LTE or Nothing

[anon(123856)]

Hi all, I have been pretty happy with my 830 for the most part but I've started to notice some minor network issues and since I'm new to AT&T I don't know if its a network thing, an 830 thing or just a setting, so here goes...

I was traveling for work last week and I noticed a couple of times that when I would enter a building my phone would drop all connectivity to the AT&T network. When I would leave the building the signal would re-appear at three or more bars of LTE. These buildings were sometimes just a restaurant or store, nothing special.

My phone never seems to drop down to 4G (except when on a call) no matter what. It just looses everything and I get no signal. I've been through all the settings and can't find anything that would seem to help.

I tried to get help at an AT&T store but that went nowhere, all I got was shrug and a perplexed look.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

 

[RumoredNow]

What does your APN say? Is it nxtgenphone?

 

[anon(123856)]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it says nxtgenphone. All possible settings are greyed out.

EDIT: According to this page http://developer.att.com/technical-library/apns/apn-descriptions-and-characteristics all I'm supposed to get is LTE? It does drop to 4G while in a phone call.

 

[RumoredNow]

nxtgenphone is the new APN for ATT HD Voice (AKA: VoLTE). So far as I know your phone is not HD Voice capable. However, it probably is good to retain this APN as ATT is moving every handset to it.

Try this...

Go to Field Test (dial ##3282# in Phone) > accept the conditions > tap the three dots (...) in the bottom right > settings > There should be an entry labeled "Toggle ENS (reboot required)" and it probably is toggled to "On."

Toggle this to "Off" and power down right from that screen. Don't Soft Reset or the phone forgets you were making the change!!! Power on. Let me know if that improves things.

ENS is "Enhanced Network Selection" and is being used to hold your phone to a certain set of towers irregardless of what has the best signal.

Theory, you are in an urban or suburban setting and not every tower is HD Voice compliant yet and your apn is trying to slave you to only the towers upgraded to HD Voice.

 

[anon(123856)]

Ok. I will try that. It may take some time for me to adequately test it. It sounds plausible so it certainly seems worth a try

Much appreciated.

 

[RumoredNow]

I will keep an eye on the thread...

 

[steelcuda]

Good answer...

 

[RumoredNow]

Any result? Good, Bad, Borked???

 

[anon(123856)]

Nothing new to report so far I'm afraid. Where I live and work AT&Ts LTE signal is strong so I haven't been able to see if anything has changed with a weaker signal.

I was experiencing the problem when I was traveling for work. I will keep an eye on things.

I came back to the thread to post an update and saw your latest post! I guess I subscribe to this thread. Thanks!

 

[Mr Lebowski]

Talk with the 830 is via 2G so if it drops to 4G or shows LTE...it's meaningless you're talking on 2G.

 

[Ejay Lozano]

I've noticed signal drops here in Vegas with my L830 as well. Blame it on AT&T...

 

[RumoredNow]

Talk with the 830 is via 2G so if it drops to 4G or shows LTE...it's meaningless you're talking on 2G.

If you read the OP his phone signal simply drops away in certain situations... It's not about what part of the data/voice scale his phone rests at or makes calls on. It's here, then it's gone.

 

[anon(123856)]

When I place a call my phone does drop down to 4G. But it's as RumoredNow says, my signal will just disappear without making any effort to connect at a slower speed. I get "no service" showing on my phone tile. Then I walk outside and get three bars of LTE.

 

[anon(123856)]

Well I have an update. I went back to the same place and the same thing happened. Lost all connectivity going through the door. No one I was with (all Verizon customers) had any issues. I never tried to do the field test trick (which I should have tried) because things were a bit hectic and I didn't want to spend more time cursing at my phone...

So, I go to an AT&T store and they just blow me off, "Oh, you need to call tech support". Gee, thanks for the help... So now I go to the Microsoft store where I purchased the phone and they just start telling that's just the way AT&T's network is. That there are no fall back bands. Which I find hard to believe. If there's no LTE you're screwed??? They told me to enable roaming and I might be able to grab a T-Mob signal.

This all sounds pretty stupid to me but I don't consider myself a cell network expert, by a long shot. I might have to sell the phone and go back to Verizon if I can't get this resolved. I'm hugely disappointed. But I don't seem to have many options left. I'm going to try AT&T's tech support but I don't feel much in the way of optimism in how that's going to play out.

Update: Called tech support and got the run around from them too. I'm done.

 

[RumoredNow]

...I never tried to do the field test trick (which I should have tried) because things were a bit hectic and I didn't want to spend more time cursing at my phone...

Sorry, badcat, but it seems you're cursing at your phone now...

Microsoft where I purchased the phone and they just start telling that's just the way AT&T's network is. That there are no fall back bands. Which I find hard to believe. If there's no LTE you're screwed??? They told me to enable roaming and I might be able to grab a T-Mob signal.

That's in line with what I was trying to say, your SIM and APN are attempting to hold you to VoLTE towers only.

I still would like to know if my hypothesis is correct and the ENS being disabled frees you from the problem.

 

[anon(123856)]

Yeah I know I blew it by not trying the trick there. I had changed the setting but didn't know if it had stuck. I am kicking myself right now... :smile:

I will try it again in the name of science!

So one thing I'm still not grasping is what exactly is the expected behavior? Shouldn't it fall back to some other band if the LTE signal is weak?

 

[RumoredNow]

Traditionally your phone should climb up and down the speed ladder as needed. I think they believe with their roll out of HD Voice (VoLTE) that you need no other speed. The new APN may also be holding you back.

Try these settings:

 

[anon(123856)]

Traditionally your phone should climb up and down the speed ladder as needed. I think they believe with their roll out of HD Voice (VoLTE) that you need no other speed. The new APN may also be holding you back.

Yeah both the AT&T and the MS guys seem mystified that LTE wouldn't be "everywhere". Have you been everywhere? Sheeesh...Anyway thanks for helping. This thread would have been eerily silent without your participation. :smile:

 

[anon(123856)]

Traditionally your phone should climb up and down the speed ladder as needed. I think they believe with their roll out of HD Voice (VoLTE) that you need no other speed. The new APN may also be holding you back.

Try these settings:

View attachment 107334

Interesting results. Setting the APN to PTA knocked me down to 4G. Setting it to phone keeps me on LTE but too soon to know if will help with my issue. Nice to know this little trick. This could have also been a good thing to test when I was having trouble. If PTA works better overall I might just leave it there, we'll have to see I guess.

 

[anon(123856)]

Traditionally your phone should climb up and down the speed ladder as needed. I think they believe with their roll out of HD Voice (VoLTE) that you need no other speed. The new APN may also be holding you back.

Try these settings:

View attachment 107334

A quick update: Since changing the APN from nxtgenphone to phone, I've seen my connection drop down to 4G and even E on a couple of occasions when LTE is weak or non-existent. So I think this APN is working better, at least more like I would expect. Thanks again for the help.