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Weak LTE pickup

My N5 is not great at picking up LTE service. My AT&T signal is weak at my house and I don't get LTE, although my Galaxy S2 used to connect that way. Not sure if the phone really doesn't see it or if it thinks it's too weak and HSPA would work better.
(Sending from a moving bus so please bear with me)
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

rochrunner said:
My N5 is not great at picking up LTE service. My AT&T signal is weak at my house and I don't get LTE, although my Galaxy S2 used to connect that way. Not sure if the phone really doesn't see it or if it thinks it's too weak and HSPA would work better.
(Sending from a moving bus so please bear with me)
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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I have the same issue on T-Mobile. My phone sucks about picking up and using LTE whereas my Nexus 4, a phone that required hacking to get LTE enabled, was a champ. My N4 would remain on LTE all day while in the city regardless of signal strength with no real observable detriment to my battery.
With the Nexus 5, I'm lucky to have it switch to LTE in high signal areas. My Nexus 5 will stay on LTE if I force it to connect using LTE Only (you lose voice with this setting) under the secret dialer menu (*#*#4636#*#*), but if I let the phone decide, it sticks with 3G/HSPA+.
I'm paying for LTE and I want to use it, damn it! LTE at half signal strength is still faster than HSPA+ at full strength for me on T-Mobile.

Actually as I travel along the Ohio Turnpike it is not doing too badly, picking up LTE as we pass near metro areas (Toledo, Cleveland). It is also working great tethering my tablet with Wi-Fi as well.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I'm having the exact same issue here I'm in the Los Angeles area and I have experienced good speeds on LTE up to 23 down and 12 up but one thing I have noticed is my LTE drops a lot in to H. I'm coming from Verizon which always stayed on LTE locked in so I guess I was spoiled. I left verizon because I got sick of them hating on Nexus Phones but man right now I'm hating these LTE drops on AT&T. But I know for a fact that it's a phone problem because when the phones goes from LTE to H I can manually restore the LTE but I can't get it to stay locked. I called them and they're response was it's just the phone switching from tower to tower.

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

[Q] Nexus 5 T-Mobile Signal Booster Not Working

I have a T-Mobile CelFi booster because the way my house is built, which seems to block out signals to various carriers. The booster worked pretty well for Nexus 4 and HTC One. However, now that I have Nexus 5, I am getting consistently low bars of signal. People on other end of calls often tell me they can't hear me. I am not entirely sure if the booster just doesn't work with Nexus 5. Based on my observation, it seems to be trying to hang onto signals from the tower for longer before it switches to the booster, though I cannot say for sure because honestly I am not sure if that's how it works or not. Anyone have similar experience or might have a suggestion on I can fix this?

booster
What booster do you have?
koei7 said:
I have a T-Mobile CelFi booster because the way my house is built, which seems to block out signals to various carriers. The booster worked pretty well for Nexus 4 and HTC One. However, now that I have Nexus 5, I am getting consistently low bars of signal. People on other end of calls often tell me they can't hear me. I am not entirely sure if the booster just doesn't work with Nexus 5. Based on my observation, it seems to be trying to hang onto signals from the tower for longer before it switches to the booster, though I cannot say for sure because honestly I am not sure if that's how it works or not. Anyone have similar experience or might have a suggestion on I can fix this?
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Theory:
Nexus 4 doesn't provide LTE, only HSPA+. Nexus 5 is LTE. LTE is preferred over HSPA+ when available. Your booster is likely an older unit that only supports HSPA+ and does not improve LTE. Therefore, your Nexus 5 is getting boosted HSPA+ but ignoring it in favor of a weak LTE signal.
Just a theory, though.

Pandages said:
Theory:
Nexus 4 doesn't provide LTE, only HSPA+. Nexus 5 is LTE. LTE is preferred over HSPA+ when available. Your booster is likely an older unit that only supports HSPA+ and does not improve LTE. Therefore, your Nexus 5 is getting boosted HSPA+ but ignoring it in favor of a weak LTE signal.
Just a theory, though.
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that sounds correct to me.

Pandages said:
Theory:
Nexus 4 doesn't provide LTE, only HSPA+. Nexus 5 is LTE. LTE is preferred over HSPA+ when available. Your booster is likely an older unit that only supports HSPA+ and does not improve LTE. Therefore, your Nexus 5 is getting boosted HSPA+ but ignoring it in favor of a weak LTE signal.
Just a theory, though.
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This is certainly plausible -- however, it's puzzling as the OP indicated that s/he's having voice call issues. The old boosters only supported AWS, but I know of no T-Mobile area that would have LTE and PCS HSPA, but no AWS HSPA.
I have an old booster, and last I checked, it appeared that my N5 was using it just fine (I have no real coverage issues, but I stuck the repeater in my basement to improve signal there). However, I don't have LTE coverage at my house, so I'm unsure if there are any LTE->HSPA handover vagaries that the booster could be exposing.
There is a newer booster that supports LTE and PCS HSPA. According to a thread of Howard Forums, T-Mobile has them, but getting one appears to be a challenge. You may want to take a run at upgrading the booster by calling CC or retentions.

CommSoft8086 said:
This is certainly plausible -- however, it's puzzling as the OP indicated that s/he's having voice call issues. The old boosters only supported AWS, but I know of no T-Mobile area that would have LTE and PCS HSPA, but no AWS HSPA.
I have an old booster, and last I checked, it appeared that my N5 was using it just fine (I have no real coverage issues, but I stuck the repeater in my basement to improve signal there). However, I don't have LTE coverage at my house, so I'm unsure if there are any LTE->HSPA handover vagaries that the booster could be exposing.
There is a newer booster that supports LTE and PCS HSPA. According to a thread of Howard Forums, T-Mobile has them, but getting one appears to be a challenge. You may want to take a run at upgrading the booster by calling CC or retentions.
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I got my booster less than a month ago, older version. There are times where I get a faint LTE signal at my house, but the booster usually pushes HSPA+ over the LTE. Maybe the OP needs to position the booster and receiver in different spots? I had to do this as well. To the OP, do you suffer from poor call quality outside of your house in your travels, or just in your house?

Surprisingly weak cell signal indoors

I'm a Tmobile customer who recently upgraded from Galaxy S5 to Mate 9. My new Mate 9 struggles to get a cell signal in my house, which prohibits sending/receiving texts and making/receiving calls. It mostly says Emergency Calls Only or No Service at the top of the screen. I did not have these issues with my mid-2014 device, so I'm surprised and disappointed to have them today. Could be a deal breaker in keeping the device.
Are there any settings or changes I can make within the device to improve signal strength?

That is surprising, as I've had much better reception compared to my Note 3. No settings changed, just popped in the SIM (after cutting it down to fit). But I should add that my Note 3 was an AT&T version, which did not support t-mobile's Band 12, so it's POSSIBLE that extra band has contributed to my better reception.

airplanegeek said:
I'm a Tmobile customer who recently upgraded from Galaxy S5 to Mate 9. My new Mate 9 struggles to get a cell signal in my house, which prohibits sending/receiving texts and making/receiving calls. It mostly says Emergency Calls Only or No Service at the top of the screen. I did not have these issues with my mid-2014 device, so I'm surprised and disappointed to have them today. Could be a deal breaker in keeping the device.
Are there any settings or changes I can make within the device to improve signal strength?
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No wifi calling on T-Mobile doesnt help either.
---------- Post added at 03:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:11 PM ----------
dscline said:
That is surprising, as I've had much better reception compared to my Note 3. No settings changed, just popped in the SIM (after cutting it down to fit). But I should add that my Note 3 was an AT&T version, which did not support t-mobile's Band 12, so it's POSSIBLE that extra band has contributed to my better reception.
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I kinda wonder if this phone actually gets band 12. There seems to be no way to see what band ur phones using and i get better reception by a lot at work and my apartment with my pixel xl than my mate 9. How can it be certified on band 12 with tmobile and not have wifi calling on tmobile?

aknotts415 said:
How can it be certified on band 12 with tmobile and not have wifi calling on tmobile?
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I don't see why the two would be related. My understanding is WiFi calling is a somewhat proprietary function: WiFi calling on T-mobile is different than WiFi calling on AT&T, etc., so the software to use it is specific to the carrier. Band 12 is just another band. If the phone supports it (and it's supposed to), then it should work.
I live in a somewhat poor t-mobile spot: I typically only got 1 or 2 two at home, and 1 bar, to sometimes no service in the Kroger a block away from me. With the Mate 9, I'm getting 3-4 bars in both places.

dscline said:
I don't see why the two would be related. My understanding is WiFi calling is a somewhat proprietary function: WiFi calling on T-mobile is different than WiFi calling on AT&T, etc., so the software to use it is specific to the carrier. Band 12 is just another band. If the phone supports it (and it's supposed to), then it should work.
I live in a somewhat poor t-mobile spot: I typically only got 1 or 2 two at home, and 1 bar, to sometimes no service in the Kroger a block away from me. With the Mate 9, I'm getting 3-4 bars in both places.
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But with band 12 doesnt you're phone have to be certified by T-Mobile to really work on band 12? I thot it did which in turn made me thing, why would it be band 12 certifed and not have T-Mobiles wifi calling certified?

aknotts415 said:
But with band 12 doesnt you're phone have to be certified by T-Mobile to really work on band 12?
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I'm not aware of anything "special" about band 12 vs. any other band.

Yeah the exact opposite over here. Really strong signals indoor not to mention where my Nexus 6p and note 4 signals would be dead zero, I'm still able to get LTE. And yeah it does have band 12

I've tried my phone in Japan on Docomo and AU networks, and in the US on T-Mobile, and I haven't had trouble with reception at all. But obviously, this is totally subjective and is based on your location relative towers.

Total opposite for me, slightly better reception that with my previous phones.
Sent from my MHA-L29 using XDA Labs

Appreciate the feedback. I'll need to expedite a decision to either return it or hope for a resolution at some future point. Thanks!

yeap, band 12 (indoor) band sucks on my CHN 6/128 turned EU. I had a US Mate 9 and indoor reception sucked as well. My old LG V20 and Note 7 had better indoor signal.

I have 2 bars 4g where i couldn't have signal on other phones.

T-Mobile Users

Hello, so I'm currently looking to replace my phone and the only phone that fits my needs is the z6. My only concern is comparability with tmo. Do any z6 owners use tmo? And if so, how is the lte? If anyone can help I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

My last phone was oneplus 3, and I'd say speed is about on par, both get LTE. But no voLTE for zenfone. There are places where I'm getting receptions and oneplus 3 didn't. I don't think you will notice much difference, unless you are in a place where band 71 is normal.

I get better data speeds than my gfs Galaxy s9. I'm in Chicago
For the most part it's ok speeds could be a tad faster at times but 90% of the time coverage and speeds are fine
No volte or wifi calling
Sent from my Asus Zenfone 6 using Tapatalk

works well with TMobile
All good for me. As above, only thing is missing volte and wifi calling. Using the phone successfully on tmo in Southern California and roaming in Taiwan and China.