Staying on the fence, suspect a problem with the atrix

[Boomer Dog16]

From the good number of reviews that have been done on the Atrix by a fair number of different groups its looking to me that the atrix may have a reception or antena issue. All the reviews i've read, an i've tried to read everything i could find, all report that this phone is way under preforming as far as data transmission for the specs this phone has inside. Even going as far as testing other phones side by side with the atrix to show its over stating by 1 to 2 bars of signal strenght. This is my main consideration for a phone because i live in a rual area an will allmost never have better than egde speed when im not hooked to wi fi. I like Moto phones. No phone ive had has better reception than my poor old razor v3 If anyone has any other info on this let me know please!

 

[dsjr2006]

From the good number of reviews that have been done on the Atrix by a fair number of different groups its looking to me that the atrix may have a reception or antena issue. All the reviews i've read, an i've tried to read everything i could find, all report that this phone is way under preforming as far as data transmission for the specs this phone has inside. Even going as far as testing other phones side by side with the atrix to show its over stating by 1 to 2 bars of signal strenght. This is my main consideration for a phone because i live in a rual area an will allmost never have better than egde speed when im not hooked to wi fi. I like Moto phones. No phone ive had has better reception than my poor old razor v3 If anyone has any other info on this let me know please!

This is only in relation to HSPA+ because it's not available yet. I highly doubt you will notice a difference in EDGE speeds.

 

[s.m.knipe]

Not to mention many were disappointed by the Inspire's speeds as well, the chances that two totally different companies put in buggy radios is a lot less likely than a network that isn't really lit up yet...

 

[danielkogan]

Problem is with ATT not the Atrix. Seen the same reviews and am very disappointed as this was my next purchase, not no more. I'm gonna end up with either a real hspa+ network that already pulls in 8+mbps or LTE that is averaging 15.

F*** ATT, waste of time! Until a review can prove or ATT can prove that their network is up to 3.5g speeds, I'm out. Can't wait for them to get their shit together. One time in my life I'm using my head instead of my tech head that just wants it first!

 

[mrvirginia]

This is only in relation to HSPA+ because it's not available yet. I highly doubt you will notice a difference in EDGE speeds.

why do people still not realize this? lol

 

[Willy Willy]

So the 2 sec difference is a page loading it worth all that anger and frustration? Does a cell phone really need faster than 5mbs down?

 

[colnago]

So the 2 sec difference is a page loading it worth all that anger and frustration? Does a cell phone really need faster than 5mbs down?

Tethering to my laptop, HD channels streaming from my sling adapter will hit 6-7Mbs.

 

[rad204]

Tethering to my laptop, HD channels streaming from my sling adapter will hit 6-7Mbs.

is there really HD on the slingplayer mobile app?

 

[vinay427]

is there really HD on the slingplayer mobile app?

I think when he said "tethering to my laptop" he meant he watches it in HD on his laptop using his cell phone connection.

 

[Willy Willy]

Tethering to my laptop, HD channels streaming from my sling adapter will hit 6-7Mbs.

Oh so streaming all that you need 7mbs so
You get 4gbs with the new tethering plan
4000/ 7mbs =571 sec so you get 9.5 minutes of streaming before you data is all used up
And
On a side note you must be part of the reason they took away our unlimited data plans!!!!!

 

[colnago]

is there really HD on the slingplayer mobile app?

Dish Remote Access, via Sling adapter.

 

[colnago]

Oh so streaming all that you need 7mbs so
You get 4gbs with the new tethering plan
4000/ 7mbs =571 sec so you get 9.5 minutes of streaming before you data is all used up
And
On a side note you must be part of the reason they took away our unlimited data plans!!!!!

I don

 

[theoski]

Oh so streaming all that you need 7mbs so
You get 4gbs with the new tethering plan
4000/ 7mbs =571 sec so you get 9.5 minutes of streaming before you data is all used up
And
On a side note you must be part of the reason they took away our unlimited data plans!!!!!

I swear each time I hear idiotic comments like this, it makes me cringe. Broadband was made to be use. if people were thinking like you, you could only use a car for 5 minutes a day. Would you like to have someone tell you how many minutes a day you could use your car?

BTW it is megabits so he actually gets 78 minutes.

 

[colnago]

I swear each time I hear idiotic comments like this, it makes me cringe. Broadband was made to be use. if people were thinking like you, you could only use a car for 5 minutes a day. Would you like to have someone tell you how many minutes a day you could use your car?

BTW it is megabits so he actually gets 78 minutes.

Wow...1st post and you're pinging someone on their math.

 

[ECdOc]

Regardless of the reasoning I for one am kinda sick of seeing the posts about the speeds from everyone that doesn't have one of these phones in their hands yet. When the phone is in store for testing IN YOUR TOWN then you do your own tests and see what speeds you are going to potentially get. Who cares what happens in NYC and SF. I have been an AT&T customer in Philly for a long time now and while I'm not crazy about the speeds I get right now I'm not going to comment until I see one in action with my own eyes.

 

[Willy Willy]

I don

 

[colnago]

Ok great well no where did you say you were on T mobile... Your on an atrix site which is an ATT phone so people talk about ATT data.

My math was off. However my point is still valid 78 min. Well no one dictates how much I drive my car. However the phone companies DO dictate how much data I can use.

Regardless of which carrier one uses (I have both AT&T and T-Mobile) there are times when high bandwidth requirements are needed or desired via cellular connection. Some customers, myself included, still have "unlimited" plans and are up for subsidy discount or just looking for a change, and looking at the Atrix.

Even when in a 7Mbs/HSPA+ area, if there is network congestion, or weak signal, throughput will be affected however there will still be apps "that run on the phone" (Remote Desktop, Sling, FTP sessions, etc) which benefit from the higher bandwidth. My point is that its not always just about "page loading".

 

[ranova]

even without HSPA+ rolled out yet, why are most reviewers saying that the Atrix is a lot slower than the iPhone 4?

I easily get 1.5-3mbps with my Nexus one downstream and easily 1.5mbps upstream while the Atrix maxes out at 300kbps upstream... HSUPA is NOT enabled in the Atrix and thats a huge disappointment

 

[c_r]

the more gritty details that come out about the atrix, the more i'm second-guessing a purchase of it.

webtop tethering-gate...
1gb of memory that can't fully be used except in webtop (afaik)...
pentile screen...
a locked-down android experience...

and those 1.5mbps speeds are a worry, because i recall some reviews having an iphone4 hitting 3mbps at the exact same time...same location.
fine, so hspa+ cannot be achieved *yet*...but why can't it go at least as fast as an iphone4 that's sitting right next to it?

maybe the att fail on marketing is because they see some fundamental problems with the device as well..and are now just going through the motions...instead of fully backing it? (edit: ok i dont really believe that but it's a remote possibility)

the biggest selling point to me was the "full" firefox experience. except as it turns out that is now only available in webtop...and really unattainable if you have any sense of your wallet and not getting ripped off. bum deal. the phone has the capability but is intentionally crippled.

 

[Scholar]

the biggest selling point to me was the "full" firefox experience. except as it turns out that is now only available in webtop...and really unattainable if you have any sense of your wallet and not getting ripped off. bum deal. the phone has the capability but is intentionally crippled.

Well I am getting my laptop dock for $300 so my wallet is feeling quite full still. All thanks to my AT&T store working hard to save me money with loopholes and I still get to keep my unlimited plan! After looking around the netbook market I still feel very happy with this purchase. So long as a tethering app is available to get onto my Atrix I will not regret my purchase of the dock.

Well Willy you are probably gonna be dissatisfied with my explanation. My mother is eligible for an upgrade (I got an iPhone 4 in September when my 3G fell off the Raging Bull). Sold that unlocked for $600 thus paying for the Atrix and the dock. I went in store to order. They require I put a data plan on my mother's line to order the Atrix (she will continue to use her motorazr v3, she doesn't need data) so the manager put on the $45 plan so I could get the instant $100 and the rebate.

He said to send in the rebate, keep the plan on till I receive the $100, then I can remove the $45 plan free of charge because no data will be used on my mother's line. This resulted in me only having to pay $300 for the laptop dock. It also opened my eyes that AT&T managers realize the gouging and are willing to do workarounds with customers. +1 in my book. Sorry this method isn't available to many customers. Just personal justification because $500 is ludicrous. Though I have this feeling that the $300 could be better spent on a wifi Xoom....

 

[Willy Willy]

How did you get the laptop for 300 and didnt sign for a bundle?...let us know so we can try

 

[Boomer Dog16]

Sure us real world consumers havent had the Atrix in our hands, but many people that are very knowledgeable about cell phones an how they work have! An looking at the numerous test these individauls have done an published show a real issue that this phone is not moving data the way it was intended. In unbaised side by side testing against many times inferior products.

 

[s.m.knipe]

Sure us real world consumers havent had the Atrix in our hands, but many people that are very knowledgeable about cell phones an how they work have! An looking at the numerous test these individauls have done an published show a real issue that this phone is not moving data the way it was intended. In unbaised side by side testing against many times inferior products.

My admittedly amatuer-ish take on this is thus:
Firstly when tested against the iPhone 4 the Atrix will be slower because, primarily, of the OS itself. iOS does not use real multi-tasking, which means that background processes (and/or open apps) are not eating into the processor use and bandwidth being sucked down (both play a part in the speed, especially webpage rendering) because they are not running, they are "on hold" until accessed again. On Android, apps and processes can run fully in the background even while the browser or test application is the main one open, increasing the load on the processor and bandwidth even during the test itself. Also, the iPhone 4 has re-written drivers (from previous iterations) to enable HSUPA (which AT&T does not seem to be allowing on any of its branded phones, including the Atrix) and decrease latency, both of which improve the speed results. As to other phones, I haven't seen comparisons to other phones so I don't know. I do know that most reviewers were "disappointed" with the 3G speeds on the Inspire too, which leads to the second point.
Secondly, the HSPA+ rollout is physically "complete" but is not in use yet, as the backhaul has to be hooked into AT&T's network and turned on. The "H" is displayed because the device's radio is receiving the HSPA+ signal, but without the backhaul and infrastructure in place, it is only passing 3G-like speeds to the radio. Remember that HSPA+ is really a type of 3G, it is 3G with additional bandwidth available...

Admittedly I might not be correct, but when I encountered those spots in the reviews at first I was worried, but now these two points are realizations I have had. Frankly, I know AT&T will not top T-mo "4G" speeds (They can't as they have more load on their network), but I know that it is coming and it is an improvement over what is in place already, and an improvement over Verizon's and Sprint's 3G speeds- potentially even at least on par with their 4G speeds too.

 

[Left Coast DJ]

Secondly, the HSPA+ rollout is physically "complete" but is not in use yet, as the backhaul has to be hooked into AT&T's network and turned on. The "H" is displayed because the device's radio is receiving the HSPA+ signal, but without the backhaul and infrastructure in place, it is only passing 3G-like speeds to the radio.

Can please you cite a reliable source where you've read that AT&T has not "turned on" their 4G switch despite the Atrix showing being connected to the 4G network? Today's random forum posts are the first time I'm reading about this. None of the tech sites that reviewed the Atrix and it's slow connection speeds seem to mention it. You'd think these sites would know this little fact before any of us.

 

[s.m.knipe]

Can please you cite a reliable source where you've read that AT&T has not "turned on" their 4G switch despite the Atrix showing being connected to the 4G network? Today's random forum posts are the first time I'm reading about this. None of the tech sites that reviewed the Atrix and it's slow connection speeds seem to mention it. You'd think these sites would know this little fact before any of us.

It is spread around mostly social media with their customer service reps (NOT reliable, I know, but it makes sense) I will post those that I can find quickly here, starting back last summer through CES

from facebook in July:

AT&T Hey gang, here's the scoop -- We