yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
Don't pay any attention to the bars. They do not reflect the signal strength for data. The bars are for voice. The phone has multiple radios in it but still is unable to use voice and data at the same time. So don't use the bars for anything.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
If you did it correctly and your in a strong LTE area you should have locked into an LTE tower. What Ive noticed is when theres multiple LTE towers is when it works best and keeps me off 3G. Prior to the mod I would be on 3G most of the time.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] jimmbomb:
ok.. thanks dmisselh... i got it now....

i have never 'edited' a file before..

I used Root Browser.

found data/property.

created the file..

then chose that new file..long press../open with/ open as/text file/RB Text Editor.. and typed in the word -->true <---

and saved.

then went back and rechecked.. its still there after a re-boot..

Thanks.. Ill try this out and see if it's made a diff!

thanks again
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
Did it reboot into LTE? I did notice it will hold onto a bad LTE sometimes longer than you might like. But it holds it. Sometimes a manual reset of LTE is needed but I dont have to do that unless Im on the road in BFE. In strong spark areas this works good
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] RayTrue04:
That's wrong information buddy. The bars are data signal.. If you place a call it'll switch to 1x and go to full bars. Now that's your voice signal. Once call ended it'll drop back down to data signal.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] sliverr7x:
Ya what^^^^^he said
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] jimmbomb:
OK.. Ive had this on for over 24 hours now.... and worked/// back and forth to the airport... My roving range in this period was about 15- 20 miles..

in and out of buildings, parking garages..etc... and...

the 3G icon NEVER showed its face..

Always LTE!!!!... So, yes, Ive noticed a difference..

And the signal bars always varied from 1 dot to 4 full bars...

BUT, always LTE.....

thanks fo this.. It seems to work for me here in St Louis
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
So you've basically experienced what I have I wont classify it as a fix but it is significantly better than what it was. Im a software engineer and I would classify what sprint released for the note 4 and it's LTE tower connection algorithm as very poor quality. Their first update to the phone made no attempt to address it in any form. Either they don't think there is anything wrong or they are so clueless they just dont know. Even their own forums are littered with people complaining. Ive been with sprint since cell phones were the size of shoes. This will be my last stint with them I think. I love this phone its awesome. Thank god we can root and tweak them to get them functioning properly. I just drove from Texas to Pennsylvania I grabbed onto LTE in many areas along the trip while driving and didn't experience the 3G drop problems like I was having before I'm still happy with the tweak also.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
So this bandaid keeps your LTE icon on, and maybe force connects to LTE towers, which doubt but the question is what about speed? Have you done a speed test comparison with this fix and without? My apartment is dead center in Sprints SPARK Turbo coverage map. That means I should be getting 50+Mbs. I get 1 if I am lucky. My upload is .1 to .5. So before I root thus ruining my warranty and resale price of the phone, I would like to see some speed comparisons of before and after.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
Theres 3 towers at my work, one of the spark towers(band 41) gets 25 to 31mbps the other(band 26) gets 5 and the third is the band 25 LTE it does 3 to 5. At my house its a non spark band 25 or 26 cant remember right now. So if Im on band 41 spark Ive seen over 30mbps.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] jimmbomb:
If you rooted..... and then later, just Odin'ed the stock ROM back on, would your warranty STILL be ruined??

thanks

***edit***

never mind... answer found here...

http://xdaforums.com/note-4-sprint/general/stock-n910pvpu1anie-stock-tar-t2944867

post #1 at the bottom.

thanks
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] pcmanager:
I am now reporting back after a few days on the "fix" At home my note 4 always stays on lte and has never dropped to 3G since applying the "fix" like it was before, at home. Download speed is about 3 to 4 Meg. Upload is atrocious .01 at times. My outdated S4 got 10 MEG down and 1 to 3 Up at home, very usable data. While traveling in a "SPARK SATURATED" area per Sprint coverage map the note 4 will still drop to 3G and it is usable but so slow when I see the 3G icon I don't even think about using data. I have noticed that after applying the fix and it could have been happening previously I just didn't notice it that when it switches from LTE to 3G there is a long delay before the data will resume causing the programs to stall that require a data connection. What a large beautiful screen to not be able to use gigs of my unlimited data plan on. On a brighter note the note 3 is on sale for $1 now and would have worked excellent in my coverage area, I wonder how much longer until my downgrade is available lol! Thanks OP for sharing this info as it has helped some :)
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
You're not the first person Ive heard express an interest in downgrading to Note 3. I think all we can do is hold out hope they will actually fix this thing. I just wish they would acknowledge there's a problem. Without them acknowledging theres a problem not sure how we are gonna get them to fix it.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
I actually talked to Samsung today at Sprints request and they acknowledged there is a problem. They want me to send my phone to them so they can reflash it. It appears they are handling this on a one to one basis to avoid the backlash if where to be announced and go public. Since they want me to let them reflash it that means it is not something that can be fixed by an OTA or and update. It requires access to the radios JTAG and the updated radio that they want to flash. Sounds like the radio was programmed wrong or incorrectly for the Sprint variant.

So your hopes of a fix are not looking good unless you call them and talk to them yourself. My issue is I can not be without a phone three weeks to a month while they put my phone in queue and deal with it when they feel ready..
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
So you're basically saying we are all screwed? I say we take it public. I can't be without my phone for 3 weeks either.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] photoshopgeek:
So if it's a radio update, why couldn't they release that? I know the average user couldn't flash it, but at least the people that were half tech savvy could...

---------- Post added at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:01 PM ----------

Well that was a complete waste of time... "There are no known connectivity issues with the Sprint version of the Note 4 at this time". Bull****..
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] RayTrue04:
People are still having this problem? My friend and I had this problem on our Edges but it fixed itself later on during the day after we got it. I'm always on band 41 at home and 25 or 26 at work with no issues.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:


Any chance you can provide us who you talked to that acknowledges the problem? Also its got to be a firmware related fix see if they will provide it to us and we can patch our own phones most of us are rooted so we've got access to mod our phones. If it's JTAG that might be more difficult. A phone number to call mightbe useful also.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
Unless you have the JTAG equipment you cannot flash it regardless of how tech savvy you may be. This is not something that can be done by SD card or USB.

---------- Post added at 08:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 PM ----------

Just call their phone support and tell them your issue that you have already done all the basics with Sprint and Sprint insist you talk to Samsung. They will ask you a few questions and then tell you the same thing. That it will have to be sent in to be reflashed. Oh and it helps if you tell them that an elevated Supervisor at Sprint looked at some log and confirmed that Samsung has confirmed this issue with the Note 4. The phone number is 1 800 Samsung. Yes that is the number I called.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] pcmanager:
The best and only way to "take it to them" is to go on the Best Buy Mobile and Sprint website and post your review of the note 4 giving a 0 or 1 stars for the software they have installed on our phones producing the horrible data connections. The only thing Samsung really understands is money, your dollars, when it hits their bottom line because of all the bad reviews about the connectivity issue on the Sprint note 4 and sales slow down they will stand up take notice and fix the issue. Just my 3 cents
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
You will have to be firm with them and tell them that a high level supervisor at Sprint told you that Samsung has acknowledged there is an LTE issue with the phone and that you should contact Samsung. You are the customer, don't accept no. The only reason i don't do it now is I am trying to figure out a way to keep my phone needs covered for the several weeks to a month they will have mine for reflashing.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] jimmbomb:
How can I find out what band Im on at any given time and location?

41,25 or 26?

thanks
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] photoshopgeek:
I like Signal Check Pro. Has a nice status bar icon that gives signal strength and band info.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blueline.signalcheck
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
I just thought i would let everyone know, i mentioned it in the other thread. Samsung has confirmed to Sprint that there is an issue with the Note 4 and it making connections to Sprints LTE network. I have been going around with Sprint for three weeks now trying to get this resolved. Finally got connected to a top level tech supervisor. He told me based on a log only he and those at his level have access to that Samsung has confirmed and issue with the Note 4 and Sprints LTE service. I was told by that supervisor to contact Samsung at 1-800-Samsung.

So I called Samsung. They did the usual stonewall till I mentioned that a senior tech at Sprint told me that Sprint has been told by Samsung that there sis an issue with this phone and Sprints LTE service and that Sprint advised me to contact Samsung.

Upon hearing this I was put on hold for about 7 minutes. Once the CSR came back she said that I would have to send the phone in to be reflashed.

Once she said this it all became clear what has happened. The Note 4 acts just like a phone that has been unlocked and carried over to another provider right now. In most case you will get the slower bands but you will never get the high speed bands due to the fact each provider has their own frequency for those. My guess is that some or all of the Note 4's for Sprint got flashed with another providers radio. You can still get the slow bands but the high speed band like Spark is never reached.

I will be sending mine in to get flashed. In fact I found out there is a local authorized repair facility in my area so Samsung sent me a repair ticket I can carry the phone in with to that location and they can flash it on the spot. I will be doing that Friday. I will get back to you guys with results then.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] sliverr7x:
Can't wait to hear the outcome
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dvtmg704:
Did u go back to stock
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
I use a program called LTE Discovery
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
Got it back from Samsung Service today. They said nothing was wrong with it, did reflash it as asked to by corp, but still no change. At this point I am ready to give up. I think I will just pay my 300 for early upgrade and get something else or just leave Sprint all together. It has been a really bad experience going from AT&T to Sprint and has left a really bad impression on me.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] pcmanager:
Thanks for reporting back and letting us know what happend. Sorry to hear after the reflash you had no improvement. I am also really disappointed with the data service I am getting with this phone. Did they tell you they were going to try some new code or software with the LTE modem on your note 4 or were they just reflashing it to stock? Also curious was the Knox warranty reset after they flashed it because some say that's not possible? I was in a Sprint store a few months back when the s5 came out and I was checking the spark connection speed on that phone versus an LG phone that was spark enabled, the LG phone was pulling 50 megabits while the Samsung s5 was only getting about 5 mega bits, the Sprint employee suggested the s5 needed an upgrade on the software to get the full benefits of spark. I think we need to have some tests done with another spark enabled phone from a different manufacture like LG or HTC and see what the data speeds are compared to the Samsung note 4. If there are enough people interested the words class action lawsuit sound good.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
Yep thanks alot man I pretty much suspected thats what you were going to experience. I still think theres a bug in the tower management algos. When Im conneected to LTE I get reasonable speeds. Its the 3G drops that kill me. I dont believe this is a hardware problem because I dont think the hardware is much different than the other service providers and all theirs work awesome. I still think we need to write reviews on everything we can and contact anyone that reviews phones and writes reviews the masses read.

I am curious is your knox tripped?
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
From what i gathered the Samsung rep that advised me to get it reflashed seemed to think it might have been flashed with the wrong radio or something. However that does not seem to be the case and in some areas I can get 10 to 15Mbs. It just seems all the areas I am in most are much lower for some reason.

No the reflash did not reset the Warranty Knox flag. That would require the hardware to be replaced as in a new chip, which ever one it is that has the e-fuse in it.

---------- Post added at 09:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 AM ----------

Yes the Warranty Knox flag is tripped because I rooted and then tried the persist.radio. lteon which does nothing but forces the LTE indicator on all the time.

They did not say anything about the trip and went ahead a ran a full diag and reflash.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] TechnicianOnline:
This persist.radio.lteon fixed something. I went from 3G before the fix. Download and upload was 0.3/0.5 and then over to 4g LTE at 2.5/0.1. I verified I'm on LTE from SignalCheck.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
It persists your LTE connection and doesnt drop you to 3G all the time for no reason. So yes it does help. where it helps most is when theres more than one LTE tower available. I actually have all three bands 25, 26, and 41 available to me at my work. It completely screws up my note 4 and almost immediately drops to 3G. Now if there's just one LTE tower it would hold it. With the persist property set I will now stay connected to LTE all day at my work with no drops to 3G. So yes it does fix something. People having issues with staying connected to a single LTE tower with possibly a weak connection will see no benefit in my opinion.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] photoshopgeek:
Yeah, this has been my experience. Today, I was getting a ~-110 B41 connection and tried to watch some youtube. While it was on lte, it was streaming 1080p fine and running 1-2 MB/s. Plenty of speed. Then all of the sudden it would start buffering. I looked and it was 3g again.. so I reset the connection. Ran fine again for a few min, then switched again. Did it about 3 or 4 times. Finally gave up..
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
Does it do that with the persist property file in place? Are you out driving or is this at home or work in a stationary place?

Also are you sure you've got the lteon persist file in place properly?
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] photoshopgeek:
Yep.. same one I posted.. and yes, I was stationary. And it will even do it when I have a really good signal. Had it do it on a -85..
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] theoner1:
Do you have a case on your phone?

My testing, on my phone without a case. While on landscape mode with left hand covering the earphone port, I've noticed the damn phone would drop to 3g real quick compared to portrait mode while holding the sides. After Christmas my wife purchased me the Spigen Hybrid Neo case and now it seem to help a lot in landscape mode without switching to 3g. This was all tested at home in one place with great LTE service.

So for my phone having a case on really helps a whole lot. YMMV, but that was just my experienced with my Note 4.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] photoshopgeek:
I use the sview case.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] pcmanager:
Yeah, this has been my experience. Today, I was getting a ~-110 B41 connection and tried to watch some youtube. While it was on lte, it was streaming 1080p fine and running 1-2 MB/s. Plenty of speed. Then all of the sudden it would start buffering. I looked and it was 3g again.. so I reset the connection. Ran fine again for a few min, then switched again. Did it about 3 or 4 times. Finally gave up..

Exactly what I have observed, experienced while streaming video. I give up :(
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
I'm using a spigen tough armour case I get similar performance with it on or off.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Battlebudy:
How did you end up getting the card did you go in and have them order you one or is there a number I can call to get one. This is my first 2 weeks as a sprint user so I'm still learning about sprint
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] bckoolaid:
Not sure if this has been said or not but read the first 5 pages and didn't see it. Take it for what you will but I'm a lead tech in a sprint corporate store, and we do have to destroy or return all used uicc/sims to the warehouse when we return defective devices. Since they can store contact information, we have to treat them the same as if someone left a memory card in their device. However, every service center has the ability to order stock of all the different cards, there are about 10, to keep on hand. If they don't keep them on hand like I do, we can order a replacement through ETicket just like we can order a phone. There are different cards for different phones, some work in multiple and some work for only one device. Although they are the same size, that doesn't mean its compatible. When I get into my store I will update this post with the devices that use the same uicc/sim as the Note 4.

Edit: HTC One, one max, nexus 5, g2, g flex, rim q10, s5, s5 sport, s4(both versions), galaxy mega, note 3, edge and ativ neo
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] TechnicianOnline:
Everyone should voice there opinions directly with Sprint. I found a thread where people are trying to do it.

https://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/186105

I found a workaround with a paid App from the market that basically refreshes the network everytime 4G LTE is lost.

Seriously it works REALLY well.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
Thing is though that the signal dropping is not the only issue. For some it is the lack of support from Sprint when it comes to updating towers. They put out this awesome phone that is supposed to use SPARK that is touted as one of the fastest networks out right now but only a hand full of cities have functioning SPARK towers even though their coverage map says otherwise. Based on their map and their support line I live in the heart of their SPARK coverage in the North Dallas area. I never have an issue with the LTE service dropping, my LTE icon is always on. However I can never get more then 1MB/s on my download and I am lucky if I can break .50 yes that's a half MB on my upload. So the issue is also they are just failing to have the coverage even though they claim they do.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] TechnicianOnline:
That's weird man.... what band are you on with 4G?

I'm normally on band 25 which is the middle band at 2/6Mbs. Then there's the 41 band which isssssssssssss bad ass.

I drove out to LA a few hours ago for some Mexican tacos and did speed test. It was amazing. Check out the screen shot below.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
Well check this out, in North Dallas near George Bush Turnpike and Midway Road. Based on their Spark coverage supposed to be the heart.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
I dont know if it will help you but I turned off band 41 completely through all my testing that was the band causing me issues. So I only used band 25 and 26 now. 41 is supposed to be the fasted band but it wouldnt work and would prevent me from getting better connections on 25 and 26 when they were available. I live in north dallas I spent all my time between carrollton and Richardson on the George bush turnpike. Try it out i get way better speeds than you are but I was getting what you were until I turned off band 41. I also set the lte band persistent property.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
How do you turn off a band, I am rooted. I checked with an App and I am on 26 most of them time though. But how do you turn off a band?
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] BigJPNut:
##DATA# and enter your MSL
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] Solarenemy68:
That's what I thought. I can't get Sprint to give me my MSL as long as payments are being made on the phone. Guess I am stuck still.

Actually I got it with an app. But when I go in and turn it off, I then can go back and look again and it says enabled. So I don't think I can actually turn is off.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] jhill110:
Here ya go [MENTION=1925914]Solarenemy68[/MENTION] . "MSL UTILITY" will get your MSL for you. Get it from my Dropbox here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ig98jqppzmt1gcp/MSL Utility.apk?dl=0
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] dmisselh:
Galaxy Tools will display your MSL

---------- Post added at 10:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 AM ----------

Not all band 41 seems bad, but in Richardson, TX in the heart of the telecom corridor it doesn't work nearly at all. I get less than 1mbps and Im 100 yards from the tower. I used LTE discovery to ID my band 41 tower. Pretty pathetic at 100 yards I can't get any service. Ive also got 2 3g and a band 25 and 26 fairly close, so I disable band 41 and I get about 5mbps on band 26. My guess is the radio ago has **** for brains and cant target a good tower connection. It actually puts me on the worst performing tower/band of all of them. Ive isolated each one individually and tested signal, performance, and signal to noise ratio. My guesses are there's some bad tower hardware out there. This tower actually worked fairly decent for a stretch of time and than one day I think it was after they did service on it because I checked the service schedules it stopped working and hasnt really worked since. A buddy of my with an iphone 6 cant get a good connection to save his life on that 41 band but he doesnt know how to manipulate what the radio will use. This isnt the only location Ive experienced difficulties on that band. Also 41 doesnt go through walls as good as 26. Sometimes both bands will be available and it will pick 41 when you are inside even though the 26 band works better. Also the 26 band definitely doesnt perfoem as well speed wise.

---------- Post added at 10:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 AM ----------

You can turn it off but you have to reboot after you change it.
[Sprint  Galaxy Note 4 General] elcidroyale:
What app.?

Sent from my SELF