Won't stay connected to 4G lte

[AC5TF]

Well, this may throw a bit of a wrench into the current working theories...
I bought myself the RS988 from B&H Photo. After reviewing for a week, I decided it was a great phone for the price, so ordered another for my wife. Both phones are running Nougat, but mine holds 4G all day long and hers periodically loses it. We had hers at the ATT store last night. They burned us a new SIM and that seemed to fix the issue; however, this morning she woke up to no 4G and had to reset the phone. When it drops to 3G, it will not allow her to send or receive photos via text. Annoying!

 

[snowplease]

Well, this may throw a bit of a wrench into the current working theories...
I bought myself the RS988 from B&H Photo. After reviewing for a week, I decided it was a great phone for the price, so ordered another for my wife. Both phones are running Nougat, but mine holds 4G all day long and hers periodically loses it. We had hers at the ATT store last night. They burned us a new SIM and that seemed to fix the issue; however, this morning she woke up to no 4G and had to reset the phone. When it drops to 3G, it will not allow her to send or receive photos via text. Annoying!

Actually, for me, that ices it that while it might be related to the Android 7 update, it must be a hardware flaw in some phones. (There was one other person with the same problem, sent it back for warranty service, and said that fixed the problem.) So, that's enough for me to bite the bullet, set up a temporary replacement phone, and send mine in for warranty service as well. So, at least for me, that is not throwing a wrench into things, thanks! (I think that the dropping/missing band 17 may be a related problem, but I don't think it is at the core of my problem. If you want to "test" those theories, though, you could certainly put LTE discovery or whatever it is on both of your phones and see if they're grabbing different bands, etc.)

But yes, annoying to say the least. Lucky I like the phone in pretty much every other way!

 

[AC5TF]

Snowplease, I am not 100% convinced of the hardware problem just yet. Something I forgot to mention, we originally assumed it had something to do with the cutting of her SIM card to fit the nano-SIM slot, so had ATT burn us a new one. Replacing the SIM actually seemed to make the 4G a lot more stable. All yesterday evening, after replacing the SIM, she had 4G. This morning, she had an H displayed, so did a restart and has had 4G ever since.

 

[AC5TF]

A quick follow-up on this topic: A gentleman by the name of Dejan Radosavljevik ran some tests and authored and article on the
problems associated with cutting micro-sims into nano-sims. Dejan, who was Senior Data Scientist for T-Mobile in the Netherlands at the time, stated that the following problems could occur as a result:
Frequent coverage loss, reduced coverage, no 4G while in a strong 4G area, call drops, slow internet due to unstable connections, and battery drain due to increased network searches.
My wife's G5 has been working very well since ATT burned us a new nano-sim!

 

[hohey22]

I'm having a problem with my new lg g5. Basically, it won't stay on 4g. In an area with fine 4g signal, at some point it drops down to 3g ("H") and stays there. If I go into airplane mode and back, or restart, or go into the network settings, it goes back to 4g for a while, then reverts to H. Help!!??!!

It's a new lg g5, the unlocked version, on AT&T, on Nougat. I moved over my old SIM card and had AT&T activate the phone.

Hey, I also have this issue on my LG G4 H811 T-Mobile unlocked. I've posted this everywhere but get NO RESPONSES! This exact same issue happens to me on two of these phones. I'm using them on TracFone via AT&T. When placing a call, the signal drops back to 3G, and stays there until a reboot or toggling network settings. This also happens whenever I leave 4G LTE coverage temporarily, my phone will never return to LTE. This never happened on my LG G3, I had an AT&T version and an unlocked T-Mobile one, both worked flawlessly. When using LTE Discovery app, I also don't seem to be connecting that often to Band 17, like I did on my G3. I usually stay stuck on band 2. The G4 supports bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 12. AT&T now broadcasts band 17 on band 12, and there are plans to extend it to band 13 which Verizon uses. I'm running the latest 20x marshmallow firmware on them, and still see these issues with a custom ROM, be it Marshmallow, Nougat, or LineageOS based ROMs.

 

[whocares82313]

Welcome to Android Central! Which model number is it? AT&T uses bands 2, 4, 5, and 17, of which 17 is the mainstay. If your model number is H820, H830, or VS987, then band 17 support isn't available, and you're relying on the other bands which might not be as strong.

LG G5 - Full phone specifications
Cheat sheet: which 4G LTE bands do AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint use in the USA?

I bought a brand new LG G5 RS988 (Factory Unlocked) in July. Everything worked, and then Nougat was pushed out. Once I loaded it with Nougat, I immediately ceased connecting to LTE Band 17, which my network (Cricket) uses. I can still get service via LTE Bands 2 and 4, but we have a piece of family property where the only service available is via LTE Band 17.

Around the same time I bought my wife a new ZTE Axon 7 Mini. She is rocking Android 7.1 and gets full LTE Band 17 connectivity. My in-laws have much older, crappier phones and both get LTE Band 17.

I bought the G5 due to the fact it is advertised as being LTE Band 17 capable. Seriously. There are a few other phones I was considering. One or two didn’t have LTE Band 17 antennas, and I took them off my list. One that I should have gotten instead was the Motorola G5 Plus. Seriously should have pulled the trigger on that one. But, I wanted to avoid a Chinese – Lenovo phone.

Now, after contacting LG numerous times and being told I can turn it in for repair, only for it to be sent back to me on Nougat (meaning no LTE Band 17), I have a paper weight while away at the property with family. Its quite a shame seeing I have the most technologically advanced phone out of the group.

I was told LG was working on an update. Looks like that update was a security update only. No help to me.

Now I have to wait to see if Oreo, if we ever get it, will fix my issue.

I have checked all my settings. Done numerous resets and factory restores, etc. I have contacted Cricket. I have searched online for answers. I am not the only one with LTE Band 17 connectivity issues.

I wish LG would stand by the product and service and admit there may be an issue, and try and push an update to fix it. Should be a simple fix. Nougat killed LTE Band 17. Should be a simple re-write to have the software turn it back on.

Wont be going back to LG. Will likely end up upgrading shortly to a competitor. If it weren’t for the LTE Band 17 death………………. I am pretty happy with the phone. But, when I cant even check an email………………with a former flagship phone………… something is off.

 

[hohey22]

I might have finally found the cause and solution of this issue. It seems that AT&T only allows whitelisted phones on their LTE network, if they're unrecognized or unlocked, they are unknown and limited to GSM HSPA/HSPA+. Some workarounds are to first activate your phone on an AT&T branded phone then swap the SIM to a phone of your choice. I've heard you can also contact AT&T and ask them to add your phone to an LTE whitelist (first explain the issue). This has happened on several flagship phones like OnePlus, Nexus, Huawei, and unlocked variants. This would make sense, as I activated my AT&T SIM (through TracFone) on an LG G3 VS985 (Verizon model) which at least supports LTE bands 2 and 4. I also recall I seldom ever got LTE unless it was a fresh reboot, and again calling dropped me down to 3G but I assumed it was because it was a Verizon variant. Three months later I switched to the LG G3 D850 AT&T variant and remember I always had LTE even after dialing. I upgraded to the LG G4 H811 unlocked, and noticed the LTE dropping again. At this point I thought it was a hardware failure but then now I see this is an actual limitation set by AT&T. I then upgraded to the LG G5 RS988 with this same exact LTE dropping issue. By then I switched to Verizon through TracFone, and my MEID was denied and marked incompatible, even though Verizon's site said my "LG G5 RS988 Unlocked" phone was compatible on their network, as a last resort I tried the IMEI and activation proceeded. I have the same issues with the LTE dropping here as before on AT&T's towers though not always. Again this leads me to believe that both AT&T and Verizon highly limit access to their network and LTE especially for non-carrier phones. Maybe my MEID needs to be added to Verizon's whitelist now.

It has been successful for AT&T users on the OnePlus, Nexus, and Huawei to call in AT&T, go through several uninformed reps, and finally reach a higherup tech to "add" the IMEI to their whitelist which can take 2-3 weeks to take effect (achieve full LTE support).

I will update with my success (if any) with TracFone and see what they can do, I may have to go back to the AT&T towers and SIM.

Sources:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oneplus/comments/4ujtc5/tech_supporthowtoget_lte_on_att

https://www.reddit.com/r/ATT/comments/4sonx1/unlocked_lg_g5_rs988_wont_connect_to_lte_only

https://www.reddit.com/r/ATT/comments/5hxann/not_getting_4glte_on_att_in_the_us_with

https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/need-advice-going-to-at-t-store-to-fix-lte-problems.54445

 

[cncb]

Unfortunately, it seems they still have not resolved this. I just bought a new RS988 to use with Cricket, updated all the software because I was unaware of this issue, and have the exact same problem of it periodically getting "stuck" on 3G. I contacted LG support and received a pretty worthless response as expected. It seems they won't even entertain the thought that they messed this up with a software update.

Is there any hope that the Oreo update will "accidentally" fix this? I was already considering switching to Verizon before I purchased this phone. Do we think that this issue won't be present on Verizon? Thanks.

 

[mikey1273]

I am using my rs988 on cricket in Pennsylvania. I did have some issuse when Nougat first rolled out and I was under the one year warranty. I had a few conversations with LG support and emails. Sent them some screen shots of what the phone was doing. And that it was in my case an issue with band 17. It would connect if I rebooted and with in 10 minutes it would loose the lte band 17 connection and if no other bands were strong enough drop to HSPA which is 3.5G. I also sent logs and screen shoots from the app LTE discovery as proof. Lg took the phone back to the repair depot. When I got it back it was the same phone and they had whiped it to factory and done whatever else to it. So being it was Marshmallow again I set it up on wifi only, not inserting my sim card yet. Installed all the updates and software, put in my Cricket sim and its been working fine since.

I also have been emailing them about 6 months with mo security update and about Oreo upgrages.

 

[TooTH-PiCK]

I'm having a problem with my new lg g5. Basically, it won't stay on 4g. In an area with fine 4g signal, at some point it drops down to 3g ("H") and stays there. If I go into airplane mode and back, or restart, or go into the network settings, it goes back to 4g for a while, then reverts to H. Help!!??!!

It's a new lg g5, the unlocked version, on AT&T, on Nougat. I moved over my old SIM card and had AT&T activate the phone.

I found a workaround for this. You can lock the G5 to a certain band in the hidden service menu. I haven't tested calling with this setting but some say it works only on data. I never use voice so it's a fine solution for me:

Here are steps I use to lock it on LTE. I do have to redo this if it reboots:

---Open the dialer and punch in number below (cannot copy/paste or set it as contact, must be typed)
*#546368#*988#
change the last 3 numbers "988" to your model of LG G5. For example, I'm using the RS988 so I entered "988".

---When the service menu appears, go to FIELD TEST -> MODEM SETTING - > RAT SELECTION -> LTE ONLY.

---All done! If it can't get an LTE signal, it will just stay disconnected instead of switching to 3G.

*** Be very careful in that servicemen you! Exploring around those menus is sure to FUBAR your phone.