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Disable LTE

Is it possible to disable LTE from the settings? I don't feel that LTE is worth the additional battery drain and that HSPA+ is good enough.

Yup. Under mobile settings "Network Mode" 1) LTE 2) 3G 3) 2G.
Im on AT&T

Try the old *#*#4636#*#* - Phone info - scroll down, change the radio to WCDMA Preferred and that'll basically stop LTE connectivity.

Is LTE actually less efficient than HSDPA though? Especially with the new envelope tracking? I'd be curious to know.

br0adband said:
Try the old *#*#4636#*#* - Phone info - scroll down, change the radio to WCDMA Preferred and that'll basically stop LTE connectivity.
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It doesn't actually seem to do anything, even if I set it to WCDMA-only. I really need this because I have a 3G plan provisioned on an LTE-capable SIM and the network rejects registration if it is attempted on an LTE band.

some app could disable LTE
evildave_666 said:
It doesn't actually seem to do anything, even if I set it to WCDMA-only. I really need this because I have a 3G plan provisioned on an LTE-capable SIM and the network rejects registration if it is attempted on an LTE band.
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I meet the same problem,
the app "nexus 5 field test mode' can disable LTE. But it doesn't work on some roms (like mahdi).

xx87xx said:
I meet the same problem,
the app "nexus 5 field test mode' can disable LTE. But it doesn't work on some roms (like mahdi).
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Click to collapse
My original problem was fixed with the 4.4.2 update.

Depending on the signal, LTE can be a bit more efficient.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

bblzd said:
Depending on the signal, LTE can be a bit more efficient.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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truth.
i get one hour screen on time more if i use lte than with 3G(hspa+). i get 5-6+ hours sot with lte, and 4-5 hours sot with 3G(hspa+).

Getting LTE without upgrading my data plan?

I got my nexus Today and as soon as I popped in my Sim card, I noticed I was already receiving LTE signal , I didn't notice any speed bumps , just on my notification bar I noticed the LTE icon , so my question is am I really getting LTE reception without paying extra ? Maybe I'll take advantage of the LTE signal where 3.5g was weak , I'm on T-Mobile Germany and they do have LTE
I don't know I'd I should just call them or if its not legal :/

Anyone?

Chad_Petree said:
Anyone?
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I think its just connecting you to the LTE as the network is available but you . But you wont get any benefit from it as in speed as you havent updated to LTE from your carrier .

anshmiester78900 said:
I think its just connecting you to the LTE as the network is available but you . But you wont get any benefit from it as in speed as you havent updated to LTE from your carrier .
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So basically i'm receiving LTE but with my regular 3.5g speed, right? It's not that bad actually, if it's true that LTE signals penetrates in places where 3g doesn't, then looks like it's a win win-win situation for me :silly:

Base on the LTE network chart, T-Mobile in Germany use LTE band 3 and 20 which the international Nexus 5 support. It depends on your carrier plans. In USA, there isn't an LTE tier with T-Mobile, its included by default with regular data plans.
Sort answer is yes, if you're getting data and you see the LTE icon, you're getting LTE.

eksasol said:
Base on the LTE network chart, T-Mobile in Germany use LTE band 3 and 20 which the international Nexus 5 support. It depends on what your carrier. In USA, there isn't LTE tier, its included default regular data plans.
You can easily check by Settings -> About -> Status: Mobile network type.
Sort answer is yes, if you're getting data and you see the LTE icon, you're getting LTE.
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I got my nexus 5 on the german playstore , when im ready to upgrade to a plan with faster speeds , will I be able to do it without any problems at all?

Chad_Petree said:
I got my nexus 5 on the german playstore , when im ready to upgrade to a plan with faster speeds , will I be able to do it without any problems at all?
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LTE is already the fastest data delivery method from T-Mobile and if you already have it, I don't know of any faster speed plan. You could upgrade to one that give higher data cap or unlimited data.

eksasol said:
LTE is already the fastest data delivery method from T-Mobile and if you already have it, I don't know of any faster speed plan. You could upgrade to one that give higher data cap or unlimited data.
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I currently have a 3.5g plan with 21 mbps , the LTE plans have 50 mpbs and 100 mpbs speed caps , I believe on Germany there's not a single company that offers unlimited data, but I don't really need it neither

Chad_Petree said:
I currently have a 3.5g plan with 21 mbps , the LTE plans have 50 mpbs and 100 mpbs speed caps , I believe on Germany there's not a single company that offers unlimited data, but I don't really need it neither
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3.5G doesn't mean anything but just to categorize. It means HSPA+. But you should check with T-Mobile if your current plan have LTE. As far as I know you in the US you get LTE with T-Mobile if you have a data plan.

Chad_Petree said:
So basically i'm receiving LTE but with my regular 3.5g speed, right? It's not that bad actually, if it's true that LTE signals penetrates in places where 3g doesn't, then looks like it's a win win-win situation for me :silly:
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Yup its a win win situation for you !

On EE in the UK im getting 15mbps from 3g enabled. With 4g im getting 20... Humm so 3g is 3g and 4g is H+ speeds??

anshmiester78900 said:
Yup its a win win situation for you !
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WOW , I'm so happy, usually in class i struggle to get 2g, yep the reception is that bad and today I went with my Nexus 5 and surprise suprise! i have LTE on my classroom :highfive: , I was so excited specially because I'm learning german in the moment and i have to use the dictionary/translator a looot, this definitely changes my day to day now :highfive:

T-mobile LTE N4 vs N5

I just helped my son install the hybrid modem for his Nexus 4 and set up the T-mobile APN for it. I was about to tell him that he would have to go somewhere else to test it since I never get LTE at home, and then boom, the 4G icon shows up on his phone! I checked Network Signal Info and sure enough, it's got an LTE connection with about 6Mbps transfer rate. Sitting right next to him my N5 has only 3G with occasional switches up to HSPA and back, and a very low transfer rate. What gives? I am able to get LTE on the N5 in other areas of town and it works wonderfully, but around my home it is very weak and almost never runs in LTE mode.
Could it be that the N4 is connecting on a different LTE band? If so, why is the N5 not using that band as well? Is there something that can be done for the N5 to tweak it to improve its LTE reception or how it chooses how to connect to available LTE signals?

Both N4 and N5 have 1700 band so it should get perfect HSDPA.
It might be the towers in your area are busy or the signal is weak.
I use straight talk t-mobil and I get HSDPA around 15Mbps and my friend get a little more on LTE here in chicagoland.
Also for people on Straight talk if you want to get LTE att version you need to get a new simcard and change APN and for t-mobil
just get a new simcard and boom you get LTE.

Idk if I'd worry about it. In most places the HSDPA speeds for T-Mobile are the same or better than the LTE speeds you would get. I'm in the far north chicago suburbs and I get LTE and HSDPA downloads at 25mbps. The LTE coverage is still a bit spotty. Its probably only worth it if I you're in a developed urban area. However it is a bit strange that you guys have the same hardware, service and location but different connections. The only thing I can think of is that I've seen some people instruct to setup the apn as fast.tmobile.com. however mine only worked with fast.T-Mobile.com (with the dash). I would also check to confirm that your phone is set to lte preferred (LTE/gsm) and not gsm priority. Those are the only things I can think that I can think of. Hope it helps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

gorilla p said:
Idk if I'd worry about it. In most places the HSDPA speeds for T-Mobile are the same or better than the LTE speeds you would get. I'm in the far north chicago suburbs and I get LTE and HSDPA downloads at 25mbps. The LTE coverage is still a bit spotty. Its probably only worth it if I you're in a developed urban area. However it is a bit strange that you guys have the same hardware, service and location but different connections. The only thing I can think of is that I've seen some people instruct to setup the apn as fast.tmobile.com. however mine only worked with fast.T-Mobile.com (with the dash). I would also check to confirm that your phone is set to lte preferred (LTE/gsm) and not gsm priority. Those are the only things I can think that I can think of. Hope it helps.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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T-Mobile 4G LTE will properly works on fast.t-mobile.com, fast.tmobile.com is not the proper APN (the - matters)
There are just way too many variables. Maybe his modem has better reception, newer sim card, etc.

RobinD42 said:
I just helped my son install the hybrid modem for his Nexus 4 and set up the T-mobile APN for it. I was about to tell him that he would have to go somewhere else to test it since I never get LTE at home, and then boom, the 4G icon shows up on his phone! I checked Network Signal Info and sure enough, it's got an LTE connection with about 6Mbps transfer rate. Sitting right next to him my N5 has only 3G with occasional switches up to HSPA and back, and a very low transfer rate. What gives? I am able to get LTE on the N5 in other areas of town and it works wonderfully, but around my home it is very weak and almost never runs in LTE mode.
Could it be that the N4 is connecting on a different LTE band? If so, why is the N5 not using that band as well? Is there something that can be done for the N5 to tweak it to improve its LTE reception or how it chooses how to connect to available LTE signals?
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Fwiw there are other threads where people have reported that the N4 picks up LTE in the same place that an N5 does not. So you are not alone. N4 may have a stronger radio. That would be unfortunate... Never good to see a step backwards on something as important as that.
Sent from my Nexus 5

Good news everyone! I too has having this problem. My Nexus 4 was an LTE champ and then it was a huge let down that my Nexus 5 was treating LTE like it had cooties, but now my Nexus 5 works the way it should. What I did was go to my nearest T-Mobile store and told the representative what was happening. He called tech support and they ended up doing some sort of reset to my account. I also had questions about my SIM card and felt that it could have been at fault. He offered to switch it out to the new ISIS SIM and as soon as my phone booted up, it was on LTE. Since then, it has behaved like my Nexus 4. I am even in my office where the Nexus 5 wasn't picking up LTE, but my Nexus 4 was, and it is on LTE at the moment.
I am not sure if the reset that tech support did solved the problem or the new SIM, but I would definately give that a try--it didn't cost me anything and now I am happy with my Nexus 5. Good luck!

In my experience my N4 has slightly better signal pickup than my N5.
The real reason is probably differences in the radios' priority algorithms. Set your N5 to LTE-only and see what happens, I imagine you'll get LTE.

dijit4l said:
I am not sure if the reset that tech support did solved the problem or the new SIM, but I would definately give that a try--it didn't cost me anything and now I am happy with my Nexus 5. Good luck!
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Did you not get LTE at all, or really poor LTE signal/speed?

tcristy said:
Did you not get LTE at all, or really poor LTE signal/speed?
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I would get LTE eventually only to lose it when it reached 2 bars or lower. It was really weird. I would be in areas where one would get 5 bars of LTE and the phone would sit on HSPA until I would show the phone it was on LTE by switching to LTE Only under the secret dialer menu and then back to GSM/LTE (if you use LTE only, you will lose voice). Then it would hold LTE until it reached 1-2 bars and then go back to HSPA.
I hope this helps.

I am seeing strange readings of signal strength. I see a 10+ db difference between what is reported in the phone status and an app like rootmetrics.
I don't know which one is misrepresenting the signal strength but it seems the roometrics is more accurate because my nexus 4 the signal strength is roughly the same on lte.
Can anyone else confirm?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Why does LTE connection seem weaker than other sprint LTE phones?

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.
Sent from my SM-G900P using xda app-developers app

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
Sent from my SM-G900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

Eckono said:
My GS5 seems to have a very weak LTE signal. I disabled all bands except for band 25 because the phone was trying to signal hop killing the battery. My girlfriend has the Note 3 which can only pick up band 25. When my phone is right next to hers, she can have a very strong LTE signal and my GS5 will either have a very weak signal or drop down to 3G. The only LTE band in my area that's currently pretty strong is the 1900mhz band. I can barely connect to that. Anyone else having weak signal or connection issues?
Sent from my SM-G900P using xda app-developers app
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Signal bars lie. Do this on both of your samsung phones:
Go in to your phone app, and dial ##DEBUG#
Enter 777468 for your lock code
Select LTE Engineering
Go down to RSRP. The number next to RSRP shown in dBm is your LTE signal strength.
Compare numbers.
I did this vs my wife's iPhone 5 and found that although her signal indicator was showing 3-4 more bars than my s5 we both actually had the same signal strength.

Thanks I'll do that asap. The only reason I'm thinking something is wrong is because in areas I had 4G all the time on my Note 3 and S4 I'm barely get 4G or I'll drop to 3G. Then when I'm watching YouTube, if I stop a video , fast forward, or rewind, if I'm on cellular I can never get the video to play back. I get the error tap to retry. But when on WiFi I can I can.
Sent from my SM-G900P using xda app-developers app

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.
Sent from my SM-G900P using xda app-developers app
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You also have to read about cfbs and triband phones ... which can cause the data issues
Sent from my SM-N900P using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

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
-Sent from Tapatalk

Eckono said:
My GS5 seems to have a very weak LTE signal. I disabled all bands except for band 25 because the phone was trying to signal hop killing the battery. My girlfriend has the Note 3 which can only pick up band 25. When my phone is right next to hers, she can have a very strong LTE signal and my GS5 will either have a very weak signal or drop down to 3G. The only LTE band in my area that's currently pretty strong is the 1900mhz band. I can barely connect to that. Anyone else having weak signal or connection issues?
Sent from my SM-G900P using xda app-developers app
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How do you disable certain bands? I want to try it as well as something seems to be killing my battery. Thanks

Yea, in the last year I have had an iphone 5, Note2, and Note3. New Orleans is newly upgraded to LTE (not yet Spark), and coverage was great on those three phones. This S5, however, constantly switches from LTE to 3G in areas where the other three phones stayed on LTE. It also drops to no data at all way too often in areas where data is fine. (I play Ingress, so I am VERY familiar with the signal capabilities all over town)
Is there any hope of this phone's signal strength being improved with software updates? Will Spark make a difference when it hits New Orleans?
This piece of garbage is pretty pathetic signal-wise compared to my other devices I've recently used. I've got Sprint to agree to a phone swap, but if that's not going to make a difference, perhaps I should just go back to my Note3.

I have this phone it does drop lte alot plus I have spark. But I have an offer to trade for a note 3 idk if I want ..I like yhe fingerprint scanner but this signal is boo boo ....

gregg37 said:
Yea, in the last year I have had an iphone 5, Note2, and Note3. New Orleans is newly upgraded to LTE (not yet Spark), and coverage was great on those three phones. This S5, however, constantly switches from LTE to 3G in areas where the other three phones stayed on LTE. It also drops to no data at all way too often in areas where data is fine. (I play Ingress, so I am VERY familiar with the signal capabilities all over town)
Is there any hope of this phone's signal strength being improved with software updates? Will Spark make a difference when it hits New Orleans?
This piece of garbage is pretty pathetic signal-wise compared to my other devices I've recently used. I've got Sprint to agree to a phone swap, but if that's not going to make a difference, perhaps I should just go back to my Note3.
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I wouldnt worry about the phone swap. I skeptically did it to see if it would work and ended up wasting an hour in ths store. between my friends and family we have 4 GS5s that all have the same issues.
None of your previous phones were triband. They only could connect to 1900mhz LTE. The GS5 is a triband phone, aka spark, that can connect to 800/1900/2600mhz LTE. Unfortunately there are issues with the software on the towers (search eCSFB) that changes you between bands. I have turned off band 41 and it has helped a lot even tho my area is a "spark" area. I turn it back on once in a while to see if things are fixed.
There have been complaints that the GS5 has worse connectivity because of the water resistant design compared to phones such as the GS4. its really only a couple dbm from what i have seen when looking at actual signal values from engineering screens and when comparing the same band of LTE.
As far as shutting off bands, you will need your MSL code. you can either get it from a sprint rep (all i did was ask) or you can use the MSL reader here
tools.flashingtools.com
use dialer code ##3282# and go to edit. enter your MSL code and go to LTE. turn off B41 and restart your phone.

Shiftlock said:
As far as shutting off bands, you will need your MSL code. you can either get it from a sprint rep (all i did was ask) or you can use the MSL reader here
tools.flashingtools.com
use dialer code ##3282# and go to edit. enter your MSL code and go to LTE. turn off B41 and restart your phone.
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Click to collapse
Thank you, Shiftlock! This is the kind of help I was hoping for. I'll give that a try!
:good:

Shiftlock said:
use dialer code ##3282# and go to edit. enter your MSL code and go to LTE. turn off B41 and restart your phone.
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Ok I've got this turned off. Will it persist through resets and restarts? Or will I have to keep turning it off?
(have to remember to bookmark this so I remember how to turn it back on when Spark hits New Orleans, which I think is somewhat soon)

gregg37 said:
Ok I've got this turned off. Will it persist through resets and restarts? Or will I have to keep turning it off?
(have to remember to bookmark this so I remember how to turn it back on when Spark hits New Orleans, which I think is somewhat soon)
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Yes this will stay until you either change it back or do a system update. I noticed that nd2 changed it back. You may want to check it after clearing data/cache if you flash any mods or roms. Luckily the msl won't change so it's easy enough to fix if needed

I'm getting LTE coverage in places I wouldn't with my s4. The data is definitely better
-Sent from Tapatalk

eyecon82 said:
I'm getting LTE coverage in places I wouldn't with my s4. The data is definitely better
-Sent from Tapatalk
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Better because of turning off band 41 or just comparing the S5 to the S4?

CCallahan said:
Better because of turning off band 41 or just comparing the S5 to the S4?
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Click to collapse
Guess we'll never know....
(mine still sucks after trying that, btw)

Using lte

When I received my s6 I noticed it was much slower than my s5 on speed test
But the speeds were still possible for when Sprint lte was congested like 3mbps
I even had the spinning sun
But under network options I was set to cdma only out of the box
You guys might want to check your phone's too
After switching to cdma/lte I was finally getting the correct speeds
Sent from my SM-G925P

gtuansdiamm said:
When I received my s6 I noticed it was much slower than my s5 on speed test
But the speeds were still possible for when Sprint lte was congested like 3mbps
I even had the spinning sun
But under network options I was set to cdma only out of the box
You guys might want to check your phone's too
After switching to cdma/lte I was finally getting the correct speeds
Sent from my SM-G925P
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Click to collapse
Did you set it to LTE/CDMA or Automatic?

I have the same issue and mine is set on automatic.

I set it to lte/cdma but later when I checked it was switched to auto
Well auto includes lte plus gsm roaming sip I left it as is
Sent from my SM-G925P