Help 3G coverage drops - odd behavior

[sdhalepaska]

I have the s3 with Virgin. I have noticed that my mobile data keeps dropping at my office even when I have full signal bars. It happens so often that tech support thought there was an issue with the phone and sent me a new one. This one also drops every few minutes. Usually it can last a minute or so before it reconnects but I have just found some very strange behavior: it reconnects immediately if I rotate the phone and then rotate back. Has anyone observed this behavior before?

 

[jmatherly411]

I have the s3 with Virgin. I have noticed that my mobile data keeps dropping at my office even when I have full signal bars. It happens so often that tech support thought there was an issue with the phone and sent me a new one. This one also drops every few minutes. Usually it can last a minute or so before it reconnects but I have just found some very strange behavior: it reconnects immediately if I rotate the phone and then rotate back. Has anyone observed this behavior before?

Since Virgin is an MVNO that runs on the Sprint network there is a very good possibly what you are experiencing is Network Vision upgrades. The signal bars that appear on your phone are not referring to your 3G EV-DO signal, its referring to your 1x RTT voice connection. For instance your 1x RTT voice connection could be -85dB being a good connection meaning higher signal bars, and your 3G EV-DO connection could be around -100dB meaning a poor connection for data services. A lot of people think when they have a strong signal they will have a good 3G connection, this is not the case. The only time the signal bars will indicate a good or poor connection is when you are on 4G LTE.

When you see the 3G connection icon disappear and reappear it means your phone is looking for another 3G EV-DO channel to connect to, or its handing off to another Sprint site due to a lot of air link saturation on the current site.

During Sprint's Network Vision upgrades your 3G data speeds will slow dramatically or you could even loose 3G EV-DO all together due to a site receiving the CDMA 3G side of the upgrades. If it is upgrades that are ongoing in your area LTE will be right around the corner.