yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] phonefixdfw:
i had tried everything. But... I just got a replacement phone and it seems to have fixed the issue along with many other little things that were acting up and bugging me. I think I just had a dud
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] hal3146:
I am glad to hear this and this gives me hope. I received mine in the first shipment and it has taken until last week to convince them it was a hardware issue. Of course now they keep pushing back shipping of my replacement much like the original shipment.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] phonefixdfw:
ya mine was a first round too. my 360 cam didnt work. Was trying to rma that, they insisted on me sending back both the cam and phone which i was reluctant. But glad i did bc new cam didnt work on old phone either, both cams work on new phone. Also, i had "holes" in ear speaker on original, new one is solid mesh across. Sound quality is much better it seems. Just in general less issues even before the software update yesterday
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] gqukyo:
Just got my replacement and the Tmo reception so far is ok... hasn't disconnected yet. Speeds are subpar as usual indoors so no surprise there but most important is that it holds a connection! Lol My original one would randomly disconnect very often and I'd miss tons of calls. Hoping it stays connected but will know for sure after a day or 2 of using it.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] aldoe00:
Signal drop when connected to WiFi

I noticed recently that my ph-1 would have pretty awful ~ -120 dBm at home where I normally get -90 dBm. When I noticed this, I disconnect the wifi and the signal seems to jump back up. Has anyone noticed this?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] gqukyo:
Gave up on using Tmo on this phone for now. Still disconnects rather frequently for me in the Bay Area.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] aldoe00:
Thanks for the input. I don't have reception issues with T-Mobile, other than the weird drop in signal when on wifi.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] cheddaface:
I just got the white one Monday and my main issues that T-Mobile is slow compared to when I had my pixel and snapchat quality sucks bad on this phone and seems to have a few touch issues not sure if the touch issue are hardware or software but sometimes it feels like I need to touch something twice
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] aldoe00:
touch issues

I've also noticed having to try multiple times for a touch to register. I think the thread you are looking for is here:

https://xdaforums.com/essential-phone/how-to/screen-sensitivity-t3666250/page3
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] splat matt:
I just got my Essential Phone yesterday (Nov. 1) and on the t-mo support for various android phones they say use:

(ref: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-34124)
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] aldoe00:
I've tried playing around with the different settings, however did not notice any difference (I'm also on T-Mobile). Will play around some more and report back if I notice anything.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] minotauri:
I'm also on tmobile with the white PH-1 and I've noticed that data network is absurdly slow or has more trouble getting a stable strong connection than my previous HTC 10. The "signal" bar still shows a decent connection but extremely laggy.

update: changed setting to GSM/WCDMA/LTE and it helps a very little bit.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] loconess:
So is it a lag issue or slow or drop signal.

Or all of the above.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] quazimodem:
I saw that support doc and it didn't work for me, however, I found another doc on OnePlus that had a different APN type setting... they used

"default,supl,mms" without the quotes and TMO was working fine after that change.

Actually, let me clarify.... I didn't change any of the default settings ONLY added a new APN with the settings from the TMO support doc and the above modified APN type.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] gqukyo:
Isn't that just the priority of the connection (in addition to the network type support)?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] dkotoric:
Do you have have a link to the OnePlus document?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] nomesrjp:
I think it's this thread that's being referred to.

https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/tutorial-how-to-use-the-opo-on-t-mobile-usa.64071/
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] quazimodem:
Sorry, I may have been confused on where I got those settings. I just recall reading/using OnePlus settings at one point because I wasn't getting data to my original phone.

These two links reference using default,supl,mms for the APN type:

https://apn.gishan.net/settings/1212_12_t-mobile_apn_settings_for_oneplus_one.php <--- this one references T-Mobile US 160 as the APN profile

https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-28474

I also got another Essential phone (Pure White) using the Friends&Family code.. This phone auto-detected picked up a T-Mobile US 260 APN profile and is using "default,supl,ia" for the APN type. Odd. Data seems to be working ok so may be this is the newer APN setting? :shrug: We'll see how things go I guess.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] :
Don't know if this is still relevant, but I work tech support for T-Mobile.

First, save yourself some time and don't call T-Mobile. They don't support non-T-Mobile devices. Outside of giving you the APN settings, they can't do much.

Second, any rep telling you they are filing a ticket for this issue is just trying to save face in case you get a survey. Almost all engineering tickets filed for non-T-Mobile phones comes back saying it is not the network at fault. If you get a survey, please rate accordingly, as it is not the rep's fault.

Third, if your SIM works fine in a T-Mobile phone, but has issues in the PH-1, it's the PH-1 at fault. Going to be either a software bug or hardware deficiency.

Lastly, make sure to fully edit your APN. The autopopulated ones are almost never complete. Make sure the APN type is 'default,supl,mms,hipri,admin,mobile'. Only half of this is listed on T-Mobile's site, but I've had great success adding the 'hipri,admin,mobile' on CDMA phones so it's worth a shot on a PH-1.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] jeck77:
So I got my Essential PH-1 for Christmas. I am on T-Mobile unfortunately and I do notice less signal strength than my GS8. That's not that big of a deal because I'm on WiFi at home and at work. I do use my phone as an outside sales rep though and I have ran into a weird issue. I am running the latest 7.1.1 build with the December security patch.

I cannot make calls to certain phone numbers while on the cellular network. I can make calls to every number when I'm on WiFi calling, but when I switch to LTE, specific phone numbers don't work. I can call my wife, who is on T-Mobile on a GS8 and watch my bars go from LTE to HSDPA to Nothing to being kicked off the network. When I call my stepson who is on Sprint with an iPhone, it connects just fine on LTE and I get HD voice. Exact same place. I have multiple numbers the phone refuses to call and will kick me off the network, all on different networks and models of phones. Then I have those numbers I can call just fine and be on HD voice if compatible, again on different networks and phones.

Anyone else with this issue?

Also, does the Oreo beta improve the T-Mobile signal?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Charkatak:
Beta didn't improve anything, but I haven't seen issue you have described above. It seems that you have Enhanced 4G LTE mode turned on, but I wonder why the signal goes from LTE to H when you call your wife... Did you check APN(Access point names) settings?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Amd4life:
Phone is awesome, but if you run TMobile, I would recommend another device. The phone does NOT work on the proper bands, with full network bandwidth on that carrier, for some odd reason. On ATT, it flies at full output though, in my experiences
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Charkatak:
I am on T-Mobile and phone connects to the following bands: 2, 4 and 12. Most testing I have done was on band 2 and 4. The max speed I have seen was 131 Mbps down, using Speed Test app. At home I am getting from 60 to 90 MB/s down and up at least 30 or more. I personally would only complain about signal strength where this device has a lower dB when compared to other devices. I had Pixel 2 and this device had the best signal. Most of other devices would switch to band 12 in some areas, but Pixel 2 didn't and performed well. Of course if the signal of band 2 or 4 would be too low, then it would switch.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Amd4life:
I wish I could replicate those numbers. With mine, my device connects to the bands but the actual connection strength is far worse that my other 835 based devices. Also in building use (most of my use) causes the phone to work intermittently. Maybe it's area by area like, specific...guess I should not generalize, as it's seems one mat always be the outlier.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Charkatak:
I assume APN settings are correct on your phone? You can always try to reset these settings to default.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Amd4life:
Yep tried that, created my own, reset, new install, had the imei provision with tmo. Maybe it's just my city
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Charkatak:
Location may play a part in the reception, but if other phones give you much better signal, then it might be the phone. I know in areas with strong signal, Essential doesn't have issues, but in areas with 30% out of 100 signal, then phone has a hard time clinging to the signal. If it is a hardware design flaw, then I don't see how software could make it better, but I am happy to be wrong.

I drove around the city today, just to check the reception and how signal behaves. I think on Android 7, I saw less signal issues than on Oreo Beta 2. I saw few areas where signal bars would disappear, for few seconds, then reappear. Maybe the latest Oreo beta isn't fully certified and will be updated when public version is release.(just hoping)
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] deanjen:
I'm using T-mobile and I've tried various phones in my household. Typically most phones are hovering around -90 to -94 dbm(Note 8 has gotten as good as -88). I've tried Pixel 2 XL, LG V30, Oneplus 5 & 5T, Oneplus 3(this one is slightly weaker for sure, typically hover around -98), and iPhone(never bother for the field test mode).

Essential PH-1, with Oreo Beta 2 and 3, has never seen anything lower than -98 As of now it's at -102. I've seen as bad as -110 from time to time.

However, my friend Miles has tried this with his AT&T and never had issues with signal strength.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] deanjen:
Update as of 2-8-2018: Have just updated to the latest edition with Feb. security patch. Right now it looks like PH-1 is hovering between 94 to 98, with occasional -100+ showing up shortly. Still ain't as good as Note 8 or Pixel 2 XL, but definitely some improvements. I'll try it during typically day time and see how it is.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] gqukyo:
They actually did something other than the security update? Still, better than my free Sprint which is now currently at -114 at home by the window lol
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] deanjen:
I've been testing 8.0 Beta 3 for the last couple days. Reception strength continues to be an issue as it has never gotten below 99 while my OnePlus 5T and Pixel 2 XL constantly got around 94 +/- 4.

I'm updating to 8.1 Beta now and will see if that'll resolve this strange issue with T-mobile connection.

---------- Post added at 07:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:20 AM ----------

Initial testing of 8.1 seems to be "slightly"better. I've seen the signal strength showing as good as -90 dbm. That being said, it still fluctuates between 90 to 108 from times to times.

Will try again tomorrow during daytime and see how things go. I really hope that this may fix the T-mobile reception issue so I can use it as my daily driver.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Caltinpla:
We have 2 unlocked Essential phones. Mine just updated to 8.1 b1 and I'm with Sprint and my signal/reception with Sprint is really good, even before the updates. My son's phone is still on N-7.1.1 but he's with T-Mobile and he gets much better LTE plus signals most of the time. So to me, it might be the location not the phone or firmwares issues.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] deanjen:
Location is definitely important, which is why I'm only using one single location - my house - to gather the data of reception strength on various phones.

App that is used to gather data is essential as well. I've tested several and finally settled for LTE Discovery.

So far Note 8 is still the best(the only phone which often shows -dbm below 90). Pixel 2 XL and Oneplus 5t typically all get -dbm below 95 on a consistent basis.

Have tried S8 Duos and S8+, and both lie between Note 8 and Pixel 2 XL. Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is actually decent in signal strength, and it doesn't fluctuate much, either.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro is showing very good score. However, it has the same problem as PH-1 does: cellular strength fluctuates greatly. It is actually worse than PH-1 as it's the only phone which may get knocked down to EDGE(yes you're reading this right) at the same location where every other phone can still hold a weak but usable LTE signal. It also seems to be very sensitive about body proximity as well. Putting it in your pocket seems to take away a big chuck of signal strength.

I've tested Mate 9 (regular; not pro or Porsche edition) and it is good & stable. Kind of wonder what Huawei has done to Mate 10 Pro design...

Now back to PH-1. Unfortunately the issue with T-mobile (it's band 4 in my house hold) still occurs. It's typically about 5 to 10 dbm weaker than the other phones. It also fluctuates a lot, but definitely not as bad as Mate 10 Pro.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] deanjen:
Updating to 8.1 stable edition now and will see if the signal issue still exists or not.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] geoff5093:
From what I read on reddit, the update didn't help. I really think it's a hardware issue.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] deanjen:
You're right. Still over -100 dbm so I give up...
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
So basically if I'm reading this correctly, no matter what we set it to it won't work properly because TMobile
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Nic Lalich:
T-Mobile connectivity

In Summary: Oreo 8.1 path,

Set Preferred Network Type: TD-SCDMA/CDMA/UMTS in *#*#4636#*#* > Phone Information path.

Set the phone interface path: Settings> Network & Internet> Mobile network> Advanced> Preferred network type, it should automatically be set to 4G/LTE or Global, it could also be set to LTE/TDSCDMA/GSM/WCDMA when option above is chosen.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] jhs39:
Those are the same instructions Essential Support gave me and they didn't help. So far I've had fair service on T-Mobile and poor service on Sprint with this phone. Trying Verizon next but I'm not optimistic at this point.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] gqukyo:
I'm on the Sprint for my Essential phone and boy does it suck. Only a few places where I get consistently good service and those areas are just ones I pass by on my commutes lol. The one carrier that officially supports the phone and it doesn't work well... lol
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] shoeprano27:
can i safely say that these tmobile settingsmwoukd work on metropcs as well?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
This thread is confusing. What is the recommended setup for TMobile between APN and preferred network?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] aldoe00:
I've had no problems using the settings that ship with the phone. I'm also on tbooble.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
What is your preferred network set to?

When I look at the APNs, there's like 6 listed.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] stinger4321:
how is signal after todays ota?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] jhs39:
The OTA had no effect on signal strength or stability for me. It's exactly the same as before.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] aldoe00:
under 'mobile network' my preferreed network type says: global.

(however when i went into that setting nothing was highlighted weird).

my APN is selected as the first one: T-Mobile US 260 (fast.t-mobile.com).
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
How many APNs do you have listed?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] aldoe00:
I have 5 listed.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
Sorry, I meant 5. That's exactly what I have as well.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
This is so confusing. I live in NYC, went through like 3-5 essential phones all with the same signal bouncing around. Then you have tons of ppl that are like my signal is great.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] aldoe00:
So, I think in general everyone agrees that the Essential phone does not have as good as reception as other phones. For instance, I just took my girlfriends phone (pixel 2) and placed it next to my PH-1.

I just compared two locations in my house, both are on Tbooble.

Location 1: PH-1 -112dBm / Pixel2 -97dBm

Location 2: PH-1 -120dBm/ Pixel2 -108dBm

When we do get in areas where the signal is not very good and I lose reception, her phone does hold onto it a little better. However in general, I don't have any problems as I'm in an area with band 12 everywhere. When I don't have signal, I'm ok with it because of these main reasons:

1) The phone is at a fantastic price if you get it used. Even retail price of ~$450 is solid price however you can find them all over in great condition for $300. (got mine on craigslist with 360 camera for 300$ mint... a steal if you ask me).

2) I'm ok when I do find myself without reception because my 10 line family plan comes to 31$ /month taxes included.

Hopefully something in my response helps :)
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
I have both the pixel 2 and ph-1, i see the same differences in signal strength as well
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] jhs39:
I already had T-Mobile when I bought this phone. The signal sucked but I figured the Essential would work better on Sprint since they support the phone and the poor signal was a T-Mobile issue. I switched to Boost (Sprint) and ported my number over even though I had still had 2 months of non-refundable prepaid on service left on MintSim (T-Mobile). The Sprint signal turned out to be worse than T-Mobile. I lost my phone number, lost the money I paid MintSim, lost the money I paid Boost and I'm on a much more expensive T-Mobile carrier with the same bad signal I started with. I had a poor AT&T signal with a Pixel XL so Verizon is the only carrier left. If that's a bust then I wasted $500 on a phone I can't use. Essential knows about the problem but all their support does is ask for screenshots and email various network settings that never make any difference.

---------- Post added at 10:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 PM ----------

This is my only phone so the fact that it doesn't work is apparently a much bigger issue for me. I can verify similar signal numbers comparing the PH-1 with a Nexus 6P and OP5.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] gqukyo:
Yeah my original provider was Tmo and it was bad at times but usually only at home where all providers are bad so I didn't think much of it. Outside, it was fine but it's horrible with Sprint. At least in the Cali Bay area.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] Jonyboots:
Terrible... Same as before.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] jhs39:
A bad signal at home isn't a problem with T-Mobile because their MVNOs have WiFi Calling and Volte. Sprint blocks both. My Sprint signal was so bad I had to use Google Voice to cancel the service.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] gqukyo:
Lol that is bad
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] c19932:
my signal seems to have gotten better after today's OTA. Before update, I used to have 0-1 bars at home, but I would never completely lose signal. After OTA, I'm getting 1-2 bars. But again I am just looking at the # of bars and I've never lost complete signals before.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] jhs39:
Essential Support had me install Network Cell Info from the Play Store to help with troubleshooting. One thing I noticed is that the signal meter in the status bar frequently doesn't correspond with the signal strength shown in the app. I wouldn't necessarily trust that icon as an indication that your signal actually improved.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] DuMKaSD:
Anyone know what provisioning I can use so the phone connects to HSPA and LTE? I set it to LTE/WCDMA (which should trigger 3G), but it never drops to H in the signal bar. If I set it to WCDMA it always stays on H and data works just fine (albeit a little slower)
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
I agree with that statement but the phone is terrible catching a signal. I've tried a bunch of setting and nothing helps.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] charlatan01:
I've had mine for 5 days now. Two cities, KC (travel) and Denver (home). I've been using voice, Skype for business (VOIP), and other conference solutions and I've had one drop in a known dead zone.

I am not using a detailed signal app at this point, but usually my home is a bad spot for signal, and it's been stellar there too (which is where I office from).

So far it's as good as my Z2 force and better than my Xperia xz Premium.

I am running the latest Oreo, and I configured my device after all updates were applied.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] jhs39:
Essential support claims my handset is defective and suggested an RMA exchange. But I would be getting a refurbished phone in place of my nearly new one.. And the phone could have been returned for buyers remorse according to the rep but most returns seem to be because of the signal issue so I would probably end up getting a phone somebody else returned for the same problem I'm having. The signal issues with this phone are so widespread I have trouble believing that my specific handset is defective or that an exchange would improve anything. If they were providing a new phone it would be an easy decision but if it's a refurb somebody else already returned it. Google does the refurb thing with all RMAs and it very often doesn't turn out well for customers.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
As been mentioned before everyone has different results. I've been through 4 phones and all the same signal issues on T-Mobile in NYC. It literally looks like not enough power is going to the modem or something.

I've compared side by side the PH-1 vs Pixel 2 vs S8 and the Pixel 2/S8 always have better reception and catch on to a signal faster, much faster.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] thatguy222:
I'm in Jersey City and my T-Mobile reception has been terrible and it's always flipping from LTE to LTE+ and back. This afternoon my phone displayed that I had no SIM card. I took it into the store and the guy popped out my SIM, said it was outdated and put in a new one. He said it was because T-Mobile had upgraded their network. In any event, it seems have have fixed my reception issues.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
Why would this be SIM Card related? Did they charge you for a new SIM?
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] thatguy222:
I can't say I know the why here. I can just say it fixed my reception issues and the flipping between LTE and LTE+ (now it is always LTE+).

No, there was no charge for the new SIM.
[Essential Phone Questions & Answers] msr360:
Does the signal still bounce around?

Out of curiosity, what does the bottom portion on the new SIM card say under the SIM card number?