Database Develop

Bad Reception?

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.

The reception on this compared to the EVO LTE is infinitely better!

I live out in the country in a dead spot and before I couldn't make calls on my EVO LTE without the connection dropping, now I can actually make calls, data is still horrible, but I can live with that.
Before I couldn't get LTE in my office, now while the connection sometimes jumps between 4G or 3G I can mostly use 4G and data on my Sprint is actually useable now.
Initially I was having buyers remorse paying $600 off contract, but having use able LTE is worth that alone.

BamAlmighty said:
I live out in the country in a dead spot and before I couldn't make calls on my EVO LTE without the connection dropped, now I can actually make calls, data is still horrible, but I can live with that.
Before I couldn't get LTE in my office, now while the connection sometimes jumps before 4G or 3G I can mostly use 4G and data on my Sprint is actually useable now.
Initially I was having buyers remorse paying $600 off contract, but having useable LTE is worth that alone.
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+1. We also live out in the country and my Evo 4G LTE would often drop phone calls, especially if I was in the basement of our house. So far, the S4 seems much better about that. Call quality is overall better, too.

[Q] In newly-added LTE markets, is coverage as good as it's going to get?

I live in LA, where LTE service was introduced a little less than a month ago. Just switched over to Sprint from Verizon, and right now, Sprint's 4G coverage is spotty enough to make me reconsider my decision.
A question, for folks in areas that have had LTE for a while longer, is this the kind of situation where there's likely to be real improvement early on as some initial kinks get worked out, or is it pretty much already as good as it's going to get when sprint rolls it out?

Even though sprint officially announces Lte coverage doesn't mean it's 100% compete! They are constently adding towers.
I live in LA and get lte in my city but next door cities don't have it yet! I believe L.A is only 50% covered right now.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium

Same here. I am greatly disappointed with the Sprint service. I always have 3g, but EVDO is pathetically slow... I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Verizon... I wish I would have gone with AT&T. :/

You might want to check out this thread: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1413-network-visionlte-la-metro-market/
There's also a separate thread for OC.

Sprints wimax coverage was actually decent in LA. I live and work in La Verne at the eastern edge of LA County. There is like two LTE towers out here. I'm pretty sure it will get as good if not better than their wimax coverage, if you can wait another year you should
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

FrozenRiff said:
Sprints wimax coverage was actually decent in LA. I live and work in La Verne at the eastern edge of LA County. There is like two LTE towers out here. I'm pretty sure it will get as good if not better than their wimax coverage, if you can wait another year you should
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
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Another thing to consider too is that at some point Sprint is also going to deploy LTE on the 800MHz band, which has a longer reach and penetrates buildings better than 1900 (current LTE deployment) or 2600MHz (WiMax and future LTE). That could also have a significant positive impact on reception. They are supposed to begin do that sometime towards the end of the year. However, none of Sprint's current phones support that LTE band unfortunately.

Check out the Sensorly app
Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sensorly.viewer&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5zZW5zb3JseS52aWV3ZXIiXQ..
It will help with your decision about service in your area. Where I live EVDO isn't bad so when I'm in an area without LTE there isn't much of an issue. As far as LTE just starting in your area, yes it continues to get better. Verizon's LTE was the most spotty junk you've ever seen when they first started. It takes a while to fill in all the gaps in coverage and I have noticed my phone's 4G icon coming on in more places. The plans for Sprint Network Vision exceed all the other major carriers' LTE networks and will be easily upgraded to LTE Advanced. The problem is it's still in it's early stages. Verizon got a huge jump on LTE while Sprint was messing with WiMAX so it's likely that Verizon will have the LTE advantage for now in most areas.

Yeah, towards the beginning of roll out, signal is.horrible. But don't lose hope. It can, and does, only get better from here :thumbup:

[Q] Not able to connect to data while making phone calls

Just received my new HTC One (M8) yesterday. After setting it up and thinking everything was good to go. I made a phone call and tried to look up something on the internet. The page didn't pull up and when I looked at the status bar I noticed that the LTE symbol was gone. I looked in setting and my mobile data was on but showing disconnected. Has anyone else not be able to use voice and data together?

palo117 said:
Just received my new HTC One (M8) yesterday. After setting it up and thinking everything was good to go. I made a phone call and tried to look up something on the internet. The page didn't pull up and when I looked at the status bar I noticed that the LTE symbol was gone. I looked in setting and my mobile data was on but showing disconnected. Has anyone else not be able to use voice and data together?
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That's been like since the Evo 4G LTE days.

From s4gru dot com (can't post link for being too much of a noob on this site still)
"In previous Sprint LTE phones, when a device was in Sprint LTE coverage it would park in both the LTE and CDMA Sprint networks at the same time. When a voice call came in, it would just go straight through to the device. And signal to the LTE network would be maintained the whole time while the call was active.
In contrast, a Sprint Triband LTE device can only stay on one technology at a time. CDMA or LTE, not both. So when a Sprint LTE Triband device is in Sprint LTE coverage it parks only in LTE. And doing so means it cannot transmit calls without Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB) on the network side. CSFB and eCSFB (Enhanced Circuit Switched Fallback) are network controls that will allow a single mode/single path network to operate in two modes, both CDMA and LTE.
Here is how it works in the simplest way I can describe. When your Triband LTE device has an LTE signal, it cannot receive or make calls on its own. It is just using LTE data happily. However, what if someone calls you? How does it get through the CDMA network to your device? Via CSFB.
When the Sprint network tries to forward a call to your device but cannot see it via CDMA, it then checks for an LTE connection to your device. If it sees one, it tells your device to disconnect from LTE for a moment and reconnect to CDMA. Your device then jumps over to take the call on Sprint CDMA and the LTE session is interrupted. This happens very fast and seamlessly. Except for the loss of data availability. If you receive a text, the Sprint network is able to route it to your device via LTE."
This is why I tried to upgrade from the EVO 4G to the EVO 4G LTE recently, I was trying to get a phone that handled LTE and had SVLTE, but it didn't work out reception-wise in my area, so bit the bullet and got the M8, knowing that if I use it for tethering will have to figure out if there is a way to force it to stay in LTE and have phone calls go straight to voice mail.

rhe12 said:
From s4gru dot com (can't post link for being too much of a noob on this site still)
"In previous Sprint LTE phones, when a device was in Sprint LTE coverage it would park in both the LTE and CDMA Sprint networks at the same time. When a voice call came in, it would just go straight through to the device. And signal to the LTE network would be maintained the whole time while the call was active.
In contrast, a Sprint Triband LTE device can only stay on one technology at a time. CDMA or LTE, not both. So when a Sprint LTE Triband device is in Sprint LTE coverage it parks only in LTE. And doing so means it cannot transmit calls without Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB) on the network side. CSFB and eCSFB (Enhanced Circuit Switched Fallback) are network controls that will allow a single mode/single path network to operate in two modes, both CDMA and LTE.
Here is how it works in the simplest way I can describe. When your Triband LTE device has an LTE signal, it cannot receive or make calls on its own. It is just using LTE data happily. However, what if someone calls you? How does it get through the CDMA network to your device? Via CSFB.
When the Sprint network tries to forward a call to your device but cannot see it via CDMA, it then checks for an LTE connection to your device. If it sees one, it tells your device to disconnect from LTE for a moment and reconnect to CDMA. Your device then jumps over to take the call on Sprint CDMA and the LTE session is interrupted. This happens very fast and seamlessly. Except for the loss of data availability. If you receive a text, the Sprint network is able to route it to your device via LTE."
This is why I tried to upgrade from the EVO 4G to the EVO 4G LTE recently, I was trying to get a phone that handled LTE and had SVLTE, but it didn't work out reception-wise in my area, so bit the bullet and got the M8, knowing that if I use it for tethering will have to figure out if there is a way to force it to stay in LTE and have phone calls go straight to voice mail.
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Thanks for the info. I just came from the HTC Evo 4G LTE. Never had any problems with Simultaneous Voice and Data so I was very surprised when I couldn't talk and use data on this phone. Of course Sprint tech support was useless. They believe it should work just fine.
Thanks again!

Im on m7 currently talking on the phone and checking email... are you saying I wont b able to do this on the m8?
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thesabri said:
Im on m7 currently talking on the phone and checking email... are you saying I wont b able to do this on the m8?
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app
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Apparently so, more or less. See http://www.fiercewireless.com/story...upport-simultaneous-voice-and-data/2013-11-19

thesabri said:
Im on m7 currently talking on the phone and checking email... are you saying I wont b able to do this on the m8?
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app
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Yes that's exactly what it means. After discussing this on various forums it seems that no new phones on Sprint will be able to do voice and data simultaneously. The tri-band doesn't all these phones to operate on both the LTE band and the CDMA band at the same time. I'm trying to decide now if I'm going to return my M8 and switch to T-Mobile. Then purchase it from them.

this may be a deal breaker for me as well. i have been paying for wimax wifi untill lte deployed in my area... that the phone i want wont allow the vlte is very disapointing.

I thought I heard a while ago that is a thing of the past. GS3 (and apparently the Evo 4G lte) was the last to be able to do that. They removed that feature from the S4, and any device from that point on iirc. Not 100% on all that, but I know I read something like that before.
Never investigated as to why, but the only thing I can think of would be for safety reasons. Its bad enough that people text and drive, and I can just imagine how many would be driving, on the phone, and texting, or trying to browse the web.
Certainly a feature I will miss though, coming from an S3. Neither my wife nor mom want to upgrade because they don't want to lose that capability.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

It works on the m7 so that's not true djroc007
Sent from my HTC One

indiscriminant said:
It works on the m7 so that's not true djroc007
Sent from my HTC One
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He probably meant while on 3g.
Sent from my lair.

indiscriminant said:
It works on the m7 so that's not true djroc007
Sent from my HTC One
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I don't think the m7 is a tri-band phone so it should work.... it works on my evo lte no matter what network im connected to but on my m8 it wont work at all.. I will try in on the g2 because that's also a tri-band phone and see what happends

Fair enough. I wasn't 100% sure, I just remember seeing somewhere that they were doing away with that capability at some point. It's stupid though either way. There's been plenty of times while talking about something on the phone where I've said "hold on, I'll Google it", or had the other person send me a picture of something. Will miss that feature.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

For clarity, please confirm is my understanding is true: this issue will be fixed in time, but we just don't know when - and Sprint is being shady about it.
I am an AT&T customer on the old Skyrocket. Long overdue for an upgrade, and I've been leaning toward switching to Sprint and getting the m8 ('real' unlimited data is a major factor). Now I'm weighing this issue, deciding whether it's significant enough to not make the switch after all.

buffjam9011 said:
For clarity, please confirm is my understanding is true: this issue will be fixed in time, but we just don't know when - and Sprint is being shady about it.
I am an AT&T customer on the old Skyrocket. Long overdue for an upgrade, and I've been leaning toward switching to Sprint and getting the m8 ('real' unlimited data is a major factor). Now I'm weighing this issue, deciding whether it's significant enough to not make the switch after all.
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No, this is not really an “issue” since it’s not a feature that’s performing improperly. SVDO and SVLTE (being able to hold a call while on 3G or LTE, respectively) is simply not possible due to the new antenna design.
On the EVO 4G LTE, SVDO and SVLTE were both possible, but that phone wasn’t the greatest RF performer. On the One M7, SVLTE was still possible, but SVDO was removed to help offset RF fade so that the signal could be improved. I suspect that the antenna design was changed again on the M8 to further increase performance, but at the cost of only being able to do voice OR data at any given time. Also, there appears to be a network limitation with tri-band LTE devices. See the post from rhe12:
rhe12 said:
From s4gru dot com (can't post link for being too much of a noob on this site still)
"In previous Sprint LTE phones, when a device was in Sprint LTE coverage it would park in both the LTE and CDMA Sprint networks at the same time. When a voice call came in, it would just go straight through to the device. And signal to the LTE network would be maintained the whole time while the call was active.
In contrast, a Sprint Triband LTE device can only stay on one technology at a time. CDMA or LTE, not both. So when a Sprint LTE Triband device is in Sprint LTE coverage it parks only in LTE. And doing so means it cannot transmit calls without Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB) on the network side. CSFB and eCSFB (Enhanced Circuit Switched Fallback) are network controls that will allow a single mode/single path network to operate in two modes, both CDMA and LTE.
Here is how it works in the simplest way I can describe. When your Triband LTE device has an LTE signal, it cannot receive or make calls on its own. It is just using LTE data happily. However, what if someone calls you? How does it get through the CDMA network to your device? Via CSFB.
When the Sprint network tries to forward a call to your device but cannot see it via CDMA, it then checks for an LTE connection to your device. If it sees one, it tells your device to disconnect from LTE for a moment and reconnect to CDMA. Your device then jumps over to take the call on Sprint CDMA and the LTE session is interrupted. This happens very fast and seamlessly. Except for the loss of data availability. If you receive a text, the Sprint network is able to route it to your device via LTE."
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Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Apparently in a theoretical future, when Sprint rolls out voice over LTE, this issue would, well, not be an issue anymore.
"Schlageter said the tri-mode LTE smartphones will be able to handle simultaneous voice and LTE data when Sprint deploys Voice over LTE. She noted Sprint has not yet set a timetable for when that will happen."
Source: http://www.fiercewireless.com/story...upport-simultaneous-voice-and-data/2013-11-19

Thanks for the replies. Seems like a usability oversight (or just bad decision) to me. Are other carriers able to support SVLTE or SVDO on Triband LTE devices or is this a device constraint?
Thinking about it, I only occasionally use data and voice at the same time so this might be more of a minor irritation to me. I have a question for those you who have experience with this - Is there any noticeable lag when CSFB occurs for either user (caller/receiver)?
Also, the language in the spokeswoman's replies in that article is frustrating.

buffjam9011 said:
Thanks for the replies. Seems like a usability oversight (or just bad decision) to me. Are other carriers able to support SVLTE or SVDO on Triband LTE devices or is this a device constraint?
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I wouldn’t say it’s an “oversight,” either. I would say it’s more of a limitation of the compromise between RF performance and features. Sprint’s M8 variant will have access to more LTE bands in more areas than any of the other carriers. I could be wrong, but I suspect that the trade-off for SVLTE has something to do with the fact that the Sprint M8 will be switching between LTE bands more often than other carriers’ variants. Let’s take a look:
For the One M8, these are the LTE frequencies that each carrier-specific phone has the radio/antenna for:
AT&T: 700/850/AWS/1800/1900/2600 MHz
Sprint: FDD 800/1900 MHz , TDD 2600 MHz
Verizon: 700/AWS/1800/2600 MHz
TMUS: 700/AWS MHz
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Source: M8 spec page
As it currently stands, these are the LTE frequencies the above carriers have deployed or will soon deploy:
AT&T: 700/AWS/1900/2300 MHz
Sprint: 800/1900/2500 (2600) MHz
Verizon: 700/AWS MHz
TMUS: 700/AWS/1900 MHz
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Sources:
List of LTE networks - Wikipedia
AT&T Mobility - Wikipedia
Sprint - Wikipedia
Verizon - Wikipedia
T-Mobile USA - Wikipedia
This means that only the AT&T and Sprint versions can use 3 LTE bands on their respective networks. However, since only Sprint will have all 3 bands available nationwide, I suspect that there might be something network-related which would allow the AT&T model to still allow SVLTE, but again, I could be wrong. I think I’ll take this to S4GRU.com to fact-check.

[Q] Question regarding Spark / Multiple Bands

This could be a simple or complex Question/Answer...
Throwing the LTE bands out on the table for non-Spark devices (such as M7) vs. Spark devices (Such as M8)
M7: 1900mhz
M8: 850/1900/2600 MHz
Now those who had an M7 know the fallbacks with the 1900 spectrum. While driving around depending on your area, or limitations of wall penetration, it's very easy to loose LTE and fall back to 3G. Then it's no fun waiting to get back to LTE when your streaming music or video.
The reason I am posting this question is because I don't want to assume, I'd rather have feedback for someone with an M8. If you're inside a building, or driving, have you noticed an improvement with a spark phone?
For instance, is it possible to be on the 850 spectrum and NOT the 1900? or as soon as it looses the 1900 will it still fall back to 3G? I'll be honest, I love/hate LTE on non-spark phones. Love because its unlimited data, hate because of how easy it is to loose LTE. I've had several non-spark phones and had this issue between all of them, and I also have a Verizon phone which is on LTE over 99% of the time. I live in the Tri State Area in NY.
So the bottom line question... If only one band is available (say the 850 because it should theoretically have better wall penetration), will it use that band? Or.. is Sprint Spark all three bands or bust..back to 3G?

im pretty sure from what ive read that spark uses all bands at the same time, so if you lose one youll still be connected on the others until you lose them all. my area doesnt have 850 yet so i couldnt tell you but i definitely feel the diference between having 2500+1900 and only having 1900... when i have both i get aroung 35Mbps then i lose 2500 indoors and i get 5-8Mbps but my phone never "disconnects" from lte when im testing that
Sent from my SM-T217S using xda app-developers app

bigblueshock said:
This could be a simple or complex Question/Answer...
Throwing the LTE bands out on the table for non-Spark devices (such as M7) vs. Spark devices (Such as M8)
M7: 1900mhz
M8: 850/1900/2600 MHz
Now those who had an M7 know the fallbacks with the 1900 spectrum. While driving around depending on your area, or limitations of wall penetration, it's very easy to loose LTE and fall back to 3G. Then it's no fun waiting to get back to LTE when your streaming music or video.
The reason I am posting this question is because I don't want to assume, I'd rather have feedback for someone with an M8. If you're inside a building, or driving, have you noticed an improvement with a spark phone?
For instance, is it possible to be on the 850 spectrum and NOT the 1900? or as soon as it looses the 1900 will it still fall back to 3G? I'll be honest, I love/hate LTE on non-spark phones. Love because its unlimited data, hate because of how easy it is to loose LTE. I've had several non-spark phones and had this issue between all of them, and I also have a Verizon phone which is on LTE over 99% of the time. I live in the Tri State Area in NY.
So the bottom line question... If only one band is available (say the 850 because it should theoretically have better wall penetration), will it use that band? Or.. is Sprint Spark all three bands or bust..back to 3G?
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Yes, if only one band is available, the M8 will only use that band as long as the signal is strong enough to stay on it. Spark enabled phones have the ability to connect to all 3 bands as you have mentioned but can only connect to a single band at any given time as far as I'm aware. Unless it uses some modulation technology. I haven't read much into it, though.
The 2600Mhz band offers the highest theoretical speed out of all of them. Sprint just calls all their Tri-Band phones, Spark enabled for simple identification and as another means of marketing both their network and devices.
I haven't noticed any issues when I'm driving on my normal routes with the M8. Though, with the M7, I would sometimes hit points where it would drop to 3G and Google Music would buffer slightly and resume playing shortly thereafter. I'm not entirely sure its due to the phone, though as it might just be Google Music caching more data or Sprint has worked on the towers recently. I also haven't paid much attention as to which bands, if any, it has been connecting to as I believe this area is still limited to 1900Mhz LTE.

skizzled said:
Yes, if only one band is available, the M8 will only use that band as long as the signal is strong enough to stay on it. Spark enabled phones have the ability to connect to all 3 bands as you have mentioned but can only connect to a single band at any given time as far as I'm aware. Unless it uses some modulation technology. I haven't read much into it, though.
The 2600Mhz band offers the highest theoretical speed out of all of them. Sprint just calls all their Tri-Band phones, Spark enabled for simple identification and as another means of marketing both their network and devices.
I haven't noticed any issues when I'm driving on my normal routes with the M8. Though, with the M7, I would sometimes hit points where it would drop to 3G and Google Music would buffer slightly and resume playing shortly thereafter. I'm not entirely sure its due to the phone, though as it might just be Google Music caching more data or Sprint has worked on the towers recently. I also haven't paid much attention as to which bands, if any, it has been connecting to as I believe this area is still limited to 1900Mhz LTE.
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ahh. I was under the impression sprint was able to bond all 3 channels together to get a lot higher speed. but if it only connects to one at a time, that's a different story

bigblueshock said:
ahh. I was under the impression sprint was able to bond all 3 channels together to get a lot higher speed. but if it only connects to one at a time, that's a different story
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That might very well be the case, I'm not entirely sure how the Tri-Band works on Sprint phones yet but will definitely be looking into it moreso since I have a M8.
Band 41 (2500Mhz) will offer higher theoretical speeds at the expense of less range and wall penetration.
Personally, I'm much more interested in Band 26 (800Mhz) as this will hopefully greatly increase range and improve reception. I've been on Sprint long enough to realize that I mostly use data services which don't require huge amounts of bandwidth and when I really need a fast connection, I have access to Wi-Fi more often than not.