How is Fi in off-the-beaten-path areas? I am considering porting over with my 4XL but have always been timid about due to poor reception concerns. I'm the Memphis, TN area and their coverage map show a lot of 3G or worse holes just outside the the I-269/I-240 beltways.
Fi seems really solid off the beaten path or on. I've had it for about 3 years. I've been many places in the US, mostly in the Midwest, Caribbean, Europe and almost always have a good signal.
You would get coverage everywhere there is Tmo which is obvious but I'm bringing it up because that is what you'll usually be on. I'd check their maps, something seems a little off that you would get poor coverage just off the freeway close in to a major city. While poor coverage in the past was a real problem they have massively increased their footprint and I have no issues anywhere I go Nowadays. Overseas its actually better, Tmo has fantastic roaming over there and it just flat works all over. One thing you will run into over there is that LTE itself is not ubiquitous in some countries so you'll be on slower connections at times but the same would be true with a local SIM because it's just not there.
Realistically it's not too difficult to port out and then port back if you're not happy. Unless I had a grandfathered plan that I didn't want to put at risk or some other external factor I'd give em a shot and see what happens.
I went ahead and gave it a go. I'm on a motorcycle so I can't keep a close eye on it but in the two places I've been, home right in the middle of Collierville, TN and just off Poplar Ave and West street in Germantown, TN (Google map it) the signal was there but very low (-123dB or less). Data was H+ at just over one megabit per second down, almost zero (like 50 kBaud) up. These are right in the middle of two different towns and not even in the boonies so not so good so far.
Anyone on a BYOD Pixel 4 on AT&T have cellular service completely drop out repeatedly while data is still great (>15mbps on a -80dB signal)? They are incapable of helping beyond simply repeatedly "re-registering" my phone. This works for a little while and then it just drops off again. I am astounded that this is happening on AT&T. They used to be the gold-standard but now the word "incompetent" doesn't even come close to what I've experienced.
Light green is 3G on their maps and there's an awful lot of it right in the middle of these very large towns.
Related
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/16/android-2-0-screenshot-walkthrough/
check this out
This isn't really news to most people here and it also doesn't directly have anything to do with development, at least not in the way of helping anyone get a ROM out.
Looks like the droid to me. Also I'm not sure if this is actually built by google or just something from motorola/verizon.
Yeah that looks like the new verizon version of Android that will suck because its on verizon. it will be locked down where Rooting wont be a possibility. Nice pics though.
**** looks sick, but itll be much sicker when cyan gets his hands on it
Wow, you are all quite against Verizon, huh? I've been with T-Mobile now about 15 years, but they still do not have very good service when I am here in my house. I have to fight to get more than 1 bar, and when I do I need to stand in one spot and not move or my call drops, 3G is a joke here too. In using a Verizon phone the past few days it has 2-3 bars here in my house, and no issues with data. I have considered moving over since they are offering up that Android phone in the next few days, but if you are saying that it will be limited badly I will not go.
Royalknight6190 said:
Yeah that looks like the new verizon version of Android that will suck because its on verizon. it will be locked down where Rooting wont be a possibility. Nice pics though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually from what I hear, Verizon's not touching the phone (aside from their logo stamped on it). They are not touching the OS. Full GPS, Wifi, etc. I look forward to seeing if anyone can root this =) (it's only a matter of time, really... haha)
Tom in AZ said:
Wow, you are all quite against Verizon, huh? I've been with T-Mobile now about 15 years, but they still do not have very good service when I am here in my house. I have to fight to get more than 1 bar, and when I do I need to stand in one spot and not move or my call drops, 3G is a joke here too. In using a Verizon phone the past few days it has 2-3 bars here in my house, and no issues with data. I have considered moving over since they are offering up that Android phone in the next few days, but if you are saying that it will be limited badly I will not go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Tom I am in AZ also and I was with the big V for a very long time. They have wonderful service probably the best, now with that said...I did leave once T-mobile brought the G1 to this world. I got fed up with Verizon's crappy cell phones that they put out along with the crappy software every single one of there phones run. They block everything so you are not able to do anything cool and awesome to the phone. If I know Verizon they are not going to want you or let you do anything to there android phone that might give you something for free. So rooting a phone lets you do so much to a phone like teather, which verizon will block in a heart beat cause they want to charge you an additional $15 to let you do that. Verizon also only lets you use 5gigs of data before they start charging you extra (overage fees). Verizon also has there own apps store which they will make you use. Read this:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/13/verizon-to-its-smartphones-thou-shalt-have-no-other-app-store-b/
I have switched to Tmobile and I dont regret it I never look back. I love my G1, I love the things I am able to do with it. I dont know where you live but I am not in the Phx area, I am in a 2G area and I always have 3 or 4 bars. And data out here even for 2G its not that bad.
Last Verizon is like Microsoft they hate anything Open Source they will do anything to Kill Open Source. They want there dirty little hands on everything you do on there network/product.
Hope this helped.
Anyone know wat was there test phone?
brbk4498 said:
Anyone know wat was there test phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Motorola Droid by all accounts.
More here: http://www.pcworld.com/article/174219
it can't "just be on verizon" this is ANDROID 2.0 ECLAIR - which should be available to ALL "google experience" android users OTA from their carriers.
ps - too bad the moto droid is a FUGLY BEAST - WHAT IS THAT EXTRA PIECE THTAT STICKS OUT THE BOTTOM AND CURVES UP WITH VERIZON WRITTEN ON IT? WHY DOES IT EVEN EXIST? The phone is HORRENDOUSLY designed, and i literally want to throw it against the concrete as hard as I can everytime i see pics of it.
FUGLY.
BEAST.
Thread should be moved...but HAVE YOU SEEN the broadcast tv commercials for the motorola DROID? Totally pwns the Iphone
Tom in AZ said:
Wow, you are all quite against Verizon, huh? I've been with T-Mobile now about 15 years, but they still do not have very good service when I am here in my house. I have to fight to get more than 1 bar, and when I do I need to stand in one spot and not move or my call drops, 3G is a joke here too. In using a Verizon phone the past few days it has 2-3 bars here in my house, and no issues with data. I have considered moving over since they are offering up that Android phone in the next few days, but if you are saying that it will be limited badly I will not go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Outside of major metro areas Tmob can be lacking in towers, i live about 30mins outside of philadelphia and tmob is great, but 20 mins down the road its gprs only, some areas are edge, so they have upgrades yet to do.
Verizions tech. Was upgradeable to 3g where gsm needed more expensive equip. To go 3g, but the switch to 3.5/4g will be easier for gsm than the wcdma towers.
In more rural areas around here verizion has very good service.
Philly metro was one of the first few tmob areas to go 3g, but at my house I still suffer with 9600baud gprs, its just a tad faster than my old 2400baud amiga modem strapped to my brown C=64(i think i just gave away my age)
There is tons of info on cell tech, google it.
Bhang
bhang said:
Philly metro was one of the first few tmob areas to go 3g, but at my house I still suffer with 9600baud gprs, its just a tad faster than my old 2400baud amiga modem strapped to my brown C=64(i think i just gave away my age)
Bhang
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't feel bad, I am right there with ya! Remember Mach5 or the Fast Boot carts? lol C-64 was a fun machine. load "*" ,8,1
Can't wait to try put a Droid and see what it can do.
Tom
Is there any way to improve the phone's signal reception? I'm not talking about getting fast 3G instead of edge/gprs (although that would be great) but just getting more bars.
In some areas where the signal isn't strong my nexus always seems worse off than other phones, which is annoying especially when it loses signal in some indoor or basement areas (where other phones on the same network have a signal).
Buy a range booster
I'm just going to contact google/htc to see if I can get a replacement
HTC are saying I need to send it in for repair, which would mean living without it for 10 days.
Other than not having another phone to use at the moment, anyone had experience sending in a phone to HTC for repair? Don't want to wait 10 days for them to say it's fine and charge me.
use it on landscape mode and hold it using your left hand. I've noticed that by holding it on the bottom (trackball, mic) it loses signal.
For the amount of money I paid (unlocked) this is just ridiculous, going to sell and get the legend or desire when they're out
From my understanding the Desire has the antenna in the same place as the Nexus.But I guess is going to work better on Verizon.Good luck.BTW,how much you want for the N1?
Don't know to be honest but if you're interested in an unlocked model in the uk get in touch
You want to get a replacement phone because your nexus has trouble finding signal?... Thats ridiculous, any phone will have problems if there's no network coverage in that area.
Its a new contract you want, not a new phone...
You misunderstood, my nexus is getting weaker signal vs other phones on the SAME network in the SAME area
I have been wanting a nexus one really bad and the only thing holding me back is the 3g/edge switching problem I have heard some much about. Is this really that big of a problem? Should I wait for the HTC Desire?
-JT
MT3G/Super D 1.9.3
Jartrip said:
I have been wanting a nexus one really bad and the only thing holding me back is the 3g/edge switching problem I have heard some much about. Is this really that big of a problem? Should I wait for the HTC Desire?
-JT
MT3G/Super D 1.9.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is the signal strength where you live? I have had my Nexus since the day it launched, and dont experience any of those issues. But then again....I have great 3G/HSPA connectivity here in Denver.
I live near Detroit MI and the 3g is ok. I do get edge 40% of the time when I am in my house but wifi fixes that.
I have had mine 48 hours. It has worked properly about 2 hours. The rest has been filled with lost data connections, signal going from 4 bars to zero bars, and back to 4 bars within seconds, and many many missed calls/messages/aborted calls. NOT HAPPY AT ALL. I thought this was going to be an upgrade from my G1- the speed is great but it is totally unusable as an actual phone. BTW, 3g in my area is excellent (on the G1).
I'm in Tulsa, OK and have yet to see EDGE on my 3G ATT Nexus. I've had it all day and been all over town and now home and I've got 3G all day and 4 bars 3G at home in the house.
I had my Nexus since the day it was launched, and dont have any 3G issues. I have great 3G/HSPA connectivity here in Las Vegas.
I had my N1 about couple months and so far it seems that it's the only choice!, didn't get any major problems, amazing speed I always get daily updates!
Old MuckenMire said:
I'm in Tulsa, OK and have yet to see EDGE on my 3G ATT Nexus. I've had it all day and been all over town and now home and I've got 3G all day and 4 bars 3G at home in the house.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow on Tmobile I only get edge, and I'm in Oklahoma City,OK. Doesnt make any sense.
gospeed.racer said:
I have had mine 48 hours. It has worked properly about 2 hours. The rest has been filled with lost data connections, signal going from 4 bars to zero bars, and back to 4 bars within seconds, and many many missed calls/messages/aborted calls. NOT HAPPY AT ALL. I thought this was going to be an upgrade from my G1- the speed is great but it is totally unusable as an actual phone. BTW, 3g in my area is excellent (on the G1).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here basically. I'm 1 mile from an HSDPA enabled tower and can't get anything faster than EDGE on a consistent basis. Dropped and garbled calls galore.
gospeed.racer said:
I have had mine 48 hours. It has worked properly about 2 hours. The rest has been filled with lost data connections, signal going from 4 bars to zero bars, and back to 4 bars within seconds, and many many missed calls/messages/aborted calls. NOT HAPPY AT ALL. I thought this was going to be an upgrade from my G1- the speed is great but it is totally unusable as an actual phone. BTW, 3g in my area is excellent (on the G1).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
galaxys said:
I had my Nexus since the day it was launched, and dont have any 3G issues. I have great 3G/HSPA connectivity here in Las Vegas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
McHale said:
same here basically. I'm 1 mile from an HSDPA enabled tower and can't get anything faster than EDGE on a consistent basis. Dropped and garbled calls galore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Las Vegas is one of T-mobile's best connected cities... so no surprise there. But even in Toledo, OH, I get 3G outdoors without issue and switch between 3G and Edge only indoors, where I have wifi anyway.
Maybe you guys that are having problems might call HTC for swaps.
All of this worries me. I don't want to shell out $530 for a phone that could have issues with keeping a 3G connection. Even on cyanogens wiki he sates "Is the 3G issue fixed? No. While Google did issue an Over-The-Air update On 2010-Feb-02, it doesn't fully fix the switch from 3G to EDGE, which might be a mix of a hardware problem and a software one." I am hoping the desire comes out soon to see if that has the same problems. It is almost the same hardware so I would think it would be the same but we will see.
If anything it's the baseband programming from Qualcomm... I'm NOT seeing as bad as an issue as before. I do on occasion see it go to EDGE; I've just not got in the habit of leaving my phone on 3G only now.
no trouble in austin tx 3g and H all the time
Called HTC and they had no other solution but for me to loose $45 (because it was etched) plus shipping to get me another phone that would likely do the same thing. So, I rooted and crossed my fingers that having a choice in radios would help. Nope. Oh well, it looks cool. I use it to show off, and make calls with my G1
It's always good to try another SIM card(S) from a different carrier before coming to conclusions.
wind0zer said:
It's always good to try another SIM card(S) from a different carrier before coming to conclusions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's really not possible in the US. We have 2 GSM provides and both use different frequencies. You're definitely not going to get 3G with the other provider's SIM.
uansari1 said:
Las Vegas is one of T-mobile's best connected cities... so no surprise there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its true I get good 3g when I go to vegas, but the weird thing is,i get absolutely zero gps functionality there. Any app that requires gps like sherpa or maps is useless. Go figure.
BlackElvis79 said:
Its true I get good 3g when I go to vegas, but the weird thing is,i get absolutely zero gps functionality there. Any app that requires gps like sherpa or maps is useless. Go figure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's simple. They don't want you to leave!
Ughhh, I'm line of sight to a tower and get -70 to -75dBm all the time but I swear I jump for joy if I manage to get 600kps on this N1.
I went to the outdoor mall in my neighborhood that has the T-Mobile antenna there. I was getting about -75dbm and when I covered the back of the phone with my palm as demonstrated in the videos showcasing the 3g problem my reception would drop to about -105dbm... is it me or is that excessive considering how close I was?
I am a pilot.. Usually my signal fades out around 2000feet or so. This seems to be worse with T-Mobile. I flew with a guy who had an iphone on att and it worked fairly well at 9,00ft. I had a CDMA phone a few years ago and it would work at very high altitudes 30,000ft plus. Nowadays, I usually cruise at less than 10,000ft, but I still have no service.
It seems to me that I should get better service at altitude, but this is not the case..It seems like one might have the same problem at high altitude in mountainous regions... .I have googled this for years but never found the answer... I was hoping someone on here might be able to answer my question: Why does my cell phone signal drop out at altitude? (I understand this :http://ashsd.afacwa.org/print_article.cfm?homeID=17917 but I am on a private aircraft) I understand the rules, but they don't explain the loss of signal...
I hope this is the right place to post this and thanks for your help!
iflyabeech said:
I am a pilot.. Usually my signal fades out around 2000feet or so. This seems to be worse with T-Mobile. I flew with a guy who had an iphone on att and it worked fairly well at 9,00ft. I had a CDMA phone a few years ago and it would work at very high altitudes 30,000ft plus. Nowadays, I usually cruise at less than 10,000ft, but I still have no service.
It seems to me that I should get better service at altitude, but this is not the case..It seems like one might have the same problem at high altitude in mountainous regions... .I have googled this for years but never found the answer... I was hoping someone on here might be able to answer my question: Why does my cell phone signal drop out at altitude? (I understand this :http://ashsd.afacwa.org/print_article.cfm?homeID=17917 but I am on a private aircraft) I understand the rules, but they don't explain the loss of signal...
I hope this is the right place to post this and thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that most cell sites work by line of site. If you are above them then I can see this happening. Besides, cell sites have a limited range anyway. Going straight up... who knows. But I only put my phone on Airplane mode while on flights and turned it on once (feeling rebellious) and had no signal. Of course I wasn't really surprised. Besides, cell towers have to hand off the signal from one tower to another to prevent dropped calls. If your travelling at 300+ mph I can see how that might complicate things as well. But these are just my own theories. CDMA signal is possibly more powerful than GSM. I've been out of the game for a while but again... it's just a theory.
Binary100100 said:
I believe that most cell sites work by line of site. If you are above them then I can see this happening. Besides, cell sites have a limited range anyway. Going straight up... who knows. But I only put my phone on Airplane mode while on flights and turned it on once (feeling rebellious) and had no signal. Of course I wasn't really surprised. Besides, cell towers have to hand off the signal from one tower to another to prevent dropped calls. If your travelling at 300+ mph I can see how that might complicate things as well. But these are just my own theories. CDMA signal is possibly more powerful than GSM. I've been out of the game for a while but again... it's just a theory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure...but I am usually less than 2 miles high and usually under 200MPH..Signal usually goes out when climbing out at under 150mph...
Thanks for your reply....
I was told a few years ago that it's the association with cell towers being the problem.
If you are going over them at 150mph+ its going to struggle to keep a decent signal....
Although i can confirm satelitte phones do not have this problem (neither does GPS tracking)
Burko said:
I was told a few years ago that it's the association with cell towers being the problem.
If you are going over them at 150mph+ its going to struggle to keep a decent signal....
Although i can confirm satelitte phones do not have this problem (neither does GPS tracking)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose I should have also stated that the same thing happens when I climb into a strong headwind and travel over the ground at 100mph or less..does not seem to be speed dependent..
I know this thread is kinda old.. but I am still wondering..
I don't think it was anything to do with speed.. I could do very tight circles in the plane and still have the same results....
Just guesswork here, but it could have a lot to do with antenna design. In a prior life I had to design a couple of wireless WANs and found a wide variety of dispersal patterns available in different kinds of antenna. By restricting the pattern you can concentrate all your available power in any particular direction. I'm guessing they narrow the vertical dispersion to get more effective signal strength horizontally. Don't know if that's actually the case, but it sounds good to me.
Hey guys, I bought my N1 2 days ago right when Google announced they were closing down N1 sale..... I was on the fence for long!!! I am trying hard not to like the phone yet since I have seen some signal issues with this phone! I live in downtown and work around the same area, T-Mobile coverage map shows strong signal but my phone keeps switching between Edge and 3G. If that is bad enough, some times it shows 3G and if I try accessing Market, I get data connection lost error!!
When phone was shipped, it came packaged with 2.1.1 and soon after I got an OTA and upgraded to 2.2!!
Is it how it is going to be? I use this phone for work so definitely can't keep it if I can't get good signal. Is there a fix without rooting? Can I try a different radio or something!??
Also, I have contacted all 3 companies in the mix and waiting for the response! Any help to get this thing fixed, if possible, would be greatly appreciated!!!
It could be that you are just in a bad Tmobile/Att area, the Nexus One has a small problem with signal strength, nothing that has EVER dropped a call or stopped me from surfing.
its really sensitive to your hand blocking the antenna. leave the internal antenna exposed by slightly spreading your fingers apart. antenna is on the bottom behind the words HTC.
question: why are so many recent cell phones so sensitive to the hand obstructing the antenna? samsung galaxy s is it worst that i've ever seen. HTC nexus one has this issue, htc incredible, desire, nokia e71, etc. is it because these phones are getting so thin that it puts the distance between our hand and the antenna that much closer? i cant think of any other reason. i refuse to believe that its from poor components considering samsung, htc, nokia, all different manufacturers have the same problem. so it cant be quality of components.
Ive been having the same issue from Day 1 with my nexus but only in certain areas. Buildings where the T-Mobile coverage map shows 3g but it just switches back and forth edge/3g when i pick it up(block antenna)
Thanks a lot for all your response guys! So if I buy a rubberized cover, should it improve the situation?
Don't trust carrier coverage maps. Where I live tmobile promises good coverage. I got zero bars. Try to compare the reception with another phone on tmobile.
blablum said:
Don't trust carrier coverage maps. Where I live tmobile promises good coverage. I got zero bars. Try to compare the reception with another phone on tmobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a bummer that carriers lie on their coverage map! This is the only T-Mobile phone I ever owned and I don't know anyone else with T-Mobile 3G handset!! Well I just have to see next few days and decide whether I want to stick with it or not! I really hate to return it though!