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Hello everyone,
Just got my Nexus 5 with carrier AT&T and got my LTE activated using the IMEI that came with the N5 and everything works great. Just a quick question regarding the icons that are shown depending on which network you are on. When on LTE it will show LTE above the signal bar. When not on an LTE band it will switch over to H. My understanding is that the H stands for HSPA+. Would this be the equivalent of 4G? I was under the assumption that the H was basically 3G. I also thought then when using LTE it is considered LTE/4G, so wouldn't the LTE switch to a 4G symbol, or does the Nexus 5 not have this and that would be what the H is referencing.
Thank you.
H is hspa+ which is faster than 3g but not as fast as lte. I am usually on H+ or lte. I rarely get the 3g symbol on AT&T. I also found that H+ is almost as fast as Verizon LTE. I think it is due to do many devices on their network.
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jm700wx said:
H is hspa+ which is faster than 3g but not as fast as lte. I am usually on H+ or lte. I rarely get the 3g symbol on AT&T. I also found that H+ is almost as fast as Verizon LTE. I think it is due to do many devices on their network.
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Thanks, so basically you won't get the 4G symbol on the Nexus 5 using AT&T? Mainly what happens is i'm on LTE, then when I make a phone call it switches to H (HSPA+). I thought AT&T is able to do voice calls over a 4G network. I may be wrong.
celphtitle said:
Thanks, so basically you won't get the 4G symbol on the Nexus 5 using AT&T? Mainly what happens is i'm on LTE, then when I make a phone call it switches to H (HSPA+). I thought AT&T is able to do voice calls over a 4G network. I may be wrong.
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You may have to manually add in AT&T's LTE apn (which you can find with a quick google search) if your phone doesn't automatically pick it up. Also make sure your SIM card has been provisioned to work with the LTE bands (use with another 4G phone ex. S3, HTC One)
k3anan said:
You may have to manually add in AT&T's LTE apn (which you can find with a quick google search) if your phone doesn't automatically pick it up. Also make sure your SIM card has been provisioned to work with the LTE bands (use with another 4G phone ex. S3, HTC One)
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Well I get LTE, I just don't get 4G. I figured the phone doesn't show a 4G icon, but if it does, then I'll check my sim in another device.
Google just changed the "4G" icon to "LTE". On jelly bean, LTE would show "4G" if you had the hybrid N4 radio flashed. hspa+ has always shown "H" on the stock ROM. Some custom ROMs have you the "H+" symbol though.
As for voice calls on at&t, they go over their hspa+ network, at&t uses their LTE for data only at this time. BTW, at&t considers their hspa+ to be "4G".
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
gotzaDroid said:
Google just changed the "4G" icon to "LTE". On jelly bean, LTE would show "4G" if you had the hybrid N4 radio flashed. hspa+ has always shown "H" on the stock ROM. Some custom ROMs have you the "H+" symbol though.
As for voice calls on at&t, they go over their hspa+ network, at&t uses their LTE for data only at this time. BTW, at&t considers their hspa+ to be "4G".
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Awesome, exactly the answer I was looking for. So I am good to go then, I see the LTE icon, and H when making voice calls.
Thank you very much.
celphtitle said:
Well I get LTE, I just don't get 4G. I figured the phone doesn't show a 4G icon, but if it does, then I'll check my sim in another device.
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4G and LTE are the same thing. LTE is a denotation of the network standard just like 3G is EDGE. If you're getting LTE above the signal indicator you are on the 4G network.
EDIT: gotzaDroid explained it much better than I did.
k3anan said:
4G and LTE are the same thing. LTE is a denotation of the network standard just like 3G is EDGE. If you're getting LTE above the signal indicator you are on the 4G network.
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yea my concern was that when I would make a phone call, the LTE would switch to H. I didn't know that H was basically AT&T's "4G".
celphtitle said:
yea my concern was that when I would make a phone call, the LTE would switch to H. I didn't know that H was basically AT&T's "4G".
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Yeah, it is the same on T-Mobile. When they refer to 4G, they are referring to HSPA+ (or H). I like to call AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G, fauxG since it is really just an improvement upon 3G. I don't know who shot first, but I wish the marketing teams would have called it 3G+ or something instead of lying to everyone or at least referred to LTE as 5G. So now everyone has 4G and 4G LTE and really LTE deserves more as it isn't a hack job to get more speed. It will replace all the legacy networks and even eventually be used for voice transmission.
Yes it switches because they're currently you cannot surf the web while being on a phone call with LTE, so it auto switches to hspa+ so you can surf the web while talking
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda premium
dijit4l said:
Yeah, it is the same on T-Mobile. When they refer to 4G, they are referring to HSPA+ (or H). I like to call AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G, fauxG since it is really just an improvement upon 3G. I don't know who shot first, but I wish the marketing teams would have called it 3G+ or something instead of lying to everyone or at least referred to LTE as 5G. So now everyone has 4G and 4G LTE and really LTE deserves more as it isn't a hack job to get more speed. It will replace all the legacy networks and even eventually be used for voice transmission.
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It's no big deal. I considered HSPA+ more or less 3G+ anyway. All is well, you guys are great help. Got my phone unlocked the bootloader and set everything up, got my LTE (which I did not get with the nexus 4). Time to play around with the phone some more now.
I have had my Nexus 5 for a few days now and I have noticed quite a difference in reception between lte and hspa on T-Mobile. I will have lte marked and have one maybe two bars. Then I switched to hspa and then my bars went all the way up. Why is this?
dijit4l said:
Yeah, it is the same on T-Mobile. When they refer to 4G, they are referring to HSPA+ (or H). I like to call AT&T and T-Mobile's 4G, fauxG since it is really just an improvement upon 3G. I don't know who shot first, but I wish the marketing teams would have called it 3G+ or something instead of lying to everyone or at least referred to LTE as 5G. So now everyone has 4G and 4G LTE and really LTE deserves more as it isn't a hack job to get more speed. It will replace all the legacy networks and even eventually be used for voice transmission.
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You realize LTE is also not REALLY 4G...
4G is a communications standard, that currently no one meets. In fact, many people report that T-Mobile HSPA+ is faster than Verizon LTE in their areas. Of course, now AT&T and T-Mobile both offer LTE and HSPA+. Which puts them above Verizon in my eyes, because when LTE goes out, you have HSPA to fall back on.
gotzaDroid said:
Google just changed the "4G" icon to "LTE". On jelly bean, LTE would show "4G" if you had the hybrid N4 radio flashed. hspa+ has always shown "H" on the stock ROM. Some custom ROMs have you the "H+" symbol though.
As for voice calls on at&t, they go over their hspa+ network, at&t uses their LTE for data only at this time. BTW, at&t considers their hspa+ to be "4G".
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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I'm with Australian network provider Telstra, and my phone shows 4G all the time(regardless whether it is transmitting data or not) when I'm in 4G coverage, 3G when I'm not in coverage and not having data acativity and H when it is transmitting data. Do you think it is the different device model and/or the network provider contributed to the difference between mine and what you guys have in the State?
maolin95 said:
I'm with Australian network provider Telstra, and my phone shows 4G all the time(regardless whether it is transmitting data or not) when I'm in 4G coverage, 3G when I'm not in coverage and not having data acativity and H when it is transmitting data. Do you think it is the different device model and/or the network provider contributed to the difference between mine and what you guys have in the State?
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It wouldn't surprise me that the North American 820 model had the "LTE"symbol cooked in at the request of service providers here.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Simer03 said:
Yes it switches because they're currently you cannot surf the web while being on a phone call with LTE, so it auto switches to hspa+ so you can surf the web while talking
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda premium
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This confuses me. Can't the nexus 5 use both at the same time? You're getting text messages over HSPA(+) with LTE on.
I'm still puzzled why when I make a call why LTE goes away and HSPA+ shows up. This is on T-Mobile.
phoneman09 said:
I have had my Nexus 5 for a few days now and I have noticed quite a difference in reception between lte and hspa on T-Mobile. I will have lte marked and have one maybe two bars. Then I switched to hspa and then my bars went all the way up. Why is this?
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Well, I have some good news to report. I was having the same issue as you and really getting down about it. I went to my nearest T-Mobile store and told them of my situation. The rep called tech support and he did some sort of reset to my account, I am not sure what exactly. I also asked if I could get a new SIM. I was given that new ISIS SIM and as soon as my phone fired up, it started using LTE. After I left the store, from being in my pocket, it was on HSPA for a few moments and then it finally chose LTE and stuck with LTE the entire time I was within its coverage. I am really happy with my phone now, it now behaves like my hacked Nexus 4 on LTE did.
jm700wx said:
H is hspa+ which is faster than 3g but not as fast as lte. I am usually on H+ or lte. I rarely get the 3g symbol on AT&T. I also found that H+ is almost as fast as Verizon LTE. I think it is due to do many devices on their network.
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This isn't *entirely* true.
You'll see the LTE symbol when you're on LTE, that's easy.
You'll see the H when you're on HSPA or HSPA+, which means you'll see it when you're on the network that old phones used to just call 3G.
The other symbols are specifically for Edge. I know it doesn't seem like it, since one is a 3G symbol, but do a speedtest and you'll see it. Modern phones display things poorly for connections because of the differentiation of HSPA and HSPA+. It's obnoxious.
---------- Post added at 12:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------
Zandeer said:
You realize LTE is also not REALLY 4G...
4G is a communications standard, that currently no one meets. In fact, many people report that T-Mobile HSPA+ is faster than Verizon LTE in their areas. Of course, now AT&T and T-Mobile both offer LTE and HSPA+. Which puts them above Verizon in my eyes, because when LTE goes out, you have HSPA to fall back on.
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Actually, that's not correct.
ITU-R said:
On December 6, 2010, ITU-R recognized that these two technologies, as well as other beyond-3G technologies that do not fulfill the IMT-Advanced requirements, could nevertheless be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-Advanced compliant versions and "a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed".
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LTE, and even HSPA+, are considered 4G.
As for the 'Why does it switch from LTE to HSPA+ when I make a call?' question, LTE does not support standard switch-based telephony, meaning you cannot make voice calls using the network. Some carriers (I think Verizon is ahead, but I don't remember) are going to be supporting VoIP soon (voice over IP), which allows calls to be made using the LTE network, but they're all data-based (think Skype). As such, current phones will switch to HSPA+ or CDMA to make the phone call and then switch back once it's done.
hotleadsingerguy said:
As for the 'Why does it switch from LTE to HSPA+ when I make a call?' question, LTE does not support standard switch-based telephony, meaning you cannot make voice calls using the network. Some carriers (I think Verizon is ahead, but I don't remember) are going to be supporting VoIP soon (voice over IP), which allows calls to be made using the LTE network, but they're all data-based (think Skype). As such, current phones will switch to HSPA+ or CDMA to make the phone call and then switch back once it's done.
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That's not really accurate. Verizon's newer phones (Galaxy S3 for example) will let you call while on LTE. That's why I'm having such a hard time understanding why the N5 won't let LTE stay on while making a call. Doesn't it have a radio for data (LTE) and and radio for voice? Seems like both should be working in parallel like on VZ.
My N5 is not great at picking up LTE service. My AT&T signal is weak at my house and I don't get LTE, although my Galaxy S2 used to connect that way. Not sure if the phone really doesn't see it or if it thinks it's too weak and HSPA would work better.
(Sending from a moving bus so please bear with me)
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
rochrunner said:
My N5 is not great at picking up LTE service. My AT&T signal is weak at my house and I don't get LTE, although my Galaxy S2 used to connect that way. Not sure if the phone really doesn't see it or if it thinks it's too weak and HSPA would work better.
(Sending from a moving bus so please bear with me)
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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I have the same issue on T-Mobile. My phone sucks about picking up and using LTE whereas my Nexus 4, a phone that required hacking to get LTE enabled, was a champ. My N4 would remain on LTE all day while in the city regardless of signal strength with no real observable detriment to my battery.
With the Nexus 5, I'm lucky to have it switch to LTE in high signal areas. My Nexus 5 will stay on LTE if I force it to connect using LTE Only (you lose voice with this setting) under the secret dialer menu (*#*#4636#*#*), but if I let the phone decide, it sticks with 3G/HSPA+.
I'm paying for LTE and I want to use it, damn it! LTE at half signal strength is still faster than HSPA+ at full strength for me on T-Mobile.
Actually as I travel along the Ohio Turnpike it is not doing too badly, picking up LTE as we pass near metro areas (Toledo, Cleveland). It is also working great tethering my tablet with Wi-Fi as well.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I'm having the exact same issue here I'm in the Los Angeles area and I have experienced good speeds on LTE up to 23 down and 12 up but one thing I have noticed is my LTE drops a lot in to H. I'm coming from Verizon which always stayed on LTE locked in so I guess I was spoiled. I left verizon because I got sick of them hating on Nexus Phones but man right now I'm hating these LTE drops on AT&T. But I know for a fact that it's a phone problem because when the phones goes from LTE to H I can manually restore the LTE but I can't get it to stay locked. I called them and they're response was it's just the phone switching from tower to tower.
I just helped my son install the hybrid modem for his Nexus 4 and set up the T-mobile APN for it. I was about to tell him that he would have to go somewhere else to test it since I never get LTE at home, and then boom, the 4G icon shows up on his phone! I checked Network Signal Info and sure enough, it's got an LTE connection with about 6Mbps transfer rate. Sitting right next to him my N5 has only 3G with occasional switches up to HSPA and back, and a very low transfer rate. What gives? I am able to get LTE on the N5 in other areas of town and it works wonderfully, but around my home it is very weak and almost never runs in LTE mode.
Could it be that the N4 is connecting on a different LTE band? If so, why is the N5 not using that band as well? Is there something that can be done for the N5 to tweak it to improve its LTE reception or how it chooses how to connect to available LTE signals?
Both N4 and N5 have 1700 band so it should get perfect HSDPA.
It might be the towers in your area are busy or the signal is weak.
I use straight talk t-mobil and I get HSDPA around 15Mbps and my friend get a little more on LTE here in chicagoland.
Also for people on Straight talk if you want to get LTE att version you need to get a new simcard and change APN and for t-mobil
just get a new simcard and boom you get LTE.
Idk if I'd worry about it. In most places the HSDPA speeds for T-Mobile are the same or better than the LTE speeds you would get. I'm in the far north chicago suburbs and I get LTE and HSDPA downloads at 25mbps. The LTE coverage is still a bit spotty. Its probably only worth it if I you're in a developed urban area. However it is a bit strange that you guys have the same hardware, service and location but different connections. The only thing I can think of is that I've seen some people instruct to setup the apn as fast.tmobile.com. however mine only worked with fast.T-Mobile.com (with the dash). I would also check to confirm that your phone is set to lte preferred (LTE/gsm) and not gsm priority. Those are the only things I can think that I can think of. Hope it helps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
gorilla p said:
Idk if I'd worry about it. In most places the HSDPA speeds for T-Mobile are the same or better than the LTE speeds you would get. I'm in the far north chicago suburbs and I get LTE and HSDPA downloads at 25mbps. The LTE coverage is still a bit spotty. Its probably only worth it if I you're in a developed urban area. However it is a bit strange that you guys have the same hardware, service and location but different connections. The only thing I can think of is that I've seen some people instruct to setup the apn as fast.tmobile.com. however mine only worked with fast.T-Mobile.com (with the dash). I would also check to confirm that your phone is set to lte preferred (LTE/gsm) and not gsm priority. Those are the only things I can think that I can think of. Hope it helps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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T-Mobile 4G LTE will properly works on fast.t-mobile.com, fast.tmobile.com is not the proper APN (the - matters)
There are just way too many variables. Maybe his modem has better reception, newer sim card, etc.
RobinD42 said:
I just helped my son install the hybrid modem for his Nexus 4 and set up the T-mobile APN for it. I was about to tell him that he would have to go somewhere else to test it since I never get LTE at home, and then boom, the 4G icon shows up on his phone! I checked Network Signal Info and sure enough, it's got an LTE connection with about 6Mbps transfer rate. Sitting right next to him my N5 has only 3G with occasional switches up to HSPA and back, and a very low transfer rate. What gives? I am able to get LTE on the N5 in other areas of town and it works wonderfully, but around my home it is very weak and almost never runs in LTE mode.
Could it be that the N4 is connecting on a different LTE band? If so, why is the N5 not using that band as well? Is there something that can be done for the N5 to tweak it to improve its LTE reception or how it chooses how to connect to available LTE signals?
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Fwiw there are other threads where people have reported that the N4 picks up LTE in the same place that an N5 does not. So you are not alone. N4 may have a stronger radio. That would be unfortunate... Never good to see a step backwards on something as important as that.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Good news everyone! I too has having this problem. My Nexus 4 was an LTE champ and then it was a huge let down that my Nexus 5 was treating LTE like it had cooties, but now my Nexus 5 works the way it should. What I did was go to my nearest T-Mobile store and told the representative what was happening. He called tech support and they ended up doing some sort of reset to my account. I also had questions about my SIM card and felt that it could have been at fault. He offered to switch it out to the new ISIS SIM and as soon as my phone booted up, it was on LTE. Since then, it has behaved like my Nexus 4. I am even in my office where the Nexus 5 wasn't picking up LTE, but my Nexus 4 was, and it is on LTE at the moment.
I am not sure if the reset that tech support did solved the problem or the new SIM, but I would definately give that a try--it didn't cost me anything and now I am happy with my Nexus 5. Good luck!
In my experience my N4 has slightly better signal pickup than my N5.
The real reason is probably differences in the radios' priority algorithms. Set your N5 to LTE-only and see what happens, I imagine you'll get LTE.
dijit4l said:
I am not sure if the reset that tech support did solved the problem or the new SIM, but I would definately give that a try--it didn't cost me anything and now I am happy with my Nexus 5. Good luck!
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Did you not get LTE at all, or really poor LTE signal/speed?
tcristy said:
Did you not get LTE at all, or really poor LTE signal/speed?
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I would get LTE eventually only to lose it when it reached 2 bars or lower. It was really weird. I would be in areas where one would get 5 bars of LTE and the phone would sit on HSPA until I would show the phone it was on LTE by switching to LTE Only under the secret dialer menu and then back to GSM/LTE (if you use LTE only, you will lose voice). Then it would hold LTE until it reached 1-2 bars and then go back to HSPA.
I hope this helps.
I am seeing strange readings of signal strength. I see a 10+ db difference between what is reported in the phone status and an app like rootmetrics.
I don't know which one is misrepresenting the signal strength but it seems the roometrics is more accurate because my nexus 4 the signal strength is roughly the same on lte.
Can anyone else confirm?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Hello,
I have been using the Simple Mobile $70 plan for unlimited 4G data. Since I got my brand new Nexus 5, I was wondering why I am not getting "LTE" icon on the notification bar. It only shows H/3G which means (I think) HSPDA+. This is weird since the APN is set to T-mobile LTE (fast.t-mobile.com). Can I fix this if I change the service provider to, for example, T-mobile (assuming Simple Mobile 4G is not LTE)? I heard some people are getting LTE icon with Straight Talk and some don't.
Thanks for your advice in advance!
I went to dialer *#*#4636#*#* ,phone information and select network to GSM/ LTE(auto)
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
eagle_j said:
I went to dialer *#*#4636#*#* ,phone information and select network to GSM/ LTE(auto)
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
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It's already set to LTE/GSM auto (PRL). Any suggestions??
ericjslee said:
Hello,
I have been using the Simple Mobile $70 plan for unlimited 4G data. Since I got my brand new Nexus 5, I was wondering why I am not getting "LTE" icon on the notification bar. It only shows H/3G which means (I think) HSPDA+. This is weird since the APN is set to T-mobile LTE (fast.t-mobile.com). Can I fix this if I change the service provider to, for example, T-mobile (assuming Simple Mobile 4G is not LTE)? I heard some people are getting LTE icon with Straight Talk and some don't.
Thanks for your advice in advance!
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it depends on if u have LTE service in the area you are at. For instance, I only get 3g service at my house , but if i go a block west of my house i get LTE service. Also i have noted that the nexus 5 have weak reception, some spots i can browse and make calls with my Iphone but at the same spot nexus 5 has no service.
And dont trust the T-mobile coverage map, its a bunch of BS. There are so many areas that I know of that have no service at all of any kind and are shown as great service areas on the map. Best way to find out coverage is to just go to different places ( indoors and outdoors ) and test it out.
fruitsalt said:
it depends on if u have LTE service in the area you are at. For instance, I only get 3g service at my house , but if i go a block west of my house i get LTE service. Also i have noted that the nexus 5 have weak reception, some spots i can browse and make calls with my Iphone but at the same spot nexus 5 has no service.
And dont trust the T-mobile coverage map, its a bunch of BS. There are so many areas that I know of that have no service at all of any kind and are shown as great service areas on the map. Best way to find out coverage is to just go to different places ( indoors and outdoors ) and test it out.
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You are right. The problem is it doesn't work in my house as well as on campus and in any Chicago downtown area. Maybe I need to try another provider? But buying a new sim card, porting, and changing provider are time- and money-wasting.
ericjslee said:
You are right. The problem is it doesn't work in my house as well as on campus and in any Chicago downtown area. Maybe I need to try another provider? But buying a new sim card, porting, and changing provider are time- and money-wasting.
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You should try using an att sim and see what kind of coverage you get. Att is definitely more expensive than t-mobile and you dont get unlimited data no matter what but i see no point of having and paying for a service which you can not use. Also you can ask someone else who has the nexus 5 and t-mobile how the coverage is for them in and around the areas you frequent, it might be a device issue.
fruitsalt said:
You should try using an att sim and see what kind of coverage you get. Att is definitely more expensive than t-mobile and you dont get unlimited data no matter what but i see no point of having and paying for a service which you can not use. Also you can ask someone else who has the nexus 5 and t-mobile how the coverage is for them in and around the areas you frequent, it might be a device issue.
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My friend just told me the processor might not be compatible with the bandwidth that simple mobile uses. I also read some articles saying that LTE support is somewhat perplexing (http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/170166-nexus-5-excellent-global-coverage-perplexing-lte-support),
and that AT&T is fully compatible (http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/1...y-compatible-with-atts-lte-and-hspa-networks/). Your N5 is working fine with AT&T, right?
ericjslee said:
My friend just told me the processor might not be compatible with the bandwidth that simple mobile uses. I also read some articles saying that LTE support is somewhat perplexing (http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/170166-nexus-5-excellent-global-coverage-perplexing-lte-support),
and that AT&T is fully compatible (http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/1...y-compatible-with-atts-lte-and-hspa-networks/). Your N5 is working fine with AT&T, right?
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Nope. Simple Mobile is an MVNO that operates on T-Mobile's network. The nexus 5 supports all the bands that T-Mobile broadcasts on.
Does Simple Mobile even offer LTE? Because according their website they do not, but they offer hspa+. Which is kind of considered 4g speeds. No mention of LTE.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
ericjslee said:
My friend just told me the processor might not be compatible with the bandwidth that simple mobile uses. I also read some articles saying that LTE support is somewhat perplexing (http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/170166-nexus-5-excellent-global-coverage-perplexing-lte-support),
and that AT&T is fully compatible (http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/1...y-compatible-with-atts-lte-and-hspa-networks/). Your N5 is working fine with AT&T, right?
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Click to collapse
I dont see the connection between the processor and bandwidth. I have no idea what bands simple mobile uses but thats based on the radio of the device. As far as i know Nexus 5 supports 3g/4g(h)/LTE for tmobile and att, never used sprint so cant say.
Yes i got my phone from T-mobile and i just put my work att sim card into it, all that was needed was a reboot and it automatically picked up att service with LTE. Data speeds are great, getting 8+ Mbps with only 2 bars of service.
I do think that the nexus 5 have reception issues, the same att sim card in an htc one or iphone 5 gives minimum 4 bars but data speeds are around the same (+ 2~3 Mbps) but more consistent. With t-mobile, i was missing calls, receiving texts hours later and the phone was just hopping between LTE, H and No service.
brooksyx said:
Well that is incorrect. Simple Mobile is an MVNO that sells plans on T-Mobile. The nexus 5 is a world phone and supports all the bands that T-Mobile broadcasts on.
Does Simple Mobile even offer LTE? Because according their website they do not, but they offer hspa+. Which is kind of considered 4g speeds. No mention of LTE.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Yes, I remember OOKLA test once peaked 14Mbps, so it's not just 3G. After some research, I found that Nexus 5 works with LTE bands 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41 while T-mobile uses 4 only, Verizon uses 4/12, AT&T uses 2/4/17/29/30, and Sprint uses 25/26/41. Is it a good idea to change the provider to AT&T, or Sprint? Do they support porting in most cases? Thanks.
fruitsalt said:
I dont see the connection between the processor and bandwidth. I have no idea what bands simple mobile uses but thats based on the radio of the device. As far as i know Nexus 5 supports 3g/4g(h)/LTE for tmobile and att, never used sprint so cant say.
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Click to collapse
Actually there is a direct connection between the CPU and the bandwidth support because the radio is part of the snap dragon 800 'system on a chip' CPU.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(system_on_chip)
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---------- Post added at 11:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 AM ----------
ericjslee said:
Yes, I remember OOKLA test once peaked 14Mbps, so it's not just 3G. After some research, I found that Nexus 5 works with LTE bands 1/2/4/5/17/19/25/26/41 while T-mobile uses 4 only, Verizon uses 4/12, AT&T uses 2/4/17/29/30, and Sprint uses 25/26/41. Is it a good idea to change the provider to AT&T, or Sprint? Do they support porting in most cases? Thanks.
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I would suggest straight talk if you want LTE that. $45 a month. Order their At&t based Sim.
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brooksyx said:
Actually there is a direct connection between the CPU and the bandwidth support because the radio is part of the snap dragon 800 'system on a chip' CPU.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(system_on_chip)
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I never really looked into the SOC on the snap dragon, the radio modem being on the die with the CPU would definitely effect the throughput. Thanks for the link, I have some further researching to do
brooksyx said:
I would suggest straight talk if you want LTE that. $45 a month. Order their At&t based Sim.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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You mean the one they call AT&T Compatible Micro SIM Card, right?
ericjslee said:
You mean the one they call AT&T Compatible Micro SIM Card, right?
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Yup. That's the one.
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My GS5 seems to have a very weak LTE signal. I disabled all bands except for band 25 because the phone was trying to signal hop killing the battery. My girlfriend has the Note 3 which can only pick up band 25. When my phone is right next to hers, she can have a very strong LTE signal and my GS5 will either have a very weak signal or drop down to 3G. The only LTE band in my area that's currently pretty strong is the 1900mhz band. I can barely connect to that. Anyone else having weak signal or connection issues?
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Eckono said:
My GS5 seems to have a very weak LTE signal. I disabled all bands except for band 25 because the phone was trying to signal hop killing the battery. My girlfriend has the Note 3 which can only pick up band 25. When my phone is right next to hers, she can have a very strong LTE signal and my GS5 will either have a very weak signal or drop down to 3G. The only LTE band in my area that's currently pretty strong is the 1900mhz band. I can barely connect to that. Anyone else having weak signal or connection issues?
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I've noticed the same thing.... my girlfriend has the Galaxy S3 and has better signal then me all the time... WTF?!?!?!?!?!
I'm tempted to go to the Note 3. I can deal with alot of things, but signal issues isn't 1 of them.
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s13silviaguy said:
I've noticed the same thing.... my girlfriend has the Galaxy S3 and has better signal then me all the time... WTF?!?!?!?!?!
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Your phone is showing data signal hers is showing cdma 1x voice. .. please download signal check app and you will see true db of 1x 3g lte signal. .. so you can compare
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Eckono said:
My GS5 seems to have a very weak LTE signal. I disabled all bands except for band 25 because the phone was trying to signal hop killing the battery. My girlfriend has the Note 3 which can only pick up band 25. When my phone is right next to hers, she can have a very strong LTE signal and my GS5 will either have a very weak signal or drop down to 3G. The only LTE band in my area that's currently pretty strong is the 1900mhz band. I can barely connect to that. Anyone else having weak signal or connection issues?
Sent from my SM-G900P using xda app-developers app
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Signal bars lie. Do this on both of your samsung phones:
Go in to your phone app, and dial ##DEBUG#
Enter 777468 for your lock code
Select LTE Engineering
Go down to RSRP. The number next to RSRP shown in dBm is your LTE signal strength.
Compare numbers.
I did this vs my wife's iPhone 5 and found that although her signal indicator was showing 3-4 more bars than my s5 we both actually had the same signal strength.
Thanks I'll do that asap. The only reason I'm thinking something is wrong is because in areas I had 4G all the time on my Note 3 and S4 I'm barely get 4G or I'll drop to 3G. Then when I'm watching YouTube, if I stop a video , fast forward, or rewind, if I'm on cellular I can never get the video to play back. I get the error tap to retry. But when on WiFi I can I can.
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Eckono said:
Thanks I'll do that asap. The only reason I'm thinking something is wrong is because in areas I had 4G all the time on my Note 3 and S4 I'm barely get 4G or I'll drop to 3G. Then when I'm watching YouTube, if I stop a video , fast forward, or rewind, if I'm on cellular I can never get the video to play back. I get the error tap to retry. But when on WiFi I can I can.
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You also have to read about cfbs and triband phones ... which can cause the data issues
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well if i dont remember note 3 and s3 dont use the spark network and the s5 does soo,.,.its prob a bad spark connection they are still upgrading the towers ..
The s5 signal bar shows data strength instead of voice strength
When you make a phone call, it switches to the voice signal strength, which is why it seems to get higher all of a sudden
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Eckono said:
My GS5 seems to have a very weak LTE signal. I disabled all bands except for band 25 because the phone was trying to signal hop killing the battery. My girlfriend has the Note 3 which can only pick up band 25. When my phone is right next to hers, she can have a very strong LTE signal and my GS5 will either have a very weak signal or drop down to 3G. The only LTE band in my area that's currently pretty strong is the 1900mhz band. I can barely connect to that. Anyone else having weak signal or connection issues?
Sent from my SM-G900P using xda app-developers app
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How do you disable certain bands? I want to try it as well as something seems to be killing my battery. Thanks
Yea, in the last year I have had an iphone 5, Note2, and Note3. New Orleans is newly upgraded to LTE (not yet Spark), and coverage was great on those three phones. This S5, however, constantly switches from LTE to 3G in areas where the other three phones stayed on LTE. It also drops to no data at all way too often in areas where data is fine. (I play Ingress, so I am VERY familiar with the signal capabilities all over town)
Is there any hope of this phone's signal strength being improved with software updates? Will Spark make a difference when it hits New Orleans?
This piece of garbage is pretty pathetic signal-wise compared to my other devices I've recently used. I've got Sprint to agree to a phone swap, but if that's not going to make a difference, perhaps I should just go back to my Note3.
I have this phone it does drop lte alot plus I have spark. But I have an offer to trade for a note 3 idk if I want ..I like yhe fingerprint scanner but this signal is boo boo ....
gregg37 said:
Yea, in the last year I have had an iphone 5, Note2, and Note3. New Orleans is newly upgraded to LTE (not yet Spark), and coverage was great on those three phones. This S5, however, constantly switches from LTE to 3G in areas where the other three phones stayed on LTE. It also drops to no data at all way too often in areas where data is fine. (I play Ingress, so I am VERY familiar with the signal capabilities all over town)
Is there any hope of this phone's signal strength being improved with software updates? Will Spark make a difference when it hits New Orleans?
This piece of garbage is pretty pathetic signal-wise compared to my other devices I've recently used. I've got Sprint to agree to a phone swap, but if that's not going to make a difference, perhaps I should just go back to my Note3.
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I wouldnt worry about the phone swap. I skeptically did it to see if it would work and ended up wasting an hour in ths store. between my friends and family we have 4 GS5s that all have the same issues.
None of your previous phones were triband. They only could connect to 1900mhz LTE. The GS5 is a triband phone, aka spark, that can connect to 800/1900/2600mhz LTE. Unfortunately there are issues with the software on the towers (search eCSFB) that changes you between bands. I have turned off band 41 and it has helped a lot even tho my area is a "spark" area. I turn it back on once in a while to see if things are fixed.
There have been complaints that the GS5 has worse connectivity because of the water resistant design compared to phones such as the GS4. its really only a couple dbm from what i have seen when looking at actual signal values from engineering screens and when comparing the same band of LTE.
As far as shutting off bands, you will need your MSL code. you can either get it from a sprint rep (all i did was ask) or you can use the MSL reader here
tools.flashingtools.com
use dialer code ##3282# and go to edit. enter your MSL code and go to LTE. turn off B41 and restart your phone.
Shiftlock said:
As far as shutting off bands, you will need your MSL code. you can either get it from a sprint rep (all i did was ask) or you can use the MSL reader here
tools.flashingtools.com
use dialer code ##3282# and go to edit. enter your MSL code and go to LTE. turn off B41 and restart your phone.
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Click to collapse
Thank you, Shiftlock! This is the kind of help I was hoping for. I'll give that a try!
:good:
Shiftlock said:
use dialer code ##3282# and go to edit. enter your MSL code and go to LTE. turn off B41 and restart your phone.
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Ok I've got this turned off. Will it persist through resets and restarts? Or will I have to keep turning it off?
(have to remember to bookmark this so I remember how to turn it back on when Spark hits New Orleans, which I think is somewhat soon)
gregg37 said:
Ok I've got this turned off. Will it persist through resets and restarts? Or will I have to keep turning it off?
(have to remember to bookmark this so I remember how to turn it back on when Spark hits New Orleans, which I think is somewhat soon)
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Yes this will stay until you either change it back or do a system update. I noticed that nd2 changed it back. You may want to check it after clearing data/cache if you flash any mods or roms. Luckily the msl won't change so it's easy enough to fix if needed
I'm getting LTE coverage in places I wouldn't with my s4. The data is definitely better
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eyecon82 said:
I'm getting LTE coverage in places I wouldn't with my s4. The data is definitely better
-Sent from Tapatalk
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Better because of turning off band 41 or just comparing the S5 to the S4?
CCallahan said:
Better because of turning off band 41 or just comparing the S5 to the S4?
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Guess we'll never know....
(mine still sucks after trying that, btw)