topic Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae in Other/General

Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:15:01 GMT

I'm using an xperia ray on the 2degrees network in New Zealand.

On my old phone, a huawei ideos u8150, I get perfect broadband speeds and a constant connection when usig hspa and 3g. Using the same sim, exact same network and identical apn settings (which I've checked several times) and in exactly the same location I can't get online very often and when I can it's unusably slow besides an occasional brief flash of speed.

The weird thing is the Ray shows full bars and a 3G logo as though I should have no problems. That's most of the time. Much of the time I just have full bars with a little R as the 3G seems to dissapear even though data is turned on. The readout will flick between full bars, no bars whatsoever, and full bars with a 3g or an H symbol. When I first got the phone it spent most of it's time saying there was no network at all. I'm not sure what changed but it seems to be better now.

Secondly, when making calls it says "connecting" for quite some time before it actually connects. Even then the call is often mangled and this is showing full bars.

Intitially I thought it would be an APN settings issue, but after contacting my carrier and checking my old phone settings I can rule that out. Secondly I thought it could be a sim card issue, but swapping the sim back and forth from my old phone yields the same results: perfect connection vs useless connection.

So what with my initial disconnect issues and current connection issues it seems like my device has a faulty antennae or at least buggy network drivers or something.

I have a few questions:

Should I be treating this as normal? Ie. do SE phones have weak antennae?

Is this a known defect on some Rays, or is it unusual?

My phone is a chinese model (parallel import is legal here). Would the fact it's designed for the chinese market have meant there are hardware differences which are messing with my connectivity?

Thanks in advance for any help. For now I will probably go back to using my old phone. If I can't get a quick fix here I'll try returning the phone under warranty.

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:20:05 GMT

go to settings -> wireless & networks -> mobile networks -> uncheck data roaming

download "speedtest" from the market and check your speed

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:23:05 GMT

Also do this

settings -> wireless & networks -> mobile networks -> access point names -> MENU -> add New

Name: 2degrees MMS

APN: mms

Proxy:

Port:

Username:

Password:

Server:

MMSC: http://mms.2degreesmobile.net.nz:48090

MMS proxy: 118.148.001.118 (take care not to omit the leading zeros)

MMS port: 8080

MCC: 530

MNC: 24

Authentication Type:

APN type: mms

MENU -> save

repeat again

MENU -> add New

Name: 2degrees internet

APN: internet

Proxy:

Port:

Username:

Password:

Server:

MMSC:

MMS Proxy:

MMS Port:

MCC: 530

MNC: 24

Authentication Type:

APN Type: default

MENU -> save

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:23:14 GMT

I have to have roaming turned on - the network I'm on piggybacks with another network unless I'm in specific areas which I'm not.

Using speedtest I normally can't get past "begin test now" as it reports network communication errors. No trouble with that on my old phone.

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:24:24 GMT

Those are my exact current settings. Do you want me to duplicate them?

Like I said I've already ruled this out as an APN problem.

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:27:34 GMT

if I were you I would use Update Service to repair any software issue

Update Service (SEUS)

http://dl-www.sonyericsson.com/cws/download/1/110/61/1317636927/Update_Service_Setup-2.11.10.7.exe

then enter them manually

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:28:59 GMT

Make sure you backup everything (you might want to use a wifi connection to download the apps)

Settings -> privacy -> Back up my data and Automatic restore should be selected

and also

Use one of these links to download the

Backup & Restore app

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1193802

http://www.elita-clan.com/downloads/backup_and_restore_v010935.apk

http://www.elita-clan.com/downloads/backup_and_restore_v010935.apkor
http://www.mediafire.com/?1n07llajeaoo03y

How to install it

You need to

go to settings -> applications -> check unknown sources

download IO File Manager

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.openintents.filemanager&feature=search_result

download the backup & restore app, transfer it to your SD card, use OI file manager to find it -> tap on it -> install it

Contacts

just to play it safe sync your contacts w/ google if you haven't already

open your phonebook

press MENU button -> tap on Send Contacts -> select all -> send it to your email

on your computer

-> download the file -> go to your gmail -> click on contacts -> click on more actions -> on the drop down menu click on "import" -> choose the file -> and click import

Apps

Don't worry so much about backing up your apps

on your computer go to

market.android.com -> log in -> click on My Library -> and send all your apps to your phone

SMS/MMS

if you don't want to use the backup & restore app then

Install "backup SMS" to back up your SMS and MMS to your Gmail

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zegoggles.smssync&feature=search_result

or your SMS use

"backup & restore SMS"

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore&feature=search_result

or for your MMS use "Save MMS"

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.schwimmer.android.mmsextract&feature=search_result

Call Logs

And for call logs this is great

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.yang.android.ansta

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:30:19 GMT

ok trying that now.

Be nice if there was some way to get all the chinese bloatware off my phone as well...

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:45:27 GMT

lets go part by part, I'll help you with that in a second

make sure you mark the correct and useful answsers

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:53:17 GMT

there are two ways to do so,

1) root your phone ( you can unroot anytime)

then use titanium backup to delete unwanted apps

2) flash the global generic firmware w/o the chinese apps (I would do this) then you can root and delete any app that you don't want

if you want to do this, open a new thread and I'll help you step by step (make sure you mark the correct and helpful answers)

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:03:19 GMT

Fair enough, I'm backing up now with that app. Let's see if I can get the antennae issues fixed, no point in anything else if not since I'll just be returning it for an exchange.

And thanks for your help so far

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:17:02 GMT

Anytime

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:50:05 GMT

I backed up the phone using the tool, then downloaded and used the SE update service to reinstall the firmware. I then manually entered the APN settings from scratch, being extra careful.

No change. The phone says I have full reception and the 3G/H logos are doing their thing, but web pages will not load most of the time. *Occasionally* one will suddenly load fine like before but then it's back to epic megafail.

The company I bought it from have offered to replace it just now via email. I'll get another one and see if there's an improvement. If it's good, I'll come back here to ask about moving to the generic international firmware version and getting rooted (my ideos was rooted and had CM7 which was excellent). Thanks again for your help.

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:55:45 GMT

no problem CM9 we'll be available soon

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:06:49 GMT

Major update: I've been in contact with my provider and my supplier, and it turns out that almost all SE phones have issues with data on the 2degrees network. The phone was parallel imported from Hong Kong I think, so I suspect the HK models must have slightly tweaked settings on some firmware or hardware level as far as how the 3G and HSPA works. Probably something to do with the specific networks in HK they're aimed at and frequencies or whatever - at a guess.

SO I've had no choice but to trade it for a non-SE phone, in this case a Galaxy S plus. For me it's a downgrade - the much bigger form factor being the biggest issue. The Ray was simply the best phone for me. While I could have changed to Vodafone, they simply can't or wont compete with 2degrees prices for data use. Data is all I really use.

So thanks for the help. And that's the end of that.

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:37:25 GMT

The 2degrees network uses works on

2G 900/1800 MHz (GSM/GPRS)

3G 2100 MHz (WCDMA)

ST18i

2G GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

3G UMTS HSPA 900 (Band VIII), 2100 (Band I)

ST18a

2G GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

3G UMTS HSPA 800(Band VI), 850 (Band V), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I)

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:42:01 GMT

Ah. So would that be the problem then? Interesting. Mine was the ST18i . It was sold labelled as a phone that should work on 2dg.

In that case why did it sometimes work for brief flashes? Seems odd to me.

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:43:56 GMT

oh it will work on your network but only 2G

I dont know which 2100 band your network utilize

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:57:08 GMT

Ok, so, I've sent the phone back in exchange for a Galaxy S+

Yuk.

I want the SE back. I want it to work.

So I'll ask here: how would I go about flashing the SE to a generic international firmware? I want to try it just in case the chinese 3 network has some random firmware settings that were messing with how it dealt with 2dg over here.

Re: Faulty unit? 3g amazingly slow and unstable and bad antennae

uliwooly-wooly — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:16:22 GMT

are you asking how to flash SE firmware to another android phone? or you want to flash another firmware to your Ray?