mobile data reliability

[CSMR]

I get very unreliable internet from phones.

Currently Samsung Galaxy S3, Android.
I often get 2 or 3 bars signal strength, internet connection indicated, but no actual connection.
When wifi is on the GSM switches off and remains disconnected for several minutes when wifi disconnects. If wifi is connected no attempt is made to use GSM.

I've had reliability problems with mobile data with previous phones with multiple carriers and multiple OSes since I started using smartphones 8 years ago.

Is mobile just a consumer technology which cares about speed specs and not reliability?

Or are there ways to improve reliability?

 

[corkyg]

The only way I have experienced a reliability plus is to stay in one place where the signal strength is strong. Cell coverage is never uniform when you move around.

 

[smitbret]

The only way I have experienced a reliability plus is to stay in one place where the signal strength is strong. Cell coverage is never uniform when you move around.

Yeah, I hate the commercials on TV when the AT&T (or your carrier) customer is cruising along the highway in the passenger seat of the car and streaming video on their 4G LTE network without a pause or buffering.

I'm sure there are places where it happens like that, but I have yet to run into one.

 

[notposting]

Yeah, I hate the commercials on TV when the AT&T (or your carrier) customer is cruising along the highway in the passenger seat of the car and streaming video on their 4G LTE network without a pause or buffering.

I'm sure there are places where it happens like that, but I have yet to run into one.

Try Verizon :sneaky:

 

[luv2liv]

the AT&T coverage in my area works great! i have no problem with LTE with my HTC One. coverage depends on where the towers of your carriers are. cant expect coverage to be 100% everywhere you go.

 

[CSMR]

But should it be that there are bars on the phone (with connection symbol indicated, e.g. H+) and no actual internet connection?
Where phone calls are possible but not internet?

 

[s44]

Might have to do with the area where you live, if it's been multiple carriers and devices.

If you've update your phone to a recent firmware, there's a setting called "Check for Internet Service" under the advanced wifi settings. Try turning that on for faster switching to mobile data.

 

[Bman123]

What carrier are you using? Are you trying to get signal in a basement or in a big concrete building? There are lots of things that you have to factor in when talking about reliability. Hell there could be a tower no where near you.
The only phones I've ever had data issues with were the two galaxy nexus phones I had, they just had bad radios in them

 

[mnewsham]

I never have signal problems unless I am in a tunnel or I am driving the back roads up to Pennsylvania.

I generally get 10-30Mbps with 40-70ms ping on my phone and rarely see less than 2 bars.

 

[Bman123]

I never have signal problems unless I am in a tunnel or I am driving the back roads up to Pennsylvania.

I generally get 10-30Mbps with 40-70ms ping on my phone and rarely see less than 2 bars.

What carrier and phone are you using? That makes a difference. With t mobile I can lose signal in my house I could only imagine in a tunnel my phone might turn off

 

[podspi]

Try Verizon :sneaky:

Yep. There is a reason people pay their obscene rates. Of course, there are still areas where this won't work, but I've been (pleasantly) surprised at the connectivity of VZW's network.

 

[Bman123]

Verizon's network is the real deal, if they would just allow LTE phones on pre paid and had a decent price for the plans they would literally dominant post paid and pre paid.

 

[mnewsham]

What carrier and phone are you using? That makes a difference. With t mobile I can lose signal in my house I could only imagine in a tunnel my phone might turn off

At&t using an LG G2 though my experiences with Verizon are identical. Very reliable and fast data.

 

[Bman123]

I'm going to att pre paid tomorrow from t mobile. Trying to see if my coverage improves a lot where I go. The price and plan is the same and I figure att should give me better signal where I usually get none on t mobile

 

[paperwastage]

at&t/verizon definitely gets better signal/coverage than t-mobile in suburbs/rural areas

take a look at sensorly. (note, this is crowd sourced data, don't rely on it totally, but it gives you a rough idea)

In Pennsylvania, t-mobile gets 2G in the highways. what do you think you'll get in your basement? verizon/at&t gets 4G/3G in highways / local roads, do you think you'll get better signal in your basement (with their 700/800mhz spectrum)?

http://www.sensorly.com/map/2G-3G/US/USA/T-Mobile/gsm_310260#q=Pennsylvania,+USA

http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Verizon/lte_310verizon#q=Pennsylvania,+USA

http://www.sensorly.com/map/2G-3G/US/USA/ATandT_Mobility/gsm_310410#q=Pennsylvania,+USA

 

[Bman123]

From that coverage map with my address att only gets 4g on the highways too. I'll have to dig into it on the PC and not my phone it's a bit clunky on my note 2 using that site

 

[Bman123]

T mobile definitely gets better coverage where I live based off of that websites map. It also says verizon is the best and my buddy literally gets no signal at my house and hes using a note 2 on verizon so I guess this is just a situation where I will have to pay to play and figure it out on my own.
Worse comes to worse I'll try att and if it's worse then t mobile where I live then I'll just have to go back to tmobile and pay the same $40 a month I am paying now instead of the $35 a month I'll be paying with ATT pre paid