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.
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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.
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Related
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.
I am in a "4g extended area" where it constantly drops to 3g and constantly goes in and out. My battery is draining by increments of like 10% per hour while I am not using my phone. I am currently using the tesla 1.5 rom. Is there a possibility there is an issue with my sim card for this issue or just straight up a problem in verizons network? When I leave wifi on the battery doesnt constantly drain on standby any tips would be appreciated thanks
Try the LTE OnOff app on the market. Setting it to CDMA auto (prl) might help in spotty 4G coverage.
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If you're not in a good 4G area your battery will die very fast because the radio's are constantly searching and switching back and forth between 3G and 4G, you should either use LTE mode to try and lock on LTE only or turn LTE off completely and use CDMA Auto.
Same problem here as you. stuck in the grey area at home.
I would rather be in s grey area like you than nothing where I am.
stephenta said:
I am in a "4g extended area" where it constantly drops to 3g and constantly goes in and out. My battery is draining by increments of like 10% per hour while I am not using my phone. I am currently using the tesla 1.5 rom. Is there a possibility there is an issue with my sim card for this issue or just straight up a problem in verizons network? When I leave wifi on the battery doesnt constantly drain on standby any tips would be appreciated thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know your pain... I'm exactly 1/2 a mile from the 4G coverage area... im in the "Extended 4G area" and i'll be lucky if I get 3G on this phone let alone 4G... I have to use wifi to get data out there. Which is kinda annoying beacuse if I go to the local grocery store ( 1/2 a mile away ) I get blazing 4G ...
This NEVER happened with my DX or Fascinate... they were both on perfect 3G data.
Hopefully Big Red will "Turn up the volume" and get better signal to those of us on the outskirts of the Main 4G areas.
Magicadder said:
I know your pain... I'm exactly 1/2 a mile from the 4G coverage area... im in the "Extended 4G area" and i'll be lucky if I get 3G on this phone let alone 4G... I have to use wifi to get data out there. Which is kinda annoying beacuse if I go to the local grocery store ( 1/2 a mile away ) I get blazing 4G ...
This NEVER happened with my DX or Fascinate... they were both on perfect 3G data.
Hopefully Big Red will "Turn up the volume" and get better signal to those of us on the outskirts of the Main 4G areas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same situation as you, its annoying
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They just turned on LTE in my area of Hawaii (though I don't think officially.) But it constantly switches back from 4G to 3G and vice versa. Sometimes it gets stuck with no data and I have to toggle airplane mode. My buddies phone in same spot could show 4G and mines 3G and vice versa. This significantly drains the battery and not a very good experience. My question is I noticed in the app that we used to turn off 4G there is an option for LTE Only, does anyone know of there would be any negative reprocussions on leaving it on 4G only? Like could it harm the phone, would any certain features/apps not work properly, etc?
I ran it like that today. Data connection seemed better and constant. When I looked at my phone throughout the day I did not notice a time where there was no data. My calls/texts/emails came through like normal. Battery seemed better. Left work with more battery than my LG Revolution which is normally the other way around. I did not run into any negative impact with setting it to LTE Only. Can anyone think of any warnings?
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All it does is set your radio to only use 4G. If you get to an areabthat has no 4g or wifi you would have to switch back to 3g or 3g/4g auto in order to get data.
No harm, just won't switch out of 4g unless you do it. Probably why the data lock is better and battery life as well.
If you get solid 4G just use LTE only and switch it if you loose 4G.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
MrHawaii said:
They just turned on LTE in my area of Hawaii (though I don't think officially.) But it constantly switches back from 4G to 3G and vice versa. Sometimes it gets stuck with no data and I have to toggle airplane mode. My buddies phone in same spot could show 4G and mines 3G and vice versa. This significantly drains the battery and not a very good experience. My question is I noticed in the app that we used to turn off 4G there is an option for LTE Only, does anyone know of there would be any negative reprocussions on leaving it on 4G only? Like could it harm the phone, would any certain features/apps not work properly, etc?
I ran it like that today. Data connection seemed better and constant. When I looked at my phone throughout the day I did not notice a time where there was no data. My calls/texts/emails came through like normal. Battery seemed better. Left work with more battery than my LG Revolution which is normally the other way around. I did not run into any negative impact with setting it to LTE Only. Can anyone think of any warnings?
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are fine running LTE only. All you will get with that is 4G & 1x, so either extremely fast data, or slow as a turtle. I use that setting almost all the time here in Jersey, I live right outside of NYC so I get constant 4G coverage. It does help with the battery life too.
Anyone else getting a poor 4g signal with the Droid Charge?
My Droid Charge will often show a 4g signal at boot but then drop to a 3g signal. To get the phone to recognize the 4g signal i either have to go into settings and toggle the system selection to CDMA mode and then back to LTE Automatic or reboot the phone.
I sit next to two people who have an HTC Thunderbolt and when comparing signal strength both co-workers will have a strong 4g signal and my Droid Charge will show a 4g signal with 3 bars for 1-5 minutes and then drop back to a 3g signal with 2 to 3 bars.
In addition when I start to download/upload a bigger data file (music, movie trailers, ROM's) the signal will often drop to 3g.
I live Rocklin, CA - work in West Sacramento, CA and visit Fresno, CA often. I have noticed that the signal drops from 4g to 3g in the areas. When I check the coverage map from Verizon it shows that I am squarely in a 4g area.
I have a technical call into Verizon (went to 3rd level tech support) and have a pending ticket still open since June 1st.
I understand that the battery life on the HTC Thunderbolt is supposedly much shorter but at this point I can't help but wonder if that is due to a better signal/antenna. I am starting to wish I could goto the Thunderbolt and just buy a bunch of spare batteries. At least it works for what it was made for.
Very frustrating to give up my awesome Droid X that now has Gingerbread and Cyanogen being developed for it for a supposedly 4g phone that has trouble staying in 4g mode.
Im dealing with the same issues here. Verison said NYC was having issues then. In VA now it seems like a solid 4G signal
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Info we will need to help... be sepecific
I know what you mean, i live in golden, colorado; yes where the beer is made...
I also live right on the edge of Denver's 4g service. I think i can help, but there is alot of info that you haven't included in your thread question.
The beginning of witch is what rom are you on? Stock, debloat, etc.? if you are on stock there are a variety of new rom and kernals here on this site, including gingerbread 2.3.4 (I can't do without netflix) ... im hearing cyanogen is gonna be tricky, but im sure some one is working on it.
If you are on stock, have you accepted all the updates let me know what build your on "menu/settings/about phone/base band version or build" there are some tweaking things to do to improve your experience, but not too much unless your rooted... there is a mod "i believe" that will let you choose to lock your phone into 4g instead of letting it toggle itself. if I can find the post i"ll post a like here
ijustdontcare said:
I know what you mean, i live in golden, colorado; yes where the beer is made...
I also live right on the edge of Denver's 4g service. I think i can help, but there is alot of info that you haven't included in your thread question.
The beginning of witch is what rom are you on? Stock, debloat, etc.? if you are on stock there are a variety of new rom and kernals here on this site, including gingerbread... im hearing cyanogen is gonna be tricky, but im sure some one is working on it.
If you are on stock, have you accepted all the updates let me know what build your on "menu/settings/about phone/base band version or build" there are some tweaking things to do to improve your experience, but not too much unless your rooted... there is a mod "i believe" that will let you choose to lock your phone into 4g instead of letting it toggle itself. if I can find the post i"ll post a like here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about that. I meant to include the information and I forgot.
Samsung Droid Charge Stock ED1 loaded + OTA Updates
Rooted @ Default speed & voltage
CWM Voodoo Lagfix Recovery v4.0.0.8
PeanutButta & Jelly Time Kernel - 0709_charge_overclock
GummyCharged 1.8.5 ROM
Fresh Install +
-AppBrain
-Beautiful Widgets
-Pandora
-Speedtest
-Swiftkey
-Tapatalk
-Titanium Backup
-Widget Locker
Menu/Settings/About Phone/Baseband
i510.06 V.EE4
SCH-I510.EE1
If you can find that link that would be fantastic. I checked the market for at least an LTE/4g to 3g toggle and there is not one that supports the Charge yet.
ijustdontcare said:
I know what you mean, i live in golden, colorado; yes where the beer is made...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Mmmmmm Beer........"
Can't find link bear with me bud, i might have to get a developer involved, interesting because i know i read a hole thread on here...
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here is one link
Here ya go i dont know if its quite what your looking for, but i'll try to find the other thread!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1081491&highlight=lte+only
I forgot to tell ya that the new EP1F Gingerbread has a much better radio I think!
I also have this problem, but it seems it's a lot less annoying to me than it is to you. My Charge will drop from 4g to 1x randomly and ladder its way back up within 30seconds. this is rare, but Fort Worth, TX is covered by 4g so it's odd that it even happens.
Sent from my Droid Charge running Humble 2.2
ijustdontcare said:
Here ya go i dont know if its quite what your looking for, but i'll try to find the other thread!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1081491&highlight=lte+only
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw this thread too. It looks like that once you enable the 4g only mode that you lose the 3g/CDMA phone and text though. I wish there was a way to do what the 2nd to last person said and to only disable the EV-DO 3G:
"Ah, I should've guessed they would make the phone code for this hidden menu option "LTE". Now I wish there was a way to only disable EV-DO 3G (leaving CDMA intact for phone calls/texts). Can't have it all I guess..."
Thanks for you time and effort on this. Looks like this issue is starting to pop up on other forums as well:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-droid-charge/99610-clue-no-data-issue.html
ijustdontcare said:
I forgot to tell ya that the new EP1F Gingerbread has a much better radio I think!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Decided to try this solution out. Flashed last night to EP1F Humble 2.1 Gingerbread 2.3.4. Will run tests for a couple days to see if this fixes the radio. As of this morning the Charge still seems to be doing the same thing: showing a 4g signal then dropping to 3g when any load (such as speedtest.net, etc) is placed on it.
Running the test from West Sacramento which seems to be well within Verizon's 4g coverage area. In addition there are 2 HTC Thunderbolts that are near me that do not ever lose there 4g signal.
Battery life seems to be poor although I have not conditioned the battery yet. Pandora seems to skip which is the same issue that the new EPF1 GummyCharged GBE 1.4 was having.
I am about 2 days away from returning the phone to Verizon and seeing if they will do an even swap for the Thunderbolt.
I really appreciate your efforts here.
Called Verizon....
Called Verizon and getting a replacement Samsung Droid Charge sent in the mail. We will see if that helps....
With EP1H radio, choice of LTE/CDMA or CDMA
For what it's worth, I am running Kejar31's GummyCharged 1.8 which includes the radio from the EP1H 2.3 leak. With this radio, the options for "System selection" are either LTE/CDMA or CDMA.
I have only fair LTE reception at home, and the phone seems to say 4G sometimes, and 3G sometimes. But when I am doing a download, I mostly seem to see 4G speeds. My hypothesis is that the radio stays in 3G most of the time and only runs 4G when it needs to. Not sure if that is plausible, how long would it take to make the transition to 4G???
In any case, I got 19GB download on speakeasy web test. I could not do anywhere near that on EP1F radio. Also battery life is more tolerable with this kernel/radio/rom.
My $.02
I noticed yesterday and today that the network hasn't been flaky and I haven't had to reboot or cycle airplane mode. My speeds have been good since the late Thursday afternoon 4+ hour data outage. What are your experiences? Better, worse, same?
Mine are actually worse. Lots of 1x
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Uptime and responsiveness for two days in a row now have been flawless for me. No webpage timeouts, always get data throughput immediately. 3G and 4G seem to be back to `normal'. I too was part of that awful 4+hr outage on Thursday (and the random short and long outages for the past month which seemed like daily outages).
/south jersey area near philly.
No, connection sucks balls
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Mine has shown improvement but not great. Overall signal is better though. Don't understand why it would before update but I'm loving it. I'm on the latest prl and have been for several days now and sucked before.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
I usto never go into 1x but as off late I have and I need to toggle airplane mode to get 3g again
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steviee7 said:
I usto never go into 1x but as off late I have and I need to toggle airplane mode to get 3g again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No improvement whatsoever. In fact I think it is worse. I will sit in a normally 3 bar area, and eventually my phone will lose all data (no notification bar symbol, similar to when I receive a call) even though I still have 3 bars. Airplane on and off doesn't bring back data. Only a power cycle will bring back data.
I was about ready to update to the new radio and 2.3.5 but it seems like its not really better...seems hit or miss for people. Plus I'm on boost and if its not going to help my signal I'm not going to take a chance and have to redo my data settings for boost because its been running super for the last few months.
My update was from OTA not manually like most here did. I must say that my speeds here at home increased DRAMATICALLY. Using speedtest (only for 3G) I used to average 240-400kbps. Now I'm getting around 1300-1900kbps.
For the first time I've seen no 1x for a day
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