (only a 2 or 3 blocks away from it).
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They'll probably say it ain't so Thing is, when 3G first got rolled out here, we had much the same issues. The big providers here spent some $$$ to replace "faulty" hardware at the towers, and voila, the problem disappeared (2 years ago?). Seems many 3G networks around the world have similar issues to the ones you described in the opening post. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the 3G cell-tower hardware manufacturers - probably the cheapest and hence most used - makes some really crappy equipment. I could almost imagine that manufacturer is Qualcomm
In all seriousness though, all I know for sure is we had these issues here too, and they fixed them by fixing the towers. (Though of course there is some difference between different devices and how well they do 3G)
From talking to some guys at work Telstra's 3G network has been pretty much flawless for them asides from cost issues associated with Telstra.
I live in indonesia and never have any problem with 3G,. , the only problem is, its expensive,. lol,.
I am in NZ
No problems with 3G whatsoever. Have Imate JasJar - loving every second of it.
New Jersey, USA
3G has always seem pretty good around here in New Jersey with AT&T, but I'm 25 minutes from New York, so imagine how many towers they have on the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut). Very rare to lose 3G reception (exept on the iPhone 3G that everybody complains about losing it often). But important to mention also is that Kearny, town where my sister lives, I lose reception a 100%, my phone's reception just dies, and when I switch it to GSM instead of 3G...voila. Full signal strenght.
wow.. the results turned out quite different than I imagined.
Obviously it's just in my area that 3G sucks. I really wish they would fix this, considering that every phone released now is 3G...and you think someone would notice... well, I'm sure if I wait long enough people will start to notice, but who knows,
I can't remember the last time I had problems with 3G. though I remember before Cingular got bought by AT&T and they were just rolling out there 3G, I used to have problems then, I guess it was due to them configuring/re-configuring the towers. I think the engineers were just going by what the manual said, which weren't the best settings for each area.
I'm on 3G all day everyday on the hour and it's good. even when I'm in the basement and have 1 bar I still receive all my calls and I can make calls. though on this 1 bar I sometimes have to repeat myself every 1.5 minute, but I don't complain about that because it's 1 bar and I'm in the basement. at my friend's apartment I'm the only one that get signal, nothing else work there, not T-Mobile, not sprint, not verizon, not alltel, not vergin nothing else only AT&T works and I get 3 bars of 3G there. I always laugh because he has to leave his phone by the window and use his blue tooth.
I honestly don't think you're by a 3G tower because you should be getting way more than 3 bars. also ask them about the issue you're having AT&T is a good company they will listen to you. call them and open a ticket (before this they will have you go through the basic steps, restarting by removing the battery, etc) tell them you've done that multiple times and yet you have the same issue so it must be a network issue. have them escalate the ticket (they will send an engineer out and he/she will call you, they will work on the towers around your area). don't forget to be polite, no one likes a hot head.
in roughly mid year last year I was only getting edge at my job even though it is a 3G area. at home inside my house had full bars, so I called them up and they worked with me. the engineer stayed in my area roughly 2 weeks to deal with the issue. after that I've had 2 bars of 3G in doors at my job.
Related
grrr
what a **** workaround!
that was their response... a **** workaorund that degrades my service..
anyone else had this or any thoughts on it?
Don't switch to GSM, switch to AT&T!
I am not a fan-boy for any of the carriers, but I must say that over the years I have gotten excellent service from ATT - except for when they changed to Cingular, which was a collection of regional companies with regional problems and inability to service - IMHO - a truly mobile client (like I live on the East Coast, but kept a west coast cell number - Cingular couldn't understand or deal with that one)...and the coverage is now better than Verizon's (not to mention the phones and the fact that you can do high-speed data and a call at the same time).
Did T-Mob start pro-rating their release contracts yet?
Don't know.
Am in the uk so cannot get at and t..
boo!
yep, get the same issues, whereabouts are you? im in rainham, and have to turn off the 3g to get reliable incoming calls and make calls, dont have to go too far and it works ok!
romford / ilford seem to be ok with 3g switched on.
I'm in Ilford and when set to Auto band miss calls intermittently so can't use that setting reliably. I wondered if there was a way to set the phone to use only 3G so it doesn't keep trying to switch between 3G and GPRS?
I'm from Indonesia and discovered that sometimes when my network switches me to 3G automatically, I can't receive or make voice calls.
So, I went to phone -> menu -> options -> band -> select network type to GSM istead of AUTO or WCDMA
Unfortunately, I left the 3G coverage area before I had a chance to see if it made any difference
fil said:
yep, get the same issues, whereabouts are you? im in rainham, and have to turn off the 3g to get reliable incoming calls and make calls, dont have to go too far and it works ok!
romford / ilford seem to be ok with 3g switched on.
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Same here, in central London - have been ranting about this for some time over at Modaco eg here. Not a clear answer apart from perhaps swapping the handset but its hit and miss
Its a really severe problem and I'm losing the plot a little with it. Gutted.
BTW, if you need a way to quickly switch between the two modes, read http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=345524
There are about fifteen threads about this on here and on Modaco. Its a fact of life with 3g and HTC devices.
It is primarily down to relationship between the network cells and the device.
3G cells are notoriously unreliable and need a lot of maintenance - if you report a problem cell to your network, they may check it out - although they use their own testing to determine which cells need fixing.
Some devices do have weaker transceivers and hence the odd occasion where a device swap helps - but 99 times out of 100 its the network cell. And thus the reason that users find their device works fine on 3g in another location.
Hey guys ... I was just reading on the SE X1 blog (http://sonyericssonxperiax1.blogspot.com) something about cool X1 accessories and was very surprised when I read this:
"Other accessories include things to boost the phones use, like memory cards, an easily applicator chip to boost signal strength, car chargers to keep your Xperia working while travelling, and many others..."
Now I know that I m one among many here that think that x1 signal strength is very poor .. has anybody heard about this chip before and where can I get it, how much does it cost, how effective is it and how do you use it?
regards
I don't think that blog is official, and I highly doubt those "chips" actually work.
reception on the phone is poor. driving, building, walking... you never know when it's gonna go. pain the jane.
Those signal chips have been around for almost a decade. They don't work but don't take my word for it. Go to ebay and order yourself one.
well .. this blog isn't official ..
plus , i haven't ever faced a poor signal since i've been usin my X1
3aZoOoF said:
well .. this blog isn't official ..
plus , i haven't ever faced a poor signal since i've been usin my X1
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u will, i have fall signal whilst writing a text and by the time i have finished its trying to find a signal, even though i have not moved. im hoping that the r3 firmware improves this in some way, maybe release a new radio for the x1
I have any X1a on ATT and the signal sux. What's really weird I noticed is that the call is never handed off either (3G to E). Instead, it drops the call completely and then goes to Edge.
elee888 said:
I have any X1a on ATT and the signal sux. What's really weird I noticed is that the call is never handed off either (3G to E). Instead, it drops the call completely and then goes to Edge.
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I've heard complaints about this with the iPhone 3G too. Probably an AT&T thing rather than the X1 in particular.
I'm on T-Mobile (so EDGE only), and it's been as reliable as any other phone I've had (aside from T-Mobile coverage sucking in general).
Ganondolf said:
u will, i have fall signal whilst writing a text and by the time i have finished its trying to find a signal, even though i have not moved. im hoping that the r3 firmware improves this in some way, maybe release a new radio for the x1
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As far as I know, the signal strenght problem only affects some countries (UK, some part of USA, ...). It much depends on the operator infrastructure.
Here in Netherlands i dont have any problems with signal on 3g i can browse every where i want
[email protected] said:
As far as I know, the signal strenght problem only affects some countries (UK, some part of USA, ...). It much depends on the operator infrastructure.
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i am in the uk, but my old sony w960i never had a problem. sony has already said that the signal is weaker due to the metal housing of the handset but there is a signal booster in the handset that comes on if it looses signal but sony says if drains more battery
I've the same problems too. I have to switch off the 3G/WCDMA to get the strong signal..btw, I'm from Indonesia..
yeah the signal is bad all my old SE phones had no problems but x1.....
Reception is fine here in Austria too.
And please, stay away from these chips. Only thing they do is stealing your money out of your pocket.
Chaosstorm said:
Here in Netherlands i dont have any problems with signal on 3g i can browse every where i want
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The problem is not with browsing... you barely notice a drop in the speed or change from 2.5G to 3G.
The problem is when calls drop or everyone else around you seems to get reception and you're still tapping 'please resend message'.
Might seem like a small problem to some but I'm doing around 2000 minutes a month and it get's on your nerves.
I like the phone so am looking for a fix / update.
Cheers,
DrSpain
Same in Belgium... No problem with the signal Strenght, often I am in HSDPA mode
tricky42 said:
I've heard complaints about this with the iPhone 3G too. Probably an AT&T thing rather than the X1 in particular.
I'm on T-Mobile (so EDGE only), and it's been as reliable as any other phone I've had (aside from T-Mobile coverage sucking in general).
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This really seems to be an AT&T Problem. My X1 hands over 3G (actually 3.5) and Edge quite well during calls. I have here a low 3G signal, but good Edge signal. 3G is prefered so I´ve an handover quite often.
I'm on Vodafone in the UK and while my colleagues on the same Network have a signal using other phones, my X1 invariably does not. I usually have to go to the other side of the office to get a signal. Hope new firmware can sort the problem out.
Darkwolfde said:
This really seems to be an AT&T Problem. My X1 hands over 3G (actually 3.5) and Edge quite well during calls. I have here a low 3G signal, but good Edge signal. 3G is prefered so I´ve an handover quite often.
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I've got ATT/X1A in NYC and have no problem unless I'm in some basement. Perhaps the OP has limited himself by selecting a particular band and/or network type? I know if I purposely select WCDMA my 3G will drop because it's pretty spotty out here. Call quality is perfect if I have them both on Auto.
New firmware isn't going to fix it. It's a hardware issue caused by the build of the device, structure and materials used etc - they are blocking the signal slightly.
Well for the longest time I've had 3G activated on my phone but I've always connected to Edge. As of late my phone has been connecting to Rogers 3G. Sometimes it's stable, most of the time it's not. Connecting to 3G usually causes my phone and data connection to reset, usually back to G or Edge, and at times even causes my phone to soft reset randomly. Just wondering what's the deal with this and if I should just turn off 3G completely.
Maybe it's something you need to call your Roger's rep about? I'm on Rogers and I get 3G very consitsantly. I've had no issues so far. I dunno could it be the rom you're using?
its most likely a software issue. Try doing a hard-reset or try a different rom. Its either that or the 3G reception in your area isn't good. Try using 3G data with a different phone to see if its the network or your phone thats causing the problem
You guys are both using the X1 right? Cause I remember for the longest time Rogers didn't broadcast the proper 3G bandwidth for the Xperia... I dunno if that's changed since the X1 came out on Rogers
are you living in like a small town type of place or areas of the city where they don't really have that many or any signal towers? because that may be part of the reason why you go into edge a lot of times.
I think reception has always been a big issue with sony ericsson phones .
I lived in calgary, and when I drive up to general N.W. areas that are higher up in sea levels (such as edgemont (a phone reception killer location because a few years ago because they never had any reception towers up there) and parts of country hills) I get terrible reception.
my w810i, z610i, and my x1 has crap reception when I get to those areas from time to time.
anyways, hopefully you'll get it all figured out soon.
3G to edge to No connection
Hi I was about to open a new thread for it, then I saw yours. At least you are getting a 3G network. Mine just keep looking for it, then it finds 3G then Edge the H (I dont even know what that is) then there is nothing!!!!! Then it restarts again..........
Anybody any idea?
thanks in advance
Haha funny thing is, I actually live in Calgary and I only get 3G when I drive up North. I live in the South and I only get Edge but when I drive up to the University or am at the University in the NW, I get 3G. And yeah I've gotten H a few times too
Dehvee said:
You guys are both using the X1 right? Cause I remember for the longest time Rogers didn't broadcast the proper 3G bandwidth for the Xperia... I dunno if that's changed since the X1 came out on Rogers
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im using the X1a from Rogers, so it does have the 3G bands. Im pretty much on 3G all the time and in some circumstances i get 3G+, which is probably a result of Rogers' enhanced 3G network
if im not mistaken "H" stand for HSPA......which is probably the same as me getting 3G+, guess it depends on the ROM being used.
If your using the X1i......then it could explain your spotty 3G reception
In any case, if your phone is restarting then try a hard-reset
So when I first got the phone I had zero connectivity issues. After about 2 weeks I started having very occasional problems with it taking awhile to re-connect to 4g going in and out of weak signal areas. Now my phone refuses to connect to a mobile data connection of any sort. W T F.....and of course this happens after having the phone for 38 days.
Running Liberty 3 2.0 atm w/ 5.5.886.
What is the latest official release so I can flash to it before calling and *****ing at Verizon?
idk bout the probs you're having other than you're rooted, etc, yada.
i'm still stock, no available updates, running sysver 5.5.886.XT875
Verizon is having nationwide data issues right now. Try switching to CDMA only. If I'm on CDMA/LTE it won't connect to any data but if I switch to CDMA only I at least get 3G.
I was thinking the same thing, I haven't had the data issues that a lot of people have with the Bionic. I was getting 34mbs download speeds this morning on 4G, then when I got to work, no data.....so I did all the known fixes, and still nothing, thought it was my phone until I read about the Verizon issue. Took me a while to get 3G running, but now it seems OK, just no 4G. Hopefully it will be back up soon.
Yup, the outage has been acknowledged by VZW. I think this is the 5th nationwide LTE outage I've experienced since purchasing the Tbolt on launch day back in March. It proves once again that VZW is very good at selling phones and not so good at running a reliable network.
I know that if the network where I work experienced 5 major outages in 7 months people would be fired. I'm sure the lower level engineers are hard at work fixing the problem but the Director or VP of wireless networks needs to go .... now.
As an operations guy who runs applications for a major health care system I know I plan changes in stages and must present and document validated back out procedures before I get to do the change. The change control process at VZW is SERIOUSLY BROKEN. I know what you network engineers are thinking .... someone fat-fingered a change. Nope, the severity and duration of this outage (and the ones before it) are a sign of much bigger problems.
I never thought I'd see the day where I seriously contemplated leaving a carrier because of network unreliability. Bad coverage is one thing but not knowing how to run a major network speaks to bigger problems.
Tried switching to cdma only first thing and no connection there either. Guy right beside me with a Samsung Charge was still getting 4g with 20mbps down.
For those keeping track you can add another data outage today. I'll echo my comments from above ... VZW is great at selling phones and not so good at running a reliable network.
Oh yeah, wasn't it Verizon that used to make fun of AT&T's network reliability? Sounds like they are following AT&T's footsteps. I just came back from Chicago which should be a strong 4G area, and I kept losing my data connection and my phone was already set to CDMA only. At home in the southeast I will occasionally lose data connectivity but not as bad a what I experienced in Chicago.
According to the Sprint coverage, I should be getting solid LTE coverage in Hartford. I rooted my phone over a year ago (currently on BadBoyz Sense 6 ROM) and I believe I've done the proper maintenance, but the LTE reception I'm getting is abysmal. I can usually load things faster on 3G when I switch from LTE/CDMA to just CDMA. Not to mention the battery drain from lack of "coverage."
That leads me to question whether or not I've missed something I should have done for my phone, if it's just my location in my building at work (though it shouldn't be as I'm right next to a window), if Sprint is lying, or if I messed something up with my latest flash(es) of the ROMs - any ideas?
Thanks!
Sprint and most carriers exaggerate their coverage to look better and different phones pick up different signals better/worse than others. I also get poor LTE in places Sprint claims ought to be excellent.
Here are a couple of apps that use the signal ACTUAL users are getting (crowd-sourced data)
Sensorly: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sensorly.viewer
Open Signal: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal
You can help fight this exaggeration by letting the FCC run random network checks on your phone. They use this data to hold carriers accountable to their promises.
FCC Speed Test: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samknows.fcc
Thanks for the info.
It's not so much that it's a poor (read: slow) connection, it's that it cuts out to the point that I usually can't even download MMS messages in my group chats. As soon as I disable LTE and switch to 3G, I receive them, but at a slow, expected, pace.