Sprint Persistent Network Drops - Galaxy S6 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Normally I wouldn't post this sort of thing, but over the last few months (maybe years) this issue continues to persist. It has occurred on not only my S6, but also my Optimus G before I upgraded.
The issue appears, as is visible in the image below, in the form of a network drop. This drop occurs on both 3G or 4G networks for up to a minute sometimes, every few hours or some days not at all. The phone doesnt show a drop (the little 4G icon stays visible), but nothing on the phone web browser is available. The device is rooted and I very often have my hotspot active and a device or two connected, hence the dos window screenshot.
The issue occurs irrespective of location; before I moved last May it happened at my last place, a good 40 minute drive away. I have recently been pulling my hair out one by one as these network disruptions have become insanely annoying. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if maybe Sprint is pissed at the 150-250GB+ data usage monthly and is seeking to punish me, though if they really didnt like it, they'd just drop my contract. I have not noticed throttling; once the network is back the 4G returns with good speed.
Ive searched high and low for months, called sprint numerous times, dug through every google search page I can think of, looked here on xda, and have **** to show for it. Has anyone else seen these issues or heard of something like it? Im running out of brain for this issue...
Cheers,

Related

Randomly lose server - have to reboot phone

Title - meant to say randomly lose service and have to reboot
I have only had this happen about 3 times since owning the phone (since two weeks after launch). Occasionally, my phone will altogether lose service and display the blue circle with a slash through it, and I have to reboot the phone to regain service. This happens in an area where I have signal usually, when this happens. Does anyone else have this issue?
I had a problem similar to this last night/this morning. I didn't make any changes/mods to the phone either...
Phone was on the charger last night and when I woke up this morning I noticed I didn't have any emails. I still had the 3G icon and 2 signal bars, but anything I would try to do using internet connectivity wouldn't work (checking mail, navigating to google.com, etc.). I just shrugged it off since this has been the first time it happened.
For what it's worth, I'm running JF6 with UnleashTheBeast and the circle battery meter thing...
RE: Network loss, etc.
I've had issues like this from day one. From my testing, it seems to be related to the radios. (Both wifi and 3g.)
Stock was horrid for me, but then again, I live/work in a place with really crappy radio reception. It was tough to tell if the 3g or voice network service losses were just "the location" or something with the phone. But the fact that it's doing it with WIFI when I'm 3 feet from my AP, and no other devices are having issues is telling. Things have stabilized a bit with one of the SRE 1.2 OC builds.
That, and I'm now having intermittent sound issues too. (Can't play ringtones for a few minutes, then I can, then I can't, etc. )
I'm actually starting to suspect it's relating to the blocking filesystem lag. Almost as if some app is just killing the FS. I'll keep investigating. But it's good to know I'm not the only user who is seing service drops in strange ways.
I'm having similar issues with data connection, and i'm completely stock at the moment. My coverage is great so it just doesn't make sense.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Yeah, it's completely random when it happens, and it has happened two out of three times in an area where I have service...

Anyone else experiencing Sprint Nexus S GPS Issues?

I just received my Sprint Nexus S 4G from Sprint on Wednesday (moving from an EVO) and, of course, I've been playing with it non-stop. On the whole, it's amazingly fast and responsive - more so than I ever experienced with my EVO and a number of ROMs on it.
However, the one thing I have seen repeatedly since day 1 is that the GPS lock is abysmal. I wanted to say "weak", but no, it's much worse. I know the original Galaxy line was plagued with such issues but doing a general Google search for Nexus S GPS issues mainly revealed people wondering if the NS4G would have the same problem - not many reports of actual experience.
I can tell you that my EVO got GPS locks with nary a problem. If I was driving and had to whip out the phone at a red light to fire up the navigation, it was ready to go in moments. I did that a few times this week with the NS4G and was just annoyed. This morning was especially bad so I have been spending some time just opening up Google maps and hitting the location button to see how long it took to get a lock on me. It's truly something awful. The radius it shows is based on the cell tower estimate (I know from seeing where tower location usage without GPS pegs me when I'm at work on both my Hero and EVO) sits for MINUTES before it might get a lock on where I actually am. Even at that point, the accuracy radius is still huge compared to just being pegged where I am with the other phones I have/had. Then, with maps open, the phone goes to sleep (screen off) and I turn it back on a few minutes later and this starts all over again...
I'm actually surprised to find no real reports like this yet so I thought I'd prompt people to really take a look at their new NS4Gs and welcome a report from them. Is my unit bonk or is this more widespread? If you've got one, try it a few times throughout the day. Just open GMaps up and hit the location button on top right to get a fix on your position and take note of how long it takes to lock in to you.
(Before anyone asks, yes, in SETTINGS>LOCATION&SECURITY I have both "use wireless networks" and "use GPS satellites" checked off).
I've experienced this somewhat, although for some strange reason it seems to have tamed itself. The very first time I fired up Maps it locked on to me with a 20m window after about a half a minute, which I've found to be "normal" for AOSP. My Evo would get me within 2m and would do it in around 5 seconds.
The second time I wanted to use it, I used the voice control to ask for directions, at which point my stock Ns4G rebooted itself leaving me on the side of the road for a few extra moments before I was on my way.
The last couple days though, it's been decent. It still only locks within a 20m window, though, but it's been pretty accurate so far.
Actually, I think I am suffering from the same issue. From time to time, depending on the location I would lose service (yet wifi works) and the only way I would regain service back would be to reboot my phone. It's the strangest thing ever, I believe its a problem between the Sprint network and the Nexus S. My old phone would get full bars but on my Nexus, its been only 1 or 2 bars in 3G. Sprint better be resolving this issue soon.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
fraspas said:
Actually, I think I am suffering from the same issue. From time to time, depending on the location I would lose service (yet wifi works) and the only way I would regain service back would be to reboot my phone. It's the strangest thing ever, I believe its a problem between the Sprint network and the Nexus S. My old phone would get full bars but on my Nexus, its been only 1 or 2 bars in 3G. Sprint better be resolving this issue soon.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that you mention it, using this phone the past 2 days... it's the first time in god knows how long that I've seen signal issues. The first one being low bar readings - but I attributed this possibly being a difference in display of the bars on this phone vs my EVO. On the Nexus S there are four bars total, gray and green. I'm usually at one - two green bars with this phone. On my EVO I had a lot more bars (maybe 6-7?)... so maybe my actual signal strength was comparable but "seemed" like it was better because I saw more filled bars. Again, a display issue? I'll leave that open for further investigation...
However, the thing that is really strange is that I've seen the 3G go to 1X numerous times. I don't know if I ever saw this on my EVO.
All related or no? Color me perplexed...
edit: During my Google searching earlier I came across a search result posted in the Sprint forums titled:"Signal Issues with Nexus S" - however none of the links worked because the site was under maintenance. It's come back online... from reading through it, this appears to be a widespread issue (general signal issues, not GPS).
http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/286393
So, do we have TWO signal problems with this phone? Ugh!
20 meters accuracy is the norm for me. not the best, but thats all i need it to do.
Tried it inside of my house, got 30m lock, pressed again after few seconds got 8m.
Radio problems have been reported on other forums too,
Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does.
And I get signed out of gtalk randomly, I guess its when it loses signal, 3G or WiFi.
DiNoise said:
...Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny that you say that. When I had the EVO, coverage and download speeds over 3g werent a problem. now that i have my ns4g, same coverage but super slow 3g speeds in my area. not sure if its my phone, cuz where i work i get legit 3g speeds here and there. i'll give sprint a couple weeks to sort this out before my buyers remorse period ends.
DiNoise said:
Tried it inside of my house, got 30m lock, pressed again after few seconds got 8m.
Radio problems have been reported on other forums too,
Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does.
And I get signed out of gtalk randomly, I guess its when it loses signal, 3G or WiFi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I can tell, there's actually a difference between the white-ish signal bars and the green ones (it's probably in the manual but this would be the FIRST manual for any tech device that I didn't read front to back right when I opened the thing). Green bars mean you're connected to Google directly or something like that. White is just to the network. I tried to see the difference myself by going into mobile networks and disabling data - the green bars immediately turn white. When I turn the data back on they're still white for a little bit but I can get them green again immediately by logging into Google Talk.
Of course, the gray bars are still "no signal" bars as far as I know. White or green, I'm still only getting 1-2 bars of the four and going from 1X to 3G a lot. I thought I'd share that bit about the Green/Google connection because it might help you look up more info on that problem, too. I've already seen reports of people's connections to Google (lots of white, little green) being spotty, too.
It's too bad - this phone is really growing on me. It feels good in hand, perfect weight, looks gorgeous on or off... but the connection and GPS problems are a deal breaker. We need to see something happen. Really, REALLY disappointed in Samsung now.
Just got the nexus s 4g about two hours ago now and the gps has been great for me compared to the epic I traded it in for. Sitting at my desk on the second floor of my house and getting instant 2 meter locks. So far so good on my first pure google phone.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
I came from the Moment and it had 6 bars for signal strength....the Nexus has only 4 and from what I've noticed, reception has been the same or better than what I had. I haven't had any problems with 3G switching to 1x except when I was in our storage basement at work, in a heavily populated downtown. I haven't been able to try out 4G yet because it isn't offered in my area yet but assume it'll be the same or worse downtown. I have had issues with the GPS taking forever to get a lock, but I only use the GPS chip with NO help from the cell network. Most of the time, since it reboots in about 45 secs, I just reboot and it works fine for a while.
I did something slightly different. Before I used the GPS for the first time I completely removed google maps and didn't have any map program. I did have the evo shift sprint telenav map apk already on this phone. I installed it and started up the gps. After a few minutes of downloading files, the map screen came up and showed my correct position. I've found in the past if I fire up sprint maps for the first time I use the gps, it doesn't have problems locking afterwards. If I use google maps first, if it locks it takes a long time.
mrhinkle83 said:
I came from the Moment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
God bless you.. I had that paper weight for awhile and ditched it for the Epic. Worst phone I've ever used. The Nexus S must be like heaven compared to that thing.
So I was driving to one place today and needed gmaps to show me shortest route from my location, turned on GPS, could not get any sats to lock, I probably waited 20-30 secs and then remembered one old trick with GPS Status app.
Downloaded the app, went to tools, reset, redownloaded data, got 9 out of 9 sats locked on in 1 second, 2m accuracy. I can live with that.
But still not happy with 3G/4G performance, and at the same time I dont wanna go back to my Epic.
Mine locks instantly but up to 20m which doesn't bother me as long as it gets me where I need to go
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
p00kienrayray said:
Funny that you say that. When I had the EVO, coverage and download speeds over 3g werent a problem. now that i have my ns4g, same coverage but super slow 3g speeds in my area. not sure if its my phone, cuz where i work i get legit 3g speeds here and there. i'll give sprint a couple weeks to sort this out before my buyers remorse period ends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, what I meant was that signal strength in "dBm's" was the same, or at least that's what both phones' status showed. But with speed test app 3G speeds on NS4G were MUCH slower than Epic's, and of course I couldn't even test 4G...
I'm also thinking if I should return it before 30days or just keep it and hope there will be fixes to make NS4G's radio better and better, to be prepared for ice cream desert, and then just jump to next Nexus
styckx said:
God bless you.. I had that paper weight for awhile and ditched it for the Epic. Worst phone I've ever used. The Nexus S must be like heaven compared to that thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the difference is like night and day! I'm just amazed at the battery life...I can actually go a full day without nursing it with a charge here and there, the moment wouldn't go longer than 6hrs before crapping out...and that was with light useage! I've had the nexus for over a week and I'm hooked....and the GPS issues seem to have settled down, it locks within 30-40 seconds now and is pretty accurate.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
GPS reception issues, but only while biking
OK I've searched around and haven't found much on this particular problem:
I use the MayMyRide app to track and log my bicycle rides. It consistently shorts my ride by at least 1.5 miles and several minutes, as compared to my computer on the bike.
This only started happening after I switched to the NS4G on Sprint from the Moto Defy on T-Mobile. I used the same app on t-mobile and it was generally pretty accurate.
Also, I seem to have decent GPS reception in general, the GPS lock times seem reasonable, and I can use google maps navigation with no problems.
Also, I've had this problem regardless of what ROM I'm running. I've flashed several, but I've mostly run Gummy, burnsra's CM9, and the latest Bugless Beast.
I've just started the process of flashing different radios, so I don't have enough info yet to see if that fixes the problem.
My hypotheses so far:
1) Poor reception in the rural areas that I ride, although since it's GPS I don't see why having poor network signal would affect it. But maybe it does.
2) Weak GPS antenna in the NS4G (?) (This doesn't make sense because GPS works fine in other settings.)
3) General sprint crappiness.
4) I don't think it's the app because it worked fine on T-MO.
5) I don't think it's the ROM because it's happened on several ROMs.
6) I don't have enough data yet to know if it's as simple as flashing a new radio. I flashed LC1 this morning so we'll see.
Any ideas?

[Q] found a serious flaw with radio hardware and shipped ROM downloading consistency!

Hi all, please welcome me whom had bought the Optimus 3d just 2 days ago. I love this phone. Please do let me welcome you all to talk about a flaw, which I've found out right away with the new phone since 2 days ago! I've been with some others Android phones, so, I should say I've had good experience with Androids.
I realized that Optimus 3D has some kinda hardware Radio receiver flaw (I really don't know what should I really call it) similar to the famous iPhone 4 dilemma in the beginning. I found out that the "Radio receiver" is located somewhere at the bottom of the phone, where our hands most often holding the phone with. The hand will block out the signals and the signal bar will be reduced by a lot as much as to zero (if the signal strength itself is not strong in the 1st place!) Try find this yourself, have some experience by holding the phone at the bottom and let go and holding the phone and again let go, keep trying this you should see the signal strength that will drop and rise and drop and rise again. Or is this only my phone? But I've never experience this phenomenal with other Android phones!
Also, I don't know this has the directly link to the downloading issue or whenever browsing nets, the network data will drop very very often. I hardly got successful downloads from the market without few retries. Thank god at least at the moment I can temporarily fix it by turning off and on again with the data enabling shortcut in the pull down menu.
Please help me here and advice! Very much appreciated!
Since the famous iPhone 4 drama for a lot of phones these stories pop up once in a while. I know lots of people furiously believed the Samsung Galaxy S had the exact same problem but after a week or so nobody ever talked about it anymore.
I myself have absolutely no problem whatsoever with the signal, not even when I completely cover the entire phone with my hands leaving just a small spot to read the signal it never drops, not by one bar. I've never had a single download dropped with either 3G or wifi and I've downloaded my share of stuff from the market and other places.
I've tested this with my T-Mobile simcard (which has pretty horrible coverage here) and with my Vodafone simcard (which has great reception) and with both simcards the signal strength stays exactly the same according to the bars. Even when I go to the settings the dBm and asu values stay exactly the same, no matter how long and how bad I cover the phone.
So far you're the first and only person I've read about having these issues so I think it just could be an isolated incident, although that would be bad for you as that would mean you could have a defective phone
This problem is not something new and is not related with O3D.
All the phones have the same issue.
It is normal that if put your hand on the antenna the reception will drop.
The radio waves just work like this.
However the atenuation from your hand is most accentuated on higher frequencies like 2100Mhz.
On every phone even on the oldest phone with external antenna you will meet this phenomenon.
The difference between 4 bars and 1 bar is only around 10dBm which really isnt that massive a drop at all. Now that you've pointed this out i do see that the signal strength varies a little depending on how you hold the phone but its not enough to panic about i don't think. The iphone 4 problem was significantly greater in that the iss was that a user's hand would electeically short the mobile network antenna to the bluetooth and wifi antenna causing a total loss of signal. While 10dBm or so is a definite dip in signal strength, it's an acceptable level of attenuation and i dont see it causing any real world day to day network problems that you wouldn't experience with any other high end smartphone.
My workplace is in a giant tin hut of an industrial unit (read: faraday cage) and today while i had this phone there for the first time i saw no noticeable network coverage problems. The behaviour was as far as i can tell exactly tue same as my motorola milestone from which i upgraded.
Sent from my LG-P920 using XDA Premium App
As stated all phones can lose a bit of the reception when it's in your hand depending on how you hold it, the reason Iphone4 was such a big deal was that it was extremly sensitive when it came to left-handed people and they had a real problem with their antenna being totally blocked when holding the phone normally when speaking in it.
Later on media and uninformed people started fueling the flames as soon as they saw a bar drop when picking up the phone, radio waves are not magical rays or tachyons that can move though matter without interacting with it.
thanks for all the replies. Believe me or not, this is the 1st phone I realize this issue and it is so obvious, the bad news is, it is really bad for me that the antenna is located at the bottom, probably most others phones I've owned were at the top as a result i didn't got any problem before.
And another issue, I'm pretty stucked with the shipped rom now, really hope to see custom roms soon. I'm at the moment totally freak out with the inconsistent of data and the wifi, it keeps failing me, this really freak me off, what the hell is happening to me with this phone! I've never ever got any dropped data or wifi connections before. Arggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
I have no signal drop out no matter what hand positioning i use..
I'm in a very poor reception area. I do notice hand over phone a drop from 1 bar to none. Still not a red cross to indicate no signal but a drop of 1 bar all the same.
Just tested it.
Signal drops from 4 bars to 3 (1-2 in awkward positions) when hand-held. Not an real-life-usage impact though...
Thanks for all the test replies to support my findings. OK, now, I've realized that the hand holding issue has no direct impact to data drops. And the data drop is entirely due to the time issue which it does not lock down the data connection when swithcing data modes. And at the moment it can beasily over come to turn off with the data button in the pull down menu. I'm not sure though when in the situation when the signal strenght was so low, by holding with hands will give an direct effect of data drop or not. Will observe that

[Q] AT&T Atrix 2 frequent radio crash

Hi guys
I've tried researching this issue from time to time but have never been able to find any definitive information. A couple of threads around the traps detailing similar problems, but that's it. Anyway, what happens is this: the phone will be showing a couple of bars or whatever, but there actually isn't any signal at all. Calls can be initiated, but wont actually connect, and then can't be ended either. The only way to resolve the issue is to reboot the phone, or activate airplane mode and then deactivate it again (which tends to take considerably longer than a simple reboot). I'm calling it a radio crash because that's what it seems to be, but I could of course be wrong about what is actually going on under the hood.
This post is basically part of an effort to diagnose the problem before I decide what this phone's future will be (have a new, different model on the way now).
Thanks for reading, and any advice/information will be much appreciated
It sounds as if you have a defective phone, or it could be you carrier.
Have you tried a different phone.
Do other people have the same problem with that carrier
You could also think of it like this, carrier problem, you can connect to wifi if it doesnt have internet connection, it still can show full bars but nothing will load
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
I have an SGS3 now, with the same SIM in it (cut down to micro of course). Average signal strength (as reported by third party apps that don't pad) is about the same, but no dropouts at all (as monitored and reported by the No Signal Alert app). However the SGS3 supports both my carrier frequencies, and the Atrix 2 doesn't. Having said that, the SGS3 seems to stay on 2100MHz all the time anyway where I am.
I've also put a different SIM in my Atrix 2, from a network that is more compatible (850/2100), and although the dropouts are less frequent, they are still occurring. However, I haven't had a "radio driver crash" in over a week. The dropouts have only been momentary too, lasting no more than a few seconds, 1-3 times per day (mostly in the afternoon).
I'm also planning to charge the phone up and leave it at a couple of other locations for a day or two while continuing to monitor signal interruptions. Should be interesting.
Thanks for the reply
Just a quick update: left the phone at another location for a few days where the average signal strength is stronger, and not a single dropout was logged during that time. In certain areas this phone is obviously not as good as some others at maintaining a signal, but I don't think the dropouts themselves are indicative of a fault given this new information.
The previous instances of radio lockups/crashes are still haunting me a little, but this strange phenomenon is still yet to occur again. I also forgot to mention that I'd previously done a full restoration of the official 4.0.4 ICS release in order to return to the phone completely to stock, which might have something to do with that. Previously it was rooted, with only some minor modifications, but I guess it's not beyond the realm of possibility.
Wait i have an idea
Send me your apn data.
Motorola doesnt have the best antennas either.
Also does it crash at a certain time after it is turned on or is it random?
Sent from my SOUL

Please help!!! On 3rd Nexus 5, having same issues. Phone support is abysmal :(

I am having ongoing issues with the wifi on my Nexus 5. To the point I've received my 3rd one from RMA, but still have the exact same issue. At first I thought it may have been a hardware issue with the phone, so I RMA'd it. When I got my second and had the same problem, I started to not think it was a physical defect with the phone. The odds of getting two phones with the same issues would be astronomical. Now, on my 3rd, and still have the same issue. Every time I try calling and speak to phone service reps, they really don't know anything, and based on the questions they ask, or troubleshooting steps they suggest, lead me to believe they don't even understand the issue I'm trying to explain.
The wifi on my phone seems to "freeze", or stop working, stop scanning, something throughout the day. My day starts with my phone connected to my home wifi network. I leave for work, and I can watch my phone picking up random wifi signals on my drive. I get to work, and it picks up 8 wifi networks. None of which I've connected to. When I leave work 8 hours later, my phone is no longer picking up wifi signals, and won't scan for new ones. I get home, and it still says the 8 networks from work are in range, even though I'm miles away.
This is how my wifi list should look sitting in my living room. It has my network that it is connected to, as well as it picks up 4 of my neighbors networks.
This is how it looks sitting in my living room after getting home from work. Those are the 8 work wifi networks, which are miles away. It still says they're in range. You can see the last one cut off on the bottom, is my home one that says it's out of range.
I can hit the 3 dot option button, and choose "Scan", and it won't rescan. If the only issue was that it didn't pick up my network, I could see it possibly being an issue with my home network. But the fact that it still shows 8 networks that are out of range, as well as the fact it won't detect any network, mine or my neighbors, kind of rules out that it's an issue with my network.
Turning wifi on and off won't fix it. However, power cycling the phone will, or if I toggle airplane mode. But I shouldn't have to do that every day when I come home.
With my most recent Nexus 5, when I took it out of the box I didn't do a single thing to it, aside from turn it on, and manually put in the info to connect to my home network. Not a single app was downloaded, just to rule out it wasn't something I was installing on the phone. I absolutely love the Nexus 5, it's probably the best phone I've owned. But I am at my wits end with this issue.
Its probably not an actual fix, but I was having the same problems with mine, and I hate sending stuff back and play the waiting game over and over. So I got pissed off with wifi and just left it on LTE for a week or so and went back to wifi just to check up on the issue and it was gone.
Its been almost 3 weeks now and no problem, everything is working perfectly fine. LTE draining my battery was a pain thou but it paid off in the end somehow.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I'd be happy with just about any fix, as long as it fixes the issue. LTE draining my battery wouldn't be an issue, I'd be more worried about my data. While I have "unlimited" data from AT&T, I get throttled after 5GB. Since I stream large amounts of music, I can blow through that rather fast. So I try to keep my phone connected to wifi as much as possible. But it definitely is something to suck up and try if I don't get a better solution. I have this cross posted just about everywhere I could think of.

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