Sprint needs an update to address the signal

[MattMJB0188]

I love my Evo 3D but I have noticed it doesn't do so hot in places with "Good" coverage. My buddy has Sprint and his blackberry gets 4 bars solid at my house. My EVO 3D barely gets 2 and most of the time has zero bars. Fortunately Sprint has agreed to send me an AIRAVE free and waive the monthly costs. I have read many many posts with a weak signal. I had the HTC Sensation on T-Mobile and it did the same thing. HTC obviously changed brands for their radios but they need to update it to make it stronger and more stable. Sometimes I have five bars and the next zero. It fluctuates like crazy.

 

[youngzayiles]

Hmmm Im not having those issues but why did you switch from the sensation??

 

[Wiley_11]

The bars on a phone mean pretty much nothing. What are they telling you, CDMA or EVDO strength ? I had a Pre for 2 years and had 1-2 bars the majority of the time at home, never once dropped a call and 3G worked well for the most part. So to me if someone is not dropping calls and their 3G is downloading web pages in 3-6 seconds it does not matter what the bars say. I ran 2 speakeasy speed tests on 4G on my E3D with 1 bar and got 11mb and 13mb downloads.

I would recommend to get something like "Signal Status" from the market which gives you CDMA and EVDO strength in -dBm's (the lower the # the better) to preserve peoples sanity.

 

[boe]

You may want to post here. I contacted HTC and they said they got a number of complaints about dropped calls but not enough to determine it was an issue.

evo 3d reception issues ;volume up/down and echo callers claim. needs to be fixed or using 30 day return. - HTC EVO 3D (Sprint) - Android Forums - HTC Community

I believe the inability for it to lock onto a signal may be partially responsible for the poor battery life. The Diamond on Sprint had the same issue. Two sprint phones in near proximity - one getting full bars, the other wavering between no bars and 3 bars. Some people are getting free airaves from sprint as a work around.

Here is a poll on the topic Problems... Dropped calls and no signal - PPCGeeks

 

[IAmSixNine]

The real key is are you dropping calls or have extremely slow data on CDMA?

IF so then yes you have a problem. The "bars" at the top of the screen are not a real good acurate way of determining your true signal strength. keep in mind you also have 2 signals coming in. 1 for VOICE and 1 for DATA.
I never compare devices when it comes to stuff like that unless they are the same device. Comparing an HTC to a Blackberry will net you different results all the time. You are probably right, there is probably an issue with your device but what you need to do is get an app that will tell you thru signal strength.
OpenSignal Maps is one i use. Mainly because you can get fluxuation in signal strength if you switch towers. Something CDMA happens to do often.
There used to be an app called Real Signal but i am not finding it on the market anymore. It was a great app.
I also use MobileSignal Widget.
Look for the true signal strength in decibles and go from there.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Thanks for all the replies. In my opinion HTC needs an update kind of like the one Apple issued last year to properly reflect the most accurate signal. With my AIRAVE I am getting superb voice quality and very fast 3G speeds. Like 1.20mbps down with 2-3 bars in my basement. Obviously its off lol.

 

[anon(21547)]

I have the same.problem, Sprint is sending me the Airave free

 

[Bigfire]

Another user discussed that they found in their ##3282# menu that their EVDO signal was defaulted to CDMA only. They found their data sped up to a normal 3G speed after changing to Automatic. To check what you have set, go to the phone, type in the above ##3282# select view mode>EVDO and verify 'Preferred Mode' is set to Automatic.

Now this thread is related to CDMA signal but I wonder if some menus were incorrectly set on units sent in the first couple shipments. My unit was properly defaulted to Automatic for data and I have seen typical Sprint data, which I assume is the case for my CDMA menu and why I am seeing normal signal strength for voice.

 

[Turtle#IM]

My CDMA mode is set to Automatic and I still get slow 3G speeds. Usually 30kbps - 150kbps. I am on my 3rd exchanged phone and all have same slow 3G issue. I am in Austin, TX.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Another user discussed that they found in their ##3282# menu that their EVDO signal was defaulted to CDMA only. They found their data sped up to a normal 3G speed after changing to Automatic. To check what you have set, go to the phone, type in the above ##3282# select view mode>EVDO and verify 'Preferred Mode' is set to Automatic.

Now this thread is related to CDMA signal but I wonder if some menus were incorrectly set on units sent in the first couple shipments. My unit was properly defaulted to Automatic for data and I have seen typical Sprint data, which I assume is the case for my CDMA menu and why I am seeing normal signal strength for voice.

Yeah, I checked and mine is set to automatic. Which is why I think the Evo 3D needs some kind of update addressing the radio. However, with my AIRAVE I'm pulling about 1.50-2.20mbps down which is excellent. I was less than a half of mile away from a Sprint cell site and barely could reach 1mbps down. Of course that could be for a number of reasons. It just seems its almost impossible to pull 1 mbps down. I am in love with my AIRAVE

 

[Angry Man]

The EVO 3D for whatever reason does not like being indoors. I have taken mine everywhere I had my Sprint Palm Pre and would expect the same quality of reception that I got on the Pre but that isn't the case. Places where the Pre worked fine the EVO 3D won't even get a signal. I dropped a call walking down the stairs in my own house. Sprint sent me a free AIRAVE and the rep told me that they were getting inundated with complaints about the EVO 3D and that HTC should have a fix soon. So now when I am home I am making my cell phone calls through the internet! HTC should have got this right the first time. It does not bode well for consumer confidence.

 

[ZDriver]

I love my Evo 3D but I have noticed it doesn't do so hot in places with "Good" coverage. My buddy has Sprint and his blackberry gets 4 bars solid at my house. My EVO 3D barely gets 2 and most of the time has zero bars. Fortunately Sprint has agreed to send me an AIRAVE free and waive the monthly costs. I have read many many posts with a weak signal. I had the HTC Sensation on T-Mobile and it did the same thing. HTC obviously changed brands for their radios but they need to update it to make it stronger and more stable. Sometimes I have five bars and the next zero. It fluctuates like crazy.

EVO3d was cool, but I too couldn't deal with the crappy signal, dropped calls, no EVDO. I have returned re-activated my OG EVO and have never looked back. Night and day difference. GOOD LUCK