Just returned my E4GT

Yeah.....1400 kbps on 3g is horrible.....

Right

weinstein said:

Plus, i didnt want to gamble wether i was going to be able to take full advantage of EVDO rev.B when/if Sprint deploys it. Im going to wait another week or so to see what Sprint announces and wait to get confirmation on Rev b.

Click to expand...

Confirmation has already been released on Rev.B:

Official Sprint Answer:
Sprint is committed to delivering the highest quality network experience. Our Network Vision plan will improve your network experience, but it does not include any EVDO Rev B launch. Sprint has evaluated EVDO Rev B and chosen to go directly to 4G connections. Since we are not launching EVDO Rev B, none of our handsets supports EVDO Rev B.

Thank you for your interest in our Network and Chipset Technologies!

At the Sprint Forum:

Sprint Community: EVDO Rev B

weinstein said:

I came from the HTC EVO 4G and never experienced signal problems, nor slow data connection speeds. I would literally lose signal in areas where the evo would work best.

Click to expand...

I had an Evo 4G when I moved up to the Epic 4G Touch. I didn't notice anything much different. My GF still has her Evo 4G and I did a screen-to-screen comparison as to signal and data speeds. Overall, the Epic was slightly better than the Evo at signal streams as measured by the Network Signal Info app. The Speed Test app also measured but a slight difference in speed, with the Epic coming out ahead.

I guess it just depends on what phone you have and where you have it. But really, I think your comparisons could have been a bit more scientific.

jason81 said:

Yeah.....1400 kbps on 3g is horrible.....

Right

Click to expand...

Right

weinstein said:

I just returned my E4GT. All the employees were looking at me crazy and wondering why i was returning it. I came from the HTC EVO 4G and never experienced signal problems, nor slow data connection speeds. I would literally lose signal in areas where the evo would work best. I constantly had to reset the phone for it to catch signal again.

The Manager was trying to explain to me that this phone has top of the line processor and specs. I told him that i already knew all the specs, Thanks to the folks at android forums, but its not the actual phone that im having a problem with, Its the data speeds. Its like having a Lamborghini with a Honda Civic engine as far as connectivity speeds are concerned.

While i was there i downloaded speedtest on the 3 employees Photon's and 2 ET4G. Photon tested poorly with 500kbps download MAX. ET4G did okay, with 1400kbps download speed while on 3G. The GM insisted that they were experiencing network difficulties but i didnt want to get stuck with this device for the next 2 yrs and have to deal with dropped calls and NO Youtube while at work. ET4G never played YouTube videos like the 4G without long buffers.

Plus, i didnt want to gamble wether i was going to be able to take full advantage of EVDO rev.B when/if Sprint deploys it. Im going to wait another week or so to see what Sprint announces and wait to get confirmation on Rev b. I loved the ET4G but it has poor signal in most places i went to in Houston. Other than the signal, the phone is PERFECT!!! highly reccommend it if you dont drop calls and get DATA connectivity.

Click to expand...

I am confused. When you say poor signal do you mean dropped calls or unable to make calls or just slow 3g?

I ask because I get my e4gt tomorrow and your post makes me want to hold on to my evo 4g for a week to make sure I can get signal on the e4gt where I need it without issue...

LxMxFxD said:

I am confused. When you say poor signal do you mean dropped calls or unable to make calls or just slow 3g?

I ask because I get my e4gt tomorrow and your post makes me want to hold on to my evo 4g for a week to make sure I can get signal on the e4gt where I need it without issue...

Click to expand...

You should *always* test any phone out for at least a week to make sure that it works the way you want it to, and in the places you need it.

Having said that, I switched from an iPhone 4 on VZW and I couldn't be happier with the e4gt. Signal is great, calls sound great, 3G data speeds are good. 4G is fantastic but I won't sacrifice battery just to load a webpage that much quicker.

While the Evo 4g may get slightly higher speeds over 3g, did you actually do browser tests to see which loads faster? Because network speed is one thing, but page loading and compiling is another. I doubt the Evo 4g can beat the ET in page loading if the difference is 500kb.

Weinstein's issue is apparently very real, im going to make a post and hopefully it'll be made a sticky:

Sprint Community: Loss of Signal on Samsung Epic 4G Touch

Sprint employee quote:

@Everyone who volunteered to help out in providing additional information and logs: thank you so much, received great examples and response from everyone and it helped expedite getting this issue identified and properly documented, it will be resolved in the next maintenence release.

Click to expand...

That thread goes on to say that they don't know when it'll be fixed, but it is now a known problem.

LxMxFxD said:

Weinstein's issue is apparently very real, im going to make a post and hopefully it'll be made a sticky:

Sprint Community: Loss of Signal on Samsung Epic 4G Touch

Sprint employee quote:



That thread goes on to say that they don't know when it'll be fixed, but it is now a known problem.

Click to expand...

Hopefully it's not too widespread an issue and they fix it quickly for those affected.

So if they are deploying 4glte early in 2012 and abandoning wimax, where does that leave me with this phone when my area has yet to receive 4g deployment? 3g in some spots is almost unuseable. SOL Im assuming

I hope it gets fixed soon. I'm slowly leaning towards returning it and going back to my EVO or maybe even the 3D.

phillies1again said:

So if they are deploying 4glte early in 2012 and abandoning wimax, where does that leave me with this phone when my area has yet to receive 4g deployment? 3g in some spots is almost unuseable. SOL Im assuming

Click to expand...

I feel ya. We have yet to get 4G in my area as well. Its like why the hell are you selling 4g phones in this area if you don't even offer 4G? VZN and ATT have 4G but sprint don't. I'm going on a 1 1/2 years with my EVO before upgrading to the TOUCH and still no 4G.

Good luck with whatever you end up with. I also live in Houston, but haven't had any of those problems on 3g. I also get good 4g.

For what it's worth I had better connection with my Photon than any other phone I've ever tried.

weinstein said:

@ LxMxFxD, all of the above!.

• Could not stream Youtube Videos without buffering to the point where you just disregard what you were trying to watch.
• Web browsing took at least 1 minute to open the page in its entirety. (evo opens most pages between 3-8 sec)
• Lost signal and waited a few minutes for it to return while my wife is sitting in the car next to me web browsing the web and making calls on Evo. Signal never returmed, eventually had to turn phone off and turn back on to regain signal.
• Dropped more calls in one day than i did the entire year and months with Evo.
• When using TIKL app, people in other states and international countries noticed and asked if i had a weak signal. It all stopped as soon as i walked out of the Sprint store with the EVO fully charged in hand. HUGE Difference!

On the other hand, while Wifi or 4g ON, YOU could not stop this phone. Its a beast. i got 20mpbs while wifi and 10mbps while on 4G.

@ Cobravision. I perfomed web browsing tests since day 1. my wife kept telling me that i was paranoid. I couldnt understand why the Evo with slower processor and specs was faster than the ET4G. I didnt wanna get rid of it... believe me i did extensive testing before returning it.

Click to expand...

All of this is apparently "normal" at the moment. There are huge threads on sprint's own forums about this issue and also over at xda. I started another thread addressing the status of the fix ( I hope soon because I get my own E4GT tomorrow). Sprint hasn't said whether its officially software or hardware but they claim "it'll be fixed in the next software maintenance release" with an unknown date.

According to one guy on sprint community forums, a CSR advised him to return the phone for a full refund as long as it is within the 14 days allowed.

as usual, only the people with problems tend to post on the internet..
do you know they have sold 10 million of these phones in 5 months?
if the phone had universal problems, who would buy it?

I feel sorry for folks with problems, but I bought mine 4 days ago, and not a SINGLE issue; fast as hell, works perfectly, no dropped calls or data..
Sure Sprint 4g is not the fastest, but, hell its a PHONE, not a high speed internet connected computer.
And, to the OP, saying he wants to return it because he was getting 1900 d/l speeds on his Evo, and gets on 1400 on this phone, c'mon man, get a grip...

Sprints network is the problem, not this phone..

If you are on the fence, don't be..buy this screamer, cause it makes everything else out there obsolete..

wase4711 said:

as usual, only the people with problems tend to post on the internet..
do you know they have sold 10 million of these phones in 5 months?
if the phone had universal problems, who would buy it?

I feel sorry for folks with problems, but I bought mine 4 days ago, and not a SINGLE issue; fast as hell, works perfectly, no dropped calls or data..
Sure Sprint 4g is not the fastest, but, hell its a PHONE, not a high speed internet connected computer.
And, to the OP, saying he wants to return it because he was getting 1900 d/l speeds on his Evo, and gets on 1400 on this phone, c'mon man, get a grip...

Sprints network is the problem, not this phone..

If you are on the fence, don't be..buy this screamer, cause it makes everything else out there obsolete..

Click to expand...

Not to discount your statement, but you are entirely incorrect. Samsung has not sold 5million CDMA units. There is clearly an issue with at least SOME CDMA units samsung shipped that was not seen in their GSM phones. Maybe its only in 5% of the phones (complete guess) but its a serious issue, just like the "b button" bright spot on the evo 4g was a real issue. Unlike a mere bright spot, not having a working cell signal is a serious flaw.

As I said, its unfortunate that only the folks with problems tend to post in the internet
I've been to several retailers to talk about the phone AFTER I bought it, and not a single one said they had a return yet, due to signal issues
I know 3 other folks who have the phone and they too love it, and have no issues.
I had 2 evo4gs, and 2 evo 3d's, and had zero issues with any of those phones; luck of the draw? Doubtful, but, after spending many years as Director of Sales for a Consumer electronics manufacturer, I know that the expected defective rate is around 2%, so, just like televisions, computers, hard drives, stereo equipment, and everything else electronic, there is no such thing as ZERO defects with anything Electronic; remember the iPhone 4 fiasco with the reception issue?

My only point is that "newbies" coming to these forums, to find out about this phone and others like it, tend to see a dis proportionate amount of complaints, and problems, and immediately are convinced that EVERY unit will have these issues; they tell their friends, who tell their friends, and next thing you know, everyone on earth either thinks the product is flawed, or, they start imagining that THEIR unit is going to develop the same problem..

Often, information gotten from the internet is taken as gospel, and, more often than not, it is nothing more than hersey..

You get 14-30 days to return this phone when you get it; if you don't love it, take it back..just don't spread doom and gloom about something you aren't truly certain about..

I'm pretty sure the OP was certain of his dislike when there was no no signal on his phone and he had to reboot it.

Granted, yes, the internet is its own beast. When I look at reviews for my local high speed internet provider, it has 2 out of 5 stars on yelp. People like me who have a problem maybe once a year, don't go to the internet to say "time warner, you're doing a great job." Internet forums are a bit different, however. People here like unplugged and others say "I've had no problems" with this phone. If sprint is handing out $50 service credits because of this issue, this is a serious problem. Just because you don't have this issue, please don't say others dont and that the rate is "typically 2%". That is absurd.

I haven't had this issue. I came from the EVO 3D and was happy with it as well. I suggest going to that. You can't go wrong with either.

My only complaint about the 3D was that I couldn't see the screen well when I was outside. Other than that it was solid as a rock. I like the S2 though and am very happy with it.

Good luck and hope you get the phone situation figured out.

If you look a couple posts above its a pretty good sample of people having the reception issue. Not just on these forums but over in the Sprint community forums as well. I have been a sprint customer for almost 10 years and I know overall in my area the data reception (phone is decent) is average. My home isn't the greatest for data reception but with my EVO it was tolerable. With the TOUCH, its almost non-existent. The 3G icon which normally lights up when uploading/downloading data just sits blank for periods of time. Can take several minutes just to load google. Was at Walmart where EVO never had issues with data, the TOUCH kept timing out when I tried to look up fantasy scores. At work data reception seems okay with an occasional hiccup. If it wasn't for WiFi at home and work I'd be going beyond crazy right now. I've been updating PRL and Profile almost everyday since last week, when I picked up the TOUCHES for me and my wife but haven't felt much of a difference. I have yet to go out of town to our normal travel destinations to experience reception issues, which I'll be testing this weekend.

I love the phone, better then the EVO in processing speed and large screen....but 2 things concern me....1) the reception issue and 2) the whole Wimax/LTE debate. My understanding is these phones run on wimax but what happens when they roll out LTE early 2012, will these phones be able to connect to LTE? For those of us thats going to be stuck with these for the next 2 years (unless you pay to upgrade early), we won't be able to take advantage of LTE. Some of the moderators in the Sprint forum stated they are currently working on a fix for the reception issue but no ETA on the rollout. What if no fix is rolled out until next year? I certainly don't want to be dealing with data issues that I'm paying for. What good is an unlimited data plan when your phone can't even grab data consistently.

I'm on the fence right now, hoping it gets better for me. I still have less than a month to decide. I do admit its a really awesome phone though.

It is a very alarming the situation with data and this phone. I already created a thread that my 3G connection is basically non-existent here in Orlando, FL.

With my EVO 4G, when I connected this phone to 4G, and I am crossing an area where there's no connection at all, 3G would switch right away, great 3G connection and then when 4G data was available, it would switch automatically.

Not with this phone. 4G disconnects itself and it STAYS disconnected. I have to manually disconnect 4G and re-connected again, and it's hassle to do that when it's supposed to do it automatically.

Let me ask a question to people here. Is it normal for 3G icon to have the arrow pointing down to have an "orange color" while the arrow pointing up is always green?

I mean, does that mean something? Is it searching for 3g signal? Is your phone like this?

My phone has been like that ever since I purchased it, and this Saturday my 14 days are up, and although I am not thinking to do the unthinkable (returning it), I am hoping for Sprint to send a fix for this.

Anyone?