vB Easy Archive - New phones/3G phones that disable Half Rate

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New phones/3G phones that disable Half Rate
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Posted by: macizcool

Hello everyone.

I have been looking at getting a new phone for my AT&T line. I was going to purchase a 3G phone for the call quality, but it seems like that may not necessarily solve all of my problems. I have heard that some new phones allow the user to turn off half rate. I think there was an LG and the a707. Do any phones being sold right now have a secret menu to turn off half rate (or any other fun features)?

Posted by: RogerPodacter

well as of now 3G is not using any half rate codecs, so you dont need to worry. the HR thing is only when the phone is using GSM signal, not 3G. but to answer your question, i dont know about those phones. usually moto has the option to be hacked and disable codecs.

Posted by: macizcool

I know that Motorolas can be hacked to disable HR, but I am not able to do that with my Mac.

Posted by: George Knighton

IMHO, forcing AMR and EFR is not quite as useful as it used to be.

For example, I play around with Moto V9 quite a bit. If I force EFR on them, there's a place where I will lose a call because the signal drops to around -100db just before I switch to the next array.

If I am using the phone with full rate allowed but not forced, then the phone will switch to half rate as the signal strength drops, and then I will carry the call through the -100db patch and hit the next array without dropping the call.

Moreover, with the advent of technology like Crystal Talk, forcing full rate is not necessarily giving us an advantage any longer over what the phone could accomplish on its own.

IMHO, with modern phones, we should make sure that full rate is enabled, but not necessarily forced in most situations. The only time I think I would go with forcing full rate is if I am constantly working, living and travelling an area that has me in a one-to-two bar signal strength area all the time, and no chance of dropping to a zero-bar signal where I'd have to carry a conversation.

This is my opinion for both GSM/EDGE and WCDMA, and forcing full rate will not give you more slots for data.

Posted by: George Knighton

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerPodacter

well as of now 3G is not using any half rate codecs, so you dont need to worry. the HR thing is only when the phone is using GSM signal, not 3G.

I just want to make sure that people are aware that what you've said is true only for the time being, while the arrays are not crowded.

A WCDMA array has the capability of forcing half rate if the device it is addressing is capable of WCDMA half rate. As I said in my previous post, however, I just do not think this matters as much as it mattered to us even one year ago.

:-)

Posted by: fractured

I know my LG CU500 had this capability, and I have been told the other LG devices do too.

Posted by: macizcool

Quote:

Originally Posted by fractured

I know my LG CU500 had this capability, and I have been told the other LG devices do too.

The CU500 was one phone that I knew had that option, that's why I am trying to figure out if others are capable as well.

George, thank you for your insight. Unfortunately, though, a phone that can be forced to full rate is an absolute MUST here. I use my Nokia 6010 on full rate with zero audio issues. Whenever I use my 6230 or 6126, the audio in and out are both so bad it's almost unbearable. I am just having a real hard time deciding which phone to buy, and I need to decide quick. Do any of the current Samsungs have secret menus?

Posted by: dctmpeg

To force Enhanced Full Rate on the LG-CU400 LG-CU500, LG-CU500v, and possibly the LG-TRAX:

Dial 277634#*#

Enter "Modem Setting."

Enter "GSM Speech Ver."

Choose "EFR Speech Pref."

Note that AMR Full Rate cannot be forced on the phone. UMTS appears at the moment, as many have stated, to use AMR 12.2 with is more or less equal to EFR. (I know for a fact the 3G markets I have been in are using AMR 12.2 at all times. And it works well until you hit about -106dBm with fairly consistent audio. For the time being, that is.

)

As far as I know the Samsung phones do not appear to have secret menus that would enable the audio codec to be changed. Perhaps some of the older euro. models do, though I have not yet found a code that seems to do the trick.

The new Nokia phones past the 6010 lack the *3370* EFR code. This puzzles me, but given Nokia's habits to programme certain carrier-requested features into non-branded / unlocked phones, somehow this does not suprsie me. (Example: An unlocked and unbranded phone from Nokia reading the network name off the SIM at all times, as opposed to showing the actual network name when you are off your native network.)

Posted by: kaibob

I am not very knowledgeable on this topic but wanted to add a thought to dctmpeg's posting.

After seem-editing my V3xx, I disabled AMR-HR and enabled AMR-FR, and the call quality on the GSM network improved quite a bit. I then enabled EFR by disabling both AMR-HR and AMR-FR, and the call quality on the GSM network deteriorated below the level of AMR-HR. So, it would seem important to distinguish between AMR-HR, AMR-FR, and EFR.

BTW, I wasn't aware that the 3G network uses EFR. I assume (but really don't know) that the codec changes I made to my V3xx only affect the phone when on the GSM network. Regardless, the call quality on the 3G network in my area is excellent.

Posted by: dctmpeg

My main line uses only the EFR codec and does not support 3G. However, I will not be spending most of my time in an area that does support 3G for some time.

Of course, it is also a Samsung phone. Samsung reception coupled with only being able to use the EFR codec produces some interesting results when you are in a fringe area.....

Posted by: shoman94

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Knighton

IMHO, forcing AMR and EFR is not quite as useful as it used to be.

For example, I play around with Moto V9 quite a bit. If I force EFR on them, there's a place where I will lose a call because the signal drops to around -100db just before I switch to the next array.

If I am using the phone with full rate allowed but not forced, then the phone will switch to half rate as the signal strength drops, and then I will carry the call through the -100db patch and hit the next array without dropping the call.

Moreover, with the advent of technology like Crystal Talk, forcing full rate is not necessarily giving us an advantage any longer over what the phone could accomplish on its own.

IMHO, with modern phones, we should make sure that full rate is enabled, but not necessarily forced in most situations. The only time I think I would go with forcing full rate is if I am constantly working, living and travelling an area that has me in a one-to-two bar signal strength area all the time, and no chance of dropping to a zero-bar signal where I'd have to carry a conversation.

This is my opinion for both GSM/EDGE and WCDMA, and forcing full rate will not give you more slots for data.

Did you find the engineering field test mode to get your db ratings?

Posted by: George Knighton

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoman94

Did you find the engineering field test mode to get your db ratings?

The test mode is not hard to find; however, the AT&T version of the V9 does not have the screens already installed.

Posted by: shoman94

Quote:

Originally Posted by George Knighton

The test mode is not hard to find; however, the AT&T version of the V9 does not have the screens already installed.

I know how to enable it.....used it for years. So how do you get the screens installed?

Posted by: tibere86

Quote:

Originally Posted by dctmpeg

My main line uses only the EFR codec and does not support 3G. However, I will not be spending most of my time in an area that does support 3G for some time.

Of course, it is also a Samsung phone. Samsung reception coupled with only being able to use the EFR codec produces some interesting results when you are in a fringe area.....

I'm also trying to force EFR and Full Rate on my phone to no avail. The codes that used to work on my brother's D600 don't work on my G600 (i.e. #*3370# for EFR and #*4700# to disable half rate and force full rate) What codes do you use for your D900?