Cellular strength and throughput

Search This thread

XDA_RealLifeReview

RealLifeReview Dude
Nov 2, 2015
680
2,234
We know how much you like to stream, ahem, "videos", and so cellular data is mega-important. Rate this thread to express how you think the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite's LTE performs. A higher rating indicates that it's fantastic: throughput is excellent and signal strength is top-notch.

Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add.
 

mortmaru

Senior Member
Sep 30, 2010
103
11
I have found the signal not that great.

I tried using two sims both support 4g on two different networks in uk EE and o2.

I went to top of my road which is up a big hill and both services even on old redmi note 2 could max out 2g/3g 4g was also max on ee sim 4g could not be tested for o2 on that phone no b20 support - now on this new ones i only get half bar max 3 quarters.

I my house i always would get on o2 2g/3g max signal redmi note 2 again its now dropped to 3 quarters and ee it keeps trying to connect to 4g with 0 signal

also found gps to be off by around 25+ meters
 

mortmaru

Senior Member
Sep 30, 2010
103
11
I am thinking of switching back to old phone the signal is just so bad on this phone its at the point now both my sims are useless in my home which is stupid my old phone didnt even support as many bands as this one yet it has far better signal
 

Xmister

Senior Member
Jul 4, 2010
1,037
1,946
I think you might have a problem with that phone. If your GPS is 25m off, it can't see enough satellites. If it has a poor reception too, then you either live in a faraday cage, or have a defective phone. I have mine for 2 weeks now, and have great signal (about the same as my 4X or RN3 Pro), with fast and precise GPS.
 

iLovPieNCake

Senior Member
Jun 3, 2010
91
29
Chicago, IL
Using the phone on T-Mobile in Chicago, IL - USA, signal strength has been pretty good, not amazing but much better than my Moto G6.

Average download speeds ~10Mbps with peaks of 20Mbps
My G6 average under 10Mbps and peaked at 12Mbps
My OnePlus 5 averaged 20Mbps with peaks of 50Mbps.

Not too bad although it doesn't support carrier aggregation so speeds aren't as fast as my OnePlus.
 

Lebrun213

Senior Member
Jun 27, 2018
73
25
used to get 100mb/s on a place with my galaxy a3 through 4g, but everytime i tried with the xiaomi i could only get 30-40mb/s.

same on another spot where i had 20 mb/s (galaxy a3) and now only 8-10mb/s with the a2 lite.

i checked it's all the same band used but the xiaomi just has weaker reception signal.
 

Arkon1337

Senior Member
Jul 4, 2018
68
23
Galaxy S4 Mini VS Xiaomi A2 Lite

LTE and UMTS Network tested:

Germany Vodafone: Signal Strengh from the A2 is weaker about 5-7 ASU (Arbitrary Strength Unit) or - 10-14 dBm.

So the antenna is probably not the best :(
 

chanti548

Senior Member
Apr 4, 2013
142
6
Does it support wifi calling on T- mobile??


Using the phone on T-Mobile in Chicago, IL - USA, signal strength has been pretty good, not amazing but much better than my Moto G6.

Average download speeds ~10Mbps with peaks of 20Mbps
My G6 average under 10Mbps and peaked at 12Mbps
My OnePlus 5 averaged 20Mbps with peaks of 50Mbps.

Not too bad although it doesn't support carrier aggregation so speeds aren't as fast as my OnePlus.
 

mortmaru

Senior Member
Sep 30, 2010
103
11
I think you might have a problem with that phone. If your GPS is 25m off, it can't see enough satellites. If it has a poor reception too, then you either live in a faraday cage, or have a defective phone. I have mine for 2 weeks now, and have great signal (about the same as my 4X or RN3 Pro), with fast and precise GPS.

It appears to of been fixed with one of the updates for the gps side of things that is mobile signal is still poor.

I noticed the gps faces the wrong way as well which is annoying
 

BlueMoonRising

Senior Member
Dec 9, 2011
197
46
Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro
I've had my A2 Lite (4/32 version) for a week now, I got sims from Vodafone, Three & Giffgaff (for O2) and tried all 3 plus my Plusnet (EE) in my Vodafone SU6 & the A2 Lite and the phones were showing the exact same signal strength.

I've just changed to Sky Mobile as the O2 signal is better at my new place and the signal (here at least) shows as between -91 & -95 db. I was getting full signal bars earlier on the other side of town as well. The DL speed is up to 25Mbps and UL up to 17Mbps so no problem with a weak reception signal here at least.

I'm in the UK BTW.

---------- Post added at 08:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:23 PM ----------

I noticed the gps faces the wrong way as well which is annoying

Have you calibrated the compass yet? You need to move the phone in a figure of eight while rotating it, you need to do this for any phone. Really easy to drop the phone doing this so take care.
 

anon1135

Senior Member
Jan 23, 2017
840
176
Using the phone on T-Mobile in Chicago, IL - USA, signal strength has been pretty good, not amazing but much better than my Moto G6.

Average download speeds ~10Mbps with peaks of 20Mbps
My G6 average under 10Mbps and peaked at 12Mbps
My OnePlus 5 averaged 20Mbps with peaks of 50Mbps.

Not too bad although it doesn't support carrier aggregation so speeds aren't as fast as my OnePlus.

Did u notice any problems with calls? As in not receiving any or if someone tell u it goes straight to your voicemail. I tried a redmi note 4 global version before but it didn't work that good for some reason even though the right bands were listed. Data and sms were fine, outgoing calls would have a 20 second delay before it rings. I'm interested in this phone for tmobile and att. This looks like xiaomi's best budget phone with bands that support those if it doesn't have problems like I experienced before
 

dali13gr

Member
Oct 2, 2010
28
4
Thessaloniki
Did u notice any problems with calls? As in not receiving any or if someone tell u it goes straight to your voicemail. I tried a redmi note 4 global version before but it didn't work that good for some reason even though the right bands were listed. Data and sms were fine, outgoing calls would have a 20 second delay before it rings. I'm interested in this phone for tmobile and att. This looks like xiaomi's best budget phone with bands that support those if it doesn't have problems like I experienced before

The delay before a call is exclusively a matter of the provider, not the device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: anon1135

Tasdude

New member
Nov 9, 2018
2
1
I seem to have reception issues with my new A2 lite, I am using Optus 3g down in Tasmania, Australia
With my old trusty Motorola 2nd gen, the reception was low at home and at work but still usable, however this A2 barely has signal in those locations, when it does have signal it seems to sit at 0 to 1 bar for a while then for some reason drops out to no signal for a while, I only have good signal outside and in town areas.
Is the reception power level lower? or does it not check for reception as often? The call quality is fine when I make calls in 1-2 bar reception areas, doesn’t appear to drop out.
Perhaps this is just the gamble with a budget phone and I doubt there is much I can do apart from trying a different carrier or look at another phone. Trouble is reviews do not seem to comment a lot on reception quality and it wasn’t something I expected to be an issue. Makes me miss the 2014 Moto :( it was a top phone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: colloplay
My signal strength is not that good in this device. It gives few signal bars than my oppo . Does not insist to pull any more signal where I get a bar on my old phone..then switches to 2G even when " forced to 3g" is activated. I don't get why it's happening. Otherwise on a 4G zones it's best. But I'd prefer good 3g signal that it cannot give.
 

rcll

Senior Member
Oct 15, 2008
263
12
Is the weak cellular signal a hardware problem? Or software?

Has anyone tested other ROMs and noticed improvement in cellular signal? A different kernel or different RIL show improvement?
 

AlaskaTHPS

Member
Apr 9, 2014
12
2
Ya, I wonder if you can buy micro antennas to place inside the phone. There's 2 or 3 u.FL(uFL, IPEX) antenna connectors inside the phone. Who knows, maybe a set was suppose to be bridged and share an antenna, I'd have to look at the schematic or trace the board myself.

---------- Post added at 09:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 AM ----------

Ya, you can definitely buy antennas to put in the phone. Just search MHF4 antennas. I'm going to work on figuring out where the 3 MHF4 connectors go inside the phone.
 

rcll

Senior Member
Oct 15, 2008
263
12
Ya, I wonder if you can buy micro antennas to place inside the phone. There's 2 or 3 u.FL(uFL, IPEX) antenna connectors inside the phone. Who knows, maybe a set was suppose to be bridged and share an antenna, I'd have to look at the schematic or trace the board myself.

---------- Post added at 09:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 AM ----------

Ya, you can definitely buy antennas to put in the phone. Just search MHF4 antennas. I'm going to work on figuring out where the 3 MHF4 connectors go inside the phone.

Interesting. Have you figured this out? Is there room inside the phone for additional antennas?

Adding antennas should increase signal strength for the bands currently supported?

Is there a way to add bands using additional antenna and editing the ril/modem file of the rom?
 

AlaskaTHPS

Member
Apr 9, 2014
12
2
Interesting. Have you figured this out? Is there room inside the phone for additional antennas?

Adding antennas should increase signal strength for the bands currently supported?

Is there a way to add bands using additional antenna and editing the ril/modem file of the rom?

There IS room for some small passive antennas. Antennas don't add bands, they just extend your current bands signal. There are some cheap mhl4 antennas online that would fit in there, but you need to know which connector is for which bands or use an antenna that covers most bands and bridge the connectors to one antenna.
 

Xenocatalyst

New member
Jul 21, 2015
1
0
Antennas?

Ya, I wonder if you can buy micro antennas to place inside the phone. There's 2 or 3 u.FL(uFL, IPEX) antenna connectors inside the phone. Who knows, maybe a set was suppose to be bridged and share an antenna, I'd have to look at the schematic or trace the board myself.

---------- Post added at 09:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 AM ----------

Ya, you can definitely buy antennas to put in the phone. Just search MHF4 antennas. I'm going to work on figuring out where the 3 MHF4 connectors go inside the phone.

Did you work out if the MHF4 antennas were a viable option?
Can the spare connectors in the phone actually be used for an antenna?
If so, does it work?
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 1
    Did u notice any problems with calls? As in not receiving any or if someone tell u it goes straight to your voicemail. I tried a redmi note 4 global version before but it didn't work that good for some reason even though the right bands were listed. Data and sms were fine, outgoing calls would have a 20 second delay before it rings. I'm interested in this phone for tmobile and att. This looks like xiaomi's best budget phone with bands that support those if it doesn't have problems like I experienced before

    The delay before a call is exclusively a matter of the provider, not the device.
    1
    I seem to have reception issues with my new A2 lite, I am using Optus 3g down in Tasmania, Australia
    With my old trusty Motorola 2nd gen, the reception was low at home and at work but still usable, however this A2 barely has signal in those locations, when it does have signal it seems to sit at 0 to 1 bar for a while then for some reason drops out to no signal for a while, I only have good signal outside and in town areas.
    Is the reception power level lower? or does it not check for reception as often? The call quality is fine when I make calls in 1-2 bar reception areas, doesn’t appear to drop out.
    Perhaps this is just the gamble with a budget phone and I doubt there is much I can do apart from trying a different carrier or look at another phone. Trouble is reviews do not seem to comment a lot on reception quality and it wasn’t something I expected to be an issue. Makes me miss the 2014 Moto :( it was a top phone.