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So... I got one

ajdroidx

Android Expert
Oct 8, 2011
2,816
993
Colorado
Early last week, I decided to try try again with a nexus device. My original Galaxy Nexus never worked right, even though the person who has it now says other wise, so I guess its all good :) it may have been just a verizon signal issue in my area. But what ever.

I picked up an N7 last year, it gave up the ghost a while later. So, after a couple months, I grew tired of the larger 7" tabs and decided to try the HSPA version N7 and ordered it. The thing was a total fail for me, battery drain like crazy, on, off, wifi, airplane mode what ever, it drained battery. I should have RMAed the thing but by the time I got around to getting it checked out, it was past the return window and I did not have the funds on file for a hold while a replacement was sent out. I gave the thing to my sister. She can use it as a lap warmer in the winter :rolleyes:

I am still with out a nexus device, getting sick of messing around with huge roms or skinned OSes, I figured I would try the N4, suspecting I would have the same issues and I could always return it. Well, I got the device, it sat for over 3 days powered on, on wifi (no sim card inserted) slowly discharging the battery at a normal rate (very slow then its larger brother). I got around to unlocking the bootloader last night, pushing TWRP and having TWRP root the thing since I forgot to download the SU app before unlocking the bootloader.

This morning, I spent some time updating the apps, downloading more, my usual ones and getting it set up after a full charge last night. The battery still seems in good shape, but once again, over wifi only and no sim card. So, that is my next step.

I am thinking of finding a prepaid t-mo sim card to try them out before adding the device to my family plan. Whats more is, my mom and sister seem to be interested in the device from their S3s as well.

My device right now is a note 2 and while it is a nice device, the power button is messed up (yes, I could do a warranty claim (I was smart enough not to insure this thing... :rolleyes) it would be rejected because of visible nicks and chips from taking a couple spills.

The N4 feels pretty solid, almost like a brick compared to the Sammy devices. I love the fact I can do pretty much what ever I want to with the thing and very easily at that (I unlocked the bootloader and flashed TWRP manually to the device with a mac!).

The size and feel of the thing compared to the note 2 is very different. The note seems to "get in the way of itself" at times due to its size. And I do have accidental button presses on the note as well at times.

The 16gb is not a huge issue, I can drop box if need be, but the HSPA speeds may cause a bottle neck for me because when I am out storm chasing or observing the weather, I do upload maps and photos and download radar data on the fly.

This is turning into a novella :p
So, yeah, so far the N4 seems to be pretty good. I got more testing to do with it, but I am still a bit gun shy after the last few nexus devices I have used.
 
Just an update, if anyone is interested.

I borrowed an AT&T sim card from my moms phone (Galaxy S3) and used it in the N4 today. I did notice a few issues however, big ones for me.

First the good:
Battery life seemed good, but typical slowish use day.
Call quality seemed great. People on the other end said I sounded way better then with the note II I have.
The HSPA+ speeds (not sure what they where, unable to test them - see below) where decent for web pages and twitter and such.

The issues:
I could not get my radar maps (pykl3) to load over the network. Tried several times. The maps did load on my note 2, so not sure what was going on. At the most, I got a black screen with cities / counties, roads, but no radar images at all.

I also have NOT been able to use the speedtest.net app to see what my data speeds are. All it does is ping which gives me around 200ms then it sits there. I tried a few different servers and nothing.

Once I got home and on wifi, I was able to get pykl3 to load up radar images and was able to run speedtest.

Any ideas?

I can try to use a different radar provider (radarscope) if need be or try a t-mobile sim card and prepaid plan, but if I can't get radar, this makes the device useless to me :(
 
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Finally got the radar maps to download over hspa but when running speed test I kept getting a ping followed by network communication issues.

Also noted cycling of the hspa icon from 2 bars to nothing over and over again. I am sitting in one spot. It's the galaxy nexus on Verizon all over again.

Could the issue be the sim card I yanked from the s3?
 
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It's likely that you ping time is quite high showing high latency. When the download is suppose to connect, does it show H or H+ above your signal bars? Often times if it's only H it shows that there's no download commencing. I had the same problem with the app from time to time when running speed tests on HSPA, but not when I'm on LTE. It's not the device, it's how the app works using HSPA.
 
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Web pages loaded quickly with the AT&T sim card, twitter and tapatalk were respectable. I never seen the thing drop to edge or anything, just cycle through 1-2 bars to nothing even showing the up down icons at times.

My note 2 right next to it (on 4g though) hit over 17mbps. The nexus = Data connection problem.


I guess this is what's to be expected for trying to save some money and go off contract. The idea was to use the sim card out of my note 2 which is having issues.

Sorry for ranting. I just seem to been having a string of bad luck with things lately.
 
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Finally got the radar maps to download over hspa but when running speed test I kept getting a ping followed by network communication issues.

Also noted cycling of the hspa icon from 2 bars to nothing over and over again. I am sitting in one spot. It's the galaxy nexus on Verizon all over again.

Could the issue be the sim card I yanked from the s3?

To fix the speedtest you have to tweak your APN. I had the same issue when I got mine and put in my att sim.

APN Settings:
Name: AT&T HSPA+
APN: pta (NOTE: IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN LTE PLAN, CHANGE THIS TO "PHONE")
Proxy: Not set
Port: Not set
Username: Not set
Password: Not set
MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
MMS Proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net MMS
port: 80 (NOTE: IF MMS ISN'T WORKING, CHANGE THIS TO "8080")
MCC: 310
MNC 410
Authentication type: Not set
APN type: default,admin,fota,mms,supl,hipri
APN protocol: IPv4/IPv6
APN roaming protocol: IPv4/IPv6 Bearer: Unspecified

This is not from me, I got it off the web so I take no credit.
 
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When you do a speed test..doesn't it download like a 10mb file...

About a 6mb file (I thought it was one!) 6 x 4 = 24mb which is about what I used. Total shock. I pulled the card out and sat it on my table. Going to just add the device to my family plan on AT&T.

Ironic that I got faster speeds in my driveway when I got home then when I was out. At least I got a t mo sim card. Maybe I will try again later.
 
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About a 6mb file (I thought it was one!) 6 x 4 = 24mb which is about what I used. Total shock. I pulled the card out and sat it on my table. Going to just add the device to my family plan on AT&T.

Ironic that I got faster speeds in my driveway when I got home then when I was out. At least I got a t mo sim card. Maybe I will try again later.


Didn't they have some unlimited plan you can get through Walmart for about the same price?
I had t-mobile many ears ago, I stuck with them through 3 name changes. But I had to go because they just did not have the cell coverage in my area. (This was before data)
 
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