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Constant network issues

I am on my 3rd device in 3 days. First one was rooted, second one was not. This current one is also not rooted as well.
Unless I am very unlucky, I am going to assume there is a definite issue with the network configuration on this device. Status says I have 3 bars of 4G coverage, however I cannot connect to the internet at all.
Network Signal Info says I am on UMTS with a -93DBM, data is connected. However nothing will load. If I put the phone into airplane mode and then turn airplane mode off the networking comes back online. Speeds are slow though, barely able to perform basic mobile web browsing and watching youtube and such isnt possible. Too slow an too long to buffer.
This doesn't only happen at my house, it happens in other areas as well but it does happen constantly at home. I a not a heavy data user on my account, 1-2GB monthly, so Tmo says they arent throttling me. They have replaced the SIM every time with the devices as well.
Suggestions? If I cannot figure this out soon I am going to cancel my service as I cannot pay for a service and phone that just doesnt work. Tmo seems stumped. They just keep replacing phones since I am within my 14 day return/exchange period.
However, 3 devices all having the same issues sure seems to either prove the phone has an issue, or m general area of Tmo service.
I live in downtown Tempe, AZ.

Your wifi works?
I have the same issue in my house... I have a weak signal and 4g drops down to 2g which is terrible.... 4g downloads are 3Mbps, but uploads are under 100kps
I changed the network mode to wcdma only which helps significantly. 4g drops, but quickly returns...
Give it a try...

I'm having the same issue here in Orlando. I've had 2 phones now (first one was just a bad unit) and both have had horrible network connectivity and reception. I take my SIM card out and put it in my 2 year old MT3G and it gets perfect reception and fast data transfers while the G2x is choking on network transfers.

Go complain here in LG forum. This is software issue.
http://www.lgforum.com/forum/boards/general/lg/topics/g2x-wifi-problems

have full bars but cant download anything. just sits at waiting for data connection.

We really need a baseband modem that works better. My bars goes to zero then to edge and then to 3g constantly. Any time it switches between the connections then the the bars goes to zero and it says there is no conection. Also noticed that 3g connection fluctuates very bad while doing a speed test.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

ceroglu said:
We really need a baseband modem that works better. My bars goes to zero then to edge and then to 3g constantly. Any time it switches between the connections then the the bars goes to zero and it says there is no conection. Also noticed that 3g connection fluctuates very bad while doing a speed test.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
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How are you getting 3g? Unless you meant to say 4g?

himmelhauk said:
How are you getting 3g? Unless you meant to say 4g?
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T-mobile only has 3g connection avaliable where I live, of course it says 4g on the phone but in reality it is only 3g.

ngerasimatos said:
I am on my 3rd device in 3 days. First one was rooted, second one was not. This current one is also not rooted as well.
Unless I am very unlucky, I am going to assume there is a definite issue with the network configuration on this device. Status says I have 3 bars of 4G coverage, however I cannot connect to the internet at all.
Network Signal Info says I am on UMTS with a -93DBM, data is connected. However nothing will load. If I put the phone into airplane mode and then turn airplane mode off the networking comes back online. Speeds are slow though, barely able to perform basic mobile web browsing and watching youtube and such isnt possible. Too slow an too long to buffer.
This doesn't only happen at my house, it happens in other areas as well but it does happen constantly at home. I a not a heavy data user on my account, 1-2GB monthly, so Tmo says they arent throttling me. They have replaced the SIM every time with the devices as well.
Suggestions? If I cannot figure this out soon I am going to cancel my service as I cannot pay for a service and phone that just doesnt work. Tmo seems stumped. They just keep replacing phones since I am within my 14 day return/exchange period.
However, 3 devices all having the same issues sure seems to either prove the phone has an issue, or m general area of Tmo service.
I live in downtown Tempe, AZ.
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I wonder if there is an issue with our network in Arizona?? I live in Chandler, and work in Scottsdale. my data times out ALLL THE TIME. Both here at home, and at work. Same with my text messaging. Literally, I do exactly what you do with the "airplane" mode. That's the only way to get my data and text working again (besides restarting).
Here are the issues I posted in the LG Forum:
http://www.lgforum.com/forum/boards/carriers/t-mobile/topics/few-issues-with-g2x#26861
(first issue posted is what you are talking about)

I dont think this is a regional issue. Downtown Minneapolis here, and I cant get it to stay on wifi or Edge/4g for more than a few minutes at a time. G1 has no trouble and shows strong 3g while my sisters mt4g shows full 4g. 4g/E symbol just flickers on my g2x leaving me with no connection. I can connect to wifi fine, but even with wifi sleep set to never it still disconnects every few minutes, and has to be toggled on/off to reconnect. Until toggling it just sits flickering 4g/E with no data connection.
I've never seen my Evo drop a E/4g/wifi connection and struggle to reconnect once in the year I've had it. My g2x does it almost every time I pick it up.

Did you try going into Mobile Networks in Settings and changing the mode to WCDA Preferred or something? That'll stop the flip flopping. That's what I have it on and that's what the phone came with out of the box.Also try Auto in that menu.

4G LTE Data Connection "Stall"

So I have a perfectly good 4G LTE signal going, data speeds are great and all, but every once in a while it will just stop receiving data. The 4G LTE icon is still there, occasionally I see the upstream arrow flash, but the downstream arrow remains blank. A difference that I see from other people's connectivity issues is that I never once see it switch to 3G/1X when this happens.
One thing to note is that this behavior is not readily apparent until you're doing something real-time network dependent, like streaming audio/video for a considerable duration of time until it cuts you off suddenly.
Between 10 seconds to several minutes after data stops transmitting, it starts working again. Sometimes I get impatient and just toggle between CDMA only/LTE automatic to get 4G LTE working again without having to wait.
Is this a common issue among Charge owners? I noticed the reviewer at Anandtech had a near identical experience (though not always fixable without a reboot for him):
"My only complaint is that every once in a while, the LTE data session sometimes stalls briefly – sometimes for a a few seconds, other times for a few minutes. When that happens, you’ll see the uplink green arrow blink, but no orange downlink arrow. Rebooting the device fixes things."
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After conversing a bit with him (he also reviewed the Thunderbolt/Revolution), this apparently only happens with the Charge, but he also has faith that Samsung would fix this through software (RIL) or hardware (firmware). Given Samsung's track record with smartphone updates, I'm not so sure they will.

PeterDLai said:
Given Samsung's track record with smartphone updates, I'm not so sure they will.
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Considering a month after the phone's launch we already have a Gingerbread leak I think this device will most definitely see support from Samsung. It is a DROID branded phone after all, and Verizon is statistically the best carrier for updates, they do take special care of the "DROID" phones over every other Android handset.

4G is flakey, on both devices that offer it. I have both the Thunderbolt and Charge with me most of the time, and I see all kinds of flakiness on both. It's the network.

It is definitely the network. I had a Thunderbolt before the Charge and it was FAR worse with network connectivity falling off the face of the planet despite having full 3g/4g.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk

I have had the same problem. I usually wait and it comes back in about 30-45 seconds, but it is annoying. It was really bad for a couple of days but has been better the past couple.

I personally haven't had to much issue with 4g dropping out. However people need to keep in mind that LTE is new for both the mfgs & carrier. So it is going to take time to get all these bugs worked out. That said I have to give props to VZW and the mfgs tho because back when they were building out 3G originally you want to talk about issues my lord was it bad.

I have had this issue, with the 3G and the 4G, but I can't say that it's a deal breaker for me, compared to the lousy HSPA+ signal my Vibrant had. It's only ever happened to me at my house, which is right on the edge of LTE coverage, so it switches back and forth a lot. But I have to give the network the benefit of the doubt for right now, it's a brand new network and a brand new device. And the 97% of the time that things work properly, it's so far above and beyond the T-Mobile network I have no regrets about switching.

I called Verizon with the same issue last Friday. Their resolution after a couple of questions was to overnight me a new (certified like-new) Charge and SIM card - the replacement was received on Monday. I haven't had any issues since, but I also stopped seeing the issue after I made the complaint.
Regardless, replacement has been better and locks a GPS signal much quicker. Maybe it's the SIM card?

SAME CRAP HERE!!!!
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App

I tested if I have this behavior using LTE only mode (dial **583 in Phone app) and indeed I do, so this furthers my belief that my issue is not due to something wrong in the hand-off between 4G/3G.

I found out the way to actually change the data modes and tested using EV-DO Rev. A instead of eHRPD (in conjunction with LTE) and also using just CDMA 1X (in conjunction with LTE, essentially disabling 3G), but my issue of dropping data exists. The 4G LTE icon is displayed the entire time when it happens, I just seem to lose connectivity (and all three of the tests in the Phone Info area fail) temporarily. For what it's worth, I'm not moving the phone around at all when this happens.
I think I would actually be more content if when the data connection stalled, my 4G LTE icon just disappeared or if it switched to 3G because then it would make more sense to me (that I may have lost connection to the 4G service and it's attempting to reconnect to either 3G or 4G), but as it stands, all I get is a constant 4G icon with intermittent dropouts. The switch to 3G/1X seems to be the more common issue among 4G smartphone owners, but my (and the reviewer at Anandtech's) issue seems to deal completely within the 4G network, and I've tried every leaked radio to no avail.
The regularity of the dropouts seems kind of random as well; I'm not sure how I can figure out the source of the issue. Does anyone know if there are some logs that I can look into to see if something is happening to my phone at the very instant that I'm having these stalls?
Of course, I'm not discounting the fact that it might completely be on the side of Verizon's network and/or my area in San Diego and has nothing to do with my phone, and I may in a minority of users that actually continuously uses the 4G enough to notice these dropouts, which on average happen once every half hour to hour or so. Sometimes I'm able to stream something for several hours without the stalls, and other times it'll happen frequently within a short time span.

I just got off the phone with tech support for the intermittent data drop problem. After confirming that I was on EE4, and that I had tried doing a factory reset, he is fedexing me a new sim card.
Really hope it works, I love the phone but losing data for 1-2 minutes at a time randomly is pretty lame. Especially since I switched to Verizon for their reputation as the better network.

Racer447 said:
I just got off the phone with tech support for the intermittent data drop problem. After confirming that I was on EE4, and that I had tried doing a factory reset, he is fedexing me a new sim card.
Really hope it works, I love the phone but losing data for 1-2 minutes at a time randomly is pretty lame. Especially since I switched to Verizon for their reputation as the better network.
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Is your problem the same as mine (data drops all while 4G icon is displayed) or is yours the more common 4G to 3G/1X transition or losing the 4G network icon data drop?

PeterDLai said:
Is your problem the same as mine (data drops all while 4G icon is displayed) or is yours the more common 4G to 3G/1X transition or losing the 4G network icon data drop?
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The data will stop. Then the 4g or 3g icon will disappear entirely for a minute. Then it will reconnect at either 4g,3g or 1x, I don't really see a clear pattern, it seems totally random to me.

Is there anyone who's reading this that regularly uses their 4G continuously (i.e. hours) for streaming web content (e.g. radio streams, live video streams, etc.)? If so, do you experience any occasional dropouts or is the 4G connection for you rock solid?

Racer447 said:
The data will stop. Then the 4g or 3g icon will disappear entirely for a minute. Then it will reconnect at either 4g,3g or 1x, I don't really see a clear pattern, it seems totally random to me.
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hey, I have exactly the same problem!

same here,lose 4g icon when i use either the mobile hotspot or the tethering option.longest i have been connected was about 15 minutes.

fender22 said:
same here,lose 4g icon when i use either the mobile hotspot or the tethering option.longest i have been connected was about 15 minutes.
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Tested on mine and same result.
Edit: Rebooted and it works fine been on it 20+ now, I'll be testing some more

A couple of days ago my SIM card crapped out.
Now that i have a new one my 4G signal has been more consistent and stronger than ever. I live in a fringe area and before the new SIM it would constantly switch between 4 and 3G. Now i go for hours on 4G and it even stays on 4G in places that it would always switch and stay on 3G.
Get a new SIM before getting a new phone.
Sent from my Samsung Droid Charge: Stock EE4

After reading this thread I'm considering switching to either the Thunderbolt or the Revolution, or something else when it comes out...
Anyway, I have experienced this same thing.
The only difference in my situation is that I'm trying to use my LTE internet as a dedicated connection. The setup I'm trying to do is plug my phone into my router and have the router distribute the verizon LTE internet through my apartment. My router currently has the latest version of tomato installed and I compiled my own RNDIS module (modified to work with the charge). Everything works for the first few minutes (15-20), then I notice the 4G icon "stall", then disappear, then reconnect. After the first disconnect and reconnect, the internet connection is very unstable and will disconnect every couple of minutes until I disable and re-enable the internet again... very frustrating.
In the interim, I've been using EasyTether and this works very well. I have streamed hours of 720P video and it works flawless; not one skip or reconnect.
This leads me to believe that it is either one of the following:
The kernel - I'm currently using the PBJT kernel found in the latest version of humble. I'm not sure if the stock rom will provide better stability.
The radio - I currently have the EE4 radio installed, but am very curious to know the stability of the GB radio updates (EP1f, etc.).
Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

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

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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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.