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[Q] How to maintain connection

So I work in midtown Manhattan, and in my particular building, ATT's service is very spotty, specifically where I sit. You'd think the 28th floor near Times Square would get great reception, but I don't. Oftentimes my network connectivity will go completely blank w/ absolutely no service, then turn back on. I've called ATT, switched to a 4G sim card, they pushed updates, rebooted my phone, etc. all to no avail. I still get very spotty service.
EXCEPT I just figured out if I have an app w/ streaming data running (run once there is an initial connection of course), it actually maintains the connection (currently using the streaming music app "di.fm" and "sky.fm", Pandora would prob work as well). I'm assuming this is because the phone locks onto a specific tower and doesn't let go as long as the app is accessing the data continuously.
Is there a way for my phone to stay connected to a specific tower and not jump around without running a streaming app? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I hate to say this but it's your area during peak times. I work downtown near the Brooklyn Bridge and experience the same thing. Until AT&T finishes the backhaul this is what we're stuck with. Build props and other mods are shots in the dark but won't help much.
Sent from Desire HD or Inspire 4G or whatever this thing is called via premium XDA app.

Unless they give him a microcell.
Since they know you've been having issues, they might give you one for free.
Sent from my calculator

But why am I able to maintain connection when running a streaming app? If traffic was the reason why my connection was dropping, wouldn't it still do so?
I think the tech guy said something about how my phone would try to connect to a tower 20 miles away when there are half a dozen right around me. When my phone does have reception, it's probably because it's hooked up to one of the close local towers, and running a streaming app forces it to stay locked onto that one...

kpfury said:
But why am I able to maintain connection when running a streaming app? If traffic was the reason why my connection was dropping, wouldn't it still do so?
I think the tech guy said something about how my phone would try to connect to a tower 20 miles away when there are half a dozen right around me. When my phone does have reception, it's probably because it's hooked up to one of the close local towers, and running a streaming app forces it to stay locked onto that one...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When idle it's easier to drop connections as the phone switches frequencies. Here's a couple of things to do if you haven't done so already.
Make sure you're running the stock radio, if you haven't flashed another radio you're running the stock one.
Change to usa bands only. Open the dialer, press: *#*#4636#*#* Go to phone information. Press menu then press select radio band. Then select USA only. Give it a few seconds while it reconnects.

OK I'll let you know if it maintains network connection any better.
Also, what about the preferred network type? The options I have are:
- WCDMA preferred
- GSM only
- WCDMA only
- GSM auto (PRL)
- CDMA auto (PRL)
- CDMA only
- GSM/CDMA auto (PRL)
- Unknown
It was previously on WCDMA preferred, but should it be GSM/CDMA auto (PRL)?

[Q] Rogers APN Settings/CM7 Data Switching

I am having the data switching problem (stays in edge - wont switch to 3g/4g) on my Infuse when I install CM7. I have seen the 1 APN suggestion to fix this issues with AT&T but was wondering if there is a similar solution for Rogers.
as a work around I tried switching my preferred networks from WCDMA preferred to WCDMA only (i live in Toronto - so no issues having access to 3g/4g network at all times) but it reverts back to preferred, data switches back down and gets stuck in edge.

I am having the same issue. All I am getting is edge.
I have a nexus one though.
It only just started though. Probably within the 2 or 3 days..
Not sure what's changed

Same here.
It only runs on Edge. If I put my N1 on 3g, it works intermittently. Only when it wants to, and even though it shows it as being connected, it is not, as text messages come in hours later, and calls go straight to voicemail without showing anything on the phone .
I checked the APN settings, called Rogers, they confirmed all my settings were correct, but still, nothing.

Mobile Data Randomly Being Disabled

I have recently switched from Straight Talk to an AT&T 10 GB Mobile Share Plan. Since then my mobile data will randomly be turned off when i'm connected to wifi. It wont turn back on when i disconnect, nor when my device receives (or attempts to receive) an MMS message. Is there some setting i may have accidentally accessed since the activation? I don't have any programs that are capable of changing my device status like that (nor is my phone rooted).
Dont get me wrong, i'm glad something is trying to help me conserve battery haha, but it does get annoying since i only notice it when i get a notification that my device is unable to send/receive a picture message, or that i have no data once i leave the wifi network.
Its just weird since it has only started happening since switching to AT&T Postpaid.

AustinRawr said:
I have recently switched from Straight Talk to an AT&T 10 GB Mobile Share Plan. Since then my mobile data will randomly be turned off when i'm connected to wifi. It wont turn back on when i disconnect, nor when my device receives (or attempts to receive) an MMS message. Is there some setting i may have accidentally accessed since the activation? I don't have any programs that are capable of changing my device status like that (nor is my phone rooted).
Dont get me wrong, i'm glad something is trying to help me conserve battery haha, but it does get annoying since i only notice it when i get a notification that my device is unable to send/receive a picture message, or that i have no data once i leave the wifi network.
Its just weird since it has only started happening since switching to AT&T Postpaid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM are you running? That is strange. It could be something with the APN as well. Are you on LTE or stuck on 3g? Maybe your phone is stuck in one and tries to switch from LTE to H or vice versa? I know when my phone chooses H instead of LTE (I use Cricket, but same towers) it takes quite a few seconds to get a data connection to load, but LTE is pretty quick to load.

It doesn't actually save battery to have data off when using WiFi since that is already happening behind the scenes. Not sure why yours is toggling the setting on its own but perhaps a factory reset would fix it.

MrObvious said:
Which ROM are you running? That is strange. It could be something with the APN as well. Are you on LTE or stuck on 3g? Maybe your phone is stuck in one and tries to switch from LTE to H or vice versa? I know when my phone chooses H instead of LTE (I use Cricket, but same towers) it takes quite a few seconds to get a data connection to load, but LTE is pretty quick to load.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything is stock. I had a APN automatically assigned from AT&T that caused me to constantly switch from HSPA+ to LTE. I found a better one online and now get LTE most of the time. I never really gets "stuck".Its not that the data isn't loading, its that it is literally set to "mobile data off" on my device, and i have to manually turn it back on in the settings. I wasn't aware an APN setting could change other settings on a phone?

AustinRawr said:
Everything is stock. I had a APN automatically assigned from AT&T that caused me to constantly switch from HSPA+ to LTE. I found a better one online and now get LTE most of the time. I never really gets "stuck".Its not that the data isn't loading, its that it is literally set to "mobile data off" on my device, and i have to manually turn it back on in the settings. I wasn't aware an APN setting could change other settings on a phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it could be an app doing it, and you not knowing that it can.

[Q] Cyanogenmod 11 Mobile Data Connecting

I recently bought a Moto G US GSM Unlocked and a Straight Talk Unlimited plan. I put Cyanogenmod 11 on the phone before installing the sim card, then installed the sim card and set everything up. I had to use the AT&T card for my area.
The problem I'm having is connecting to mobile data (HSDPA and HSDPA Plus). When I turn the phone on it takes several minutes for it to get a data connection. I have full bars (or some bars, depending on where I am) but no H or H+ icon, no internet connection. The same thing happens after turning off WiFi, it takes some time to get the data connection. Then after it does get the connection it cycles between H and H+ randomly.
I have researched the APN settings I should be using, and found a great thread on androidcentral with a bunch of people trying different settings. The settings I am using now let me send and receive texts and mms, and use internet. But it still takes a long time to connect when the phone first starts or I turn off WiFi.
Is this normal? If not, what could be causing this? It's frustrating because I plan on using WiFI almost exclusively while at home and turning if off when I leave. I don't really want to wait several minutes after leaving for the phone to get it's internet connection back.
Thanks

[Not-Fixed] How to install new Z3 D6603 LTE on AT&T network

[Not Fixed] see bottom of this post.
It is fairly easy to install a new D6603 to work completly on the AT&T network. It is not so easy to find the answer of how to do it in the threads and posts. I tried many suggestions and wasted a lot of time. Hopefully this will save you from that fate.
First you must know that you can't use the IMEI number of your new phone if you want it to work completly as it should. If you use the Z3 IMEI you will have trouble with data of various sorts and the phone will go off line when on LTE after 20 or 30 minutes and you will not receive calls or SMS messages. I do not know why but it has been suggested that the AT&T network does not recognise this phone so it causes trouble.
If you have an AT&T nano-sim from your old phone then just put it in the phone. (Cut downs work but can cause other problems some say.) When the SIM is inserted for the first time into a new phone there is a prompt that asks if you want to download the APN. Hit 'yes' and the phone downloads the APN itself.
If it does not ask then go to Settings>More>Mobile Networks>Prefered Network Type and be sure LTE (Preferred) is selected. Then connect your phone to the internet and then go to Settings>More>Internet Settings and select AT&T. You should be good to go.
If you need to get a nano-sim then go to the AT&T store or call and they will give you one or send you one for free. You will need to use the IMEI number from a LTE phone that is already on the AT&T system. You can use your old phone or borrow the number from someone. If the rep installs the sim in the Z3 with the 6603 IMEI don't worry. Just call support later and tell them you sent your new phone back and want to go back to your old IMEI or have a new IMEI (from an existing AT&T phone). They will enter it and off you go. The phone from the IMEI will show in the picture on your account page. Big deal!
Update: This worked for hours last night but this morning it is back to not receiving calls. Simply turning wifi off and it began to receive calls as GPRS was switched back on. My wifi was on which has been said to cause problems. I will test with wifi off and report back. Had "no service" instead of AT&T on upper left of lock screen. A full shut down for several minutes than re-boot solved that.

YMMV. I've been on ATT with a Z3 purchased from Sony store for several months and it was registered in an ATT store by scanning the IMEI off the box followed by updating Internet settings in Setup. ATT online shows unknown model but everything works including LTE and MMS. There is something else involved when problems like this occur probably some setting not getting reset. I registered the Z3 on a new line with a new Sim card because I wanted to take my time moving stuff off my old phone--this may have avoided the problems.

JudH said:
YMMV. I've been on ATT with a Z3 purchased from Sony store for several months and it was registered in an ATT store by scanning the IMEI off the box followed by updating Internet settings in Setup. ATT online shows unknown model but everything works including LTE and MMS. There is something else involved when problems like this occur probably some setting not getting reset. I registered the Z3 on a new line with a new Sim card because I wanted to take my time moving stuff off my old phone--this may have avoided the problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also had no problems with my Z3 on AT&T. Works great, receives sms/mms immediately, etc..

esheesle said:
I've also had no problems with my Z3 on AT&T. Works great, receives sms/mms immediately, etc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T's system sometimes takes a while to get updated with new IMEIs that trigger LTE provisioning for a users' account.
Once your account is provisioned for LTE you never have to worry about it again, but sometimes if you have a phone the system doesn't recognize, it is a pain to get AT&T to properly provision your account. Supposedly properly trained in-store reps can do it - the key being "properly trained" - Never try to do anything "unusual" by calling AT&T customer service, and NEVER use a franchise/kiosk in-person for service - make sure you're at a corporate-owned store! Even then, some stores might have incompetent staff. I've been lucky that all of my local corporate stores are pretty well staffed.

So you are saying that your Z3's with wifi and LTE on with AT&T are working as they should?
With LTE off my phone responds normally with wifi on. With LTE and wifi on it will not respond to calls after a 30 minute sleep. It does not show missed calls. Calls go straight to voice mail after 2 rings. Could you tell me what level your LTE dBm's are? Thanks!

I was told not to give them my imie# but, after recvng the minisim I had to call them in order to 'provision' it to work at all and they needed that #. I have never had any problems personally and am assuming this may be because you gave them the wrong #. Again I am only guessing. Oth, if I had had a different imie to give, I would have done so myself.

It is very strange and I am feeling it is more signal strength related than how you provision your phone. (Once it is provisioned correctly.) It seems that more people have less problems when they already have a nano-sim and just plunk it in the new phone. This might indicate that they already had a strong signal from the get go. My old HTC One + get's a better signal than the Sony in the same locations with the same (new) SIM. With the Devilcase bumper on it gets 5% less. My very limited tests yesterday seemed to indicate that it was signal strength related. I am not enough of a conspiracy theorist to imagine that AT&T would program their system to not function correctly with sims that are provisioned with these Sony phones which they are obviously ignoring for some reason. Or am I?

I had all kinds of problems with the Z3 on AT&T. The IMEI caused an issue since AT&T linked it to a flip phone and therefore couldn't provision LTE. I changed it to an old AT&T LTE device and then I was able to get LTE but was having the same issue with calls going directly to voicemail and texts showing up hours later in bunches. I found the solution was to switch off LTE in the quick settings menu. All calls and texts came through and on time while LTE was off. If I needed a data boost to stream, I turned it back on until I was finished streaming. This was while on KitKat. After upgrading to Lollipop, I was able to keep LTE turned on and calls and texts still arrived on time.

I use data rarely. Mostly wifi. If I don't leave LTE on, my phone reverts to wcdma preferred. And why can't LTE just work without me having to constantly turn it back on? What bugs me is having the APN settings greyed out. I want to be able to turn it off. If anything it seems the phone itself is preventing me from accessing the sim. It feels like I'm borrowing something which contains lots of MY private data. I know my phonebook is stored locally but I also noticed there is no option of specifying the sim or not. Anybody know how to switch APN on and off? In fact, overall even rooted, I still feel like I have almost no power over it. I can't even disable the cellular connection without going full on airplane mode and I do not trust that. I don't even fly so that needs work for sure. Dumb question but could I buy a working nanosim from say 7-eleven that my apn switch will work with?

"Anybody know how to switch APN on and off?"
On my Z3 on OTA stock Lollypop I have an icon in quick settings to turn LTE on and off. Drag two fingers down from the top of the screen. If no LTE icon then select the pencil icon at the top and select the LTE icon. There is also a mobile data icon switch there.
To turn off your radio completly you can get the Advanced Signal Status app and select additional info at the bottom and click phone information and turn off radio. Probably a number of ways to do it but that is one.
Sim contact storage was a way to move information from phone to phone. You can still do it but not really necessary with cloud backup and storage. Google does it for me without me having to do anything which I like. I still save contacts to the sim just because I can. Export and import in your contacts app menu.

johnboatcat said:
So you are saying that your Z3's with wifi and LTE on with AT&T are working as they should?
With LTE off my phone responds normally with wifi on. With LTE and wifi on it will not respond to calls after a 30 minute sleep. It does not show missed calls. Calls go straight to voice mail after 2 rings. Could you tell me what level your LTE dBm's are? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works fine here. I don't pay attention to the dBm estimates since these aren't measured with calibrated test equipment and vary widely. Those numbers are basically worthless.
The only valid comparison is data performance in a given environment (ideally a difficult weak-signal one) - and at my desk with very weak signal, every phone I've ever used performs similarly to the Z3.

"Those numbers are basically worthless."
True, but we have narrowed this down to the possibility that it might be signal related so it is worth a shot. If people whose phones are working fine would measure the LTE dBm on Advanced Signal Status at the location where their phone sits and works well the most we might possibly see some measure of difference in the phones that are not working. Most of the non-working phones seem to work sometimes so signal strength is the next best parameter to rule out. Thanks!
Here are the screen shots of my phone with LTE on, LTE and wi-fi and LTE off and wi-fi.
How do the working phones compare? Does your CDMA (voice) also go to 0% when LTE is on and GSM = n/a?

Thanks. I think adv sig nfo actually works. I'm amazed actually. I can't find the phone's native greyed out apn switch anyways which really makes no sense.