Related
grrr
what a **** workaround!
that was their response... a **** workaorund that degrades my service..
anyone else had this or any thoughts on it?
Don't switch to GSM, switch to AT&T!
I am not a fan-boy for any of the carriers, but I must say that over the years I have gotten excellent service from ATT - except for when they changed to Cingular, which was a collection of regional companies with regional problems and inability to service - IMHO - a truly mobile client (like I live on the East Coast, but kept a west coast cell number - Cingular couldn't understand or deal with that one)...and the coverage is now better than Verizon's (not to mention the phones and the fact that you can do high-speed data and a call at the same time).
Did T-Mob start pro-rating their release contracts yet?
Don't know.
Am in the uk so cannot get at and t..
boo!
yep, get the same issues, whereabouts are you? im in rainham, and have to turn off the 3g to get reliable incoming calls and make calls, dont have to go too far and it works ok!
romford / ilford seem to be ok with 3g switched on.
I'm in Ilford and when set to Auto band miss calls intermittently so can't use that setting reliably. I wondered if there was a way to set the phone to use only 3G so it doesn't keep trying to switch between 3G and GPRS?
I'm from Indonesia and discovered that sometimes when my network switches me to 3G automatically, I can't receive or make voice calls.
So, I went to phone -> menu -> options -> band -> select network type to GSM istead of AUTO or WCDMA
Unfortunately, I left the 3G coverage area before I had a chance to see if it made any difference
fil said:
yep, get the same issues, whereabouts are you? im in rainham, and have to turn off the 3g to get reliable incoming calls and make calls, dont have to go too far and it works ok!
romford / ilford seem to be ok with 3g switched on.
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Same here, in central London - have been ranting about this for some time over at Modaco eg here. Not a clear answer apart from perhaps swapping the handset but its hit and miss
Its a really severe problem and I'm losing the plot a little with it. Gutted.
BTW, if you need a way to quickly switch between the two modes, read http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=345524
There are about fifteen threads about this on here and on Modaco. Its a fact of life with 3g and HTC devices.
It is primarily down to relationship between the network cells and the device.
3G cells are notoriously unreliable and need a lot of maintenance - if you report a problem cell to your network, they may check it out - although they use their own testing to determine which cells need fixing.
Some devices do have weaker transceivers and hence the odd occasion where a device swap helps - but 99 times out of 100 its the network cell. And thus the reason that users find their device works fine on 3g in another location.
As far as making and receiving phone calls, do you use 3g? Any phone I've ever seen that uses 3g absolutely sucks. My dad's phone, my mom's phone, my girlfriend's phone, my phone. What happens is the call either doesn't go through. If you listen to the dial tone it has a small click right before each tone, if I hear that, it mean's the call isn't going through.
My mom and girlfriend have gone through replacements on their phone, but the 3g still sucks. I've even noticed they don't get that great of reception.
Even on my Tilt, if I switch to 3G i only have 2 bars and apparently people have complained of calling me but I never received the call. Now with Edge, I have full bars, and no one ever complains about the call not going through.
So what's your guy's take on 3g?
Similar to what you've experienced. I generally leave mine turned off the majority of the time, since I have the WiFi running when I'm at home anyway. I turn it on only when I need to browse the web or something when I'm out and about.
Not to mention the immense battery drain that 3G demands. My battery life is dramatically better on Edge as opposed to 3G.
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G) can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
Chainfire said:
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G), plus the Touch HD, Omnia and i780 can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
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I don't experience network issues as bad as the OP seems to have, but I've always had terrible battery life on my Tilt and my iPhone, my two most recent 3G devices. My 8525 was actually very good on the battery with 3G running all day long, never had a problem getting through the day.
Maybe the intermittent GPS usage on the latter two? I don't know.
Chainfire said:
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G) can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
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I should go in and ask them about it, just to see what they say. Ask them why the new and greatest 3g is worse than edge. I have AT&T, I live in Washington, and I live right by a Cell tower too (only a 2 or 3 blocks away from it).
I woudln't mind using it for data but the fees here are prohibitive for private use. We use it on our work phones for data and it works well on Telstra.
mikeeey said:
I should go in and ask them about it, just to see what they say. Ask them why the new and greatest 3g is worse than edge. I have AT&T, I live in Washington, and I live right by a Cell tower too (only a 2 or 3 blocks away from it).
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They'll probably say it ain't so Thing is, when 3G first got rolled out here, we had much the same issues. The big providers here spent some $$$ to replace "faulty" hardware at the towers, and voila, the problem disappeared (2 years ago?). Seems many 3G networks around the world have similar issues to the ones you described in the opening post. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the 3G cell-tower hardware manufacturers - probably the cheapest and hence most used - makes some really crappy equipment. I could almost imagine that manufacturer is Qualcomm
In all seriousness though, all I know for sure is we had these issues here too, and they fixed them by fixing the towers. (Though of course there is some difference between different devices and how well they do 3G)
From talking to some guys at work Telstra's 3G network has been pretty much flawless for them asides from cost issues associated with Telstra.
I live in indonesia and never have any problem with 3G,. , the only problem is, its expensive,. lol,.
I am in NZ
No problems with 3G whatsoever. Have Imate JasJar - loving every second of it.
New Jersey, USA
3G has always seem pretty good around here in New Jersey with AT&T, but I'm 25 minutes from New York, so imagine how many towers they have on the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut). Very rare to lose 3G reception (exept on the iPhone 3G that everybody complains about losing it often). But important to mention also is that Kearny, town where my sister lives, I lose reception a 100%, my phone's reception just dies, and when I switch it to GSM instead of 3G...voila. Full signal strenght.
wow.. the results turned out quite different than I imagined.
Obviously it's just in my area that 3G sucks. I really wish they would fix this, considering that every phone released now is 3G...and you think someone would notice... well, I'm sure if I wait long enough people will start to notice, but who knows,
I can't remember the last time I had problems with 3G. though I remember before Cingular got bought by AT&T and they were just rolling out there 3G, I used to have problems then, I guess it was due to them configuring/re-configuring the towers. I think the engineers were just going by what the manual said, which weren't the best settings for each area.
I'm on 3G all day everyday on the hour and it's good. even when I'm in the basement and have 1 bar I still receive all my calls and I can make calls. though on this 1 bar I sometimes have to repeat myself every 1.5 minute, but I don't complain about that because it's 1 bar and I'm in the basement. at my friend's apartment I'm the only one that get signal, nothing else work there, not T-Mobile, not sprint, not verizon, not alltel, not vergin nothing else only AT&T works and I get 3 bars of 3G there. I always laugh because he has to leave his phone by the window and use his blue tooth.
I honestly don't think you're by a 3G tower because you should be getting way more than 3 bars. also ask them about the issue you're having AT&T is a good company they will listen to you. call them and open a ticket (before this they will have you go through the basic steps, restarting by removing the battery, etc) tell them you've done that multiple times and yet you have the same issue so it must be a network issue. have them escalate the ticket (they will send an engineer out and he/she will call you, they will work on the towers around your area). don't forget to be polite, no one likes a hot head.
in roughly mid year last year I was only getting edge at my job even though it is a 3G area. at home inside my house had full bars, so I called them up and they worked with me. the engineer stayed in my area roughly 2 weeks to deal with the issue. after that I've had 2 bars of 3G in doors at my job.
Is there a way to force HSDPA? I have it enabled (using advance config) & rarely does it connect to it, uses Edge majority of the time.
if the place you are present have poor hsdpa support it
roam to other network types
would you rather have it loose connection ?
+1 on what Rudegar sad, also its BTS who decide for you when HSDPA should kick in. If you are in area you will recieve.
So theres no way to force the connection?
I had three bars earlier when connection & worked awsome, now Im on edge & fights to get 10kbps down. Ive noticed this in the cities Im in often like Roanoke,VA, Atlanta, Montgomery,AL, Virginia Beach, Detroit.
cptnslow said:
So theres no way to force the connection?
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It's just like if you have a 56 kbps modem - remember those antiques from only 10 years ago - there's no way to force a higher connection speed without unreliability and connection drops coming into the equation. Maybe it's time to trial another network (perhaps with a pay as you go sim) and see how their offerings compare.
Where in Va Beach? I live in Va Beach and get HSDPA pretty much everywhere i go.
ProudPop83 said:
Where in Va Beach? I live in Va Beach and get HSDPA pretty much everywhere i go.
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Like I stated above its the base station who opens up for you when you download or stream. You are not in HSDPA constantly as it does not enable until you do the above.
raiisak said:
Like I stated above its the base station who opens up for you when you download or stream. You are not in HSDPA constantly as it does not enable until you do the above.
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]I think that'll be very network provider dependent because where I live its always HSDPA irrespective of whether a data connection is present. Depending where I travel to, I have had cases where the connection drops to 3G but then as soon as I initiate a data connection it jumps up to H and I've had further cases where it's E or G and a data connection makes no difference.
Flying Kiwi said:
]I think that'll be very network provider dependent because where I live its always HSDPA irrespective of whether a data connection is present. Depending where I travel to, I have had cases where the connection drops to 3G but then as soon as I initiate a data connection it jumps up to H and I've had further cases where it's E or G and a data connection makes no difference.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA
Fast packet scheduling
The HS-DSCH downlink channel is shared between users using channel-dependent scheduling to make the best use of available radio conditions. Each user device periodically transmits an indication of the downlink signal quality, as often as 500 times per second. Using this information from all devices, the base station decides which users will be sent data on the next 2 ms frame and how much data should be sent for each user. More data can be sent to users which report high downlink signal quality.
The amount of the channelisation code tree, and thus network bandwidth, allocated to HSDPA users is determined by the network. The allocation is "semi-static" in that it can be modified while the network is operating, but not on a frame-by-frame basis. This allocation represents a trade-off between bandwidth allocated for HSDPA users, versus that for voice and non-HSDPA data users. The allocation is in units of channelisation codes for Spreading Factor 16, of which 16 exist and up to 15 can be allocated to HSDPA. When the base station decides which users will receive data on the next frame, it also decides which channelisation codes will be used for each user. This information is sent to the user devices over one or more HSDPA "scheduling channels"; these channels are not part of the HSDPA allocation previously mentioned, but are allocated separately. Thus, for a given 2 ms frame, data may be sent to a number of users simultaneously, using different channelisation codes. The maximum number of users to receive data on a given 2 ms frame is determined by the number of allocated channelisation codes. By contrast, in CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, data is sent to only one user at a time.
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raiisak said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA
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I was actually looking at that page a few days ago with regards to speeds but it doesn't change the fact that in some locations my phone shows the H icon when there isn't even a hint of a data connection present and no voice call taking place at the time either. Under such circumstances, it could have quite easily dropped back to a 3G icon until HSDPA is needed but it nearly always doesn't. The only place I've found it does work like this, interestingly enough, is when I'm going past the O2 UK HQ beside Slough train station where it will drop back to 3 G unless a data connection is in place.
When I was using Vodafone UK, this did not happen in the same loacation (never tested for this near their HQ out at Newbury) but again I experienced many cases where the H icon was shown on the phone but not needed. Thats why I've mentioned it's network dependant. I take your point that the specs dictate it should work otherwise but in my case thats not played out to be how it's gone.
If you want I can make your icon show a Q or Z for that matter, 3G as ONE a connection is a misleading term as it describes many technologies. Normal HSDPA suppose to show H when used and 3G idling. Remember the 6.1 ROM`s who displayed H all the time HSDPA or not? If you read up on wiki you will understand what I sad about HSDPA in earlier post. You cant draw conclusions based on what icon your phone is showing as the HSDPA technology will work as it always has.
So as long you do not stream/call of use for HSDPA you will not stay in it. So if you going to force it to stay in HSDPA you need to constant stream, an idle HSDPA connection swich over to 3g and back once called upon. So correct me if I am wrong here ... And I preferred documented. The only thing that is provider dependent here are if they support it and the coverage of it. The technology which I was talking about has nothing to do whit just that.
Flying Kiwi said:
I was actually looking at that page a few days ago with regards to speeds but it doesn't change the fact that in some locations my phone shows the H icon when there isn't even a hint of a data connection present and no voice call taking place at the time either. Under such circumstances, it could have quite easily dropped back to a 3G icon until HSDPA is needed but it nearly always doesn't. The only place I've found it does work like this, interestingly enough, is when I'm going past the O2 UK HQ beside Slough train station where it will drop back to 3 G unless a data connection is in place.
When I was using Vodafone UK, this did not happen in the same loacation (never tested for this near their HQ out at Newbury) but again I experienced many cases where the H icon was shown on the phone but not needed. Thats why I've mentioned it's network dependant. I take your point that the specs dictate it should work otherwise but in my case thats not played out to be how it's gone.
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raiisak said:
You cant draw conclusions based on what icon your phone is showing as the HSDPA technology will work as it always has.
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Why would my phone lie to me like that given (in the same locations) it reliably and correctly detects that it is in 3G and then when a data connection is initiated bumps up to H. There is no doubt to me that it is reliably detecting the connection type as it does this every time I travel through Slough on the train if I initiate a data connection. Similarly it seems as if the H, 3G, G and even E, do correctly display under the right circumstances. Again, I've no dobt about the HSDPA specs and how it should work, I'm just saying in reality with my HTC Official ROM'd phone (both using my current setup and previously WM 6.1), it's behaved that way in practice.
I think the OP wants the same sort of performance and indications from his phone that I'm getting from mine and I know no way to 'force' an HSDPA connection and get appropriate speeds if the network infrastructure and signal strenth aren't up to the task. On the other hand there maybe another network that operates much better in a given area which will provide whats required and there's little cost in doing some 'trialling' of competing networks in the areas involved.
Raiisak said:
You cant draw conclusions based on what icon your phone is showing as the HSDPA technology will work as it always has.
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Flying Kiwi said:
Why would my phone lie to me like that given.........
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Listen mate, I dont know why you want to argue or what you want to argue about???? Twisting and turning my answers are not going to do the trick here, OP asked about forcing he`s device in HSDPA, I answered that it would not work cause HSDPA does not work like that. Then you come in and start talking about something completely else and nagging on my answer?? I do not care what your phone shows and how it work in local area`s nearby you as it has nothing whit my answer or on topic IMO to do.
Raiisak said:
Like I stated above its the base station who opens up for you when you download or stream. You are not in HSDPA constantly as it does not enable until you do the above.
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Flying Kiwi said:
]I think that'll be very network provider dependent because where I live its always HSDPA irrespective of whether a data connection is present. Depending where I travel to, I have had cases where the connection drops to 3G but then as soon as I initiate a data connection it jumps up to H and I've had further cases where it's E or G and a data connection makes no difference.
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This comment triggered it all, if I had knew that you would not be interested in my answers on your comment I would not have taken the time to explain about HSDPA.
Flying Kiwi said:
I know no way to 'force' an HSDPA connection
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Then what do you argue about here? I am not going to comment this further as what ever I say does not get to you and there is nothing to more discuss.
Nothing personal
raiisak said:
Listen mate, I dont know why you want to argue or what you want to argue about???? Twisting and turning my answers are not going to do the trick here, OP asked about forcing he`s device in HSDPA, I answered that it would not work cause HSDPA does not work like that.
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There's no need to bring out the 'listen mate' with multiple questionmarks on the end. I do listen where I think something is clear and correct. If I think there's more to an issue, I chime in. In response to your link to that wikipedia page which outlines how it should work (in an ideal world), I'm telling you that some networks do not appear to implement things according to the official specs so it won't necessarily behave that way. My examples based from usage/observations in many different locations around the UK prove that point and as I mentioned that was also the case when I was with Vodafone here so that's all, no more, no less and no intention to offend.
Then you come in and start talking about something completely else and nagging on my answer?? I do not care what your phone shows and how it work in local area`s nearby you as it has nothing whit my answer or on topic IMO to do.
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There's those multiple questionmarks again, calm down, I'm not having a go at you. I think it's best for the OP to make that determination whether my comments are relevant as we both replied in order to try and help that person out. You with some might say the 'official' line and me with the 'in practice' line. In the end we agree the answer as to what can be done to force HSDPA is the same ie nothing. I added the possibility that if better performance is saught, a network change may provide this.
This comment triggered it all, if I had knew that you would not be interested in my answers on your comment I would not have taken the time to explain about HSDPA.
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I was interested all right, I felt your original answer and the subsequent wikipedia link didn't paint the whole picture so that's why I came in. I trust that you will eventually understand and accept that. Remember, I'm not having a go at you
I have used several different roms and noticed the H at the top of the screen. I found that it means HDSPA, when i googled it i understood it to be an enhanced 3G mode for data transfer. I use the tilt for ATT in the philadelphia area and wondered if my network even makse use of this service. In addition to that, because im broke, i turned off my data plan and only use wifi. With that said, does it really make sense for me to have HDSPA enabled, since it seems to drain the battery faster than when its off.
Any input is appreciated, ill continue to search the forum and will post anything i find.
you can turn it off with advanced config
and I would, for the reasons you gave. You can actually force it to use only 2g networks (ie Edge). You should definitely see better battery life.
I'm still using stock 5.1.1 ROM, because I'm not clear whether I lose some functionality by rooting / unlocking the bootloader.
I like to use my phone in 2G data mode, that feels safer on my body than 3G and above - but this device considers 2G only mode to be calls and text only (i.e. data off!).... this seems crazy to me since data off is achieved more easily with the option just for that. Is there any way to have proper 2G data only mode?
So when I go into the data options I get the usual set of things, and 2G says "2G (voice and calls only)", then when I switch to this, data is actually turned off. When try to turn data on, I get a message saying I've got to switch data mode to be able to do this - data stays off until I choose "3G (preferred) / 2G". It seems like the software on my device is designed to turn data off when you choose 2G - very odd.
No updates are available when I check. I'd love to go to marshmallow, but I guess I've missed that until Sony release their tested version of it - that update might fix this issue.
Missing my rooted Samsung Galaxy S3 already! - recently bought second hand device.
Many thanks, Geoff
For me this used to work on kitkat (i can't remember on lollipop because i use concept 6.0.1):
in quick settings i'd turn off LTE and then in settings - mobile networks i'd set to 2G only. And afterwards by switching LTE on and off form quick settings phone would toggle from 2G and LTE. But since i didn't pay for 4G to my provider, my phone would toggle from 2G to 3G - just what i wanted.
I used to use 2G on my old Xperia P since it improved my battery life dramatically. I continued to use it on my Z3c while on kitkat, but it didn't affect my battery life so i stopped - hence I don't know if you can do this trick on lollipop.
Goog luck and I hope this helps.
I don't really understand you... I'm using 5.1.1 and if I switch to GSM only, ALL network stuff is using 2G - calls, texts, mobile data (little E letter right next to the signal icon). So... what's really a problem? Maybe I don't understand the context (I am not a fluent english speaker but I understand it pretty well) but please describe your problem more precisely
P.S.:
Rooting doesn't harm your device, your camera resolution won't change at all so don't worry
[Unlocking bootloader DOES harm your device (losing some DRM-related stuff) but there are plenty of other benefits from this AND you can revert the DRM changes.]
Wait, what ?
Are you seriously thinking that 3G(HSDPA) or 4G(LTE) is somehow more harmful to your body ?
That's ridiculous. The power levels used in 2G and 3G and 4G are all roughly the same and always below 250mW.
yes from discussion and reading research I feel there's a case for being cautious, that we've not had enough time to adjust to this technology - see for example http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=473209
Better start wearing tinfoil hats m8
(That's so esoteric I won't even bother responding. The power levels used are not even remotely high enough to cause cellular changes)
thanks for your message - I think you understand well, but your phone is giving different behaviour. I've added more description, in case that helps anyone
like I said, we each choose - and choose how much we look into it. Probably similar comments from people in the 60s to anyone questioning Aspestos. It's easy for either of us to generalise that it's OK or not, with examples from the past, but there's information out there that's looked into this and is thorough, including significant instances of phone engineers with brain tumors. We don't agree, let’s at least be respectful.
1) When 2G is working on 1800 MHz band (this happens especially if you live in a big city), the energy is more or less the same used by 3G technology.
Anyway this is not the point.
2) Are you sure your network operator has 2G data connection available? Is your firmware branded?
You don't lose DRM keys while you flash an unbranded firmware or you root the device with giefroot method.
Have a look at the general section
thanks for your reply - yes definitely there's a 2G connection, as I live in the countryside I end up on this quite a bit of the time, when in "3G/2G" mode.
I'm on a UK network called Tesco that uses the O2 network. Phone originally came from O2 (telefonica), but is now SIM unlocked. Behaviour was the same before and after unlock - no surprise as software the same. Build number is 23.4.A.1.264, kernel 3.4.0-perf-gbe52486 (September 17 2015)
Threads like the one you linked and statements like above just reek of not understanding how GSM and 2G/3G/4G actually works.
Stuff like
As 2G and 3G have different requirements, they also have different power consumption. It doesn't require much more than common logic to understand that since 3G needs to transfer more data during a short period of time, it would use more resources than 2G, which needs less during the same period.
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Is just wrong. It's all about modulation. MATH basically.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-shift_keying
Just check the last page of that thread and have someone who actually knows what he's talking about explain it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12163015&postcount=61
But whatever floats your boat m8.