Wow. This is crazy. Remote execution vulnerabilities that don't even require user interaction, just your phone number. Google says to either turn off both VoLTE and WiFi Calling or update to March update. Pixel 6 series is screwed until Google gets their update out.
Definitely not a good look for Samsung!
Google: Turn off VoLTE, Wi-Fi calling due to severe Exynos modem vulnerabilities on Pixel 6, more
Google found severe vulnerabilities with Exynos modems used on the Pixel 6 and Samsung phones that warrant disabling VoLTE & Wi-Fi calling...
9to5google.com
funny and crazy
I understand the concern but how many people in the world even know about, or how to actually execute any of these exploits AND has your phone number AND you have the type of phone for it to even work? YMMV
jaseman said:
I understand the concern but how many people in the world even know about, or how to actually execute any of these exploits AND has your phone number AND you have the type of phone for it to even work? YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a threat actor wants to exploit this, they just have to start running numbers until they hit matches. It would be pretty trivial because they don't need anything else but for you to have an affected device that has VoLTE or wifi calling enabled. There is a pretty long list of affected devices from both Samsung and Google, including many midrange devices that have a much higher market share, so the potential attack surface is quite high. The oldest chipset on the list, the Exynos 850 (Samsung updated the list since the article was published to add more affected chipsets including this one), is from 2020, and the newest, the Shannon 5300, is the modem in the Pixel 7 series. This exploit covers close to 3 years worth of Samsung phones, that's a crazy amount of vulnerable devices.
If you don't believe there are groups sophisticated enough to pull off these attacks en masse, you haven't been paying attention to all of the breaches over these last years. Something like this would be a dream come true for them because there's no indication you've been breached and exploits like this can be used to disable system updates so it never gets patched. Lets also not forget that many people don't even bother to keep their devices up to date to begin with. My partner's phone is probably a year behind on updates and he leaves his Windows desktop sitting there with the update icon until it forces him to actually do it.
jaseman said:
I understand the concern but how many people in the world even know about, or how to actually execute any of these exploits AND has your phone number AND you have the type of phone for it to even work? YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I often wonder. How bad are all these DOOMSDAY vulnerabilities. I think most are overblown. Possible, but over-hyped.
EtherealRemnant said:
If a threat actor wants to exploit this, they just have to start running numbers until they hit matches. It would be pretty trivial because they don't need anything else but for you to have an affected device that has VoLTE or wifi calling enabled. There is a pretty long list of affected devices from both Samsung and Google, including many midrange devices that have a much higher market share, so the potential attack surface is quite high. The oldest chipset on the list, the Exynos 850 (Samsung updated the list since the article was published to add more affected chipsets including this one), is from 2020, and the newest, the Shannon 5300, is the modem in the Pixel 7 series. This exploit covers close to 3 years worth of Samsung phones, that's a crazy amount of vulnerable devices.
If you don't believe there are groups sophisticated enough to pull off these attacks en masse, you haven't been paying attention to all of the breaches over these last years. Something like this would be a dream come true for them because there's no indication you've been breached and exploits like this can be used to disable system updates so it never gets patched. Lets also not forget that many people don't even bother to keep their devices up to date to begin with. My partner's phone is probably a year behind on updates and he leaves his Windows desktop sitting there with the update icon until it forces him to actually do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"all of the breaches over these last years"
Are these breaches happening on individual cell phones or on company enterprise computers? I know of nobody that has ever had a breach on their cell phone unless they are accessing very shady web sites themselves. YMMV
jaseman said:
"all of the breaches over these last years"
Are these breaches happening on individual cell phones or on company enterprise computers? I know of nobody that has ever had a breach on their cell phone unless they are accessing very shady web sites themselves. YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was talking about the sophisticated corporate breaches. That takes much more work than this would really. Having millions of vulnerable devices out there, you can bet they're going to start working on this ASAP. Being able to remotely take over a device with just a phone number is a pipe dream for hackers. Getting in at the baseband level... Yikes.
It's bad enough that recent Pixel 7 builds have completely broken wifi calling and n25.
Samsung and Google treat the modem and /vendor like a playground and afterthought.
Have to run the DP1 modem on DP2 for it to work properly. Now I probably have to use the QPR3 or DP2 modem depending on what the bootloader allows or accept the risk.
LLStarks said:
It's bad enough that recent Pixel 7 builds have completely broken wifi calling and n25.
Samsung and Google treat the modem and /vendor like a playground and afterthought.
Have to run the DP1 modem on DP2 for it to work properly. Now I probably have to use the QPR3 or DP2 modem depending on what the bootloader allows or accept the risk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly love that Google doesn't just use Samsung's modems but does extensive security tests on them via fuzzing etc. to find these kinds of exploits before others do (NSA, etc.)
kudos to project zero for finding these
what is n25?
and honestly:
"playground and afterthought", really? what is your argument here. that's just flaming and bull****.
Dj_Fex said:
I honestly love that Google doesn't just use Samsung's modems but does extensive security tests on them via fuzzing etc. to find these kinds of exploits before others do (NSA, etc.)
kudos to project zero for finding these
what is n25?
and honestly:
"playground and afterthought", really? what is your argument here. that's just flaming and bull****.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Throughout the Pixel 7's life, the phone has regressed in its phone capabilities.
Recent updates break wifi calling and it's very easy to replicate. It also disabled the n25 5G frequency band for T-Mobile users. It effectively breaks 3CA carrier aggregation for some people with bad spectrum allocations. Until a few months ago, updates had also disabled the ability for a call to use VoNR and be made completely over 5G. I've had to do countless mods and firmware mixes to fix these.
It's a playground because I see the regressions build by build. I've had to raise bug reports for most of them. There is no quality control and these changes are rarely mentioned in release notes.
Sucks, but that stuff will get fixed eventually. it's not one of those issues many people actually notice and most people don't rely on both of these features.
and I think Europe doesn't deploy n25. so less people to report bugs like these. Bugs happen. Google didn't build the baseband. I don't wanna tell you don't blame them, but rather: live with it and don't mark the phone as unusable.
I get it you want to blow some steam
The only two things I experienced so far:
sometimes (very rarely) the screen starts flickering/going black a bit. (not always waking up instantly staying black for some time) like it doesn't get enough power. it might only happen when the battery is close to 0 percent and you then start charging the phone. not sure, it goes away most of the time. (maybe it was fixed by Joe). the other bug is more annoying to me personally: the recents screen breaks every now and then, but a restart fixes that.
broken means: it doesn't list recent apps I opened, but only the ones I used some time ago, opening the activities therefore fails because they were closed by now. I can close all of them but opening the recents screen the same closed activities reappear again.
it's annoying because it breaks my workflow. I can't switch back and forth between apps by swiping the bottom bar of the screen. it just sends me to the home screen since the (wrong) "last" activity was closed already.
jaseman said:
"all of the breaches over these last years"
Are these breaches happening on individual cell phones or on company enterprise computers? I know of nobody that has ever had a breach on their cell phone unless they are accessing very shady web sites themselves. YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sophisticated attackers go for anything, the wannacry ransomware was based on Eternalblue which used a vulnerability in smb1 and this caused major problems for organizations.
A vulnerability was found in IOS and to the researcher's surprise websites were sending out this code before the exploit was made public, this video from about 5 minutes in describes it quite well.
Modem is fixed in March update for P7(P)
Look at CVE 24033
for people running custom roms: do they need to flash basebands themselves or can the custom roms do this with their android security patches nowadays? (asking for a friend with a Pixel 6a. Yes, I know the Pixel 6a wasn't patched, yet ^^)
Dj_Fex said:
and most people don't rely on both of these features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seeing how many countries are in the process of getting rid of 2G and 3G, without one of those features enabled, you can't make calls.
danmaman said:
Modem is fixed in March update for P7(P)
Look at CVE 24033
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said this in the first post when I was warning people to update to the March update.
Im still running the November update from when I first bought the phone... Rooted and bootloader unlocked TMobile variant, can anybody link me the steps for updating? Unsure if I can jump from November straight to this version?
jake.99x3 said:
Im still running the November update from when I first bought the phone... Rooted and bootloader unlocked TMobile variant, can anybody link me the steps for updating? Unsure if I can jump from November straight to this version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can by dirty flashing the March security patch.
EtherealRemnant said:
Seeing how many countries are in the process of getting rid of 2G and 3G, without one of those features enabled, you can't make calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is VoNR the same as VoLTE now? I can take calls just fine. Telekom in Germany has no 3G left and I disabled 2G in the settings and calls work just fine. Just no "HD" for whatever reason. Telekom is an eSIM. "HD" calls work for my other regular Nano Sim though.
So yeah as I said: no calls in 5G is also no deal breaker right now.
edit: I disabled the nano sim and I disabled wifi calling. and calls over lte+ on my Telekom esim still work.
Not_Purgatory said:
You can by dirty flashing the March security patch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did anyone upload a zip on here? I'm fairly certain (from past phones) that OTAs fail once you unlock the Bootloader.
the Telekom sim is definitely using VoLTE. If I disable VoLTE in the settings I can't take calls unless I enable 2G again.
Now I have to find out why HD voice doesn't work
If VoLTE doesn't work for you, then it might not have been allowed for/activated by your carrier for the Pixel 7 devices.
Maybe call your ISP and ask them.
Dj_Fex said:
Is VoNR the same as VoLTE now? I can take calls just fine. Telekom in Germany has no 3G left and I disabled 2G in the settings and calls work just fine. Just no "HD" for whatever reason. Telekom is an eSIM. "HD" calls work for my other regular Nano Sim though.
So yeah as I said: no calls in 5G is also no deal breaker right now.
edit: I disabled the nano sim and I disabled wifi calling. and calls over lte+ on my Telekom esim still work.
Did anyone upload a zip on here? I'm fairly certain (from past phones) that OTAs fail once you unlock the Bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the official Pixel Web based flashing tool
Related
Verizon and other carriers are working with Google to ban rooting phones. Data will get throttled and possibility of the phone getting banned from network coverage.
1. The way that they were able to track rooted users is based on pushing updates to phones, and then tracking which meid's did not take the update.
2. More than one major carrier besides Verizon has implemented this program and that all carriers involved had begun tracking rooted phones. All carriers involved were more than pleased with the accuracy of the program.
3. In new builds the tracking would be built into the firmware and that if a person removed the tracking from the firmware then the phone would not be verified on the network (i.e. your phone could not make phone calls or access data).
4. Google is working with carriers and manufacturers to secure phones, and although Google is not working to end hacking, it is working to secure the kernel so that no future applications can maliciously use exploits to steal end-user information. But in order to gain this level of security this may mean limited chances to root the device. (This item I've been told but not yet able to verify through multiple sources – so take it for what you want)
5. Verizon has successfully used its new programs to throttle data on test devices in accordance with the guidelines of the program.
6. The push is to lock down the devices as tight as can be, but also offer un-lockable devices (Think Nexus S).
NOOOOOO,
that sux and i wanted to buy a andriod soon because of the rooting.
I wouldn't see it as a threat the reason being :
Majority of people root they phones just to get the better version of the android software which they would have not got otherwise due to the companies not releasing the updated software so obviously the companies wont bother to send the so called update to this old phones anyway.
Secondly Google seems to trying to close the gap on fragmentation in the android as most phones were updated to the Eclair version. so I believe most of the phones of 2010 will eventually get the Gingerbread release depending on the carrier
and last of all there will always be great softwares released and some one out there will come with a hack or whatever
tfn said:
I wouldn't see it as a threat the reason being :
Majority of people root they phones just to get the better version of the android software which they would have not got otherwise due to the companies not releasing the updated software so obviously the companies wont bother to send the so called update to this old phones anyway.
Secondly Google seems to trying to close the gap on fragmentation in the android as most phones were updated to the Eclair version. so I believe most of the phones of 2010 will eventually get the Gingerbread release depending on the carrier
and last of all there will always be great softwares released and some one out there will come with a hack or whatever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i completely agree with your first point considering I am one of those ppl! also I rooted my EVO to get better battery life....thats another reason to rooting.
i do see the carriers point of view tho.....they dont want people using the tethering workaround they gain from rooting since that is money that they are missing out on.
i should mention, tho, i am against the carriers doing this!! im just saying that i see where they are coming from
I dont think there is any blocks coming to any of the networks in the UK
This subject has already been discussed - more than once, you'll see, from the link I posted in that thread.
If this takes place, I'll be going back to Iphone.
his was an email I got from my networking team. Just wanted to inform and at the same time get a few informed views.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
tfn said:
I wouldn't see it as a threat the reason being :
Majority of people root they phones just to get the better version of the android software which they would have not got otherwise due to the companies not releasing the updated software so obviously the companies wont bother to send the so called update to this old phones anyway.
Secondly Google seems to trying to close the gap on fragmentation in the android as most phones were updated to the Eclair version. so I believe most of the phones of 2010 will eventually get the Gingerbread release depending on the carrier
and last of all there will always be great softwares released and some one out there will come with a hack or whatever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is my first post, but this thread caught my eye.
the reason they don't want us rooting our phones is because if we do we can use out old phone longer and don't have to pay out he wazoo for a brand new phone. I have a Samsung Moment the last O/S that I could get was Android 2.1 Update 1 which basically rendered the Spring gps useless, and made calls and texts come in when ever they wanted, forcing me to think about a new phone, So i joined the SDX forums and rooted it installed 2.2 with the EB28 rom and so far every thing works as good as a Samsung epic just not 4 g,. which doesn't bother me since I don't video chat.
As far as I am concerned YOU paid for the, phone YOU pay the phone bill its YOURS, you should be able to do whatever you want to with it.
that realy sucks. I dont like that
I wouldn't sweat this too much.
I understand the tethering issue, and I also understand that the base is, and always will be, money. That's the whole point of any business.
Having said that, this community in itself is a market and there are people watching what we are doing and where we are going, because there's cash to be made. If we run into locked bootloaders, dead phones, crappy updates and new phones riddled with bloatware, you better believe that someone else will be ready to snatch all of us up and give us exactly what we want, if not close.
If I owned a company large enough to deliver wireless service, I'd be sitting silently with a squad of high-end 250 dollar unlocked smartphones ready for some good ol "we have your back" marketing. ...granted my wireless was on point and I got good reception.
I don't think us getting into our phones and tinkering with it's innards is ever gonna stop. It might change, yeah, but it won't stop.
damn that doesn't sound to good
even if this happens i'm pretty sure there will be workarounds..
So please explain me how that would work in the court room :
- defendent : I paid for a data plan, and now I am accused of using it
- provider : he has installed an upgraded OS on his phone, your honor !
That would be the same as switching phones (for example if I change my Hero for an unlocked Nexus S, I would be using the same OS as in my hacked Hero), while still having the contract.
I can not see how they can enforce such a thing.
I always buy SIM free phones, so they cant really get me with that as I dont ever get carrier updates.
jh71 said:
So please explain me how that would work in the court room :
- defendent : I paid for a data plan, and now I am accused of using it
- provider : he has installed an upgraded OS on his phone, your honor !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try again...
Defendant: I paid for a data plan that expressly stated that tethering is not included so I fiddled with my phone so that I could do that without paying the appropriate charges.
Network: as you can see, a clear breach of contract.
Not that it would ever reach a courtroom anyway.
waz000000 said:
I always buy SIM free phones, so they cant really get me with that as I dont ever get carrier updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's got nothing to do with it though - I have an unlocked. unbranded Motorola Defy but the bootloader is still encrypted.
Some manufacturers can and do lock down handsets that aren't tied to any one network. Motorola do it, HTC seem to be moving in that direction - only SE are taking clear steps in the opposite direction.
Let's have a go at it one more time:
Defendant :
"Your honor, android is all about innovation, and carriers are ganging up with manufacturares cuz they want more, and more, and more, but are to lazy or incapable, or lacking inspiration. I do root, but tethering might as well not even be there, as it is part of many official out of the box releases. If i root, i do it cuz some manufacturers and some carriers are incapable of offering me the google experience im locking for, and as this is a carrier dominance, i dont have a choice but get the closest device for my budget, and that delivers the closest version to that google experience, and then root it, to get the proper battery life i paid for, and get rid of bloatware, which isnt productive for my needs, as THIS DEVICE IS MINE, I OWN IT!"
Network:
We are directly against Android!!!!
,
if this happend i think hes going to loose a lot of client so i don't think thats going to happend if no root no theme change no a lot of other things no liberty so if they do that i buy an iphone ^^
hey andy...why dont u guys start investing in you own hardware... apple is pretty good at it, google would be a hit. at least a research would be more then worthed.
my, how the tables would turn in such case....
The more I read and hear this, the more I don't believe it will ever happen.
Just wondering how much time people think it'll take before we get even a super unstable rom
From the looks of it, it took a month just to get TWRP on the original Pixel, so probably a while. Personally, I am straying away from ROMs. I only need root so that I can get viper4android and provisioning turned off. Other than that, don't really need anything else anymore.
I don't care too much for roms, however I'm interested in a Kernel that will allow me full control of the screen colors.
I feel that will come sooner than Google will officially provide more vibrant colors.
Fingers crossed for Turkey day, more realistic that Santa will bring em.
I dare say that we'll need factory images & driver binaries to make an appearance before the ball gets properly rolling.
I'm looking forward to Lineage OS. I hope the Pixel 2 gets official support. The Pixel 1 has never had an official version of Lineage OS.
I don't need a lot of new features and mods. But Lineage does strip out some of the privacy violating stuff in Android, other crud, and gets updated weekly, making it more secure.
Currently the Pixel 2 is still on the September 5 security patch from Google. So it has not been patched for the extremely bad Krack vulnerability in wifi (which affects all platforms). In fact, no version of Android, even on the original Pixels has been patched for Krack. But Lineage OS was patched within a day of the public announcement of Krack. This means my Nexus 4 running Lineage OS is more secure than the most up to date Pixel, even though Google stopped supporting the Nexus 4 years ago. That is just an embarrassment and Google should be humiliated, but really they don't care that much about security.
(If you don't know about Krack, it completely breaks WPA2 wifi connections--which is what everyone uses--and allows an attacker to easily decrypt all of your traffic.)
By the way, Windows was patched for Krack the week before it was publically announced. Linux was patched the day of the announcement. As I said, Lineage OS was patched the next day. Apple has been vague about when there will be updates to either MacOS or iOS and just leaked to some bloggers that they are coming--Apple is the worst on security on the desktop now (though they do a lot of PR to appear great) and not good on the iPhone. Google says they have a patch, but are not clear at all about when it will come (a computer journalist/developer I was emailing with recently said to me that Android security is so bad it should be considered criminal).
Anyway, so that's an argument for at least some ROMs, beyond a need for any special features and mods.
I'm with the previous posters. I don't NEED roms...but more development is always a good thing. Remember the days when just getting all your data from phone to phone required Root and titanium? Now all that's backed up in the cloud and restores over the cloud. I was a holdout of the grandfathered UDP and NEEDED root for tethering. But now I'm on the new unlimited and save money now that my teenager is on a smartphone. I'm saving $ on the plan... Never really worry about Data and I really haven't seen a difference.
Android has come so far that each update root has become more for fun instead of necessity.
Everybody needs to settle down with this Krack paranoia. There no hacker sitting outside your window hacking your wifi.
Chronzy said:
Everybody needs to settle down with this Krack paranoia. There no hacker sitting outside your window hacking your wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Say what?
Chronzy said:
Everybody needs to settle down with this Krack paranoia. There no hacker sitting outside your window hacking your wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably not at your home (although doing that used to be a hobby, called Wardriving, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardriving, so maybe with Krack it will become popular again).
But at work, in a cafe, public places with wifi, wifi sniffing is definitely known to happen.
Further, every time I've heard some say not to worry about some "paranoid" computer security issue, it has come to pass. I can't count anymore the number of computer security disasters that were so predictable, even though they sounded crazy, that I saw them coming years ahead and then they happened.
Basically, these days, we are losing the computer security game. Between extremely sophisticated state actors and almost as sophisticated criminals, huge amounts of resources are going into hacking people in every possible way. If you can think of a hack, it almost certainly is something that is happening or will happen. I've gotten it right so many times that way, when less sophisticated people thought I was crazy. I'm telling you, just imagine something that seems really bad with computer security, sit back, wait a couple years, and it will happen.
What's worse, with Krack, there are so many people running devices that don't get supported anymore that they will be vulnerable to Krack forever. Most routers never get updates either and people don't replace them, so they will be vulnerable for a long time too.
And the people who should be protecting us (Google, banks--Equifax, ahem) don't care, because for them fraud is just and operating expense.
My advice to people is don't do anything over wifi on your phone that you expect to be secure (like banking apps, etc.). Better safe than sorry. Really, I don't think people should ever use banking apps on their phones (or things like Android Pay)--I know people who work for banks developing these things and they really don't spend money on security people (there is also an extreme lack of enough talent in this area). I'll predict it right now. One of these days some banking app is going to get hacked and thousands if not millions of people are going to lose money out of their accounts. The banks will act shocked, pass the cost on to their customers, and know all along they couldn't be bothered to prevent it.
GohanBurner said:
From the looks of it, it took a month just to get TWRP on the original Pixel, so probably a while. Personally, I am straying away from ROMs. I only need root so that I can get viper4android and provisioning turned off. Other than that, don't really need anything else anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original Pixel had a new dual boot and system partition structure (for seamless updates), which increased the time needed to get TWRP. With luck the Pixel 2 will have the same structure, so it won't require so much work to get TWRP.
I mainly need root so adaway can change the hosts file to get rid of ads. Maybe I'll just stick with stock recovery and use one of the vpn ad blockers.
foosion said:
The original Pixel had a new dual boot and system partition structure (for seamless updates), which increased the time needed to get TWRP. With luck the Pixel 2 will have the same structure, so it won't require so much work to get TWRP.
I mainly need root so adaway can change the hosts file to get rid of ads. Maybe I'll just stick with stock recovery and use one of the vpn ad blockers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it is confirmed to have the same file system. There are indications that there are "slots"again just like the original Pixel.
All development is waiting on the release of the kernel source for the Pixel 2. I'd imagine it'll surface close to when the next OTA comes out with the October/November security patch. Seems like they aren't interested in releasing source and factory images for the current production build. I'd imagine within a week or two it'll happen.
ryanbg said:
All development is waiting on the release of the kernel source for the Pixel 2. I'd imagine it'll surface close to when the next OTA comes out with the October/November security patch. Seems like they aren't interested in releasing source and factory images for the current production build. I'd imagine within a week or two it'll happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory images are live:
https://developers.google.com/android/images#walleye
:good::good:
If anyone worried about KRACK needs to stop. If you are visiting http sites stop using them viola no need to worry. It's 2017 and all sites should be using https as a standard. There is no reason for a site not to use it.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
As many on XDA will tell you a Phone or ROM is only as good as it’s support team. As a developer who has offered various ROMs and android mods since 2009, I have extensive experience in troubleshooting and helping others do so. And in recent years, I very rarely go out of my way to lend an opinion or even review a device, however, I think the android community should be informed about the support that the Essential Phone offers before buying their product.
I was very excited to hear about Andy Rubin's project and immediately pre-ordered the PH-1 with the extended warranty. Despite delays, I had high hopes and had every intention of making it my daily driver. The day I received the phone I also received an email stating that it was not certified for usage on Verizon’s network. Verizon is the only network where I live. I tried my existing sim card and received awful reception. I wrote a quick review and stated “This may be a simple APN fix or could be a serious issue with the radios.” Since the phone was unusable, I boxed it up awaiting Verizon certification.
About a month went by before I finally got an email stating the PH-1 was certified for Verizon. I tried the phone and still received abysmal data reception. Despite 3-4 bars, the download speeds around 3 Mbps and uploads of 0.01 Mpbs or slower. Without wifi the phone cannot complete initial setup/login, Google Assistant cannot function, and in general does not work.
I spent 3 days troubleshooting this with APNs, data resets, Manufacturer's reset, custom bands, hidden menus, confirmed the IEMI via the web portal... you name it, I tried it. During this time, I noticed there are a few spots on the top of the screen that work poorly. So, I finally decided to contact Essential’s support; the options are limited to leaving a voicemail or email. I tried leaving a voicemail that no one returned.
After a week of waiting for a return call, I moved to the email support. I summarized all the steps I had tried. I received a follow up email the next day asking me to perform factory reset….. Something that I had clearly stated I had already done. So, I did another and responded that it did not work. It took over 1 week to receive a follow up asking if I had the My Verizon app installed. I cannot imagine how this would influence data speeds, but I played their game and gave it a try. Of course there was no improvement.
Their follow up ask me to reset the APNs, which is a much more logical option than their first and second response, but once again something I clearly stated I had previously done in my initial request for support. At this point, I took my phone to a Verizon and T-Mobile store and their representatives tried new sim cards, provisioned, and troubleshooted the phone. Both Verizon and T-Mobile, have said there is nothing wrong with the setup, the sim, the apps, and the phone’s hardware is defective.
I relayed this message to Essential Support and and their response was to #1 download the Verizon app #2 reset APNS #3 set the phone to global mode…… Not only had they told me to do this before, but if they bothered to read any of my emails they would have seen this has been tried, and both Verizon and T-Mobile have independently verified the software is fine, it is not user error, and the hardware is defective.
Over the last month, I have made no progress at all on the radio issue and it has been 4 days since Essential’s last lackluster communication.
Despite reminding their support staff several times, no has even tried to troubleshoot the other issue I am having with the screen involving poor touch sensitivity on the superior border. No one has offered me a new phone nor referred to my Essential Extended Care (which I do not want pay the deductible for a phone that never worked). When I asked to return, the phone they said it was 14 day window despite the phone not being certified on my network for the first month I had not the phone.
Over the years, I have owned Motorola Droid, Galaxy Nexus (toro + maguro), G2, G3, 1+1, 1+2, 1+3, LG G2, LG G3, LG G4, GS3, GS4, GS5, Sony Pollux, Nexus 4, Nexus n6p, among others, and I have had to call support for hardware issues. The Essential Phone is by a very wide margin has the worst support I have ever come across and Google’s has had the best.
In its prime, my custom ROM had well over 100,000 users and I tend to be the only one on the team who offered support, so I completely understand android support like very few on this planet. As of last month before the price break, Essential was estimated to have only sold 5,000 phones. Even with a bare bones staff fielding emails and not checking voicemail, their support volume per day is likely less than what I personally did for free for our community for free as part of a “hobby” for almost a decade.
To sum it all up: “Buyer Beware”
DHO said:
As many on XDA will tell you a Phone or ROM is only as good as it’s support team. As a developer who has offered various ROMs and android mods since 2009, I have extensive experience in troubleshooting and helping others do so. And in recent years, I very rarely go out of my way to lend an opinion or even review a device, however, I think the android community should be informed about the support that the Essential Phone offers before buying their product.
I was very excited to hear about Andy Rubin's project and immediately pre-ordered the PH-1 with the extended warranty. Despite delays, I had high hopes and had every intention of making it my daily driver. The day I received the phone I also received an email stating that it was not certified for usage on Verizon’s network. Verizon is the only network where I live. I tried my existing sim card and received awful reception. I wrote a quick review and stated “This may be a simple APN fix or could be a serious issue with the radios.” Since the phone was unusable, I boxed it up awaiting Verizon certification.
About a month went by before I finally got an email stating the PH-1 was certified for Verizon. I tried the phone and still received abysmal data reception. Despite 3-4 bars, the download speeds around 3 Mbps and uploads of 0.01 Mpbs or slower. Without wifi the phone cannot complete initial setup/login, Google Assistant cannot function, and in general does not work.
I spent 3 days troubleshooting this with APNs, data resets, Manufacturer's reset, custom bands, hidden menus, confirmed the IEMI via the web portal... you name it, I tried it. During this time, I noticed there are a few spots on the top of the screen that work poorly. So, I finally decided to contact Essential’s support; the options are limited to leaving a voicemail or email. I tried leaving a voicemail that no one returned.
After a week of waiting for a return call, I moved to the email support. I summarized all the steps I had tried. I received a follow up email the next day asking me to perform factory reset….. Something that I had clearly stated I had already done. So, I did another and responded that it did not work. It took over 1 week to receive a follow up asking if I had the My Verizon app installed. I cannot imagine how this would influence data speeds, but I played their game and gave it a try. Of course there was no improvement.
Their follow up ask me to reset the APNs, which is a much more logical option than their first and second response, but once again something I clearly stated I had previously done in my initial request for support. At this point, I took my phone to a Verizon and T-Mobile store and their representatives tried new sim cards, provisioned, and troubleshooted the phone. Both Verizon and T-Mobile, have said there is nothing wrong with the setup, the sim, the apps, and the phone’s hardware is defective.
I relayed this message to Essential Support and and their response was to #1 download the Verizon app #2 reset APNS #3 set the phone to global mode…… Not only had they told me to do this before, but if they bothered to read any of my emails they would have seen this has been tried, and both Verizon and T-Mobile have independently verified the software is fine, it is not user error, and the hardware is defective.
Over the last month, I have made no progress at all on the radio issue and it has been 4 days since Essential’s last lackluster communication.
Despite reminding their support staff several times, no has even tried to troubleshoot the other issue I am having with the screen involving poor touch sensitivity on the superior border. No one has offered me a new phone nor referred to my Essential Extended Care (which I do not want pay the deductible for a phone that never worked). When I asked to return, the phone they said it was 14 day window despite the phone not being certified on my network for the first month I had not the phone.
Over the years, I have owned Motorola Droid, Galaxy Nexus (toro + maguro), G2, G3, 1+1, 1+2, 1+3, LG G2, LG G3, LG G4, GS3, GS4, GS5, Sony Pollux, Nexus 4, Nexus n6p, among others, and I have had to call support for hardware issues. The Essential Phone is by a very wide margin has the worst support I have ever come across and Google’s has had the best.
In its prime, my custom ROM had well over 100,000 users and I tend to be the only one on the team who offered support, so I completely understand android support like very few on this planet. As of last month before the price break, Essential was estimated to have only sold 5,000 phones. Even with a bare bones staff fielding emails and not checking voicemail, their support volume per day is likely less than what I personally did for free for our community for free as part of a “hobby” for almost a decade.
To sum it all up: “Buyer Beware”
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man...
I really like this phone... It hit all the sweet spots for me as a device... And I'm in love with the battery life...
But to see @DHO blast Essential like this...
I have seen on other posts that the Essential team reads XDA... And I can only hope that seeing a respected developer complain in such an articulate way has some gravity with them to possibly step up their game...
The hardware (for me on AT&T) has been superb... And I have few if any complaints... But maybe it has to do with the CDMA portion of the device which I will never have to deal with
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
thanks for the detailed post. It's good to be prepared when it's required. Hope they change their support model and performance very soon.
cheers
rignfool said:
Man...
I really like this phone... It hit all the sweet spots for me as a device... And I'm in love with the battery life...
But to see @DHO blast Essential like this...
I have seen on other posts that the Essential team reads XDA... And I can only hope that seeing a respected developer complain in such an articulate way has some gravity with them to possibly step up their game...
The hardware (for me on AT&T) has been superb... And I have few if any complaints... But maybe it has to do with the CDMA portion of the device which I will never have to deal with
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rignfool Thanks.
With a little luck word will get out and they will step up their game.
I really hope this post doesn't put all future custom rom development in a death spiral before it even starts. :/
Damn that sucks... I've been using my phone on Sprint for several days and the reception has been outstanding, full bars of LTE+ almost everywhere, while the other phones in my family (Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6, 2 iPhone 7's) get three bars of LTE at most. Hope you get this sorted out, sucks that it happened in the first place.
---------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 PM ----------
12paq said:
I really hope this post doesn't put all future custom rom development in a death spiral before it even starts. :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very unlikely, cause @invisiblek has been going ham in terms of getting LOS/TWRP stable on this device.
DHO, sorry to hear you are having issues. I am a Verizon user in Houston. When I first got my PH-1, I couldn't get Verizon to stay connected. Constant drops, like non-stop and unusable.. I was ready to send it back. It was incredibly frustrating. Then I read a post here about resetting radio setting. I changed to Europe, then changed back to US. I set to LTE/CMDA, in the ping/radio section and also on the user network setting.. Who knows what else I changed and changed back. I was trying anything and everything I could. I am definitely a user, not a cellular techie. But Verizon started staying connected, even showing LTE+ most of the time.
Good luck. Maybe you have a defective phone? Seems you obviously know all about troubleshooting and have tried everything. If you can get it working on Verizon, I am confident you will like the PH-1.
Still issues with Verizon WiFi calling, Verizon voicemail and Verizon visual voicemail. But for me, I can live without the WiFi calling and have workaround for vm.
Frustrating situation, no doubt. All the best.
I second the defective phone scenario.. from my reading these forms the first batches with the foam earpiece had numerous issues. Lots of posts about connectivity issues that were resolved by replacement phones
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
12paq said:
I really hope this post doesn't put all future custom rom development in a death spiral before it even starts. :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was surprised, in my circle of devs. I am the only one to purchase the PH-1. Based on my feedback I know it has prevented a few people who were on the fence.
I'm sure once more source becomes available this phone will pick up support. It has TWRP before the Pixel2. And invisiblek is as good as it gets for device bring up. So there is hope
TheF|ipSide said:
Damn that sucks... I've been using my phone on Sprint for several days and the reception has been outstanding, full bars of LTE+ almost everywhere, while the other phones in my family (Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6, 2 iPhone 7's) get three bars of LTE at most. Hope you get this sorted out, sucks that it happened in the first place.
---------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 PM ----------
Very unlikely, cause @invisiblek has been going ham in terms of getting LOS/TWRP stable on this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
houstonironman said:
DHO, sorry to hear you are having issues. I am a Verizon user in Houston. When I first got my PH-1, I couldn't get Verizon to stay connected. Constant drops, like non-stop and unusable.. I was ready to send it back. It was incredibly frustrating. Then I read a post here about resetting radio setting. I changed to Europe, then changed back to US. I set to LTE/CMDA, in the ping/radio section and also on the user network setting.. Who knows what else I changed and changed back. I was trying anything and everything I could. I am definitely a user, not a cellular techie. But Verizon started staying connected, even showing LTE+ most of the time.
Good luck. Maybe you have a defective phone? Seems you obviously know all about troubleshooting and have tried everything. If you can get it working on Verizon, I am confident you will like the PH-1.
Still issues with Verizon WiFi calling, Verizon voicemail and Verizon visual voicemail. But for me, I can live without the WiFi calling and have workaround for vm.
Frustrating situation, no doubt. All the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried this. I have noticed some VERY interesting bugs in the USA band that are causing some sort of error resulting in the deactivation of the data. I wish I could grab a logcat (need SU). If their support was more .... receptive ... I would gladly report how to replicate RIL failures that result in complete deactivation of the radios. Unfortunately this is not the underplaying cause of my issue :/
stinger4321 said:
I second the defective phone scenario.. from my reading these forms the first batches with the foam earpiece had numerous issues. Lots of posts about connectivity issues that were resolved by replacement phones
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I am hoping they will do the right thing and replace it.
DHO said:
I have tried this. I have noticed some VERY interesting bugs in the USA band that are causing some sort of error resulting in the deactivation of the data. I wish I could grab a logcat (need SU). If their support was more .... receptive ... I would gladly report how to replicate RIL failures that result in complete deactivation of the radios. Unfortunately this is not the underplaying cause of my issue :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am surprised to hear you have not rooted yet with it being available.
Sure you probably tried already but take the sim out and factory reset. Put sim in and factory reset again. Make no other changes unless your trying to get volte to work. Info based on an already active Verizon sim account.
The support reps for some reason go by their tech cheat sheet all the time, instead of reading email fully and understanding that they are communicating to a tech savvy person. I had that before with other OEMs, where they would make go through troubleshooting which were already done previously. Another thing would be if support team knows that this is an average user who doesn't really play nice with technology, then yes, going through troubleshooting steps would be logical.
So, I am planning to buy this phone soon, do users on T-Mobile network have any cell/data issues?
@DHO I assume you've tried the latest stock build? I assume they had to push something once it was Verizon certified. Mine, along with a couple other devs I work with, are working just fine on Verizon.
T-Mobile
Charkatak said:
The support reps for some reason go by their tech cheat sheet all the time, instead of reading email fully and understanding that they are communicating to a tech savvy person. I had that before with other OEMs, where they would make go through troubleshooting which were already done previously. Another thing would be if support team knows that this is an average user who doesn't really play nice with technology, then yes, going through troubleshooting steps would be logical.
So, I am planning to buy this phone soon, do users on T-Mobile network have any cell/data issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on T-Mobile here in Los Angeles with no problems whatsoever compared to my previous S8+ and HTC U11 devices. I know others have reported reception issues on T-Mobile, but I personally am perfectly happy on T-Mobile here.
invisiblek said:
@DHO I assume you've tried the latest stock build? I assume they had to push something once it was Verizon certified. Mine, along with a couple other devs I work with, are working just fine on Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this statement.
I'm on Verizon and I've had decent speeds.
I've been averaging between 35 - 45 Mb/s down and 7-10 up.
The lowest I've had it drop is 25 down and 2 up.
I can't say i've had any drop out issues either.
mrcooter said:
I am surprised to hear you have not rooted yet with it being available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to give them a reason to say I voided the warranty. If they want proper logs, I would be happy to supply.
bill3508 said:
Sure you probably tried already but take the sim out and factory reset. Put sim in and factory reset again. Make no other changes unless your trying to get volte to work. Info based on an already active Verizon sim account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep tried everything. The Data speeds are insufficient to support voLTE. Even with the LTE+ icon I get 1G speeds,.. a few decibites a second. LOL
Charkatak said:
The support reps for some reason go by their tech cheat sheet all the time, instead of reading email fully and understanding that they are communicating to a tech savvy person. I had that before with other OEMs, where they would make go through troubleshooting which were already done previously. Another thing would be if support team knows that this is an average user who doesn't really play nice with technology, then yes, going through troubleshooting steps would be logical.
So, I am planning to buy this phone soon, do users on T-Mobile network have any cell/data issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both Verizon and T-mobile has identical issues for me.
I know their support is check list based. So I walked them through each step I tried..... around the 6th follow up email I eve wrote out a numbered list because they had circled back to asking the same questions they had previously.
invisiblek said:
@DHO I assume you've tried the latest stock build? I assume they had to push something once it was Verizon certified. Mine, along with a couple other devs I work with, are working just fine on Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I have tried on each release, including the one pushed over the last week. I have also tried a T-Mobile sim card and no difference than Verizon.
I know this phone is now "Certified" by Verizon but that is somewhat misleading. Because it is not an actual Verizon phone they block it from supporting WiFi calling and Visual Voicemail. You cannot even download and install Verizon's Visual Voicemail app from the Play store and built in Visual Voicemail in the Google Dialer does not work on Verizon. Also while a Verizon SIM is installed in the phone WiFi calling options completely disappear from settings. I think there is one person who said those two features are working for him but for the vast majority of us it does not work. I'm with DHO 100%. With the very poor customer support and the phone not functioning as well as most other phones there are far better options out there. I had connectivity issues with T-Mobile so bad I switched to Verizon and then found out the hard way they don't support those features on this phone. I ended up taking advantage of Verizon's 50% off the Pixel 2 XL with certain trade ins and ordered a Pixel 2 XL to use. I've ended up with a $700 Essential phone I cannot use. So I agree with DHO........BUYER BEWARE
That sounds more like Verizon douche baggery at work, more so than a problem with Essential's support.
Verizon is the one that decides who gets those features, not the phone manufacturer...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
JasonJoel said:
That sounds more like Verizon douche baggery at work, more so than a problem with Essential's support.
Verizon is the one that decides who gets those features, not the phone manufacturer...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For WiFi calling, I think a little column A and a little column B here-.
their radio reception is just awful- that's it. if you get good signal, then you will not likely have issue. even if you go to relatively worse area, you won't notice it too much. but if you actually live or work at a place with weak signal, then your signal drops way too often compared to any other ****ty plastic old phones.
no real way to fix it unless there's some crazy baseband update that somehow drastically improves it. I think they just did not do enough field testing to see how weak signal reception the device can handle. and now, they merely provide lackluster response because they cannot do anything and they cannot really admit that they ****ed up the "essential" part of the essential ph-1. i personally like this phone only because of the price is competitive and LineageOS is now finally supported. I still have some return window thanks to Amazon's holiday return policy, but might have to wrap this up and send back to Amazon for being defective.
Because, I also get ****ty reception on T-Mobile.
On Tmobile, 5G was working fine but after the April Android update 5G no longer works. LTE works fine but if you try to force 5G on, it actually only shows 3G active. Was working fine before the Android update. Anyone else seeing this? Tmobile only?
xenokc said:
On Tmobile, 5G was working fine but after the April Android update 5G no longer works. LTE works fine but if you try to force 5G on, it actually only shows 3G active. Was working fine before the Android update. Anyone else seeing this? Tmobile only?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same issue here (had a crappy phone laying around, reason for the trade in). I tested it and in my area I have only Band 66 and shows 5G but no data. LTE works fine, my LG V60 has no problem with 5G. After the update I noticed this, factory reset and everything I have tried hasn't resolved anything. Most people might haven't noticed because they might be on LTE, haven't updated or possibly other 5G Bands work fine.
xenokc said:
On Tmobile, 5G was working fine but after the April Android update 5G no longer works. LTE works fine but if you try to force 5G on, it actually only shows 3G active. Was working fine before the Android update. Anyone else seeing this? Tmobile only?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep updating until it's broke vs update only when it's broke.
At least wait a few months to update to hear if any horror stories come out.
If I have a fast, stable platform that fulfills its mission I let it be. Security is almost never an issue on Android unless you do stupid things and no update will save you from that.
I'm still running Pie on my Note 10+, zero issues.
blackhawk said:
Keep updating until it's broke vs update only when it's broke.
At least wait a few months to update to hear if any horror stories come out.
If I have a fast, stable platform that fulfills its mission I let it be. Security is almost never an issue on Android unless you do stupid things and no update will save you from that.
I'm still running Pie on my Note 10+, zero iss
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
blackhawk said:
Keep updating until it's broke vs update only when it's broke.
At least wait a few months to update to hear if any horror stories come out.
If I have a fast, stable platform that fulfills its mission I let it be. Security is almost never an issue on Android unless you do stupid things and no update will save you from that.
I'm still running Pie on my Note 10+, zero issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The update was to fix some issues with calls ( which many were having, not sure if all, I did). In the process broke other things. I never update right away, but in this case was needed. Probably there's a bug with automatically selecting bands. There's never an update without bugs. I find updates scarier than flashing ROMS.
Derfomiundz Ivy said:
The update was to fix some issues with calls ( which many were having, not sure if all, I did). In the process broke other things. I never update right away, but in this case was needed. Probably there's a bug with automatically selecting bands. There's never an update without bugs. I find updates scarier than flashing ROMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most times you can find work arounds for issues but they take time. Once found, no firmware solution needed.
You always get new issues that need work on a new OS plus the inevitable learning curve.
Time/effort vs benefits; the payoff better be worth it and unfortunately many times it isn't.
After over a year on Pie maintenance is almost effortless and second nature. It's very stable and predictable so malware is easy to quickly spot if it inadvertently works it's way in.
Not knowing what to expect from an OS opens you to all sorts of new dangers as well as wasting huge amounts of time.
Updates can also bring very unwanted features and lockouts that can't easily if at all rolled back
blackhawk said:
Most times you can find work arounds for issues but they take time. Once found, no firmware solution needed.
You always get new issues that need work on a new OS plus the inevitable learning curve.
Time/effort vs benefits; the payoff better be worth it and unfortunately many times it isn't.
After over a year on Pie maintenance is almost effortless and second nature. It's very stable and predictable so malware is easy to quickly spot if it inadvertently works it's way in.
Not knowing what to expect from an OS opens you to all sorts of new dangers as well as wasting huge amounts of time.
Updates can also bring very unwanted features and lockouts that can't easily if at all rolled back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least I have way above average knowledge, but still is a horrible experience for normal consumers. Returning products, contacting the company for repairs. Both points are valid and differences of opinion. Still, it's possible the update was just fine and it's just the network and the new device. I don't care much about malware, that's up mostly about how someone use their devices. Funny story, I never used Android 9, I went from a device with Android 8 to 10 and 11. Also a reminder to people that aside from the main device is always good to have backup devices. We all know, they don't.
Derfomiundz Ivy said:
At least I have way above average knowledge, but still is a horrible experience for normal consumers. Returning products, contacting the company for repairs. Both points are valid and differences of opinion. Still, it's possible the update was just fine and it's just the network and the new device. I don't care much about malware, that's up mostly about how someone use their devices. Funny story, I never used Android 9, I went from a device with Android 8 to 10 and 11. Also a reminder to people that aside from the main device is always good to have backup devices. We all know, they don't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah they are little heart attacks
Those not technologically interested/adaptive will suffer like pigs, ☠guarenteed☠
I went from Kitkat to Pie, talk about future shock.
However I quickly learned to navigate it and plunged straight into settings and customizing it.
Double tap on/off, Good Lock Apps/One Handed Operation +, Galaxy store custom themes/icon packs, hell yeah.
Not bad for a none rooted phone
Optimizing it was a nightmare but only persistent prevails It was a hot running bandwidth/battery hog and it took close to a year to complete tone it down and dial it in.
Many failed experiments and 2 boot loop forced factory resets latter it's a very stable, fast platform that gets good battery life and fulfills its mission. It's drop dead gorgeous and hella fun to use even after 1.5+ years.
Malware is almost always the operators fault. I had one script jpeg that trashed the download folder files a bit but I tagged right away. Had a trojan preloader (came through the browser) that got in but was detected/deleted before it could go to town.
So far in 7 years no malware forced reloads. Not bad considering most of that time has been on systems deliberately not updated.
Data loss? Bah-ha-ha-ha listening to Don't fear the Reaper, BOC
Android's rarely crash... until they do☠☠
Have a T Mobile A32 5G (SM-A326U) with the lastest update.
Baseband version A326USQU1AUD4
Kernel Version 4.14186-21188749
Build number RP1A-200720.012.A326USQU1AUD4
KNOX 3.7API level 33
5G download speed 15-20 Mbps
4G LTE download speed 45-65 Mbps
I suspect the 5G issue may be related to your local transmission tower(s). Perhaps T Mobile has just released another update to fix the 5G connection problem.
Just got May update and still no 5G on Tmobile. 5G worked fine before getting the last update. Any suggestions?
xenokc said:
Just got May update and still no 5G on Tmobile. 5G worked fine before getting the last update. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your phone has the same software spec revision as mine, then the problem is probably coming from your T Mobile tower. Again, I get 5G, but the speed is slower than 4G LTE. I can manually switch between 5G and 4G LTE. I disabled KNOX, but I doubt that was the root cause for the lack of 5G connectivity.
I've tried in several parts of town that are known to have Tmobile 5G. Maybe its this particular phone. Will take to a TMO store.
xenokc said:
I've tried in several parts of town that are known to have Tmobile 5G. Maybe its this particular phone. Will take to a TMO K
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The key is the software update number. My area is full of users, so I only get about fifteen M of throughput. Went to a poor neighborhood, and the 5G speed hits 390 Mbps. This phone does not allow the user to lock in to a particular T Mobile band.
furballi said:
The key is the software update number. My area is full of users, so I only get about fifteen M of throughput. Went to a poor neighborhood, and the 5G speed hits 390 Mbps. This phone does not allow the user to lock in to a particular T Mobile band.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does permit on dialer go *#2263# and banc lock lol phone supports 3xCA
financeledger said:
Yes it does permit on dialer go *#2263# and banc lock lol phone supports 3xCA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Still slower 5G speed at some locations. 4G LTE is best for me, but that may change next year.
It's been out for a while now. Did everyone else get it already?
MacGuy2006 said:
It's been out for a while now. Did everyone else get it already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The updates are available at Full OTA Images, so if you haven't yet received a notification to update, you can simply sideload it.
Pretty sure those of us with TMo are "de-prioritized", for the interim, for some reason that's not terribly public (I can see why TMo wouldn't want it to be, obviously). There's a discussion on AndroidCentral, but nothing really meaningful, just a bunch of me-too responses, and a handful of those with other carriers, who got the notification the first week of Jan.
I'm speculating on some of that thread, because I don't know how the carrier interop works in terms of un-branded devices, really, but I do wonder about the mechanism in this regard, if anyone knows?
This is odd because I was able to get the January update on the 5th on a T-Mobile MVNO Boost mobile? If it is blocked by T-Mobile wouldn't that affect the MVNO as well? Maybe I got it before it was pulled?
pgrey2 said:
Pretty sure those of us with TMo are "de-prioritized", for the interim, for some reason that's not terribly public (I can see why TMo wouldn't want it to be, obviously). There's a discussion on AndroidCentral, but nothing really meaningful, just a bunch of me-too responses, and a handful of those with other carriers, who got the notification the first week of Jan.
I'm speculating on some of that thread, because I don't know how the carrier interop works in terms of un-branded devices, really, but I do wonder about the mechanism in this regard, if anyone knows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on Google Fi...
Although I was considering switching to T-Mobile, as I went on an extended vacation in Europe and after two and a half months Google cut off my service without warning, claiming that it is only for those living in the US (which I do) and that I can only reactive once back in the US. I was left with no data and no map live services in a strange city, and no way to call hotels, so I have been looking for alternatives that provide better service and better customer service.
Google-Fi was great at the beginning, but like most things Google, it gets worse as time goes by. They censor Search and YouTube, I guess why not censor where and how long you travel...
MacGuy2006 said:
I am on Google Fi...
Although I was considering switching to T-Mobile, as I went on an extended vacation in Europe and after two and a half months Google cut off my service without warning, claiming that it is only for those living in the US (which I do) and that I can only reactive once back in the US. I was left with no date and no map services in a strange city, so I have been looking for alternatives that provide better service and better customer service.
Google-Fi was great at the beginning, but like most things Google, they it gets worse as time goes by. They censor Search and YouTube, I guess why not censor where and how long you travel...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I learned this lesson the hard way and learned that, when traveling internationally and need maps/gps, to download an app that can be downloaded with current info and used offline; gps doesn't need data to work, just to download data for the maps...
But hopefully T-Mobile gets it figured out soon! It's weird that usually carriers are on top of things when it comes to the update releases tailored to them; Verizon had its own version a couple months back. I'm pretty certain that, once T-Mobile has things figured out, Google will have to publish/host a T-Mobile factory images on its developers site as well...
Just FYI -- I manually installed the January update since I am rooted and use Pixel Flasher anyways and it is easy.
Now I wish I hadn't -- cellular seems much more flakey (using LTE instead of 5G on TMobile and connections timing out) and there is a pretty massive BT issue where the phone no longer connects to several cars (Toyota, Subaru, Kia and others are mentioned). I can no longer connect it to my 2011 Subaru, so first time in 12 years I have not had bluetooth audio in the car.
Kinda sucks...
I would sit this one out....
MetroWestMA said:
Just FYI -- I manually installed the January update since I am rooted and use Pixel Flasher anyways and it is easy.
Now I wish I hadn't -- cellular seems much more flakey (using LTE instead of 5G on TMobile and connections timing out) and there is a pretty massive BT issue where the phone no longer connects to several cars (Toyota, Subaru, Kia and others are mentioned). I can no longer connect it to my 2011 Subaru, so first time in 12 years I have not had bluetooth audio in the car.
Kinda sucks...
I would sit this one out....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except I'm on T-Mob and have none of those problems
HipKat said:
Except I'm on T-Mob and have none of those problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Pixel owners seeing Bluetooth and Android Auto issues following January update
The January 2023 update for Google Pixel phones appears to be causing issues with Bluetooth and Android Auto in cars.
9to5google.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/1045k5g
It's not just me and my car and I tried everything - it won't connect...
MetroWestMA said:
Google Pixel owners seeing Bluetooth and Android Auto issues following January update
The January 2023 update for Google Pixel phones appears to be causing issues with Bluetooth and Android Auto in cars.
9to5google.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/1045k5g
It's not just me and my car and I tried everything - it won't connect...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Must be certain models of Audio units/drivers. I can connect to my Work Van - 2021 Dodge Pro-master and my buddies truck, 2014 GMC Sierra with no problems
MetroWestMA said:
Google Pixel owners seeing Bluetooth and Android Auto issues following January update
The January 2023 update for Google Pixel phones appears to be causing issues with Bluetooth and Android Auto in cars.
9to5google.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/1045k5g
It's not just me and my car and I tried everything - it won't connect...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VAG and Hyundai issue maybe? January update here, connects to my 2022 C-Class no issue for audio, calls and wireless Android Auto.
MetroWestMA said:
Google Pixel owners seeing Bluetooth and Android Auto issues following January update
The January 2023 update for Google Pixel phones appears to be causing issues with Bluetooth and Android Auto in cars.
9to5google.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/1045k5g
It's not just me and my car and I tried everything - it won't connect...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No issue with my January update paired to Mazda HU.
But then i won't argue that some users might indeed have issues.
T-Mo is trying to do something new and fancy with the way they allow/force users to connect to their network. This is the MAIN reason they are delaying the update. Personally I do not care about the Bluetooth issue but as for LTE/5G connections...they MUST work 24/7! So I would say the best bet is to wait until whatever is broken gets fixed. YMMV
MetroWestMA said:
Google Pixel owners seeing Bluetooth and Android Auto issues following January update
The January 2023 update for Google Pixel phones appears to be causing issues with Bluetooth and Android Auto in cars.
9to5google.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/1045k5g
It's not just me and my car and I tried everything - it won't connect...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "ok google" not doing anything issue is not limited to the Jan update. I am on the December update (on T-mo), and the "ok google" doesn't work - the hardware button on my steering wheel works, so I'm using that for now.