Jump to content

Galaxy S5 3G to LTE Hand Off Issue


atg284

Recommended Posts

This is still happening on my S5. Has there been a fix issued yet? This is getting old. LTE discovery is great for power cycling the radio. But this should not be happening, let alone in 2014. Anyone?

 

Unfortunately, this isn't really something to be 'fixed'. When the phone is on 3G it cannot 'see' the LTE network and thus must wait for the LTE scan timer to scan for and connect to LTE. There's no way to have the network tell the phone to hand-up to LTE (like eCSFB is a way for the network to tell the phone to hand-down to 1x). If you're in an active data session over 3G (streaming music, etc.), the phone waits even longer to scan for LTE. In the future, when LTE is more prevalent and deployed on B26 everywhere, perhaps scan timers can be much shorter, as if someone has lost LTE, it's probably not for very long .

 

I would recommend that the phone uses something like exponential backoff like on ethernet connections but for scan times. The first scan comes very quickly after you lose LTE (because in many cases it was just temporary, like in an elevator), and the scan times drop off to scanning very infrequently the longer you're without it. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seeing this with my g3 also. When I first got it, nearly every time I would go to Sylacauga, AL...my phone would hit LTE almost immediately.  Now, I can go spend 30 minutes in town and not get LTE at all. The connection opt is turned on, but it doesn't pick up like it used to when I'm near the tower that broadcasts LTE (there's only 1 in town of the 4 that are Sprint).

 

I'm hoping once the 4th tower gets turned on, I get native coverage at home and the LTE picks up good...however, this particular tower isn't even on the maps in the sponsor areas here, I was actually told about the tower by a corp store, and when I went to the GPS location he told me of the supposed tower, there it is.. It's not broadcasting anything right now, no service at all from that one..but he said it's supposed to be up within 6 months (from july).

 

I'm guessing the hold-up in my area is what to do with the ground-mount towers, because there are a CHUNK of them here.

I actually don't know if they've started doing LTE on the GMO towers yet in my area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would adjusting the LTE timer from 30 to a lower setting help? I'm not talking some crazy low setting just maybe set it to 15 from 30. Honestly this really pisses me off that Sprint's network is doing this. The S5 is a flagship phone and them selling it in 2014 knowing it would be on 3g isn't right. So basically until the towers in my area are upgraded, I am stuck without auto switching networks? Let alone the entire state? I don't want to be a dick but come on.

Edited by jarablue
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would adjusting the LTE timer from 30 to a lower setting help? I'm not talking some crazy low setting just maybe set it to 15 from 30. Honestly this really pisses me off that Sprint's network is doing this. The S5 is a flagship phone and them selling it in 2014 knowing it would be on 3g isn't right. So basically until the towers in my area are upgraded, I am stuck without auto switching networks? Let alone the entire state? I don't want to be a dick but come on.

Even when the network is completely upgraded, the network can't automatically switch you from 3G to LTE. There's no way to 'teach' 3G about the existence of LTE. The answer is denser LTE deployment and faster scan times.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How can I increase the scan time? What would be the best interval? And how can I get my MSL code without calling sprint or rooting my device?

 

Thanks! :)

Last question, what is the hierarchy of the lte and spark bands?

At this time, there is no reliable way to change the LTE scan timer on triband phones short of modifying the radio firmware itself.

 

The other information is available in the FAQ but in short:

 

Band 41 - High capacity and high frequency. Sprint has a lot of B41, and so will prioritize phones to camp on it as much as possible. It doesn't propagate as far as B25 (1900 MHz) and B26 (800 MHz). Sprint has as much as 160 MHz of B41 spectrum in many markets.

 

Band 25 is the bread and butter LTE band for Sprint that it deployed on its nationwide G-block PCS spectrum in a 5x5 configuration. This is now saturated and needs to be rescued by B41.

 

Band 26 is being rapidly deployed in Sprint's footprint. It is a lower band and thus propagates better. It will likely be a band of last resort, the network will only let you on it if you are out of range of the other two bands or perhaps if B25 is over capacity.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So the only way to adjust the lte scan timer is through the radio firmware? I thought someone on here posted that you need to get the MSL from sprint and there way a way to do via dialing a ## number and adjusting the settings there. No?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Posts

    • Was able to install the March 1 Android security patch. Seems slightly more accurate with 5g ca band id, but can not swear by it. Updated google play system update through the software information screen to March 1. *#73# still works. Froze updates waiting on SCP update beta to fix n41 showing as n38.
    • Just installed it. Thanks for the info.  71 mb mar 1st date.
    • There's a permit for a new 47 story building at 205 Montague St in Downtown Brooklyn. The problem is that  T-Mobile eNB 48352 is on the building next door and this new building will block two out of 3 sectors of the site. For reference, the new building will be roughly as tall as 16 Court St which is right across the street. This site is the primary site covering Cadman Plaza so I wonder what the plan is. Will they just try to change sector placement, move to a different building, or will this just speed up the conversion of the Sprint site at 25 Monroe Place?
    • At least not recently.  I think I might have seen this a year ago.  Not Sure.
    • Did they previously hop between n38 and n41 in prior version of SCP, or have you always seen n41 displayed properly?
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...