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Help ! G2X - Poor Reception ? Anyone Else ?

Just got the G2X today.
I'm having extremely poor to no reception at work.
All TMO phones I've used (G1, G2, N1, NS, Mytouch, Mytouch 4G, Galaxy S 4G)
in the past have random reception problems, mostly what I'd say is passable reception at work (in and out of steel buildings).
This G2X is the worst yet.
TMO service walked me thru putting a new sim in and and all.
But it didnt help.
It jumps back and forth from 2G with 2 bars to no service at all.
I didnt like the Galaxy S 4G but it got better reception.
I like this phone, vanilla and all.
Anyone else having this issue ?
If not its going back to TMO.

I got mine this morning at 10 and I have been having great reception! 4 bars with the 4G! And I came from the Samsung 4g also!
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

How do you know if you got 4G, I got the 4G symbol but network connection says utms and I mainly get around 3mb download on speedtest, but sometimes it goes to 7 or 8 mb down...but still says utms, I thought that was 3G. thanks!

reception
I have had great reception with the G2X. Better than both the G2 and MT4G.
fhaines

I love the phone, but the reception isn't very good in my house. The nexus s had better reception.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

G2x's reception is on average about 5 to 10 dB weaker than the MT4G that its replacing but I have full coverage everywhere I go and at home I just use wifi calling so its a non-issue.
I live right by an air force base and I'm sure their signals interfere with cell reception. at&t has tons of towers out here and I had to switch because of the signal interference being so bad.

EtherealRemnant said:
G2x's reception is on average about 5 to 10 dB weaker than the MT4G that its replacing but I have full coverage everywhere I go and at home I just use wifi calling so its a non-issue.
I live right by an air force base and I'm sure their signals interfere with cell reception. at&t has tons of towers out here and I had to switch because of the signal interference being so bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have the MyTouch 4G and Galaxy S 4G and they both have much better
reception than the G2X does.
I'm pretty disappointed.
I'll probably end up returning it and going back to the MyTouch 4G
(I didnt care for the Galaxy S 4G....200mb internal memory what ?).
Especially since its being reported the Sensation is hitting beginning of June.

There are like 6 or 7 "poor reception" threads in here.
Does that mean this is now definitely a known issue ?
All I got was them walking me thru putting in a new sim.
Nothing improved and the tech said oh well it must be just the area you are in.
And this was after me telling her the MyTouch 4G and the Galaxy S 4G didnt
behave in this manner !
I'm leaning towards returning the phone at this point, but I'm going to wait
a week or so and see if any software updates addressing this are forthcoming.

I had a great reception with my G2x. Had 4G throughout the day both at home and office. And on the way from between home and office too.
Unfortunately had to return it for reboot issues.

I am getting only umts. The device shows 4G but still only umts. I have installed new sim card and had it reset on the network and nothing changes. Even my Vibrant will show hspda when in 3g areas but not this phone so far. I have called CS 3 times and finally they have agreed to send out a replacement phone. I also have had random reboots ( it reboots but reboots right back up to the app you were running before the reboot.) and after speaking for only apporx. a minute the phone feels like it will burn your ear., I really want to keep this phone but if the replacement is the same than I will just send it back and wait for the SGS II or the Sensation. Really is a shame as there is so much I really like about it.

Got the phone, what gives. Connectivity sux, shows like 3 bars and 4g but the internet is slow and spotty. What gives? My HD2 runs just fine in the same spot.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

I'm not getting any signal issues. My signal has been working great. I'd say return it man and get another one.

No 3G At All ! Whats Up With That ?
Definitely has an issue.
I've never seen it get 3G on this phone.
Only 2G or 4G.
I guess I will be returning the phone.
I really hate to, I like the phone.
But there is definitely something wrong with it.

My G2X has the best signal I have ever had with a T-Mobile phone. I keep a data signal in more places than I did with my Vibrant.

going_home said:
Definitely has an issue.
I've never seen it get 3G on this phone.
Only 2G or 4G.
I guess I will be returning the phone.
I really hate to, I like the phone.
But there is definitely something wrong with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My signal is great, but I'm only seeing 2G or 4G. This does not surprise me, I'm in a HSPA+ area. Why would I ever see 3G?

I can't take the reception jumping from full 4G down to 2G constantly. I ordered the Nexus S and I'm not looking back. Even without support for 14.4, SAMOLED and better service will make up for it.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Frag x 3 said:
I can't take the reception jumping from full 4G down to 2G constantly. I ordered the Nexus S and I'm not looking back. Even without support for 14.4, SAMOLED and better service will make up for it.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FWIW, I came from a Nexus S and think the reception is quite a bit better with the G2X.

If you have reception problems you can try 2 things:
1) Go into your mobile network settings and change your network mode to GSM/WCDMA if it isn't already selected. Then click on network operators and do a search. You should see T-Mobile UMTS, T-Mobile GSM and ATT GSM. Once you see the networks it finds, click on select automatically. Before leaving this menu, make sure you click on data roaming. Don't worry, you won't be charged unless your internationally roaming.
2) Swap out your SIM card.

jrwingate6 said:
If you have reception problems you can try 2 things:
1) Go into your mobile network settings and change your network mode to GSM/WCDMA if it isn't already selected. Then click on network operators and do a search. You should see T-Mobile UMTS, T-Mobile GSM and ATT GSM. Once you see the networks it finds, click on select automatically. Before leaving this menu, make sure you click on data roaming. Don't worry, you won't be charged unless your internationally roaming.
2) Swap out your SIM card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did all that the 1st day (4-20-11).
Finally returned the phone today after testing the data connectivity
at work today with the MyTouch 4G versus the G2X.
No problem with the MT4G but the G2X had horrible or zero internet.
I will post the results with a new phone tomorrow.
The rep said they just got in a new batch of phones.
I hope the exchange has fixed the issue.
Its mostly wifi hotspotting that its really evident.
I want the phone to work because its the snappiest phone I've ever used.

Maybe it could be the area you are in. Both of my G2x and G2 have solid 4g signal.

[Q] Cell reception question

Can anyone tell me if the reception is any better on any of the custom roms out there. I am about to return my second phone so I dont want to go flashing a bunch of new roms just to take them off in a day or two. Im asking because if the reception is not any better I may have to get a different phone because I have no reception at all in my home area. Any advise??

bls2633 said:
Can anyone tell me if the reception is any better on any of the custom roms out there. I am about to return my second phone so I dont want to go flashing a bunch of new roms just to take them off in a day or two. Im asking because if the reception is not any better I may have to get a different phone because I have no reception at all in my home area. Any advise??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get great reception either. Better than my vibrant but worse than my g1.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Turning on wcdma only helps.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

bad phones
my first g2x had poor connection so bad i thought it was tmobile as i was coming from verizon. so i returned the phone. i dont have landbased internbet where i am living but the coverage map showed great 4g infact i can see the tower like 200 feet from my place. so i decided to try out the tmobile 4g hotspot figuring it wouldnt work well it did. so i went and got another g2x and this one has great signal and connection. so there are phones out there that have bad connection, so if you are getting this and you know another tmobile phone or device is working return it.

Awww this is a disappointing thread to find. I was hoping it would be a software problem thats easily fixable.
I get constant time outs on mine when browsing no matter where I am. Sometimes it will time out on a speed test 5 times in a row, them get 5Mb down and then time out 4 more times and then get 5Mb again. Its killing me. Worst thing is I bought it 2nd hand so I'm sure T-mobile will make me mail it to Samsung
edit: My reception is about -101 dBa on avg.

Was having the same problems. I call customer service and they informed me that my sim card was old and to go to the T-Mobile store and get a new one. I did and now works a lot better. They told me that there towers don't recognize older sim cards as 4g so they get spotty 4g coverage.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

daved152 said:
Was having the same problems. I call customer service and they informed me that my sim card was old and to go to the T-Mobile store and get a new one. I did and now works a lot better. They told me that there towers don't recognize older sim cards as 4g so they get spotty 4g coverage.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My SIM card is less than a year old, but this is definitely worth a shot.
Thx!

G2X Reception

I Live and work in areas that should be 4G according to T-Mobiles coverage map. At work, I'm lucking to even receive a 2g signal and never get a 4g signal at all. At home, I can only get 4g if I select WCDMA Only and don't touch my phone.
I've noticed that my 4g (WCDMA) signal seems to range from -70dBm to -109dBm. As far as GSM I don't know what a good signal is, but I know I loose my signal at about -98 dBm. Interestingly enough, it will go from -85 dBm to -101 dBm in GSM just from me picking it up.
I'm wondering if my phone is getting good reception and if exchanging it might help the problem, but I have no numbers to compare this to. Does anyone get a better WCDMA signal than -69 dBm or have a good signal strength over -109 dBm. Does anyone know what a good signal should be?
I have seen some threads on reception but there are never any numbers to quantify this. To see your signal strength go to phone settings; about phone; status; signal strength.
Any input is appreciated.

There is an app to test for towers and reception . I found I'm not close to one.
Figures.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Thanks,
I have Open Signal Maps installed. Lots of good info. According to the app, I'm a 217 meters from a tower. It actually shows 3 towers within a quarter of a mile. Maybe it's signal overload....

snake8b said:
Thanks,
I have Open Signal Maps installed. Lots of good info. According to the app, I'm a 217 meters from a tower. It actually shows 3 towers within a quarter of a mile. Maybe it's signal overload....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have to agree. This thing can get great to little signal. It seems to have trouble with the in between.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

I also have horrible reception with this phone.... my sga4g had a solid full bar 4g signal all the time.. I thought maybe having my g2x rooted and running a custom rom might have something to do with it so I unrooted and went back to stock... but still no good... my phone can sit in one spot and I watch the signal go up and down 4g 2g .... so I locked it to wcdma only .... It stayed on 4g bars still go up and down but now it will just lose network connection... I called Tmo support today and supposedly I'm in an area that has great 4g coverage .... so they say they put in a service order and to stay on 2g for 72 hours and then pull my battery, put it back in and see what happens... love the g2x but starting to regret giving the wife my sgs4g...
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

swuln said:
I also have horrible reception with this phone.... my sga4g had a solid full bar 4g signal all the time.. I thought maybe having my g2x rooted and running a custom rom might have something to do with it so I unrooted and went back to stock... but still no good... my phone can sit in one spot and I watch the signal go up and down 4g 2g .... so I locked it to wcdma only .... It stayed on 4g bars still go up and down but now it will just lose network connection... I called Tmo support today and supposedly I'm in an area that has great 4g coverage .... so they say they put in a service order and to stay on 2g for 72 hours and then pull my battery, put it back in and see what happens... love the g2x but starting to regret giving the wife my sgs4g...
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine does pretty much the exact same thing inside the house and I'm also in an area that should have good 4G coverage. I think the radio is just bugged and hopefully the update(s) will fix that. Good thing the phone has wifi calling.

Interesting. I was looking for a phone number today to call T-Mobile, but their site wasn't working (kept getting no connection). I wonder what staying on 2g is supposed to do. Let me know how it turns out.

I have the same issue! Constant switch between 4G, E and x!
I talked to T-Mobile and they worked on the towers or so they say! It's gotten a lil bit better signal, but not much and not sure if it's because a custom rom!
Thinking about doing an exchange!
Would an UPDATE FIX THE RADIO? Or is it faculty hardware?
.....

htc2364 said:
I have the same issue! Constant switch between 4G, E and x!
I talked to T-Mobile and they worked on the towers or so they say! It's gotten a lil bit better signal, but not much and not sure if it's because a custom rom!
Thinking about doing an exchange!
Would an UPDATE FIX THE RADIO? Or is it faculty hardware?
.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could be faulty hardware, but it could just be a software glitch in the radio baseband/drivers. If a radio update doesn't come with the initial software fix, I'm pretty sure the Gingerbread update should include one.

I too have TERRIBLE reception with the G2x. I'm coming from the HTC G1 and in spots that I used to get great reception with that phone, my G2x bounces all over the place from 4G to NO signal. It's driving me insane that it doesn't stay constant. I thought maybe it was just the towers in my area so I put my SIM back in the G1 and it never lost signal. I put the SIM back in my G2x and set it in the same spot as the G1 and it lost signal twice and toggled back and forth from 2G to 4G within 5 minutes. Hopefully there will be a radio update to fix this issue and that it won't be faulty hardware.
I absolutely LOVE this phone even with the flaws.. i just hope they fix the flaws soon.

I get pretty good reception, though at work I tend to bounce back from 4g and E, but I'm in a building that kills reception. Personally, I think it's the modem. I bet once we start getting newer modems, it's will stop this, but probably at the cost of battery life. My old vibrant got about the same reception, so I don't think it's hardware.

The Tmo tech told me to stay on 2g because my phone seems to be keeping a good consistent 2g signal... its just in the 4g that it doesn't hold a good signal.... I also kept bringing up if she thought that maybe a software upgrade might fix the problem but she didn't even acknowledge that I said anything about it .... I also told her that I read somewhere that for some reason T-Mobile should have given me the sim card that came with the g2x and she said that wouldnt make a difference because i just switched sims when i bought the sgs4g a few months ago and she then gave me free wifi calling...
Sent from my LG-P999 "2G" using XDA Premium App

Replacement Phone
Just an update. I went ahead and got a replacement phone to see if it fixed the problem. The new phone behaves identically. Also, a Samsung 4G user just moved into my office building and he gets 3 bars, which is what i get till I pick the phone up. The thing that bothers me the most is that it will loose so many dBm (bars) when I pick it up.
Does anyone know if a phone cover will fix this issue.

Those with signal issues

I was having signal issues in areas with less then 3 bars for the most part. Sometimes I would randomly lose service for a few seconds here and there. My calls where dropped or the caller would cut in and out during the conversation. If your having similar issues then your phone is most likely defective.
I just got a refurbished SGS3 from Verizon and the radio works flawless compared to my VRALF2 purchased in July. I would suggest calling Verizon and complaining if your having similar problems because my phone was defective.

Software problems

Not sure how you can conclude it was your phone. Unless you tried the new radio on your old phone before swapping. Otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

No actually Hardware problem, most likely the radio itself.

xceebeex said:
Not sure how you can conclude it was your phone. Unless you tried the new radio on your old phone before swapping. Otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive been around the block here at xda so i know phone software and flashing. Software wise I tried it all.

I'm glad these radio issues haven't plagued the vzw sgs3 like they have the vzw gnex. Getting my S3 tomorrow. Hoping I get a good one, but my chances are way better with this phone than doing the refurb constant receive and send back like my g/f's Gnex. She went through 3 with radio issues before we got a good one.

got556 said:
I'm glad these radio issues haven't plagued the vzw sgs3 like they have the vzw gnex. Getting my S3 tomorrow. Hoping I get a good one, but my chances are way better with this phone than doing the refurb constant receive and send back like my g/f's Gnex. She went through 3 with radio issues before we got a good one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm guessing it just a quality control issue. My girlfriend has the Moto Razor which has an great radio in it and she never had signal issues. I was beginning to think that the radio in the GS3 was just terrible. After some time with this new phone its right on par with the razor as far as call quality. Her razor still has the slight edge when it comes to signal strength.

Moto will always have the edge for the forseeable future on radio quality/reception. (notwithstanding the bionic....lol (but that was software IMHO)).
My razr's always had a better signal than any Sammy phone I've had. My HTC radios have always been pretty good also. Lets face it, Samsung's radios are their weakest link IMHO.

got556 said:
Moto will always have the edge for the forseeable future on radio quality/reception. (notwithstanding the bionic....lol (but that was software IMHO)).
My razr's always had a better signal than any Sammy phone I've had. My HTC radios have always been pretty good also. Lets face it, Samsung's radios are their weakest link IMHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100% agree.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

I'm new here, so first of all: Hi Guys!!!
I got some Issues with the radio, too. So I tried some different baseband versions with nearly no result
I currently use the LH1 baseband. Since some days I own 2 SIM's from 2 different Providers (Vodafone & T-Mobile).
Unfortunatly I only have an old Nokia N97 for Comparsion, but that doesnt matter atm.
What I've tried to figure out was, whats the source for this Issue - the phone, the provider or the baseband.
Well, I tried both SIM's in both devices and tried a few basebands for the SGS3, with the result that I got a little better Signal with Vodafone SIM and LH1-basband, than with the same baseband and T-Mobile SIM.
T-Mobile: about -105dBm
Vodafone: about -95dBm
The Signal-Strengh on the N97 is nearly identic with both SIM's.
So my final result is:
Baseband on the SGS3 sucks but can be changed to may get some better signal strengh specific for each provider!
Lets wait what official JB will change.

I just got my galaxy and where i live its a really hard to get signal area, but i have own the rezound , regular razr n maxx , galaxy nexus , and the lg and all get good service just tried this galaxy where i live at and lost 2 drop calls and text messages come as errors and thats in stock within. The first 30 minutes owning the phone like wtf
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

aalopez10 said:
I just got my galaxy and where i live its a really hard to get signal area, but i have own the rezound , regular razr n maxx , galaxy nexus , and the lg and all get good service just tried this galaxy where i live at and lost 2 drop calls and text messages come as errors and thats in stock within. The first 30 minutes owning the phone like wtf
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its probably a little early to tell. I had my phone for 30 days before i ruled out everything but the phone itself. But I had those exact problems with mine as well.
Things that i checked for right away.
Network/Tower issue
4G Sim card
Different modem software ( I tried all 3)
Factory Reset
Different Kernels

toy028 said:
I was having signal issues in areas with less then 3 bars for the most part. Sometimes I would randomly lose service for a few seconds here and there. My calls where dropped or the caller would cut in and out during the conversation. If your having similar issues then your phone is most likely defective.
I just got a refurbished SGS3 from Verizon and the radio works flawless compared to my VRALF2 purchased in July. I would suggest calling Verizon and complaining if your having similar problems because my phone was defective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on my forth Galaxy S3 for call and data dropping. I use my phone mostly at the same 2 locations, work and home and my data drops constantly on all 4 phones. I have had the sim replaced twice. I have 4 lines on my account one of which is a Droid Razr which was handed down to my girlfriend. I can't recall ever having a dropped call or data with that phone. We were in the Vons grocery store Sunday and we both wanted to d/l the Vons app. It took her less than a minutes on the Razr. It took me almost 19 min and the app is less than 2mb. My phone is still stock. Its a beautiful phone but I'm really starting to hate it.

Maybe I spoke too soon about radios not plaguing this phone. LOL.
Get mine today. I'll have an iphone 4s and gnex to compare dBm and asu numbers. (Scratch that....can't find that info on the iphone (g/f's phone)) (found how to do it....not messing with it while she's using it)
Right now my Gnex is at -87 dBm and 53 asu and I am in a very strong 4G area.

Yeah im having dropped call issues then the phone says lost service and then no sim card detected then new sim card detected and then it gets signal back. The messages the phone displays are not exactly what i stated but similar. I talked to some vzw rep on the phone and she said that i am on the edge of the 4g service area. And that 4g is fairly new where I live. Should that affect my calls though?
Btw i had a htc incredible 1 and it never gave me those issues...i feel as though the speakers were better on the incredible too.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

equisbox said:
Yeah im having dropped call issues then the phone says lost service and then no sim card detected then new sim card detected and then it gets signal back. The messages the phone displays are not exactly what i stated but similar. I talked to some vzw rep on the phone and she said that i am on the edge of the 4g service area. And that 4g is fairly new where I live. Should that affect my calls though?
Btw i had a htc incredible 1 and it never gave me those issues...i feel as though the speakers were better on the incredible too.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just keep calling back. Tell them you stayed at a friends house that has great 4G service for a few days or something similar. They gave me the same excuses. What helped me is that there are two other people in the house on the same plan that have 4G phones and they haven't dropped any calls. You have to be persistent and almost demand what you want sometimes but do it as nice and respectful as possible.

well i'll post the other side of this....I had horrible signal issues, tried replacing SIM, no luck. got new phone sent out, same problem. Coming form galaxy nexus with no probs. Calls drop, drop only parts of audio then come back etc. I am in the same places I have been for the past 6 or so years and never had problems until this phone. Can't get signal in my basement or my office, neither of which haev been a problem in the past. so if a new phone fixed it for you, consider yourself lucky.
btw what is a good signal in terms of dbm? in between work/home mine stays in between -90 to -120

I have had my SGIII for a few weeks now and also notice a lack of 4G strength, and I am in NYC. I am coming from the Droid Charge. I am holding off on doing anything until the JB update, if it comes within a reasonable amount of time...i.e. within the next month or so.

Basically, ALL Saumsung radios suck.
My old Rezound has a MUCH MUCH better radio than either my G3 or my Wife's Droid Charge.
I am talking about actual use, not how many signal bars are showing etc....

jmorton10 said:
Basically, ALL Saumsung radios suck.
My old Rezound has a MUCH MUCH better radio than either my G3 or my Wife's Droid Charge.
I am talking about actual use, not how many signal bars are showing etc....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm...my issue with the Charge was not so much the 'top-end speed' of the radio, which was really good when in a good area, but rather the 'glitchiness or bugginess' when switching network areas, or with certain applications. For instance, I commute on the train to NYC every day from a dominant 3G area. When the train would switch into the 4G covered area, the radio would not automatically switch over to 4G until I would either do the airplane mode trick (which worked most of the time), or I would outright have to reboot. For the rare times it WOULD switch over automatically, the speed would be terrible until I airplaned or rebooted it as above...I am sure as hell hoping I don't have these issues with the SGIII...

Connection dropping

I keep seeing my 3g connection dropping completely. I'll be browsing the web and im not moving at all and all of a sudden the connection is gone. I first thought it had something to do with the connection optimizer but it doesn't seem like that. Did anyone else experience this or know a solution to that?
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

roadrunnrr said:
I keep seeing my 3g connection dropping completely. I'll be browsing the web and im not moving at all and all of a sudden the connection is gone. I first thought it had something to do with the connection optimizer but it doesn't seem like that. Did anyone else experience this or know a solution to that?
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i noticed that this was happening when mostly when the phone was going back and forth between 3g and lte. so i changed the mobile network settings to cdma only instead of cdma/lte and it was much steadier.

xxxbasshead said:
i noticed that this was happening when mostly when the phone was going back and forth between 3g and lte. so i changed the mobile network settings to cdma only instead of cdma/lte and it was much steadier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I have it set to cdma only I never get to see lte does yours get lte with cdma turned on only?
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

roadrunnrr said:
When I have it set to cdma only I never get to see lte does yours get lte with cdma turned on only?
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
by changing it to the CDMA setting you are only going to be on the 3g network.

xxxbasshead said:
by changing it to the CDMA setting you are only going to be on the 3g network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So there is really no solution besides going to 3g only. But it really isnt jumping from lte to 3g . It will show 3g and all of a sudden nothing. Sometimes even showing me the little x over the bars.

roadrunnrr said:
So there is really no solution besides going to 3g only. But it really isnt jumping from lte to 3g . It will show 3g and all of a sudden nothing. Sometimes even showing me the little x over the bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happens in an area with partial Spark.
Mine does same thing because I have 3 towers all equal distance from me. 1 is Spark other 2 are not.
If you travel to another location you probably won't see the issue but in short from talking to some eng. the phone is doing 1 of two things.
A) It see's an LTE signal and as LTE is primary it starts to try to connect to it but before it fully does (thus why you never see LTE icon) it realizes it doesn't support the switched fall back required to allow Spark phones to get calls while on LTE so it kicks you back to 3g. This process continues to repeat :/
B) The phone see's an weak LTE signal, as is primary starts to connect but before it fully does the signal is determined to be to weak and falls back to 3g.
In both cases the phone possibly would never show you the LTE icon as that will only show once fully established and it doing this jumping back and forth causes 3g to go and die where forcing CDMA fixes.
The other downfall to this is it KILLS the battery.
Connecting to WiFi won't help with the battery part either as it still does the jumping around.
Your only option is really force CDMA mode only when in an area like this, for me, this is at home only, or live with it and lower battery life until they upgrade the towers all the way.

bryanu said:
This happens in an area with partial Spark.
Mine does same thing because I have 3 towers all equal distance from me. 1 is Spark other 2 are not.
If you travel to another location you probably won't see the issue but in short from talking to some eng. the phone is doing 1 of two things.
A) It see's an LTE signal and as LTE is primary it starts to try to connect to it but before it fully does (thus why you never see LTE icon) it realizes it doesn't support the switched fall back required to allow Spark phones to get calls while on LTE so it kicks you back to 3g. This process continues to repeat :/
B) The phone see's an weak LTE signal, as is primary starts to connect but before it fully does the signal is determined to be to weak and falls back to 3g.
In both cases the phone possibly would never show you the LTE icon as that will only show once fully established and it doing this jumping back and forth causes 3g to go and die where forcing CDMA fixes.
The other downfall to this is it KILLS the battery.
Connecting to WiFi won't help with the battery part either as it still does the jumping around.
Your only option is really force CDMA mode only when in an area like this, for me, this is at home only, or live with it and lower battery life until they upgrade the towers all the way.
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Thank you for the detailed explanation. I just got off an hour long phone call with sprint with them trying to explain me my phone is defective and my wifes as well. Then when i told them it isn't they started going into the "Yeah its our network" mode but then came back saying she put a ticket in for me and my wife to get the phones repaired. I told her I don't want that to stop worrying about the phone and to send me an air rave. Problem at my house solved lol. They are sending me an air rave
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

roadrunnrr said:
Thank you for the detailed explanation. I just got off an hour long phone call with sprint with them trying to explain me my phone is defective and my wifes as well. Then when i told them it isn't they started going into the "Yeah its our network" mode but then came back saying she put a ticket in for me and my wife to get the phones repaired. I told her I don't want that to stop worrying about the phone and to send me an air rave. Problem at my house solved lol. They are sending me an air rave
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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You could try turning off or on, depending on whether you have it enabled already, connection optimizer

roadrunnrr said:
Thank you for the detailed explanation. I just got off an hour long phone call with sprint with them trying to explain me my phone is defective and my wifes as well. Then when i told them it isn't they started going into the "Yeah its our network" mode but then came back saying she put a ticket in for me and my wife to get the phones repaired. I told her I don't want that to stop worrying about the phone and to send me an air rave. Problem at my house solved lol. They are sending me an air rave
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Hate to share the news but that won't solve your problem, it actually could make it worse as it's now another signal to bounce between.
4G IS always priority when enabled, so regardless of you having a "tower" inside your home now, that does not provide 4G, so if the phone's seeing one that does which is what's causing the problem your issue will remain the same meaning you're forced to put the phone in CDMA only mode still.
The problem isn't with the 3G tower or 3G signal, the problem is the 4G signal being detected but not yet compatible with SPARK due to missing the circuit fall back feature, which the phone doesn't know until it attempts to connect. In some areas where it's partially setup the phone can connect to 4G and just calls won't work, in other areas it's disabled or doesn't exist and this problem happens.
Your solution will simply need to be put the phone in CDMA only mode when in a troubled area only, or just leave it in that mode and have no 4g until everything is upgraded better, or deal with as is.