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Captivate 3g?

So I have a Droid x and this captivate and n my area(and every other place inside of the US LOL) my x gets perfect 3g. I have yet to see anything other edge on my SGS. Is this likely BC I don't have art 3g n my area or BC its not on the captivate? Answer would b appreciated
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

No 3G around you for hundreds of miles from AT&T

Chances are it's due to your area. Droid has Verizon as a network and from what I've seen and heard Verizon had much better coverage than ATT......I have a Captivate and my 3g is pretty solid. ..even inside my house...and I have rotten coverage in my town.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

yeah, i dont think that i have ever been hardly anywhere that verizon doesnt have 3g, its kinda sad how much better that they are than everyone else. as much as i would like to say that att is good they just arent. im a college student and my parents live in the boondocks and vzw has literally full 3g in place that my stand alone gps just says where the **** are you? lol alright just wondering bc edge is dog**** lol and slow as balls. i keep reading about people saying that this phone has terrible lag but i honestly havent seen it lag ONCE. not gonna mess with the lag fix right now til i get more comfortable with the phone. the droids are like my *****es that i know inside and out. alright guys thanks.

Verizon may have 3G in more places, but I have at&t 3g every where I go as long as I'm not on a road trip through the sticks. And at&t's 3g speed is much better than verizon's, who's 3g is even slower than sprint's.
And of course with at&t 3g I can do simultaneous voice and data, which comes in handy.

4G not implimented yet!!?? plus more

ok i havent seen a post for this so here we go..
if you use adw launcher and custom make an icon attached to the hidden menu apk you can access the test and servicing menus like other phones BUT... if you go into test settings for phone (play around its in there) there is a menu the shows hspda (3g, hspda+ being 4g) and many other functions that are advertised on the phone that are all listed as NOT IMPLIMENTED YET!!
so as far as i can tell 4g is NOT active on tmobile at all yet. not until the software is upgraded (gingerbread i am assuming). so it would make sense why the signal on the phone is screwed up and dropping (confused phone maybe?) and why im still getting 3g speeds (slightly faster maybe from better signal reception due to upgraded hardware from my previous Vibrant).
go take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. im sure you can use desktop visualizer to get to the menu to. DONT MESS WITH ANYTHING THOUGH. i had to reset my phone and not with a hard reset, but a recovery i found on a nvflash website. almost bricked it. so just look but don't touch anything important unless you know what your doing.
im looking forward to hearing what everything thinks of this and the giant list of other features also saying this in the same menu. because i feel mislead just a little bit.....

I think it's just that the functions in the hidden menu aren't implemented yet.

Hmmm, interesting find! Maybe this explains the problems I'm having maintaining a stable 2g only connection as well

Dolphinwigs said:
ok i havent seen a post for this so here we go..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a reason for that...
so as far as i can tell 4g is NOT active on tmobile at all yet. not until the software is upgraded (gingerbread i am assuming)
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Click to collapse
I've got a hot 4g connection where I am (west Texas), you don't get 4.9-5.6mb (Speedtest) download on 3g. Did you check the T-Mobile coverage map to see if you have it in your area yet?
Edit: you also may need a new sim card. Depending on the age of the card, you might not be able to get a stable lock on to 4g (age as in what generation it was produced.. not how long you've had it)

thats possible, but im getting 3g speeds still as far as i can tell and i don't see why it wouldnt be included in the "hidden menu" if it is working since we aren't "really" supposed to know about the hidden menu. anyways just something i noticed.
menu is Hidden Menu->modem settings is where the menu is at.
and i got a new sim card (tired 2 new ones both the same) and yes i am in salt lake city and it is a 4g area for tmobile. but seems like everyone (mostly) is getting signal drops all over the place. my 2g isn't working as consistantly as it did before on my vibrant either. im sure gingerbread will fix all of this though.

I'm getting 4-8mps down in Metro Atlanta. I say 4G speed is on.

jdkackley said:
Hmmm, interesting find! Maybe this explains the problems I'm having maintaining a stable 2g only connection as well
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Click to collapse
I'm having the same problem, and I've even got a 2G booster in my house. My 2G connection drops all the time on my G2X but not my Vibrant. When I look at the signal strength when it's up it's not much different than the Vibrant, -104dBm on the G2X vs -100 dBm on the Vibrant

Im at a consistent 6-9mb dl at my house with a 1mb+ ul. Im calling it 4g and have you tried your conn outside of your city to see if its just congestion on the network?

I'm also getting 4-8mbps speeds in Atlanta, 4g is definitely working.

I'm in vegas, every hour, I get only 10 or 20mn of 4g at 6Mb download speed, the rest of the time I'm on 2g. At night time,i get 4g most of the time. So I guess in the day time, they kick me back to 2g to save their bandwitch, I'm returning my phone to let them know this is not acceptable
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

My phone SAYS 4G all the time in Charlotte NC but I have only been getting 1mb DL and about 1.5 upload. The weird thing is that browsing the web is lightening fast compared to the vibrant. I would say it loads pages twice as fast.

jrharvey said:
My phone SAYS 4G all the time in Charlotte NC but I have only been getting 1mb DL and about 1.5 upload. The weird thing is that browsing the web is lightening fast compared to the vibrant. I would say it loads pages twice as fast.
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Not sure but this may have as much to do with the processor and RAM speed as the connection speed.

I get crap speeds compared to the Nexus S, and that phone doesn't support full hspa+

jlevy73 said:
I get crap speeds compared to the Nexus S, and that phone doesn't support full hspa+
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I am not complaining about my speeds which are plenty good IMO, averaging around 3-3.5 mbps. However, I have been surprised that they are no better than my Nexus One was that also didn't support HSPA+.

A few things, before we get too heavy handed on the FUD:
The phone is technically '4G' compatible, and it supports it out of the box.
Most of T-Mo's towers have been upgraded to support their 4G (HSPA+)
Regular HSPA caps out at about 3.5Mbps down. I've gotten as much as 7Mbps down on my G2x
Personally, I haven't had many issues with signal, but I live in Houston, so that may have something to do with it.

4g is on in Huntington Beach, and irvine.
I did notice its not a huge difference speed wise though. I had the moto cliq 3g and i would get 1mbs ish to 5mbs DL, and with the G2x im averaging about 3mbs to 7mbs. not a huge difference but the big change is Latency. I used to rock 700ms to 1000ms on 3g with my cliq, im getting around 55ms to 150ms on my G2x.
Latency is key for me though, i would prefer lower latency than higher download speeds. Due to the fact I need to vpn and voip with company network.
I found that t mobiles 3g network is still very capable in speed. the main issue i had was my cliq was underpowered to handle the t mobiles network. when i would tether my rooted nook color it would perform like a champ.

jimbo831 said:
I am not complaining about my speeds which are plenty good IMO, averaging around 3-3.5 mbps. However, I have been surprised that they are no better than my Nexus One was that also didn't support HSPA+.
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Where do you live? Is it possible T-Mo may not support HSPA+ in your area?
It's also important to note that even if the towers you're connected to support HSPA+, that's only one part of the process. They also have to upgrade the data connection to the tower itself (backhaul) to ensure it can handle the speeds. If you're connected to an HSPA+ tower that doesn't have the upgraded backhaul, that could explain slow speeds.

No.
HSPA+ ("4G") is on and working. You're just not in an HSPA+ area it seems.
We're all getting faster than HSPA speeds, so we are certainly on HSPA+. Speedtests are the best way for you to verify if you are on EDGE (2G), HSPA (3G), or HSPA+ (4G).

I would like a 3g icon just top know what type of tower I'm on, I think the baseband is wack, I bet when gingerbread comes out we will get the separate icons... Also my vibrant would get steady 5-6mb down 2mb up, but with this phone its anything but steady, I can get up to 8mb down but its crazy random, regular use is sometimes slow initializing, and someones websites timeout.... I think a baseband upgrade will fix all this stuff tho, or software upgrades.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

pychobj2001 said:
I would like a 3g icon just top know what type of tower I'm on, I think the baseband is wack, I bet when gingerbread comes out we will get the separate icons... Also my vibrant would get steady 5-6mb down 2mb up, but with this phone its anything but steady, I can get up to 8mb down but its crazy random, regular use is sometimes slow initializing, and someones websites timeout.... I think a baseband upgrade will fix all this stuff tho, or software upgrades.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
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That's the thing though. The way T-Mo has their network setup, if you can get 3G from a tower, you should be able to get 4G. Period. You may not get 4G speeds, but you're technically connected to an HSPA+ tower, and thus the 4G icon. It'd be weird to connect a tower that supports HSPA at this point, but not HSPA+ (though I'm sure there are some out there)

Has anyone EVER seen "3g" displayed on their status bar on this phone?

I have only ever seen it say 2g or 4g. I don't have the best coverage so I didn't think much of it, but a friend I'm Chicago is reporting the same issue.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

Same here. TMobile has to figure this out. My brother's G2 goes from 3G to H.
Mine goes from 2G to 4G.
Make it a standard as to what shows up on the screen. My understanding it even when it says 4G, you may be in 3G. Only way to know is go into network settings or run a speed test.
Kind of stupid in my opinion.

Yeah, it's not a big deal really, just annoying.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

the exact reason given to me by tmobile is that our phones only register gsm(2g) and wdcma(3G and 4G both fall under this on tmobile) so without really checking at anytime 4g could be 3g its fast either way but annoying none the less

Same here...

So the phone just doesn't ever display 3g? When I'm on the 3g network it will show 4g? Sounds a little bit like false advertising to me. I really don't care too much, but if I am getting less than 1mb down and the phone claims to be on 4g it's kinda bs.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

From what I understand, if you go to Settings > About Phone > Status > Mobile Network Type.
If it says UMTS, then your on 3G
If it says HSDPA or HSPA or HSPA+ then your on 4G.
I could be wrong, when Im out and about driving, I can run a speed test and hit 10-12 Mbps and the settings will still read as UMTS even though that appears to be 4G speeds.

jsauce75 said:
So the phone just doesn't ever display 3g? When I'm on the 3g network it will show 4g? Sounds a little bit like false advertising to me. I really don't care too much, but if I am getting less than 1mb down and the phone claims to be on 4g it's kinda bs.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats exactly what im going through now. My phone right now for example shows "4G" in the status bar, but Settings/About Phone shows "UMTS" doing a speed test right now, my speeds are Download-0.53 Mbps Upload 0.41
I agree this is BS.
Tried calling TMobile to explain how the coverage map for my area says 100% complete 4G coverage but my speeds are slow as ****. Tried complaining so I can get out my contract and go to Sprint but they say as long as voice calling works slow data speeds dont permit to break contract.
But TMobile and there whole 4G compain definetly is false advertising.

ive gotten 3 or 4 different answers from various reps at tmobile but there all terrible i get fast enough service all around me even edge runs well enough but i wish they would show 3g when its 3g they act like they have amazing 4g coverage but all the new 4g phones do this at least i know the sidekick 4g does and correct me if im wrong but the g2 does as well its just a marketing scam

Hey i work for t-mobile and have the G2x. I hosted an event for the launch of the phone and had my LG rep there. She explained that LG actually forgot to put the 3G indicator on the phone. LG is supposed to be putting out a software update for that as well as the terrible battery life on their website very soon. Lets keep our fingers crossed

Ummmmm oops....
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

Helluva thing to forget. If it's true.

I hope they do!!!
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Personally, I think they need to do with the G2x like they did with the ipad... stop all manufacturing of the item, until all ends and malfunctions are corrected.
including software & hardware. They're just sending stuff out, and in the end sticking it to the consumer by giving them less than quality standard work for the same amount of money they would expect to receive for something put together and functioning "correctly"
(p.s. before i get the "apple made the ipad" bull, LG created the screens, hence the same "bleeding" "light leaks" in the new ipad 2, also Samsung took over when they halted the production of LG screens)

eastonroc said:
Hey i work for t-mobile and have the G2x. I hosted an event for the launch of the phone and had my LG rep there. She explained that LG actually forgot to put the 3G indicator on the phone. LG is supposed to be putting out a software update for that as well as the terrible battery life on their website very soon. Lets keep our fingers crossed
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Well this is a lie they didnt forget anything LOL.
Look at the G2 for example which is made by HTC. It will show 2G/E or H. You will never see 3G symbol on the G2. Unless you install one of those custom roms where then the dev make the phone switch between H and 4G / 3G depending on data traffic.
Well I had bad 4G speeds in my part of town for years I finally gave up on tmobile today. Sold my G2x on craigslist and picked up a Nexus S 4G with Sprint.
I now get atleast 10 Mbps on avarage now. Proof is in the signature.

I think that might be going a little too far, but I haven't had too many major issues thus far. Just little annoying things that should be fixed with updates.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

I have an Evo and on the stock Sense ROM, the phone will display 3G even on 1x (the CDMA equivalent of EDGE). If I hop to CyanogenMod or any Sense ROM ported from another HTC phone, it'll show 1x when I roam/send a text. Also Sense ROMs have like 6 signal bars.
It's all about what the carrier wants. Hell, they could make it say 4G all the time if they want. It's weird though that they show 2G and not 3G.

hypersonicx said:
Well this is a lie they didnt forget anything LOL.
Look at the G2 for example which is made by HTC. It will show 2G/E or H. You will never see 3G symbol on the G2. Unless you install one of those custom roms where then the dev make the phone switch between H and 4G / 3G depending on data traffic.
Well I had bad 4G speeds in my part of town for years I finally gave up on tmobile today. Sold my G2x on craigslist and picked up a Nexus S 4G with Sprint.
I now get atleast 10 Mbps on avarage now. Proof is in the signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You also won't get any indication that you're on hspa+, either. Just sayin', it goes both ways. You're losing something no matter what.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

I have to put my two cents in on speeds.
I started (my smarty phone odyssey) on Metropcs in Feb....most speed test ever showed was like 1.6mbps...once. Mostly at 1.4-1.5. I was very unhappy with that. Between these speeds, battery issues, no support (from Samsung), I had enuff and went to Sprint. I saw around1.0 Mbps in the beginning. When I complained, they made an adjustment on their end amd it got worse! My average was .65 up and down. Then I went back to Metro. Seems they are suddenly having speed issues. Couldn't get more than about .80, with the same other issues as before. So I've purchased the G2x.
Got two yesterday!!
Both have bleed. Doesn't bother me as it is though. Just noticeable when screen is black. It IS bs, but not a dealbreaker, if it doesn't get worse.
I see people talking about speeds of 8 and 9Mbps and I say I'd be happy with a third of that.
Personally I don't think speedtest is accurate. But I never see that discussed.
T Mobile is supposed to activate these tomorrow. I'll post my speeds. If I get anything above 4.0, I'll be in heaven.
I have looked at youtube videos via wifi and am in awe of this device. Really smooth playback. Wow. Better than the Indulge AND the Evo IMO.
My new phone is supposed to activate tommorow. Can't wait
Oh and I'm in the Dallas market. I'm on top of DFW airport. Dallas is Metros home market so system is overall good here, but I'm in a bit of a dip so reception can be an issue in my home.

ickster said:
I have to put my two cents in on speeds.
I started (my smarty phone odyssey) on Metropcs in Feb....most speed test ever showed was like 1.6mbps...once. Mostly at 1.4-1.5. I was very unhappy with that. Between these speeds, battery issues, no support (from Samsung), I had enuff and went to Sprint. I saw around1.0 Mbps in the beginning. When I complained, they made an adjustment on their end amd it got worse! My average was .65 up and down. Then I went back to Metro. Seems they are suddenly having speed issues. Couldn't get more than about .80, with the same other issues as before. So I've purchased the G2x.
Got two yesterday!!
Both have bleed. Doesn't bother me as it is though. Just noticeable when screen is black. It IS bs, but not a dealbreaker, if it doesn't get worse.
I see people talking about speeds of 8 and 9Mbps and I say I'd be happy with a third of that.
Personally I don't think speedtest is accurate. But I never see that discussed.
T Mobile is supposed to activate these tomorrow. I'll post my speeds. If I get anything above 4.0, I'll be in heaven.
I have looked at youtube videos via wifi and am in awe of this device. Really smooth playback. Wow. Better than the Indulge AND the Evo IMO.
My new phone is supposed to activate tommorow. Can't wait
Oh and I'm in the Dallas market. I'm on top of DFW airport. Dallas is Metros home market so system is overall good here, but I'm in a bit of a dip so reception can be an issue in my home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint's been having nationwide issues for like the last 5 months. On 4G, I used to get 15 Mbps, now I get 1 Mbps. On 3G, I get 300 kbps tops. Their network is overcrowded, according to higherups I spoke to. They said it'll be fixed end of June. Not good enough.

[Q] Need some advice on switch to T-Mobile

with sprint now and getting so tired of the lousy network...at home i have 4G, if thats wat you wanna call it, but away from home, 90% of my day, i have slowG... speeds of .3 - .5 kbs...
i do like the unlimited data though, and i typically use alot. i went from the Evo to the Nexus S4G just waiting for the SGSII but am not convinced on my carrier anymore..
so how is Tmob ? how are the speeds ? network ? prices and data ? yes i can read the pages from there own website...i have...i wanna know the ins and outs of ppl who have been with them awhile before i switch...
ty for your help

dezel29 said:
with sprint now and getting so tired of the lousy network...at home i have 4G, if thats wat you wanna call it, but away from home, 90% of my day, i have slowG... speeds of .3 - .5 kbs...
i do like the unlimited data though, and i typically use alot. i went from the Evo to the Nexus S4G just waiting for the SGSII but am not convinced on my carrier anymore..
so how is Tmob ? how are the speeds ? network ? prices and data ? yes i can read the pages from there own website...i have...i wanna know the ins and outs of ppl who have been with them awhile before i switch...
ty for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah man, I was using a friends Evo 4G the other day and was amazed at how slow the 3G speeds are. She said it was normal (~150kbit down in downtown Sacramento). The deal killer for me would be that she has to activate another radio to get 4G (if in a 4G area) which significantly impacts battery life. For reference, I live in the foothills of Northern California and I only get 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) at home. At home I get 500-700kbit down and 700-1000kbit up. If I go a couple miles toward the freeway, I start picking up 4G (HSPA+) and get 1.0-1.5mbit down and 1.5-2.0mbit up. As I get closer to Folsom and Sacramento my speeds continue to rise. In downtown Sacramento (where I spend most of my time) I get 4-7mbit down and 6-8mbit up. I'm very happy with my speeds and my 3G and "4G" are done with the same radio (HSPA+ is just a speed upgrade of HSDPA and uses the same radio tech) so getting 4G speeds has no noticable impact on battery life. I know T-Mobile's network footprint is the smallest of the big 4, but it works everywhere that I've ever needed it to work. As for data plans, just make sure you get one with 5gb of full speed data. Sidenote, I thought Sprint's data is only unlimited on 4G? In terms of pricing, I've found that once I add on everything I want/need all the carriers end up about the same +/-10% so I haven't concerned myself with that too much.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

I'm in NYC, speeds about 4-7M down, 2M up. No complaints really.
Sent from my Dell Streak 7

I'm in norcal, my tmo is much better than sprint IN MY AREA. It varies greatly based on location. I loved my EVO(network was great when I first started using it), but it was like a ferrari with no gas there at the end. I travel very frequently with my job, both in and out of the country, and I haven't had a problem yet anywhere in the US. Don't spend enough time in one place to get foreign sims, plus WiFi is almost everywhere now.

AT&T Service Quality in NYC - Yea or Nay?

I'm a long time T-Mobile subscriber, residing in Brooklyn, NY. The data speeds in my neighborhood have become absolutely attrocious (0.3 - 0.5 Mbps down), and T-Mobile shows no signs of doing anything about it, although they've acknowledged that it's a cell site issue. This has been going on since August 2011. Although T-Mobile's coverage map shows that my neighborhood has the best possible "4G" service, it's certainly not the case. Prior to the manifestation of the "cell site issue", the best downstream speeds I could get were under 2 Mbps.
After trying everything possible to rectify the issue, I've come to the conclusion that it's time to look into another wireless carrier. I prefer GSM, so AT&T is really my only option (I'm not interested in MVNOs). I've already tested out AT&T's coverage in my neighborhood, and it's worlds better than T-Mobile's. How's their coverage in the rest of NYC? I've heard horror stories, but I really can't imagine it being worse than T-Mobile has been for me.

I've heard that at t has worse coverage, but higher speed. T mobile coverage is ok but they don't always have true 4g in the area. You shouldn't expect true 4g speeds (30mbps+) from any carrier.

T-Mobile has always been the best out west.always great coverage and spped.10+ down with 5+ up awesome
Sent from my HTC Sensation using XDA

Well I live in central NY and don't seem to have any problems with ATT. I even get reception in the basement at my work where as verizon never did. I get about 2d and 1up right now which isn't that great but I'm inside and in a rural area

Thanks for the replies. I'd be thrilled if I could get 5 Mbps down, but I don't get anywhere near that with TMo. I think I'll definitely make the move to ATT.

Are you sure its not your phone that's slowing you down. I recently changed from a vibrant to a galaxy nexus and even though I didn't change my contract with T-Mobile, I'm getting 10mbps instead of the 3-5 before. I'm in chelsea in Manhattan. I agree though that tmobiles coverage is terrible compared to the big two but when I do have coverage I seem to get awesome speeds. I can't complain for the price though. Also beware, att service in Manhattan is terrible.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

What phone is it? Maybe you could flash a better radio too?
Sent from my XT862 using XDA

It's definitely not the phone nor the SIM card. My wife is using a G2 and is experiencing the same slow speeds. Besides, TMO has already acknowledged that there is a data issue in my neighborhood, but it's approaching a year since the problems started and they have done nothing to fix them.