Signal Relay? - General Questions and Answers

Hi all!
I was wondering if anyone knew of any drivers/apps/ROMs that allowed a device owner to use his/her device to relay voice and/or data? For example: I have a phone with this relay software, and I'm in a place where I have good signal with the carrier tower, my buddy on the other hand is not too far away (couple miles?) possibly with line of sight to me, but does not have any connection with the carrier. I allow him to use my connection, and he uses my phone as a signal relay to make a call or access the web, etc.
Seems like every time I search for 'android relay' I get the phone called relay, and 'android 4g hotspot' refers to 4g to WiFi hotspot.

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Dumb Question - 3G / Edge

This is going to be a really dumb question, but its something I am trying to find out. When my cell phone is connected to either a 3G or an Edge network, am I incurring any data charges? even when the phone is just simply sitting on the desk? If I make a call while on a 3G or Edge network, again does that incur any data charges?
I realize that if I go onto the internet using either 3G/Edge that I will incur data charges, but trying to find out if I will when making phone calls / doing nothing on the phone but having the little 3G / Edge icon showing at the top.
Thanks, told ya it was a dumb question!!
Nope...
Only if the phone connects will you be charged for data. The indicators simply state you have Edge or 3G (or some phones show H for HSDPA) data service availble. Think of it like your signal meter for data. One thing to be careful of is what applications on your device can access the internet. Comon ones are weather (HTC Home plug), e-mail or internet.
2manyphones said:
Only if the phone connects will you be charged for data. The indicators simply state you have Edge or 3G (or some phones show H for HSDPA) data service availble. Think of it like your signal meter for data. One thing to be careful of is what applications on your device can access the internet. Comon ones are weather (HTC Home plug), e-mail or internet.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, I installed NoData and disabled both connections there. So hopefully that means nothing will be able to connect (unless I want it to). My phone has WiFi so I don't want to be racking up charges on data services when I don't need to.
I think I am just nervous as have heard so many times about people racking up huge bills without even knowing they were doing so.

Use my cell phone for dialing up via the PSTN

I'm sure this question has been answered somewhere, but I'm just not doing the right search to find it.
My Verizon phone works just about everywhere for voice calls, but in areas where my SMT5800 displays "Extended Network," I have no access to data. Unfortunately, this happens in an area that I frequently visit.
Since I do have voice service even when there's no EV icon, I'm wondering whether it is possible to dial-up using a 10-digit number from my ISP (AT&T). ~56k isn't EVDO but it's better than nothing.
I see posts about using ICS with the "Phone as Modem" choice but I got as far as re-enabling the ICS feature on my phone and am stuck. I have it set to USB/Phone as a Modem but pressing "Connect" always ends up with a status of disconnected (). Also, my XP laptop never sees the USB connection to the phone as a modem.
Can anyone point me to the right thread?
I found USBMDM.INF but the SMT5800 still doesn't show up in my list of modems. Is there something that needs to be done on the phone side?

3G - voice and data (do all calls take you to 1x)?

Hi All -
Sorry for a weird (simple) question:
I am used to GSM / At&T - where if you had a 3G connection you could talk on the phone and be on the internet at the same time.
Is CDMA / VZW different? I just talked to a tech and she said it wasn't possible.
Confused...
-Daniel
According to what I have read on this forum and experienced, with CDMA, you cannot be on the internet and on the phone at the same time.
If I am incorrect, I am sure someone will correct me!
KD8FRE
that is correct. It's not possible on CDMA.
Wow. Interesting.
I guess there's a map for that in AT&T's future.
Thanks all - appreciate it.
-D
I never really noticed any kind of problems with it. I can make a phone call while my phone is tethered and I can still also receive calls, I think it probably temporally boots you off 3G during the phone call but put you back on right after.
Yeah EVDO is "1x Evolution Data Only/Optimized" which means that once a voice call comes in you are switched to 1X mode.
The latest SVDO specification (recently released) allows carriers to quadruple their voice calls and also allows data and voice at the same time. However nobody has implemented this yet.
I believe no one will implement this.... Because all providers are going HSPA or right to LTE... Where we will be able to have data and voice at the same time.
3G - voice and data
You can talk and surf the internet but only if you establish a Wifi connection
relicsoul said:
You can talk and surf the internet but only if you establish a Wifi connection
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Click to collapse
or if you use VoIP
Seriously though, what's the benefit of having an internet connection going at the same times as making a phone call? Please note, I'm not trying to be rude about this, I'm just curious about it.
Doesn't navigation(on sprint) use the internet? Im able to talk on the phone and still use navigation
There are some "live caller id" services which will do an online 411 lookup for any number that calls you, plus it's nice to be able to browse the internet to look something up while talking with someone (usually handsfree) for example if we're trying to decide on a movie or dinner or where to go out - all very handy to have a simultaneous internet and voice connection.
AstarteSV said:
Seriously though, what's the benefit of having an internet connection going at the same times as making a phone call? Please note, I'm not trying to be rude about this, I'm just curious about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two big ones:
1. Conference calls with email coming in. Like - your next meeting has been moved (exchange, push).
2. On phone call - someone asks a question that needs internet connection (I found it this way - they asked what the weather would be like on Sat (it was Monday). I said... hold on a sec... I'll find out... then realized that there is no internet... so I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket and checked it instead. Again - this is something that AT&T does today - just didn't think CDMA was behind the curve on it...
-Daniel
Cool, thanks for showing me the light
My problem (with Sprint) when I had to have a CDMA device is that there is a difference in signal between EVDO and 1X. For instance, I had full signal for EV, but hardly any for 1X... Thus I could be on data all I want, but I had troubles with phone calls....
AstarteSV said:
Seriously though, what's the benefit of having an internet connection going at the same times as making a phone call? Please note, I'm not trying to be rude about this, I'm just curious about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah honey, i'll meet you ... where was that? let me punch it in my google maps... o wait CDMA FAIL

[Q] How do I turn off the cellular radio without disabling mobile data?

I know for some the title is a little contradicting, but here is what I am looking for:
I would like to turn off calls and sms, and enable only mobile data (3g). Airplane mode is not good for this as it turns off mobile data. I have done this on an old windows mobile phone I used to have (motorola q) but I haven't found much info on android for this. I know some people have also asked the same question but no answer (forums.androidcentral.com/htc-evo-4g/61387-how-turn-off-cell-phone-radio.html).
I have an Samsung exhibit 2, it's on gingerbread.
I am wondering if it isn't as simple as to replace the normal phone apks with the ones from a tablet (since tablets cannot make voice calls or sms) was anyone tried this? Maybe can point me to a place to try? I think the apks to replace would be the 2 being discussed here:
android.stackexchange.com/questions/7133/how-do-i-turn-off-the-cellular-radio-without-disabling-bluetooth
Thank you.
Tablets can make voice calls AFAIK. Although one looks very stupid holding a large pad onto the ear. Normally, it goes to Loudspeaker by default.
Anyways, what you are looking for might not be in Android. From the look of it, this is a driver feature. So if the drivers of the phone's radio does not support this feature it might not be possible.
Anyways, is it possible to do this in real GSM radios? Isn't GPRS in the same band as in Voice calls? I'm not sure about HSPA.
Why would you want to do that?
Do you just want to disable texting and calls? (You could just ignore them?), or you could just use Wifi.
In older phones (like 2g and basic cell phones), they did not have mobile data, so all they had was the cellular radio. In newer phones though, the cellular radio and 3g/4g is the same piece of hardware, so it is not possible, as far as I am aware, to disable one or the other selectively. Sorry
If you're own a sprint phone and try to download a phone call can break the connection. I am also looking for a way to temp disable the cell radio while downloading.
"Juice" might do it. I know some of the battery saver apps will allow this customization where you can have data only, radio off, radio on data off...etc

[SOLVED] 3G consumes more battery than LTE, how this happens?

Hello XDA Community!
When my new phone (Huawei P9 Lite Mini) is on 3G/2G auto network mode, it consumes more battery than LTE/3G/2G auto mode even mobile data off.
I do not understand how this happens? For example, while 3G consumption at overnight is %10-15; LTE is only %2-3. This problem is the same in daytime too. Mobile data is off, unneccesary services/apps disabled, and no extra application installed while this happens. I tried all "wipe/factory reset/update firmware/factory reset/wipe/no app install" procedures, enabling all battery saving options, but it did not work. This is a problem for me when I'm in non-LTE areas.
This problem occurs the same result in different locations. There was no problem with my previous phone and I use same nano sim card.
I tried the following but it did not work:
- Wipe cache, factory reset, wipe cache,
- Wipe data/factory reset over recovery menu,
- Update latest firmware, wipe data etc. again.
How this happens and where am I doing wrong? Thank you for your help, best regards!
EDIT: PROBLEM SOLVED!
I changed my mobile carrier (provider) and the problem is gone. This is very interesting! I worked for hours and days to solve the problem, but this problem is neither caused by the phone nor by the software...
WCDMA (aka 3G with support for 2G/Edge) is in always-on mode on most phones, because that's how you receive and emit phone calls and, for most phones, SMS (in some more recent phones, LTE takes care of sending and receiving SMS/MMS), so if you're in an area where 3G/2G reception is poor, your phone has trouble locking on a cell with enough power to maintain contact, hence the battery drain.
4G/LTE only works for data, and voice if you have VoLTE (Voice over LTE) enabled, but works on a on-demand mode, even with cellular data constantly enabled. In other words, the 4G modem on your phone will memorize the latest position and IP address the nearest 4G tower/cell allocated it, and connect to it using the memorized settings when you need it to.
Not so with 3G, where DHCP doesn't exist, at least not the way it does in 4G: it uses PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), where an ad-hoc IP address is attributed to each new connection, based on a pool of existing addresses allocated to the tower and its owner (carrier) by the authorities.
UglyStuff said:
WCDMA (aka 3G with support for 2G/Edge) is in always-on mode on most phones, because that's how you receive and emit phone calls and, for most phones, SMS (in some more recent phones, LTE takes care of sending and receiving SMS/MMS), so if you're in an area where 3G/2G reception is poor, your phone has trouble locking on a cell with enough power to maintain contact, hence the battery drain.
4G/LTE only works for data, and voice if you have VoLTE (Voice over LTE) enabled, but works on a on-demand mode, even with cellular data constantly enabled. In other words, the 4G modem on your phone will memorize the latest position and IP address the nearest 4G tower/cell allocated it, and connect to it using the memorized settings when you need it to.
Not so with 3G, where DHCP doesn't exist, at least not the way it does in 4G: it uses PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), where an ad-hoc IP address is attributed to each new connection, based on a pool of existing addresses allocated to the tower and its owner (carrier) by the authorities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply!
When I googled about 3G vs. LTE battery consumption, everyone says that LTE will consume more batteries. That's make sense on first thought. So what I've been through is very interesting to me.
I think about is there a problem with my phone's 3G antenna. (footnote: I don't know about that 3g and LTE antennas are same or seperate?)
But I understand that you say this is normal, right?
Edit: I found a forum that this problem may be due to the operator (carrier). I'm still investigating...
3G and 4G operate on basically the same principle: receiving and sending "information" via radio waves.
The difference lies in the frequencies each standard uses, the way the data sent over them is modulated and demodulated, and how handsets make and maintain connection, so if you stay in the same location, and set your phone to 3G-only, then switch Airplane mode on then off, it'll take your phone longer to reconnect to the 3G cell/tower with the strongest signal (not necessarily the closest to you), because it'll have to go through the whole getting-acquainted process again, whereas in 4G, it'll go straight to the "Hey, how do you do? Long time, no see".
Now, if your phone antenna has a problem, you could be standing a few feet from the tower, in line of sight, and still get a crappy to non-existent signal. How many bars are showing on your screen is just an indication of how well your phone is receiving the signal from the tower; it doesn't mean that this signal is consistent and steady, hence the bars coming and going in real time.
If I were you, I'd download and install the Hidden Settings app from the Play Store, and run it; there, you go to RadioInfo, and you'll get a lot of information about how your phone modem actually works. It's a bit technical, but it would give you an indication.
I will try and looking for a new carrier. Thank you again. See you.
I changed my mobile carrier (provider) and the problem is gone. This is very interesting! I worked for hours and days to solve the problem, but this problem is neither caused by the phone nor by the software...

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