I've seen alot of posts about people doing this. Why would you want to slow down your speed?
From a phone on an app
Switching that only slows down internet transmission speed, so if you weren't using your data, or had no immediate plans to you could switch to EDGE- there's a significant difference in battery drain while using 3G
O ok. That makes sense. Think I'll look into that for when I'm at work. Thanks
From a phone on an app
Some of us don't have 3G available anywhere near us lol
I keep mine on EDGE because there is a 3G tower just close enough to my house that my phone wants to switch to it constantly. I get about 0-2 bars off that tower but the non-3G tower 2 miles from my house gives me 5 bars. Battery life is nice, too.
Because some people get crappy 3g service but good 2g or edge and the captivate always uses the 3g when available so it can slow your phones internet down
I've had a DROID Bionic since just about when it came out (I got it on Sept. 15th) and recently I've had reason to suspect that my Bionic has reception issues. At work I mostly end up on 3G, getting 4G occasionally. I didn't think much of this at first, thinking that perhaps the 4G signal in the area wasn't that strong. I now think otherwise.
Since I got my Bionic, three other employees at my work all got Verizon 4G phones. Two of them have the Thunderbolt and one has the DROID Charge. From asking them and looking at their phones, they seem to have a 4G connection the majority of the time while my Bionic is stuck on 3G. They get consistent, steady 4G while my phone switches back and forth between 3G and 4G, mostly ending up on 3G.
This discovery prompted me to check Verizon's coverage map. According to it, my work is very, VERY clearly in a Verizon 4G LTE coverage area (not the LTE extended coverage, but full LTE coverage). That seems confirmed by the fact that the Thunderbolts and the Charge here are almost always on 4G. This has be worried that my poor little Bionic is having some issues.
Anyway, to cut the exposition here and get to the point, I was wondering if anyone else has noticed poor 4G reception on the Bionic. I'm curious to see if perhaps I just have a bad phone or if the Bionic, in general, is poor in the reception department. I have tried toggling airplane modes and rebooting the phone. That helps me get back on 4G momentarily, but I end up back on 3G shortly thereafter.
In the same boat
I work in Pittsburgh and mine wont hold a steady signal either, unless I set in on this metal canberra by the radio in my room. Kinda weird really.
Hey guys, I'm planning on buying this phone and I was just wondering if there was any signal issues. I currently have an S3, and I get fairly weak signals depending on what area i'm in and it really blows.
External antennas with active tuning and send/receive diversity.
It's better than the GS3 in reception.
Yes there is a specific problem with 4g signal experienced by me and others.
The 3g and gsm coverage are excellent but there is no doubt that 4g reception is terrible on this phone. It drops calls far to quickly when switching to 3g in low signal areas; whilst this does not happen when using other 4g devices.
The thread for signal is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2201898
The signal quality on this phone is excellent in my opinion and just as good as my old Lumia 920 can't vouch for 4G yet as it's not available where I live but cannot fault it.
I'm operating on the Chinese Radio and on AT&T's network. In my area the coverage is great. Even in my basement I consistantly have 4bars. Outside 4 bars. In my school, no service - 2bars on 2G! Sometimes I can get 3G. The building has a steel flat roof and concrete walls, but I still had great signal on verizon. Is their any tweaks I could do? My build.prop I will list in a moment.
Thinking of jumping ship to TMO, for the simple fact I can get root on all my devices. No contract, unlimited everything. Where I am hoping I don't have any issues with service. I am curious to know what the thoughts of everyone. Pro's Con's of switching/staying and or buying a TMO N4 to use on ATT network..
Thanks
This thread is about that: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2941837
Android_Monsters said:
This thread is about that: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2941837
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Thanks for that link...
Read through it. Issue I am having is the wife is having better service in some areas where ATT isn't as good. But I am finding that in some cases, ATT is faster in speed tests. TMO has been solid as far as service where I live..
Sucks, cause I can't find a solid answer for the people who have had the chance to try both carriers and who they like best. ATT has a higher over cost, but is that worth "better" service?
pestilencec11 said:
Thanks for that link...
Read through it. Issue I am having is the wife is having better service in some areas where ATT isn't as good. But I am finding that in some cases, ATT is faster in speed tests. TMO has been solid as far as service where I live..
Sucks, cause I can't find a solid answer for the people who have had the chance to try both carriers and who they like best. ATT has a higher over cost, but is that worth "better" service?
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FWIW, I've noticed that the spots that I mainly have less than stellar service is through stretches of road away from the major cities. For me, I commute / work / live around a major city, as do my friends and family so it isn't a factor for me. As far as AT&T goes, a few of my friends have AT&T, and I will get better service in spots compared to them and vice versa. I would tell you to try out the T-Mobile test drive option if they still have it. You can try an iPhone or I believe a GS5 for seven days to gauge the service for yourself. As far as I can tell though the service, coverage, and speed are roughly the same in and around major cities and highly populated areas.
take the t mobile 7 day challenge and make up your own mind..
If you do the 7 day T-Mobile thing your credit card will get a hold of $700 plus and if you don't bring the iPhone back in 7 days it will get charged. If that's a issue I think you can buy a cheap phone and test it then return? I love T-Mobile. I had Sprint for 14 years. Now a year and a half with T-Mobile.
wase4711 said:
take the t mobile 7 day challenge and make up your own mind..
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The only thing with that is they give you an iPhone 5S, which handles T-Mobile's AWS frequencies quite poorly. If possible, I would take that sim and put it into a T-Mobile branded Android device for better service.
AT&T will always have better coverage as they have their HSPA+ on band 5, 850mhz, which goes way farther than band 4, 1700 mhz. AT&T also has nationwide LTE on band 17, 700mhz.
MattMJB0188 said:
The only thing with that is they give you an iPhone 5S, which handles T-Mobile's AWS frequencies quite poorly. If possible, I would take that sim and put it into a T-Mobile branded Android device for better service.
AT&T will always have better coverage as they have their HSPA+ on band 5, 850mhz, which goes way farther than band 4, 1700 mhz. AT&T also has nationwide LTE on band 17, 700mhz.
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not everyone needs "nationwide" lte; if you dont travel much, and if tmobile is great in your area, none of that other stuff matters..
Tmobile is fantastic in chicago land, and since I dont travel for a living anymore, I love the savings, the coverage, the speed, everything about it..
wase4711 said:
not everyone needs "nationwide" lte; if you dont travel much, and if tmobile is great in your area, none of that other stuff matters..
Tmobile is fantastic in chicago land, and since I dont travel for a living anymore, I love the savings, the coverage, the speed, everything about it..
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I'm from the Chicago land area, and I can tell you they're not good. When traveling, only about 20 miles outside the city, my data went from LTE to 4G to E back and fourth. I was also in Des Plaines, IL and data was nothing but weak 4G and E inside buildings. My AT&T phone was always on LTE. Back at home, same thing. Good coverage outside, terrible signal inside buildings. I don't think I'd complain if the EDGE actually worked lol.
For years they had nothing but EDGE at my house, and now its finally LTE (but weak). So they are improving the signals with additional antennas. I just don't think its enough. Not every market will get their band 12, 700mhz spectrum do to channel 51 interference.
I dont know what you are talking about, everywhere in chicagoland that I have been has been great as far as signals strength
And, if you have issues inside your house, just ask them for the FREE Asus ac68 router, and your inside the house signals will be great too
In another thread a person on here said T-Mobile wasn't good where I live. Coverage is great pretty much everywhere I go so guess maybe that person had a dud phone.
Right now I am able to test 2 Note 4's. One on TMO, and the other on ATT. Some areas have been better for ATT, and vice versa for TMO. Speed tests seem to favor ATT a little. But with download booster on TMO unlimited LTE, I think that might edge a head some. I don't travel a ton, the areas I do travel are usually major highways and major cities.. So once I am able to go to a few more places that will give me a better idea of who I want to stick with.
wase4711 said:
I dont know what you are talking about, everywhere in chicagoland that I have been has been great as far as signals strength
And, if you have issues inside your house, just ask them for the FREE Asus ac68 router, and your inside the house signals will be great too
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Have you traveled out to Northwest, IN? They've gotten a lot better, but still are weak. I have no desire to use them. Especially now that I have 20GB of data from AT&T for $100. AT&T is miles a head of T-Mobile in my area.