[FIX] Proper Fastdormancy settings for AT&T/MediaNet (US)

If you had an unlocked GT-I9100 in the States and you were around during the entire FastDormancy fiasco with the first few stock ROMs, then you'll know where I'm heading with this.

After getting my SGS3, I noticed I was getting consistently slower speeds as well as notable battery drain when only on cellular data. While there were some knuckleheads on here that kept telling me to "use the phone APN" (even though I'm on AT&T's Medianet and CANNOT use the phone APN), I started digging into the SGS3 Fastdormancy settings as I knew from experience that could impact both download speed and battery life.

Not too long after, I realized that the UK version of the GT-I9300 does not have ANY Fastdormancy data for AT&T medianet. So, I added them in, and now, I'm pulling consistent 5Mbps downloads vs not being able to break 3Mbps previously.

(Only time will tell on battery life. Given most of the battery life complaints have come from US users while there are tons of great battery life claims from international users, I highly suspect this might be the root cause as well.)

Things you'll need:

1) SQLite Editor
2) Root Explorer

Steps:

1) Under Root Explorer, go to /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases

2) Select nwk_info.db and choose to open with SQLite Editor

3) Click on carriers:
A. First, notice there is NO AT&T Medianet setting and the last _id number.
B. Menu button -> New Record
C. Enter in:

a. _id: last _id number + 1 (increment by 1, next in sequence)
b. name: Cingular 410
c. numeric: 310410
d. mcc: 310
e. mnc: 410
f. apn: wap.cingular
g. user: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
h. server: cingulargprs.com
i. password: CINGULAR1
j. mmsproxy: wireless.cingular.com
k. mmsc: http://mmsc.cingular.com
l. authtype: -1
m. type: default,mms,supl
n. protocol: IP
o. roaming_protocol: IP
p. carrier_enabled: 1
q. bearer: 0
r. nwkname: Cingular 410
s. preferred: 0
t. editable: 0
(ALL OTHER FIELDS ARE BLANK.)

D. Click Save
E. Back button

4) Click on dormpolicy:
A. Again, note there is nothing for AT&T Medianet
B. Create a new record (just like above), enter in:

a. plmn: 310410
b. nwkname: Cingular 410
c. lcdonfdtime: 0
d. lcdofffdtime: 20
(ALL OTHER FIELDS ARE BLANK.)

C. Click Save
D. Back button

5) Click on nwkinfo:
A. Again, note there is nothing for AT&T Medianet
B. Create a new record (just like above), enter in:

a. plmn: 310410
b. nwkname: Cingular 410
c. dormancy: on
d. mtu: 1500
(ALL OTHER FIELDS ARE BLANK.)

C. Click Save
D. Back all the way out

6) Reboot the phone, you should be good to go.

Proof: Screenshot below. Tested from the exact same location each time (my desk at work) with a GT-I9100 sitting right next to the GT-I9300. After putting in the proper settings, the SGS3 is neck and neck with the SGS2 now.

Hope this helps others seeing network speed issues on AT&T Medianet, thanks for looking!

Baldilocks said:

I'm already getting speeds between 3-11Mbps. (Average 5) with factory settings. (shrug)

Hopefully this helps someone though.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

You're hitting 11Mbps on Medianet? I thought it was capped at around 7-8Mbps?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Baldilocks said:

As far as I know there is no speed limit on MediaNet. But, next time I am in that area, I will try to grab a screenshot.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

That'd be interesting to see, I do get serious throttling once I hit 7.5Mbps. No complaints though, perfectly content with that speed.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

SlimJ87D said:

Last question to your guide. What did you do in the APN settings finally? Just made one called phone and left it all blank?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Nope, leave APN alone... can't use "phone" if on Medianet.

SlimJ87D said:

Reporting in. Note that the internet at my house sucks. I live a few miles away from the boarder of Los Angeles.

Previous Speed test:
1. 1813/1083
2. 127/132
3. 834/319

After Proper Settings:
1. 3314/1013
2. 1121/145
3. 392/133

These were 3 random speed test. It seems like it has helped a little bit if not a lot. Will have to test it more when I'm in the OC area or other parts of LA. Anyways, here is the SQLITE file for others if they want to just copy and paste it in. Can you put it in the op? Thank you!

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Glad it helped... and thanks for the zip, updated first post!

ceo.mtcl said:

I'm getting 6 to 7 mbps without any modifications by default settings.

I'll try your method and will let you know.

Mind if I link your thread in my thread (look at my signature)?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

I'm not sure, but I could not for the life of me get my SGS3 above 2.x Mbps running Speedtest right next to my old GT-I9100. I fiddled a bit with the Fastdormancy settings before, so when I went to take a look, there wasn't even a record of AT&T Medianet (Cingular 410) in the SGS3.

At the end of the day, I can't say it's the cure all for the slow speed issue, but it did fix mine for sure. And, it can't hurt to have the proper settings in your nwkinfo.db, right?

And of course not, link away bud!

Baldilocks said:

Just for giggles, I went ahead an applied this fix. No major change in speeds but I did notice one thing.

Cell standby usage has dropped considerably.

I wonder if having your carrier settings on that database file has something to do with it??

My phone has just been sitting here for almost 2 hours and Cell Standby is only at 16%, while screen is at 62%.

Any thoughts???

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Yep, this fix addressed the improper FastDormancy implementation on the earlier stock ROMs for the SGS2 GT-I9100 where it was a major culprit for battery drain. Make no mistake of it... even though all these knuckleheads on here claim "FastDormancy should be turned off for AT&T," AT&T's network in the US DOES support FastDormancy. And, in theory, FastDormancy should improve battery life if properly implemented, so why you would want to turn that off completely is a mystery to me.

However, what I've noticed is that these earlier stock ROMs for these UK devices simply do not have the right FastDormancy settings for the US networks (yet). While the later ROMs did seem to address this, I'm not going to sit around for them to include the proper AT&T Medianet settings when I can just do it quickly myself.

Back to the original topic, FastDormancy does seem to impact speeds as well, so my original purpose for this hack was primarily for that. But, I would not be surprised one bit if it helped to reduce wakelocks and improve battery life overall on AT&T Medianet.

Glad it helped!