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Is reception on the Captivate that much worst than my Tilt2 ?

I am beginning to lose my cool when it comes to reception and my Captivate.
At work I used to watch a lot of youtube on my Tilt2 and altough it some times went on a wont connect spree....most of the times youtube was a no problem.
Unfortunately the Captivate is like almost never connects or just a little bit and once again loses it.
Is this about the whole hspa thing?
Even at home when reception is better for both, South Park is a lagfest with the Captivate if I use 3G unlike the Tilt2 but then again that could also be Skyfire....in any case...is this normal?

I guess you have never used and iPhone???
I had an iPhone 3GS and it was a POS when it came to reception.
I'm sooooooo happy I'm finally able to have an android phone on AT&T.
It takes some getting use to compared to the iPhone. Just basic navigating through the phone is very different.
I don't mind dealing with some minor flaws of the Galaxy S because I know for sure this phone will be improved because it was released on all four major carriers, not to mention it was already out as the GT i9000.
anyway - just my thoughts
sorry - I know this didn't answer your questions but wanted to share

Never had an iphone and never will! lol
Its just that I love this phone so much that I just cant stand it that reception is hurting me this badly...I just need to be patient I guess.
Like on the weekend... instead of streaming a soccer game to my Android I had to ask my wife for the Tilt2 again to watch the game with some friends at the park...

No. My tilt2 got sligltly better reception too. It OK I love my captivate.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Man, you guys are killing me. I have a Tilt 2 with Energy ROM and for the most part I'm happy with it, but I'm just dying to upgrade to a Captivate, but I keep hearing about reception problems. On the other hand, if you Google any phone these days you hear about reception problems. If you guys are saying the reception is worse than my Tilt 2 I'm just not sure I can live with that though. I frequently work on drilling rigs where reception is pretty bad to non existent. I'm thinking about just swapping out my Tilt 2 for a new one since the keyboard is wearing out, but for $125 deductible, an upgrade sounds pretty good.

Reception is the same or better from my original Tilt.

Phytrax said:
Man, you guys are killing me. I have a Tilt 2 with Energy ROM and for the most part I'm happy with it, but I'm just dying to upgrade to a Captivate, but I keep hearing about reception problems. On the other hand, if you Google any phone these days you hear about reception problems. If you guys are saying the reception is worse than my Tilt 2 I'm just not sure I can live with that though. I frequently work on drilling rigs where reception is pretty bad to non existent. I'm thinking about just swapping out my Tilt 2 for a new one since the keyboard is wearing out, but for $125 deductible, an upgrade sounds pretty good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would upgrade if I were you.
As much as I liked my Tilt2 there is no way I would go back to it after being using the Captivate. The speed difference is just too much.
So much that I have gone from fancy Energy Roms on my wife's now tilt 2 to the simplest and fastest 2.1 ROMS I can get so it does not feel too slow.

Tilt2 has had numerous radio upgrades you can install since it came out
I would imagine when samsung releases some radio revisions we will have better luck with reception.
I really have not noticed the Captivate having significantly less reception than the tilt2. Now for battery low on the other hand.....

For me the difference is obvious even on stock tilt 2 radio.
For example watching you tube at work with my tilt 2 it was almost always a non issue but with my Captivate I get several disconnections and most of the times I have to go to low quality mode to get a decent experience.
Still, no way I am going back to the Tilt2 ...wish I they could finally get android running on it...that would make it a much nicer phone I think

I dunno, I've had noticeably worse reception on my captivate than my old blackberrt 8310
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

shaolin95 said:
I would upgrade if I were you.
As much as I liked my Tilt2 there is no way I would go back to it after being using the Captivate. The speed difference is just too much.
So much that I have gone from fancy Energy Roms on my wife's now tilt 2 to the simplest and fastest 2.1 ROMS I can get so it does not feel too slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, this doesnt make sense to me. After all it is a PHONE first, everything else second. So you're willing to sacrifice reception ability for speed of user interface, etc? Why? In your post you were just complaining about how poor the captivate's reception is vs. the tilt 2, yet you'd recommend the captivate because it has a faster CPU or slicker UI than the tilt2? Why not just carry two phones, one to actually use as a phone and one as a toy? That makes about as much sense to me. JMO.

derek4484 said:
See, this doesnt make sense to me. After all it is a PHONE first, everything else second. So you're willing to sacrifice reception ability for speed of user interface, etc? Why? In your post you were just complaining about how poor the captivate's reception is vs. the tilt 2, yet you'd recommend the captivate because it has a faster CPU or slicker UI than the tilt2? Why not just carry two phones, one to actually use as a phone and one as a toy? That makes about as much sense to me. JMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok first I think someone forgot his pills this morning
First reception not extremely poor compared to the tilt2 just youtube freezes more often at work which is a hard place for every phone for some reason. The Tilt2 was better but I did had to switch radios from time to time like something will change then a new radio will do better for this month or so.
Second, this is only for video watching...phone calls I have zero issues in quality or connectivity so far...yes it is a phone so that IS the main reason to have it.
The main issue has been Skyfire but I got confirmation from the developer that this is indeed a matter of Skyfire on the Android not being quite up to par yet to the Windows version but they are of course working on it.
So, today for example, I have been connecting to the market and downloading stuff and even watching youtube quite smoothly.
So in my first post I gave the impression it was a huge difference it was based on SouthPark and Skyfire.
So if you are able to calm down a bit feel free to rejoin the conversation but if you are going to go off like that then by all means, there are more threads around.
Regards

Well I'm glad I found this thread. When first hearing about the Captivate I was not very interested due to concerns about the Samsung interface, reception issues and GPS issues. I was also really hoping for a 4.3" screen and possibly front facing camera and a flash.
Now after reading that the GPU is top notch, GPS issue is fixed, or will be soon, and reception is generally fine I'm very much leaning toward the Captivate. Samsung interface seems to be not as bad as I initially though, and the speed is plenty fast enough even without froyo. Also NewEgg has them for $79 with a contract renewal.
I have to say I really love the new MaxSense ROM's from Energy though. I hope I can make Android look that good once I take the plunge. I'm still worried about the lack of hardware keyboard too, mostly the fact that it covers half the screen when using it.

For what it's worth:
I've owned a Tilt2 for 3 months, tried out pretty much all the available radios, and have a pretty good judgement of it's reception. I've also owned a Tilt (Kaiser) for almost 2 years.
My Captivate gets much better reception than either phone: I get solid HSDPA reception in places where neither my Tilt/Tilt2 could. The trick is to just ignore the signal bar. I live in an area with poor reception, even after the 850 MHz upgrade, and at times my phone shows no bars, but gets good quality voice/data reception. So don't rate your impressions of signal quality based on the on-screen display, only how the device actually performs.
And as far as GPS goes, I've head-to-head compared it against my Tilt2 (which has a pretty decent GPS) and the hardware itself is more sensitive, and sees 3-4 satellites indoors in places my Tilt2 can't. There are definitely weird and inconsistent problems getting/holding a lock, but to me it feels like a kernel or other software issue. So hopefully a solution can be found (by Samsung or Devs).

Shammyh said:
For what it's worth:
I've owned a Tilt2 for 3 months....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. That's good to hear considering I'm fairly happy with the reception on my Tilt2. I have to say the GPS is inconsistent though. Sometimes it won't even pick up outside. I'm thinking about heading to Best Buy this weekend to pick up the Captivate and give it a try. I'm really looking forward to the improved video performance, bigger screen, and a standard headphone jack.

Shammyh said:
For what it's worth:
I've owned a Tilt2 for 3 months, tried out pretty much all the available radios, and have a pretty good judgement of it's reception. I've also owned a Tilt (Kaiser) for almost 2 years.
My Captivate gets much better reception than either phone: I get solid HSDPA reception in places where neither my Tilt/Tilt2 could. The trick is to just ignore the signal bar. I live in an area with poor reception, even after the 850 MHz upgrade, and at times my phone shows no bars, but gets good quality voice/data reception. So don't rate your impressions of signal quality based on the on-screen display, only how the device actually performs.
And as far as GPS goes, I've head-to-head compared it against my Tilt2 (which has a pretty decent GPS) and the hardware itself is more sensitive, and sees 3-4 satellites indoors in places my Tilt2 can't. There are definitely weird and inconsistent problems getting/holding a lock, but to me it feels like a kernel or other software issue. So hopefully a solution can be found (by Samsung or Devs).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no, my impressions were not based on bars...in fact, you will see not a single comment about those I think. That is irrelevant to me.
Although as I mentioned on my previous post, without considering the differences between the Skyfire performance, the difference is not that big.
How are you getting HSDPA on that phone, I thought the hack was not working for ATT?
Phytrax said:
Thanks for the input. That's good to hear considering I'm fairly happy with the reception on my Tilt2. I have to say the GPS is inconsistent though. Sometimes it won't even pick up outside. I'm thinking about heading to Best Buy this weekend to pick up the Captivate and give it a try. I'm really looking forward to the improved video performance, bigger screen, and a standard headphone jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure you are going to love it.
I was afraid of going away from the keyboard but Swype is sweet too.

derek4484 said:
See, this doesnt make sense to me. After all it is a PHONE first, everything else second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If reception is primary concern I hear the Jitterbug gets good reception?
Seriously there has been a slightly weaker signal for me but we are talking less than 10%.
P.S. map your coverage if AT&T gets bad enough coverage maps from real use they will have to fix their coverage.

My reception has been great with my Captivate, it drops less calls than my iPones and Nexus One did....my Blackberry Bold is still the king though (always had great reception with it, and battery life was insane). I do however have issues with AT&T's network in the DC/Baltimore area...theres just so many people using data that everything I do lags and takes twice as long, and I've almost never been able to watch Youtube videos in Hi-Def while on 3G...on ANY of my phones while in a populated area, but it works fine at my parents house and when connected to our 3G microcell at home. I think the Captivate works great as a phone and the 4" screen seems like it sits right in the middle of being too large and too small, meaning its perfect for me. I owned a Tilt2 and couldn't stand it after owning iPhones and the Sprint Hero...I loved the keyboard but signal strength and the browser killed it for me, it only lasted 2 weeks before it went back. Give me the Tilt2 form factor with the Captivates screen and guts on AT&T and it'll be my next phone lol.

shaolin95 said:
Oh no, my impressions were not based on bars...in fact, you will see not a single comment about those I think. That is irrelevant to me.
Although as I mentioned on my previous post, without considering the differences between the Skyfire performance, the difference is not that big.
How are you getting HSDPA on that phone, I thought the hack was not working for ATT?
I am sure you are going to love it.
I was afraid of going away from the keyboard but Swype is sweet too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand, it's HSUPA (uplink) not HSDPA (downlink) that's the problem. Without HSDPA, we'd all be getting download speeds of less than 1 Mbit/s. And since the hardware supports it, it's only a matter of time before someone releases a working HSUPA radio.
It really is a great phone though. And for me, the biggest deal-breaker over the iPhone4 (and most other phones) is that I can simply drag-and-drop video files from my computer to my phone. From simple Xvid/Divx/OtherAVI files, to 720p HD MKV files. No transcoding, or other work required.
Don't buy it expecting it to be flawless though, the underlying hardware may be, but without XDA and the community to fix the software flaws, it wouldn't be nearly as appealing a phone.

Well I found a guy selling a Captivate on eBay for $400. My contract isn't due for an upgrade yet so I figured what the hell, if they come out with something amazing next year I could use my upgrade then. I'm definitely looking forward to the h264 decoding and "5.1" sound. I just hope I can find some widgets to make the interface look as awesome as my Energy MaxSense ROM on my Tilt2.

[Q] Slow upload speeds

I am a new user of a Samsung Captivate on AT&T, right now I'm not rooted and running the stock software, I generally love the phone, it's much better than my iPhone 3GS and I don't have many issues, except that my upload speed is slow.
I got tired of dropped calls on my iphone and my knowledge of other non-iphone AT&T users seems to indicate that the iphone is the problem with dropped call, the captivate holds on to a call, MUCH better than my old iphone and the download speeds are good, streaming music at High Quality via audiogalaxy is working great.
So I don't think their is anything wrong with my phone.
Testing the phone at work, which is generally has excellent reception for AT&T. I get 1.5 - 2mbps down, which is about what I used to get on my iPhone. But I only get around 150kbps up, my 3GS was even much faster than that in this location usually averaging 250kbps and this phone is supposed an upload speed closer to the iPhone 4 I believe.
Any captivate users on AT&T have a similar issue?

I'm in a terrible reception area at work - would need to test at home...
Currently 128k Down and 256k up

I'm kind of wondering if it's a problem left over from moving my sim from my iphone3GS to the samsung captivate, I had to call to get them to change a data plan and to reset my voicemail to the standard old school voicemail.
I've been using the phone for a week and I've never gone over 250kbps with this phone, but according to the specs I should be getting much better upload speeds.
In central NJ AT&T is actually pretty good and we have consistent 3G coverage, so I it's not like I'm out in the boonies somewhere and that's why my upload is slow.
Guess I should call AT&T.

Your upload speed is normally much lower than your download speed. If you were to do the same test on your broadband at home, you would get maybe if you are lucky 3 mega up for every 30 mega down.
Its how all isps are. The problem is not because of your sim. Also keep in mind that a heavily congested area (new York) will always have bad speeds. The more people with data hogging devices, the slower speeds you will see.
Try doing the bandwidth test again in the middle of.the night or early morning when most people are asleep. You might see some very nice speeds then.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I got my answer
I didn't realize that AT&T disabled HSUPA, I just knew the hardware supported it. and since I'm on the stock firmware that is what is keeping me at 150 - 250kbps.
Thanks for the help guys, it wasn't a big thing like I said but I wanted to know if the problem was my old sim card.

Q_ modem and kernel combo

Any help would be much appreciated. I'm currently running cognition rom v3.04 with a firebird v2 1.0 (firebird splash screen not death star) and a kpn1 modem. My problem is that I need raw performance. Battery life doesn't matter too much as I carry a newtrent battery pack and have access to a a/c outlet most of the day. I have mostly geographic problems. Living in a rural area with few towers and the fact that a active volcano keeps spewing volcanic ash and sulfur into the air seems to be killing much signal. I know that there are lots of recommendations on specific areas as far as combos go but I can't find any for hawaii. Thank u in advance for any help given and also a big thank you to all you great devs out there! Please keep up the good work so us on the ground level can keep reaping the benefits. Especially here in hawaii where support is non existent!
Sent from my captivate on a rock in the middle of the ocean!

Im not sure any modem you flash will help with volcanic ash, lol. I like kp1 as my modem, but jk4 and jl2 seem to be popular choices also. Your best bet would be downloading one of the signal strength widgets from the market, then compare a few of the modems. Trial and error is usually the best way to choose your modem. Good luck!

Thanks. Finding a way around actual dirt in the air and lack of repeaters and towers is proving to be the main hurdle. I will get a signal app and start the trial process. The price of living in paradise seems to be coverage.
Sent from my captivate on a rock in the middle of the ocean!

[Q]Improving AT&T data speed

Is there anything like this for our captivate?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1087729
or
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11318194&postcount=7
They seemed interesting and here in dallas im getting anywhere from .10 Mbps to 2.1 Mbps...
anyone might have a better setting for these?

That is just enabling HSUPA, which many ROMs do.
If you want it to work for data and not degrade call quality considerably, you must either be on a I9000 ROM or using CM7/MIUI

Oh... so since im using phoenix rom I shouldnt worry about it? =/
Bummer thought I could get faster speed than 1.5 MBPS in Dallas...
Thank you.

sixk said:
Oh... so since im using phoenix rom I shouldnt worry about it? =/
Bummer thought I could get faster speed than 1.5 MBPS in Dallas...
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Upon further review... it looks like the OP of that thread got some positive results tweaking those settings in build.prop
However others got mixed results.
I tested it out quickly and got a slight improvement in download speed but slight decrease in upload speed. I will try it again in a different area this evening, though, because I am testing it in a building with a metal roof and spotty coverage...

I've played around with this the last few months. I've had mixed results. Sometimes it seemed like it got me an increase sometimes not so much. I'm in a rural area and as such I have never seen 5Mbps down. I have seen as high as 4.30 Mbps once in a blue moon mostly after midnight. Its certainly a plausible idea but I cannot say with definite certainty that this will give a speed increase.

I tried it out too but it seems like it is depended on the time and traffic of the server...
Ive seen from .5 to 2.9 on my cappy...
edit: any other results or test to see if there might be a better setting?
Also just updated mine to mosaic.

trickery
I tried putting them in my Nostalgia 1.4 build.prop. See if it makes difference.
sixk said:
Is there anything like this for our captivate?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1087729
or
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11318194&postcount=7
They seemed interesting and here in dallas im getting anywhere from .10 Mbps to 2.1 Mbps...
anyone might have a better setting for these?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I'm in frisco and just hit 3 mbs. Get that in both Denton and here. Have seen as much as 4.5 in both.

I'm on the border of Dallas/Richardson and I get terrible speeds on my Cap. At home I get around 200KBPS if I am lucky. On Monday I was in Frisco with a friend who has an HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon, his 3G speeds were 7000KBPS down while his 4G was 1.7MBPS down. In Frisco I did receive 400KBPS down - wonderful right?
I just tested again at work here in Richardson and out of three test I had network failures. The one test that worked was 67kbps down. This is using HSDPA and a signal strength of -75 dBm 19 asu.
I'm using the newest version of Cognition on my phone. Calls have good clarity and when I am using wifi I get 1.5MBPS down. I don't know why my data service is so bad.
Update: So after typing this post and tested again and got 643kbps down 76 up. I haven't moved from my desk.

That's wild. Metropcs speeds is what you got.
Worst area for me is Rockwall. But at&t is kinda non existent out there.

i'm also on andromeda but got same results on other roms as well.

This is my first smartphone on AT&T and because of where I work I was allowed to get a unlimited data package.
I might try another kernel and modem. Its pretty frustrating that my speeds are so slow.

I'm in Fort Worth and I usually average 4mb down 1.2mb up. I'm also running Phoenix Unleashed 8 with JK4

What is your settings at?
if you did the mod.

I am running stock 2.2 and don't use 3g a whole lot (usually attached to Wifi one way or another), but reading this post I figured I would try running a few tests. With 3 bars of signal strength I got a download speed varying between .86 mbps and 2.07 mbps down over six tests. Upload was never much more than about .40 mbps though. At home my Wifi runs around 9 mbps to just over about 17 mbps for download on the Captivate. The is in north GA, not near a major metropolis or anything.

Im curious about rpicaso's setting for this. Im gettin about the same speed as you bytheme.... i want to be faster!!! haha

Wish it worked.

Rockwall has pretty bad 3G coverage. I have better 2G coverage than 3G at home, so I usually stick to 2G+WiFi. 3G seemed to draining my battery.
I usually pickup towers from across the lake in Rowlett.

gibson3659 said:
Rockwall has pretty bad 3G coverage. I have better 2G coverage than 3G at home, so I usually stick to 2G+WiFi. 3G seemed to draining my battery.
I usually pickup towers from across the lake in Rowlett.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe they'll build it up when bush gets finished. I don't get how they have no 3g in Rockwall. I'm in Krum (little po dunk town nw of Denton) right now and getting 3 mbs. Rockwall is a good size city with money.

boborone said:
Maybe they'll build it up when bush gets finished. I don't get how they have no 3g in Rockwall. I'm in Krum (little po dunk town nw of Denton) right now and getting 3 mbs. Rockwall is a good size city with money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but there's a lot of money in Krum...
Not so much up in Gainesville, but we get a good 1.5-2 mbps

[Q] Poor Signal Reception

My SGS has Poor Signal reception in Most areas where, Other Phones have around 3-4 bars. On my SGS Calls drop, and sometimes, It says No Service as well. This happens in Areas which are far from a cellular tower.
I use 3G, and even switching to GSM only doesnt help in most cases.
Anything I should try :?
Using In Sri Lanka, Dialog GSM. Using JVR, with JVO Modem. Tried the ZSJPG Modem as well, same problem.

flash JVT baseband. It drains battery little more but has better signal. From my experience.

I had similar problem in UK, flashed ICS and is getting better now

trex3491 said:
I had similar problem in UK, flashed ICS and is getting better now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah I think I noticed a bit of a difference on onecosmic's ICS port here in aus

Thanks heaps for the replies guys,
But ICS Port is still a wip isnt it ?
I'd wait till it completes and comes out of the testing stages.
Also, I think that this might be a hardware issue as well, so thinking of
taking the phone apart, and replacing the antenna material with something more sensitive / conductive.
Lets see how it goes..

You could try the 3g tweak script from thunderbolt, worth a try!
Sent using TCP/IP

Thanks Guys, I just sold the damned Phone. It was a headache.
What's the use of it If i cant make calls at home.
Thanks folks !