My Issues as a 2 Month EVO V User

[sandcrest]

My friend lives in Marina del Rey in L.A. and he and his wife are on T-Mobile. I talk to him on a regular basis and his phone cuts out two or three times every time we talk. He blames it on T-Mobile's service. He says you can watch the bars go up and down and that to make a decent call he has to go out on his back porch so that he's outside. His wife makes her living on the phone, so they're going to Verizon so that they have a good connection, even if they have to pay more for it.
I know you're north of downtown, but no one else has said anything about the L.A. area, so maybe this helps a little.

 

[metal571]

My Galaxy Nexus has never had a dropped call yet and i'm on T-mo's Monthly4G. I get 7 mbps down in my apartment in Philly, 5 gigs of internet, 100 minutes a month, unlimited texting for $30. not one single issue yet with service, dropped calls, or internet. No idea how people are complaining so much about Big Magenta.

 

[gamikzone]

i look at it this way, t-mobile is good if you live in an urban here like you say in L.A im pretty sure there is great coverage there you can always check the coverage map on the t-mobile site, i had t-mobile for a little over 2 years my service was good for the first year and a half i had full bars but 2g only and afterwards i could barley send a text so i switched to boost mobile i got the evo design which is similar to the htc evo v just designed differently i did not have many signal issues like i did with the evo v, but like mentioned above i have all the radio updates and changes and it runs alot better for me, i agree you should not have to root a $300 phone to get it working perfectly but i would not get a phone if i could not root it .

 

[metal571]

i look at it this way, t-mobile is good if you live in an urban here like you say in L.A im pretty sure there is great coverage there you can always check the coverage map on the t-mobile site, i had t-mobile for a little over 2 years my service was good for the first year and a half i had full bars but 2g only and afterwards i could barley send a text so i switched to boost mobile i got the evo design which is similar to the htc evo v just designed differently i did not have many signal issues like i did with the evo v, but like mentioned above i have all the radio updates and changes and it runs alot better for me, i agree you should not have to root a $300 phone to get it working perfectly but i would not get a phone if i could not root it .

I agree on your point about rooting, and that's why I got sick of VM releasing two completely broken phones (Triumph and then EVO V) in a row. It was about time I jumped ship. I was amazed at T-Mo's internet speeds relative to Sprint/VM as well as the fact that they even had coverage in my home town which is very small and secluded. At that spot I almost had no signal for VM, but my Optimus V handled it just fine, while it's a nightmare with the EVO V. So I'm pretty glad overall I switched to a GNex off contract.

 

[epikx]

I think its funny when people say "I shouldn't have to root my phone to fix it, its a $300 phone." Well of course you shouldn't have to but its not going to cost you anything to do so. Obviously we are all on VM to save money, and selling your $300 (probably for a loss) buying a new phone (including cases, screen protectors, other accessories etc...) while trying to save money just doesn't make sense to me... All because you "shouldn't have to" do anything (at no cost) to fix it.

 

[G19]

The newest radio has completely fixed my phone. Went from having constant error messages, calls wouldn't receive, calls wouldn't send, texts wouldn't receive or send to having a phone with zero problems. Since changing the radio and pri, my phone has worked perfectly. Zero missed calls, not one problem making a call, every texts sends immediately, every text receives when it should. Even in terribly low service areas.

I highly recommend doing the s-off procedure and making these changes.

 

[metal571]

The newest radio has completely fixed my phone. Went from having constant error messages, calls wouldn't receive, calls wouldn't send, texts wouldn't receive or send to having a phone with zero problems. Since changing the radio and pri, my phone has worked perfectly. Zero missed calls, not one problem making a call, every texts sends immediately, every text receives when it should. Even in terribly low service areas.

I highly recommend doing the s-off procedure and making these changes.

Yeah I put the link to Leslie's thread for that in the OP in my thread about the Radio Interface "fix" as well. That seems to be the only way to truly fix the phone.

 

[Droidula]

i only glanced over your initial post so i missed the part about you having problems with 4g and 3g.its kinda safe to assume you would also have them with boost.

I don't know about that. I've had both Boost and Virgin, and though Sprint is the parent company for both, I've had different experiences with each. Of course, this could be because I've used different phones with each carrier, and besides for the network, the phone affects your experience too.

That said, I've always had better reception with Boost, for some reason. With Boost, I could make calls from almost anywhere in my house with rarely any static or cuts, or dropped calls. Oddly, though, my 3G speeds were horrible. Pages took AGES to load, and it drove me crazy, since I browse the web a lot on my phone. I don't know if that was an issue with that particular phone model, though (Marquee). When I was with Virgin earlier, and again now, my call quality is not that great always when I'm at home. I have to move around sometimes to be able to make a call and hear it well. The 3G, while nothing to brag about, is very noticeably faster than Boosts. (In my personal experience.)

I've asked many CS reps about the differences between Virgin and Boosts networks, and they may not be exactly the same. I don't know if this means that they use the towers in a different way or what, since I don't have much knowledge or experience relating to how these things work, but many of them have told me that there are some differences between the networks.

The newest radio has completely fixed my phone. Went from having constant error messages, calls wouldn't receive, calls wouldn't send, texts wouldn't receive or send to having a phone with zero problems. Since changing the radio and pri, my phone has worked perfectly. Zero missed calls, not one problem making a call, every texts sends immediately, every text receives when it should. Even in terribly low service areas.

I highly recommend doing the s-off procedure and making these changes.

I have not been receiving the error with texting too often lately, but I am still missing a lot of calls. Hearing this still makes me want to go s-off and flashing the other radio, but I'd have to find a really good step by step explanation or video with instructions. I'm just reluctant to try it myself.

 

[diemerm]

hey everybody, sorry I've been absent from the forum for the past few days... been a busy week at work.

Anyways, I got my replacement phone from Virgin yesterday and its all up and running. As I thought, its a Virgin Branded phone instead of the original Sprint Branded one I got at the store.

So far, while not perfect, its running MUCH better... I've been able to send texts and make calls without ever getting the "radio interface shortage" error. I've also had no problems with it dropping service and having to restart the phone.

The one issue I am still having is that it still gets stuck on the 1X network every once in a while.... but that is literally the ONLY issue I've had in the full day I've been using the new phone. So, overall I'm pretty happy.

I'm not sure what improved the issues from my old device to the new one... the only noticeable difference is that my old one was Sprint Branded and the replacement is Virgin Branded... I know its a very touchy subject on these forums whether that makes a difference, so I dont want to jump to conclusions... just sharing my observations.

I am still considering doing the radio updates people have been talking about due to the 1 remaining issue with the phone getting stuck on 1X... can anyone advise if the updates will fix that issue?

Thanks and I hope this info will help some of you out there with the same problem.

 

[diemerm]

My friend lives in Marina del Rey in L.A. and he and his wife are on T-Mobile. I talk to him on a regular basis and his phone cuts out two or three times every time we talk. He blames it on T-Mobile's service. He says you can watch the bars go up and down and that to make a decent call he has to go out on his back porch so that he's outside. His wife makes her living on the phone, so they're going to Verizon so that they have a good connection, even if they have to pay more for it.
I know you're north of downtown, but no one else has said anything about the L.A. area, so maybe this helps a little.

thanks this is really helpful... I use to live in the Marina del Rey area.. and still go over that way sometimes... that was the exact problem I had when I was on AT&T and lived in that area, I was worried t-mobile might have the same issues since they are both GSM networks.

however, as written in my previous post above this one, my replacement device from Virgin seems to be working a lot better than the old phone... so hopefully if it stays this way I won't have to worry about switching networks!

 

[diemerm]

**Sigh** So you can scratch everything I wrote in my previous post

 

[imabitfighty]

**Sigh** So you can scratch everything I wrote in my previous post

 

[diemerm]

i did root, S-off, full EVO 3D mods, and mobster rom. I flashed the new radio AND PRL files and although the phone works more than stock, i still get the network drop.

at least once a day the network shows 1x or no signal even though there is. nothing fixes it except a reboot where it shows high signal again and everything works.

and this is AFTER all the radio mods.

damn thanks for letting me know... i really want to just get rid of this phone and switch networks, but that involves a lot more money that i dont wanna spend...

are you in highland park, los angeles?? if so.. thats exactly where I'm at lol... off avenue 54... how does your t-mobile phone do around here? i've been thinking of switching to them

 

[imabitfighty]

damn thanks for letting me know... i really want to just get rid of this phone and switch networks, but that involves a lot more money that i dont wanna spend...

are you in highland park, los angeles?? if so.. thats exactly where I'm at lol... off avenue 54... how does your t-mobile phone do around here? i've been thinking of switching to them

im by ave 45 and fig, by that grocery store and gas station across from jack in the box.

small world man

tmobile is good but they cost more and look for ANY excuse to shut off your data and slow it to dial up speeds. we used it on a galaxy S and they throttled us after like 700mb on an unlimited plan.

virgin mobile service in HP is REALLY good its just that the phone sometimes loses signal. its WAY BETTER now with the radio mods, even if it still happens sometimes. i wont give up my EVO for a long time.

 

[metal571]

im by ave 45 and fig, by that grocery store and gas station across from jack in the box.

small world man

tmobile is good but they cost more and look for ANY excuse to shut off your data and slow it to dial up speeds. we used it on a galaxy S and they throttled us after like 700mb on an unlimited plan.

virgin mobile service in HP is REALLY good its just that the phone sometimes loses signal. its WAY BETTER now with the radio mods, even if it still happens sometimes. i wont give up my EVO for a long time.

I used over 2.5 GB on my first month of Monthly4G on my GNex and had no issues whatsoever with T-Mobile. It's beyond refreshing to have a phone that simply works, and then some. No complaints here about T-Mobile, at least from their prepaid.

 

[diemerm]

im by ave 45 and fig, by that grocery store and gas station across from jack in the box.

small world man

tmobile is good but they cost more and look for ANY excuse to shut off your data and slow it to dial up speeds. we used it on a galaxy S and they throttled us after like 700mb on an unlimited plan.

virgin mobile service in HP is REALLY good its just that the phone sometimes loses signal. its WAY BETTER now with the radio mods, even if it still happens sometimes. i wont give up my EVO for a long time.

yeah man i believe u that Virgin should be real good around here... i was on Sprint until 2 months ago and never had ANY problems... always on 3G... and Virgin is on their network so I thought I was playin it safe by switching to them but then I switch thinking I'm being smart and saving money, and all these problems come up... so frustrating.

other than throttling do u have any other issues with t-mobile? (dropped calls, missed texts, etc)

 

[diemerm]

I used over 2.5 GB on my first month of Monthly4G on my GNex and had no issues whatsoever with T-Mobile. It's beyond refreshing to have a phone that simply works, and then some. No complaints here about T-Mobile, at least from their prepaid.

which prepaid plan are you on with t-mobile? I think the gnex with t-mobile $35 a month plan is where I'm heading if imabitfighty says he doesn't have any service issues with them in our part of LA

 

[metal571]

which prepaid plan are you on with t-mobile? I think the gnex with t-mobile $35 a month plan is where I'm heading if imabitfighty says he doesn't have any service issues with them in our part of LA

$30 a month, the special deal available only online or in walmart i think it is. all you need to do is buy a gnex off the play store and a t-mo sim activation kit and that's it. they port from virgin as well. i had my number fully ported within a couple hours of making the right call. just ask them to get virgin mobile on the phone with them, and it'll be fast, real fast. that's if you go through with it. i have to say i highly, highly recommend this route. two failed flagship phones in a row; virgin should be put out of business.

 

[imabitfighty]

which prepaid plan are you on with t-mobile? I think the gnex with t-mobile $35 a month plan is where I'm heading if imabitfighty says he doesn't have any service issues with them in our part of LA

tmobile is alright, about the same service as sprint in the area.

my Optimus V and Triumph never had any service issues with sprint, and sprints 3G always gave me 2-3MBs in HP

my galaxy S vibrant was a decent phone but was stuck on 2.2 and didnt have a good rom community. phone was good, stock roms suck.


when buying a phone, the best thing you can do is make sure the community is keeping it up to date with stable, functional roms, becuase you can almost be GUARANTEED that the stock rom on the phone you want is going to suck.

 

[diemerm]

tmobile is alright, about the same service as sprint in the area.

my Optimus V and Triumph never had any service issues with sprint, and sprints 3G always gave me 2-3MBs in HP

my galaxy S vibrant was a decent phone but was stuck on 2.2 and didnt have a good rom community. phone was good, stock roms suck.


when buying a phone, the best thing you can do is make sure the community is keeping it up to date with stable, functional roms, becuase you can almost be GUARANTEED that the stock rom on the phone you want is going to suck.

I just put an ad up on craigslist... if I can sell this phone, I think I'm heading to t-mobile prepaid and getting an unlocked Galaxy Nexus direct from google

 

[metal571]

I just put an ad up on craigslist... if I can sell this phone, I think I'm heading to t-mobile prepaid and getting an unlocked Galaxy Nexus direct from google

right on haha mine's on ebay now. i hardly use minutes so 100 minutes is enough for me. you can always keep a balance if you need like 200 or 300. hell even 300 with 5 gigs of internet and unlimited texts is worth 50 a month (thats what it would cost you @ 10c a minute)

 

[diemerm]

right on haha mine's on ebay now. i hardly use minutes so 100 minutes is enough for me. you can always keep a balance if you need like 200 or 300. hell even 300 with 5 gigs of internet and unlimited texts is worth 50 a month (thats what it would cost you @ 10c a minute)

i think what im gonna do is get a home phone through my cable provider, it's only $9.99 a month and has unlimited nationwide calling. i mostly only use data on my cell, and if I have a home phone I can use for calling I'll be fine.

how long has your phone been up on ebay? I'm wondering if I'm even gonna be able to sell this thing ... plus I honestly feel kinda bad handing over this mess to someone else.. :\

 

[metal571]

i think what im gonna do is get a home phone through my cable provider, it's only $9.99 a month and has unlimited nationwide calling. i mostly only use data on my cell, and if I have a home phone I can use for calling I'll be fine.

how long has your phone been up on ebay? I'm wondering if I'm even gonna be able to sell this thing ... plus I honestly feel kinda bad handing over this mess to someone else.. :\

hah only a couple of days. my OV is up there too and it's been for a while. i just reduced it to 60 from 70 though. it comes with a case and screen protector as well as my promise to help the buyer obtain root if they so desire, or i'd sell it cheaper. EVO's going for 270 but has huge amounts of accessories. if you know someone who wants one PM me for link...virgin will provide a hardware replacement for it if it doesn't work, they don't ask for original proofs of purchase as far as i know, they just simply give warranty support. and also i just flashed the stock RUU manually and properly so maybe that would help the issues, but i doubt it.

 

[OverByter]

I just put an ad up on craigslist... if I can sell this phone, I think I'm heading to t-mobile prepaid and getting an unlocked Galaxy Nexus direct from google

For people who are really considering jumping on T-Mobile I can definitely recommend the HTC Sensation 4g as an alternative to the Nexus. Pretty much the same phone as the Evo V without the 3d. Pretty good dev community also. And since it was built for T-Mo you don't have to worry about it being unlocked.

 

[metal571]

For people who are really considering jumping on T-Mobile I can definitely recommend the HTC Sensation 4g as an alternative to the Nexus. Pretty much the same phone as the Evo V without the 3d. Pretty good dev community also. And since it was built for T-Mo you don't have to worry about it being unlocked.

It's nice but that's a dated device with only 768 MB of RAM and a Cortex-A8 dual core CPU, whereas the GNex is an unlocked device with 1 GB of RAM and a Cortex-A9 based SoC (TI OMAP 4460). As a result, the Sensation pulls about 60 MFLOPs vs the GNex's 76 or so MFLOPs on Linpack, both at the same clock speed of 1.2 GHz. That's a noticeable increase for sure, take it from someone who has tried both phones firsthand. Plus Sense...ew