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[Q] Edge handoff with Nexus S?

Hi I am new here. i have been lurking for a bit but didn't find an answer to the question I have so I decided to sign up. First a little background... first time android user coming from an iphone. I really like the NS, couldn't be happier. I am also pleasantly surprised by T-Mobile's data speeds. I live in Manhattan and as everyone knows ATT is the pits for reliable service and fast data speeds there. I have gotten 5.11mbps down using the speed test app on T-Mo in my apt. With ATT I could only get .78mbps down as the highest. Videos, websites, music downloads are all really quick on the NS. It is actually faster then my cable provider's internet service...probably because time warner sucks and my cable is split about 45 ways. I happen to work in Jersey City, right on the Hudson river overlooking Manhattan. When I am in the World financial center in lower Manhattan commuting to work I get the same high data speeds as I do in my apt. The WFC is right across from where I work. When I check T-Mo's coverage map there are 2 cell towers a stones throw from my building on the river front. That being said I only get Edge coverage. Does anyone else have an issue with bad 3G to Edge handoff with the NS or with T-Mo in general? I feel like I should have solid 3G service there! Is there a way to force 3G?....I would assume that 2 bars on 3G is better then 5 on Edge, at least as far as data speeds are concerned. T-Mo's site list my job site as having excellent coverage. Also, I have eliminated the possibility that the building I work in is causing the issue. When I am outside the issue persists. I have about a .25 mile walk to my building in Jersey and all along the way I am sitting on Edge.

Greg Tolan said:
Hi I am new here. i have been lurking for a bit but didn't find an answer to the question I have so I decided to sign up. First a little background... first time android user coming from an iphone. I really like the NS, couldn't be happier. I am also pleasantly surprised by T-Mobile's data speeds. I live in Manhattan and as everyone knows ATT is the pits for reliable service and fast data speeds there. I have gotten 5.11mbps down using the speed test app on T-Mo in my apt. With ATT I could only get .78mbps down as the highest. Videos, websites, music downloads are all really quick on the NS. It is actually faster then my cable provider's internet service...probably because time warner sucks and my cable is split about 45 ways. I happen to work in Jersey City, right on the Hudson river overlooking Manhattan. When I am in the World financial center in lower Manhattan commuting to work I get the same high data speeds as I do in my apt. The WFC is right across from where I work. When I check T-Mo's coverage map there are 2 cell towers a stones throw from my building on the river front. That being said I only get Edge coverage. Does anyone else have an issue with bad 3G to Edge handoff with the NS or with T-Mo in general? I feel like I should have solid 3G service there! Is there a way to force 3G?....I would assume that 2 bars on 3G is better then 5 on Edge, at least as far as data speeds are concerned. T-Mo's site list my job site as having excellent coverage. Also, I have eliminated the possibility that the building I work in is causing the issue. When I am outside the issue persists. I have about a .25 mile walk to my building in Jersey and all along the way I am sitting on Edge.
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kinda confused, are you using the phone on ATT or Tmo?
if its on ATT you will only be getting EDGE

Sorry for the confusion...this is on on T-Mo.

To help diagnose the problem ... do you have any friends who can verify that there is in fact T-Mobile 3G coverage at your work? (where you say you only have EDGE)
This could be a service issue that T-Mobile is unaware of; you could also call customer service and request that they test those towers.

may also be a matter of a Tech re associating your device with the tower

@Ravidavi: unfortunately I am the only t-mobile user in my group! everyone else is on vzw or att.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I've seen this too. This is my first t mobile phone too but it switches to edge and stays there in solid 3g areas. I want to like t mobile more but this is making it hard for me.

I'll call customer service. Complaining a bit might put it on their radar....
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I called customer service. There is a known issue in the area.... Must be related to the blizzard we had.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Welcome to Android!
For the future, you can force 3G by going to your dialer and inputting:
*#*#4636#*#*
Phone Information
Flick down to where you see Preferred Network Type
Select 'Wcdma Only"
You will see your signal reset and should 3G be available in that area, you'll pick it up. I'm also a fellow Manhattanite and am too loving the T-Mobile speeds since I came from iPhone in January 2010 with Nexus One

Sweet thanks for that. It indeed showed no service at all on wcdma. That will definitely be a handy trick in the future!
allen099 said:
Welcome to Android!
For the future, you can force 3G by going to your dialer and inputting:
*#*#4636#*#*
Phone Information
Flick down to where you see Preferred Network Type
Select 'Wcdma Only"
You will see your signal reset and should 3G be available in that area, you'll pick it up. I'm also a fellow Manhattanite and am too loving the T-Mobile speeds since I came from iPhone in January 2010 with Nexus One
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Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Work around roaming?

Hello all and thank you for reading.
I have a friend who uses US Cellular and they have free data roaming. I called T-Mobile and they said I would be charged if I turned roaming on. However when I'm traveling I constantly have data issues. T-Mobile doesn't have the best of coverage when you start leaving the big cities.
I was wondering if there was a way to trick the phone into roaming without being noticed? Doesn't seem possible due to the fact that data is being pulled from a certain tower and that could be tracked outside of the phone. However I thought maybe this has been attempted?
What are your guys thoughts?
Best Regards

4G reception in NY Metro Area?

Anyone having really bad data connection speeds in the NY Metro area? My phone won't even find 4G and has been dropping on and off of 3G all morning. And lately, my data speeds on 4G have been ridiculously poor- close to 1Mb/s down and 2Mb/s up.
Edit: I'm in Newark.

no problems here. im in midtown/HK.

ljstella said:
Anyone having really bad data connection speeds in the NY Metro area? My phone won't even find 4G and has been dropping on and off of 3G all morning. And lately, my data speeds on 4G have been ridiculously poor- close to 1Mb/s down and 2Mb/s up.
Edit: I'm in Newark.
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As time goes on more and more users are finding the exact same issue. Please call Verizon and Samsung to complain about this problem. Put it on record that this issue exists. I've been through two phones dealing with it. Others are experiencing the issue as well. Verizon wont admit that there's any issues with the s3 and data connection/speed problems. If you look around here you'll find lots of people with issues just like yours. Its a problem they need to fix but unless all those who have the issue actually complain, they'll continue to see it as an anomoly.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I'm in Rockland County, and also experience shotty 4g reception.
When I brought my SECOND replacement phone into a VZ store for a new sim, one of the reps informed me that emails had been dispatched recognizing cell tower issues specifically with the s3 in my area. Maybe this issue is more widespread.
I actually experience total network disconnects at my home.

Kreeker said:
I'm in Rockland County, and also experience shotty 4g reception.
When I brought my SECOND replacement phone into a VZ store for a new sim, one of the reps informed me that emails had been dispatched recognizing cell tower issues specifically with the s3 in my area. Maybe this issue is more widespread.
I actually experience total network disconnects at my home.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I work about 5 blocks from my apartment, so I'm not really hopping across towers but I have had a few complete disconnects. My office doesn't offer WiFi so I don't really have an option there. And I'm pretty sure its not my phone but the network, as last week I was in Minneapolis on a business trip and had great speeds and no connection issues.

I have been going through this for months. This is not a SG3 issue, but a Verizon issue. It primarily occurs when inside of a building.
Everything worked great about 6 months ago - then some VZ expansion happened and it has never been the same. Sometimes great 4G but data doesn't work. Constant dropping to 3G. I did some testing a couple of weeks ago. Tried a Droid RAZR, HTC Rezound, GNEX, and SG3.. All had issues. Although some were able to hold on to the 4G signal a little bit better.
I'm in Jersey City by the water - outside reception is fine.

Can the Infuse use T-Mobiles new Band 4 LTE?

I have a Nexus 4 and I can receive Band 4 LTE on it. I had an Infuse before and I want another to play around with. Was wondering if the Infuse can use Band 4 from T-Mobile?
I tried searching, but I got confused from all the numbers in Mhz wikipedia was giving me. :silly:

Infuse hardware limits it to 4G and not LTE.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

Thanks, I'm just going to assume that it can't receive T-Mobile's HSPA+, only AT&T's.

Is it unlocked? If not use the following:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=15810793
HSPA+ is 4G. You might need to tweak the APN.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=39496159
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

I've been on the T-Mobile $30 / month, no contract, unlimited web and text with 100 minutes plan since January 2013 with my At&t Infuse 4G. It really hasn't been too terrible. I was paying $35 / month with At&t on my Dad's family plan limited to 200mb of data per month so I happily embrace the poor reception in some areas if it means not having to track data and limit my streaming.
I get at least edge everywhere except for at work (something about the building blocks out all T-Mobile reception, luckily there's WiFi). I usually manage to get minimum 3G while driving. Certain areas get reliable HSPA+ (I'm assuming when the icon turns to "H+" it means HSPA+).
I used to only run JB Roms (mainly scott.hart.bti Unofficial CM10.1, but have tried all the others) and I never had to change the APN settings. Recently the "Fast T-Mobile" APN appeared and it seemed to help out how often I got H+.
Went back to GB recently with r.e.v.e.n.a.n.t and haven't had many problems. I seem to be getting mainly edge, but I have seen H+ every so often. It really just depends on your area for T-Mobile and At&t it seems.
My Infuse is completely cracked and I suppose that's why I don't mind the slow speeds in certain areas if it means low cost. I dropped a speaker on it from six feet above and the corner made contact with the digitizer basically shattering the whole screen. I slapped a screen protector on it so I wouldn't cut my fingers and it somehow still works six months later.

How is AT&T's network in central NJ and NYC?

I'm currently trying to decide which carrier to go with for the Galaxy S4. I'm leaning towards Verizon, but I'm also considering AT&T because their non-shared family plan is cheaper if you go with less minutes. But I'm worried that their service might still suck, because we were with them until a few years ago and there were a lot of dropped calls, delayed text messages, etc. They also get rated poorly in Consumer Reports and other surveys. So I'm wondering if it's worth giving it a shot and hoping their service has improved, or if I should just go with Verizon.
There are three areas specifically that my family is at the most: Princeton, NJ and Brooklyn, NY and Flushing, NY. I'd love to hear from anyone with recent experience with AT&T in or around those three areas. Any experiences from people in the general tri-state area and New York City would also be great.

..

xavierfox42 said:
I live in Brooklyn and am running a SGS3 I9300 on AT&T's GoPhone service. Since it's the international version it doesn't have 4G LTE, but the 3G network is decent enough. I usually get around 2000Kb/s download when I run the Speedtest.net app.
I really don't like using AT&T though, but it's the only carrier that will work with the I9300's wireless bands, so I'm basically forced to use them or only get 2G. My next phone will be bought in the US and thus I'll be able to switch to T-Mobile or Simple Mobile or another reasonably-priced carrier. I would drop AT&T in a heartbeat if I could. I think they're easily the most evil of all the telecom companies (except maybe Comcast).
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
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Do you have any problems with dropped calls or other issues like that?

No, the service is fine. No real problems to speak of. As expected for a major carrier in an urban area.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app