Although we are on the same carrier Syd, albeit in different parts of the country, the first thing I noticed on the S4, across all firmwares I have used, is how much better my signal is. At my desk at home, I used to average -85dBm and 11asu and now I am getting -75dBm 19asu. The lower the -dBm and the higher the asu, the better.

Even at the one place that is known locally for its almost total lack of virtually any signal, a pub, referred to as the Twilight Zone, where I tend to carry out a lot of modem testing, I have actually managed to get a 3G signal, now and then, and not just EDGE.

Anyone wanting to check their signal, should go to... Settings > More > About device > Status > Signal strength.

On a separate note, on my SGS2 I used to pick up about 11 satellites on my phones GPS. On the S4, it is around 23 and a fix is under 10 sec's with an error of around 10ft, (3.05m). Very impressive!

 

So it looks like Syd volunteered himself as the go to guy for modems. I'm going to enjoy this

Anyway does anyone know where I can get the mga modem? I've tried the one from the link above and mobile Odin tells me the file doesn't contain the correct partition. I've tried flashing it as a .tar and .tar.md5

 

Woo hoo it wasn't just my imagination. But as its Syd I'll hang on before celebrating


As a EE customer my signal stepped up to 4G more often than before. This was tested in areas I know to usually give me drop outs or single bar 3g cons.

 

I tried the i9505DVUAMD8 modem for a few days and for me it made no difference whatsoever on Vodafone in my location. If anything, it was slightly below the MGA modem I have been using for the last few weeks.

This just goes to show that different modems behave differently for devices depending on carrier and location and that there is no such thing as, "the best", modem.

I believe that the i9505DVUAMD8 modem is from the Australian Vodafone firmware which, IIRC, operates on a different band from European phones, 1800MHz for 3G, and in my SGS2 days this was a, "T", modem!

 

IRONASS . The bringer of information you thought you didnt need to know.

 

If you're feeling cocky it's because you got no-one else to do it!

 

:nurse: Nurse! Hawker's out of bed again!

 

Don't quote me on this... but the 2G and 4G networks are the same. It is only the 3G band on Vodafone Australia that used to be different. Hence the T modems. However, I do not know enough about the S4's Australian, Vodafone, modems to say whether this would still be the case. As I mentioned, for me, the MD8 was about the same'ish as all the other S4, JB, modems I've tried. All have been pretty darned good. Unlike the S2 modems that did register a big difference in some cases.

 

This means nothing but nice to see the sudden jump in speed my 4G service has made lately.

 

Miffed at the problems encountered with the DjeMBeY release of MGG I went ahead and installed the XXUDMGG modem, for the i9505, from here, using Odin.

Early days yet, I've only had it on for around 18 hours, but so far in the locations that I have used it, the performance has been very good and possibly better than MGA/MH1. Rigorous testing will continue but well worth a try.

 

MH1 is very good, for me. If MGG is any better for Ironass I'll flash it. This given I too am on Vodafone.

 

As yet, un-tested at the Twilight Zone pub!

 

These modem files are huge (50Mb+) compared to the S2 modems (8Mb+)

I've never flashed a modem through Odin before. I assume the .md5 file must be loaded into the PDA section?

Be warned however....Its a slight worry flashing modems on the S4, as a CWM flash is not possible (as yet). This means if things go wrong, the only way back is an Odin flash of the original ROM as modems, of course, do not get backed up in a CWM backup.

 

No, no, you do yourself and ferrite posterior down Syd. Someone has to try these things.

No one has mentioned RILs yet? Are they still as important? 'Get RIL' doesn't work yet :

 

If you go to advanced backup and restore, custom backup job in Philz recovery you can backup the modem. I haven't tried this feature though so I can't say how reliable it is.

On another note has anyone managed to flash a modem with mobile Odin? They always fail for me.

 

I've soft bricked my phone at least twice with mobile Odin :-(

I'm kinda interested, what does the stock recovery have that custom recoveries are missing? As I know my brother has had several ota updates and I believe his modem has changed with the updates...

 

I've tried renaming the file before and it still doesn't work. It'll either fail or won't even let me attempt to flash because of the wrong partition or something like that.

 

I wonder if it includes a RIL, (Radio Interface Layer), package as well? :hmmmm:

PHONE old boy. :ahhhhh:

Or you could just try flashing your previous modem via Odin. (I'll get me coat! :vroam

I can tell you now dynomot... modem testing is a serious and meticulous business. It's not all beer and skittles. For a start, they don't have a skittle alley at the Twilight Zone. Partially overheard conversation between a friend of mine and a friend of her's, at the TW pub... "... we only come here so that he can get it out and play with it!"

That's worth knowing, Shotty! :thumb:

Same here. Always use PC Odin for modem flashing.

Can't answer that one sntaylor. It must be over 2 years since I used stock recovery... can't blinking well see it on the S4, anyway! :captain: