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[Q] Is the Fuze weaker in signal grabbing than the Tilt?

I changed from a Tilt to a Fuze. I now tried the Fuze on my wife's T-mobile. I noticed that the Fuze seems weaker. My working place is really bad for T-Mobile. With my tilt I get 2 bars and sometimes 1. With the Fuze, I get 1 and sometimes when I try and update the weather, I loose all connection. And sometimes I get dropped calls.
Now, I know the radio has much to do with this. But in general, has anybody noticed if the Fuze seems weaker than their old phone? I can't judge 3G/H because I never had it till now.

no absolutely not id say at worst the same if not better. It has all to do with the radio as well.

I figured as much. Maybe ATT optimized it for 3G network of theirs. I was hoping if anybody else on another network noticed a drop of signal quality with the stock rom/radio with tmobile.

I'm using the stock Fuze ROM, and I have worse reception on the bay area AT&T network. It's not a matter of bars on the display - it's that the calls are dropping in areas that never did with the Tilt.
My Tilt gets better reception. But it has a more mature radio. Hopefully this is an issue of radio firmware, and not bad hardware.

You do know where the antenna is in your device???
(read the manual)
In bad reception area's your hand can easily block the "low" signal....

I just switched from the Tilt to a Fuze 3 days ago and have definitely noticed the Fuze is weaker where I'm at (Statesville, NC).
And Karloe is right, the antenna is in the base of the phone, where I normally hold it. I've been holding it at the top and people on the other end of the line say it is clearer than when I first got the Fuze. Calls aren't dropping as much either.
Kind of awkward to hold the phone this way though....
It worked great when I was in Winston-Salem yesterday, had excellent 3G also.

I don't think the signal is worse than the Tilt. The display shows less bars than the Tilt did, but every phone displays signals differently.
As someone else said, the antenna is at the bottom, so you have to hold it differently than the Tilt.
So far I haven't had any dropped calls on the Fuze and I've had a few on the Tilt. Call clarity seems to be better on the Fuze than it was on the Tilt too.

Single is DEF worse then my 8525 I could take screen shots to prove it.

So far in my experience fuze has been giving me better reception that the tilt.

My Fuse def has less signal than my previous phones.
At my home in long island, NY I always had 4 to 5 bars on any phone I had.
The fuse only gives me 2 bars.

I live in a rural area and have noticed that while I usually only averaged two bars on my tilt, sometimes in a sweet spot I would get three.
The fuze peaks at two in sweet spots and a lot of the time it is hunting for a signal.
That being said, the tilt was the same way before I upgraded the radio rom many moons ago.
One thing I can say is that while the indicator shows poorer reception (it is just an icon) on the fuze, my call quality is better and is far less garbled during calls.

I work in NYC and with my tilt I would always have problems getting a signal in Manhattan. I could have full 3g reception in one signal spot, take one step foward and it would start searching for a signal. With my fuze Ive never seen less than 3 bars so far. It gets better reception than my tilt for sure.

My tilt had better reception while at home. The tilt never cycled through e -> g -> 3g like the fuze did. I agree that once the radio matures it will get better, but my stock tilt never had this problem when new. I also maintained a pretty steady 3g speed on the tilt whereas the fuze had huge swings in speed.
=

You have to security unlock your phone, but I just flashed the Blackstone radio and it appears to get a little better signal than my stock ATT radio did.
I know it all depends on the area and conditions, but some of you that say it has worse reception might want to try some of the different radios that are out there.

Same Bad Reception
starstreak said:
I changed from a Tilt to a Fuze. I now tried the Fuze on my wife's T-mobile. I noticed that the Fuze seems weaker. My working place is really bad for T-Mobile. With my tilt I get 2 bars and sometimes 1. With the Fuze, I get 1 and sometimes when I try and update the weather, I loose all connection. And sometimes I get dropped calls.
Now, I know the radio has much to do with this. But in general, has anybody noticed if the Fuze seems weaker than their old phone? I can't judge 3G/H because I never had it till now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely agree. I would routinely get 4 bars with my tilt in my apartment. I'm lucky to get 1 bar with the Fuze. Anyone have a suggestion for the best radio for those of us who have not security unlocked yet? I'm willing to do the unlock if there are no other viable options.

Thank god I'm not the only one. My TILT always had full bars on 3g at home in my condo in Chicago. The Fuze constantly cycles from G > E > 3g and I have yet to be on a call that has not been dropped.
I'm debating returning this. While I know I can flash better ROMs to be faster, I don't know of any better radios currently to flash.

stevieraveon said:
Thank god I'm not the only one. My TILT always had full bars on 3g at home in my condo in Chicago. The Fuze constantly cycles from G > E > 3g and I have yet to be on a call that has been dropped.
I'm debating returning this. While I know I can flash better ROMs to be faster, I don't know of any better radios currently to flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have noticed this as well. My Fuze is very quick to changef rom G > E > 3G > H.
With my Tilt it was almost always on H especially with the 1.70.19.09 radio. All in all I do think that it could be dependent on the radio it self. I guess with time we will see if it's the radio or the device itself.

stevieraveon said:
Thank god I'm not the only one. My TILT always had full bars on 3g at home in my condo in Chicago. The Fuze constantly cycles from G > E > 3g and I have yet to be on a call that has been dropped.
I'm debating returning this. While I know I can flash better ROMs to be faster, I don't know of any better radios currently to flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try some different radios from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=439566
Unfortunately so far I haven't noticed any big differences between them in regards to reception. I've tried quite a few of them.

Fuze, touch pro GPS issues.. Hardware Related?

I read in a post somewhere in the diamond thread i think tht all the gps problems are hardware related. A bad board or something, can anyone that has contacted HTC about this confirm it?

My GPS is working fine. I have a Fuze, no problems. I did have to use HTC GPS Tool to get the initial GPS lock. After that (and after software reset) both Google maps and TomTom finds a signal within a minute.
I also made a change of using COM1 as the hardware port. I haven't tested it to see if that also helped but just passing that along.

My GPS also seems to be working fine, there might be a little lag, but not enough to worry about IMO.
It usually doesn't get a lock indoors like my Tilt did, but that's no big deal since I usually don't use it indoors.
I notice while driving it takes a second or two after I stop for it to show that I'm going 0mph (in Garmin), but I think it did that in my Tilt too.

thanks for the info. i plan on buying a fuze in december when i can upgrade, i have been seeing mixed reports of some people having no trouble at all with it, while others say the gps is unusable no matter what tweaks they use. also most of the people describing the lag are using meters so i assume most of the trouble is non US users?

misfitwrx said:
thanks for the info. i plan on buying a fuze in december when i can upgrade, i have been seeing mixed reports of some people having no trouble at all with it, while others say the gps is unusable no matter what tweaks they use. also most of the people describing the lag are using meters so i assume most of the trouble is non US users?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem I have with the GPS is that it's so random. I've had the Fuze for a little over a week now, and sometimes it will lock on the satellites within just a few seconds. Other times I can wait for ten minutes and never get a lock. People report all kinds of fixes, but my suspicion is that in most cases the GPS decided randomly to work at some point, which was incorrectly interpreted as meaning that the tweak they just tested must have been the key. I dunno.
With respect to the lag problem, I've been testing two over-the-air products, the AT&T Navigator (TeleNav) and the freebie AmazeGPS. Interestingly, they seem to have different lag characteristics: TeleNav seems generally to show the car position 2-4 seconds behind reality, while AmazeGPS generally has the car within a second of the actual position. That's a subjective judgment made while I was driving, so I wouldn't bet the farm that it's consistently that way (and, obviously, I'm not using both at the same time, so with the limited number of samples I have, it could well be happenstance). I'm in Massachusetts, BTW.
That said, however, neither really suffers much from the lag; the voice announcement in both cases is in plenty of time for seeing and making turns.

wmm said:
The problem I have with the GPS is that it's so random. I've had the Fuze for a little over a week now, and sometimes it will lock on the satellites within just a few seconds. Other times I can wait for ten minutes and never get a lock. People report all kinds of fixes, but my suspicion is that in most cases the GPS decided randomly to work at some point, which was incorrectly interpreted as meaning that the tweak they just tested must have been the key. I dunno.
With respect to the lag problem, I've been testing two over-the-air products, the AT&T Navigator (TeleNav) and the freebie AmazeGPS. Interestingly, they seem to have different lag characteristics: TeleNav seems generally to show the car position 2-4 seconds behind reality, while AmazeGPS generally has the car within a second of the actual position. That's a subjective judgment made while I was driving, so I wouldn't bet the farm that it's consistently that way (and, obviously, I'm not using both at the same time, so with the limited number of samples I have, it could well be happenstance). I'm in Massachusetts, BTW.
That said, however, neither really suffers much from the lag; the voice announcement in both cases is in plenty of time for seeing and making turns.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree. I've had NO problems getting a lock outside (I'm in Illinois). It generally takes 30-60 seconds, but it has worked EVERY time. That's about as long as it took my BT GPS puck to get a lock.
As far as lag, I don't notice it much while driving. As you said, the voice announcements work just the same, announcing when you turn, before you get to the intersection. I haven't tried anything in pedestrian mode, it might be more noticable in that.
I've been using Garmin Mobile XT and iGo8 as my test apps.

There are already two threads in this forum about workarounds for the GPS, i'm closing this one. Please post in either one of the preexisting threads.

Radio - .19/.28/.32

Currently on 1.02.25.19
T-Mobile UK
Looking for slightly better reception, faster data speeds, more accurate GPS & obv better battery life.
Looking to flash .28 or .32, anyone have there input?
Thanks

been using 1.12.25.19 since it was available, all round all good for me on t-mob, and most others on here

.19 on mine (at&t test rom)......zip zero nadda issues.
GPS locks within 10 seconds, signal strength is better (USA)

i think i might stick to .19 as i dont seem to have many problems - just wondered if i could get better?

I was one of the unlucky ones and can't really use .19. I'm going to try it today though, and ill let you know how it goes.

HTC Fuze Random Signal Drop

I think the title pretty well sums up the problem but I'll elaborate to the best of my ability. I own an unlocked HTC Fuze that I have put T-Mobile prepaid on (data service not needed for my purposes) and my signal will drop from two bars (Good signal for where I live) down to none or even start searching for a signal. The phone will do this while it is placed on a flat surface but happens more commonly while in motion; i.e walking. I have read about the antenna placement on these phones and have tried holding it differently while carrying it, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.
I would also like to note I've tried just about every radio with their rilphone counterparts under the moon at this point, but all seem to have the same problem. Same goes with ROMs but I have no idea if that would even have an effect on this issue.
I'll list the phone software I'm using at the moment. Be warned it may seem ragtag at the moment for two reasons: 1. I'm a noob 2. I'm a desperate noob.
Radio/Rilphone Version: 1.11.25.01
ROM: [ROM][WWE][16-Jul-10] Timolol's stock-like WM6.5.5 ROM (Build 23569)
Just tell me if you need more info, though my response may be a bit delayed. Sleep deprivation after messing with this thing has left me longing for my bed so it'll be a good few hours before I am back.
Thank you in advance,
Capitalist Prime

I don't what exactly did it, trying an new radio or xdandroid, but the random signal dropping finally stopped. Whatever it was, I'm not complaining.
The mods can feel free to lock or delete this thread.

GPS Problems? Yup everyone

http://free-pc-guides.com/news/first-att-samsung-captivate-owners-report-problems-with-gps-02887

This is such a sensationalist article. There aren't any problems with the GPS. You're supposed to use a GPS outside, and even inside, mine got a signal fine.
This article also says that T-mobile is expected to get the Captivate, which is false. It already has the Vibrant.

What GPS Problem??

No problems for me, thus far...

Mine has locked once. After that it refuses and just triangulates using cell towers and accurate within 2600 meters.

I'm not sure I would call it a "problem", but the GPS chip in these things is definitely not as good as the GPS chips in most other newly released phones. It could be a software issue, but I doubt it. The Aria would consistently lock onto twice as many satellites as this thing. When driving near large buildings and under bridges I sometimes lose a lock and Google Nav jumps around, which never happens in those same places with the Aria.

It seems to be working fine for me, but then I saw that someone had posted a fix for it when you dialed into the GPS settings, so I did that, and now.... it's still working fine!

gtg465x said:
I'm not sure I would call it a "problem", but the GPS chip in these things is definitely not as good as the GPS chips in most other newly released phones. It could be a software issue, but I doubt it. The Aria would consistently lock onto twice as many satellites as this thing. When driving near large buildings and under bridges I sometimes lose a lock and Google Nav jumps around, which never happens in those same places with the Aria.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've recently used both an Evo and an ATT-band Nexus One. I do have to say that the GPS on both of those seemed to acquire signals from satellites much faster than the Captivate, and give a more accurate location. Even standing outside, in the open, this one never appears to lock in on my precise location as well. I realize that's only anecdotal, but I no longer have access to either of the other devices.

Maybe its just mine, but I traveled over 300 miles today using Google Navigation, the phone up in the dash, with a clear view of the sky keep on having issue finding me.
I have an N1 and Aria, neither of these have these issues.

Do the specs indicate which GPS chip is being used? Some are better than others. Is it SirFStar III, IV, or MTK or what? This can certainly make a difference but costs about the same, so why get a cheapo chip? Hope Samsung did not do that.

GPS is definitely poor. From watching GPS Test I'd wager it's a firmware issue. No reason to have satellites popping in and out of view in the middle of a field on a clear day...
I've had many GPS units (>10) and the GPS in the phone is the second worst I've ever had. Very flaky. It looks like they also tried to mask the problem by averaging a bunch of the last fixes. I say this because the speed indication trails reality by quite a bit!
And I did try the proposed settings elsewhere but it didn't seem to improve much.
Hopefully they'll get this fixed. It's not the way GPS should be working on a top tier phone.

AJerman said:
It seems to be working fine for me, but then I saw that someone had posted a fix for it when you dialed into the GPS settings, so I did that, and now.... it's still working fine!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, so to change my stance a little, the GPS has been a little off tonight. Locking has been slower than I like, but it has been locking, and I saw it lock to at least 7 satellites earlier so I know it has no issue with handling that many at once.
The bigger annoyance that I'm having now is that my AGPS is off by quite a bit, telling me I'm in the next town over until it gets a full GPS signal. Not only is this annoying, but it also throws off every app that uses the cell data for coarse location, and I wouldn't be surprised if it has an effect on how fast it locks to the actual GPS satellites since it has the wrong location info to start which is the whole point of AGPS.

I actually did the GPS tweaks found in another thread, and I was navigating around my city. Maps was spot on for 98% of the time. Once or twice it put me about 30 meters away, but that was when i was surrounded by trees or concrete. Overall, I was very VERY impressed with the voice navigation, and the re-routing it did when i drove past a turn!

hmose said:
Do the specs indicate which GPS chip is being used? Some are better than others. Is it SirFStar III, IV, or MTK or what? This can certainly make a difference but costs about the same, so why get a cheapo chip? Hope Samsung did not do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm starting to think that the processor and screen on this phone cost so much that Samsung had to cut corners in other areas to keep prices competitive. So far we've seen widespread evidence of crappy chargers (take forever to charge), GPS chips (slow and not very accurate), compasses (all over the place), internal memory (slow memory is causing the stalling issue / lag), and lack of camera flash. Hopefully not all of those are hardware issues and some can be fixed with software, but I'm just saying, they might have cut some corners to keep this thing reasonably priced. Personally, I would have rather paid $100 more to have the best phone ever made hands down. Oh Samsung.

I got it to lock like one time outside. Then I found this http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/128026-everyone-who-having-gps-problems.html and now it locks on inside my house. And this is actually GPS I'm talking about not wifi/cell tower triangulation. Hope it helps some of you.

I picked mine up the 19th in the burbs of Chicago. Drove up to Milwaukee with it the same day and did a side by side comparison with my Garmin GPS after my friend sent me the article.
Besides 2 minor hiccups, they worked very similar.
*the first hiccup shouldn't even be credited as a hiccup because it was an alternate route, I knew from experience it was slower but my Garmin and my Magellan of past never recognized it as the faster route.
*the second hiccup was when I was driving down 294 to merge into 94. Both had about the same instruction but out of nowhere my captivate's nav system said to take a left into a random road. It "recalculated" after a quick flicker and went back on course with my Garmin.
Recently I noticed there was an update for the Maps application which gave me "Navigation" and after installing it, I prefer my phone to my Garmin because:
1. It now gives you a picture of the destination in "street view" which you can touch and scroll around when you've arrived or pretty much arrived.
2. It shows traffic (green is good, red is bad)
3. I'm not sure if this was before the update but you can scroll through the map using the touch screen rather than just zooming in and out.
I'll do a few more runs driving between Milwaukee and the Chicago burbs before I completely set aside one or the other, but my experience has definitely met my expectations of a GPS

Why not download GPS NMEA MONITOR App and watch the data sentences. If they keep coming then it is a software problem, not the GPS Chipset. If those data sentences are stopped, then you got a hardware chipset reception problem. Try getting a clear view of the sky.

Zero GPS issues here, faster then backflip, tilt, & tilt2 for me. Grabs and maintains connection just fine.