Hi everyone. Quick question. I searched but didn't find much, but I was wanting to use LTE only (*#*#4636#*#*, Phone, LTE Only), and it does work but on Sprint, it disables 1x and pretends like the phone has no coverage and then does the "Searching for Service" and the battery drains like crazy. Any ideas?
MrObvious said:
Hi everyone. Quick question. I searched but didn't find much, but I was wanting to use LTE only (*#*#4636#*#*, Phone, LTE Only), and it does work but on Sprint, it disables 1x and pretends like the phone has no coverage and then does the "Searching for Service" and the battery drains like crazy. Any ideas?
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That mode disables all voice and texting abilities, I don't think you can use that on a phone, especially not a phone on Sprint.
turn it back, if the phone doesn't think it has a good enough signal to use LTE, trust it and drop to 3G you'll be better off.
Use global setting for Sprint
Sent from my Nexus 5
I don't want 3g though because my phone has the power to get a signal but if it gets down to 1 bar roughly (driving between towers and I'm in a fairly big city so it's not a coverage/reception issue) and it drops to 3g, despite the fact that it'll get stronger if it waits 5 more seconds.
you can not get/make phonecalls on lte only, period. its for data only.
indeed. setting it through the dialer to lte only, makes that lte data channel the only channel, it kills the ehrpd / 1x cdma 200 ip hand-off needed for voice paging to & from the network..
but NOW i know WHY you were forcing lte only via the dialer (didn't know at 1st)
but where you are (if you're on srpint) this is what' was reported happening -
Sprint used to have "same-as-native" 3G service in the western half of Kansas via those carriers, and even used to show it as Native on their coverage maps. Then it changed to Off-Network roaming a couple years ago. They even stopped Native service along I-70 through most of Kansas and eastern Colorado. Sounds like some of those carriers aren't being too accommodating to Sprint nowadays.
via the HoFo App
i didn't know, the hometown of sprint, was having such a hard time covering, it's own home state..
j'vai said:
indeed. setting it through the dialer to lte only, makes that lte data channel the only channel, it kills the ehrpd / 1x cdma 200 ip hand-off needed for voice paging to & from the network..
but NOW i know WHY you were forcing lte only via the dialer (didn't know at 1st)
but where you are (if you're on srpint) this is what' was reported happening -
Sprint used to have "same-as-native" 3G service in the western half of Kansas via those carriers, and even used to show it as Native on their coverage maps. Then it changed to Off-Network roaming a couple years ago. They even stopped Native service along I-70 through most of Kansas and eastern Colorado. Sounds like some of those carriers aren't being too accommodating to Sprint nowadays.
via the HoFo App
i didn't know, the hometown of sprint, was having such a hard time covering, it's own home state..
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That's inaccurate for me as I'm in central KS. That only applies for west KS. I'm in a native market with LTE, NV, and band 25 and 26.
MrObvious said:
I don't want 3g though because my phone has the power to get a signal but if it gets down to 1 bar roughly (driving between towers and I'm in a fairly big city so it's not a coverage/reception issue) and it drops to 3g, despite the fact that it'll get stronger if it waits 5 more seconds.
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ok.. central ks..
what were your settings prior, to lte only?
Just LTE/CDMA. There are times I want to set LTE only so I don't drop 4g. Of course I have service with that setting.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
you know, that going via the keypad to set LTE only you'll kill the fall back bridge to 1xrtt voice & evdo 3g, right?
& every time you want to have voice service you'd have to do the toggle to undo LTE only , then when you want it back LTE only ..
you say "you don't want evdo 3g" but the devil in the details are, you'll not have voice service ither, that way..
is it worth that trouble?
Related
Hi, I have an HTC Sensation. I live in Cleveland, OH, and went with a friend about 70 miles east towards Warren OH, mainly on Rt 422. He has Revol, which I assume is like Cricket, he had reception all the way. My service completely dropped about 15 miles east of Cleveland (South Russell - rural after that), with an X instead of any bars, till I got back about only 15 miles away again. I did get 1 bar off and on at Mosquito Lake where our cookout was, but only when right near the water, otherwise an X. I just looked up on T-Mo's website, and I should have had at least "good" to "moderate" service that whole trip. I just noticed under (Android) "Network Mode", my phone was set to "WCDMA Only". I thought this only affected data. Does this also affect voice range? I tried Googling, but couldn't really find an answer, except some sites saying WCDMA is better for rural areas, not what I really wanted to hear, given no rural reception on my phone. My other two choices are GSM Only, and GSM/WCDMA Auto, which I checked now. I don't know when I'll be out that way again, but that kind of worries me, as I just signed a new 2 year contract with T-Mo (for buying the Sensation), and I may be going out that way more, and have no service. Thanks.
WCDMA most certainly relates to voice as well as data. The only places I'd leave it on WCDMA only are metro areas and places where T-Mobile has indicated strong 4G/HSPA coverage, else always leave it on GSM/WCDMA auto or you'll be sorely lacking on reception.
T-Mobile uses WCDMA bands 1700/2100Mhz AWS for their 4G/HSPA, voice and data are combined regardless if you're on HSPA or GSM.
GSM bands are also much stronger and more effective at penetrating buildings and foliage. T-Mobile uses 850Mhz and 1900Mhz for GSM, also know as EDGE in data terms. This also means that if you happen upon an area where T-Mobile has a roaming agreement with At&t, you'll be able to get reception in those areas as well (e.g. T-Mobile has no coverage but At&t does, note this only applies in certain areas where AT&T has an agreement with T-Mobile)
EDGE/GSM is a 2G signal, so data speeds will be significantly slower in those areas. When you leave your device on GSM/WCDMA auto, it will select the optimal signal based in your location and reception quality and you'll see it change from 'H' or '4G' to 'E' often on your device.
This is normal, T-Mobile isn't going to invest HSPA in non-metropolitan areas.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Thank you, TheMan42, I know now to keep it at the auto setting, as I only thought it affected data.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
I have a LG Nexus 5 and i have a strong LTE signal in my area along side HSPA+ if i make a Phone call LTE drops and HSPA is activated while the phone call is over it goes back to LTE in 20 seconds or so.
However if i use data while on HSPA+ mode it seems it wont handoff to LTE seamlessly
Like if you're on Verizon using 3g streaming consistently (not pandora something consistent downloading/upload like tunein radio) it would secretly bump you back to 4G LTE without any problems and stream would continue without even you noticing
T-Mobile however on the other hand doesn't until you stop the data usage and then it bumps back up to LTE
test it out download Tunein radio and stream a station make sure you're on HSPA+/HSPA then while streaming go to a location with like full or best LTE signal. (I went to the mall and drove right under the tower and phone still insists HSPA+)
not sure whats going on here? the Network not telling the phone to handoff? or some internal network issue or an issue with my nexus 5
by the way i am stock android 4.4.2 no root or recovery or whatever
So my question is is there a way to fix this? or is this something i need to email John Legere about?
I have similar issues but for Verizon losing eVDO and going to LTE is probably because EHRPD is making the switch more seamless. However, when my phone switches from HSPA to LTE I drop down to GPRS for a few seconds.
Sent from my One X using xda app-developers app
I just got the Airave and I was wondering how come when I use CDMA only for "mobile networks", I get 5-6 bars i.e. pretty much perfect but when I select CDMA/LTE, I get 1 bar..sometimes two.
More importantly, Airave hasn't fixed this issue but when I go to CDMA only, it seems perfect. How do I go about fixing this?
Thanks
PS - It seems like at home, I have weak LTE (which is what it's connected to by default) rather than holding onto a STRONG 3G signal....how do I make the S5 favor strong 3G over weak LTE?
Which kills more? 3G at -70db or LTE at -102db?
The Airave is only a 3g CDMA over Broadband solution. When you choose CDMA only it's the only choice and is a strong connection. With LTE enabled the device is still trying to keep an LTE link but since your coverage area sucks it keeps falling off. Seems the Sprint GS5 has that issue for everyone where there is bad LTE coverage. It may also be that "Connections Optimizer" crap.
I'd suggest tasker or a similar app for automating setting your mobile network to CDMA Only when at home or elsewhere LTE is crappy and creating another to revert back to LTE/CDMA. There a bunch of threads with people trying to figure out how to optimize their LTE band for their specific coverage. I burned a lot of battery with my N4 constantly trying to decide whether to stick with HSPA+ or other crappy alternative networks. I don't think Google or the manufacturers have done a good job of considering what happens under less than good conditions signal wise.
GorillaPimp said:
The Airave is only a 3g CDMA over Broadband solution. When you choose CDMA only it's the only choice and is a strong connection. With LTE enabled the device is still trying to keep an LTE link but since your coverage area sucks it keeps falling off. Seems the Sprint GS5 has that issue for everyone where there is bad LTE coverage. It may also be that "Connections Optimizer" crap.
I'd suggest tasker or a similar app for automating setting your mobile network to CDMA Only when at home or elsewhere LTE is crappy and creating another to revert back to LTE/CDMA. There a bunch of threads with people trying to figure out how to optimize their LTE band for their specific coverage. I burned a lot of battery with my N4 constantly trying to decide whether to stick with HSPA+ or other crappy alternative networks. I don't think Google or the manufacturers have done a good job of considering what happens under less than good conditions signal wise.
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Click to collapse
It's not so much that it falls off but that the signal for LTE is low....around -112db while CDMA/3G is around -70db (full bards).
I wish there was a way to make "CDMA only" turn on at my house while LTE/4G turning on while I leave it....How do I do this using tasker or a similar app?
Then again, I don't really download anything outside of my house....only time I use data outside my house is for Waze or Snapchat or Instagram or Facebook....and they seem to load fine under 3G...it's not worth the battery drain to use 4G for those applications.
The Galaxy S5 only has one radio so this causes huge problems with use of a device like an Airwave. Since Sprint didn't include WiFi calling in the S5 you have no real solution except to force the S5 in to CDMA only mode. It requires a reboot and is annoying. This is ridiculous by Sprint. I went and got a more advanced phone with two radios (The Galaxy S4) and now have no problems with one radio staying attached to 1x Airwave and LTE. I returned my S5 and am now very happy.
thegame2388 said:
It's not so much that it falls off but that the signal for LTE is low....around -112db while CDMA/3G is around -70db (full bards).
I wish there was a way to make "CDMA only" turn on at my house while LTE/4G turning on while I leave it....How do I do this using tasker or a similar app?
Then again, I don't really download anything outside of my house....only time I use data outside my house is for Waze or Snapchat or Instagram or Facebook....and they seem to load fine under 3G...it's not worth the battery drain to use 4G for those applications.
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With Tasker or similar you'd want to set it up to switch mobile networks to LTE/CDMA based on your location but like rocket said it's a reboot every time - aka PITA. I just set up a shortcut to Mobile Networks and change if it's a problem. Rebooting often sucks. I don't know why they'd give the S4 two radios and the S5 one. Seems stupid. I'm not sure if you can change to CDMA only via the debugging options - that may not require a reboot. There's a big thread about optimizing LTE bands that has a bunch of info on that.
GorillaPimp said:
With Tasker or similar you'd want to set it up to switch mobile networks to LTE/CDMA based on your location but like rocket said it's a reboot every time - aka PITA. I just set up a shortcut to Mobile Networks and change if it's a problem. Rebooting often sucks. I don't know why they'd give the S4 two radios and the S5 one. Seems stupid. I'm not sure if you can change to CDMA only via the debugging options - that may not require a reboot. There's a big thread about optimizing LTE bands that has a bunch of info on that.
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Alrighty. Looks like I'll use CDMA at my house for Airave with Wi-Fi for downloading stuff and have CDMA for downloading stuff while I'm beyond the borders of my house.
I don't "download" anything anyway.
You will be UNABLE TO CONNECT TO THE AIRAVE unless your are in "CDMA ONLY".
Go to
settings/network connections/more networks/mobile networks
and change to CDMA .
( Do NOT select CDMA/LTE until you LEAVE the Airave vicinity)
If you are indeed connected to the Airave, you will hear a recording telling you that you are if you call *99.
You will have to re-enable the CDMA/LTE everytime you leave the vicinity of the Airave to get LTE service.
Sprint Tier II Tech informed be of the above, and I have verified it all by personally testing the above.
Now, here is the real question:
What are the EXACT DIFFERENCES between using the "Wi-Fi Calling Feature" with NO Airave - AND- using the Airave WITHOUT using W-Fi Calling.????
tt c6 said:
You will be UNABLE TO CONNECT TO THE AIRAVE unless your are in "CDMA ONLY".
Go to
settings/network connections/more networks/mobile networks
and change to CDMA .
( Do NOT select CDMA/LTE until you LEAVE the Airave vicinity)
If you are indeed connected to the Airave, you will hear a recording telling you that you are if you call *99.
You will have to re-enable the CDMA/LTE everytime you leave the vicinity of the Airave to get LTE service.
Sprint Tier II Tech informed be of the above, and I have verified it all by personally testing the above.
Now, here is the real question:
What are the EXACT DIFFERENCES between using the "Wi-Fi Calling Feature" with NO Airave - AND- using the Airave WITHOUT using W-Fi Calling.????
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Click to collapse
the differnece is the range of the signal / router range of 2.4 ghz/5.0 vs airave 5k to 6k sq ft. and of course haveing a phone made before the s5. any lte+ or sprint spark device will not stay connected to an airave device without network mode selection and crossed fingers. and due to that- wifi calling was born and pushed to the front lines
When you're at home, why not just leave WiFi on for data, and WiFi Calling on for phone calls? That's what I do. I used to use an Airave, but I stopped using my Airave when I got a Galaxy S5 because it has WiFi Calling. (BTW. If you leave WiFi Calling on, your phone will automatically switch to cellular calling when you leave the house.)
Is there a way to see and change the LTE BAND that my phone is on? Rogers support aws, 2600, 700. So I was wondering if I could manually change between them. The S5 has that option in the hidden menu, so I'm hoping I could do the same on this one.
Thanks.
The phone choose the band himself, if he don't find bands authorized by your phone company, he can't use them.
tonymtl said:
Is there a way to see and change the LTE BAND that my phone is on? Rogers support aws, 2600, 700. So I was wondering if I could manually change between them. The S5 has that option in the hidden menu, so I'm hoping I could do the same on this one.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*#*#46363#*#* > Phone information > Set Preferred Network Type > 'LTE/GSM auto (PRL)'
That's as far as you can get in telling it what network to operate on. It won't let you select specific bands (at least not stock). Mine was set to 'TD-SCDMA, GSM and LTE' out of the box (international version) and since I don't plan to use my phone in China anytime soon, it didn't make sense for the phone to waste resources searching for a TD-SCDMA (China's homebrew 4G) signal. Haven't noticed much improvement to my LTE signal though, still the weakest radio I've seen in a 'flagship' in a while.
Thanks.
I am also on Rogers.
Does that mean when I am on the phone, it will revert to EDGE instead of 3g by using the LTE-edge setting?
I have major issues with reception on this phone.
LTE Works Fine but the 3G/H+ signal is awful, absolute disaster on this phone. It is extremely, extremely weak. And I lose coverage often and over 50% of the times my calls go straight to voicemail because Rogers uses 2g/3g for calling. The phone can't drop back to 2G or 3G in time to receive calls when on LTE
Rly frustrating. Have tried playing with all the settings.
Same issue
hashim71 said:
I have major issues with reception on this phone.
LTE Works Fine but the 3G/H+ signal is awful, absolute disaster on this phone. It is extremely, extremely weak. And I lose coverage often and over 50% of the times my calls go straight to voicemail because Rogers uses 2g/3g for calling. The phone can't drop back to 2G or 3G in time to receive calls when on LTE
Rly frustrating. Have tried playing with all the settings.
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Click to collapse
I'm having issues with 3G H+ too. Dont know its CM issue or not coz I had nice H+ signals on Color OS...
Can't even use internet data. most of the time network drops after using internet for a bit.. Network just suddenly gone and after that it comes back with no internet. Internet comes back online after a while...
Really worried.. and annoyed coz can't seem to find any solve for this. Even Mahdi rom had this issue..
Yesterday I received an email from my carrier (Pure Talk USA, using ATT towers) telling me that it's time to buy a new phone. They're (presumably ATT) sunsetting 2G service, rendering my phone unusable. I know the "4G" in the name is probably meaningless, but is the Relay really that old? Has anyone else received notifications like this?
We've never had data service in the US. We were in England a few weeks ago, on a travel SIM which did have data. I found it almost unusably slow, and saw "G" and "E" by the signal bars.
Is it really time?
EDIT - After a little searching, I find that the Relay does both GSM (2G) and UTMS (3G). I had a setting limiting it to GSM, which is the right thing to do to save power, though once I had data in London I should have opened it up to either, in order to get decent speeds. I have only ever used it with GSM in the US, which might be why they think it needs to be replaced. This afternoon I switched to the "either" setting, and I'll need to write to my carrier about this. They sell data also, so I may want to pick that up for a month, and see how well it works with UTMS enabled. It was certainly close to worthless with just GSM.
I've also seen some reference to the phone doing HSPA+, with is either 4G or partial 4G, or at least better than 3G, but that doesn't show on the Cyanogenmod page.
https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Apexqtmo_Info
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Mobility#Radio_frequency_summary
The relay is a 3g phone, but it also supports 2g networks as a fallback. Pure Talk probably just broadcasted that message across the 2g network, and any phone that could receive it, did.
I got an email back from their support, and it's basically as you say. Some time later I plan to disable GSM and make sure I can still talk over 3G.
More information here...
As mentioned previously I had limited the phone to GSM - 2G. The menus in the phone were a bit confusing, because it gave the option of GSM-only, WCDMA-only, GSM/WCDMA-auto, or GSM/WCDMA-preferred. When I first bought SIMs and service for the phone, I looked at WCDMA and said, "That's a Verizon thing, irrelevant for my GSM phone," and set it to GSM-only. In reality that labeling is misleading, because it's not WCDMA, it's UTMS/HSPA - 2G or 3G+. When the phone calls itself "4G" it's not LTE, it's HSPA+, which is better than 3G, but not as good as LTE. So it's a bit disingenuous. However I did test it, and though I don't have data service, when I turn data on, even with no registered APN, it tells me I have HSPA+ service available. ("H+" on the status bar)
I just wish I'd known this before going to England, where I had a travel SIM with data service, tried it, and thought it unusably slow. I was getting "G" or "E" on the status bar, which I have now learned is essentially dialup or a bit faster.