Smart phone radio reception in and out

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.

Reply to
cameo
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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 t he 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 existin g revenue stream while provisioning a new network. Every one has this prob lem, 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 o n a robust connection. Good luck in either case...

Reply to
mpm

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.

Reply to
miso

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.

Reply to
cameo

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

Reply to
cameo

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