Smart phone radio reception in and out

[cameo]

Ever since my T-Mobile Amaze 4G phone was updated from Gingerbread to
ICS version of the Android OS, I've been having very unreliable data
reception (3G/4G) with both mobile network or WiFi operation. The data
connection would work for a couple minutes, then stop for a couple
minutes, and start all over again the same cycle. During the stop the
data indicator icon on the top of the screen would also stop flashing.

First I thought that maybe the radio chips generate too much heat and
when they reach a critical temp, they shut off till they cool down
again. (I've had similar behavior with my HP notebook whose Nvidia
graphics chip tended to over heat under heavy use. Reflowing the
soldering on that GPU chip and improving its heat minimized the problem.)

But then recently I noticed that when my phone's WiFi was connected to a
restaurant's slow network, the WiFi connection, though slow, seemed
steady. Then it occured to me that the problem is perhaps software
related where the communication buffer of this Android version cannot
process the data network packets fast enough on a faster network, but
can keep up with them on a slower one. Note, the older Gingerbread OS
didn't have this problem.

I only dabble in software (app level only,) and not in electronics, so I
though I ask your opinion about what might be going on here.

Thanks.

 

[mpm]

Ever since my T-Mobile Amaze 4G phone was updated from Gingerbread to
ICS version of the Android OS, I've been having very unreliable data
reception (3G/4G) with both mobile network or WiFi operation.

Are you in the US?
Would you mind providing your zip code?

The reason I ask is in the US, T-Mobile is a DISTANT 3rd or 4th player to the Verizon/AT&T duopoly. You could very well find out that T-Mobile simplydoesn't have the spectrum in your area to provide robust 4G services, or, they are in the middle of a build-out from 3G to 4G. With limited spectrum, they (and everyone else, really) have to do a dance to keep their existing revenue stream while provisioning a new network. Every one has this problem, but those carriers with more spectrum generally have more flexibility.

Google "FCC Spectrum Dashboard" if you want to know which carriers have how-much spectrum in your market. You will likely find that T-Mobile has less(and of course, has fewer subscribers too).

Anyway, that's my first thought.
Probably could be something entirely different.
The CMRS networks are amazingly complex systems. -- and of course, my note above wouldn't (or shouldn't?) have anything to do with Wi-Fi performance on a robust connection. Good luck in either case...

 

[miso]

T-mobile 4G was never all that good. T-Mobile LTE is fine. Totally kick
ass.

But this is not the right place to post these questions. I'd suggest the
Howard forum.

I wish my DSL was as fast as T-Mobile LTE. It is usually over 20mbps,
occasionally over 30mbps.

 

[cameo]

Are you in the US?
Would you mind providing your zip code?

The reason I ask is in the US, T-Mobile is a DISTANT 3rd or 4th player to the Verizon/AT&T duopoly. You could very well find out that T-Mobile simply doesn't have the spectrum in your area to provide robust 4G services, or, they are in the middle of a build-out from 3G to 4G. With limited spectrum, they (and everyone else, really) have to do a dance to keep their existing revenue stream while provisioning a new network. Every one has this problem, but those carriers with more spectrum generally have more flexibility.

Google "FCC Spectrum Dashboard" if you want to know which carriers have how-much spectrum in your market. You will likely find that T-Mobile has less (and of course, has fewer subscribers too).

Anyway, that's my first thought.
Probably could be something entirely different.
The CMRS networks are amazingly complex systems. -- and of course, my note above wouldn't (or shouldn't?) have anything to do with Wi-Fi performance on a robust connection. Good luck in either case...

Sorry, I forgot how common T-Mobile is internationally: I am in the US
and actually at T-Mo's HQ city. But I don't think your suggestion
applies here because Samsung phones don't seem to have the same problem.

 

[cameo]

T-mobile 4G was never all that good. T-Mobile LTE is fine. Totally kick
ass.

But this is not the right place to post these questions. I'd suggest the
Howard forum.

I wish my DSL was as fast as T-Mobile LTE. It is usually over 20mbps,
occasionally over 30mbps.

Good point. I totally forgot about the Howard Forum even though I posted
there about 2 years ago once or twice.