4G Off :D - Thunderbolt General

battery is ALOT better without 4G. I came from an EVO and its the same thing...just keep it off and we'll be good. its not necessary to have it on at all times, especially when you're in areas where theres no 4g or on the edge of it and it keeps jumping from 1x-3g-4g. I know the dialing method is going around here but i found a better way...not exactly a "widget" but better than dialing.
Instructions
"1. Download an app from market (it is free) called Any Cut.
2. Once downloaded, run the app and Select New Shortcut.
3. Select Activity.
4. Scroll way down to Phone Info and select it.
5. Rename it to what you want it called and tap OK.
6. A new shortcut will be on your homescreen.
7. Go into the newly created shortcut and scroll down to Set Preffered network type:
For 3G only, select: CDMA auto (PRL)
To go back to 3G/4G select: CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto
Hit the back arrow...
Credit for the find goes to ThatDudeButch for this info.
Source : http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-thunderbolt/69957-poor-mans-4g-toggle.htm"

Huge thanks, been wanting to do this since I got it to preserve battery!

I recommend the an app called "Network" From Philipp Manelow.
Its a shortcut that takes you to the settings page to turn 4g on/off.
Just install and open.
All it does it make a shortcut.
Here is the link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=de.mangelow.network&feature=search_result

I actually think I get better 3g speeds with HTC phones than my moto phones. I rarely ever got over .75 down and .5 up. Now that I turned 4G off and tried it I get 1.5 down and about 1 up. With my TP2 I regularly got 1.25+. WIth the D2 I don't remember getting that much ever.

I've been using Quick Battery.

Thanks for the info! How much more time are you seeing now?
I did a combination...
Installed Network AND QuickBattery.
in quick battery, i selected quick action and pointed to the "Network" widget
So now i see a battery meter and if i press it i can go into the setting and turn on my 4g

or dial *#*#4636#*#*
Scroll down to select network type
CDMA = EDGE
EvDo = 3G
LTE = 4G
personally I have mine on LTE only ( live in Houston strong 4G network (D/L speeds constantly in midteens to low 20's Mbps ) and my battery isnt that bad.

1454 said:
I actually think I get better 3g speeds with HTC phones than my moto phones. I rarely ever got over .75 down and .5 up. Now that I turned 4G off and tried it I get 1.5 down and about 1 up. With my TP2 I regularly got 1.25+. WIth the D2 I don't remember getting that much ever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol for me it makes me remember why I left verizon in the frist place. I maybe get .50 down at my house if I am lucky on 3g. My house is like an anti-cellphone but still with AT&T I was almost always at 1.5 down. But with LTE I always pull 10-11 ish at my house, so I have no complaints

thanks I will try any cut now..I have been doing the dailing method...3g off is very good on the battery

I used to get much better results with my old winmo device, I'm not sure why? The droid 2 was just downright awful for 3g speeds. The most I ever remember seeing was maybe 1.0. Maybe different phone act differently with the speed test like apps. Or different radios? I'm not that smart, I just know that there has been a difference between htc and my moto phone.

my_handle said:
or dial *#*#4636#*#*
Scroll down to select network type
CDMA = EDGE
EvDo = 3G
LTE = 4G
personally I have mine on LTE only ( live in Houston strong 4G network (D/L speeds constantly in midteens to low 20's Mbps ) and my battery isnt that bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If anyone have sperodic 4g, switches back and forth on 3g and 4g but you want to it to be consistant with 4g, turn it to LTE only and it'll stay lock on 4g. My house is in the 4G coverage but I'm near the edge. I would get 4g if i move near windows but if i moved to center of my house, it switches to 3g. This drove me nuts. So found out about this shortcut and now after setting to 4G LTE only, I'm lock onto 4g everywhere in my home...Happy camper. Battery life, what battery life? I'm making through the day with 25% left when I come home. Medium to heavy user too.
VY.

I downloaded anycut this morning before going to work and my charge meter was at 96%, 14 hours and 16 minutes later after talking, we browsing with 3g, using my bluetooth and wifi my battery life is still at 37%. Ladies and Gentleman, I'd say we have a winner!

definitely easier to just use network by mangelow..

So i set my phone to cdma PRL auto..
and i was playing with th phone running emulators for about 2 hours.. batt dropped to around 70%. The Battery is already much better....
Now i want to try how long it will last for tomorrow if i leave it in 3g or if i set it to exclusive LTE. In NY verizon has pretty good coverage.
Im sure in 3g it should last a pretty long time. I am assuming this phone should have a pretty efficient 3g chip by now that wont suck dry your battery dry

Yeah. Went to work with just 3g and I went about 8 hour and only hit 86%

damn.. so LTE is sucking like 3x (made up number) more batt power. Guys please keep updating this.. looks like were definetly up to something here lol
BTW im using the stock rom.. havent rooted yet. im gonna leave it in 3g for tomorrow all day and see how i fare..then LTE the next.

Cg006 said:
damn.. so LTE is sucking like 3x (made up number) more batt power. Guys please keep updating this.. looks like were definetly up to something here lol
BTW im using the stock rom.. havent rooted yet. im gonna leave it in 3g for tomorrow all day and see how i fare..then LTE the next.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so much the LTE. Someone else posted that them having LTE only gives them a good amount of use throughout the day with medium to heavy usage. The problem is that the 3g and 4g never cancel each other out, they are both always on....

Ive been doing alot of reading around here.... i didnt catch that piece....i guess i will go LTE only tomorrow for work. If LTE dont suck so much power... i may as well leave it on
I guess this can be addressed in a new software update?
I LOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEE these speeds with LTE. just did a test, 15.78mbps down.... epic!

Sweet thanks, this should help some with the battery life.

I would think that once it is locked onto LTE, it won't drain as much juice as it was. Because before it probably switches back and forth so it is constantly looking for that 4G signal. I was at the verizon store today after work, and when I got there, all they had for their coverage was 1x. The guy said that the converage had been switching back and forth. He left to help other people and i got into the phones settings to change the signal. LTE only got perfect 4G. EvDo wouldn't connect for some reason. CDMA gave the 1x. I also tried to see if i could browse the web while on the different settings, and it only worked with LTE.

Related

Sadly giving up on 4G for now...

I got the phone on day one. The first thing I noticed as I looked at the phone as I walked out the door to my car was the 4g icon. Yay, I am on 4g! Wait, where did the icon go? It's pretty much been that way since I have had it. I keep it on Wifi at home. To put it on 4g, pretty much kills having a MOBILE smartphone. Data is the lifeblood of a smartphone and if it is not there, what's the point.
I have tried every single fix read here (and other forums). Including:
Rev A fix
Hard Reset
Pulling Battery and Sim card and placing back in
I have tried everything but take the phone back and complaining (rooted it).
Per the Verizon coverage map, I am (my house) in a 4g area. On the map, they ask for your address and it say's "I am covered" for 4g. I will note there are a few pockets on the map near my home that is 4g extended. I had been thinking it's just my area. As I would drive around, it would seem to lock onto 4g. But lately, no matter where I go, 4g goes in and out.
When the 4g goes in and out, it is killing all data. It's not like it quickly finds the 3g and resumes data transfer, it just stops. Goes to 1x after a while mostley.
So where I am at right now is that I have forced 3g (using Phone Info app) and now can get reliable mobile data.
Should I be patience with the network and wait it out or should I take this back and ***** (possibly being the device itself)? When does one suppose a possible software fix will be put out for the Thunderbolt?
Hey Man,
I read your post and I am a little confused. In summary is your issue that you dont have great 4G coverage by your house and 3G isnt picking up when 4g drops off?
If thats the case I know you said you tried the Rev A fix but just to double check did you:
Use the ##778# menu (hit call after ##778#)-->password is 000000-->modem settings-->Rev A-->choose enable-->hit the menu button on the tbolt and commit changes
Also have you had verizon try to swap out your sim card and/or called them up and made sure your current sim card is provisioned correctly? If both of these are the case and you tried all the other standard stuff I would go get the phone swapped out for another new device before your time runs out. I had the same problem and the Rev A fix did it for me.
jvward
What city are you in?
psufan5 said:
What city are you in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cincinnati area. Northern suburb. Close to towers and major highways.
Maybe return it and get a new TB?
I didn't have 4G in my home although Verizon's little "insert address" said I would. When I called, however, they said that I was on the border and it's a tough call for now.
When I started driving around to different areas, however, it picked up 4G signal just fine. When driving back into a 3G area it switched with no issue.
psufan5 said:
What city are you in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And thats the right question to ask.
My 4G, in Los Angeles, is amazing. But Verizon is just starting to get 4G up and running in many cities right now, cant expect to have great coverage for many more months.
jvward said:
Hey Man,
I read your post and I am a little confused. In summary is your issue that you dont have great 4G coverage by your house and 3G isnt picking up when 4g drops off?
jvward
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When the 4g drops, data stops. No icon. Sometimes 3g shows up. Mostly 1x. Lately, nothing. No icon, no data.
jawa5636 said:
Cincinnati area. Northern suburb. Close to towers and major highways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in northern Cincinnati too. Contact me before you do anything.
Hey, I have had problems too. I work in the Tri-county area and have GREAT 4G coverage. If you look at the 4G map I am right on the cusp (Maineville) of coverage. In my house, it will rotate between 4g/3g/1x constantly. I downloaded the "LTE OnOFF" app from TeamAndIRC and will toggle 3G only when I'm at home. For some reason I STILL HAVE TO DO THIS even though I'm using wi-fi 100%. When I get to work I toggle to 4G. Doing this, my battery life is exceptional. Before I figured it out I was draining my battery overnight every night. I don't know why the wi-fi requires that 3G only be on but it works.
Almost, but hanging on by a thread....
I am new to Verizon and I picked this up the day after launch. My two weeks are up. I am not in the 4G area (home), but spend most of my waking moment in a 4G area (work). While the phone itself doesn't have a hard time switching between networks on the handheld (I've watched it go from 3 to 4G while driving, I can almost pinpoint the switching area), it does have a hard time when in WiFi Hotspot Mode.
Here's what I mean. I'll be on wireless tether in a 4G zone and then without notice, the phone reports (via Hotspot App) that there is no mobile network ready and there is no data connection icon on the top menu bar. My Xoom is much more reliable on maintaining a connection (3G of course).
This is my only complaint about the 4G network, but it's a small one. The handheld itself is wonderful. I'm keeping both for now.
Check out my speed test on WiFi tether.
Verizon confirmed on the phone with me that there is in fact a bug in HTCs software switching from 4G to 3G when coverage drops. It should be fixed... In the mean time make sure you are using an app from the market to switch to 3G only unless you need 4G.
Other than that, just return it and wait for something else.
ridobe said:
I'm in northern Cincinnati too. Contact me before you do anything.
Hey, I have had problems too. I work in the Tri-county area and have GREAT 4G coverage. If you look at the 4G map I am right on the cusp (Maineville) of coverage. In my house, it will rotate between 4g/3g/1x constantly. I downloaded the "LTE OnOFF" app from TeamAndIRC and will toggle 3G only when I'm at home. For some reason I STILL HAVE TO DO THIS even though I'm using wi-fi 100%. When I get to work I toggle to 4G. Doing this, my battery life is exceptional. Before I figured it out I was draining my battery overnight every night. I don't know why the wi-fi requires that 3G only be on but it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. I live straight down 747 in Liberty Twp. (few miles up from Beckett Ridge). Driving around would get me a better connection (4g) at first but lately, as I drive around, it's all over the board. Most the time there is no data icon. I have another app (Phone Info) that has a toggle.
It gets frustrating in that I don't know if the issue is the phone, network or both. Hard to troubleshoot. I suppose I should mosey on down to the mall for anything and see what kind of 4g I get.
I am in almost the same situation as the OP, I have 4G everywhere but my home which I have confirmed with VZW is in a 4G coverage area, not an extended coverage area either. I have narrowed it down to my street exactly. Right after I turn down imy street I lose 4G.
I then once I am home and no I don't mean indoors just at my house I frequently go between nothing, 1x, and 3G(Very Weak) with sporadic data. Will not get 4G back unless I drive around. This is my second device, and second trouble ticket with VZW this time giving more detailed information.
I have also tried every possible solution but unfortunately switching to Rev. A is not a "solution" for me as I am in a 4G area and if I wanted 3G I probably would have just kept my Droid X.
I sure hope this bug if it is one in the software will be fixed with an update or VZW can sort it out if it is my network.
ridobe said:
I'm in northern Cincinnati too. Contact me before you do anything.
Hey, I have had problems too. I work in the Tri-county area and have GREAT 4G coverage. If you look at the 4G map I am right on the cusp (Maineville) of coverage. In my house, it will rotate between 4g/3g/1x constantly. I downloaded the "LTE OnOFF" app from TeamAndIRC and will toggle 3G only when I'm at home. For some reason I STILL HAVE TO DO THIS even though I'm using wi-fi 100%. When I get to work I toggle to 4G. Doing this, my battery life is exceptional. Before I figured it out I was draining my battery overnight every night. I don't know why the wi-fi requires that 3G only be on but it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update:
Per my experience yesterday, if you are within the 275 loop, you are golden. Once I hit West Chester/Beckett Ridge, LTE started dropping. At my house, it is almost non-existent.

4G not implimented yet!!?? plus more

ok i havent seen a post for this so here we go..
if you use adw launcher and custom make an icon attached to the hidden menu apk you can access the test and servicing menus like other phones BUT... if you go into test settings for phone (play around its in there) there is a menu the shows hspda (3g, hspda+ being 4g) and many other functions that are advertised on the phone that are all listed as NOT IMPLIMENTED YET!!
so as far as i can tell 4g is NOT active on tmobile at all yet. not until the software is upgraded (gingerbread i am assuming). so it would make sense why the signal on the phone is screwed up and dropping (confused phone maybe?) and why im still getting 3g speeds (slightly faster maybe from better signal reception due to upgraded hardware from my previous Vibrant).
go take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. im sure you can use desktop visualizer to get to the menu to. DONT MESS WITH ANYTHING THOUGH. i had to reset my phone and not with a hard reset, but a recovery i found on a nvflash website. almost bricked it. so just look but don't touch anything important unless you know what your doing.
im looking forward to hearing what everything thinks of this and the giant list of other features also saying this in the same menu. because i feel mislead just a little bit.....
I think it's just that the functions in the hidden menu aren't implemented yet.
Hmmm, interesting find! Maybe this explains the problems I'm having maintaining a stable 2g only connection as well
Dolphinwigs said:
ok i havent seen a post for this so here we go..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a reason for that...
so as far as i can tell 4g is NOT active on tmobile at all yet. not until the software is upgraded (gingerbread i am assuming)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got a hot 4g connection where I am (west Texas), you don't get 4.9-5.6mb (Speedtest) download on 3g. Did you check the T-Mobile coverage map to see if you have it in your area yet?
Edit: you also may need a new sim card. Depending on the age of the card, you might not be able to get a stable lock on to 4g (age as in what generation it was produced.. not how long you've had it)
thats possible, but im getting 3g speeds still as far as i can tell and i don't see why it wouldnt be included in the "hidden menu" if it is working since we aren't "really" supposed to know about the hidden menu. anyways just something i noticed.
menu is Hidden Menu->modem settings is where the menu is at.
and i got a new sim card (tired 2 new ones both the same) and yes i am in salt lake city and it is a 4g area for tmobile. but seems like everyone (mostly) is getting signal drops all over the place. my 2g isn't working as consistantly as it did before on my vibrant either. im sure gingerbread will fix all of this though.
I'm getting 4-8mps down in Metro Atlanta. I say 4G speed is on.
jdkackley said:
Hmmm, interesting find! Maybe this explains the problems I'm having maintaining a stable 2g only connection as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same problem, and I've even got a 2G booster in my house. My 2G connection drops all the time on my G2X but not my Vibrant. When I look at the signal strength when it's up it's not much different than the Vibrant, -104dBm on the G2X vs -100 dBm on the Vibrant
Im at a consistent 6-9mb dl at my house with a 1mb+ ul. Im calling it 4g and have you tried your conn outside of your city to see if its just congestion on the network?
I'm also getting 4-8mbps speeds in Atlanta, 4g is definitely working.
I'm in vegas, every hour, I get only 10 or 20mn of 4g at 6Mb download speed, the rest of the time I'm on 2g. At night time,i get 4g most of the time. So I guess in the day time, they kick me back to 2g to save their bandwitch, I'm returning my phone to let them know this is not acceptable
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
My phone SAYS 4G all the time in Charlotte NC but I have only been getting 1mb DL and about 1.5 upload. The weird thing is that browsing the web is lightening fast compared to the vibrant. I would say it loads pages twice as fast.
jrharvey said:
My phone SAYS 4G all the time in Charlotte NC but I have only been getting 1mb DL and about 1.5 upload. The weird thing is that browsing the web is lightening fast compared to the vibrant. I would say it loads pages twice as fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure but this may have as much to do with the processor and RAM speed as the connection speed.
I get crap speeds compared to the Nexus S, and that phone doesn't support full hspa+
jlevy73 said:
I get crap speeds compared to the Nexus S, and that phone doesn't support full hspa+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not complaining about my speeds which are plenty good IMO, averaging around 3-3.5 mbps. However, I have been surprised that they are no better than my Nexus One was that also didn't support HSPA+.
A few things, before we get too heavy handed on the FUD:
The phone is technically '4G' compatible, and it supports it out of the box.
Most of T-Mo's towers have been upgraded to support their 4G (HSPA+)
Regular HSPA caps out at about 3.5Mbps down. I've gotten as much as 7Mbps down on my G2x
Personally, I haven't had many issues with signal, but I live in Houston, so that may have something to do with it.
4g is on in Huntington Beach, and irvine.
I did notice its not a huge difference speed wise though. I had the moto cliq 3g and i would get 1mbs ish to 5mbs DL, and with the G2x im averaging about 3mbs to 7mbs. not a huge difference but the big change is Latency. I used to rock 700ms to 1000ms on 3g with my cliq, im getting around 55ms to 150ms on my G2x.
Latency is key for me though, i would prefer lower latency than higher download speeds. Due to the fact I need to vpn and voip with company network.
I found that t mobiles 3g network is still very capable in speed. the main issue i had was my cliq was underpowered to handle the t mobiles network. when i would tether my rooted nook color it would perform like a champ.
jimbo831 said:
I am not complaining about my speeds which are plenty good IMO, averaging around 3-3.5 mbps. However, I have been surprised that they are no better than my Nexus One was that also didn't support HSPA+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you live? Is it possible T-Mo may not support HSPA+ in your area?
It's also important to note that even if the towers you're connected to support HSPA+, that's only one part of the process. They also have to upgrade the data connection to the tower itself (backhaul) to ensure it can handle the speeds. If you're connected to an HSPA+ tower that doesn't have the upgraded backhaul, that could explain slow speeds.
No.
HSPA+ ("4G") is on and working. You're just not in an HSPA+ area it seems.
We're all getting faster than HSPA speeds, so we are certainly on HSPA+. Speedtests are the best way for you to verify if you are on EDGE (2G), HSPA (3G), or HSPA+ (4G).
I would like a 3g icon just top know what type of tower I'm on, I think the baseband is wack, I bet when gingerbread comes out we will get the separate icons... Also my vibrant would get steady 5-6mb down 2mb up, but with this phone its anything but steady, I can get up to 8mb down but its crazy random, regular use is sometimes slow initializing, and someones websites timeout.... I think a baseband upgrade will fix all this stuff tho, or software upgrades.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
pychobj2001 said:
I would like a 3g icon just top know what type of tower I'm on, I think the baseband is wack, I bet when gingerbread comes out we will get the separate icons... Also my vibrant would get steady 5-6mb down 2mb up, but with this phone its anything but steady, I can get up to 8mb down but its crazy random, regular use is sometimes slow initializing, and someones websites timeout.... I think a baseband upgrade will fix all this stuff tho, or software upgrades.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the thing though. The way T-Mo has their network setup, if you can get 3G from a tower, you should be able to get 4G. Period. You may not get 4G speeds, but you're technically connected to an HSPA+ tower, and thus the 4G icon. It'd be weird to connect a tower that supports HSPA at this point, but not HSPA+ (though I'm sure there are some out there)

4G is cause of Battery Drain

So after the now infamous 4G outage I did notice one important thing on my TB. That day I had the best battery life ever. First time I made it through the day without charging. Hopefully sometime soon we will have an official 4G on/off toggle. I know there is one that takes you to the service menu so you can change the settings but it would be nice to have one that you can just toggle 4G off to 3G then toggle back on without the extra steps.
I'm pretty sure we all knew this was the cause.. look at when the evo came out it had horrible battery life when wimax was still young
And when 3G came out it was killing batteries also... And the circle of life continues...
I'm not sure if I am lucky or what. I am rooted and running BAMF rom. I use my TB just how i used my OG droid and I still get 15 hours on a single charge. I also have full 4G coverage in my area. That might be the cause. I dont see the connection switching around between 3G and 4G. Stays at 4G
Memnoch73 said:
So after the now infamous 4G outage I did notice one important thing on my TB. That day I had the best battery life ever. First time I made it through the day without charging. Hopefully sometime soon we will have an official 4G on/off toggle. I know there is one that takes you to the service menu so you can change the settings but it would be nice to have one that you can just toggle 4G off to 3G then toggle back on without the extra steps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Power 2 antennas will definitely use some juice. That's why individuals in non-4G markets (like myself), disable the feature to keep from constant searching.
Turd Furguson said:
That's why individuals in non-4G markets (like myself), disable the feature to keep from constant searching.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I live in a 3G area, but work in a 4G area, and honestly didn't see much of a difference in normal usage except that my battery would die about 3/4 into the day with 4G enabled. Ever since I disabled 4G my battery lasts the whole day.
I am in a 3g area. Even before the outage my TB was always going from 3g to 1x. I called for help but it only continued. During the outage a fix was posted for a temp. fix to bring 3g back for those in a 3g area. The fix was to apply Rev. A. once I did this not only did I get 3g back but it remained stable and it was loading w a y faster then it ever has before. When I heard the 4g3g problem was fixed I followed the instructions to revert to the original setting. When I did the pages loaded slower like it always did. So I turned it back to Rev A. for good until I find myself in a real 4g environment. Oh and another big plus is that the battery has dramatically improved. So I am very happy leaving it like it is. Sweeet.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
edward_g said:
I am in a 3g area. Even before the outage my TB was always going from 3g to 1x. I called for help but it only continued. During the outage a fix was posted for a temp. fix to bring 3g back for those in a 3g area. The fix was to apply Rev. A. once I did this not only did I get 3g back but it remained stable and it was loading w a y faster then it ever has before. When I heard the 4g3g problem was fixed I followed the instructions to revert to the original setting. When I did the pages loaded slower like it always did. So I turned it back to Rev A. for good until I find myself in a real 4g environment. Oh and another big plus is that the battery has dramatically improved. So I am very happy leaving it like it is. Sweeet.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you still able to do voice/data at the same time running like that?
I did not notice any degradation in terms of battery life after the outage. I'm in 4G area and use LTE Only Mode, so everything is the same as before about 18hrs from a charge.
I did use voice and data at the same time . I was surprised that it actually worked.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

Anyone having issues with signal constantly dropping to 2G?

My wife just upgraded from the MyTouch Slide 3G to the Slide 4G. The 4G is constantly dropping to 2G so obviously the data speeds are terrible. Her Slide 3G usually always stayed in 3G in the same areas the 4G is now dropping. Anyone else experiencing this?
Did experience something like this at a friend's house.
Sounds like the problem that the one of the reviewers of the Sidekick 4G was having (ping-ponging between 4G and 2G). Not everyone was having that problem in the wild, though. Could be a coincidence that two recent physical keyboard-based 4G phones are having trouble holding their T-Mobile HSPA+ connections and skipping the 3G alternative, though it could be a bug with T-Mobile's HSPA+ at the tower or phone level. I don't know know the protocol rules on the handoff between 3G and HSPA+. Some reviewers have reported lower data rates than expected with the Slide. The Sensation supposedly has a death grip issue, so maybe there's a variation of that with the Slide (due to a different landscape hand position using the physical keyboard) resulting in 2G connections. Could be temporary capacity issues with your wife's local 3G/4G towers. Is this a constant problem or worse at different times of the day? I remember a few years back reading a report on 3G mobile streaming usage experiments in Europe that it only took like 8 people streaming on the same tower to saturate the tower's 3G capacity. Of course, the number should be higher with HSPA+, but just wanted to point out it is possible for a tower to get overloaded. Keep us posted. This is the kind of stuff that will determine whether I get the Slide and stay with T-Mobile.
I'm in MD and I'm constantly having this issue in my apartment. One minute I have 4g and the next I have 2g and it wont switch back until I restart the phone. I wont even be holding it and i see the issue. Dunno, at least I have 14 days to bring it back.
Had same issue with my sensation. Try going into settings and switching to just wcdma as opposed to it picking between gsm/wcdma. It is under wireless and mobile settings. That is assuming you are in a good 4g area. It will not show 3g
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
Well i saw this happening on the 1st floor of my house. But it was in a hallway away from the windows. but when i moved it came back to 4g and stays there. I think it has do more with the tower and whats available in your area.
Should I ever see 3G on the phone? Currently it is only ever in 4G or 2G. I notice the manual mentions 3G also though. I was assuming it always said 4G even if it was really 3G, but now I'm not sure. Has anyone seen 3G at all for their signal? I'm wondering if there is a setting wrong on the phone.
For those of you that don't have the network settings, go to the market and download an app called Network, it's free. Scroll down to set preferred network type and chose WCDMA only.
Randomocity812 said:
I'm in MD and I'm constantly having this issue in my apartment. One minute I have 4g and the next I have 2g and it wont switch back until I restart the phone. I wont even be holding it and i see the issue. Dunno, at least I have 14 days to bring it back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This issue is the phone itself. This is a verry buggy phone. Coming from a family g1 plan and were very excited but these phones have issues. Cant wait for root. Neways i know the 2g issue is that it gets stuck and u have to reboot. For ex. I tested in cordelane ID in near costco. Full 4g bars. Had 2 mt4gs's. One phone was in 4g and the other was stuck. I tried the old g1 trick they had in the beginning switching in and out of airplane mode. Did not work. Rebooted and it worked fine. Many other issues like all the time on both phones the widgets get stuck. U must slide to next screen than go back and widget works. Like i said i have 2 phones so i can troubleshoot and feel confident its not a glitch with a particular phone, etc. These phones suck.

Sprint's "network vision" and their excuse for terrible 3g

I have called Sprint on their BS and their horrible 3G.
Evo Shift = EVDO Rev A
Photon Q/iPhone5/newer phones = EVDO Rev B
Ping time on Photon Q = 800ms+ latency
Download speed = 0.02Mbps
Evo Shift = ~300ms latency
Download speed = .5Mbps
http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/99267?start=360&tstart=0 <-- iPhone5 users having the same problem.
I switched back to my Evo Shift 4G. Apparently every tower is "down" in my area while they perform the upgrades. OVER IT.
Link above spells it out
VICODAN said:
I have called Sprint on their BS and their horrible 3G.
Evo Shift = EVDO Rev A
Photon Q/iPhone5/newer phones = EVDO Rev B
Ping time on Photon Q = 800ms+ latency
Download speed = 0.02Mbps
Evo Shift = ~300ms latency
Download speed = .5Mbps
http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/99267?start=360&tstart=0 <-- iPhone5 users having the same problem.
I switched back to my Evo Shift 4G. Apparently every tower is "down" in my area while they perform the upgrades. OVER IT.
Link above spells it out
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Click to collapse
One, EVDO Rev B, last I checked, is not on the Photon Q or any LTE phone other than the iPhone 5. Two, EVDO Rev B IS NOT AND WILL NOT BE DEPLOYED BY SPRINT OR VERIZON. All phones connect to EVDO Rev A.
Those speeds and pings are highly varying, make SURE both phones are connected to 3G (EVDO). It seems the Photon Q is connected to 1xRTT rather than EVDO, while the Evo Shift is connected to EVDO.
Yea I've been contemplating returning my Photon Q as well (still have a few more days in the 14-day return period for Costco) or selling it outright. I wish I had made the decision before last Friday when I could have picked up a GS3 for $50...
I have my Evo Shift on craigslist for sale, and thus returned it to stock, but am thinking I may unlock it again, try out CM10 on it, and if it runs well, switch back too. LTE would be nice, and even though I'm in the Atlanta metro, and get LTE speeds driving around, it seems to have dead zones at my house, my buddy's house, my wife's school, and anywhere else I might have the opportunity to use it. I was hoping some of the development would help fix these issues, but I guess I'm too impatient to wait lol. One of the last straws was going to watch a video on collegehumor that wouldn't run on the Q, even with Flash 11.1 sideloaded, but runs fine on my original HTC EVO (which also runs CM10).
Dunno, its a hard choice... the keyboard is really nice, and I'm excited for the free vehicle dock, and the dual core 1.5 is pretty sweet, but there are just too many issues with the thing...
To me the downside of Sprint's network is that the connection seems to drop out often, resulting in the inability to load data at that instant, and probably battery drain... i would think anyway. Does anyone else notice the connection dropping and reconnecting a lot? I felt like i maintained a much more steady connection on T-Mobile's network. And yea, i find Sprint 3G to be pretty slow.
But in the few times i've had strong LTE, i've had the fastest speeds i have ever recorded anywhere!
zodiac12345 said:
One, EVDO Rev B, last I checked, is not on the Photon Q or any LTE phone other than the iPhone 5. Two, EVDO Rev B IS NOT AND WILL NOT BE DEPLOYED BY SPRINT OR VERIZON. All phones connect to EVDO Rev A.
Those speeds and pings are highly varying, make SURE both phones are connected to 3G (EVDO). It seems the Photon Q is connected to 1xRTT rather than EVDO, while the Evo Shift is connected to EVDO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the Photon is NOT getting Evdo (whatever rev) even though it says it does. Both stock and post OTA.
yogi2010 said:
To me the downside of Sprint's network is that the connection seems to drop out often, resulting in the inability to load data at that instant, and probably battery drain... i would think anyway. Does anyone else notice the connection dropping and reconnecting a lot? I felt like i maintained a much more steady connection on T-Mobile's network. And yea, i find Sprint 3G to be pretty slow.
But in the few times i've had strong LTE, i've had the fastest speeds i have ever recorded anywhere!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed the exact same thing. When I'm on 3G, the data is fairly regularly just dropping for a second or two at a time, so anything that requires a constant connection (like IRC) will crap out. The few times I've been in 4G, mostly in silicon valley, I've gotten ridiculously fast speeds. Last time I ran a speed test it was like 36MBps down and 20MBps up. I never saw those speeds with Verizon (but that's likely because so many more people were actually using Verizon, too)
Jgard said:
I've noticed the exact same thing. When I'm on 3G, the data is fairly regularly just dropping for a second or two at a time, so anything that requires a constant connection (like IRC) will crap out. The few times I've been in 4G, mostly in silicon valley, I've gotten ridiculously fast speeds. Last time I ran a speed test it was like 36MBps down and 20MBps up. I never saw those speeds with Verizon (but that's likely because so many more people were actually using Verizon, too)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah the dropping connection is terrible, and happens even in a real strong 3G area. could it have anything to do with looking for LTE, or being on the edge of an LTE zone, or just the fact that the whole network is in flux? hopefully it's only temporary 'cuz it's pretty bad... seems real slow too, especially on downloads.
yeah, my record speedtest was 37 MBps down in LTE! i never got 20 up tho. yea, there can't be too many people using Sprint LTE yet, but i've been reading some forums on the site s4gru.com, and supposedly Verizon just raced to cover the nation with LTE, but didn't rebuild their entire network like Sprint is doing. who knows, but at least Sprint LTE seems promising.
yogi2010 said:
yeah the dropping connection is terrible, and happens even in a real strong 3G area. could it have anything to do with looking for LTE, or being on the edge of an LTE zone, or just the fact that the whole network is in flux? hopefully it's only temporary 'cuz it's pretty bad... seems real slow too, especially on downloads.
yeah, my record speedtest was 37 MBps down in LTE! i never got 20 up tho. yea, there can't be too many people using Sprint LTE yet, but i've been reading some forums on the site s4gru.com, and supposedly Verizon just raced to cover the nation with LTE, but didn't rebuild their entire network like Sprint is doing. who knows, but at least Sprint LTE seems promising.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a bug in 77.8 (drop data when changing network mode)
workaround: turn on airplane mode, turn off, or reboot phone.
VICODAN said:
That is a bug in 77.8 (drop data when changing network mode)
workaround: turn on airplane mode, turn off, or reboot phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think these are actually 2 different things, i've been seeing the signal drop/reconnect ever since the original software version. after the update, the 3G icon will disappear(like after a phone call) and won't come back until you toggle airplane mode or it drops and reconnects on it's own(which seems to be often!). but if your 3G icon disappears and you have bars, try and you should see that you can still load data, so i believe that bug since the update is more of a cosmetic thing. at least that's how it is for me, and others have said the same on other forums.
Here's a screenshot where i have no 3G icon but have a perfect data connection!
yogi2010 said:
yeah the dropping connection is terrible, and happens even in a real strong 3G area. could it have anything to do with looking for LTE, or being on the edge of an LTE zone, or just the fact that the whole network is in flux? hopefully it's only temporary 'cuz it's pretty bad... seems real slow too, especially on downloads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, that issue actually does have a lot to do with the phone wanting to search for LTE, or trying to prefer LTE when the connection is very weak. The solution? Turn off LTE when you're not in LTE coverage. Not the most elegant or pleasing solution, but that fixes it.
Sent from my Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE (XT897-rooted) using xda-developers app.
FinntheViking said:
You're right, that issue actually does have a lot to do with the phone wanting to search for LTE, or trying to prefer LTE when the connection is very weak. The solution? Turn off LTE when you're not in LTE coverage. Not the most elegant or pleasing solution, but that fixes it.
Sent from my Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE (XT897-rooted) using xda-developers app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that could be it for me. I switched to CDMA-only a few hours ago and haven't seen the signal drop out once. I'll keep an eye on it tho to make sure. It seems like LTE is creeping in around where i live, so my phone may have been wanting to connect but was just out of range of it.

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