I have been considering rooting my phone, but I'm still a little uneasy about it. I've just been wondering though, if I root it, then flash a new radio will I be able to get better signal? I've been checking the dBm readings on my Inspire, and it seems I'm lucky to see it in the -80 dBm range. It is usually in the -90 dBm range. I tried to do some research, and from what I gathered -90 to -99 dBm is getting on the poor side. I love this phone, just about the only thing that would make it better for me is better signal, and to remove the bloatware (I know I have to root for this). Thanks for any insight/suggestions.
It might and it might not. The only way to find out is to do it. Every radio works differently on every phone.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App
like stated above, might, might not.
for me i went for it, i can now go to a town where i had no reception at all (i mean at all) and get full bars edge. for me it was as simple as a different rom and kernel with the stock radio.
whats even more impressive is that any phone on at&t gets no service in that area of the state...
ive found that using the most current at&t stock radio has result that are fine . ive flashed different radios with different roms but not really ever seen better or worse results
suprtrukr425 said:
I have been considering rooting my phone, but I'm still a little uneasy about it. I've just been wondering though, if I root it, then flash a new radio will I be able to get better signal? I've been checking the dBm readings on my Inspire, and it seems I'm lucky to see it in the -80 dBm range. It is usually in the -90 dBm range. I tried to do some research, and from what I gathered -90 to -99 dBm is getting on the poor side. I love this phone, just about the only thing that would make it better for me is better signal, and to remove the bloatware (I know I have to root for this). Thanks for any insight/suggestions.
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Maybe or maybe not. What you really need to do is use another phone with you to all places and compare what dBm readings that gets, take the average, and see if its just a coverage issue.
My nexus one, I see 90 to 100 dBm just about all the time, everywhere I go no matter what. The only time I see better is when I go down to San Diego where I hit 850 MHz coverage, then dBm gets pegged at 50 to 60 dBm everywhere, in buildings, no matter what. Its truly wireless bliss and shows why 1900 MHz stinks and why 850 MHz is preferred.
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suprtrukr425 said:
I have been considering rooting my phone, but I'm still a little uneasy about it. I've just been wondering though, if I root it, then flash a new radio will I be able to get better signal? I've been checking the dBm readings on my Inspire, and it seems I'm lucky to see it in the -80 dBm range. It is usually in the -90 dBm range. I tried to do some research, and from what I gathered -90 to -99 dBm is getting on the poor side. I love this phone, just about the only thing that would make it better for me is better signal, and to remove the bloatware (I know I have to root for this). Thanks for any insight/suggestions.
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I have flashed only a couple of roms to my inspire, but I'm not comfortable with flashing radios at this point. From my understanding, the radio's are simply a recommendation, and it may not work for you in your area. I stick what works for me. I get stronger wifi signals, speed increase, more battery life, and less bloatware. I will try the OTA radio update that ATT released on 4/29/11 eventually.
I've flashed a total of two radios post-rooting. The OTA, and now the 04.11_M2, with proper RILs.
It really is an individual thing, as others have been saying. My experience going from the OTA to the 04.11 has been improved signal.
After having run the OTA for several weeks, under normal circumstances, in places I would normally see jumpy signal bars, they now stay much more consistent with the 04.11. For me. So far.
So I'll venture to say that it is quite possible to improve your radio performance, though it may take testing out a few before you find the right match for your conditions.
As long as you download a no eng s-Off needed flashable zip, as can be found in the inspire radio thread in the dev section, and make sure you check the MD5 checksum of the downloaded radio prior to flashing, to make sure your download is complete and not corrupted, there's nothing to worry about.
Believe me, I held out a loooooong time before flashing a radio, due to my uneasiness about it.
Turns out I ended up shaking my head, asking myself "wtf were you so scared about? That was simple."
I agree was a lil bit scared at 1st, not anymore!
One of the biggest issues I've seen is getting the RIL to flash properly.
Pro-tip: mount /system in CWM before flashing the RIL zip file.
Scott_S said:
I've flashed a total of two radios post-rooting. The OTA, and now the 04.11_M2, with proper RILs.
It really is an individual thing, as others have been saying. My experience going from the OTA to the 04.11 has been improved signal.
After having run the OTA for several weeks, under normal circumstances, in places I would normally see jumpy signal bars, they now stay much more consistent with the 04.11. For me. So far.
So I'll venture to say that it is quite possible to improve your radio performance, though it may take testing out a few before you find the right match for your conditions.
As long as you download a no eng s-Off needed flashable zip, as can be found in the inspire radio thread in the dev section, and make sure you check the MD5 checksum of the downloaded radio prior to flashing, to make sure your download is complete and not corrupted, there's nothing to worry about.
Believe me, I held out a loooooong time before flashing a radio, due to my uneasiness about it.
Turns out I ended up shaking my head, asking myself "wtf were you so scared about? That was simple."
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I was going to do that m2 radio you mentioned but I keep getting an error when I try doing it thru the radio flasher that's recommended with Android Revolution 5.19 on my inspire. My signal is jumpy too. I have s-off but it still fails. Maybe when I can figure out what's stopping it then I'll try flashing a radio.
RoninChaos said:
I was going to do that m2 radio you mentioned but I keep getting an error when I try doing it thru the radio flasher that's recommended with Android Revolution 5.19 on my inspire. My signal is jumpy too. I have s-off but it still fails. Maybe when I can figure out what's stopping it then I'll try flashing a radio.
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Well, why not do it the standard way that's recommended for all radios, irregardless of ROM?
If you follow the instructions provided in the inspire radio thread over in the dev section, using the radio/ril files provided in the op of that thread, you won't have any problems.
I don't know anything about this radio flasher of which you speak, but it sounds like it's just introducing confusion into what otherwise is a very straightforward process.
Related
So I had one Nexus S (#1) for about a month and I have another Nexus S (#2) that I got few days ago.
#1 had terrible signal strength. Many times, it had 1-2 bars and I believe that it hardly had 4 full bars. Moreover, 3G connection would switch to EDGE constantly, especially when on the move (e.g. car). Download speed was kind of slow too. But since this was my first 3G device [I had old Windows Mobile phone], I wasn't quite sure if this was normal.
However, no random boot or many of the problems pointed out at XDA.. maybe except for back button that doesn't respond from time to time.
#2 has great signal strength. It stays usually at 4 full bars and I don't think I've ever got EDGE connection this time. Internet is very fast. It downloads app within a few second. No random boots or back button issue.
I bought my NS around end of December a week or so after it came out.
I usually get 3-4 bars reception, but where I live I think my reception is pretty crappy since I'm sort of on the edge of the coverage zone of the tower. It get's much better reception when I'm outside though. My DL speeds are crap however. I've yet to hit 3+mbps downloads or 1.5+mbps uploads
update your radio to KB3 (or KB1) see which one is better for you. you can find it on the dev forums
If I update the kernel (I was looking at voodoo) and use the stock rom, would this be considered rooting and not legal? I kind of want to use voodoo but I still want to keep the stock rom.
johnkim0011 said:
If I update the kernel (I was looking at voodoo) and use the stock rom, would this be considered rooting and not legal? I kind of want to use voodoo but I still want to keep the stock rom.
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Voodoo is not a kernel, its a MOD that is embedded within a kernel. Most NS kernels feature Voodoo Color & Sound. I recommend Netarchy's 1.2.5a
The Nexus S is created to be rooted and hacked. XDA is a forum for people modding their phones with modified kernels/ROMs/etc, Google isn't going to knock on your door and arrest you for doing this. No need to be scared.
zephiK said:
Voodoo is not a kernel, its a MOD that is embedded within a kernel. Most NS kernels feature Voodoo Color & Sound. I recommend Netarchy's 1.2.5a
The Nexus S is created to be rooted and hacked. XDA is a forum for people modding their phones with modified kernels/ROMs/etc, Google isn't going to knock on your door and arrest you for doing this. No need to be scared.
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I guess I'll start looking into various ROMs but one of the focal point of purchasing NS was to use the stock..
so I rooted my Inspire 4G, and downloaded the 1.84 radio rooted/SL from this forum. Then I installed CM7, 7.0.3. to be exact, and I noticed the speed tests were always slower. Last week, before I unrooted/restored to stock original, I had it rooted but before I got 1.84. I thought this time, after putting 1.84, CM7 should be as fast or faster. But it was not. I usually got good <200 pings, but download speeds of 2-2.9, uploads a little higher than one. With 1.84 rooted/SL, I've often gotten speeds higher than 7 to download, as on the last 4 tests, and have had quite a few download speeds higher than 10 with 1.84 stock rooted/SL. I'm in NYC. With CM7 today, I tried editing the APN settings per what I saw here on XDA, to no avail.
Can someone tell me why? What custom ROMS can I get which will be leaner AND faster than stock? I love CyanogenMod's layouts, themes, customization, but cannot stand the slower speeds. Could it be that custom ROMs are optimized for Desire HDs and not Inspire 4G's? I already tried CoreDroid, and not only was it slow, but had terrible battery life. I also want a ROM that has good maps, gps, wi-fi, as few bugs as possible. I really do want gingerbread, but it should be fast, as the Gingerbread man was. Another issue with CM7 was that sometimes, it would lose all data capabilities, the blue H and bars would go white, and when I'd try speed test, it would go to Houston TX for a server.
can I please get a response? I wanna use a custom rom, but I wanna know how to get a custom ROM which makes my phone faster.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest you try some of the radios in the radio thread. With CoreDroid 6.8, I had good luck with radio Radio_12.54.60.25_26.09.04.11_M2 along with its RIL, although I can also say that radio Radio_12.39.60.19_26.06.04.06_M_release and its RIL seemed to give better battery life.
From what I've read, radio performance can be specific to geographic location. So what works good for me in AL may not work as well for you in NY.
it was mentioned to wait 24-48hrs after flashing a radio to see effects of battery life, radio signal, etc... but i have yet come across the reason.
i just reflashed the same coredroid + suggested radio/RIL after something wrong happening to my phone. however i noticed before i had full bars of signal and now i am down to 1 or two bars.
is that because the flash was just complete?
mshen11 said:
it was mentioned to wait 24-48hrs after flashing a radio to see effects of battery life, radio signal, etc... but i have yet come across the reason.
i just reflashed the same coredroid + suggested radio/RIL after something wrong happening to my phone. however i noticed before i had full bars of signal and now i am down to 1 or two bars.
is that because the flash was just complete?
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The reason is because the effects of a radio change aren't necessarily going to be so drastic that you'll be able to tell after five minutes. If they are drastic in a bad way, it may be because you have a mismatched RIL, need another reboot, other types of little adjustments to get the radio going....They take time to settle in.
And the difference in battery will probably be even more subtle.
Let it "smooth out," then you can better gauge whether it was an improvement or not.
For your low bars issue, try reflashing the radio, sometimes a double flash of the same radio has been known to help. Reboot twice. Same thing... Another "voodoo" radio fix.
Like I also said above, make sure you have the right RIL for your ROM/radio.
And it's not because of an "incomplete radio flash." It either flashes completely, fails to even start the flash, or if you have really bad luck, your phone bricks.
Scott_S said:
And it's not because of an "incomplete radio flash." It either flashes completely, fails to even start the flash, or if you have really bad luck, your phone bricks
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Now... that's what I call scary eeks!
I 100% recommend the double flashing of radios. In two separate occasions i've had problems with download an upload speeds and NOTHING seemed to fix the problem except for reflashing the radio. I tried flashing different radios, rils, roms and only flashing the same radio twice fixed my speed problems.
I'm no expert in any of this nor can I guarantee the same results but it's also something to keep in mind besides the settling of your radio for a couple of days.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
I just got my Inspire yesterday. I used the stock ROM for a few hours including
doing some speed tests, in which I was able to get around ~4mbps on H+, and one time I was able to get 5.4mbps. Uploads were fairly consistent around 1.6mbps. The tower I am on doesn't cover that many people so it's usually easy to get those speeds.
Last night I followed the instructions and successfully rooted my phone and installed the latest Android Revolution ROM running 2.3.3. Ever since I noticed HSUPA is really terrible - My downloads rarely go higher than 2 megs and my uploads have suffered and I've gotten as low as 100kbps up. Sometimes I get full 1.6mbps up but it's rare. Sometimes pings go as high as 1500ms. Frequently the speed test would just hang and eventually say Network Connectivity Issues.
I have tried several different radios and used the matching RIL files and I'm not getting any luck - I even tried the AT&T stock modem which I had the best results on on 2.2, but maybe it's because I'm running 2.3.3 that's why I am having those issues. Again, on the stock modem on stock firmware, it worked great. But on the other modems on Android Revolution I'm not having any luck
Do you think I'd have better results if I flashed back to a 2.2-based ROM or am I missing something? Data connectivity works, it's just not very optimal.
Since I don't have 8 posts yet I guess I can't post links but here are screenshots.
s3.amazonaws.com/website_content/android/inspire/inspire-about.png
s3.amazonaws.com/website_content/android/inspire/inspire-rom-speedtest.png
You're probably not being patient enough. In the radio thread they recommend that you use the radio for at least 24 hours before making a judgement on it's performance. They take time to settle.
Also, obligatory "Questions go in the Q&A section"
Perhaps you need a few adjustments to your APN settings, there is a thread floating around here somewhere, the development section I believe, find it and follow the op. Just a suggestion.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App
As cdshepherd said, you probably just need to adjust your APNs. There is not a single custom Inspire ROM out there (other than the few that are heavily based on the stock ROM) that has the proper APN configuration built in that matches the stock ROM. My APN thread gives you full instructions on how to change your APNs back to AT&T stock, which restores full speeds, the same as being on the stock Inspire ROM. The concept is simple; the key to getting good speeds is simply switching to an APN of "Phone" - but all of the details are in that APN thread. To give you an example, in my particular market unless I change the APNs, all custom ROMs run slow (speeds in the neighborhood of .7 - 1 Mb/s down / 300 Kb/s up). Once I change the APNs then I get 4-6 Mb/s down, 1.2 Mb/s up.
One more thing. You said you've flashed a bunch of radios, so I don't know which version you have now. Initially I would recommend sticking with either version 26.06.06.30_M or 26.10.04.03_M for now. These are the official OTA radios for the Inspire and they both work very well with every custom ROM I've tried (and I've played with many of them - Sense and AOSP).
henrybravo said:
As cdshepherd said, you probably just need to adjust your APNs. There is not a single custom Inspire ROM out there (other than the few that are heavily based on the stock ROM) that has the proper APN configuration built in that matches the stock ROM. My APN thread gives you full instructions on how to change your APNs back to AT&T stock, which restores full speeds, the same as being on the stock Inspire ROM. The concept is simple; the key to getting good speeds is simply switching to an APN of "Phone" - but all of the details are in that APN thread. To give you an example, in my particular market unless I change the APNs, all custom ROMs run slow (speeds in the neighborhood of .7 - 1 Mb/s down / 300 Kb/s up). Once I change the APNs then I get 4-6 Mb/s down, 1.2 Mb/s up.
One more thing. You said you've flashed a bunch of radios, so I don't know which version you have now. Initially I would recommend sticking with either version 26.06.06.30_M or 26.10.04.03_M for now. These are the official OTA radios for the Inspire and they both work very well with every custom ROM I've tried (and I've played with many of them - Sense and AOSP).
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so would you recommend keeping the stock radios for ppl with Android Revolution HD? It seems iffy- some ppl get better data, while others get worse
hey guys, currently im on ordroid 6.1.0
faux kernel
sometimes my wifi or data will restart
does it have someting to do with radio??
which radio can i use for this rom?
I'm pretty sure it's a known bug. Your radio version usually only determines signal and strength depending on your area. It might even effect battery life, but I'm not certain about this.
sshede said:
I'm pretty sure it's a known bug. Your radio version usually only determines signal and strength depending on your area. It might even effect battery life, but I'm not certain about this.
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my wifi signal strength isnt that strong too. so for this problem is radio problem?
It very well could be. Not a lot of ICS radios though. I've also seen a thread that compares the Sensation's reception to other phones - it wasn't that good.
Sorry about grammer, posted from phone.
sshede said:
It very well could be. Not a lot of ICS radios though. I've also seen a thread that compares the Sensation's reception to other phones - it wasn't that good.
Sorry about grammer, posted from phone.
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any radio recommended?