Sprint limits signal?

[SubaruB4]

I'm still checking but it seems after you get over some "set amount" of usage on an unlimited data for a phone my signal is stuck at two bars.. I thought hmm.. that's odd (youtube videos on phone can't keep up)

So after work I rebooted the phone and took a drive.. I noticed still my phone only has 2 bars of signal.. The thing is in my job I know I should be getting full or near full signal and more so on the highway because of a known sprint tower.

So I wonder instead of calling it a cap they limit the signal strength so data will be slow but not slow slow like the other carriers?

btw my job to home is about 17 miles and I pass a known Sprint tower all the time but still outside just two bars??? Really?

 

[Citizen Coyote]

I've never heard of Sprint somehow capping your signal strength, I'm not even sure how that's possible. It would be much easier to simply throttle your data, which they do not do. More likely something is screwy with your phone's radio. Is it always stuck on two bars, or does it change sometimes? Try going to a Sprint store when it seems to be "stuck" and see what happens; those locations almost always have excellent reception (for obvious reasons).

 

[SubaruB4]

The phone is rooted.. however can how can it be stuck on two bars and I'm about 300 Ft away from a tower? last time I ate at Wendys it was showing full... New billing cycles starts and the signal is fine again...

 

[BenChase7]

Never heard of such a thing. But, I wouldn't read too much into my"bars" ....unless there's none.

 

[SubaruB4]

I don't myself but when it deals with data then I start to notice..

My new cycle starts 11/6 so I'm going to keep checking

 

[jasonacg]

For them to reduce your signal strength, and not that of other tower users in the same area, they would have to do something to attenuate the signal in your phone's own receiver. Simply put, Sprint doesn't do that. That would be a liability issue waiting to happen, if you ever needed the phone for 911, and couldn't use it due to an intentionally reduced signal.

As a rooted phone, there might be some issues with the way your "bars" interpret signal strength. I rarely trust the number of bars to judge signal strength or call quality. That display can be programmed to display any number of bars, at whatever level the programmer chooses. If they wanted to, they could set the display to show full signal, with even the slightest reception from the tower.

Best way, is to look at your phone status menu. If the signal strength is near the -65dBm range, you're pretty strong. Your phone can maintain minimal service up to about -105dBm (+/-).

Also, being 300 feet away from a tower (virtually "underneath" it), sometimes works against you. The tower's antennas will radiate outward, and not as much downward. Get about 1000 feet or more away, and see what happens.

 

[SubaruB4]

Outside in car signal is -87 dBm going to good store where the tower is about 1000ft away and I know I had a strong signal on it last week.. Its 10 miles away

 

[MarkHirt]

Look for Black Helicopters

 

[jasonacg]

-87 isn't bad at all. Expect solid call quality, and reasonable data speeds. For what it's worth (after I just told you not to equate bar count with signal strength), my current -91 signal at my house, gives me half-scale (3 of 6 bars) on the display. But again, your results can--and will--vary.

 

[SubaruB4]

yeah but at that signal level what speeds can you expect to see?

Here is me out in the car

And here is me at the food store

Right now at home with the phone in the window my signal is -71dBm

 

[jasonacg]

It's hard to say for sure. Signal strength is just one piece of the puzzle. You need to take network capacity into consideration...the more users there are at the time, the lower the overall speeds will be. In my area, right this minute (about 8:00pm on a Friday night, in a residential area), my current -91 signal results in about 800 down and about 400 up, according to the Speedtest app.

Based on your two screenshots, I don't think you have anything to worry about. It looks perfectly normal to me.

 

[TheBlackAngel]

not only is data speed just about signal strength and tower congestion its about signal quality, i can have 1 bar of signal strength but have a really high signal quality and still get over 1 meg downloads. plus just because you were right next to the tower doesn't mean thats the tower you are connected to, if the tower next to you is busy or having an issue it will push you off onto a tower that is working better but further away.

if you want to see if thats what is happening download the app "CDMA Field Test" from the market, it will give you all the details about signal strength (RSSI) and quality (SNR) for both CDMA and EVDO plus it will give you the BSID (base station ID) of the tower you are connected and has a handy button that will map the tower's location, then you can compare to where you are and see if the tower you are looking at really is the tower you are connected to.

i know where i work there are at least 4 towers that my phone switches between and most of the time its connected to one further away from me then one of the others thats closer.

 

[SubaruB4]

The issue in our town is they don't want cell towers (tmobile is fighting it now) and so they have to mount them on buildings... the one nearest me is right across from wendys which is not far but the building is not tall at all maybe 60 Ft at best

The one where I went food shopping must be a 200+ Ft tower.. had I turned my 4G on you would see the signal would be perfect.

I will try the CDMA field test app

 

[MarkHirt]

Just cause you see a tower does not mean it's a Sprint tower. I can see a tower from my house, it's not a Sprint tower, the Sprint Tower is another 1/4 mile east.

 

[ovrrdrive]

If your phone is rooted I would try flashing different radios (upgrade and/or downgrade) and prl's...

 

[SubaruB4]

I'm trying to remember where I found the Prl at it's got CM 7 on it.. But how would I know which prl is the newest?

 

[ovrrdrive]

What phone do you have? Regular evo 4g or 3d?

 

[argedion]

Cm7 will give you a more accurate read than the stock sprint. Voice signal and data signal are two different things. I have had times that I could not make a call but could email

 

[Gavisann]

The phone is rooted.. however can how can it be stuck on two bars and I'm about 300 Ft away from a tower? last time I ate at Wendys it was showing full... New billing cycles starts and the signal is fine again...

Signal bars are not always accurate.

 

[BenChase7]

Personally, I think this whole idea is preposterous. (Nothing personal, but that's just my opinion.) I've been with Sprint for quite some time, often using over 10gb of data a month, and the signal does not change based on how much data I use, nor do data speeds. Furthermore, I question the ability of Sprint to even "limit signal" strength based on data usage. This is the first time I have heard such a claim in my 10 yrs with Sprint.

 

[SubaruB4]

What phone do you have? Regular evo 4g or 3d?

Regular 4G

 

[SubaruB4]

bump

 

[Gavisann]

Why are you bumping? We have answered your question.

 

[SubaruB4]

no you did not.. Where is the anwser on where to find an upgraded prl

 

[CarrieK]

To get the most recent prl, just go to settings, system updates, and update prl. 60681 is the current prl for the EVO 4G.