Force HSPA+ instead of 4G? - T-Mobile Galaxy Note 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Does anyone know how to force the note 4 to use HSPA+ instead of 4G?
The reason why i ask is because in areas where i cannot get 4GLTE the note 4 goes into 4G and its basically unusable (~1mbps maybe, most of the time i cannot even perform a speed test) eventhough the 4G is with 5 bars. In the same exact area HSPA+ gets very good speeds of 6mbp+
To test this, i forced 4G on my note 4 at my house and got a 1mbps speed test. Before upgrading to the note 4 from t-mobile i had an old note 2 from verizon running H+ getting 6mbps+ at my home.
Update: i really think the note 4 or the modem is causing the issue. Testing again my my house. When i first force the 4G connection the speed test are horrible. (< 1 mbps). After some time it seems idling in 4G it seems i got pushed into H+ reframed?(but still 4g icon) and getting consistance 6mbps.
I also noticed that the note 4 drops LTE to 4G at 2 bars or so when LTE speeds is definitely present and running at 20mbps

Hspa+ shows as 4g. If you go to other network settings where the apn is you can select lte,wcdma, options. In remote areas my 4g speed is better than my lte . The lingo is kinda weird so every carrier has different definitions of 4g. Hspa+ is technically 3.5g lol.

The app Advanced Signal Status let's you choose your network type.
Install it from play store and lock it to what you want. Try phone calls and SMS for the modes you try because some modes will be data only.

I noticed this today at home. I forced it to WCDMA mode only, it took like 10 mins for it to eventually show "4G" at my home office. The signal and download speed were terrible when forced into WCDMA hspa mode+ (4G) . In the same room and home my Note 3 would get a very good signal this time last year when I used the Note 3.
Perhaps T mobile has done something to the cell site here? Or The Note 4 isnt working as it should?

Ive had the same issue. So i work in one city and live in another. So when i get to work my data is slooooow. I force it to 4g and after a while back to lte. Speeds are fine. Same thing happens when i get home. Tmo told me to just restart my phone but that doesnt always work

Same situation with me. LTE tower doesn't reach my room but I got 10mbps in my living room....and my room I get less than 1mbps and goes to lte to 4g often with very slow speeds. I even have a LTE booster which doesn't really help much with speed. Without the lte booster I get almost 0 signal in my room

I used to have same problem during lte upgrade in my area. On lte around 8+ up and down while on 4g speds were 15-20 down and less than 2 up. Ping times were longer on 4g. After upgrade I no longer need to switch between lte and 4g
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

darekz said:
I used to have same problem during lte upgrade in my area. On lte around 8+ up and down while on 4g speds were 15-20 down and less than 2 up. Ping times were longer on 4g. After upgrade I no longer need to switch between lte and 4g
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But is T Mobile removing their 4G HSPA wcdma towers? I used to get a very good db signal in my office, now -115db at best for 4G in same location but band 4 700Mhz is now present? Any relationship between these ...

See the below screen shot. On that menu you can pick the non LTE function and force H+. You can also switch back to LTE.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

Thanks I had already figured out how to.force a specific data connection , hence why that thread I posted was asking what the default option is, since I didn't write it down.
But back on subject, 4G next to non existent now at home after 700mhz band 12 availability.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

What is UMTS? I never get Hspa+

I've found that my data is ridiculously slow (I'm talking edge speeds) when I turn WiFi off, even when I am in an area that gets a strong LTE signal. I feel like my device does not automatically connect to the best available tower; rather, it seems to try to latch on to whatever tower it was connected to before I connected to WiFi. Toggling "mobile data" off then on again seems to reconnect my device to the closer/better tower and the speed improves drastically. (It's possible that toggling airplane mode or network modes will do the same thing). When you are in an area that has poor LTE, you might consider keeping it off. Change the selection from “LTE/WCDMA/GSM” to just “WCDMA/GSM” and you'll be on the slower HSPA+ network (though, I believe it still shows the 4G icon). You can always change it back when you are in a better area.

4G is back up and running in my home location. Must have been temp disabled when they rolled out 700mhz band 12 LTE in my area.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

Related

[Q] How to lock network mode to HSPA+ insdead of 3G?

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.

How to disable HSPA / HSDPA for better battery life

Hi,
I was wondering if we can turn off hsdpa to save battery life, i used to have a Captivate and we used this secret menú to disable hsdpa, leaving only the 3G which consume less battery than Hdspa and is faster than 2G, but i can not find this menú on my nexus 4, someone knows how to do it?
This is the link to Samsung Galaxy where they shows how to do it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=837716
[REF] WORKING: How to disable HSPA / HSDPA for better battery life
Hi people.
One way to get longer battery life is to disable HSPA and just use 3G. 3G (UMTS) is not as slow as EDGE/GPRS but doesn't use as much power as HSPA.
Here's a quick comparison of *typical* download speeds:
GPRS: 48 kbit/s, EDGE: 150-200 kbit/s, 3G: 384 kbit/s, HSDPA: 1000 kbit/s
After some searching, I've found a method that actually works for our Galaxy S:
Go to the phone dialer pad and enter this code: *#301279#
Click [2] CHANGE HSPA REVISION
Click [1] RELEASE 99 (HSPA OFF)
Then you should see something like:
CHANGE_R99
HSDPA OFF, HSUPA OFF
Done!
Press the BACK button to exit, or press MENU button then END.
The setting should take effect shortly after you exit the menu. To be sure that the setting take effect, toggle Flight/Airplane mode.
You could store that number in your phone book or speed dial for a quick way to toggle HSPA.
The setting STAYS ACROSS REBOOTS!
If you want to enable HSPA again just go back to the same menu and choose [3] RELEASE 6 (HSDPA/HSUPA).
Just tested it with the XXJPP radio and it really works.
Longer battery life at last!
Quick way is Settings-More-Mobile Networks- Use Only 2g.
Better way is to install a toggle control app that let's you do it in one touch.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
chrisrozon said:
Quick way is Settings-More-Mobile Networks- Use Only 2g.
Better way is to install a toggle control app that let's you do it in one touch.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx, But 2G Its too slow, with this method the Hsdpa is off but the 3G still working so Its faster, but Looks like lg doesnt have this option or i can not find it.... Jet
HSPA is 3g
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Try this code:
*#*#4636#*#* :good:
Yeah the main way is to check "use 2g only" which would give you edge only and may save battery but yes it is very slow.
There is also a toggle 2g app which makes it more convenient, or you can use tasker.
Based on what I've read on the forums I'm pretty sure HSPA is 3g. In which case theres no in between.. if you go through the dialer menu you can choose wcdma/gsm which is 3g/2g. We're used to thinking hspa is 4g but its actually 3g since true 4g is actually LTE. Confusing, I know.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
HSPA/HSDPA is enhanced 3G. Sometimes referred to as 3G+. It is faster than 3G, but not near as fast as LTE, which is true 4G. I speak mainly for the AT&T network because I spent a lot a time with this on my HTC Inspire. AT&T invested a bit of money enhancing their backhaul to accommodate HSPA. I lived in a marginal area where my Inspire was typically on 3G but, by design of the device, was constantly searching and switching to HSPA and back and forth. This constantly drained my battery and caused dropped calls because it was switching towers when doing this. I ended up having to place a microcell in my home to alleviate this, since there was no way to do it thru the device. I'm not sure how my N4 would act today because I still use that microcell.
The OP was asking how to turn off HSPA. In the context of this phone, that's 3G. The next step down is Edge.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
HSDPA has no more battery drain than 3G...
3G is not HSDPA, is UMTS. HSDPA is 3G+.
chrisrozon said:
The OP was asking how to turn off HSPA. In the context of this phone, that's 3G. The next step down is Edge.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True that. Considering this is considered a developers phone that is unlocked and unbranded, I'm a bit surprised at the limited band selection.
It's a 5 band GSM phone, what more would you want? Other than LTE, obviously, we've done THAT discussion to death
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
I was referring to the ability to select the bands. When I go into the hidden test menu and try to select a radio band, I get a message that states "Unfortunately, the process com.android.phone has stopped". And yes I know this was done intentionally to hide the LTE band. My point was that I consider that somewhat odd. That is all. With previous phones I found the ability to switch bands useful for signal tests in my area, even though I couldn't always make them stick.
THANK YOU. I can finally enjoy fast (Fast enough for my needs) internet without the blackhole drain of HSPA+. 3g, UMTS, does not drain as much as HSPA+.
cas0404 said:
Hi,
I was wondering if we can turn off hsdpa to save battery life, i used to have a Captivate and we used this secret menú to disable hsdpa, leaving only the 3G which consume less battery than Hdspa and is faster than 2G, but i can not find this menú on my nexus 4, someone knows how to do it?
This is the link to Samsung Galaxy where they shows how to do it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=837716
[REF] WORKING: How to disable HSPA / HSDPA for better battery life
Hi people.
One way to get longer battery life is to disable HSPA and just use 3G. 3G (UMTS) is not as slow as EDGE/GPRS but doesn't use as much power as HSPA.
Here's a quick comparison of *typical* download speeds:
GPRS: 48 kbit/s, EDGE: 150-200 kbit/s, 3G: 384 kbit/s, HSDPA: 1000 kbit/s
After some searching, I've found a method that actually works for our Galaxy S:
Go to the phone dialer pad and enter this code: *#301279#
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get
Connection problem or invalid MMI code
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'll need this option too, bcoz my signal keep switching between h and h+ so its definitely drain my battery.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
fernandezhjr said:
HSPA/HSDPA is enhanced 3G. Sometimes referred to as 3G+. It is faster than 3G, but not near as fast as LTE, which is true 4G. I speak mainly for the AT&T network because I spent a lot a time with this on my HTC Inspire. AT&T invested a bit of money enhancing their backhaul to accommodate HSPA. I lived in a marginal area where my Inspire was typically on 3G but, by design of the device, was constantly searching and switching to HSPA and back and forth. This constantly drained my battery and caused dropped calls because it was switching towers when doing this. I ended up having to place a microcell in my home to alleviate this, since there was no way to do it thru the device. I'm not sure how my N4 would act today because I still use that microcell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LTE is NOT true 4G, true 4G is LTE Advanced.
Sent from my Jelly Nexus 4
zim2dive said:
I get
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got same! Other method to change it? Maybe system file somewhere?
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 4 CM10.1 HC mit Tapatalk 2
It's probably an NV Item in the Qualcomm radio. You would just need to find what value it needs, put the N4 into "modem" mode, and use NV Item editor or similar to change the value.
turn the data and gps off ,.turn down screen brightness, then you will found very long battery life for you

[Q] Access to more Network Mode options? XT1053

I saw a few screenshots of people's Moto X's from sprint with a bunch of options under Network Mode. I have the XT1053 (TMO unlocked, on ATT network) and the only options I see are "Auto" and "2G."
I browsed around and found that there's an LTE OnOff app, but I'm just wondering if there's a way I can get those options for 3G on my device's Network Mode option list?
The reason why I even care is because for some reason at my workplace, I can't seem to get any data through LTE. My signal will display 3 bars of LTE, but it absolutely does not work. While it will turn off LTE and just say 4G since it's on auto, I find that a majority of my day, it WON'T switch. It stays on 4G LTE 99% of the time and does not function at all. When I walk outside the building, LTE works perfectly fine. Would I be right to assume that the auto mode is literally on borderline between switching, so it never establishes a stable connection?
I guess it brings me to the question, is the Auto mode inefficient / will I have to live with manually turning off LTE every time I get to work? :/
noc215 said:
I saw a few screenshots of people's Moto X's from sprint with a bunch of options under Network Mode. I have the XT1053 (TMO unlocked, on ATT network) and the only options I see are "Auto" and "2G."
I browsed around and found that there's an LTE OnOff app, but I'm just wondering if there's a way I can get those options for 3G on my device's Network Mode option list?
The reason why I even care is because for some reason at my workplace, I can't seem to get any data through LTE. My signal will display 3 bars of LTE, but it absolutely does not work. While it will turn off LTE and just say 4G since it's on auto, I find that a majority of my day, it WON'T switch. It stays on 4G LTE 99% of the time and does not function at all. When I walk outside the building, LTE works perfectly fine. Would I be right to assume that the auto mode is literally on borderline between switching, so it never establishes a stable connection?
I guess it brings me to the question, is the Auto mode inefficient / will I have to live with manually turning off LTE every time I get to work? :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3 bars of LTE is an excellent signal. With 1 bar of signal I can still get 15mbps down from my provider. If your phone is detecting such a strong received signal it won't be switching back to HSPA on its own. For some reason the building you're in may block the phones transmitted signal more then it blocks the signal from the cell site. I am guessing you're on band 4 LTE which has quite the frequency difference between uplink and downlink. Your only option(assuming the phone or cell site isn't defective) is to manually switch to WCDMA with a third party app such as the "LTE setting" app in the Play store. Or unlock your bootloader and flash firmware from another provider that has more options. I know the Rogers Canada firmware has an LTE on/off option, it also has a 2G only option. Sadly Rogers has not yet approved the release of 4.4 (kitkat).
Steve-x said:
3 bars of LTE is an excellent signal. With 1 bar of signal I can still get 15mbps down from my provider. If your phone is detecting such a strong received signal it won't be switching back to HSPA on its own. For some reason the building you're in may block the phones transmitted signal more then it blocks the signal from the cell site. I am guessing you're on band 4 LTE which has quite the frequency difference between uplink and downlink. Your only option(assuming the phone or cell site isn't defective) is to manually switch to WCDMA with a third party app such as the "LTE setting" app in the Play store. Or unlock your bootloader and flash firmware from another provider that has more options. I know the Rogers Canada firmware has an LTE on/off option, it also has a 2G only option. Sadly Rogers has not yet approved the release of 4.4 (kitkat).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes a lot more sense to me now. So basically the "Auto" mode only considers my reception and not transmittance strength, so it never saw a need to switch me off LTE. I am almost sure it is not my phone because I started experiencing a signal loss issue with my S3 a few days ago. I doubt it's the cell site because as soon as I step out of the building, LTE works with no problems.
I did ended up using LTE OnOff to force CDMA and I can actually do stuff now. I went and did a speedtest ...
Ping: 114 ms
Down: 4.06 Mbps
Up: 0.77 Mbps
I guess with the lack of options, I have yet another reason to roll up the sleeves and get my hands dirty. Haven't touched ABD since I had a samsung captivate!
Thank you

D5803 AT&T LTE sticking on 1700mhz when 700mhz is available

Loving my Z3c so far, but I'm having one weird issue.
My APN settings are correct and I'm getting LTE, but I noticed that I was only getting two bars at home and my dBm was super high compared to my other phones (I normally get full bars with every AT&T phone at home). I rebooted the phone and it came back at full bars, with a really low dBm. Today, I went to work and after I came home, it was down to two bars again with a high dBm. I toggled mobile data off and on and it returned to full bars and low dBm.
Here's what I THINK is happening: I believe that at home, it gets on the 700mhZ LTE network and all is fine, but at work, it gets on 1700. Then it gets stuck on 1700mhz and stays that way until I toggle the connection off/on. It still gets LTE and decent speeds, but the dBm is high and the bars are low. I don't have any other phones that do this.
Does anyone know if there's a way to disable certain bands. On the LG G3, you can turn off LTE bands that you don't want in the phone menu. I'm wondering if there's a way to disable 1700 so this won't happen. Also wondering if anyone else on AT&T is experiencing this. I'm stock, not rooted.
Thanks!
Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk

Only 2G (or) Only 3G!

Just found a small trick to use only 3G instead of 3G preferrd.
Just dial *#*#4636#*#* select the desired radio in the drop down menu. WCDMA is 3G only.
Hope it helps
This has been known for years.
For YEARS
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Yeap yeap. Known for some time already. You can also force it to connect to 4G network instead of 3G network by selecting "LTE Only" but you won't be able to receive/ make calls and sms. Good for situation where you wanna use Internet and it is loading really slow cos your phone finds that the 4G signal is too low and determines that 3G is would be faster for you. But low signal 4G compared to higher signal 3G, 4G still wins most of the time to me.

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