Evo LTE serious problems or bull?

[S4GRU]

I had better results with the EVO in Wichita Falls this weekend. It's still always last to connect, but eventually will on its own. It holds between sites OK, unless you get to a very weak area. But it still won't reconnect quickly, unless you cycle.

 

Density helps a lot. Site density on the North Side of Wichita Falls is much better than the South Side. The EVO would stay connected on the North Side, until we went into really bad buildings. However. On the South Side, it would be a mad scramble of reconnect scenarios that were very frustrating.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

[digiblur]

I had better results with the EVO in Wichita Falls this weekend. It's still always last to connect, but eventually will on its own. It holds between sites OK, unless you get to a very weak area. But it still won't reconnect quickly, unless you cycle.

 

Density helps a lot. Site density on the North Side of Wichita Falls is much better than the South Side. The EVO would stay connected on the North Side, until we went into really bad buildings. However. On the South Side, it would be a mad scramble of reconnect scenarios that were very frustrating.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

How's the Note II hanging compared to the S3 and others?

 

Sent from a little old Note 2

 

 

[chamb]

I had better results with the EVO in Wichita Falls this weekend. It's still always last to connect, but eventually will on its own. It holds between sites OK, unless you get to a very weak area. But it still won't reconnect quickly, unless you cycle.

 

Density helps a lot. Site density on the North Side of Wichita Falls is much better than the South Side. The EVO would stay connected on the North Side, until we went into really bad buildings. However. On the South Side, it would be a mad scramble of reconnect scenarios that were very frustrating.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

I have been noticing my Samsung Galaxy S 3 even appears to be connecting better than it did. It always was much better at connecting and holding the connection than an EVO. But lately, I see connections happen even in poor areas and it happens quickly. I also had some streets that I just could not hold the LTE because of a weak signal, but now, the Samsung holds even a -125 connection in many areas. I think it may depend on the area and it probably is how much "noise" the phone has to deal with.

I have some areas that have NOT had any additional cell sites converted to NV, No changes to the coverage area at all. I can drive down streets that absolutely would not allow me to connect and hold. No doubt about it. But in the last week or so, I drive down these streets and the phone connects on its own and holds the signal. It may have a -120 level or worse, but it does grab and hold. Somebody done something good. Either the last phone update fixed something or the NV cell sites are doing better.

I am using software version 4.1.1

 

One comment needs to be made--- at a -120 to -125 level, the speed is going to be slow and the LTE may not even work at all. But the phone will hold on to it. It is only a matter of time until a neighbor site gets upgraded and this will fix that problem.

[Zman1369]

I am not in a metro area and lte has become very very good here. Major improvements over the last few weeks. I am in the Boston Market but on the outskirts. When Boston Market was lit up I could not believe I had lte,, I never even had wimax. Boston had wimax,, Providence had wimax,, and I was stuck in the middle with nothing. It was very frustrating.

 

EVO-LUTION 4G LTE

 

 

[S4GRU]

 

How's the Note II hanging compared to the S3 and others?

 

Sent from a little old Note 2

 

Like a champ. Equal to the GS3 in most ways. The GS3 will hold on to a slightly weaker unusable signal before getting dropped. Around -118dBm RSRP. But the Note 2 is the best Android phone at acquiring a LTE signal on its own.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 on Tapatalk

 

 

[themuffinman]

Like a champ. Equal to the GS3 in most ways. The GS3 will hold on to a slightly weaker unusable signal before getting dropped. Around -118dBm RSRP. But the Note 2 is the best Android phone at acquiring a LTE signal on its own.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 on Tapatalk

 

A few weeks ago when I was in Puerto Rico, my evo connected maintained an lte signal at -126, no toggling or anything. Needless to say I was shocked.

[Jaggrey]

Man what did you do to your phone and can I get some of that! lol.... I've seen my phone hold on to a signal that low recently. Ironically I was in the same area at another point and it didn't pick up 4g at all..... whatever.

[Fraydog]

My theory with the EVO is that Sprint screwed up by forcing changes on the design along with HTC. By putting aluminum on the back, I believe that interfered with the antenna design. That led to reduced connectivity. In contrast, the HTC One X on AT&T has no such issues. I wish that, in the future, Sprint would take on the global versions of devices with CDMA added and not bloat those devices, nor force on manufacturers dumb design decisions. Just because Sprint has the hammer of CDMA they can force on manufacturers, does not mean they should do it. It's hard enough to engineer good RF on a phone, it's better sometimes to let things ride than add complexity on the top. Now that Sprint has financial security through the Softbank deal, I would prefer they not have to bloat devices. Be the anti-bloat and anti-stupid changes American carrier. That would engender more goodwill for Sprint at a time they need it.

 

The One X and One X+ are almost perfect phones as is. What can Sprint do to improve the design? The honest answer is that they can't.

[Exzir]

Fradog, the EVO is not disconnecting due to signal loss but it chooses 3G over LTE when it should not. Even Den9696 stated once he switched to LTE only mode the signal was strong. I see very little signal differance between my phones. they all want to randomly be within 2 -bDm

[S4GRU]

One thing I noticed with the EVO LTE in my latest device testing is that in marginal signal areas the signal strength bounced around a lot more than other devices, even when not being touched. In marginal signal area, the other six LTE devices would vary roughly 2 to 3dBm while untouched and stationary. The EVO LTE would fluctuate much more. 5 to 12 dBm. And if the signal got too low...BAM, disconnect from LTE.

 

So this is my latest theory. The EVO LTE's ability to keep connected to a marginal signal is limited because of its modulation in signal strength/quality. Whether real, or just perceived by the device, I believe this signal modulation is causing the problems. That is why staying in LTE only mode would not affect the device. Because when the signal gets erratic and shoots up to -120dBm for a second or two, it doesn't handoff to EVDO. It clings to the weak unusable signal, and in a few seconds it reverts back to -112dBm.

 

Is this solvable with a software update? Maybe, maybe not. It likely is a hardware issue. Related to the radio/antenna? Maybe caused by the aluminum case with low LTE signals? Could be a combination of things. I don't know. But perhaps the software can be modified that whenever the LTE signal drops below a certain threshold, it either waits an extra second or two before handing off to 3G to see if signal quality recovers, or, if it does transition to EVDO, it automatically does a few LTE rescans and see if it can reconnect back to the LTE network. Though these may cause hard data handoffs, especially the first one, it is going to be less annoying than the LTE Connectivity issue.

 

I think I may be on to something here. Let me break my arm patting myself on the back.

 

 

Robert via Nexus 7 on Tapatalk

 

 

[kckid]

Nice job Robert!!!

[Boosted20V]

One thing I noticed with the EVO LTE in my latest device testing is that in marginal signal areas the signal strength bounced around a lot more than other devices, even when not being touched. In marginal signal area, the other six LTE devices would vary roughly 2 to 3dBm while untouched and stationary. The EVO LTE would fluctuate much more. 5 to 12 dBm. And if the signal got too low...BAM, disconnect from LTE.

 

So this is my latest theory. The EVO LTE's ability to keep connected to a marginal signal is limited because of its modulation in signal strength/quality. Whether real, or just perceived by the device, I believe this signal modulation is causing the problems. That is why staying in LTE only mode would not affect the device. Because when the signal gets erratic and shoots up to -120dBm for a second or two, it doesn't handoff to EVDO. It clings to the weak unusable signal, and in a few seconds it reverts back to -112dBm.

 

Is this solvable with a software update? Maybe, maybe not. It likely is a hardware issue. Related to the radio/antenna? Maybe caused by the aluminum case with low LTE signals? Could be a combination of things. I don't know. But perhaps the software can be modified that whenever the LTE signal drops below a certain threshold, it either waits an extra second or two before handing off to 3G to see if signal quality recovers, or, if it does transition to EVDO, it automatically does a few LTE rescans and see if it can reconnect back to the LTE network. Though these may cause hard data handoffs, especially the first one, it is going to be less annoying than the LTE Connectivity issue.

 

I think I may be on to something here. Let me break my arm patting myself on the back.

 

 

Robert via Nexus 7 on Tapatalk

 

I was just noticing this when comparing my EVO vs. my wife's SIII. The signal bounces around ALOT on the EVO.

[puch96]

I would think that there are ways that this could be corrected (if not fully corrected, improved) with some software by tweaking the threshhold levels and the algorithms when it handles transitions between 3G and 4G.... Hopefully it corrects the issue and it works with no issues. At least it would band-aid it until all the network converts to 4G. (hopefully that way it will not find 3G at all)?

[BenChase7]

My theory with the EVO is that Sprint screwed up by forcing changes on the design along with HTC. By putting aluminum on the back, I believe that interfered with the antenna design. That led to reduced connectivity. In contrast, the HTC One X on AT&T has no such issues. I wish that, in the future, Sprint would take on the global versions of devices with CDMA added and not bloat those devices, nor force on manufacturers dumb design decisions. Just because Sprint has the hammer of CDMA they can force on manufacturers, does not mean they should do it. It's hard enough to engineer good RF on a phone, it's better sometimes to let things ride than add complexity on the top. Now that Sprint has financial security through the Softbank deal, I would prefer they not have to bloat devices. Be the anti-bloat and anti-stupid changes American carrier. That would engender more goodwill for Sprint at a time they need it.

 

The One X and One X+ are almost perfect phones as is. What can Sprint do to improve the design? The honest answer is that they can't.

 

Your theory regarding the LTE connectivity issues on the EVO LTE may or may not be true however, I would not consider the increased battery capacity, kickstand, SD card slot, and physical camera button that the EVO has over the One X "dumb design decisions" that Sprint "forced" upon HTC.

[themuffinman]

One thing I noticed with the EVO LTE in my latest device testing is that in marginal signal areas the signal strength bounced around a lot more than other devices, even when not being touched. In marginal signal area, the other six LTE devices would vary roughly 2 to 3dBm while untouched and stationary. The EVO LTE would fluctuate much more. 5 to 12 dBm. And if the signal got too low...BAM, disconnect from LTE.

 

So this is my latest theory. The EVO LTE's ability to keep connected to a marginal signal is limited because of its modulation in signal strength/quality. Whether real, or just perceived by the device, I believe this signal modulation is causing the problems. That is why staying in LTE only mode would not affect the device. Because when the signal gets erratic and shoots up to -120dBm for a second or two, it doesn't handoff to EVDO. It clings to the weak unusable signal, and in a few seconds it reverts back to -112dBm.

 

Is this solvable with a software update? Maybe, maybe not. It likely is a hardware issue. Related to the radio/antenna? Maybe caused by the aluminum case with low LTE signals? Could be a combination of things. I don't know. But perhaps the software can be modified that whenever the LTE signal drops below a certain threshold, it either waits an extra second or two before handing off to 3G to see if signal quality recovers, or, if it does transition to EVDO, it automatically does a few LTE rescans and see if it can reconnect back to the LTE network. Though these may cause hard data handoffs, especially the first one, it is going to be less annoying than the LTE Connectivity issue.

 

I think I may be on to something here. Let me break my arm patting myself on the back.

 

 

Robert via Nexus 7 on Tapatalk

 

I noticed higher fluctuations with lte signal strength when compared to my gnex as well. I really don't know what can be done at this point, I mean this issue was known well before the phone was even released and here it is 6 months later with the same issues, so maybe it is a hardware issue or a combination of a few trivial things that added up to one big thing that can't get fixed with software.

[Boosted20V]

I noticed higher fluctuations with lte signal strength when compared to my gnex as well. I really don't know what can be done at this point, I mean this issue was known well before the phone was even released and here it is 6 months later with the same issues, so maybe it is a hardware issue or a combination of a few trivial things that added up to one big thing that can't get fixed with software.

 

I agree, it was known pre-launch and is still an issue. Nothing is going to change going forward or it would have been already.

[Toomuchgame441]

So dissapointing... I'm using my S3 which has perfectly working connectivity regarding Evdo and LTE. I just grabbed my Evo from off my shelf to play with and realized how much I still like the device still. If these issues would be fixed I'd jump back to it in a heartbeat (even with my S3 already running JellyBean). It's just unfortunate at this point, really appreciate everyone's input and theories.

[Exzir]

Being a programer once apon a time I feel just about any hardware problem can have a software workaround. Why not program the phone that once it drops a LTE connection to scan for reconnect every 5 secounds until the LTE scan interval picks back up.

[Boosted20V]

Being a programer once apon a time I feel just about any hardware problem can have a software workaround. Why not program the phone that once it drops a LTE connection to scan for reconnect every 5 secounds until the LTE scan interval picks back up.

 

I imagine battery life plays a part in why they don't just increase the frequency of LTE scans.

[Fraydog]

 

Your theory regarding the LTE connectivity issues on the EVO LTE may or may not be true however, I would not consider the increased battery capacity, kickstand, SD card slot, and physical camera button that the EVO has over the One X "dumb design decisions" that Sprint "forced" upon HTC.

 

The SD card should have been in all versions of the One X. The rest, not that much of a change. Sprint also insisted on an embedded SIM. Is that a positive change? You tell me. The battery capacity, again you could argue that should have been in all One X's. The One X+ increased capacity.

 

I'm just shocked people think the kickstand is that big of a feature.

[digiblur]

 

The SD card should have been in all versions of the One X. The rest, not that much of a change. Sprint also insisted on an embedded SIM. Is that a positive change? You tell me. The battery capacity, again you could argue that should have been in all One X's. The One X+ increased capacity.

 

I'm just shocked people think the kickstand is that big of a feature.

 

Never used the kickstand for anything other than making noise... Like a nervous twitch of tapping your foot.

 

Sent from a little old Note 2

 

 

[gameaddict8]

The SD card should have been in all versions of the One X. The rest, not that much of a change. Sprint also insisted on an embedded SIM. Is that a positive change? You tell me. The battery capacity, again you could argue that should have been in all One X's. The One X+ increased capacity.

 

I'm just shocked people think the kickstand is that big of a feature.

 

It's not a big feature, but useful when I want to watch youtube clips during lunch.

[Zman1369]

I use the kick stand everyday,, could not live without it. I have my evo on my desk at work and always have a movie playing in the background.. When I'm not playing a movie I have a great digital clock app that looks good on my desk. All possible because of the kickstand. Some people have no use for it and I get that.

 

EVO-LUTION 4G LTE

 

 

[neopolotin75]

One thing I noticed with the EVO LTE in my latest device testing is that in marginal signal areas the signal strength bounced around a lot more than other devices, even when not being touched. In marginal signal area, the other six LTE devices would vary roughly 2 to 3dBm while untouched and stationary. The EVO LTE would fluctuate much more. 5 to 12 dBm. And if the signal got too low...BAM, disconnect from LTE.

 

So this is my latest theory. The EVO LTE's ability to keep connected to a marginal signal is limited because of its modulation in signal strength/quality. Whether real, or just perceived by the device, I believe this signal modulation is causing the problems. That is why staying in LTE only mode would not affect the device. Because when the signal gets erratic and shoots up to -120dBm for a second or two, it doesn't handoff to EVDO. It clings to the weak unusable signal, and in a few seconds it reverts back to -112dBm.

 

Is this solvable with a software update? Maybe, maybe not. It likely is a hardware issue. Related to the radio/antenna? Maybe caused by the aluminum case with low LTE signals? Could be a combination of things. I don't know. But perhaps the software can be modified that whenever the LTE signal drops below a certain threshold, it either waits an extra second or two before handing off to 3G to see if signal quality recovers, or, if it does transition to EVDO, it automatically does a few LTE rescans and see if it can reconnect back to the LTE network. Though these may cause hard data handoffs, especially the first one, it is going to be less annoying than the LTE Connectivity issue.

 

I think I may be on to something here. Let me break my arm patting myself on the back.

 

 

Robert via Nexus 7 on Tapatalk

 

Im glad you mentioned this because I thought it was my Evo alone that was doing this. As Indianapolis has started to fill I noticed that when the signals are stronger my phone connects pretty easily to LTE but in the Fringe area it doesnt. So one day I went into debug and check out signal strength and I noticed that even being a mile awhile from the tower my signal strength fluctuated 5db or more and as Im writing this its jumping between -91 and -110 and its just sitting there.

[S4GRU]

 

Im glad you mentioned this because I thought it was my Evo alone that was doing this. As Indianapolis has started to fill I noticed that when the signals are stronger my phone connects pretty easily to LTE but in the Fringe area it doesnt. So one day I went into debug and check out signal strength and I noticed that even being a mile awhile from the tower my signal strength fluctuated 5db or more and as Im writing this its jumping between -91 and -110 and its just sitting there.

 

Fluctuations are normal. But the amount being observed in LTE mode on the EVO is definitely way above normal.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk