My carrier had some little problems during the past weeks, aparently they were working on something. I sometimes, for short periods, did not have data connection or no servic at all. Now the problems are gone and a speedtest today showed that at my home, the download speed went from an average 1 Mbit to over 5 Mbit!
However, the H symbol won't go away anymore! It used to switch to 3g when not data was transferred. I assume that this will influence battery life.
Is there anything I should be worried?
From what I recall, H is faster than 3g, as long as your in a good signal area, the H will always be visable, it will only drop down to 3g if the area your in has no H signal... and if there is no 3g it will drop to a 2g signal... simples, having the H does not meen that data is being transfered!
I am aware of the different speed levels, what I experience now is that the H symbol stays all the time, whereas it used to change to 3g when idling even in areas with very good reception...
GMH24 said:
I am aware of the different speed levels, what I experience now is that the H symbol stays all the time, whereas it used to change to 3g when idling even in areas with very good reception...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, I don't get what you're saying. Let me clear it up:
Very good reception = H
Not so good reception = 3G
You want to see H (means HSDPA which is a a type of 3G data, but it's faster).
MrSimtang said:
Let me clear it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I'll try that too!
I live in an area with very good reception and therefore the phone used to switch from 3g to H whenever data was transfered and back . Now, however, it stays on H all the time and does not switch back to 3g when no traffic occurs.
It is just a change in the pattern my phone behaves so I wanted to get some info on that...
Hi, it's your phone doing what it should by seeking the best signal.
H refers to HSDPA which is based on UMTS (3G). Consider it a 'turbo' version of 3G. It's sometimes also referred to as 3G+ because it's faster then 3G but not really 4G technology. The tower in your area most likely got upgraded to HSDPA that's why you don't see the 3G icon anymore.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App
Not correct, he mentioned that his phone was using H on demand before, so the capability was there already.
The problem is that H mode uses more battery than 3G, which is why it normally only switches to H during data transfers instead of continously being on.
Possibly your provider made a change which forces your phone to stay in H mode. On hardcores homepage (see speedmod kernel thread) he describes a method to manually deactivate H mode if you want to play with it.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
seems to be the explanation... Suddenly I have ~6 Mbit, so almost unsurprisingly there had to be a catch
as for disabling H, it would be permanently so not quite an option. I guess, I'll have to live with it but nevertheless I'll call customer support..
Hspa and 3g are actually different technologies, but can be used on the same site and freq. If you have noticed that your phone is nowdays all the time showing H ( hspa ) and not in 3g like before it means that your carrier has expanded their hspa features and capacity of the network on that area. Main difference between these two tech is of course the speed and how network resources are shared between the users. In 3g you have dedicated ones, but speed limited and in hspa you are sharing the resources between other ones under that cell area. hspa is good if you are near by the cell and there is not too many users from battery consumption point of aswell from througput point of view, 3g is better if you are on the cell edge due to dedicated resources reserved only for you. Main point is, battery consumption of your phone depends mainly how you use your phone ,what kind of applications you have and how often those are connecting/contacted by the network.
Browsing in 3g sucks!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Related
I have noticed that when I am connected to the fast cellular internet the sign constantly switches between 3G to H. Like every 15 secondes.
It's not that the connection is dropping it's just it is always changes from 3G to H. I am on At&T and would like to know if it happenes to someone else.
As I read, At&T suppose to have an HSDPA and since I am in big cities like Chicago and Washington DC, if there is HSDPA it should exists in these cities.
So?? anyone using AT&T + KAISER knows what I am talking about?
should be worried?
i see this behavior all the time with my Kaiser, Trinity and Treo and never worry about it... most often the i'll see the "H" symbol when i'm tethering or downloading a file from a website or i'll see the "3G" or "E" if i'm in an area of town that doesn't have a strong signal... i don't worry about this behavior unless it affects what i'm doing, e.g., lose my internet sharing connection. just my 2 cents...
cortezzi said:
i see this behavior all the time with my Kaiser, Trinity and Treo and never worry about it... most often the i'll see the "H" symbol when i'm tethering or downloading a file from a website or i'll see the "3G" or "E" if i'm in an area of town that doesn't have a strong signal... i don't worry about this behavior unless it affects what i'm doing, e.g., lose my internet sharing connection. just my 2 cents...
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Click to collapse
Thank u for your fast reply. I know sometimes the signal changes to E or even G if there is no high speed connection around but it seems that the H and 3G just changes every 15-20 seconds in areas with high speed connection. does it also happen to you? or anybody else?
alonmalka1 said:
I have noticed that when I am connected to the fast cellular internet the sign constantly switches between 3G to H. Like every 15 secondes.
It's not that the connection is dropping it's just it is always changes from 3G to H. I am on At&T and would like to know if it happenes to someone else.
As I read, At&T suppose to have an HSDPA and since I am in big cities like Chicago and Washington DC, if there is HSDPA it should exists in these cities.
So?? anyone using AT&T + KAISER knows what I am talking about?
should be worried?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually consider you lucky. At work in Menlo Park, Ca. I rarely get a 3G or an H... But I spent a couple of weeks going to SF every day and there I saw behavior very much like you describe. For me it seemed to want to switch from 3G to H as I was doing some sort of access like e-mail read or a download. Though that is probably just anecdotal as I didn't really make a study of it; just something I noted.
Cheers.
i have the 3g/H switch happening constantly as well. could this connection issue have anything to do with the sms issues (issue being sms works randomly), or totally unrelated?
Yep...this happens to me too.
alonmalka1 said:
I have noticed that when I am connected to the fast cellular internet the sign constantly switches between 3G to H. Like every 15 secondes. It's not that the connection is dropping it's just it is always changes from 3G to H. I am on At&T and would like to know if it happenes to someone else...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the Chicago-North Suburb area and I see it change all the time too. I get a lot of HSDPA connections. From my understanding, this is a good thing!
Though I'm by no means an expert on HSDPA, 3G, UMTS or any of these, it's my understanding that HSDPA will give you data bursts of up to 5 times the connection speed of 3G/UMTS.
TEC
What it means on my 8525
Hi Guys,
Don't worry, you are not having signal quality or connection issues. On my 8525 (Hermes) the switch to H from 3G simply means the phone is using the data connection at the H (HSDPA) speeds. It shows 3G when data is not being transferred.
Yup. It's sort of like a combination power/hard drive light on a computer. When the "H" lights up, data is being read and written over the high speed network. The "3G" means the high speed network is available, your just not sending or recieving at the moment. At the slower EDGE speeds, the "E" is just a power light, showing the network is available, but no indication when you are sending a receiving data over it.
Someone correct me if I'm totally wrong, but here are my thoughts:
The H would be displayed when the device is accessing HSDPA or HSUPA. The D stands for download and the U stands for upload, right? But AT&T only has HSDPA right now, and not HSUPA. So when you're in an HSDPA area and browsing the web or sending and receiving emails, when the device is receiving information (downloading), it's on HSDPA and the "H" is displayed. But then when it needs to send information (uploading), since there is no HSUPA signal it switches to 3G and the "3G" is displayed. Hence the constant switching on the display as the device sends and receives data.
Someone please give me a gold star, or tell me I have no idea what I'm talking about!
Here's a GOLD STAR!!
KCMatt said:
The H would be displayed when the device is accessing HSDPA or HSUPA. The D stands for download and the U stands for upload, right? But AT&T only has HSDPA right now, and not HSUPA. So when you're in an HSDPA area and browsing the web or sending and receiving emails, when the device is receiving information (downloading), it's on HSDPA and the "H" is displayed. But then when it needs to send information (uploading), since there is no HSUPA signal it switches to 3G and the "3G" is displayed. Hence the constant switching on the display as the device sends and receives data. Someone please give me a gold star, or tell me I have no idea what I'm talking about!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I'm an expert either but THIS WOULD EXPLAIN IT!
Thanks
TEC
If you see the H then you are using HSDPA, if you see the 3G icon then you are using UMTS. The difference is speed and the fact that if you see the H icon it means you can use voice and data at the same time.
I can stream live TV from my Media Center using WebGuide (free) and as long as I have the H icon I can talk on the phone at the same time I'm watching TV but if it switches to 3G I loose my data connection until I hang up the phone.
Mine mostly stays on H but swithces to 3G when the HSDPA signal is lost. HSDPA isn't avalible every where that 3G UTMS is.
Also HSDPA is 3.5G and UMTS is 3G. Meaning with UMTS you can get downloads of 384 kbps to 768 kbps and with HSDPA you can get from 768 kbps to 1mbps.
This is how it is supposed to work kids...
The H only shows up when you are using HSDPA. HSDPA would kill your battery in no time if it stayed connected all the time. your phone is smart enough to only use HSDPA when it is actually sending/receiving data. Think of it as a power saving feature.
I'm in cleveland and i just see an "H" all the time... FWIW...
Jason Lee said:
your phone is smart enough to only use HSDPA when it is actually sending/receiving data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it only uses HSDPA when it's RECEIVING data, not SENDING. That's what HSUPA would be for (if AT&T had it yet). Right?
High Speed DOWNLINK Packet Access
High Speed UPLINK Packet Acess
KCMatt said:
But it only uses HSDPA when it's RECEIVING data, not SENDING. That's what HSUPA would be for (if AT&T had it yet). Right?
High Speed DOWNLINK Packet Access
High Speed UPLINK Packet Acess
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct. HSUPA should be coming soon according to Engadget: HSUPA
KCMatt said:
Someone correct me if I'm totally wrong, but here are my thoughts:
The H would be displayed when the device is accessing HSDPA or HSUPA. The D stands for download and the U stands for upload, right? But AT&T only has HSDPA right now, and not HSUPA. So when you're in an HSDPA area and browsing the web or sending and receiving emails, when the device is receiving information (downloading), it's on HSDPA and the "H" is displayed. But then when it needs to send information (uploading), since there is no HSUPA signal it switches to 3G and the "3G" is displayed. Hence the constant switching on the display as the device sends and receives data.
Someone please give me a gold star, or tell me I have no idea what I'm talking about!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect.!! Downlink = Downloading (HSDPA).. Upload data by 3G as AT&T is not supporting Uplink = Uploading (HSUPA)... smart one..
I'm not sure it is that simple...
I live in Jacksonville an i neverget an "H" except when i used shap's rom on my 8525; however, i get speeds from 600 to 980, so is this extremely fast UMTS, or is Cingular just inconsistant with their labels?
exzist78 said:
I live in Jacksonville an i neverget an "H" except when i used shap's rom on my 8525; however, i get speeds from 600 to 980, so is this extremely fast UMTS, or is Cingular just inconsistant with their labels?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also live in Jacksonville and found with the Tilt that I was only seeing the
3G icon and never the H icon until I installed KaiserTweak and set the HSPA option to enabled. Now I get the H icon but only during the data connection being active (e.g., sending a URL request and receiving the page load). The icon then turns to 3G when the Tilt sits "inactive."
Also just because you don't see the H for HSDPA doesn't mean its not working unless the REGISTY has the correct setting you will not get the H icon. the place is HKLM>Drivers>RIL>EnableHSDPAIcon = 1 (sometimes default is 0 which means you won't see the H icon)
Since my last posts on this topic, I now have my Tilt!
I am confused- why would AT&T not enable the "H" icon? If you are using HSDPA (and soon HSUPA), wouldn't they want you to know it?
Maybe they are afraid it will confuse people. They just want to market "3G" and people to understand it and see that icon, whether they are on UMTS or HSDPA/HSUPA?
I turned on my Tilt this morning and where the 3G icon used to be it is now a H icon all the time even if I am not connected to the network or downloading data. I have tried disabling HSDPA and reenabling it, but that hasn't worked. Disabling and reenabling the icon itself also doesn't get rid of the problem. I haven't installed anything. Does anyone know how to fix this or is this some kind of newly discovered radio bug?
Running on AT&T network.
Thanks
dont complain.. ur not stuck in H u now have full blown H in the area.. my girls 85 has full H now and so does my tilt
does this mean I have HSUPA too?
What exactly do you mean by full H? My download speeds didn't change at all
I am currently faced with this same stuck H issue.
I am running the stock AT&T ROM ver ... 1.62.502.0, Radio version 1.37.14.09
Sometimes when I travel to a particular work office I use dutty's 10 button Comm Manager to turn 3G off. This particular office is built like a fortress and I barely get signal inside. If I leave 3G on my battery is dead in a matter of hours.
So I turned 3G off for the first time since upgrading to this ROM, and later when I turned it back on I find I have a constant H indicator rather than the 3G I normally see.
Yes I am in an HSDPA area, but normally I would only see the H when downloading.
Yes, I use direct push with a hosted exchange server.
I've tried disabling HSDPA in KaiserTweak, and I get back to the 3G indicator ... But as you would expect my download speeds are limited to 300 to 400 kbit/sec.
With HSDPA enabled I average twice that, with bursts over 1mbit/sec.
Can anyone speculate why I have the constant H indicator now instead of only when downloading?
Everything still works, I just wouldn't mind knowing why I am seeing this change in indicator.
I have since found out that the the contant H icon is a result of AT&T upgrading their network. Since then, my download speeds have roughly doubled. Turns out the contant H is a good thing.
I went away on a business trip for a week and now upon returning I too am seeing the constant H, whereas previously I'd see 3G which would change to H and back when using data.
But that's not the part that is worrying me.
The problem I see is that the data connection is active all the time; it never drops. So besides the large H indicating HSDPA availability, once any data connection is made the 4 bars plus plus small triangle changes to 4 bars plus small H and *never* changes back. In the past I'm pretty sure the data connection would come and go as needed.
Is this bad at all? Seems like it would suck battery power to have the data connection active all the time. It's as if the KaiserTweak "always on: AT&T MediaNet" is stuck on (but I never actually did that tweak and it is actually disabled in KaiserTweak).
What's going on?
Have you done an upload speed test?
Apparently a constant H icon can indicate HSUPA support.
Little more info ... however finding a map of what was upgraded isn't that easy.
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article.aspx?id=158686
AT&T Nears HSPA
By Brad Smith
WirelessWeek - April 02, 2008
LAS VEGAS—AT&T will have all of its 3G markets enabled with the high speed uplink capabilities by the middle of the year, according to Hank Kafka, vice president of network architecture for the operator.
AT&T had 255 major metropolitan markets with W-CDMA/HSDPA at the end of 2007 and continues to add markets. Kafka said at a GSM Association roundtable on HSPA that AT&T expects to cover 350 markets with 3G by the end of 2008, including all of the top 100 markets.
The operator started installing HSUPA last year and now is in the process of rolling it out, he said. By mid-year, he said all of its 3G markets will have HSUPA. He says typical data rates on the downlink now are between 600-to-1400 Kbps with a peak of 3.6 Mbps, while the downlink typically is 500-to-800 Kbps.
There are upgrades for HSPA which take it as high as 14.4 Mbps and Kafka says AT&T is studying those. But he declined to say when or if AT&T will raise its data rates to those levels.
Kafka also said AT&T has seen significant data usage increases for customers using 3G.
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Click to collapse
Yea, I have the constant 'H' as well, but I think it's the same as having a constant 'E', meaning that you're connected to HSPA and everything's good.
switching bands
switched bands sometimes helps changing the icons from edge to 3g,to disable HSDPA you need to disable HSDPA through kaisertweak,schaps advancedconfig or hsdpa switch whether cooked into rom or manually installed to switch back to 3g
Before, indicator (G, E, 3G or H) show 3G and then phone make data call its shows H, but form today morning its stay H all the time
Any ideas?
p.s.
Im using new att rom 1.62
Chances are, your area has been upgraded to HSDPA coverage. My was a few months ago (NYC)
Steveborough said:
Chances are, your area has been upgraded to HSDPA coverage. My was a few months ago (NYC)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats correct. My icon is also on H now all time. (PHL)
Philly area
I live in this metro area myself. The H icon does mean HSDPA however you can set this off using Kaisertweak. Once you're phone resets it should go back to 3G icon. If you want to me more technical with switching bands, you can use the newer comm manager and advaned config to add a 3G on/off button for toggling between edge and 3G. Remember HSDPA is a faster form of 3G, the 3G icon just refers to the slower form of it which once was a default until the recent upgrade.
very wierd...i always have 3G turned off....so I'm always on EDGE...tonight i opened up the comm manager and turned 3G back on...now i have H at all times....
But! with the H or the 3G i get less signal strenght....on Edge i get full everywhere
etnies said:
very wierd...i always have 3G turned off....so I'm always on EDGE...tonight i opened up the comm manager and turned 3G back on...now i have H at all times....
But! with the H or the 3G i get less signal strenght....on Edge i get full everywhere
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDGE data coverage is from the GSM side of the network.
The H is from the 3G side of the network. The technologies are different, and so is the coverage. The footprints are not exactly the same.
However, with 3G... you only need 1-2 bar to be able to place/receive phone calls. Voice quality should be reasonable.
Just an FYI.
oh...so what should i leave?
the EDGE or the H?
i dont have a data plan if that even matters
How do they fair up for battery life?
I hear that 3G uses less battery than EDGE does...is this true?
What about HSDPA?
Um, no you've got that backwards. Edge uses MUCH less battery than 3G and way less than HSDPA.
If you don't use data, stick with Edge.
but the H icon makes me feel special
Steveborough said:
Chances are, your area has been upgraded to HSDPA coverage. My was a few months ago (NYC)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PDX area just switched over to HSDPA a few days ago - I'm so happy!
To make things even better, then guy in the store dropped my plan down to $30 a month (no txt messages) which was unavailable when I first bought the phone! Sweet Deal!
As title, how do i do it in galaxy note?
hspa+ is 3G
HSPA bearers are assigned on demand. WHEN your data connection is idle it will show 3G, if in 3G service area. This is normal
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Maybe the icon is misleading.
Because when the connection is idel, the icon shows 3G. When is busy, H+.
I just want my phone to stay on H+, because it takes 3-5 seconds to connect.
HTC phones have this stay alive option as i know.
I have this issue. The data on all my modern devices always worked MUCH better when it showed H as opposed to 3G. Why is this?
I can do this on my wife's Android phone, so I know it is an option. Hopefully the feature hasn't been removed on the Note - I will soon be moving from my trusty HTC Advantage (the first phone with a 5 inch screen) and always lock my phones to H+.
As far as I'm aware, H is faster than 3g. So that's why your internet will work faster when H is shown. Also the H signal is not available in all areas....at least it's not in the UK. If H is not available the 3g symbol will show. If 3g isn't available then G will show up, which is even slower. I've noticed H is only fully available in Towns or cities or surrounding nearby country side.
So you can't set it to always connect to H because it's not always available.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
New York City has pretty good coverage if you're on AT&T and you haven't been flagged in some way by them. According to their coverage map on their website it's solid "faux" G all around my home.
According to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1380284 there is a menu which is accessed by entering in *#9900# on the keypads. This menu gives you the option to disable fast dormancy, which according to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1111581 will change the timeout from H+ to 3G from 7 seconds to 30 seconds. Admittedly it's not the permanent lock to H+ that was originally requested, but from what I read it sounds like it is done as a battery saving preventative measure.
I have already disabled fast dormancy using *#9900# code in my Note, but now my phone switch between H and H+ icon. When connection is idel, it falls back to H. If I browse a webpage, it takes more than 10 seconds to connect to H+. And yes, H has no data trafic avalable. That means I have to wait the phone to change to H+ if I want to browse the internet.
Does anyone know how to stay with H+ icon?
OMG no one knows?
I think it depends on your rom..
sunny7day said:
I have already disabled fast dormancy using *#9900# code in my Note, but now my phone switch between H and H+ icon. When connection is idel, it falls back to H. If I browse a webpage, it takes more than 10 seconds to connect to H+. And yes, H has no data trafic avalable. That means I have to wait the phone to change to H+ if I want to browse the internet.
Does anyone know how to stay with H+ icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on your Network and rom + modem u using.
Post the details here and lets see what the community here can find.
Data works fine on H. It certainly seems faster on H+, but, as you say, the phone spends so long finding and connecting, the speed is wasted. I'd be happy to stay on H myself.
I agree, it would be nice to keep to one. My connection jumps from 3g to H to H+ and even to E, especially when moving on a train.
I think it is network dependent
E - Edge 2G
H - 3G
H+ - 3.5G
When you set your network mode to auto, it searches for faster avaiable network. If you set it to only WCDMA, you won't get E, but i think there is no setting to select 3G/3.5G.
Another problem to select WCDMA is, whenever any place dont have 3G coverage, your network will lost.
In germany it is also other:
G - gprs up to 56kpbs
E - edge up to 128kbps
3G - umts up 384 kbps
H - HSPA up to 14 mbps
H+ - extended hspa up to 21mbps
But H+ is only active when it is needed and it is all carrierer depending. If i am on H+ i can se my battery dying
Gesendet von meinem GT-N7000 mit Tapatalk
It is network related there's nothing your phone can do about it.
H+ is actually using the 64QAM modulation over the air interface which gives you 50% more throughput ideally than H.
3G is up to 384kbps
H is up to 14.4Mbps (16QAM)
H+ is up to 21Mbps
The above is the throughput on the lower levels, so at the application level you will get around 10% less (and that's if you are alone using the base station and your carrier is not limiting your throughput)
Everything that goes through wireless interfaces has to be shared between users. Therefore, the network has to manage valuable and limited resources to serve everyone and provide a best effort service. In order to do that, idle users or users below a certain threshold will be down switched from H+ to H (this usually happens due to radio signal conditions) and to 3G. After that it kicks you back to idle mode, so even if it says H, your actually not connected until a new session is triggered and based on your needs and availability, you are up switched to a faster channel.
Depending on each country and their marketing:
2G
2.5G is GPRS (G)
2.75G is EDGE (E)
3G
3.5G is HSPA (H)
3.9G (4G in the US) is HSPA+
4G is LTE
Fast dormancy is a new feature on 3G networks (not available in most networks yet) that improves your switching between different channels (H+, H, 3G, idle, ....) and it has a major impact on your battery life and the speed of establishing a new data connection once you are idle. This is also controlled by your network. Anyway, some people believe that turning it off while it is not supported by your network can help improving battery life. Which I don't think is true, since by turning it off you are forcing your mobile to ignore this new feature (and if it doesn't exist there's nothing to ignore anyway) and turning it off shouldn't have any effect unless it is active on the network and your carrier is not managing it correctly.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
There is a short code for turning off h+ my phone would always time out when trying to connect to h+ so disabled it. And it works great now, can't for the life of me remember what the short code is though!
Alexanderbooth said:
There is a short code for turning off h+ my phone would always time out when trying to connect to h+ so disabled it. And it works great now, can't for the life of me remember what the short code is though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a code to turn on H+ too? Because my phone used to show H+ but now it only shows H although I have not changed any settings.