Starting to Regret My Decision on the Inspire 4G

[redbimmer]

Well after waiting patiently for the Inspire 4G to come out, I'm regretting my decision. I purchased my Inspire on February 13th, 2011 after my Apple iPhone 3gs decided to randomly die. Coming from an original iPhone to the 3gs to then a replacement 3gs, I was ready to say goodbye to Apple and start looking somewhere else. When my friend who works at Best Buy showed me his HTC Evo, I said that is the phone I want but on AT&T. He replied well it looks like you might be in luck. So I waited until February to get my Inspire and on the morning it came out, I purchased it. There are a lot of things that I do really like about the phone.

The problem that I have with the phone is something that I do not experience very often but often enough that it needs to change. When I am at my lake house in the Poconos, my phone very rarely gets above 3 bars of edge. My iPhones didn't do much better however where the difference lies is here. My Inspire decides that even though it has service it will send my calls right to my voicemail without even ringing my phone. When I call the person back, they say, yeah your phone was ringing and then I got your voicemail. This frustrates me because I am at the Poconos quite often and I NEVER had this problem with my iPhones. I also used to jump up to 3g coverage when I was out in the boat with my iPhones but now I'm lucky if I even have service on my Inspire. This is not very reassuring if something were to happen in the middle of the lake and then I wouldn't have service.

I bought the Inspire because I was sick of the plain Apple iPhone operating system. I wanted something that was very professional looking yet could be customized to look different then the next Inspire. I'm unfortunately starting to wish I would have gotten an iPhone 4 for my upgrade. Guess I'm going to have to look into how to use my Best Buy buy back program that I got for free when I purchased my phone due to those superbowl commercials.

 

[redbimmer]

Out of curiousity, I currently have a 3G sim card that I had in my iPhone. Should I go to AT&T and get a new sim card and see if that changes my service? My friend has an Inspire and in the middle of the lake she is getting full service and not having nearly the problems I am having.

 

[repligator]

Out of curiousity, I currently have a 3G sim card that I had in my iPhone. Should I go to AT&T and get a new sim card and see if that changes my service? My friend has an Inspire and in the middle of the lake she is getting full service and not having nearly the problems I am having.

The short answer to that is yes. I bought mine in march here in FL and it came with a "4g" sim card--which I was told was not compatible with my old 3g sim card.

I recommend looking into this thread:

http://forum.androidcentral.com/t-inspire-4g/63612-new-htc-inspire-4g-has-3g-sim-card.html

Att's 4G is not really 4G. Verizon's LTE 4G is not really LTE. Wireless-n routers are not actually 802.11n

All of these are based on preliminary drafts of as-yet-released official IEEE standards.

Att does tend to have suck coverage in my area. There are several major places which have no signal (The biggest movie theater and the biggest hospital for example) while Verizon is nearly full bar. There is no "4G" coverage here either while Verizon has rolled out two "LTE" areas.

 

[fernandezhjr]

Out of curiousity, I currently have a 3G sim card that I had in my iPhone. Should I go to AT&T and get a new sim card and see if that changes my service? My friend has an Inspire and in the middle of the lake she is getting full service and not having nearly the problems I am having.

I would go into an AT&T store and demand that you have a 4G sim card for your 4G device. Not because I think the card itself will make difference, because I think the activation process will reset your network settings. That might make a difference.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[randyw]

The short answer to that is yes. I bought mine in march here in FL and it came with a "4g" sim card--which I was told was not compatible with my old 3g sim card.

I recommend looking into this thread:

http://forum.androidcentral.com/t-inspire-4g/63612-new-htc-inspire-4g-has-3g-sim-card.html

Att's 4G is not really 4G. Verizon's LTE 4G is not really LTE. Wireless-n routers are not actually 802.11n

All of these are based on preliminary drafts of as-yet-released official IEEE standards.

Att does tend to have suck coverage in my area. There are several major places which have no signal (The biggest movie theater and the biggest hospital for example) while Verizon is nearly full bar. There is no "4G" coverage here either while Verizon has rolled out two "LTE" areas.

Yes get the new SIM card. AT&T told me that my 3G SIM from my iPhone would not work in the Inspire 4G. But then Mine came with the new SIM anyway.

 

[redbimmer]

Well I went to the AT&T store this morning and got my new SIM card. So far I really can't tell a difference. The ultimate test will be this weekend when I'm up in the Poconos to see if my service is any different. I have decided though that if the iPhone 5 is enticing enough, I will switch since I have an upgrade in July of next year. I also got free buy back from Best Buy when I got my phone so that will be 30% of the original $400 I'll get back toward my next phone. Only problem with that is I don't get to keep my old phone.

 

[Simba501]

Att does tend to have suck coverage in my area. There are several major places which have no signal (The biggest movie theater and the biggest hospital for example) while Verizon is nearly full bar. There is no "4G" coverage here either while Verizon has rolled out two "LTE" areas.

That sucks. Just curious, where do you live?

 

[repligator]

That sucks. Just curious, where do you live?

Gainesville, FL
(related to my username)

 

[LFCfan#AC]

When I got my Inspire at Radio Shack a few weeks ago, had an iPhone 3GS, they swapped the SIM card over from the iPhone to the Inspire. When I asked if I needed a "4G" SIM card for the Inpsire, the sales guy said he talked to an AT&T rep who said the SIM cards didn't matter. My "4G" speeds are slower than my 3G speed on my iPhone, which is lame. Other than rooting, does a new 4G SIM really make a difference?

 

[Simba501]

When I got my Inspire at Radio Shack a few weeks ago, had an iPhone 3GS, they swapped the SIM card over from the iPhone to the Inspire. When I asked if I needed a "4G" SIM card for the Inpsire, the sales guy said he talked to an AT&T rep who said the SIM cards didn't matter. My "4G" speeds are slower than my 3G speed on my iPhone, which is lame. Other than rooting, does a new 4G SIM really make a difference?

Check out the thread that repligator provided a few posts back. A lot of great information exchanged.

 

[repligator]

When I got my Inspire at Radio Shack a few weeks ago, had an iPhone 3GS, they swapped the SIM card over from the iPhone to the Inspire. When I asked if I needed a "4G" SIM card for the Inpsire, the sales guy said he talked to an AT&T rep who said the SIM cards didn't matter. My "4G" speeds are slower than my 3G speed on my iPhone, which is lame. Other than rooting, does a new 4G SIM really make a difference?

From the HTC Inspire Manual:

Some legacy SIM cards may not function with your phone. You should consult with your
mobile operator for a replacement SIM card. There may be fees for this service.

 

[LFCfan#AC]

Ok, did a little reading. I am in Atlanta and my phone has the H+, is the backhaul turned on to actually support the faster 4G speeds? I have my old iPhone unlimited data plan still, but AT&T offers a 4G plan, will that make a difference?

Results of speed tests: my Inspire 4G with the 3G SIM and current 3G plan, Speedtest.net app

Download Upload Ping
1. 4.72Mbps 1.09Mbps 76ms
2. 4.16Mbps 1.07Mbps 98ms
3. 4.06Mbps 1.09Mbps 100ms
4. 5.61Mbps 1.10Mbps 109ms

I believe those are decent numbers, but saw a test with the Verizon Thunderbolt getting 8Mbps down and 3Mbps up.

 

[fernandezhjr]

When I got my Inspire at Radio Shack a few weeks ago, had an iPhone 3GS, they swapped the SIM card over from the iPhone to the Inspire. When I asked if I needed a "4G" SIM card for the Inpsire, the sales guy said he talked to an AT&T rep who said the SIM cards didn't matter. My "4G" speeds are slower than my 3G speed on my iPhone, which is lame. Other than rooting, does a new 4G SIM really make a difference?

For the most part, no, unless you are coming from an old legacy device that only runs on edge with the old sim card. This does matter> The hspa+ devices use a different apn than the apn that 3G devices are using. If your account wasn't properly provisoned for the new apn, your data speeds will suffer. I would call AT&T and lie a little. Tell them that your data is not working or is running very slow and it hangs up and you want to try having it reprovisioned. The key is, you have to get past the frontline CS idiots to someone that is in tech support and has some knowledge of what to do.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[LFCfan#AC]

For the most part, no, unless you are coming from an old legacy device that only runs on edge with the old sim card. This does matter> The hspa+ devices use a different apn than the apn that 3G devices are using. If your account wasn't properly provisoned for the new apn, your data speeds will suffer. I would call AT&T and lie a little. Tell them that your data is not working or is running very slow and it hangs up and you want to try having it reprovisioned. The key is, you have to get past the frontline CS idiots to someone that is in tech support and has some knowledge of what to do.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

Thanks, I will give AT&T a call and see what happens. Does the apn having anything to do with mobile network type? My phone lists the network as HSDPA, which I think if I read correctly is a 3G network, even though the H+ icon appears on the bar at the top of screen.

 

[fernandezhjr]

Thanks, I will give AT&T a call and see what happens. Does the apn having anything to do with mobile network type? My phone lists the network as HSDPA, which I think if I read correctly is a 3G network, even though the H+ icon appears on the bar at the top of screen.

The phone will always show a H+, unless you drop to edge or lower. There is no 3G symbol built into the rom. HSDPA is what you will see unless you drop to UMTS. The Inspire is not a true 4G phone. It is all 3G, just that in areas that have the enhanced backhaul, the phone will get better data speeds.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[LFCfan#AC]

The phone will always show a H+, unless you drop to edge or lower. There is no 3G symbol built into the rom. HSDPA is what you will see unless you drop to UMTS. The Inspire is not a true 4G phone. It is all 3G, just that in areas that have the enhanced backhaul, the phone will get better data speeds.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

Lol, my head hurts! So does no true 4G mean no HSPA+ radio? I guess my speed test results are good for 3G speeds. I understand the marketing jive AT&T is doing, looks like I was fooled!

 

[repligator]

Lol, my head hurts! So does no true 4G mean no HSPA+ radio? I guess my speed test results are good for 3G speeds. I understand the marketing jive AT&T is doing, looks like I was fooled!

No carrier has true 4G. Verizon's LTE is not LTE. The whole thing is snake oil in a sense. The reason they get away with it is because the architecture of the radio cellular networks, antenna physics, and digital signal processing is so damn complicated.

 

[LFCfan#AC]

No carrier has true 4G. Verizon's LTE is not LTE. The whole thing is snake oil in a sense. The reason they get away with it is because the architecture of the radio cellular networks, antenna physics, and digital signal processing is so damn complicated.

I understand that there is no true 4G, but I think I should be getting better up and down numbers than what I am getting right now. Should I call AT&T and switch over to the 4G plans? I am grandfathered in with my original unlimited data plan form my old iPhone, and I understand there is a 4G unlimited plan as well. Would getting my phone correctly provisioned and corrected data plans straighten things out? Sorry for all of the questions! I feel like I am going in circles!

 

[Jalarm]

You need a 4G sim card. When I got my inspire data wouldn't work for me with my older sim card, they gave me a free 4G sim card works great now.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[LFCfan#AC]

You need a 4G sim card. When I got my inspire data wouldn't work for me with my older sim card, they gave me a free 4G sim card works great now.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

Saw a pic from an internal AT&T document stating there are only 2 SIM cards, a standard one and an LTE version. Far as I know, there is no 4G version.