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Does Anyone Use 4g only/ LTE Mode?

I do a lot to save battery but keep the phone flying, but one thing i havent tried is using LTE only. I live outside of philly, so im thinking since im blanketed in all those 4g emvs and dont travel far i can pull this off all day without switching to 3g and back and forth. Anyone in cities centers doing this?

If you set it to LTE only and lose 4G service, you'll drop to 1X.

How do you set it to 4g only?

I use LTE Only mode, I live in L.A. and the entire city/county is pretty much blanketed in 4G, I've never seen my phone drop to anything else besides 4G but I'm sure it would if I went somewhere with bad service. Battery life is great for me on LTE only.

Yup I use LTE only in NYC. Not a single issue.

Use 4g only here in san Diego.. no issues

4G only here in Jersey City, no problems.

LTE only here in DC and all is well until I go too far from the city. Then I just switched it to 3G only. TeamAndIRC ftw.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

Cleveland with 4g only in LTE mode checking in. Good battery saver.

Good battery life with LTE? LOL yeah, if you don't use data. Try using it hard for a couple hours and see where your battery is.

Yep in Houston. Very rare does it drop service (usually only if I'm in the rear of a store) and it drops to 3G. *using *#*#4636#*#* method

I use it all the time.
I have a few spots on my commute that 4g drops for a sec and if I don't have it on lte only my tethering will stay on 3G until I turn off data and turn it back on.
So when I leave it on lte only it might cut out for a sec but comes back on.

I only use LTE in Nashville as well. No issues.

I haven't lost service since I went LTE only a few hours ago n I've been playing on it ever since. Pretty good. Maybe the device takes on 3g if that signal is stronger? Every other time I use it In my house I notice it flipping between them. ill have to really take a few days n see if it makes a difference w battery

how are you guys turning on 4g in the settings? i dont see a setting for 4g anywhere

wardo5757 said:
how are you guys turning on 4g in the settings? i dont see a setting for 4g anywhere
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phone/dialer, *#*#4636#*#*
tap phone info, scroll down, choose LTE only from drop down menu, wait or optionally tap radio off and then radio on
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

LTE mode on in Denver - spotty as your head towards the mountains

LTE only in Seattle area, no problems.
I use an app called Network by mangelow to manage the radio.

jmz768 said:
If you set it to LTE only and lose 4G service, you'll drop to 1X.
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I've experienced the same problem, it hardly ever drops to 3g, always straight to 1x. I also live in a extended service zone and usually only get 1 or 2 bars of 4g at home. One thing I noticed is that if I have my whole hand gripped tightly on the phone, I will lose 4g. Kind of annoying at times. Hope it is just an automatic switching software problem and they can update it to seamless 4g/3g switching with no 1x!

I am going to try lte only in Pittsburgh... will post status update tomorrow

does the g2x even have a 3g indicator icon?

ive noticed that i get a 4g and a 2g icon but wheres the 3g icon? has anyone seened it?

Travling through the middle of nowhere over the last 3 days I've seen, no signal, G, 2G, 3G, & 4G. It's there.

I also have not seen the 3G icon. I drive through the city and would think when I get out if 4G I would at least still be in a 3G area. Wonder if something may be wrong....
Sent from my T-Mobile G2X using XDA app.

Cyberdan3 said:
I also have not seen the 3G icon. I drive through the city and would think when I get out if 4G I would at least still be in a 3G area. Wonder if something may be wrong....
Sent from my T-Mobile G2X using XDA app.
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Same here but this is the first 4G device I have had and I know for a fact most of my city is covered by 4G. What is also weird is that in areas where I would have 1 or 2 bars with my Vibrant, it is telling me I have full bars worth of 4G with the G2X.

its there in the framwork i checked..
Im just wondering why it doesnt display 3G when its on UMTS... it sticks to 4G all the time...

very strange in the instruction manual it also shows 3g icon!

Rmoved
Sent from space

death1246 said:
its there in the framwork i checked..
Im just wondering why it doesnt display 3G when its on UMTS... it sticks to 4G all the time...
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A lot of this has to do with the fact that T-Mobile's 3G towers == their 4G towers so if you're in an area where all of their towers have been upgraded to HSPA+ you will NEVER show 3G because you're always on a 4G tower. The only time you will show a 3G signal is if you're in an older area where they have pre-HSPA+ upgradeable towers. This is how T-mobile can say they have the biggest 4G network because almost all of their old HSPA/3G equipment has been turned into 4G equipment via software upgrades.

I have had my g2x for about 5 days and all I ever see is 4G or E never 3g. I have been checking in the settings/about phone/status and even when the phone is showing 3-4 bars of 4G it is still on umts. In the exact same location and within a minute or so when checking it with my Vibrant I will have 3 bars of H or 3G and in status it shows as hspda or hspda+. What is that about? I have checked this out at least 6 to 7 times a day and it is always the same only umts on the G2X and Hspda or Hspda+ on the Vibrant. I called CS and they wanted to send out another G2X I reluctantly said yes. I do really like this phone and will try to be patient but the device I have now has multiple issues. I am going to take the stance that this is an isolated case and the new one will be golden!!!

brentil said:
A lot of this has to do with the fact that T-Mobile's 3G towers == their 4G towers so if you're in an area where all of their towers have been upgraded to HSPA+ you will NEVER show 3G because you're always on a 4G tower. The only time you will show a 3G signal is if you're in an older area where they have pre-HSPA+ upgradeable towers. This is how T-mobile can say they have the biggest 4G network because almost all of their old HSPA/3G equipment has been turned into 4G equipment via software upgrades.
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This is true. There's pretty much no need for a '3G' icon. Though, technically, it's debatable whether or not T-Mo's (or any other carriers) offerings right now are actually '4G' (according to the standards committees that define those things), but that's a different argument
tl;dr: T-Mo's 3G and 4G operate on pretty much the same technology, so if you're in an area where there was 3G, you'll probably have 4G. It doesn't need to switch back and forth or be toggled like the other solutions (looking at you Wi-Max)

[Q] Data speeds?

So I know all the issues with older 2g sims affecting speeds, I called tmobile, and they said that I was in fact registered with a 2g sim, so I had them activate the sim that came in the box, but I have no improvement in speed. I'm still getting nowhere above 2mbps, most of the time around 1. I know I have a 4g data plan, they added that when I got the phone for immediate activation, not next billing cycle. Even in areas where my old mytouch 3G slide got 4 mbps on the 3G HSPA network, I can't get much above 2 on the HSPA+ network. What gives? If the new 4g sim and data plan aren't working, what's the issue here? Anyone else having issues?

Are you sure that you're connected to HSPA+? And, even if you are connected with good reception to a HSPA+ tower, that doesn't mean that the tower has good bandwidth backhaul. If its a low traffic tower, T-Mobile might not want to pay for a large amount of bandwidth for it.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium

I suppose I can't be positive, but the icon says 4G. Although I've never seen a 3G icon, only G, 2G, and 4G, meaning they probably just replaced the 3G icon with the 4G icon since the phone can't technically display a different icon for HSPA and HSPA+, can it? I've never seen a 3G icon so I might just be connected to 3G. But even in populous areas, like downtown, at night, I top out at 4, MAYBE 5 mbps. I've heard people getting 4 or 5 on a bad day, 7-8 average and 10-12 if they're lucky. I'm wondering where that's at, maybe it's a flaw in the stock rom and an AOSP or other custom rom would be better. I seem to remember having bad speeds on sense on my Slide too.
During data transfer, I went to the about phone>network menu, and mobile network type reads HSDPA and then reverts to UMTS after a period of inactivity. It does not specify HSDPA+ though, it just says HSDPA. I understand that the 3g and 4g networks on tmobile are technically one and the same, HSDPA+ is just an advancement of the 3G technology, but I'm wondering if something just isn't clicking and the phone isn't taking advantage of HSDPA+. I checked the coverage map, and the entire region I live in, minus a few rural areas, are supposed to be covered by 4G data.

Force 4g LTE service?

Is there anywway to do this? I am right on the edge of 3g and LTE service and it keeps bouncing back and forth. I dont think you can, but thought I would check with you guys as well.

whitelightnin3006 said:
Is there anywway to do this? I am right on the edge of 3g and LTE service and it keeps bouncing back and forth. I dont think you can, but thought I would check with you guys as well.
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try dialing *#*#4636#*#* and click phone info and set mode to lte only

gsfesz said:
try dialing *#*#4636#*#* and click phone info and set mode to lte only
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does this code still work or did they switch to a new one with jellybean?

matt2k12 said:
does this code still work or did they switch to a new one with jellybean?
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The code should still work. Its a general testing code for most, if not all, android phones. The settings may vary.

zodiac12345 said:
The code should still work. Its a general testing code for most, if not all, android phones. The settings may vary.
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I verified that it works still... forcing LTE though, not so much.

matt2k12 said:
I verified that it works still... forcing LTE though, not so much.
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If your phone doesn't connect to LTE by simply cycling through Airplane mode, don't expect forcing LTE mode to connect either. All Force LTE does is disable every connection except LTE ones.

If you live in fringe LTE coverage, and your phone bounces back and forth, your best bet is to disable LTE for the time being.
Source: The office I work in was in the same situation a couple months ago. All of us with Sprint LTE phones learned the hard way that this is the solution.

FinntheViking said:
If you live in fringe LTE coverage, and your phone bounces back and forth, your best bet is to disable LTE for the time being.
Source: The office I work in was in the same situation a couple months ago. All of us with Sprint LTE phones learned the hard way that this is the solution.
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You could buy a signal booster? They work really well in doors. Sprints 1900mhz LTE has trouble penetrating buildings but it gets good area and distance coverage. In a few years when they roll out the 800mhz LTE they will get building penetration as well.

matt2k12 said:
You could buy a signal booster? They work really well in doors. Sprints 1900mhz LTE has trouble penetrating buildings but it gets good area and distance coverage. In a few years when they roll out the 800mhz LTE they will get building penetration as well.
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I would not recommend buying a signal booster. The reason people are in the edge of an LTE signal is because a tower further away has been upgraded, whereas the closer 3G tower doesn't have upgrades. Hence, you connect to 1x Voice to the closer tower, but LTE on the one further away. I would just wait it out. eventually you will get LTE when your closest tower is upgraded.

FinntheViking said:
If you live in fringe LTE coverage, and your phone bounces back and forth, your best bet is to disable LTE for the time being.
Source: The office I work in was in the same situation a couple months ago. All of us with Sprint LTE phones learned the hard way that this is the solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zodiac12345 said:
I would not recommend buying a signal booster. The reason people are in the edge of an LTE signal is because a tower further away has been upgraded, whereas the closer 3G tower doesn't have upgrades. Hence, you connect to 1x Voice to the closer tower, but LTE on the one further away. I would just wait it out. eventually you will get LTE when your closest tower is upgraded.
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I don't think you know what you're talking about. I have seen signal boosters used on log cabins deep in the mountains and gain full bars of 4g LTE service when there is no service whatsoever available outside of the booster zone. They work. Period. Just not the cheap models. Here - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NQ2GSW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3SPLR0MSOYZ8O

matt2k12 said:
I don't think you know what you're talking about. I have seen signal boosters used on log cabins deep in the mountains and gain full bars of 4g LTE service when there is no service whatsoever available outside of the booster zone. They work. Period. Just not the cheap models. Here - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NQ2GSW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3SPLR0MSOYZ8O
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I never said that signal boosters don't work. But the cost of them is not worth it. Paying $350 for a booster, just why? I could see it being worth it in a rural area when Sprint doesn't have many towers and no intention to build more, but in an urban area it is pointless. I was to understand that the OP didn't have 4G service at his workplace, or did but it was pulling in 0 to 1 bars (over -100 dBm). But, at his workplace, he has perfect 3G signal because there is a tower closer that doesn't have 4G service yet. So why buy a booster, spending $350 on something that will fix itself in the coming months.
Point of the story, if you have great 3G signal where you are, DO NOT BUY A BOOSTER. You will get 4G eventually. If you do not have great 3G signal, don't expect to get great 4G signal either. If you don't have great 3G signal in a rural area, the booster will help.
Another thing to note, if you live in an area right between two towers, or at the edge of signal. It may be worth giving a call to Sprint and saying you don't have service in your home. They may send you an Airave. This thing works basically by using your home internet connection to create a router for Sprint phones. The phones will use the "router" for voice and texting, and data as well. It essentially gives you a small tower in your home. The catch on this is that prior to Softbank's purchase of Sprint, Sprint sent these things out to anyone. Calling and complaining to Sprint about poor coverage would yield them sending you an Airave. Now, you must pay $200 for this device of you have between 1 and 3 lines. If, however, you have 4 lines on the Sprint account, you may get it for free.

zodiac12345 said:
I never said that signal boosters don't work. But the cost of them is not worth it. Paying $350 for a booster, just why? I could see it being worth it in a rural area when Sprint doesn't have many towers and no intention to build more, but in an urban area it is pointless. I was to understand that the OP didn't have 4G service at his workplace, or did but it was pulling in 0 to 1 bars (over -100 dBm). But, at his workplace, he has perfect 3G signal because there is a tower closer that doesn't have 4G service yet. So why buy a booster, spending $350 on something that will fix itself in the coming months.
Point of the story, if you have great 3G signal where you are, DO NOT BUY A BOOSTER. You will get 4G eventually. If you do not have great 3G signal, don't expect to get great 4G signal either. If you don't have great 3G signal in a rural area, the booster will help.
Another thing to note, if you live in an area right between two towers, or at the edge of signal. It may be worth giving a call to Sprint and saying you don't have service in your home. They may send you an Airave. This thing works basically by using your home internet connection to create a router for Sprint phones. The phones will use the "router" for voice and texting, and data as well. It essentially gives you a small tower in your home. The catch on this is that prior to Softbank's purchase of Sprint, Sprint sent these things out to anyone. Calling and complaining to Sprint about poor coverage would yield them sending you an Airave. Now, you must pay $200 for this device of you have between 1 and 3 lines. If, however, you have 4 lines on the Sprint account, you may get it for free.
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Heres the thing - Even with good coverage outside, 4G LTE on 1900 mhz spectrum has difficulty penetrating buildings. Doesnt matter the towers. 800 mhz spectrum is only in its infancy and 800 mhz will never be compatible with our current phone model of choice the MPQ with a slide out keyboard.
For less than the price of a new phone you can boost your signal to receive the 1900 mhz LTE indoors. I'm not getting a new phone unless it has a slide out keyboard and it looks like thats not happening any time soon. So for someone who wants LTE on the MPQ indoors, a signal booster is highly economical. Not to mention for consumers that cut the cable and internet bills and use mobile broadband hotspots for all their home entertainment needs. That one booster can save you the $150 month cable/internet bill for perpetuity. It pays for itself in 3 months.
In short- 4G LTE is here but its building penetration is disappointing and to get on the 800mhz band you need to buy new hardware (phone) anyways at an undetermined future date.

Sprint Sucks!!!
Just saying.
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium

matt2k12 said:
does this code still work or did they switch to a new one with jellybean?
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Still works on my nexus 5

T-mobile LTE N4 vs N5

I just helped my son install the hybrid modem for his Nexus 4 and set up the T-mobile APN for it. I was about to tell him that he would have to go somewhere else to test it since I never get LTE at home, and then boom, the 4G icon shows up on his phone! I checked Network Signal Info and sure enough, it's got an LTE connection with about 6Mbps transfer rate. Sitting right next to him my N5 has only 3G with occasional switches up to HSPA and back, and a very low transfer rate. What gives? I am able to get LTE on the N5 in other areas of town and it works wonderfully, but around my home it is very weak and almost never runs in LTE mode.
Could it be that the N4 is connecting on a different LTE band? If so, why is the N5 not using that band as well? Is there something that can be done for the N5 to tweak it to improve its LTE reception or how it chooses how to connect to available LTE signals?

Both N4 and N5 have 1700 band so it should get perfect HSDPA.
It might be the towers in your area are busy or the signal is weak.
I use straight talk t-mobil and I get HSDPA around 15Mbps and my friend get a little more on LTE here in chicagoland.
Also for people on Straight talk if you want to get LTE att version you need to get a new simcard and change APN and for t-mobil
just get a new simcard and boom you get LTE.

Idk if I'd worry about it. In most places the HSDPA speeds for T-Mobile are the same or better than the LTE speeds you would get. I'm in the far north chicago suburbs and I get LTE and HSDPA downloads at 25mbps. The LTE coverage is still a bit spotty. Its probably only worth it if I you're in a developed urban area. However it is a bit strange that you guys have the same hardware, service and location but different connections. The only thing I can think of is that I've seen some people instruct to setup the apn as fast.tmobile.com. however mine only worked with fast.T-Mobile.com (with the dash). I would also check to confirm that your phone is set to lte preferred (LTE/gsm) and not gsm priority. Those are the only things I can think that I can think of. Hope it helps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

gorilla p said:
Idk if I'd worry about it. In most places the HSDPA speeds for T-Mobile are the same or better than the LTE speeds you would get. I'm in the far north chicago suburbs and I get LTE and HSDPA downloads at 25mbps. The LTE coverage is still a bit spotty. Its probably only worth it if I you're in a developed urban area. However it is a bit strange that you guys have the same hardware, service and location but different connections. The only thing I can think of is that I've seen some people instruct to setup the apn as fast.tmobile.com. however mine only worked with fast.T-Mobile.com (with the dash). I would also check to confirm that your phone is set to lte preferred (LTE/gsm) and not gsm priority. Those are the only things I can think that I can think of. Hope it helps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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T-Mobile 4G LTE will properly works on fast.t-mobile.com, fast.tmobile.com is not the proper APN (the - matters)
There are just way too many variables. Maybe his modem has better reception, newer sim card, etc.

RobinD42 said:
I just helped my son install the hybrid modem for his Nexus 4 and set up the T-mobile APN for it. I was about to tell him that he would have to go somewhere else to test it since I never get LTE at home, and then boom, the 4G icon shows up on his phone! I checked Network Signal Info and sure enough, it's got an LTE connection with about 6Mbps transfer rate. Sitting right next to him my N5 has only 3G with occasional switches up to HSPA and back, and a very low transfer rate. What gives? I am able to get LTE on the N5 in other areas of town and it works wonderfully, but around my home it is very weak and almost never runs in LTE mode.
Could it be that the N4 is connecting on a different LTE band? If so, why is the N5 not using that band as well? Is there something that can be done for the N5 to tweak it to improve its LTE reception or how it chooses how to connect to available LTE signals?
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Fwiw there are other threads where people have reported that the N4 picks up LTE in the same place that an N5 does not. So you are not alone. N4 may have a stronger radio. That would be unfortunate... Never good to see a step backwards on something as important as that.
Sent from my Nexus 5

Good news everyone! I too has having this problem. My Nexus 4 was an LTE champ and then it was a huge let down that my Nexus 5 was treating LTE like it had cooties, but now my Nexus 5 works the way it should. What I did was go to my nearest T-Mobile store and told the representative what was happening. He called tech support and they ended up doing some sort of reset to my account. I also had questions about my SIM card and felt that it could have been at fault. He offered to switch it out to the new ISIS SIM and as soon as my phone booted up, it was on LTE. Since then, it has behaved like my Nexus 4. I am even in my office where the Nexus 5 wasn't picking up LTE, but my Nexus 4 was, and it is on LTE at the moment.
I am not sure if the reset that tech support did solved the problem or the new SIM, but I would definately give that a try--it didn't cost me anything and now I am happy with my Nexus 5. Good luck!

In my experience my N4 has slightly better signal pickup than my N5.
The real reason is probably differences in the radios' priority algorithms. Set your N5 to LTE-only and see what happens, I imagine you'll get LTE.

dijit4l said:
I am not sure if the reset that tech support did solved the problem or the new SIM, but I would definately give that a try--it didn't cost me anything and now I am happy with my Nexus 5. Good luck!
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Did you not get LTE at all, or really poor LTE signal/speed?

tcristy said:
Did you not get LTE at all, or really poor LTE signal/speed?
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I would get LTE eventually only to lose it when it reached 2 bars or lower. It was really weird. I would be in areas where one would get 5 bars of LTE and the phone would sit on HSPA until I would show the phone it was on LTE by switching to LTE Only under the secret dialer menu and then back to GSM/LTE (if you use LTE only, you will lose voice). Then it would hold LTE until it reached 1-2 bars and then go back to HSPA.
I hope this helps.

I am seeing strange readings of signal strength. I see a 10+ db difference between what is reported in the phone status and an app like rootmetrics.
I don't know which one is misrepresenting the signal strength but it seems the roometrics is more accurate because my nexus 4 the signal strength is roughly the same on lte.
Can anyone else confirm?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk