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Help Signal dead despite all bars of 4G



EDIT : NEVERMIND I'm an idiot.


Update : EDIT THAT LAST EDIT. Maybe I'm not as much of an idiot as I thought after all. :)
I tested my Evo side by side with a display model at Best Buy that I knew would be in good working order.
My 3G speeds were less than half the speeds of the display, and since this was my second Evo with the exact same problem, the chances of me getting two bad phones with the exact same problem were slim to none. This would mean that I was doing something to screw up the phones.
I didn't think of the fact that their display was on WiFi.
So just this weekend I tested an Evo at the Sprint store that one of the associates had. Same issue with his phone : 4G is great, then drops down to slow 4G, and suddenly dives into 3G at such a slow speed that it kicks you offline.




Earlier today here in Austin TX, I managed to get my best reading ever for my phone - over 7 Mbps.
This was a short lived burst, and two minutes later all signal was completely dead. In order to get signal again i had to restart the phone.

This happened twice to me today, even with two restarts.

The strange thing is that despite having absolutely no signal what-so-ever, the phone shows a full five bars of 4G.

(^ I have now come to realize that I was looking at the 3G signal bars here. The phone still showed 4G, no rings, but all bars of 3G. Despite this, the online connection dropped. When I posted this thread, I didn't know that my issues were a result of the transition from 4G down to a super slow 3G )

I tried placing a call, and was able to do so, but the quality was poor.

At the time that this happens, I am stationary and no more than a few thousand feet from the tower ( I can actually see it easily - about four blocks away )

I would just guess that the bars being shown were just a freezing error, but i
frequently see a full five or even six bars with rings of 4G, despite speeds of less than 2 Mbps. Apparently, something is screwwy with the way the bars are displayed.

Today is Saturday, so I can understand heavy traffic killing some signal, but why does the phone show full strength, and why does it just completely kill all signal that drastically ?

Sprint has admitted to me that there is a problem with the towers in the Austin area, and even offered to send me a signal booster ( which they now tell me that i will have to buy. )

So - just wondering, is this sort of thing is normal, and if so what causes it ?

Using latest 2.2 update on Evo.
This is my second Evo - the first phone also showed fluctuating signal problems, and Sprint had me return it.


Thanks
 
Still getting a few minutes of 5+ Mbps speeds per day. The rest of the time that i get the 4G, I am getting around 300 Kbps, despite showing several bars or rings of 4G speed.

The majority of the time, my signal goes up and down so badly that I am having low res YouTube videos buffer so badly as to make them useless.

Surely this isn't normal right ??



Rant time :

BTW, I spoke with Sprint, and they admitted that there is a problem with the towers in my area.
The supervisor that I spoke with offered to send me a signal booster free of charge. After three trouble tickets that Sprint never followed up on, I spoke with this supervisor and was promised the signal booster. I requested that I get this in writing ( an email at least ) since I have been hung up on at least three times*, which she said would be sent - it never arrived.
Now Sprint say I have to pay to get the signal booster.

* ( Hold on while I transfer the call ...'click' " )

Anyone else having poor customer service through Sprint ?
 
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have you tracked the signal strength through ##debug#?

How to view HTC EVO 4G signal strength (RSSI)

Hey thanks for the reply - I was beginning to think that you all thought that i was a 'troll' for complaining about the Evo on this forum.

Actually, I have no problems with the phone itself. I love my Evo. It's Sprint that I'm having a problem with.
This is my first cell phone with internet capability, and I'm just wondering what I should expect regarding signal strength.
Is it really normal for strength to be at several Mbps ( like over 4 Mbps, and then plummet down to nothing within less than two minutes ? ( Nothing .... as in no signal, what so ever. Web pages don't even open )
This happens several times per day.
The guys at work have different carriers on their phones, and I have run side by side tests using both the Speedtest app and the FCC app, and my speeds are WAY, WAY behind theirs. ( repeated tests over several minutes )
If I exit my job, I can look to my right and actually see one of my towers around 2000 ft away. ( Yes it is a Sprint 4G tower )

Just wanted to know if that sort of thing is normal, since I'd like to actually watch the same YouTube video as the other guys are on their 'slower' 3G phones without the video buffering every few seconds.

As far as tracking the signal strength, thanks for that link.
Is there a risk of damaging the phone if I run the debugger ?
( One of the posted comments had the statement " use at your own risk " )

Thanks again for the reply !
 
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Just curious: where do you see 5 bars for your 4G indicator? The one that appears in my status bar (top of screen) only shows a total of 3 bars.

Perhaps I'm confusing 3G signal bars with the 4G signals.
What I'm referring to are the signal bars to the right of the 4G icon that lights up when you get 4G. I have six bars, and three rings on my phone.

I'm completely new to all of this, and just assumed that the bars were also an indicator of 4G strength.

My mistake.

Is there a way to do a screen capture without rooting the phone ?
For the time being, ill just try to take picture of the screen .

Thanks
 
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Here are a few examples of my signal strength :

photostream


4955463353


4960354223


Signal strength at all three of the towers rarely goes over 4Mbps even when only a few hundred feet away.

4952129185


4952725602


Surely this is not normal . Or is it ?
This is my second Evo.
 
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Others have complained about 4G in the Austin area -

http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-support-troubleshooting/91710-4g-connection-obtaining-ip-address.html#post911556

In your shoes, believe it or not, I'd go to the Sprint account on the web and file a complaint using their email form.

Keep it brief, keep it clear that you've been made multiple promises and have been passed around by phone support.

This is likely to snag the attention of Tier 3 support - if anyone can fix a nasty problem, it's those guys.

And - you don't stay on hold, you don't re-explain the problem - and you DO get a case number assigned immediately.
 
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Others have complained about 4G in the Austin area -

http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-support-troubleshooting/91710-4g-connection-obtaining-ip-address.html#post911556

In your shoes, believe it or not, I'd go to the Sprint account on the web and file a complaint using their email form.

Keep it brief, keep it clear that you've been made multiple promises and have been passed around by phone support.

This is likely to snag the attention of Tier 3 support - if anyone can fix a nasty problem, it's those guys.

And - you don't stay on hold, you don't re-explain the problem - and you DO get a case number assigned immediately.

Thank you for the reply Early Mon ! The above linked post was interesting, but seems to be unlike the problem that i am actually having, since I can ( and do ) connect to 4G with no wait,
My problem is that the signal strength fluctuates so drastically that I can go from over 7Mbps to flat nothing in less than five minutes. Again, this is my second ( replaced ) Evo.
As you can see in the image, I am in am area that should be just flooded with strong signal.
Regarding emailing tech support, I have already done this, and even provided them with a the images of screen tests that I had taken, as well as pictures of the towers and results at their location.
The guy that I spoke with was really professional and set up a trouble ticket for me. A technician that works on the actual towers was supposed to contact me. I never could get in touch with him even after setting up a convenient time for both of us.

My next step is to actually write someone an actual paper letter in which I will include some of the images of my testing.

I hate to complain, but I think it's easy to point fingers and say ' just get over it' when the problem is happening to someone else.

I love the phone.

If I didn't, I wouldn't go through all the effort of trying to resolve these problems.

I'm not a 'troll', and just want to know if anyone else is having this issue.

Thanks !
 
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I tested 100 feet( or less ) from the # 1 tower today. Testing once every two minutes over a ten minute timespan resulted in an average of 2.90 Mbps using the FCC app. Speeds were actually lower using Speedtest through the San Marcus server.

The FCC registration # listed on the side of the tower is #1040171 and Clear has it listed as one of their 4G towers.
From what I understand, Sprint and Clear share this tower, so I should still get good signal right ?
 
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Another kind of high spot is 8 down and 1. up is at georgetown texas hwy29 and hwy35

Near Mcdonalds ...the fastest was at hwy35 and toll 45 at wayne dresser...400 parker drive.....There's alot more places , That I have tested but i will post later. As I work for a delivery service and Deliver through out the Austin and surrounding areas..It would of been nice if i would of known of this thread,as i would of had alot of results. Posted here
 
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Thanks for the reply U-L-T-R-A.
I managed to get readings of 7.64, 8.97,8.78,7.18,8.04,8.45,8.23,and 6.94Mbps upload in the parking lot of Sun Microsystems off of Parmer Lane.

When it works, this phone screams !

Problem is that at the location that I have in the post # 15, ( Where I need signal ) the 4G signal drops off and plummets down to such a low 3G speed as to make the phone nearly useless sometimes.

Leaving it on 3G only doesn't fix the problem.

Sprint ran a debug yesterday and said the signals are fine around here, but directly across the highway at BestBuy, the phone guys are having signal issues as well with their display model EVO which also gets signal from my tower.
The signal is stronger facing the highway - and Best Buy -, but they still seem to have issues as well, according the the guy i spoke with.
I'll test there tomorrow to see if i can duplicate the issue, since Sprint is saying I have a defective phone ( This is ' defective ' phone # 2 )

I ran some tests yesterday and got readings of 52,56,152,111,254,75,55, and 1 ( ONE) Kbps. download ( see image )
1kbps.jpg
[/IMG]
Clearly something is wrong with the 3G signal around here, since I can get almost 9 Mbps elsewhere.
 
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Thanks for the reply U-L-T-R-A.
I managed to get readings of 7.64, 8.97,8.78,7.18,8.04,8.45,8.23,and 6.94Mbps upload in the parking lot of Sun Microsystems off of Parmer Lane.

When it works, this phone screams !

Problem is that at the location that I have in the post # 15, ( Where I need signal ) the 4G signal drops off and plummets down to such a low 3G speed as to make the phone nearly useless sometimes.

Leaving it on 3G only doesn't fix the problem.

Sprint ran a debug yesterday and said the signals are fine around here, but directly across the highway at BestBuy, the phone guys are having signal issues as well with their display model EVO which also gets signal from my tower.
The signal is stronger facing the highway - and Best Buy -, but they still seem to have issues as well, according the the guy i spoke with.
I'll test there tomorrow to see if i can duplicate the issue, since Sprint is saying I have a defective phone ( This is ' defective ' phone # 2 )

I ran some tests yesterday and got readings of 52,56,152,111,254,75,55, and 1 ( ONE) Kbps. download ( see image )
1kbps.jpg
[/IMG]
Clearly something is wrong with the 3G signal around here, since I can get almost 9 Mbps elsewhere.


The 4g is hit or miss spots......It will work well or bad on one spot and u move 1 block away and its worse or better :(..Where ever u see those tints out in the streets trying to sell clear service, those are actually good spots as i have tested 5 and they had good signal:).
Another weird thing the 4g will have 1 bar and it will have high download speeds..and other times it will have full bars and the download speed is not all that good. They should just take away the bars, and just have the 4g lit when its connected:D save us all the confusion;)
 
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So as I reported in the post #1 ( edited ), I retested my phone next another Evo. This time, the phone was a phone owned by a Sprint store associate, and the phone was not on WiFi.
( And this was actually in the Sprint store too. No wonder they had the Evo displays disconnected :eek: )
So ... same results on his Evo when tested on 3G.
This is only two tests ( the top two ) but you can see that the speeds were consistently slow. Also note how his phone also gets good 4G at times.
I believe that the " -0 " download speeds that you see in the middle test are not a result of losing the connection like I get with my phone ( consistently ), but rather the result of taking tests too quickly.
( Look at the times that the tests were taken.)
Also, note that on the second image, all bars of 3G are lit and the 3G signal is active. Since the test is in progress, you can see in the image that the signal strength is real time to the data speeds.
evo_3g_test.jpg
evo_3g_test177.jpg


To see whether or not the 3G speed issue was related to the brand versus the network, another associate ran some testing using her brand new Epic using 3G. Despite slightly faster speeds, the difference was very slight and most tests ran between 75 - 300 Kbps.
Comparing the Evo next to Epic using YouTube showed that both had the buffering issue, despite the Epic buffering less.

So in conclusion, it looks as if I am just in a bad area for Sprints 3G signal.
4G signal at my three nearest towers averages less than 3Mbps tested at the base of each tower. That's not great, in fact it's really poor. But I can live with it. The real problem is that I get poor 3G signal despite sometimes getting pretty good 4G.

When I started all these threads, I didn't realize that you could get pretty decent 4G despite not being able to get 3G at all. I assumed that if you got 4G that that must mean for sure that you could get 3G.
My mistake.
 
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Well I'm still having the same issues as before. Sprint sent me an AirRave to boost the signal.
I just have to ask though : I originally planned to cancel my U-Verse internet and just use WiFi on my laptop. ( One less bill )
However, I'm told that I can't do that because the AirRave needs the internet connection to work.
So.... what I don't understand is why anyone would want an AirRave so their phone can connect to the internet.
I mean if you have the internet already hooked up and running ( so you can use the AirRave ) why would you choose to view it on your phone ??
 
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