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Root Possible antenna/modem/phone problem ?

D

dlw1146

Member
Sitting in restaurant with friends with Sprint and Verizon; they have five bars.
I got zilch, none. Outside, they got five; I got two.

Is the problem AT&T, the antenna, the modem or the phone itself?
Is there a way to check any of these?

TIA

dlw
 
Could be the bars are calibrated differently, although with zero bars that probaly means there's more to the sotary.

Assuming there is an actual difference in signal, could simply be that particular area has has better coverage by Verizon/Sprint than by AT&T. You might travel a mile across town and see the opposite. It all depends on where the towers are (they don't generally use the same towers)
 
Thank you for replying.

I live very rural, right on the edge of AT&T's coverage map so at home if there is only one bar I'm not surprised. We were in town about three miles away. A cell tower was just installed last month on a hill less than a 1/4 mile from where we were. A friend also on AT&T said before the tower she had no coverage at home. She now has coverage with the new tower. I'm beginning to feel like something might be wrong with my phone. I'm trying to find a way to check this out, solve the problem or get another phone.
 
Also, went to AT&T coverage map last night and it now shows after the new tower went in that where I live should receive excellent coverage.
 
I guess if you wanted to investigate possible problems with the phone itself, you could try to change the "modem". For gingerbread based ROM, you can use that using one of the modems built into Zen's Infuse Toolkit (available on xda).

I think I remember you had an ICS or JB rom. In that case I'm not sure how to change the modem..
 
Rather than changing ROMs on your phone, I think it would be far easier (and safer) to unlock your phone and insert the SIM card from one of your friends that use a different carrier. At that point the only variable is your phone, and you'll have your answer.
 
Great idea, thanks. The one friend has Sprint with no sim card. I'm not sure about the other even if they would let me do it. They are not cell phone smart not that I am that knowledgeable myself. Talked to AT&T and the new tower is not theirs. The closest AT&T tower to me is 11 miles away. Do you have to go through Verizon to get one of their sim cards? Can you get one at a Verizon store?
 
The Infuse uses GSM.
You'll need a carrier that supports GSM.
Sprint and Verizon generally use CDMA. They may have an offering for GSM.
Chances are if you did try to swap cards the phone wouldn't work.
 
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