RANT: Keyboard, and where'd 3G go?!

[seanwilliams78]

RANT 1: My buddy just got his very first "smartphone." It's a very cheap Huawei (?) with horrible resolution and very few features, but it's actually several steps above the freebie/prepaid phones he was using before. His phone is a 3G phone.

My Sensation is OK doing things on 4G; but as soon as the 4G signal drops, it goes to 2G - and NOTHING works on 2G. No YouTube, no OK Cupid, no nothing that requires a network connection. It's just too slow and everything times out. However, my friend's cheap-arse Huawei can drop 3G, default to 2G, and he can sill use his internet.

What the crap?! Really? Why does his cheap phone outperform my Sensation on anything under 4G? And why does the Sensation go straight from 4G to 2G speeds...why isn't it able to connect at 3G?! Kinda makes it useless half the time as a multimedia phone if the 2G is too slow to use network applications.

RANT 2: I am just setting up my fresh refurbished unit I just received. I'm entering my account info, and the keyboard already has a mind of it's own. For example...I press something on the left side of the keyboard, and it registers as if I just "facerolled" and mashed a bunch of buttons nowhere near the one I actually pressed.

Does anyone know if I need to send this 2nd unit back and get a 3rd refurbished unit?! Or is there a way around this?

Any info on either matter is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[wkj]

I'm currently looking into switching to T-mobile and have done a lot of research. Here is what I've found so far. Don't take this as gospel as I have not experienced this first hand.

TMo 4G is really an enhanced 3G (HSPA+). The radios on 4G phones can differentiate between "4G" and 3G, but the little indicators (icons on status bar) cannot. Thus, even though you have a 3G signal, the icon still shows 4G. When you drop to 2G (Edge) a new icon will show on the status bar.

3G phone radios cannot access "4G" signals and thus only show 3G icons in the status bar.

As to why 2G is so slow is a good question. I was sitting with a buddy of mine at work and was checking out his new Galaxy S. The signal was really touchy where we were and I watched his phone go instantly from 4G to Edge and it crawled when it did. Also, his 4G indicator never showed 3G.......either 4G or Edge. Only way to tell what speed you are at is with an app (Speedtest).

Anyone can correct me and probably will...........LOL

wkj

 

[danperde]

I'm currently looking into switching to T-mobile and have done a lot of research. Here is what I've found so far. Don't take this as gospel as I have not experienced this first hand.

TMo 4G is really an enhanced 3G (HSPA+). The radios on 4G phones can differentiate between "4G" and 3G, but the little indicators (icons on status bar) cannot. Thus, even though you have a 3G signal, the icon still shows 4G. When you drop to 2G (Edge) a new icon will show on the status bar.

3G phone radios cannot access "4G" signals and thus only show 3G icons in the status bar.

As to why 2G is so slow is a good question. I was sitting with a buddy of mine at work and was checking out his new Galaxy S. The signal was really touchy where we were and I watched his phone go instantly from 4G to Edge and it crawled when it did. Also, his 4G indicator never showed 3G.......either 4G or Edge. Only way to tell what speed you are at is with an app (Speedtest).

Anyone can correct me and probably will...........LOL

wkj

Sadly, this is very true.

 

[seanwilliams78]

Thank you for the reply. I remember learning a while back that TMO uses an enhanced "3g" network touted as "4g." I never read too much into it though, seeing as how (a) I don't believe buzzwords and marketing hype much and (b) if their speed wasn't comparable to the others, I'm sure there would have been a lawsuit by now preventing them from advertising it as a "4g" network.

My buddy's phone is a Huawei Comet - $25 from Metro PCS. What I can't figure out is why his $25 phone is faster at surfing the internet at 2G speeds than my $500 phone.

Does TMO have any plans to expand/enhance their network speed since AT&T bought them?

 

[danperde]

Thank you for the reply. I remember learning a while back that TMO uses an enhanced "3g" network touted as "4g." I never read too much into it though, seeing as how (a) I don't believe buzzwords and marketing hype much and (b) if their speed wasn't comparable to the others, I'm sure there would have been a lawsuit by now preventing them from advertising it as a "4g" network.

My buddy's phone is a Huawei Comet - $25 from Metro PCS. What I can't figure out is why his $25 phone is faster at surfing the internet at 2G speeds than my $500 phone.

Does TMO have any plans to expand/enhance their network speed since AT&T bought them?

One thing that can greatly affect the speed it's how busy the network is. If you live in a big city, T-Mobile can have thousands of users using the same cell towers at the same time. I don't know how many users you can find on MetroPC . Another thing...T-Mobile is not yet acquired by ATT, there are 2 big lawsuits in place, filed by Department of Justice and Sprint. More on that, here and here.

 

[aNYthing24]

Like others have said - T-Mobile's 4G network is just enhanced 3G (HSPA+). That's why there is no differentiation. In fact, you might be in area where they have not rolled out HSPA+ and it will still show 4G connectivity.

About the keyboard, maybe you should do a factory reset before setting up your phone the way you actually want it. It might help.

On T-Mobile expanding their network - it has a better chance of happening if the deal falls through. If the deal goes through, AT&T is rumored to sell up to 25% of T-Mobile to calm down the FCC and the DoJ. Obviously you'll get coverage for free in an area where there is AT&T service but no T-Mobile service - but it will only be up to EDGE speeds. AT&T plans to use T-Mobile's AWS spectrum - which T-Mobile uses for HSPA+ - to further the roll out of their LTE network. The HTC Jetsteam, AT&T's first LTE device that isn't a modem, actually has compatibility for the 1700 MHz band which, of course, is AWS. If the deal does not go through - AT&T owes T-Mobile $6B - $3B in cash, $2B in spectrum, and $1B in roaming agreements. They can use that money/spectrum to build out their network and hopefully roll out LTE themselves. Hope that explains everything.