Why isn't my 3G data working (Sprint MVNO Ting)?

[DC_73]

Problem has been resolved. See final post below.

I am unable to get 3G data on my new phone.

Last week I activated a new Moto X Pure Edition on the Sprint network via MVNO Ting. The phone appeared to activate just fine. Voice, text, LTE, Wi-Fi, and 1x data are all working without any obvious issues. Phone is pure stock.

3G data is not working. If I set Preferred Network Type to "LTE (recommended)", mobile data works on LTE but if I travel to an area that has not yet been upgraded to LTE, it will not drop back to 3G. Further, if I choose 3G as the Preferred Network Type regardless of whether the phone is connected to an LTE tower or a non-LTE tower, I get no data connection. Same for Global - no 3G connection.

If I choose "1x" as the Preferred Network Type (whether in an LTE area or not) then the phone will establish a data connection. The phone reports this connection as 3G in the status bar but the speed is so slow that the connection is basically unusable.

I've done a carrier wipe, updated the device config (profile) and updated the PRL, all several times. Nothing changed. I've also done a factory reset which also did not help. I did not have any issues with my Nexus 5 which the MXPE replaced. I have since reactivated the Nexus 5 with a new number while troubleshooting this problem and it reactivated just fine. No issues at all.

Questions:

1) SignalCheck Pro reports that mobile data is "unregistered" when trying to get 3G data. Is registration of 3G data tied to the SIM card or to the MEID of the phone? Trying to determine if the registration problem lies with the SIM, the phone, or the network.

2) Why would I be able to get a 1x data connection but not 3G?

3) Ting is suggesting network problems may be playing a part but I'm not sure as the problem has persisted through several cities around west Texas and eastern New Mexico and throughout Lubbock TX which has many cell towers. Is there any way this could be a network issue?

4) Ting wants to manually program the phone but we've not been able to do so. Ting's system shows the MSL as 000000 but that doesn't work to access the manual programming screens. We've also tried 123456. Does anyone know how to find the correct MSL code and/or how to access the manual programming screens?

5) Is anyone else with a MXPE having issues with 3G data?

Thanks,

DC

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

Welcome to Android Central! Although that's a CDMA phone, are there APN settings you can check? https://help.ting.com/hc/en-us/articles/205428698-GSM-Android-APN-Settings

 

[DC_73]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

Thanks but I don't have those menu choices on the CDMA phone. I think that's why Ting wants to access the manual programming screens. We swapped SIMS to make sure it wasn't a SIM problem but still no 3G.

DC

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

Does the phone show up when you check the MEID/IMEI? https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...=https%3A%2F%2Fting.com%2Fbyod&token=Lyc9q1am

Also, have you read through this thread? https://help.ting.com/hc/communitie...-use-a-Moto-X-Pure-Edition-on-Ting-with-CDMA-

 

[DC_73]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

It did show up just fine when I first activated. Now the BYOD link shows the phone is already activated. And yes, I've read through that thread. Participated in it actually.

DC

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

Ah durnit. Sorry, that's about all I got. Hope you find the answer!

 

[DC_73]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

Update. After two Moto X PE phones, numerous factory resets, much research and testing, there is now a work around to this problem. The problem does not appear to impact any phones on the big 4 networks. It only impacts phones on a Sprint MVNO. There are now known eHRPD issues with Sprint and their MVNOs. The work around solution is to disable eHRPD. Supposedly, Sprint is working on changes to eHRPD that may resolve the issue permanently. Thanks to Ting for their persistence in helping to resolve the issue.

DC

 

[Ry]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

Updating thread title to reflect Sprint MVNOs and Ting.

 

[Dom12]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

I have a MXPE on Ting's CDMA network as well. I am in LTE range most of the time, so I haven't noticed yet whether 3G works, but how would I disable eHRPD if I need to?

From a quick search, it looks like eHRPD basically handles some transitioning details when moving from LTE to 3G. In your research and discussions with Ting, did you find out how it is supposed to benefit performance? Did you get the impression that this is a problem exclusive to the MXPE?

 

[DC_73]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

I have a MXPE on Ting's CDMA network as well. I am in LTE range most of the time, so I haven't noticed yet whether 3G works, but how would I disable eHRPD if I need to?

From a quick search, it looks like eHRPD basically handles some transitioning details when moving from LTE to 3G. In your research and discussions with Ting, did you find out how it is supposed to benefit performance? Did you get the impression that this is a problem exclusive to the MXPE?

There is a dialing code to enter the engineering screen to get to the menu for disabling eHRPD. I am not sure of the dialing code because I have an app called SignalCheck Pro that gives me access to those engineering and data screens. Once you access the menu, you'll have to enter the MSL code to make changes. It should be 000000 (6 zeros). I think the dialing code may be something like: *#*#DATA#*#* (*#*#3282#*#*).

If I understand what I'm reading about eHRPD, it is a software overlay that allows for a smooth hand off between EVDO and LTE. Without eHRPD, you may have a suboptimal connection if the 'MSC' Switch is overloaded. What eHRPD does is to route you to another connection and avoid this potential disruption.

Yes, I think this problem is exclusive to MXPE phones. My Nexus 5 doesn't have this issue and I found no other phones with the same issue. I had reported the problem to Motorola when I replaced my first MXPE and then I updated them with this work-around solution just this morning.

DC

 

[DC_73]

Re: 3G Data Not Working

Another Update: I now have a feel for what issues to expect with eHRPD disabled.

After disabling eHRPD, I thoroughly tested the phone as best I could in this LTE area. I determined that 3G data and LTE were both working fine with eHRPD disabled. That is, until I went to a basketball game with 15,000 of my closest friends.

While at the game I found LTE to be sluggish and overall performing poorly compared to 3G data. I then re-enabled eHRPD and the problem with LTE went away and it returned to performing better than 3G. So, given all the people with cell phones in close proximity at the basketball game it appears the network was congested and in that instance, LTE required eHRPD to best handle all the traffic.

The bottom line is that if you disable eHRPD to get 3G data working on these phones, you'll likely have to re-enable it if using LTE when the network is congested.

Don't forget to power cycle the phone after changing the status of eHRPD.

DC

 

[Dom12]

Interesting, thanks for the update. Fortunately I've got pretty good LTE coverage here, but I'm definitely gonna save this thread to reference if I'm in an area with no LTE coverage.

..hopefully they'll get it fixed tho, and I won't have to worry about it!

 

[DC_73]

Final followup. Earlier this month Sprint released some changes to the way eHRPD handoffs are working and that resolved my issue. My Moto X PE now works as it should with no workarounds.

DC

 

[Sgooter]

That's good news! Thanks for the update.