[Q] Tmobile signal - General Questions and Answers

I'm trying Tmobile signal around town for a month. So here's what I want to do. I want to drive around town and see where I have HSPA, 3g signal. The phone tells me what signal its getting but I dont want to be taking my eyes of the road that often. So does anyone know of an app that will color in a map that will show you this data? Or one that will make a sound when signal is dropped. I just want to know what kind of signal I would get around town. Maybe a music streaming service that will stop playing when signal is lost. Any ideas?
Another concern I have is that I went to my uncles ranch this weekend and had no kind of signal. Ranch is about 15 mins out of town and about 200 yards away from a highway. As soon as I hit the highway I can get some signal, but not while in the ranch. I have a nexus 4 and don't know if another phone would have better signal.
I also just read straight talk has gotten 4g lte, would anyone recommend that. My son loves to watch the angry bird video clips, and I read somewhere that you couldn't stream any videos with straight talk.

Related

Horrible service where I moved...

Recently I had to move to an area where if I drive two minutes in any direction I have no signal/service. The coverage map says tmobile doesn't even have towers around here and it borrows at&t towers and 2g data. Unfortunately the spots they chose to cover are extremely spotty. Now I realize there is more than likely absolutely nothing that can be done without switching carriers but for specific reasons I'm not interested in doing that. I figured I would at least ask if there DOES happen to be something that can be done though... no harm in that. A lot of people on here know a lot more than me about this sort of thing. Someone please (at least try) to give me good news!
Probably not though. Oh well.
Sent from my LG-P999
They make personal cell towers for your house (that's definitely not the right word for them). But unfortunately it wouldn't do anything for the areas around it.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Ehh I got wifi calling plus the signal at my apt is fine. I will eventually just unlock it and use a different carrier. Probably the only thing that can be done.
Sent from my LG-P999
e4e5nf3nc6 said:
Ehh I got wifi calling plus the signal at my apt is fine. I will eventually just unlock it and use a different carrier. Probably the only thing that can be done.
Sent from my LG-P999
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Just and FYI, the only other service that it can be used with is ATT witch as you stated in OP will only be 2g.
Could be worse.
You could have 100% perfect signal *everywhere* except home. As in, I drive 1 minute in either direction and my signal becomes perfect 4G...
I'm triangulated between 3 towers at close distance... apparently at the point where they all 3 are equidistant a phone will have difficulty locking onto any one specific tower due to interference from the others... same reason AT&T realized selling cell signal repeaters could actually make signal worse for some people...
I even found a New Year's surprise from T-Mobile, ran a speedtest right after midnight and got the fastest speed I've ever gotten (anywhere) on 4G less than a mile from my home. Got all excited, got home, and had horrible signal as usual ...
lotherius said:
Could be worse.
You could have 100% perfect signal *everywhere* except home. As in, I drive 1 minute in either direction and my signal becomes perfect 4G...
I'm triangulated between 3 towers at close distance... apparently at the point where they all 3 are equidistant a phone will have difficulty locking onto any one specific tower due to interference from the others... same reason AT&T realized selling cell signal repeaters could actually make signal worse for some people...
I even found a New Year's surprise from T-Mobile, ran a speedtest right after midnight and got the fastest speed I've ever gotten (anywhere) on 4G less than a mile from my home. Got all excited, got home, and had horrible signal as usual ...
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I have the SAME EXACT issue as you. Horrible speed at home, but as soon as I step outside, perfect 4G. I easily pick up 6mb in my area. Heck, I usually pick up 10mb. ;D
I just need to move to a new area. It is Verizon-dominant around here and everything else just basically doesn't work. It really is frustrating though paying for the phone service and not having jack when I am out and about. I have no service almost anywhere I have to go on a daily basis except for my apartment. I don't have a home phone so that's useful but part of the reason of having a cell phone (especially the one I bought) is being able to send a text or use the internet WHEREVER I am!!!

Data dropping

My phone has dropped data randomly two times this morning. I could only get it back by doing a switch to airplane mode. Anyone else with this problem? Is this a phone issue that I need to get a new one?
Sent from my HTC One X
Mine has dropped several times. when coming to and from work. It seems to always happen when it connects to wifi. when i leave work and its wifi, i lose all signal entirely.
I don't use wifi though that's the thing. I called ATT and they said it may need a new simcard......which this was. So I swung by and got one and the lady at the store said that my phone may be going bad! LOL wow I love how they train their people.
YES. Most definitely, this is the same problem I'm experiencing. I had another thread posted about how the 4G icon was lit but there was no signal. The icon now seems to be a little more accurate...But still.
At home I switch on WiFi so I don't run up my data but if I look at the settings for mobile network the status underneath in gray text keeps showing that it connects and disconnects. Endlessly. The phone isn't moving. My wife has signal on her iPad and iPhone (I know those are 3G).
I have to turn on airplane mode and then off...Then mobile network on and it seems to help a little. However it's still super spotty.
This is pretty much only indoors but I don't know. I'm going to go around town and try it out. On their coverage map I'm in a big zone of LTE coverage. Outside I have seen 30Mbps on LTE using speedtest.net app. So I don't know. I thought it was very odd given the houses here in CA don't exactly have super thick insulation and every other cell phone (Sprint, my wife's on AT&T, etc.) seem to be AOK. It's just this new One X that just can't stay connected to the 4G.
Going under settings > about > network ...
I see my signal strength....some readings are...
-109 dBm 4 asu
-101 dBm 6 asu
-107 dBm 2 asu
I have no idea what values I should be seeing - what is considered good?
Mobile network type says HSPA. Service state says in service. Icon up top is 4G with one bar. If I turn off WiFi I could not load a web page or anything. That's what annoys me. I usually see like 2 bars and that's fine...But if I see the damn bars and the 4G icon....I sure as hell expect the data to work, even if a little slower.
It's just SUPER flaky. Again outside seems to help but to be honest I haven't sat and watched it. For all I know it could be connecting and disconnecting over and over outside as well but just have a stronger connection when it is actually "on."
I'm annoyed and speechless. I'm not in the boonies. I've never experienced anything like this before. I'm actually at my desk in front of a window. Uh...WTF?
Just picked up lunch and watched the data while on the trip.
This phone is unusable. It's gotta go back. Well, I guess it's welcome back Sprint. Sooooo disappointed.
All I got was HSPA. The only time I get LTE and those fast 30Mbps down is at night time. AT&T is such a joke and their network is NOT ready for this phone.
I'm in Palo Alto, CA. It's not the middle of no where. This is embarrassing. Either that or somehow I have a defective phone or SIM card or something I have no clue here...It's really really bad and I'm obviously not the only one.
3 days and it's been horrible, the only reason why I didn't notice sooner is because I've been using the phone on WiFi most the time.
tom_m said:
Just picked up lunch and watched the data while on the trip.
This phone is unusable. It's gotta go back. Well, I guess it's welcome back Sprint. Sooooo disappointed.
All I got was HSPA. The only time I get LTE and those fast 30Mbps down is at night time. AT&T is such a joke and their network is NOT ready for this phone.
I'm in Palo Alto, CA. It's not the middle of no where. This is embarrassing. Either that or somehow I have a defective phone or SIM card or something I have no clue here...It's really really bad and I'm obviously not the only one.
3 days and it's been horrible, the only reason why I didn't notice sooner is because I've been using the phone on WiFi most the time.
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how fast is the HSPA you're getting?
1-3.56Mbps down and 0.04-1.03Mbps up.
Out on the street downtown.
Best I've ever had was at night on LTE 30Mbps down and like 17Mbps up.
All to the same test server. Trying servers several states away it varied, sometimes I'd even see 20Mbps down to a far away server.
Again this is all WHEN I'm actually connected to the data network.
The thing just can't hold a connection. Constantly dropped.
edit-- ok so right now same time of day, servers, etc. Sprint's 3G is a little slower, but at least I'm not getting dropped.
and on a side note, i got a REALLY helpful lvl1 tech support lady on the phone. much better experience than i thought. there was an issue in the area before. but basically i'm going to give it another shot. if no good tomorrow, swap for a new phone. they'll call me back friday and we'll see... crossing my fingers.
Any update on this? I've got a new One X and work night shifts twice a week. I've notived tonight that the data drops when the phone is idle and obviously nothing pushes.
There's got to be a way of turning this off. I can see why HTC would call it a feature, but there has to be a flag or a switch somewhere....

Call Quality and Signal Reception

I live less than 3 miles from Center city Philadelphia and I get terrible cell reception. My radio goes nuts constantly trying to keep a stable radio signal. It jumps from H to H+ to LTE constantly. I can stand in one place and watch it jump around all day. If I force LTE, LTE just drops out constantly. What is going on?
I have a few friends who all use the same carrier(T-Mobile) with different phones and don't report the same issue. I even have a buddy using a Gnex and he gets better reception than I do. Call quality is not very good either. I was making a call while walking home from class and had the other persons voice drop in and out when the wind started to blow. I dont believe that Wind was effecting my call. That makes no sense, but there was a correlation that went on for 20 minutes.
Anyone else having call quality/ signal strength issues? I am not talking about your data speeds, we have a thread for that. I am talking about tower connectivity and stability .
I don't use my phone for calling, but I'm trying out T-mobile in Janesville and Beloit Wisconsin and I notice that my signal bounces between GPRS, EDGE, 3g and H constantly as well. I have no other phone on T-Mobile to compare to though. Granted all signals have 1-2 bars in most places.
Use the app Sensorly to see what other users are reporting for signal coverage.

[Q] 3G in one direction but only 2G in reverse.

So I take the train every day to work and I've noticed that in the morning I usually have a solid 3G signal the whole way but on the way back I barely get 2G and browsing is practically impossible a lot if the time.
I know that signals can somewhat rubber band and be slow to hand over. However half way through my trip I stop at a station and the train sits there for about 5 min yet my phone (Nexus5) will still not attach to 3 or 4G (rebooting does not help). In the mornings going the other way I don't have this problem and always get at least a good 3G signal. What gives?
Olley!! said:
So I take the train every day to work and I've noticed that in the morning I usually have a solid 3G signal the whole way but on the way back I barely get 2G and browsing is practically impossible a lot if the time.
I know that signals can somewhat rubber band and be slow to hand over. However half way through my trip I stop at a station and the train sits there for about 5 min yet my phone (Nexus5) will still not attach to 3 or 4G (rebooting does not help). In the mornings going the other way I don't have this problem and always get at least a good 3G signal. What gives?
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Ask your carrier. They most likely drop speeds to allow more users to use their data but that's only a guess. Only your cell provider will be able to answer this.

Verizon/Moto G4 Plus - any way to improve wireless data at home?

Hey all - so I'm grandfathered unlimited on Verizon and *love* my unlimited 4g. At my girlfriend's house (right near an interstate), the data is absolutely rocking. But at my house, about two miles away, I usually have decent signal (half or a bit better), but the internet seriously struggles. For instance right now I've got my phone on Pandora and am wifi hotspotting to my laptop, where I'm FB Messenging. Every 30 seconds or so, my laptop says that my hotspot has no internet connection, and I have to wait 30 seconds or so for it to come back. I've just paused Pandora and at least I can chat uninterrupted now. Seems like I should at least be able to do these two things successfully...
Is there anything at all I can do to help it?
Many thanks!
thetastycat said:
Hey all - so I'm grandfathered unlimited on Verizon and *love* my unlimited 4g. At my girlfriend's house (right near an interstate), the data is absolutely rocking. But at my house, about two miles away, I usually have decent signal (half or a bit better), but the internet seriously struggles. For instance right now I've got my phone on Pandora and am wifi hotspotting to my laptop, where I'm FB Messenging. Every 30 seconds or so, my laptop says that my hotspot has no internet connection, and I have to wait 30 seconds or so for it to come back. I've just paused Pandora and at least I can chat uninterrupted now. Seems like I should at least be able to do these two things successfully...
Is there anything at all I can do to help it?
Many thanks!
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Click to collapse
You'll probably have to move in with your girlfriend
Maybe the area in which you live is extremely congested or there aren't enough/any cell towers nearby.
Nothing you can do about that.
Haha - fair enough!! Just so weird that the connection just stops working even though I've got decent service showing. Is there any merit to any of the "signal booster" stuff you can buy? Can't really see how any of that could work...
thetastycat said:
Haha - fair enough!! Just so weird that the connection just stops working even though I've got decent service showing. Is there any merit to any of the "signal booster" stuff you can buy? Can't really see how any of that could work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're of no use whatsoever. Even worse than all those "cleaner" apps out there (thats supposed to say something).
If you live in an apartment/building with multiple walls/thick walls, that might impact signal strength and speed. You'll probably have to check out various locations inside your house (or even outside) and see where the reception is best. Near open windows good.

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