Related
alright first off before i ask my question i think all of you should know. i am an extreme newb to cell phone hacking and moding so please excuse my arrogance 2nd thing i do most off my posts off my cell phone so please excuse the bad grammer and spelling. anyways as i have been reading in the forum people list the mods to their phones and i notice one listed radio? so could someone educate me on what a radio is i figure that it is what keeps you conected to the service provider but other than that i am clueless so when you mode it do you physically open the device and replace something and 2 what is the point of changing the radio do. so could an expert educate me and feel free to tell me everything you know rather than just answering my 2 main questions.
I guess thats its the radio you use to listen to music, news etc... Most phones nowadays come equipped with built-in radio function. I hope that helps. =)
im not too sure about the exact thing you are talking about
however thats what a buddy of mine working in a cell repair shop told
for the radio(the one that broadcast phone signal not the radio you listen to)
you know that in order to use a 3g phone in the US or elsewhere
[but the problem is mainly US cuz here we use special 3G band compared to the rest of the world] you need to get the good frequency
however most of the time manufacturers only design and produce different radio chip for different region if they really have to
cuz you know running those factories is not given to anyone
and why redesign a phone when you already have one
a phone is like a computer.. "change a part, gotta change the whole part" concept..
however a phone might not work in certain 3G frequencies not because the radio cant but because the manufacturer didnt pass the regulations in those regions and it happen that the phone can be 3G but its locked in the ROM
so you need to mod the ROM to make 3G radio work
like the omnia
some ppl argues that it might be dual-UMTS but the US 3G is locked in the ROM
because samsung didnt pass the FCC(Federal C??? C?? the agency that rules communication) at that time(when the first omnia shipped)
so they couldnt put US 3G
same thing for the touch diamond but it was GSM that needed to be rom-unlocked
d3thstalker said:
I guess thats its the radio you use to listen to music, news etc... Most phones nowadays come equipped with built-in radio function. I hope that helps. =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not the right kind of radio bud
vanilla_star_8 said:
im not too sure about the exact thing you are talking about
however thats what a buddy of mine working in a cell repair shop told
for the radio(the one that broadcast phone signal not the radio you listen to)
you know that in order to use a 3g phone in the US or elsewhere
[but the problem is mainly US cuz here we use special 3G band compared to the rest of the world] you need to get the good frequency
however most of the time manufacturers only design and produce different radio chip for different region if they really have to
cuz you know running those factories is not given to anyone
and why redesign a phone when you already have one
a phone is like a computer.. "change a part, gotta change the whole part" concept..
however a phone might not work in certain 3G frequencies not because the radio cant but because the manufacturer didnt pass the regulations in those regions and it happen that the phone can be 3G but its locked in the ROM
so you need to mod the ROM to make 3G radio work
like the omnia
some ppl argues that it might be dual-UMTS but the US 3G is locked in the ROM
because samsung didnt pass the FCC(Federal C??? C?? the agency that rules communication) at that time(when the first omnia shipped)
so they couldnt put US 3G
same thing for the touch diamond but it was GSM that needed to be rom-unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what i understand about radios (the cell phone kind )
Your radio is what communicates with the tower and can affect how many "bars" you get. Not having the correct radio will also cause your phone
Camera not to work, to have a black screen, and/or to have no sound or intermittent sound.
The radio chip stores information, but you can change the information on that chip by "flashing a new radio."
This is just my own understanding so if i made a mistake don't be afraid to correct me
I believe the radio part of these devices is the information that tells the hardware in the phone how to act. What frequencies to use on the cell band, how the wifi antenna acts, how the bluetooth antenna acts, etc... Even how the GPS antenna works. Hence while in CDMA land my Titan needed a GPS enabled radio to make the gps work. There was a chip and antenna in there, but the radio excluded directions for the processor to interact with it.
My mind is simple, and this may be wrong but it is how I understand how the radio portion affects the phone.
Also, feel free to correct us if we are wrong!
Wow... Where.... wow.
Radio function
Radio is the whole function of the cell phone part of your tiny portable PCs your carrying around.
Its a
Duplex (transmits and receives separate carrier waves at the same time) ,Two-way, VHF and UHF, FM tranceiver in its purest form.
The cell towers are nothing more than ham radio pioneered "repeater" stations, connected to land phone lines. 20 years before the 1st commercial cell phone, HAM radio operators were setting up their own area "club" repeater stations, and networking them much like cell phone operators do now. The biggest rush of my young electronic life was carrying a kenwood TR-2500 FM handheld with me on my Yamaha YZ-80 out to the remote areas of our trails, and making a phone-patch call from the handheld thru the repeater and to a household phone. It felt like star trek man. I felt so high tech and up to date as a 15 year old carrying a radio my license didnt allow yet. LOL The funny part was everyone who was on frequency would get to hear your conversation too. Modern cell phones are the same thing only with collars and leashes.
So , back to the PDA with a two meter radio crammed tight agaist a computer with buttons that are too small ...
Thats really what you have.
Everything that a PDA is , outside of Radio [ a patch(voice) connect or a modem(data) connect] is just a small computer.
By the way, I raised the room temp tonite by leaving a Touch Pro turned on and Idling its data connection ...
Circuit... great explanation! But how do I know what Radio version my X1i needs?
In Smartphones and Pocket PCs, 'Radio' refers to the RIL. Radio Interface Layer. An API (Application Program Interface) that sits between Windows Mobile and the hardware driving the phone. An API is a published series of functions/methods that an application or operating system can call.
Ther is a patent for it at http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6826762.html.
It is so that the transmitter/receiver sits at arms length from WM or its apps, i.e. you can't go POKE the phone's registers directly, you have to ask pretty please through the API.
The Radio part of the ROM is the version that this API is at, for your device.
I just tried to make the switch from at&t to t-mobile. I had my sensation for about a week, and just returned it this morning.
Reasons I loved the sensation.
Decent battery life *(not as great as everyone made me expect.
Awesome Camera, especially outside- I really could see myself using this phone as a replacement for a cheap point and shoot.
The hardware was pretty much all around fantastic. Great feel in hand. A ton thinner than the evo 3d, especially around the edges. This phone has such a nice shape that it almost gets lost in my pocket. I actually found myself grabbing my pocket to make sure it hadn't fallen out.
The wifi-calling was a great value add.
The screen was fantastic. My next phone will have to have a qhd or better display (no sgsII for me). Say what you want about contrast ratios, but I rarely use my phone outside. Having the extra pixels however was absolutely awesome for browsing the web. The extra pixels also made living without a hardware keyboard a little bit easier to bare *(when in portrait mode).
The unlock page that came with sense 3.0. Other than that sense just seemed to get in my way.
FM radio. I'm the guy who wants to watch and listen to the tv-s at the gym.
Why I just couldn't risk spending 2 years with it.
I had no reception at my house or work on t-mo. This is really the biggest reason why I had to return my phone.
Because of the above the cell radio was draining the battery attempting to connect to the networks. I really don't want to spend two years having to remember to turn off the cell radio every time I get home.
T-mobile support was an exercise in frustration to deal with.
Will I still even get 3g/4g service in 2 years? This is debatable. AT&T will have to repurpose some of T-mo's spectrum from somewhere.
The built-in picasa upload is broken *(I use this all the time).
No way to jump to the galery app when in camera mode. This seems like a really obvious omission.
The speakephone volume over wifi calling really shouldn't be considered a speakerphone at all. I couldn't test speakerphone over t-mo because I never had reception when I wanted to make a call.
There was no setting to auto disable the cell radio when connected over wi-fi and wi-fi calling was enabled. I admit this is a nit-pick, but it really would have been nice.
I counted at least 3 backup apps all of which were trying to send my contacts to different parts of the world. Why do I need to backup any of my contacts? For me everything is in google, that's why I want an android phone. The killer part about this is that these apps will suck your battery dry.
Currently no way to remove all the crap-ware that t-mo stuffs it's phones with. There is a lot of it. I bet that is why there is so much discussion about the a performance problem between the sensation and the evo 3d screen rotate speed.
No NFC. Not really a deal-breaker, but it is disappointing.
So give me a non-bloatwared, boot-loader unlocked sensation, add NFC, put it on a carrier that gives me reception, and I'll have my next phone. As for now I'll have to live with my rooted/ cyanogen-modded G1 on AT&T.
--troll away!--
npoc said:
Why I just could risk spending 2 years with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you accidentally a conjunction in there
xnifex said:
I think you accidentally a conjunction in there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lulz irony abounds, he missed a conjunction and you omitted a word from your sentence, pointing out his omitted conjunction @[email protected]
npoc said:
I just tried to make the switch from at&t to t-mobile. I had my sensation for about a week, and just returned it this morning.
Reasons I loved the sensation.
Decent battery life *(not as great as everyone made me expect.
Awesome Camera, especially outside- I really could see myself using this phone as a replacement for a cheap point and shoot.
The hardware was pretty much all around fantastic. Great feel in hand. A ton thinner than the evo 3d, especially around the edges. This phone has such a nice shape that it almost gets lost in my pocket. I actually found myself grabbing my pocket to make sure it hadn't fallen out.
The wifi-calling was a great value add.
The screen was fantastic. My next phone will have to have a qhd or better display (no sgsII for me). Say what you want about contrast ratios, but I rarely use my phone outside. Having the extra pixels however was absolutely awesome for browsing the web. The extra pixels also made living without a hardware keyboard a little bit easier to bare *(when in portrait mode).
The unlock page that came with sense 3.0. Other than that sense just seemed to get in my way.
FM radio. I'm the guy who wants to watch and listen to the tv-s at the gym.
Why I just could risk spending 2 years with it.
I had no reception at my house or work on t-mo. This is really the biggest reason why I had to return my phone.
Because of the above the cell radio was draining the battery attempting to connect to the networks. I really don't want to spend two years having to remember to turn off the cell radio every time I get home.
T-mobile support was an exercise in frustration to deal with.
Will I still even get 3g/4g service in 2 years? This is debatable. AT&T will have to repurpose some of T-mo's spectrum from somewhere.
The built-in picasa upload is broken *(I use this all the time).
No way to jump to the galery app when in camera mode. This seems like a really obvious omission.
The speakephone volume over wifi calling really shouldn't be considered a speakerphone at all. I couldn't test speakerphone over t-mo because I never had reception when I wanted to make a call.
There was no setting to auto disable the cell radio when connected over wi-fi and wi-fi calling was enabled. I admit this is a nit-pick, but it really would have been nice.
I counted at least 3 backup apps all of which were trying to send my contacts to different parts of the world. Why do I need to backup any of my contacts? For me everything is in google, that's why I want an android phone. The killer part about this is that these apps will suck your battery dry.
Currently no way to remove all the crap-ware that t-mo stuffs it's phones with. There is a lot of it. I bet that is why there is so much discussion about the a performance problem between the sensation and the evo 3d screen rotate speed.
No NFC. Not really a deal-breaker, but it is disappointing.
So give me a non-bloatwared, boot-loader unlocked sensation, add NFC, put it on a carrier that gives me reception, and I'll have my next phone. As for now I'll have to live with my rooted/ cyanogen-modded G1 on AT&T.
--troll away!--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Also to the OP: A bunch of these problems are fixable with root, also there is a way to go to the gallery from the stock camera app... and even if there wasn't why wouldn't you just DL a camera app from market that would allow you to do what you wanted?
- Turn off the other contacts backup services... I did
- Why wouldn't you have 4g in 2 years? 4G will actually be much faster in two years and will be approaching "actual" 4G speeds.
- You couldnt do a one click disable of the cell radio while on wifi and wifi calling was enabled because that happens automatically.
- Speakerphone was too low on wifi calling? Wow, that's probably fixable as well.
- And if you have a smart phone YOU will need to learn how to manage its battery life. The Sensation actually does have preeettty good battery life for a smartphone.
Cheers, good luck on ATT we'll all probably be there next year anyway.
Thats def not a good experience; as you say it sounds mostly coverage related which is the case for most carriers. Tmo has always been good to me where ive lived (4g here where i work and around my home).
Every phone/network won't work for everyone. Although the NFC is something that initially gave me pause, but I really don't see that being something i won't be able to live without in just 2 years; it's barely rolled out; not to mention text transactions and CC soda machines are also on the rise.
I am personally a little annoyed with how sense handles (or doesn't) the picasa gallery (Why can't i make a slide show with my picasa stuff).
Enjoy your G1 even with cyanogen; not sure I could go back THAT far even if I had crappy service
I am missing my MIUI though, still running my N1 with MIUI latest and it's been getting amazingly robust the past few updates (5 way unlock specifically).
I believe the Cell Radios turn off when you activate WiFi calling. And I have a way to get to the gallery from my camera app...
A G1 though?! I'd rather take all the cons you listed than go all the way back to that poor thing, on EDGE no less. G1 was awesome back in the day, but now you're just torturing the poor thing.
npoc said:
So give me a non-bloatwared, boot-loader unlocked sensation, add NFC, put it on a carrier that gives me reception, and I'll have my next phone. As for now I'll have to live with my rooted/ cyanogen-modded G1 on AT&T.
--troll away!--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you buy an unlocked manufacturer phone from overseas your stuck with carrier bloatware and hardware/software changes. That or one of the Nexus series. And your only choice for NFC right now is Nexus. So I think we've found your next phone.
B3astofthe3ast said:
I believe the Cell Radios turn off when you activate WiFi calling. And I have a way to get to the gallery from my camera app...
A G1 though?! I'd rather take all the cons you listed than go all the way back to that poor thing, on EDGE no less. G1 was awesome back in the day, but now you're just torturing the poor thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure i had to manually disable the cell radios if I wanted them off when on wi-fi. It did however route my calls over wi-fi automatically. It did not automatically turn off my cell radio when wi-fi calling was enabled. When I was at work or at home, the power graph was pretty ugly with the cell radios on.
BonesRed said:
Lulz irony abounds, he missed a conjunction and you omitted a word from your sentence, pointing out his omitted conjunction @[email protected]
- Also to the OP: A bunch of these problems are fixable with root, also there is a way to go to the gallery from the stock camera app... and even if there wasn't why wouldn't you just DL a camera app from market that would allow you to do what you wanted?
- Turn off the other contacts backup services... I did
- Why wouldn't you have 4g in 2 years? 4G will actually be much faster in two years and will be approaching "actual" 4G speeds.
- You couldnt do a one click disable of the cell radio while on wifi and wifi calling was enabled because that happens automatically.
- Speakerphone was too low on wifi calling? Wow, that's probably fixable as well.
- And if you have a smart phone YOU will need to learn how to manage its battery life. The Sensation actually does have preeettty good battery life for a smartphone.
Cheers, good luck on ATT we'll all probably be there next year anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said the big reason I had to return it was poor reception.
Being a t-mo customer you are not guaranteed anything over the next 2 years. AT&T is trying to acquire t-mo to repurpose some of t-mo's spectrum. What part of their owned spectrum is anyone's guess
I agree that all the firmware issues are fixable, but they are still annoyances that I shouldn't have to deal with. I don't know how long it will take for HTC to unlock the sensation's bootloader or for someone to get root on the phone, but I had 14 days to make a decision on whether I wanted to be stuck with a 2 year contract. The speakerphone is a firmware deal-breaker for me atm, as I do have to use my phone for conference calls.
As for me my current plan is to find a recent boot-loader unlocked AT&T *cough* 4g compatible phone on craigslist, and then sign a contract on ATT or VZ when the right phone comes up.
in settings, there is an option to what you want it to do...cell preferred, wi-fi preferred, or wifi only
woldy2 said:
in settings, there is an option to what you want it to do...cell preferred, wi-fi preferred, or wifi only
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You completely missed the point. Wi-fi was preferred, but it leaves the cell radio on which drains battery. Better luck next time.
npoc said:
I'm pretty sure i had to manually disable the cell radios if I wanted them off when on wi-fi. It did however route my calls over wi-fi automatically. It did not automatically turn off my cell radio when wi-fi calling was enabled. When I was at work or at home, the power graph was pretty ugly with the cell radios on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get pretty good service even though I live in a basement (I was barely getting any bars on Sprint and Verizon before that). However, I still use WiFi calling to maximize my battery life (and it's working), and I use a Tasker profile to automate turning on wifi, turning off cell radio when it detect the cell towers by my house and my wifi ssid.
relic419 said:
I get pretty good service even though I live in a basement (I was barely getting any bars on Sprint and Verizon before that). However, I still use WiFi calling to maximize my battery life (and it's working), and I use a Tasker profile to automate turning on wifi, turning off cell radio when it detect the cell towers by my house and my wifi ssid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good suggestion, I will have to use that if I ever go back to T-Mo. Still, T-Mo should have made that a setting in their app.
I am about to return mine after 4 days of use. I love the phone and will be exchanging it for a new one.
Mine has started randomly making calls while sitting on my desk charging, The unlock ring started bouncing around the screen when I unlocked it and I had to turn off phone to get it to stop, it can charge all night long and still only show 75%, and I am dropping calls. Not what I want from a $600 device. I hope my second one is up to par. I have never had to exchange a phone with Tmobile before for these reasons.
A few notes.
If you used WiFi calling you wouldn't have to (nor CAN you) turn off the radio. It doesn't drain the battery in WiFi calling mode, you know nothing about how it works.
I upload to Picasa no problem.
Speakerphone volume is always low, the speakerphone sucks.
AT&T support and/or customer service is horrible. If you are speaking with a regular T-Mobile rep (one that does NOT introduce themselves as Android or PDA support) for phone issues you are speaking to the WRONG representative.
I couldn't ever see my self going back to a G1, may as well get out the bag phone again
I'm coming from Sprint and switched to T-Mobile primarily because of WiFi-Calling, and secondly because of the HTC Sensation. Not a single carrier has signal inside my apartment unit. Sprint gave me an Airave which works well for about a year, but recently started giving me problem where I cannot hear the caller, but the caller can hear me most of the time. With T-Mobile's WiFi-Calling, it works all the time. The sound quality may not be the greatest, but acceptable enough that I can have a conversation using it over an hour. On a full charge, 0 bar signal, using WiFi-Calling for almost half an hour, I did not see a drop on my battery charge, not even 1%, last time I checked.
I'm sad to leave Sprint, but T-Mo's WiFi-Calling is unbeatable, specially when travelling overseas.
I have attached pic... I want to know what each terminal is for.. I am sure about B and D coz i tested them... Don't know about remaining... Can someone help?
A = ?
B = Wifi
C = ?
D = GSM Network
E = ?
Only answer if you are really damn sure... No guesses...
Hi,
I am interested in this as well.
I can confirm B.
My wifi disappeared,so I lifted the two connectors and it was restored.
EDIT:
I just checked my phone.
I haven't got an A
That 'A' is still controversial... It comes in T-MoUS Sensations... Not present in European and XE Sensation...
Some say it's 4G, but then i read that guys with T-Mob using XE Sensation backcover getting 4G signals without any problems.. So it's not 4G ..:-/
Anyone? A million people having Sensation don't know what those antenna are for?
Ha, well that explains what the mysterious bump is on the inside of my back cover - it's another thing that would have been painted yellow if my phone had been shipped to a different part of the world!
A person makes a pretty good aerial, so try taking the back off and touching each contact on the phone in turn with your finger to see which radio's signal comes back.
"A" is clearly for a radio which has no purpose in the UK, or perhaps for one which can share its aerial with another radio... Could it be a different frequency thing, like an optimised antenna for a different GSM band or even for CDMA if the Sensation has a version that supports it? Or it could still be for 4G; just because you read something somewhere doesn't mean it's true.
I can personally confirm that the extra antenna is not 4G. I bought a white XE cover and have noticed zero reception problems in WiFi, 2G/3G/4G, and GPS.
jjdoctor said:
I have attached pic... I want to know what each terminal is for.. I am sure about B and D coz i tested them... Don't know about remaining... Can someone help?
A = Diversity Antenna (RX Only)
B = WiFi & Bluetooth
C = GPS Receive
D = Cellular Network Transmit
E = Cellular Network Receive
Only answer if you are really damn sure... No guesses...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See this PDF attachment by me, it's from the FCC filing. All the antennas are labeled.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=763245&d=1319731287
It's from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=18815345
~T.J.
EDIT: Forgot it was semi determined the photo is wrong and has GPS and diversity switched most likely.
Interesting... although I'm lacking the gps antenna but still have gps. What does 'diversity' antenna mean?
02CWRX said:
See this PDF attachment by me, it's from the FCC filing. All the antennas are labeled.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=763245&d=1319731287
It's from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=18815345
~T.J.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just like tlloyd87 said, i m also lacking this antenna A in my back cover and i have GPS fully functional...
That D i agree is GSM network, but i can't say exactly if it's only one sided reception only coz i applied aluminum foil to only D and my network reception showed up and i dialed a number and got connected without any issues..
When i touched E alone, i had no reception at all..
I read that thread but it's not coinciding with facts... That PDF marks GPS wrong too...
One theory is that the photo from the filing actually shows the antennas switched (GPS for Diversity) meaning you still get GPS, but are missing the diversity antenna - IE - a Sensation 4G has diversity and GPS, a Sensation XE (and apparently some international phones) only have GPS.
I forgot about this when I posted, I have edited my above post. This has all been covered many times, you could search and read about it all.
tlloyd87 said:
Interesting... although I'm lacking the gps antenna but still have gps. What does 'diversity' antenna mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The diversity antenna was described as being a "booster antenna" to try and improve reception and supposedly isn't used at all times. People who have put different back covers on without it seem to report no loss in signal strength, so maybe it's not used at all?
~T.J.
Just looked it up on Wikipedia, apparently a Diversity antenna is to mitigate interference caused by the radio signal bouncing off obstacles between the transmitter and receiver. Several aerials receiving the same signal means at least one of them should get something usable. I believe 802.11n wireless uses this principle.
Perhaps a diversity antenna isn't necessary for correct operation, but can improve reception where fitted?
Correct. MIMO (multi in, multi out) technology is the same concept/same thing. No one is just sure how often it's used, or if it's used at all currently.
~T.J.
I have not done anything software wise to my phone, its still a factory rom and radio for ATT... now my issue is I'm struggling all the time with reception with this phone. I don't remember it being this bad when I first got it and now its just becoming a huge annoyance.
I'll have phone calls breaking up with a display showing 3-4 bars of service and also having troubles sending txt messages quite often.
I'm in an area that is labeled as HPSA coverage area and my "voice" coverage map for my area is not bad at all... for example where I work is listed as "BEST" coverage and if I walk outside I'll have 2 maybe 3 bars of service.
There is nothing visibly wrong with my antenna/sim cover but should I attempt to replace it and see if that could be causing the problem?
There is nothing out there on the web for improving reception on a Inspire 4G phone and there is now way to shut off the HPSA and revert to 3G, but at the same time I really should have to since my whole state is covered with blue for HPSA coverage.
Any input on things that I can try would be great.
Thanks.
BerettaFreak said:
I have not done anything software wise to my phone, its still a factory rom and radio for ATT... now my issue is I'm struggling all the time with reception with this phone. I don't remember it being this bad when I first got it and now its just becoming a huge annoyance.
I'll have phone calls breaking up with a display showing 3-4 bars of service and also having troubles sending txt messages quite often.
I'm in an area that is labeled as HPSA coverage area and my "voice" coverage map for my area is not bad at all... for example where I work is listed as "BEST" coverage and if I walk outside I'll have 2 maybe 3 bars of service.
There is nothing visibly wrong with my antenna/sim cover but should I attempt to replace it and see if that could be causing the problem?
There is nothing out there on the web for improving reception on a Inspire 4G phone and there is now way to shut off the HPSA and revert to 3G, but at the same time I really should have to since my whole state is covered with blue for HPSA coverage.
Any input on things that I can try would be great.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hpsa is basically 3g just optimized packet transmission. You can change your phone to run on edge network (which is why i personally do because then i can get a ton more battery life) Also it doesnt matter what your area is 'claimed' to be for coverage, there are a ton of outside factors that influence your signal. What you can do is take the bottom cover off and clean the gold contacts on the phone itself with alcohol and using something metal, lightly scrape the cover-side contacts to shine up the metal (but not removing the material itself)
Well aware of all the things you mentioned, as well as I've tried cleaning the contacts multiple times. Used an eraser on the cover side to polish the contacts and got no improvement with signal. I also can not find any way to shut off HPSA or 3G on this phone... and I've read that with the AT&T Inspire it's not possible. I'd love to switch to Edge when at work because as you said it would extend battery life immensely.
But I guess the real issue is I never had these problems before with any of my phones or this one at first, granted I have some dead spots which I'm well aware of and accept since I do live in the hilly north east corner but to have this phone degrade with signal over the time I've had it just seems a bit odd.
I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced signal loss with an Inspire 4G over the life of the phone without having any physical damage done to it. As well as having much less signal strength in comparison to other phone models.
I'm contemplating getting a new phone but I want to ensure that whatever I get would have better reception. I'm close to my 2yr resign IIRC and when I do find out that date I will probably replace this.
Its just the whole antenna on the Inspire seems to be lacking and very small in my mind, and placed very badly.
*#*#4636#*#* dial this and get into your config menu. change network type to edge/gsm i think it is? been a while since ive used stock ui
fyi the antenna is supposed to be small as it has to be designed to receive certain frequency. antenna length has to do with what signal it is using. bigger is not better
theres an app on market called 2g/3g toggle. it will put a button on your screen to take u to that menu screen instantly
That worked but which network do you switch to, It was on WCDMA Preferred
Also that app only brings me to the network settings in the phone, not to this menu.
I selected "GSM Only" for now to see what it does.
BerettaFreak said:
That worked but which network do you switch to, It was on WCDMA Preferred
Also that app only brings me to the network settings in the phone, not to this menu.
I selected "GSM Only" for now to see what it does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correct, gsm only will keep you on edge network. if you want your regular hspa+ setting just change it back to wcdma preferred
I'm all of a sudden having no service, i think at&t is having issues.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Thanks ✟
Moving to Q&A
This is a matter of interest to me as well. I've been looking at some videos for "fixing" the reception of other phone models by finding the gold contacts and extending the "antenna" by attaching a piece of aluminum foil to the antenna points. Now with the Inspire, the contact points are in the battery cover, but you'd have to open the unit itself to see anything more than that. I'm thinking that some reception problems may be due to worn contacts. I'd be interested in what kind of substance would be appropriate for "restoring" the contacts. Also I'd be interested if someone *has* opened up the unit and "extended" the antenna with something like aluminum foil.
From what I could gather the cell antenna is actually on the bottom cover for the SIM an SD cards. All I did was use an eraser on the contacts to clean them up and yes I did try to lay down foil to extend the antenna but from what I have read regarding radio's and such the antenna size and shape is specific to the signal its trying to pick up, so that could either work great or fail completely when you try to extend it. It did not help for my situation at all.
Lately the phone will not send txt's with one bar of HPSA or just on Edge which makes no sense to me and also I'm quite often only getting one bar unless I can see a tower right next to me which is a bit sad and I do not remember having this issue before.
Also changing the preferred network did not prevent it from using or wanting to go to HPSA while I'm at work. It would operate the same as before. Its impossible to get this phone to stick on regular 3g which I feel I have better coverage of that network in my area.
I'm contemplating rooting the phone and trying some different radio's on it to see if that will help me at all.
I never had this many signal issues with my 3Gs and I'm contemplating going back to that phone until I can upgrade again since this is just so aggravating... More so than having to have the same txt sounds as everyone else with an iPhone.
I think it us just AT&T having problems on their side. Some days I gave great reception, and others it struggles to maintain one bar all day. Its getting very annoying for me, and I probably won't be with them for much longer...Verizon looks much better right now.
Hey all,
A mate of mine has a S6. Since new, he has had constant issues. He never has 4G, (on Telstra in Australia), and when he makes phone calls, as soon as the person answers, it cuts out. At the most, a phone call will last 1minute.
We have ruled out the SIM as being an issue and all the APN's are correct.
Telstra want to send the phone off to Samsung, which will result in nothing being done and they are saying there is a six week turn around!
What are the chances it is software related, rather than hardware?
If the general consensus is that it is software, I might flash a new ROM onto it for him.
If hardware, I suppose he has no option but to hand it in and play the Samsung game of, 'No fault found,' or, 'it is water damaged'.
We were on Glenferrie Rd today, (Malvern, Melbourne), and I had full 4G while he had no reception at all. Nothing. Not even 1bar.
Due to the poor reception, his battery life is pathetic. With barely any usage, he'll get 6 hours out of it. Android system seems to be the main culprit when you look at the battery usage.
He has already done a factory reset.
Is this a common issue and would it be worth flashing a new ROM?
It sounds like a hardware issue. You shouldn't need to mess about with it to use its fundamental features. Your phone carrier should have records of your complaints, use that as a case to get them to replace your mates s6. The bottom line is that if they sold you a defected device they need to replace rather than send it off for repairs. It's a bummer but I'll go down this route if I were your mate; consumer's rights etc..
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Sounds like the network to me which would also explain why the battery is working harder
I would go into a telstra shop (big one in city seems to be good) and ask them to replace it...