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REALLY poor signal on T-Mobile, Any suggestions?

I just got a Touch Pro on T-Mobile (UK).
I love the device but the signal is poor to the point of unusable both at work (the center of a city) and at home. I've rung T-Mobile who said I should have "excellent" coverage in both my home and work postcodes. I've never been on T-Mobile before but I'd guess it should be better than this?
It's ruining the device for me. Mostly because I can't make calls but there are so many web features on it that I can't use.
Browsing around the web, it looks as if this is a problem for quite a few people. Anyone know of a solution? I have tried setting the band from "Automatic" to GPRS but that made no difference. When I put my Orange sim card in there, it's better but still significantly lower than when it's in my N95.
Does anyone have anything to suggest? I REALLY don't want to have to send this device back.

Phone reception

How is your phone reception?
Mine sometimes sucks in areas where the Tilt worked flawless.
Could it be the phone or radio?
Tried stock ATT .32 and Blackstone .14. I may consider swapping it (oh well back to stock SPL and ROM, but would like to hear other opinions first.

tyguy said:
How is your phone reception?
Mine sometimes sucks in areas where the Tilt worked flawless.
Could it be the phone or radio?
Tried stock ATT .32 and Blackstone .14. I may consider swapping it (oh well back to stock SPL and ROM, but would like to hear other opinions first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try .28 it´s the best I had! It also makes the GPS better/ less lag!

I do not have major lag or lock issues with the GPS but downloading what's in your sig while I type.

tyguy said:
I do not have major lag or lock issues with the GPS but downloading what's in your sig while I type.
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Great, let us know how it goes!

i think compared to the tilt the reception on the fuze IS HORRIBLE

eboy, I assume you are in the greater LA area 818 area code (looking at your location). I went last week to Palms Springs and had full blast 3G and good call quality but LA ... sucks

tyguy said:
eboy, I assume you are in the greater LA area 818 area code (looking at your location). I went last week to Palms Springs and had full blast 3G and good call quality but LA ... sucks
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im moving to SD come March...im super stoked.
either way..dude its the device..
as i mentioned to u.. i was going to swap out my device due to the the fact that i dropped it and dinged the crap out of it, so i did last night.
and today i had THE BEST and yet CLEAREST sound and reception thus far with my device.
so i gotta say its the device.
Late,
Jstar

eboy44 said:
i think compared to the tilt the reception on the fuze IS HORRIBLE
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I've had the opposite experience, reception on my Fuze is actually a little better than my Tilt, and I have gotten signal in a few areas up here my Tilt didn't. This is a very rural area, so that says something about it.

tyguy said:
eboy, I assume you are in the greater LA area 818 area code (looking at your location). I went last week to Palms Springs and had full blast 3G and good call quality but LA ... sucks
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L.A. ROCKS!

@JStar...
Tell me more. You flashed back to stock SPL and wasted 10 min. to put ATT crap on it (upps I meant wonderful customized ATT ROM), went to the store and they gave you a new one?
SD - Nice!
@californiarailroader
L.A. ROCKS!
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Sometimes but not recently especially if you have to call somebody 3 times moving around like a rooster for the hen to be lucky to catch a good signal.
The Tilt had 2 to 3 bars "H" at home, with the Fuze I'm happy IF I get H which dropped immediately when I start a browser not even thinking about a download.

@ that guy over there
pretty much..i reflashed the original ROM packed everything back in the box and drove my ass to the mall after work.
the rep spent more time looking for the items in the box..then actually noticing the fact that there was a HUGE ding in the top right on the metal or the scratch that ran right down the middle of the screen.
she asked whats wrong with it..i looked her square in the face and said, i keep dropping calls. ( ive had cingular/at&t for about 6 yrs and i can count on one hand how many calls ive dropped. )
and that was it..quick and easy 20 mins tops. i wound up getting the body glove-like case while i was there for $20 bucks ( instore discount for the holidays ) i felt obligated for what i had done, and thats it.
The End.
Late,
Jstar

im out in woodland hills in the san fernando valley and my phone gets service but as soon as i touch it or pick it up it looses service right away....its really annoying

Same here eboy
BTW I'm just over the hill, work in Chats home in SIM/MPK (so we are quote on quote neighbors - LOL).

I'm in the inland empire and my signal strength is flaky at home, but on the road it's good.. here at home it can drop down to edge near the middle of my house.. but if i lock it to WCDMA it'll still hold onto a signal so it doesn't completely lose it, just passes the threshhold to jump over to gsm..
My Sierra Wireless 881u gets comparable signal levels in the same areas. I seem to remember the tilt actually being slightly worse, but it's been a while since I had it. My GSM service is always better (850 vs. 1900)
Maybe at some point they'll swap the frequency assignments it'll be better

haha yea tyguy hopefully there will be some new STRONGER radio roms or im going to have to sell the fuze and go back to my tilt,
in my area tho i feel that the xperia x1 radio rom is the strongest...for now

Signal Strength Fluctuation

I have my Inspire 4G for a little over a month now. It is stock, not rooted.
From the beginning I noticed that the signal strength indicator seems to fluctuate more that I was used with from my days with the Tilt 2.
I can't say if it is my imagination or not but this fluctuation seems to have gotten more pronounced. The other day I was waiting for my flight in Boston Logan. The phone was on top of my carry-on bag and I could see the signal go from full 5 bars to one bar and back. This happens in other places.
If this normal?

I've noticed the likes with both my iPhone 3G and my BB Curve 8310. I've always chocked it up to AT&T's astounding coverage

I posted this in another thread but it's quite relevant to this discussion.
Listening to police scanners and messing around with building antennas and such has been a little hobby of mine since I was a teenager. It's pretty amazing what factors can effect the quality of a radio signal. The higher the frequency, the more line-of-sight the transmission becomes. For example, in the 800Mhz public service band, even simple things like the leaves on trees can absorb some of the radio signals, lowering signal strength and creating "flutter". Now take into account that AT&T GSM networks in North and South America operate in the 850 or 1900 Mhz range - even more susceptible to environmental variables.

henrybravo said:
I posted this in another thread but it's quite relevant to this discussion.
Listening to police scanners and messing around with building antennas and such has been a little hobby of mine since I was a teenager. It's pretty amazing what factors can effect the quality of a radio signal. The higher the frequency, the more line-of-sight the transmission becomes. For example, in the 800Mhz public service band, even simple things like the leaves on trees can absorb some of the radio signals, lowering signal strength and creating "flutter". Now take into account that AT&T GSM networks in North and South America operate in the 850 or 1900 Mhz range - even more susceptible to environmental variables.
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So the wind can literally "blow" your signal away by moving the branches, etc?! I thought I was just making a figure of speech when I said such things.

[Q] How strong is signal on the Z3?

Hi guys,
How strong is the cell signal on the z3? Is it strong indoors and outdoors? Also is it good at locking onto signal once you leave an area with no coverage? How is LTE signal strength? If anyone also has any comparison to phones with strong reception like the M8 and iPhone that would be great thanks

sav_uk said:
Hi guys,
How strong is the cell signal on the z3? Is it strong indoors and outdoors? Also is it good at locking onto signal once you leave an area with no coverage? How is LTE signal strength? If anyone also has any comparison to phones with strong reception like the M8 and iPhone that would be great thanks
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Click to collapse
3g signal is ok, i have not understand why my nokia 925 in 4g get best speedtest over Z3 ....
any other one have compared 4g speedtest vs other phone?

imsims said:
3g signal is ok, i have not understand why my nokia 925 in 4g get best speedtest over Z3 ....
any other one have compared 4g speedtest vs other phone?
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Click to collapse
ok 4g is good ! i have a bad apn ...

Cool? Are people finding the signal to be strong and reliable for data and calls/texts?

Maybe the radio for Canada isn't optimized, but my lte signal is a bit worse than on the nexus 5, which was disappointing. The z3 loves bouncing between 3g and lte which is killing my battery

raegae2000 said:
Maybe the radio for Canada isn't optimized, but my lte signal is a bit worse than on the nexus 5, which was disappointing. The z3 loves bouncing between 3g and lte which is killing my battery
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I've noticed quite an improvement compared to my former HTC Sensation on Wind network, however, everyone will have a different experience depending on the phone they use for comparison.

Better than my S4 in my house by a hair. I even get LTE in the basement

I am going to be a bad example because this is my first phone on t-mobile.
compared to the Note 2, Nexus 5 and Galaxy s5 on spint, my Z3 on T-mobile has a WAY BETTER connection in my city. whether im in or out of my house or another building 4G LTE with dang good bars. for me.. speeds like in my signature is normal for me around here. well more like 25mbps. VoLTE is awesome here as well and call quality is amazing compared to sprint :S why did i wait 2 years to switch?

Thanks for your input guys

Better than the Z2, a tiny hair worse than the iPhone 6. IMO, very good reception

Pretty good at maintaining connection for me.
I live in an area with average to bad signal -90dBm to -110dBm on LTE
Xperia Z3
Ookla Speed Test: Run 1 and 2
42 / 49 ms Ping
36.87 /39.68 Mbps Down
4.92 / 8.10 Mbps Up
Mother's iPhone 6
47ms Ping
41.23 Mbps Up
4.38 Mbps Down

sav_uk said:
Cool? Are people finding the signal to be strong and reliable for data and calls/texts?
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Click to collapse
I've never used 4g before but my one (6603, on EE in the UK) has peaked at 59megs down, 29 up, which is mental!

Thanks again for all of your help guys

sav_uk said:
Hi guys,
How strong is the cell signal on the z3? Is it strong indoors and outdoors? Also is it good at locking onto signal once you leave an area with no coverage? How is LTE signal strength? If anyone also has any comparison to phones with strong reception like the M8 and iPhone that would be great thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the US and have Z3 D6616 from T-Mobile. The signal is very strong to be hones! I had Xperia Z1 Compact, iPhone 6, HTC One M7 - all on LTE network and they had 2-3 bars at my place. This Z3 has from 4 to 5 bars, but no less than 4! Had been great at holding onto the signal. Although my Blackberry Z10 had the same 4-5 bars of signal.
There are some issues with VoLTE calls sometimes, don't know if UK version of Z3 has that feature enabled.

Much better reception on my z3 than on my previous LG g2.

I'm using Z3 6653 since a week now in Mumbai, India with vodafone network. Network signal strength is quite weak and signal losses have become frequent especially when i go indoors. I never had this issue with my nokia lumia 920. Even my wife's moto g had better reception at few places.
I'm on stock rom at present, havent rooted on this phone as i want to give few months on stock .
But, signal issue.. looks to be a dampener on this otherwise great looking snappy phone..

Southeast Europe here. Biggest provider, but no lte yet...
-73dBm atm inside a house ment for bunker
My old HTC 1s barely stayed connected here...
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app

The m8 of someone I know looses signal while the signal of z3 is still 2g.
Compared to my old s4 mini it's also better most of the time.

se1000 said:
Better than the Z2, a tiny hair worse than the iPhone 6. IMO, very good reception
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I haven't seen any significant difference between any device I've used (and I've used quite a few) in years.
Nexus 4, 5, Oppo Find5, Oppo N1, Oppo Find7, Z3, Z Ultra GPE (Only the F7, ZU GPE, and Nexus5 were LTE) - all provide nearly identical reception performance (losing and regaining signal) at my desk where reception is extremely weak. If there were any appreciable differences between any of these devices, some would've simply never had signal at my desk, while others would've had consistently weak but usable signal.

6603 on AT&T Florida
4 G
HTC One+ = -85 dBm
Z3 = -95 dBm
Z3 with Devilcase bumber = -99 dBm
Data speeds of H+ and LTE almost the same down. Up, LTE much better.
Still can't receive calls or SMS with LTE turned on. If I make or receive a call it will work for several minutes but then send calls directly to voice mail. 15 minutes later I get a voice mail notice but no missed call.

Tmobile lte signal strength...

Anyone can test the tmobile lte signal please. Just wonder if it is the same like other phones.
Hmmm and what abound band 71? Does actually works?

My wife has an iPhone 7 Plus and I have a new OnePlus 6 and her phone works fine in areas with TMobile where my OnePlus 6 can't get a call out. So far I love the OnePlus 6, but this may be a deal breaker for me as I am running into several dead zones with the OnePlus 6 that my wife’s iPhone works fine. Too bad as I really like this phone.

Looks like the others have different experience. Just wonder why

netgar said:
Looks like the others have different experience. Just wonder why
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I'm using the OnePlus 6 on t mobile and get great reception and lte speeds. Can't test band 71 as I don't live in an area where band 71 is deployed but from other threads people have said it is working. Call quality, signal strength and lte speeds match that of previous phones I've used and better than a lot of them. There are also other threads on here and other sites stating that signal strength is really good with the OnePlus 6 on t mobile.

netgar said:
Anyone can test the tmobile lte signal please. Just wonder if it is the same like other phones.
Hmmm and what abound band 71? Does actually works?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My one plus gets the best signal out of my note 8 and iPhone X usually full bars

TechOut said:
My one plus gets the best signal out of my note 8 and iPhone X usually full bars
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The signal strength doesn't reflect upon reliablility of signal or speed. You could have low bars and still max out on data transfer and network.

mikex8593 said:
The signal strength doesn't reflect upon reliablility of signal or speed. You could have low bars and still max out on data transfer and network.
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That's not necessarily true lower signal strength usually means lower speed. In terms of being reliable yes it's fine but as far as actual lte speeds they are generally lower

addictedtocars said:
My wife has an iPhone 7 Plus and I have a new OnePlus 6 and her phone works fine in areas with TMobile where my OnePlus 6 can't get a call out. So far I love the OnePlus 6, but this may be a deal breaker for me as I am running into several dead zones with the OnePlus 6 that my wife’s iPhone works fine. Too bad as I really like this phone.
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Have you double checked the APN settings are setup correctly? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-2090
Also, it's true that you can't rely solely on the number of bars as an indicator of signal quality. I use an app called Network Cell Info to see what kind of signal I am really getting- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wilysis.cellinfolite

Mine works great. Usually have full bars full LTE speed.

I have a OP6 and my wife has an S8+ and we get about the same reception in the house (I'm in a weak service area) which is around -115db to -117db. She drops slightly more calls than I do but It seems like the signal on the OP6 is on par with everything else.

Compared to my V30 & G6 (bith TMO branded)
The antenna in the OP6 is quite good. I get LTE even underground at a train station I usually don't with my V30.
For WiFi i get 400mbps and LTE I usually get ahout 150mbps. I see 50mbps in my basement though.
Sent from my OnePlus 6 using XDA Labs

vouty said:
Have you double checked the APN settings are setup correctly? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-2090
Also, it's true that you can't rely solely on the number of bars as an indicator of signal quality. I use an app called Network Cell Info to see what kind of signal I am really getting- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wilysis.cellinfolite
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Click to collapse
I actually checked APN settings which appear fine. I do not use just the signal bats, I go into signal strength and the OP6 show signal strength of -118dbm which is very low. Also I find I am in dead spot far more often where my wife is. It, maybe there is an I tenal antenna issue or bad phone, it I am disappointed.

I don't have issues. Compared to other phones I have similar results.

My OP6 is much better then my OP5. Before selling my 5 I used the same sim card in both and my living room is the best signal in my house and my 5 got 48MBPS down and in the same spot on same sim I got 135MBPS down with the OP6. The combination of both the glass back and the 4x4MIMO is amazing!

My wife has an s9+ and I have a op6 on metro (T-Mobile) in rural Pennsylvania. We both get good signal but mine is always faster and stronger than hers. Comparative to my old phones, op6 is above and beyond.
Sent from my OnePlus 6 using XDA Labs