[Q] Help with diagnosing data connection issue - General Questions and Answers

I'm having a bizarre issue with my HTC Desire HD where the notification bar shows 4 bars of coverage (the max available) and the data connection shows 'H' (again, best possible), but the data connection often freezes/stalls/fails. Changing my data connection to 2G only fixes this issue and I get normal 2G connectivity with no issues. This is happening inside the building I work in (in central Edinburgh). I also experience this is other central edinburgh areas outside. However, further afield 3G works just fine.
Can anyone suggest what might be wrong? Alternatively, are there any tools which allow you to monitor the strength of data connection the phone is making? Or other diagnostic tools? Thanks!

Related

Questions about 3G/umts connection

A work colleague is using a sim free touch cruise on the vodafone network but vodafone don't have any support for this device (mind you neither does HTC ). We got the vodafone settings for billpay vodafone off the internet and input them and can now surf, download gmail etc over HSDPA (H icon shows) and then it automatically reverts to 3G when not in use.
The problem is that the icon for 3G/umts in use is always on (ie the small 3G over the signal strength) and when the bigger 3G icon is touched it shows how long connected to 3G and as the device is still connected it keeps counting time even though the application using 3G is shut down.
My questions are as follows:
In this state (big 3G icon showing and small 3G icon above signal strenght) is this costing anything being constantly connected to 3G but not using it?
How can it be set to automatically disconnect?
My own touch cruise is on the 3 network but I don't have this difficulty.
My thinking is that it might have something to do with "vodafone live" but not sure what is happening or possibly have selected the wrong set of settings for vodafone ireland as there is a few different sets.
Sorry this is a bit long winded but any advice much appreciated.
The always ON connection is general behaviour... it doesn't matter which network is the device on.
The big 3G/H icons only represent the available network (G(PRS)/E(DGE)/3G/H(SDPA))
The smaller is the signal strength...
The cost of the always ON connection depends on the dataplan being used... if it's an unlimited or a fairly large one like 5GB, it won't matter... but it realy depends on the data recieved....
In my case the avarage hourly traffic is around 1 MB, but i have a little e-mail traffic going so... whith a few mails and every 30 minute checking the traffic should be around 500 KB or lower...
As for the Auto-Disconnect, please search the forum... there are several threads about this in both subforums.
Thats great gnick666 thanks for your reply.
I know the Advanced Configuration Tool has an auto disconnect feature, but I had some issues with it and never went back to go play around with it.
You can also hold down the End button and a menu pops up and you can end data connection there. Or alternatively you can configure it so that holding down the End button always disconnects your data connection.
I have an unlimited data plan so not worried about data, I'm not sure however what the impact to battery usage is so I disconnect "just in case".
As for the 3G / H icon behaviors. Depending on which part of the country I'm in, I get different icons. Sometimes I get 3G and it switches to H when doing data. Othertimes it's always H whether disconnected or connected. (This is assuming that I'm in a 3G location) and not switching back to Edge.
Mine mostly shows the bigger 3G icon and the signal strenght icon with the little antenna icon (I'm on the 3 network which is 3g) but when I download data the small icon changes to 3G and then both change to H as required. Once finished it disconnects and reverts back to 3G. I have Schapps Advanced config tool installed.

[Q] How to stay constantly connected to 'H' instead of '3G'?

I'm in Australia with a HTC Legend, currently running CM7, previously had Sense of course.. however I don't thin this problem is specific to Legend at all.
When I have 'Mobile Data' enabled and I'm in a good reception area, it will say '3G' or 'H' in the notification bar.
I'm not really sure what the difference is, I've heard maybe 3G is slower than H or used to save power etc. But they both occur with the same amount of reception.. either I get 3G/H or G/E if I'm at a place with really bad reception.
However the problem is, when it has '3G' showing at the top, the data speed isn't slower, but NO DATA AT ALL is transferred. Then it switches to 'H' and internet works.
The annoying thing is, it seems the switching between '3G' and 'H' is COMPLETELY RANDOM. I could be looking through market, browsing web, using maps, downloading, streaming youtube and it will continuously randomly switch between the two, turning internet off and on as it does. It's incredibly frustrating because even if I'm in an area with great reception and I know it's capable of fast transfer speeds, while it's stuck on '3G' mode I get no internet at all.
Does anyone know exactly why it does this, what it means or how I can make it to stop switching to '3G' and stay on 'H'? If it's the radio switching to 3G to save battery when it thinks internet isn't being used, I'd like to disable this because it does switch to 3G when I DO want to use the internet, or right in the middle of data being transferred.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Can anyone provide any info? I'd really like to sort it out!
i think its depend on your provider, u cant always connect at H if your provider dont give u that signal
Snowtoad23 said:
I'm in Australia with a HTC Legend, currently running CM7, previously had Sense of course.. however I don't thin this problem is specific to Legend at all.
When I have 'Mobile Data' enabled and I'm in a good reception area, it will say '3G' or 'H' in the notification bar.
I'm not really sure what the difference is, I've heard maybe 3G is slower than H or used to save power etc. But they both occur with the same amount of reception.. either I get 3G/H or G/E if I'm at a place with really bad reception.
However the problem is, when it has '3G' showing at the top, the data speed isn't slower, but NO DATA AT ALL is transferred. Then it switches to 'H' and internet works.
The annoying thing is, it seems the switching between '3G' and 'H' is COMPLETELY RANDOM. I could be looking through market, browsing web, using maps, downloading, streaming youtube and it will continuously randomly switch between the two, turning internet off and on as it does. It's incredibly frustrating because even if I'm in an area with great reception and I know it's capable of fast transfer speeds, while it's stuck on '3G' mode I get no internet at all.
Does anyone know exactly why it does this, what it means or how I can make it to stop switching to '3G' and stay on 'H'? If it's the radio switching to 3G to save battery when it thinks internet isn't being used, I'd like to disable this because it does switch to 3G when I DO want to use the internet, or right in the middle of data being transferred.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its HSPA, what you get depends on your carrier's coverage area. A few cities in the US have them, such as Baltimore. When I flew to Minnesota I got 3G. As far as you not having a data connection on 3G, I believe if you're in an HSPA area you won't get data on 3G. I know I don't (I have a Galaxy S 4G). When you're in a 3G only area you should get data.
Sent from my Galaxy Tab running CM7

[Q] Why doesnt my lumia identify data connection?

I use LUMIA 710 with network operator AIRTEL.
I keep the data connection ON 24/7. I use it now and then. Data transfers smoothly and signal strength is also superb. But sometimes when i open apps which need data connection they say connection not available even though the connection is ON and signals are abundant. I don't know why this happens but this is happening often these days. I tried restarting, switching the DATA connection ON-OFF but no result. Help me out!

[Q] Is there a way to set the threshold for toggling between umts and gprs?

Hi!
This one is for simmodded users.
I ask for a way to set the threshold for toggling between uts and prs connections.
Often I experience the following: having uts with fair signal strength (3-4 bars) then, without leaving the same spot outside the q drops the 3g connection and starts a gprs connection (signal strength full).
If I force the uts connection I mostly get the weaker 3g connection reastablished. Problem with this settings: in areas where I won't have no 3g connection I have to manually switch back to auto setting.
So is there a way to modify the time of automatic connection switch, so I may have longer weak 3g connection before I drop to gprs?
The 4 answers!
Sent from my awesome XT897
I don't know such an app, only the manual way.
Theoretically you could use SmartActions to start an app change to 3G on good locations and change to 2G on bad locations.
However, I don't know such an app for this.
Maybe someone know a better solution.

[SOLVED] 3G consumes more battery than LTE, how this happens?

Hello XDA Community!
When my new phone (Huawei P9 Lite Mini) is on 3G/2G auto network mode, it consumes more battery than LTE/3G/2G auto mode even mobile data off.
I do not understand how this happens? For example, while 3G consumption at overnight is %10-15; LTE is only %2-3. This problem is the same in daytime too. Mobile data is off, unneccesary services/apps disabled, and no extra application installed while this happens. I tried all "wipe/factory reset/update firmware/factory reset/wipe/no app install" procedures, enabling all battery saving options, but it did not work. This is a problem for me when I'm in non-LTE areas.
This problem occurs the same result in different locations. There was no problem with my previous phone and I use same nano sim card.
I tried the following but it did not work:
- Wipe cache, factory reset, wipe cache,
- Wipe data/factory reset over recovery menu,
- Update latest firmware, wipe data etc. again.
How this happens and where am I doing wrong? Thank you for your help, best regards!
EDIT: PROBLEM SOLVED!
I changed my mobile carrier (provider) and the problem is gone. This is very interesting! I worked for hours and days to solve the problem, but this problem is neither caused by the phone nor by the software...
WCDMA (aka 3G with support for 2G/Edge) is in always-on mode on most phones, because that's how you receive and emit phone calls and, for most phones, SMS (in some more recent phones, LTE takes care of sending and receiving SMS/MMS), so if you're in an area where 3G/2G reception is poor, your phone has trouble locking on a cell with enough power to maintain contact, hence the battery drain.
4G/LTE only works for data, and voice if you have VoLTE (Voice over LTE) enabled, but works on a on-demand mode, even with cellular data constantly enabled. In other words, the 4G modem on your phone will memorize the latest position and IP address the nearest 4G tower/cell allocated it, and connect to it using the memorized settings when you need it to.
Not so with 3G, where DHCP doesn't exist, at least not the way it does in 4G: it uses PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), where an ad-hoc IP address is attributed to each new connection, based on a pool of existing addresses allocated to the tower and its owner (carrier) by the authorities.
UglyStuff said:
WCDMA (aka 3G with support for 2G/Edge) is in always-on mode on most phones, because that's how you receive and emit phone calls and, for most phones, SMS (in some more recent phones, LTE takes care of sending and receiving SMS/MMS), so if you're in an area where 3G/2G reception is poor, your phone has trouble locking on a cell with enough power to maintain contact, hence the battery drain.
4G/LTE only works for data, and voice if you have VoLTE (Voice over LTE) enabled, but works on a on-demand mode, even with cellular data constantly enabled. In other words, the 4G modem on your phone will memorize the latest position and IP address the nearest 4G tower/cell allocated it, and connect to it using the memorized settings when you need it to.
Not so with 3G, where DHCP doesn't exist, at least not the way it does in 4G: it uses PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), where an ad-hoc IP address is attributed to each new connection, based on a pool of existing addresses allocated to the tower and its owner (carrier) by the authorities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply!
When I googled about 3G vs. LTE battery consumption, everyone says that LTE will consume more batteries. That's make sense on first thought. So what I've been through is very interesting to me.
I think about is there a problem with my phone's 3G antenna. (footnote: I don't know about that 3g and LTE antennas are same or seperate?)
But I understand that you say this is normal, right?
Edit: I found a forum that this problem may be due to the operator (carrier). I'm still investigating...
3G and 4G operate on basically the same principle: receiving and sending "information" via radio waves.
The difference lies in the frequencies each standard uses, the way the data sent over them is modulated and demodulated, and how handsets make and maintain connection, so if you stay in the same location, and set your phone to 3G-only, then switch Airplane mode on then off, it'll take your phone longer to reconnect to the 3G cell/tower with the strongest signal (not necessarily the closest to you), because it'll have to go through the whole getting-acquainted process again, whereas in 4G, it'll go straight to the "Hey, how do you do? Long time, no see".
Now, if your phone antenna has a problem, you could be standing a few feet from the tower, in line of sight, and still get a crappy to non-existent signal. How many bars are showing on your screen is just an indication of how well your phone is receiving the signal from the tower; it doesn't mean that this signal is consistent and steady, hence the bars coming and going in real time.
If I were you, I'd download and install the Hidden Settings app from the Play Store, and run it; there, you go to RadioInfo, and you'll get a lot of information about how your phone modem actually works. It's a bit technical, but it would give you an indication.
I will try and looking for a new carrier. Thank you again. See you.
I changed my mobile carrier (provider) and the problem is gone. This is very interesting! I worked for hours and days to solve the problem, but this problem is neither caused by the phone nor by the software...

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