Anyone with the Sprint LG G2 please respond

[Largepkg]

I'm interested in purchasing the G2 when my upgrade comes up on 1/1/14. I'm with Sprint and I've read a bunch of complaints regarding the tri-band switch back problems with the G2. Apparently Sprint has an issue with the new tri-band phones and how the handle data over LTE.

I've seen a bunch of complaints on Sprints site but none anywhere else. If you're with Sprint are you have data issues or call issues that might be related to this? I'm trying to get a feel if this is a consistent issue or luck of the draw.

Thanks

 

[razvan06]

uhm... worked for Sprint a while ago for one of their depts and had no calls in regards to this issue... and we got a lot of replacement calls !

By far one of the best devices that Sprint offers !

 

[Largepkg]

It's all over the Sprint forums. Just wondering if this is a small sample size to a much larger problem or maybe just localized to tower upgrades in certain areas. Although according to the complaints it's in quite a few markets.

 

[BecomingDeath]

I don't have much to 4G in my area, but when I go into a 4G zone my G2 grabs onto it and doesn't let go.

 

[KitsapAndroid]

I haven't seen the Tri-band LTE (aka:Sparq)light up on my G2 yet, but the regular Sprint LTE works like a champ.

 

[Rxpert83]

Its all explained very well in this article here.

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/...-due-to-circuit-switched-fallback-technology/

Basically, it depends on how far along your area is with the network vision upgrades

 

[amarie82]

All tri band devices for sprint are getting the sw update in Jan to be able to use the sprint spark. I have not heard of the g2 n data issues. It could very well be a market issue with upgrades or tower work BC sprint is upgrading a lot of markets right now.

 

[Rxpert83]

If NV isnt complete in your area the issue will occur on any LTE connection. It doesn't require spark

 

[Largepkg]

Its all explained very well in this article here.

Nexus 5 and LG G2 experience temporary Sprint LTE connectivity issues due to Circuit Switched Fallback technology - Sprint 4G Rollout Updates

Basically, it depends on how far along your area is with the network vision upgrades

Thanks, I was familiar with that article. I just wanted to get a feel for how prevalent the real world problem actually was. On the Sprint forums and places like Amazon quite a few are screaming bloody murder.

I'm getting the phone from Amazon on 1/3 so I'll update the thread then with my experiences.

 

[Rxpert83]

Thanks, I was familiar with that article. I just wanted to get a feel for how prevalent the real world problem actually was. On the Sprint forums and places like Amazon quite a few are screaming bloody murder.

I'm getting the phone from Amazon on 1/3 so I'll update the thread then with my experiences.

No problem :thumbup:. The thing is it depends entirely on the area you live in. Without knowing that its hard to say anymore

 

[Largepkg]

No problem :thumbup:. The thing is it depends entirely on the area you live in. Without knowing that its hard to say anymore

I'm in S Florida. Broward county specifically. Is there a map that shows tower upgrades? I have 1-2 bars of LTE by my house but there's a lot of dead areas around Broward county. So it switches from 4G to 3G a lot. That's what scares me.

 

[ginglish]

Sprint has coverage maps on their MySprint.com. For a user perspective try. Coverage Maps for Wireless Carriers - Sensorly. They are not showing anything for Spark yet. Just 3G & LTE.

 

[Rxpert83]

I'm in S Florida. Broward county specifically. Is there a map that shows tower upgrades? I have 1-2 bars of LTE by my house but there's a lot of dead areas around Broward county. So it switches from 4G to 3G a lot. That's what scares me.

If you're a donating member at the s4gru site I linked to before, they have a map of all sprint US towers and they are color coded by how far along the network vision upgrades are. You can get a definitive answer that way of whether or not you are currently affected by the circuit switch fallback issue.

If you don't wish to go that route, I'd either walk in a sprint store in your area and ask the employees if they personally own and G2 or nexus 5 and just look to see if its connected to LTE or 3G. Or keep an eye peeled in your everyday life for those phones and strike up a convo with a stranger

 

[Largepkg]

*Update*

I received the phone on January 3 and I've been playing with it ever since. No signs of the switchback problems others are having. Like I've said before 4G LTE is spotty in my area of south Florida. I assume with the constant switching back and forth from 4G to 3G any issues would've popped up by now.

 

[Largepkg]

I just had my first run in with the switchback issue. I noticed while driving through an area that is 3G into an area that has great 4GLTE coverage the phone was hung up on 3G. It was reading 3-4 bars of 3G but I was getting the no connection error. I waited for a couple of minutes for it to switch over to 4G but it never happened. I had to toggle airplane mode on then off for it to switch over to 4G, which it did immediately.

It's only one small blip on an otherwise great phone experience so far. If it becomes persistent I'll update.

 

[stef7]

but is it a phone issue? I think it is a network issue and not unique to your device...

 

[Rxpert83]

I just had my first run in with the switchback issue. I noticed while driving through an area that is 3G into an area that has great 4GLTE coverage the phone was hung up on 3G. It was reading 3-4 bars of 3G but I was getting the no connection error. I waited for a couple of minutes for it to switch over to 4G but it never happened. I had to toggle airplane mode on then off for it to switch over to 4G, which it did immediately.

It's only one small blip on an otherwise great phone experience so far. If it becomes persistent I'll update.

If you were having the circuit switch fallback problem your phone would not connect to 4g at all.

The issue you're describing sounds like normal network vision strain on the network

 

[Largepkg]

If you were having the circuit switch fallback problem your phone would not connect to 4g at all.

The issue you're describing sounds like normal network vision strain on the network

Maybe so but I've never seen that before with any of my prior devices. It was clearly stuck on 3G (with no connection) while in a 4G area and wasn't budging. Why would the data on off toggle work if it was a strain on the network?

Again, I'm not complaining just updating the thread for those like me who might have been concerned prior to purchasing. Considering this is the only time it's happened in the week I've had the device I'd call it a non issue.

 

[Largepkg]

Also, I was under the impression the switchback issues were exactly as I described. Maybe I read it wrong? I thought the new triband phones had issues switching 3G to 4G, vice versa, as well as dropping data to receive calls and then picking data back up once the call ended. Is my understanding wrong?

 

[Rxpert83]

. Is my understanding wrong?

Its close

When I get to a computer I'll try to clear it up

 

[Rxpert83]

Okay, hopefully I don't confuse anyone more here. If I lose you somewhere along the way just let me know . Also note this is based on my understanding of the article I linked earlier. I'm no expert on this either


Background info:
Sprints Tri-band devices have only one transmission route for 2 radios: voice/3G or LTE data. Meaning you cannot have both radios communicating with the network at once.

With a fully upgraded tower, this isn’t an issue. Your phone will maintain an LTE connection, and when you receive a call, Sprints system will first ping the device through the normal voice channels, but it of course will not find it because the device is only connected to LTE. The network will then send a signal to your phone over the LTE connection telling it to disconnect from LTE and connect (fallback) to 3g/voice to take the call. This is referred to as circuit switch fallback (CSF).

Now for the less than ideal scenario...On a tower that is not upgraded with the proper equipment to support CSF, if your phone connected to LTE it would not be able to take calls, as the towers wouldn’t be able to relay the information to tell the phone to disconnect. That obviously presents a problem in that if you want to use the phone as a phone you are completely unable to do so. Sprint gets around this problem by having their tri-band devices completely ignore the LTE signal on a nonupgraded tower. You sacrifice the faster LTE data for the ability to place calls. What this means is that if you are in an area without the proper network vision upgrades, the phone will not connect to 4G at all.

My reasoning for why what you are experiencing isn’t a CSF issue:
Basically, if you are connecting to 4G, you are connected to a tower that has had the proper upgrades. If the tower was not properly equipped you would not have ever connected to LTE in the first place. CSF issues cannot be fixed by toggling airplane mode, as the device would just hop back on 3G/voice again. Thats why I previously recommended you stop by a store and see if its connected to LTE, because that alone means the towers in your area (or at least the one its currently connected to) aren't affected.


I live in an area that is not fully upgraded. On a non tri-band device (say the galaxy S3), I can pick up LTE fine. However, on a tri-band device with the same non-upgraded LTE tower the tri-band phone will only connect to 3G/voice services. The problem you are describing where the phone will have issues switching between 3G and 4G happens on a non-triband device as well. This shouldn't be related to CSF. Try updating your PRL and profile.

 

[Largepkg]

Well that clears things up a bit. Apparently all the towers in the area I operate are upgraded because I definitely have 4G in the usual areas.

On a side note. When Spark becomes available is the phone ready to pick it up out of the box? I thought I read something stating Sprint would need to send OTA updates to activate tri band devices.

 

[Largepkg]

Oh, and Thank you for clearing things up!

 

[Rxpert83]

On a side note. When Spark becomes available is the phone ready to pick it up out of the box? I thought I read something stating Sprint would need to send OTA updates to activate tri band devices.

The galaxy S4 mini, galaxy mega, and G2 were spark ready out of the box

 

[SteveO_148]

The galaxy S4 mini, galaxy mega, and G2 were spark ready out of the box

My son got the Samsung Galaxy note 3... that is not ready out of the box right? Because in my area the towers are not updated yet and he gets a 4g LTE signal.