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Since purchasing my phone almost 2 weeks ago I have never gotten 3g. I have replaced my sim and also upgraded data. I have one day left to return and I'm wondering if you guys too are having this issue. Or perhaps is it a tower/radio issue?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
It won't ever show 3g
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Yeah i saw the same thing. I think it's has a lot to do with TMO's 4G not actually being a different technology than it's 3G. So in most cases if you have 3G you also have 4G. Are there any areas where you know that TMO's HSPA+ network doesn't have coverage but the normal 3G coverage does? I'd be interested in that. I couldn't test in my area because the 3G coverage is the exact same as the 4G so the indicator would only change if I entered an edge only area.
The G2 only displays an H which can either be 3G or 4G but it's not differentiated on the phone. So I think it's just because of TMO's network not being a separate technology that requires a different radio. So the phone won't go from 4G to 3G to Edge. It goes straight to 2G because 3g and 4G is the same in technology. Only difference is speed and that that's with any network where you have different speeds in different places.
The 4G is a souped up version of their 3G so you won't see 3G ever AFAIK.
Thought i was the only one that noticed
As a t-mob tech rep I can confirm that this is true. The phone will either display 2 or 4. It was even in the brief training we received. No need to return it
Get Mobile Signal Widget if you want to see it go between 3G(UMTS) or H(HSPA+)
It will not show 3G/4G because it would flip between the two too much.
Yesterday I saw it just said "G". Phone was slow as ****. I love this thing.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
joeyklatzko said:
The 4G is a souped up version of their 3G so you won't see 3G ever AFAIK.
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It's the same on the G2x that I had briefly.
good to know cause im in love with my phone and didnt wanna chance a exchange! its really not enough good about this phone on here but for any of you on the edge its a great phone coming from a hd2 which was also the SH!T !!
Just a little extra info on this. EVERY 3G cell site in T-Mobile's network is HSPA capable so whenever you are on a 3G site your have HSPA access BUT not every site is HSPA+ (4G speeds). With that said, your phone does not know the difference so even if we wanted an icon to show the difference we couldn't have it. There is one more mode and that is UMTS. This only shows when your phone is idle and not doing data (not very often). It does NOT mean your don't have HSPA access on that site, it just means your phone is not currently doing data. So, we could have a 3G icon for when your idle but your phone would be constantly switching from 3G icon to 4G or H (whichever you have) and that would be annoying. Hope this helps.
setzer715 said:
There is one more mode and that is UMTS. This only shows when your phone is idle and not doing data (not very often). It does NOT mean your don't have HSPA access on that site, it just means your phone is not currently doing data. So, we could have a 3G icon for when your idle but your phone would be constantly switching from 3G icon to 4G or H (whichever you have) and that would be annoying. Hope this helps.
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That's what it did for the HD2 & it let me know when I was actually pulling down data, just look for 3G or the H
xnifex said:
That's what it did for the HD2 & it let me know when I was actually pulling down data, just look for 3G or the H
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You will still know with the data activity arrows.
setzer715 said:
You will still know with the data activity arrows.
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On the Sensation yes, HD2 running WM though it was about the only way to know
Its a lie. It just says 4G instead of 3G. Never 3G. Its a ploy to make you believe they have 4G everywhere.
I have an unbranded Asian Sensation and it shows 3G once and a while. There is this one area I notice it switches from the H(4G) to 3G. I know TMO changed the H icon with a 4G one so maybe they removed the 3G one show it always shows 4G even if on 3G??
Ive seen it switch to 3g and its like not having internet. Speeds around 50-100 kbps . A friend with mt4g confirmed.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
~~Tito~~ said:
Its a lie. It just says 4G instead of 3G. Never 3G. Its a ploy to make you believe they have 4G everywhere.
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Tito, long time no see!
LOL, true that t-Mob is trying to brainwash the XDA gang
DeezNotes said:
Yesterday I saw it just said "G". Phone was slow as ****. I love this thing.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
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You were on a regular GSM connection, those are old and slow. Not your phones fault, it was basically trying to use data over a rotary phone.
Is your device from tmobile?
The top icon says "4g" yet in my internet settings it says wcdma not hspa or anything like that. Does this mean it isn't 4g??
I'm assuming you are looking under Mobile Network Setting > Network Mode. If that is in fact what your are referring to, then you have nothing to worry about. What you are seeing in the type of connection the phone is using to connect to the network. GSM is the network T-Mobile and AT&T uses (SIM card), and CDMA is what Verizon and Sprint uses (old technology). If you are getting the 4G icon on your status bar, then you are connected at 4G speeds.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G "Stock and Rooted" using XDA Premium App
Thank you, question tho i'm always either on 4g or edge, why? I love the 4g speeds but why no 3g? I never see the icon read 3g?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
same here always 4g or edge. No 3g
Sent from my TripNMiUI Pyramid using xda premium
From time to time you may see G (3G), or the slowest speed 2G (Edge), and this just means the signal is fluctuating from the available connection speeds in your area, this is normal. You will never just get 4G all the time, it will go in and out. Your phones are doing what they are supposed to do. And be aware some areas have no 4G at all.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
the reason why you are not seeing 3g is cause the 3g icon has been replaced by 4g. cause technically there is no 4g yet. its a marketing ploy to get more people to buy new phones. dont get me wrong cause its not really 3g you are connected to its more like 3.5g.
SoFaKiNgStOkeD said:
From time to time you may see G (3G), or the slowest speed 2G (Edge),
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Have to correct you on this, G = GPRS, E = Edge (2G).
Divine flaw said:
the reason why you are not seeing 3g is cause the 3g icon has been replaced by 4g. cause technically there is no 4g yet. its a marketing ploy to get more people to buy new phones. dont get me wrong cause its not really 3g you are connected to its more like 3.5g.
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this guy is correct. if you really want to know what connection you have you can swap out the icons for your data connectivity or install Elixir & look at what it says there. If you're connected to 3G it'll say UTMS & it'll say HSPA for 4G/HSPA
Divine flaw said:
the reason why you are not seeing 3g is cause the 3g icon has been replaced by 4g. cause technically there is no 4g yet. its a marketing ploy to get more people to buy new phones. dont get me wrong cause its not really 3g you are connected to its more like 3.5g.
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Click to collapse
Damn I knew some **** like this was up. any idea when real 4g will be out
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
nbochoa said:
Damn I knew some **** like this was up. any idea when real 4g will be out
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
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No one has finished deploying faux G networks and no real 4G phones are being sold. I imagine it will take 5-10 years for true 4G to be available in more than a few small markets. It just doesn't make financial sense for service providers to replace/upgrade equipment over and over again in a short timeframe.
So me having a sensation would mean what I have is the fastest I can get or would changing my ROM help me get the "42 mbps" t mobile claims to have.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
mike_ekim said:
No one has finished deploying faux G networks and no real 4G phones are being sold. I imagine it will take 5-10 years for true 4G to be available in more than a few small markets. It just doesn't make financial sense for service providers to replace/upgrade equipment over and over again in a short timeframe.
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I dunno, one could say LTE is 4G.
lianw said:
I dunno, one could say LTE is 4G.
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So the Verizon lte is faster than hspa+
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
nbochoa said:
So the Verizon lte is faster than hspa+
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
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Higher theoretical higher throughput performance. Real-world results are of course, different.
It all depends on the area (population density, etc) as well as the quality of the network infrastructure.
Here are some results:
http://www.phonearena.com/news/4G-s...e-holds-the-fort-in-smartphone-speeds_id17405
nbochoa said:
So me having a sensation would mean what I have is the fastest I can get or would changing my ROM help me get the "42 mbps" t mobile claims to have.
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The Sensation is not capable of achieving that speed. It's a hardware limitation, not software.
It's quasi-impossible to obtain the full theoretical maximum speed a network provider advertises.
nbochoa said:
So me having a sensation would mean what I have is the fastest I can get or would changing my ROM help me get the "42 mbps" t mobile claims to have.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
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Max "theoretical" speed is 14.4mb. Speeds vary by location.
I can't get above 2 or 3, MAYBE 4 mbps on a good day, not sure why. I got 3 or 4mbps regularly on my old mytouch 3g slide using the HSPA network, I figured HSPA+ would be faster, not slower, but I have yet to pinpoint my problem. I was expecting a good 5-8 at least, but oh well.
As for Verizon's LTE, it's still not technically 4G. 4G is TECHNICALLY required to have a theoretical maximum output of 1 GBPS, of course, nothing would be able to achieve that initially, but that is the required theoretical maximum for 4G specifications. But there's nothing they can do about companies claiming 4G. Although what can they really do, they've already sucked the 3G term dry, and it's kind of a stupid marketing campaign to say 3.75G or HSPA+, it's easier for the vast majority of technologically incompetent Americans to understand if they just say 4G. But just wait for when the mass confusion ensues when real 4G does really get invented, then everyone's going to say "I thought that was 4G before! What's this 4G? We'll call it 5G!"
It'll be an endless cycle of marketing ploys.
Divine flaw said:
the reason why you are not seeing 3g is cause the 3g icon has been replaced by 4g. cause technically there is no 4g yet. its a marketing ploy to get more people to buy new phones. dont get me wrong cause its not really 3g you are connected to its more like 3.5g.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not entirely true, I do get a "G" symbol from time to time out her in San Diego when I am on the stock ROM, which "G" is 3G. There is a difference between the 3 bands, and 4G is much faster when you do get it.
SoFaKiNgStOkeD said:
Not entirely true, I do get a "G" symbol from time to time out her in San Diego when I am on the stock ROM, which "G" is 3G. There is a difference between the 3 bands, and 4G is much faster when you do get it.
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Uh no, if you get just a G then you're on GPRS & that is slower than EDGE.
If you're on a stock Tmobile US ROM you will never see 3G since they disabled it from showing.
SoFaKiNgStOkeD said:
Not entirely true, I do get a "G" symbol from time to time out her in San Diego when I am on the stock ROM, which "G" is 3G. There is a difference between the 3 bands, and 4G is much faster when you do get it.
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thats funny..... g =gprs not 3g. think of it as 1g. and yes i do get a g signal every time i head down to the dungeon at work and i cant for the life of me connect to the internet. even on my old phone which was an hd2 i would get a g signal if im down in the dungeon. but guess what that phone had a 3g icon and when im not in the dungeon i was connected to a 3g network cause my phone had that icon. if you are telling me this g signal is 3g than im sorry your wrong.
Hi guys!!!, I've never had a 4G phone before so I'm excited to check out the speeds, especially since I got some pretty decent speeds on my Desire Z which is only HSDPA 14.4 Mbit/s, while the Atrix 2 is HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s. The Atrix2 has support for 1800mhz which is the frequency my carrier (Optus) is using for 4G, so I was wondering if everything will work and I'll get "4G". Sorry if this question seems stupid and the answer is a painfully obvious "Yes of course!", but I figured I may as well just ask.
In short. Yes.
4g is dependent on phone and carrier. So the a2 has 4g and if your carrier has good 4G service you'll be good to go!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Fall of Enosis said:
In short. Yes.
4g is dependent on phone and carrier. So the a2 has 4g and if your carrier has good 4G service you'll be good to go!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
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Awesome, funnily enough my carriers 4G service goes from the city to 2 suburbs away, so I have to get the train 3km's to try it .
if your carrier has LTE 4G then no but if it's HSPA+, the fake 4g promotion, then yes. there are various phones sold by USA carriers that promote having 4G and not being true. LTE is the only 4G now.
Sent from my Abacus using Android
el_venga said:
if your carrier has LTE 4G then no but if it's HSPA+, the fake 4g promotion, then yes. there are various phones sold by USA carriers that promote having 4G and not being true. LTE is the only 4G now.
Sent from my Abacus using Android
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Carriers site says
You can access 4G services using a compatible 4G dual band
device, at locations represented in purple on the map. The
coverage shown represents the on street coverage that will
keep you connected to the 4G service while out and about
on the 4G dual band network
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And
1. Optus 4G service is part of the Optus Network and refers to our 4G 1800Mhz coverage. You will require a 4G 1800MHz compatible device to access 4G coverage. Outside 4G coverage areas, your device will access the 3G Dual Band network coverage. A number of factors may affect coverage including location, demand on the network and use of external antenna. When within a 4G coverage area, your call or data session may also access the 3G Dual Band network. At Launch Optus 4G is only available for sale to business customers.
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I'm not sure if it's LTE or "Fake 4g"
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.
eevingsa the
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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 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
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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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?
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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?
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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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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
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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)