SturgeonGeneral

I was eligible and completely fed up with my Photon Wimax so the moment I was told 720T showed up on the Sprint site, I had mine ordered. I paid the full upgrade price, but that means it has been in my hands almost two weeks now. The "T" isn't likely to be sold on any sort of sale-price kind of deal anytime soon as the updated tech within it still commands list price. Even right up to the release, Sprint wouldn't put the 720 on sale to help reduce stock levels. If they wanted to keep profits up on the old phone, you can bet they won't give away the new 720T either unless they start to spontaneously combust. I'd expect that Sprint is trying to get rid of the legacy unit via the other channels. Those consumers are more often into instant gratification / impulse buying, and are generally less informed and connected than the people that monitor places like here and know where to go in order to find the newest thing.

Another thing I am seeing about this phone is that I find myself missing direct access to the card. The photon acted as a sd card reader and you could treat it as a hard drive. The 720T acts like a phone/camera and you can't do all of the same file manipulations that you can with a hard drive. I haven't installed all of the Samsung software / drivers yet, do any of those solve that or are they just more of the same bloatware that gives more control of my device to everyone BUT me?

Dual radio - but segregated SSIDs for the different bands. I also ignore 2.4 with the phone. I have an extender on just the 5mhz band so that is probably the issue. I'd like to root but I'm not near educated or brave enough yet.

I think you misunderstand both my intentions and context. (I already own your app and keep the 1x1 widget on my main screen) My intentions are to: 1. Use the Sensorly map as a guide to know where I can hope to find a signal. 2. Use Sensorly to tell others where I found a signal so they benefit from my experiences. 3. To get the best signal that my phone is capable of. 4. To learn what I have to do in order to get that best signal. On 4, I'm talking silly things like don't cover the LTE antenna with your hand. If necessary or useful, maybe have the antenna edge of the phone facing the expected direction of the tower(s) in use, lay the phone flat, or hold it vertically, whatever it takes to match anything like an orientation or polarization, or whatever other silly obscure thing it would take to pull a slightly better signal. My concerns are not for "measuring" exact numbers that I would need lab calibrated equipment to officially determine. I'm not looking to establish or set anecdotal records, I'm looking for rule-of-thumb / middle-of nowhere "what can you do to help improve matters?" common sense sort of functionality. More appropriately, maybe I should replace "signal" with "data rate" as that is the actual prize anyone should seek. If that means using 3G, in some cases, then so be it. But if a better data rate is available wherever I find myself standing, then I want to take advantage of it. Think in terms of consistent means or getting the best performance I am capable of in any given situation. Signal check doesn't explicitly tell me "move 500 yards due east and you're likely to get a better signal" but the map on Sensorly can do that. If the data is ideally collected, the color shading helps a user figure out what can be done to improve their situation. Signal Check may help evaluate if holding the phone a specific way in my hand, or pointing the antenna a specific way in relation to the antenna, or even standing on my head or wearing a tin foil hat will all improve my signal (data rate). As for resetting connections, keep in mind that the "T" comes with 4.3 - so I'm getting "Reset failed: Root permissions required on Andriod 4.2+" ##4636# doesn't work (##debug# does) [sPRINT] No phone information option there So I haven't gotten any where following that thread so far. I'm also seeing something else slightly disturbing: Periodically my wifi loses it's connection and dumps the connection. If I tell it to reconnect, it asks for the password. If I power cycle the phone, it restores and works normally and shows that it still knows my wifi password.

What I am seeing isn't indications of a blind "max-strength" issue, it's definitely reporting signal levels. It's just roughly a "one-bar better" sort of sensitivity. It's possibly a better hardware/software/config combination, or being recorded from a large semi-tractor that sits far higher off the ground than I do and can see a tower just a bit farther away than I can. I was just looking for any advantage I could get to close in the gaps that much sooner.

I'll research how to put it into "LTE only" mode tonight after work. If you have a quick how to, I'd be able to run it on the way home.

I may have stumbled across part of my own answer this morning. I normally run Google maps/directions (overview mode) to watch and dodge traffic. I blew that off at first this morning and ran Sensorly only. Practically coming out of the driveway I picked up LTE where I hadn't before -for just a few seconds over about 50 yards distance. Is it my imagination or did I read someplace about LTE not acquiring a connection when a 3G data connection was actively transferring data? Is it possible that the traffic feed was/is delaying searches for LTE because of the data transfer? It was also just before sunrise. How much is the LTE signal affected by solar radiation interference? Sorry for the questions if they're flat out dumb, but I don't know enough to ask intelligent ones yet. -Thanks!

I assume you already know that on their coverage maps, Sensorly reports relative signal strengths in shades, or more specifically in darkness of colors that may roughly correspond to "bars". In places others report the lowest signal strengths, I often appear to get no signal, or alternatively I get LTE disconnects when I do have a connection entering from an area of stronger signal. Just looking for ideas to help improve that reception if it is at all possible. Is physical orientation of the phone important or useful at all?

Now that you have positively identified components to work with, what are the ramifications? What is good or bad about these? Compared to sensorly, I'm not seeing LTE connects until I get to places with least level 2 signal levels reported and generally that is 50%-66% success. Is that a limitation of the device or can I do anything to improve upon that?

Yep, but when I reloaded I saw it, installed the app quick, shot screens and edited. Thanks Again!

Using the debug / config screen, it calls out the MDM9615 That app worked. Thanks!

I'm not sure. The title of that thread is: "Bars Lie for LTE Signal Strength! How to determine your actual LTE signal strength" I'm looking for identification of components, not signal strength. I want to help answer these questions: What processor? What modem? Is there a needle in that haystack of a thread that will get us there? Or will I only learn how to gather information different from what we need, the hard way, and that is already available in Signal Check Pro? p.s. that thread also states this: NOTE: iPhones, LG Android devices and Triband LTE devices are not affected. They do show LTE signal accurately. Also, many Android 4.3 and later devices also show LTE signal strength accurately. This thread will become obsolete soon as all Sprint devices in 2014 will be Triband and will display LTE signal strength correctly. If you thought I was looking for signal data, for a Tri-Band question, it doesn't apply anyhow.

That was a question I was working up the courage to ask. Is there any means to get this phone to tell me all about itself? Are there any test apps or hidden screens that I can extract that data from?

What is there should be correct, I'd like to see more of the empty gaps filled in. I'm going to be asking a lot of dumb questions regarding how to find that info once I get my phone in hand.

re: exterior box photos I see the LTE B26 frequency added, I don't see any explicit mention of Spark or the 720T part number anywhere. Were there any other hints on the the box or is the Band26 / three LTE frequencies listed the only way to tell from the outside of the box? I suppose it was on the end labels or something. Mine should deliver Monday. It has tracked into the Kentucky hub with UPS tonight. 2 days via ground from there. Have you gathered any information useful to update the entry on PDADB? http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=5202&c=samsung_sph-l720t_galaxy_s4_td-lte_samsung_altius

I just received my shipping confirmation email with a UPS tracking number on it. Once that gets picked up and into UPS system tonight, I'll have an idea of when it will arrive here.

They only went on sale last night. Figure about a week before we get any performance evaluations. I won't be of much use as a reporter until triband gets more built out in my market, but I won't have to switch phones early now to take advantage of it.

Product ID Description Qty. Order Date Tracking # SPHL720TBK SAMSUNG L720T BLACK 1 2013-12-31 My sprint guy was wrong. Bought it online. Thanks for the heads up!! Tuesday release. On the EVE of a holiday. A little later than within the week after Christmas I predicted. It matched my personal predictions fairly well and everything I was given by others turned out to be rubbish. Not a Friday, or a mid-month, or even in stores yet. (You can check local store availability at the online order system) Online gets the first sales. Sprint cut it as close to their own predicted deadlines as they could, but they did it. Do you suppose store stock will arrive before our online purchases deliver? (5 business days) Figure by next Thursday. Yes, time for a new thread.

I'll be amazed if that motivates anyone to make a better phone. They don't seem to listen well and make what they want more than the market seems to demand. The market just seems to put up with it. (Note all the people here who have "settled" for right now-vs best.) Look at even this phone. They could release a phone that people want and rescue them from obsolete phones giving them a bad continuing experience, but they instead hold it back to force people to "settle" for products they already have in hand. It just amazes me.

It could very well be. In my mind, once a device is no longer sold, it's obsolete. Experience with the photon was that once they stopped selling it, they immediately stopped supporting it also. There's probably enough commonality that this may not be a problem here, why risk it? If Sprint indicates that it can't stand on it's own merits and be sold side by side as a lesser model, what does that say? We don't yet have one in hand to figure that out. That's the biggest problem with such a conversation. Apples to question marks? The vast majority of cell usage is indoors and the low band is supposed to improve structure penetration. Tri band is supposed to improve overall performance. It's all about tradeoffs until someone makes the everything phone. I have less need for simultaneous internet and talk than I have for reliable internet by itself so that's the choice I made.

I wasn't aware that you could modify a device to add a sd card and user replaceable battery. That's why I said read the thread. I don't understand why all the lg salespeople follow samsung threads and endlessly bash a device they don't understand. It has flaws. We get that. It also has features that a few of us require that the alternatives do NOT have. The detractors keep ignoring that. For a specific physical configuration, some of us can't settle. We have to wait.

G2 is missing important features this phone has - read the thread history. S5 is likely 4-6 months out for Sprint release. I'll take the first thing that suits my needs best.

The information I got tonight was that obsolete inventory appears to be too high to warrant clearance sales yet. They want to sell as many of those as possible at as high a price as possible before the other is released. The 720T actually showed up in the database for a short time and was then removed. Some sort of memo was disseminated that said it was in a delay. Expect nothing to happen until the stock on hand of the old S4 is reduced enough that they're comfortable with a clearance sale on the balance. When you see the S4 go on sale, that will be the hint that they are getting closer to a S4T release. The release date is now driven PURELY by sales of the obsolete units in stock and will be on a continuing review basis. New stock that they have on hand is being hidden from the sales staff to prevent them from advising customers about availability of the coming alternative. Sit back and relax. We're back in wait mode again. Figure two to SIX!! weeks (and potentially even longer) depending on the pace of sales and accounting's desire to turn a profit on an obsolete device. Bad news is that it allows more people to become aware of the S4T and makes it tougher to get one at release.

I'm completely confused now. That report doesn't synch to anything I had heard so far. ...of course, the more I think about it, since when does any company connected with the cellular communication industry do anything that makes sense or follows a stable / predictable schedule? How long does an upgrade process take for a smart phone? What is involved and why does it take so long that it influences choice of a day of the week for a release? If the delay in upgrade is phone-to-phone data transfer, can I do it myself? While there may be a spike, not everyone buys on release day (if they can even find out what that day actually is <grin>) - so even that doesn't make sense. Friday is still a business day -so what makes Friday any more special than any other business day if the consideration is the consumer's time schedule? You have the same business day commitments on a Friday that you do the rest of the week. As for release date, my conversation yielded that they occurred (at Sprint brick and mortar company stores) mid-week and mid-month as a rule of thumb. Generally second or third Wednesdays as I recall but that was not a slam-dunk guarantee. Some reports are that they will simply "fade in" and replace the -720 with no fanfare and no notice. Maybe the delivery I was told is for the regular stock order arrivals. What is the likely date if they follow a regular non-new phone stock delivery schedule instead of a "new product" release schedule? How does that change dates around? Also, do they ship to stores and vendors via UPS and FedEx? Could the FedUPS holiday problems affect the movement of products?

It's *very* possible and that's what I am afraid of, but hope rides on the news release that indicated they were targeting before that point. http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-debuts-samsung-galaxy-s-4-with-the-benefit-of-sprint-spark.htm Taking what they said literally, the news release was 12-10-13 and the statement was: "Sprint expects to begin delivery of Samsung Galaxy S4 (16GB) with the addition of Sprint Spark™ (enhanced LTE) to its sales channels in the next few weeks." 10+21=31 = Dec 31st, but it doesn't make any sense to me to release a phone like this on New Year's Eve. I don't see the marketing tie-in and benefit unless they think they can get (and KEEP -see below) that Christmas gift cash with the obsolete 720 instead of the new 720T. The fact that there is very little fanfare could help those paying close attention. That may get them eventual early unmolested access to the 720T before the "rest of the world" wakes up and realizes that they are finally in the pipeline and mainstream demand picks up. I think it's also potentially a huge a mistake to hold them back through the entire holiday. It should generate a HUGE number of returns of 720's for people swapping to a 720T as low / late information people realize that they were screwed out of a better phone by the holiday marketing choices and Sprint has a reputation for doing boneheaded things like that which anger customers.