Database Info

3G data performance

Hi All
I changed from a SE p1i to a HTC Touch Pro. In terms of phone easiness and functionalities I lost a lot but in terms of HW I though I gained a lot. However I started to realise that although it has HSDPA and HSUPA the internet over 3G was very, very slow. I sent it to repair and come exactly the same. The best speed I can get is 61Kbps DL when 3G provides 384Kbps and HSDPA 7.2Mbps. Since the latency is very very high, I cannot get the complete rendering of a complex page if the http server gives time-out too early. Using the PC with the VPN is a nightmare.
A friend of mine that is a radio engineer in Nokia told me that this is a "well know problem of Windows Mobile that cannot cipher/decipher the 3G radio packets in real time". I searched on the internet and couldn't find nothing however I tried several HTC and Samsung phones with Windows Mobile, on several operators and countries and all are very very slow. And comparing them with the SE pi1 that worked like a clock... until it broke :-D
Henrique

I think you will find you are getting 61 kiloBYTES per second which equates to 488 Kbps, I use it with VPN and it's great, how are you connecting your PC to your phone, hopefully not via internet connection sharing or it will fail the VPN security check and boot you off quickly

Hi Everyone,
I too was noticing speed issues and they are for sure there. People on these boards have been seeing upto 2Mbit downloads speeds so it can be done. As my sig shows I got 1.7Mbit with 1-2 "H" bars.
I loaded a new radio on mine and that seemed to almost double my bandwidth, I was using the standard .32 radio and was getting around 600 to 700Kbit and then switched to the .28 radio and was getting 1100 to 1300Kbit. Only do your speed tests by tether unless you feel you have a good mobile website to do your testing. I was using www.dslreports.com/mspeed but the results are junk, theirs servers are not able to supply enough bandwidth for a good test.
Secondly I installed a new ROM, specifically I am using NATF's 2.3. This will make the phone way faster in terms of performance. It also allows me to tether via the USB and use my VPN without any problems.
I have an AT&T data card for my laptop (it's a work thing) and I get equal coverage/speed on the fuze as I do on this dedicated device, that is without the radio change that is.
Give the above items a try, the information for making the changes can be found in the ROM development area

Thanks All
Thanks for the feedback guys.
I used GoToMyHelp.com to make the test and provide me the results in both Kbps and KBps... 7.6KBps they said... GPRS speed.
With 3G only the results vary from 17Kbps to 60Kbps, when I turn HSDPA on I always get 61Kbps... looks like the phone cannot handle more than one major WCDMA code with the most robust and slowest modulation code...
But if people reported higher speeds then it means I really have an HW problem and so I have to insist with the service centre... I guess...
Henrique

But...
Although from the comments received looks like the problem is more acute on my device I tried a Samsung with Windos Mobile 6.1 and it is as slow as mine... I think it is too much coincidence.
Does anyone has any information regarding the so called "well known limitation of the cipher/deciphering in real time of windows mobile?
Thanks for any feedback...
Henrique

i get from 800kpb - 1000
never tested upload.
is tehre another test?

I only trust speedtest.net through a hardline tether (not bt) for speed test results. This moves as much processing power as possible from the phone to a full fledged computer, reducing such variables as screen drawing speed, free memory, cpu utilization, etc.
I find the fuze to perform almost exactly in line with my 881u (best speed ive seen on that is just over 2400 down, 900 up) - the only discernable difference is latency, slightly better on 881u (which is to be expected as there isnt ICS running as a proxy in such a situation)
As to the fastest speed you'll see on the device itself, I have not been able to clock over 1700 on speedtest.net running in flash lite 3.1 in opera mobile on my wifi, where i score 5500+ on the computer, so i think testing via phone's browser is not a very good measurement.

I don't know, I just switched my Settings > Phone > Band to GSM to see if it saves substantial battery, opposed to the 3G and even further "H" icon HSxPA I was using before.
The "E" icon GSM-Edge doesn't seem to slow down my Google Maps updates very much.

Thanks
Thank you all for sharing your experience.
The tests I made were using the phone as a modem via USB, so the processing on the phone was at a minimum.
The site I indicated before, GoToMyHelp.com, is used by a Firefox extension I have. After trying several sites this was the one that always gave me the best perceptible match between the browsing experience and the measured figures...
Now comes the hard part to convince the customer services that the phone has problems...
Henrique

I think I have the same problem. I am getting crazy low speeds on G and H, 30Kbit/sec and 60 Kbit/sec respectively. I have tried various tweaks found on the forums, I've flashed a couple of cooked roms and various radios but can't get it any higher. I've tried the SIM in the wifes iphone so I am sure that it's not a problem with that.
Let us know how you get on, are you going to call HTC direct or go through the company you bought it from?

chrisrich said:
I think I have the same problem. I am getting crazy low speeds on G and H, 30Kbit/sec and 60 Kbit/sec respectively. I have tried various tweaks found on the forums, I've flashed a couple of cooked roms and various radios but can't get it any higher. I've tried the SIM in the wifes iphone so I am sure that it's not a problem with that.
Let us know how you get on, are you going to call HTC direct or go through the company you bought it from?
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im getting 820kb/s in a suburaban area. It works great. Did you enable HSPDA. AT&T turns HSPDA by default (probobly to save bandwidth). All you have to do is fix it...im not sure how search the forum. I am using DA_G Clean fuze rom and it has it built into the ROM

OMG i just tethered my PC and I got some crazy speeds
And that was the lowest one. It went all the way up to 1900..obviously it flutuates a lot but it is still leveling off around 15k....which is crazy because I only have TWO bars!
this is my home
Its crazy that my phone gets speeds half as fast as my DSL and it only has two bars and im in the suburbs!

i tried iphonespeedtest.com on 1.07 proven and got about 400 at highest
tried it when i used his 1.08 i got 1200 kbps
its sick
Northern VA area

Is it possible that while tethered the phone is capable of more data throughput that isn't possible while browsing on the phone? Similar to the problem of encrypted WiFi being slow due to the processor load of encrypting and decrypting data.
From a technical standpoint when you're tethered all the phone does is pass data from the 3G connection to the USB port. The only processing needed is basic lower level networking to re-address the data packets to a new port, thus the processor has a low load and can dedicate more cycles to simply moving data. The phone can focus all of it's power on getting the fastest connection with the 3G tower.
But when you browse on the phone the processor needs to terminate the data packet and unload it into a program. On top of that even more processor power goes towards running the program itself that is using the data. Since the processor is busy multitasking by running a program, terminating data packets, and trying to maintain a connection with the 3G tower, it's more likely to drop packets or lose it's connection.
This would also explain why you lose that weak 3G connection and drop to EDGE when you open a program that has high processor demands.

Slowest speed data connection?

I'm writing because, on my first road trip with the Thunderbolt, there were a lot of places I expected to have some kind of internet service and couldn't get anything. On AT&T I could always fall back on GPRS if I had any signal, yet there's a lot of places I'll have 5 bars, but no 4G, 3G, or 1X icon up top, and be totally unable to get any data at all.
Does the Thunderbolt lack some capability other Verizon phones have? Is CDMA itself unable to be used for data transport? Is EVDO the "slowest" data speed Verizon offers? What options are there for being in the boonies wanting the most minimal service possible?
Thanks,
rektide

I've used data on 1x before so I know its possible. You might want to make sure you have data roaming turned on. You might have been on sprint's network.
I've been suprised a couple of times by lack of 3g/4g signal. It has been indoors both times, but really expected to have it. One time I was at the mall and only had 1x, turned on my time warner hotspot that runs on sprint's network and got 2 bars of 4g wimax which is supposed to have better building penetration.
Go figure.

Data speeds vs sprint

For $35 a month for technically sprint i will plunk down $300 for this beauty but how fast are the downloads?

Seems faster than my tmobile vibrant 3g was.
Sent from my MOTWX435KT using XDA App

it all depends on service and tower loads.. like at around 6pm i get 300kbps and at 6am i get 1400-1500 kbps... right now its 8:30am and im getting 850kbps... so it all depends sometimes i get 100kbps all the way down to 30kbps.. but the triumph was faster than my Buddy droid x and he had two bars i only had one.. at least 3 times faster ( both on 3g)

I was on SERO 500, and my Sprint phone died, so I want to upgrade to SEROP, but calling Sprint (5 times, they know what is SEROP but would not give it to me), email ecare (3 times, then no one reply anymore). So I am now on VM $25 plan w/ Triumph.
The phone itself is just like any other Android phone. At home, I get almost no Data. Phone and SMS go thru no problem. Google Map, Browser, Youtube 90% of the time would not load, and complaint no connection. When I walk out of the apartment building Data works.
The problem is, my old Sprint phone is Touch Pro, and it got perfect Data.
So does Sprint has any special rule for VM phone? Since I am new to VM and Android, I am reading now how to update PRL.

the main difference is that sprint plans allow roaming on verizon towers. otherwise, the data speeds are the same. any speed difference you're seeing is likely caused by device differences (e.g. antenna, radio, ...)

VM doesn't roam, so it will never have as good reception as a sprint (or AT&T or Verizon) phone. Part of that $80-$100 a month you are paying them is for roaming access fees between the carriers.
Long and short of it is if you want the bet reception and data speeds, you need to pay for it. You aren't going to get top notch network performance for $25 a month.

emkorial said:
VM doesn't roam, so it will never have as good reception as a sprint (or AT&T or Verizon) phone. Part of that $80-$100 a month you are paying them is for roaming access fees between the carriers.
Long and short of it is if you want the bet reception and data speeds, you need to pay for it. You aren't going to get top notch network performance for $25 a month.
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Agreed, but you can get get top notch service for $35 a month. In some areas the best signal for a Sprint phone will be from Sprint towers; in that case, a Virgin phone (using only Sprint towers) will get the same service as a Sprint phone unless the actual phones are different.

I disagree. I have the phone and the web browsing speed was horrible as well as the download speed for apps. You guys may have towers closer to you. I stay in washington, dc. I did the prl swap, now i feel as though my data speeds are much faster, possible 300% more faster. I browse facebook, zoom! check out a youtube vid and no buffering on a 6minute video. If you have slow data speeds do the prl swap! You will appreciate the phone much more!
http://androidforums.com/triumph-all-things-root/395533-big-difference-data-speeds.html

Which PRL did you use, hitsndc? 01115? 01119? 01120? These are the 3 PRL's I've seen mentioned across the forums.

MarkMcCoskey said:
Which PRL did you use, hitsndc? 01115? 01119? 01120? These are the 3 PRL's I've seen mentioned across the forums.
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I used 01115

I just swapped to 01115; will advise if it makes a difference. I also attempted to force the phone into EvDO-only mode in the build.prop file - that MAY make a significant difference in places where the radio "hunts", which mine DOES when mobile.
If it works I'll post a "how to" which is more-or-less like what's been posted, with one exception - there's an easy way to get the phone to ALWAYS have the diag enabled using "anycut".
Update: EVDO-only lock is NOT effective, however with 01115 the phone re-selects to 3G much more reliably and quickly than with the base PRL and is also connecting to towers it never did before (as shown in "Open Signal"), so at least here it appears to be an improvement.

I swapped to 01115 myself.
Speed test are about the same, which I understood would be the case. As long as my connection is more consistent, I'd be happy. I've had a couple dropped calls. Will have to wait and see with this PRL.
I should check Google maps to see if it detects me closer/more accurately. I've had times where it was miles off, when I know there are towers closer. So hopefully I have better access to the closer towers.
Would still like to know the difference between the PRL's (01115, 01119, 01120, or any others that would work with the Triumph).

Genesis3 said:
I just swapped to 01115; will advise if it makes a difference. I also attempted to force the phone into EvDO-only mode in the build.prop file - that MAY make a significant difference in places where the radio "hunts", which mine DOES when mobile.
If it works I'll post a "how to" which is more-or-less like what's been posted, with one exception - there's an easy way to get the phone to ALWAYS have the diag enabled using "anycut".
Update: EVDO-only lock is NOT effective, however with 01115 the phone re-selects to 3G much more reliably and quickly than with the base PRL and is also connecting to towers it never did before (as shown in "Open Signal"), so at least here it appears to be an improvement.
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Thanks for sharing, with regards to locking into 3G more reliably, do the phone signal decibel levels improve as well? And how about voice quality?

Voice quality was never an issue here - this phone is capable of holding a voice call and being stable when it shows ZERO bars, which none of my other handsets have ever done.
The big difference I see is that there are other towers that now appear in the neighbor list and the handset does connect to them where it didn't before, so I am definitely "seeing" connection sources that I didn't know existed in the past.
It hasn't made a material difference in data rate performance that I can see from my house - the real test will be whether it makes a difference of materiality when I'm in the car and such, which is where I've seen a lot of "hunting" down to 1x and "sticking" there. We'll see if that is gone or not.
I'm keeping 1115 for now but have the original PRL in the event I need to go back to it.

Once I swapped my prl and added the EvDo line my Data more than doubled in speed. Like hitsndc said I am now able to stream a whole 4 min video with no buffer. Once I removed that line it would stop every few seconds. Added the line, back to no Buffer. I tried this a few times before I came to the conclusion that it did make a difference.
Once I updated the PRL I used opensignal from the market to see my towers and now I was locked on to a tower close to me that wasnt even showing up on the map before.
Im alot happier with my phone now. Once we get 2.3 on here Ill be good

Where did you put the EVDO line? In build.prop? That's where I stuck it - it made no difference for me; I still occasionally "hunt" to 1x service, but the PRL change DID make a difference as I now "see" towers (and connect to them) that I wasn't before.

Look guys I only had one bar.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

[Q] Edge and GPRS data connections abysmally slow on Moto G

I've been testing out the data speed connections with my Moto G on Tesco Mobile. When it is showing a HSDPA connection (H+) or UMTS (H, I think) or 3g (3G) data connection speeds are what I would expect.
But as soon as it drops to Edge (E) or GPRS (G) I get speeds so slow that practically no data is being passed - even with a full 4 bars of signal.
And I am well aware that Edge and GPRS are significantly slower than 3G and its superior data connections, but I'm talking less than 0.03Mbps speeds as measured by the Speedtest app. The speed is so slow that useful "out and about" apps like google maps refuse to recognise that there is an internet connection present.
I've raised this with the network and they say that for all of the cells that I've accessed data speeds shouldn't slow that much, and suggested it might be a faulty SIM (perhaps). But today on a different sim in another Moto G on a different network I experienced the same - Edge connection was connected, but practically non-existent.
Is this anyone else is experiencing, or am I just being really unlucky in the cells I am located in?
Thanks!
Matt

larkim said:
I've been testing out the data speed connections with my Moto G on Tesco Mobile. When it is showing a HSDPA connection (H+) or UMTS (H, I think) or 3g (3G) data connection speeds are what I would expect.
But as soon as it drops to Edge (E) or GPRS (G) I get speeds so slow that practically no data is being passed - even with a full 4 bars of signal.
And I am well aware that Edge and GPRS are significantly slower than 3G and its superior data connections, but I'm talking less than 0.03Mbps speeds as measured by the Speedtest app. The speed is so slow that useful "out and about" apps like google maps refuse to recognise that there is an internet connection present.
I've raised this with the network and they say that for all of the cells that I've accessed data speeds shouldn't slow that much, and suggested it might be a faulty SIM (perhaps). But today on a different sim in another Moto G on a different network I experienced the same - Edge connection was connected, but practically non-existent.
Is this anyone else is experiencing, or am I just being really unlucky in the cells I am located in?
Thanks!
Matt
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Yes, slow edge nd gprs sppeds experienced by you is possibly due to ur location....coz i get a decent edge speed as well as my friends too who r also using moto g.....So nothing is wrong in the phone it just depends uoon location....

Akshay7273 said:
Yes, slow edge nd gprs sppeds experienced by you is possibly due to ur location....coz i get a decent edge speed as well as my friends too who r also using moto g.....So nothing is wrong in the phone it just depends uoon location....
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Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't think it is location as the problem seems to be consistent in every cell I am in. I've obtained a fresh sim from the network to see if that was the problem. Will post back with any further info!

larkim said:
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't think it is location as the problem seems to be consistent in every cell I am in. I've obtained a fresh sim from the network to see if that was the problem. Will post back with any further info!
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Well....do u have any friend who is using Moto G and getting same problem at that place??And by the way, Here in india some operators give faster 3g speeds but 2g speed sucks...So just like that it could be the operator's prblm too....First confirm if any of ur friends are getting better edge or gprs speeds.....Thanx

Thread subscribed.
On my old phones I was used to only use 2G (Edge or GPRS) networks in order to get one day of battery life. On my Windows Phone 7 device with an Edge connection it would sync emails, send and receive them and I could even browse (slowly) the internet.
On this one Edge is slow as ****. Furtunately H+ isnt that heavy on its battery as in order devices but when I get to places without a 3G connection the phone gets pretty much unusable, its a shame...

rmrbpt said:
Thread subscribed.
On my old phones I was used to only use 2G (Edge or GPRS) networks in order to get one day of battery life. On my Windows Phone 7 device with an Edge connection it would sync emails, send and receive them and I could even browse (slowly) the internet.
On this one Edge is slow as ****. Furtunately H+ isnt that heavy on its battery as in order devices but when I get to places without a 3G connection the phone gets pretty much unusable, its a shame...
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Interesting. For the full story:-
I have a Moto G with Virgin (MVNO in the UK using the EE network), and have had for about 5 months. Love it. Never had an issue with data speed on any of the "flavours" (obviously GPRS and Edge are slower, but useable as you say). I've just persuaded my wife to take a Moto G too, but she is on the TescoMobile network (MVNO in the UK using the O2 network). I obviously don't expect our experience with data speed to be identical, but she has only had the phone for a week or so and she reported to me last week that it seemed that data was turned off so she couldn't use maps when she was driving to get some travel time updates. When I looked at the phone at home, it was all fine - and at home both of us get H+ signals throughout most of the house (when wifi turned off). On playing a little more, I noticed that in one room of the house the signal dropped consistently to Edge, and when testing data speed there I noticed the slow (unusable) speed. I swapped the sim into my phone (which was a sim free purchase, so unlocked) and got the same issue. I've then subsequently tested data speeds when we've been out and about in different cell locations, and consistently when she is on Edge or GPRS the data drops off a cliff. HSDPA is always fine.
Then yesterday I was out and about just with my own phone in an Edge area, and I also got the same experience - unusable Edge data speeds (bear in mind this is now on my network, Virgin). Now, I've only had this once, but I am wondering if the 4.4.4 update has slowed Edge / GPRS performance, as the common factor across both my phone and my wife's is that they have only just been updated to 4.4.4
If no-one else here is experiencing the same, then clearly it is just local signal issues, but it does seem peculiar that both phones, on different networks and in different physical locations (up to 30 miles away) appear to be experiencing something similar.
Both phones are on 210.12.40.falcon_umts / 4.4.4

I've just found something to try. Won't be for everyone, but using the "hidden" phone menu via *#*#4636#*#* > phone information and setting preferred network type to "WCDMA only" I can at least force the phone to ONLY use a 3G connection. Whether that will leave me with no signal in areas where I'd like to have a signal I'll wait and see, but I could at least switch manually back to 2G if I found myself down a dark country lane with no 3G signal. Perhaps an option only for the tech-enthusiast, wouldn't want my wife to be relying on this if her car broke down in the wrong end of town!!

It may be a work around, but I can't possibly rely on that since being unreachable isn't acceptable for me.
Let me add that I experience these "issue" since I can remember, so definitely 4.4.4 wasn't the culprit...

rmrbpt said:
It may be a work around, but I can't possibly rely on that since being unreachable isn't acceptable for me.
Let me add that I experience these "issue" since I can remember, so definitely 4.4.4 wasn't the culprit...
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There is an option "WCDMA preferred" which may (I know nothing about this!) set a preference for a stronger reliance on 3G services rather than 2G. It's very easy to set up and switch, worth a little experiment if you get into an area where you are suffering with a slow 2G service.

Changed it right now.
If I feel any difference I will leave the proper feedback.
Thanks

Choosing/blacklisting cell towers

I’m not sure this is the place to ask or if someone who knows the board better can move this.
I’m using cell phones as rural internet because there’s nothing here other than signing a 2-year contract and using satellite internet, and there’s a fiber-optic project supposedly under a year away.
I recently got moved (Straight Talk) from AT&T towers to T-Mobile. Uptime is around 30%, and after observing and trying to use for a week or so I figured out: Some towers work, some don’t. I can see a signal strength in “about phone” around -115 dbm when there’s no internet, that’s more like -92 when it works. I can fairly reliably get on a working tower for a couple minutes by:
Go into Airplane Mode (Android 5.02) for a minute, turning the radio off, then back on. Turn the wifi hotspot back on. On the computer drop and reestablish the connections to the phone’s AP (ifdown, wait, ifup), ping something to test. Slightly cumbersome and it switches back fairly soon. Sometimes minutes, sometimes hours. How busy the phone system is may affect this.
This particular phone is rooted so I could edit some text files if I knew which. I don’t know if the weak signal tower doesn’t work just because of the weak signal or if it’s located someplace without internet. If I could choose a preferred tower, or blacklist the bad one, or set the minimum acceptable signal to like -100 dbm, those would all work. There are probably apps for this. Or maybe it’s control the phone companies don’t want you to have.

ab1jx said:
I’m not sure this is the place to ask or if someone who knows the board better can move this.
I’m using cell phones as rural internet because there’s nothing here other than signing a 2-year contract and using satellite internet, and there’s a fiber-optic project supposedly under a year away.
I recently got moved (Straight Talk) from AT&T towers to T-Mobile. Uptime is around 30%, and after observing and trying to use for a week or so I figured out: Some towers work, some don’t. I can see a signal strength in “about phone” around -115 dbm when there’s no internet, that’s more like -92 when it works. I can fairly reliably get on a working tower for a couple minutes by:
Go into Airplane Mode for a minute, turning the radio off, then back on. Turn the wifi hotspot back on. On the computer drop and reestablish the connections to the phone’s AP (ifdown, wait, ifup), ping something to test. Slightly cumbersome and it switches back fairly soon. Sometimes minutes, sometimes hours. How busy the phone system is may affect this.
This particular phone is rooted so I could edit some text files if I knew which. I don’t know if the weak signal tower doesn’t work just because of the weak signal or if it’s located someplace without internet. If I could choose a preferred tower, or blacklist the bad one, or set the minimum acceptable signal to like -100 dbm, those would all work. There are probably apps for this. Or maybe it’s control the phone companies don’t want you to have.
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Click to collapse
It may be possible to exclude certain towers, but for all intents and purposes, it is not possible to include/select/lock-in specific towers. Here is why, if the tools and methods to do so were readily available, then, inevitably more people would use those tools and methods. The more people were to use those tools/methods, the more unstable the whole network would become because the system would not be able to shift the load between towers to equalize/stabilize the network as a whole.
This is because the system works by balancing load, sometimes a signal can be weaker than another but, at the same time, also be faster than other. Stronger signal does not always equal faster speeds.
The concept would be similar to having more than one router/wifi signal at home, then, having everyone in the house and any/all neighbors that are in range, all connected to the same signal/router. The signal they are all connected to would be slow and unstable, the system must have the ability to "bounce" everyone around between all of the routers in order to keep performance at optimum levels "across the board". If everyone is "locked" to the one signal/router, the system can't manage itself, which leads to degradation.
Poor signal in rural areas can be expected, there isn't much you can do about it. The towers are positioned to provide coverage to as many customers as possible from their location. Also, some of the issue in rural areas is a "line of sight" thing. The lay of the land can be a hindrance to signal.
I also live in a rural area of a rural town. I get crappy signal when using cellular network, more down time than up time. I deal with having a decent(but still slow) signal for 1-2 minutes and then when the phone's system runs the next wifi/cellular data re-scan to search for better signal, everything stalls as if I'm getting no signal and it doesn't resume until it either keeps the connection it already has or it just drops out completely for 5-8 minutes until the next time the re-scan can find a signal to connect to. Then the cycle starts over with decent signal for 1-2 minutes or so, until the next re-scan, anyway. I have to turn of mobile data when at home because the virtually continuous re-scanning drains the battery and the device runs warmer than it should normally.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk

OK, thanks. Line of sight - I'm at 1600 Feet elevation, people driving by stop to use the cell service before they go back into the next valley.
I've been with Straight Talk since 2015, originally using AT&T towers, I think we used 13 GB of data last month. AT&T worked very well, I'd say faster than satellite internet. Verizon is also an option.
A weak signal isn't the same weakness for everyone, some people will actually be closer to it. And the population density isn't very high around here. Lat 42.65, lon -72.83. I pay about $60/month for "unlimited data", some fraction of that must end up going to T-Mobile. If the county weren't going to be getting fiber optic networking soon I'd expect the money might go into building out cell systems to handle the load. There seems to be no scaling back and limiting everyone to some number of KB/sec, with that number decreasing as more people use it. My data's either in service or it isn't. -115 dbm is weak by everything I've seen.
I also have a Huawei E3372 modem I can put my SIM into. I bought a pair of small gain external antennas with 3 meter cords. I'd need to get those up high and run something like a Raspberry Pi as a router.

ab1jx said:
OK, thanks. Line of sight - I'm at 1600 Feet elevation, people driving by stop to use the cell service before they go back into the next valley.
I've been with Straight Talk since 2015, originally using AT&T towers, I think we used 13 GB of data last month. AT&T worked very well, I'd say faster than satellite internet. Verizon is also an option.
A weak signal isn't the same weakness for everyone, some people will actually be closer to it. And the population density isn't very high around here. Lat 42.65, lon -72.83. I pay about $60/month for "unlimited data", some fraction of that must end up going to T-Mobile. If the county weren't going to be getting fiber optic networking soon I'd expect the money might go into building out cell systems to handle the load. There seems to be no scaling back and limiting everyone to some number of KB/sec, with that number decreasing as more people use it. My data's either in service or it isn't. -115 dbm is weak by everything I've seen.
I also have a Huawei E3372 modem I can put my SIM into. I bought a pair of small gain external antennas with 3 meter cords. I'd need to get those up high and run something like a Raspberry Pi as a router.
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I am on Straight Talk also, but I'm on the Verizon side. In my opinion, the Verizon side is little better and has somewhat better coverage than the T-Mobile, Sprint or AT&T side. Other than when at home, I get perfect signal strength, the only reason I get crappy signal is I'm one of the ones dealing with line of sight. I'm several miles outside of town in a low-lying area between two hills.
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I should try Verizon. They're the default for landlines here but I got the impression they only did contract phones. I have 3 working Motorola XT1527s plus my modem, not interested in some contract phone. This T-mobile experience is my first other than AT&T. There's a website where you can download APK files to sideload, that runs through T-Mobile last I knew.
I think I've figured out how to talk to a human at Straight Talk. Call during east coast business hours, and in the 2nd menu mention data issues. The night/weekend people never seem to accomplish anything. They're eager to help bit they're most effective at the bulk of common issues like billing or changing a SIM. Took me over 10 phone calls last time to get anywhere.