Database Users

Just how smart is the Big Brother in XDA?

For all those who are mildly paranoid about being monitored how much do we really know about the following: The XDA2 changes hands, is the original owner's info still linked to it; the XDA2 is barred, when using it as a PDA does it still send out signals? if so, can these signals be located? can the XDA2 be used to surf without a sim card, if so, are the signals posted to anyone? Can the XDA2 be unbarred? If it can be, is it hardwired to retain its original ID? Does all this sound like the Matrix ... well it may well be! :roll:

sounds like u got sum good dope
email me
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
...but seriously...

Dead Ringer said:
For all those who are mildly paranoid about being monitored how much do we really know about the following: The XDA2 changes hands, is the original owner's info still linked to it; the XDA2 is barred, when using it as a PDA does it still send out signals? if so, can these signals be located? can the XDA2 be used to surf without a sim card, if so, are the signals posted to anyone? Can the XDA2 be unbarred? If it can be, is it hardwired to retain its original ID? Does all this sound like the Matrix ... well it may well be! :roll:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When the radio is switched on the xda sends the imei whether a sim is in place or not, the information of a previous owner is lost once a hard reset is carried out, however some people think that by unclicking permanant save, that the data is lost, well that isnt true because if the next owner switches it back on and you were using the feature before, he will have access to all your data, the only way I found was to delete all contacts, check permanent save, reboot then uncheck it. There is no way known at the moment that is public knowledge that allows you to manipulate imei on xda2. I understand that there are calls from the uk government to have all imei numbers in hardware rather than firmware/software to make it almost impossible to change identity. Just because you are paranoid doesnt mean they arent out to get you. :shock:

Thank you you seem to be THE authority on XDA! You say ""When the radio is switched on the xda sends the imei whether a sim is in place or not"" I am not sure I understand the concept of 'radio' in the xda2. can the radio be switched off/disabled? what signals are sent and how are these managed, by whom? because there is now billing requirement why should this radio signal be monitored? It has been also said that "Paranoia is the belief in a hidden order behind the visible." anon (why do u think he chose to remain anon?)

:arrow: All cellular phones are beacons :!:
If you suspect they are listening, well, they are and all you can do is to make a little harder, thus:
http://www.cryptophone.de/html/products_en.html
It is not paranoia when they are really after you 8)

I want whatever you are smoking man!

Wish I was smoking something man! Maybe some food poisoning from bad lumpia :?
I was in a security presentation and saw how a secuirty engineer from Motorola was able to pinpoint and triangulate 17 different phones in an auditorium and then go down to each unit and "clone" it for surveillance purposes with a GUI application in his laptop. ( With the users permission for the purpose of the demo!)
If they are showcasing this technology, then I guarantee Big Brother
( NSA and NRO specifically) have the capability in a more advanced form and blend it with Exchelon, key word analysis and the like....

have a look at www.followus.co.uk its excellent we use it to track the kids, ( the more cell sites close by the better the fix) its show us they are at near by to where ever they say they are

Yes, I am aware of that service.
It is a good thing for parents and businesses and is not infringing on privacy because it is consentual and voluntary.
It amazes me to see how many peope think cell phones are not easy to trace or tap because they are mobile!

Having started this thread, I was begining to think no-one cared!
Is it worth pulling together all the intelligence on remote monitoring in one place? The benefit of this will be to know what currently done and if it is at all possible tweak the systems to ensure a modicum of privacy.
There is all sorts of legislation protecting privacy and some ensuring civil liberties. What are the implications of mobile phone contracts, for instance? Do they have a duty of care to protect our privacy is there anything in the contracts that limit their liability in this regard, and if so, why?
oh ... and I don't smoke but I'm told that I don't need to!

[Rant] The HTC TyTN is a toy, not a tool.

In fact, it's a 400 bucks piece of utterly unreliable, useless crap.
Since I got my device back from "repair", it's been a mixed experience. Most things work, some make me cringe in despair.
Today is a bad-TyTN day and I'm really, really <expletive/>.
After the repair, I thought my "No GSM" problems were gone. But today, the first time I really couldn't do without it, it crashed a couple of minutes after I unplugged it from the USB-ActiveSync 4.5 link and told me again "No GSM".
And of course, the result being:
- All POP3 accounts lost, and now I lost all emails and have to use different account names to set them up again
- Network connections credentials lost, even built-in. No I can, again, connected by other means, go figure out how to set these up or,
- finally, hard-reset the device, which is a pain in the neck because I have no out-of-the-box backup.
I'm not even running any third-party software on the device for fear of introducing non-linearities. I did not even install the brand-new TomTom 6, also since nobody seems to be able to sell a sufficiently large MicroSD card at this time.
Who's to blame for my bad experience?
Did I do something wrong? Setting the lock-timeout to 2 hours instead of 12, so it locked during the ActiveSync session?
Did HTC screw up so it would reset some "protected storage" when the GSM card is not detected for some magical reason?
Does Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU2 just have too much bugs to be reliable?
Does my provider E-Plus Germany suck for confusing the device with poor, unreliable UMTS coverage and internet connection problems?
It's a mixture of all these things, I guess. There are too many moving parts, most of which aren't sufficiently documented by Microsoft, or kept up-to-date software-wise by HTC and the service providers.
Examples:
- Messaging that unrecoverably screws up my POP3 accounts and there is no documentation in the SDK about the setup to fix it myself.
- The worthless MediaPlayer, that abandons it's meta-data when the storage card is released.
- The HTC phone software that at times wouldn't let me hang up on occasions, or doesn't start, or keeps using a bad UMTS connection even if GPRS is available and good.
I thought the TyTN would make a great every-day device for a phone and a software development platform for new-class applications.
So far, it's been one of the greatest time-wasters I've ever acquired.
Just like any other toy.
Useless crap.

Not had anything quite as bad as that. Never had to hard reset due to irreversible problem. But, yes quite a few soft resets and in a way although I want to disagree with you I think the device is cutting edge and could easily have been held back a year to iron out some problems. However as you say some of these problems are down to WM and telecoms providers. For business I would not get one of these but probably something with fewer features but high reliability.
For trying out the new or new combinations of features I would still buy a TyTn in preference to anything similar and yes a large part of this is about experimentation and an acceptance that if this were not cutting edge in some ways then reliability would not be acceptable. As it is though my business use is low on TyTn having "Fun" and experimenting is high. My rant is about releasing the device with obvious hardware irritations, the software.. well that can always be upgraded.
Mike

HB_TyTN said:
Does Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU2 just have too much bugs to be reliable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surely not - the problems you've listed (particularly the stale e-mail accounts) are not MS-related problems but because of stale WinCE database entries.
Next time DO run SKTools 3 to clean up the mail databases instead of hard resetting your device.

Furthermore, it's a very bad a idea to send a device in for service that still has data on it. You should have wiped it before sending anyway...

If you view a PPC Phone as a primary data storage/communications center, then you're in for a disappointment. On the other hand, if you use it as an extension of your personal computer, then not only will you have a very productive device but you'll keep your sanity.
I've always used this strategy since my first sync experience on a Nokia 6210 six-years ago. Appointments and contacts all easily synced to my phone. Replaced that with grey t68. Then came the PocketLOOX 600 (touted as first convergence device - nice idea, poor execution). I tolerated the buggy loox for 18-months before trading UP to an h4150 running wm2003se. Great device. Kept a t610 for phone, ppc as outlook back-up.
Arrived in Taiwan for an extended business trip end of July -- immediately picked up the local version CHT9000 (aka Dopod 838pro). Through this forum, someone graciously made available the first English language ROM -- a tad buggy, but later upgraded to my current ROM (dopod 1.23) and in everyway it has exceeded my expectations. I take it to the US and it my t-mobile account with gprs keeps me connected. Recently spent two weeks in Korea and all over China -- again, UMTS available most places, GPRS/EDGE filled in the blanks. Mobile carriers everywhere will love HTC for bringing this device to the masses.
Don't have to, but it's prudent to sync the device at least once a day. In the event you lose the device, it's stolen, or you're forced to hard reset, because it's just a 'copy' of your outlook system, it's no big loss.
All that said -- I'd recommend this device to anyone with at least some technical savvy. Without this, they could never appreciate truly the first quad-band gsm/tri-band UMTS, BT2.0, WiFi G, PPC Phone with both a useable keyboard AND a real scroll wheel and would be better off owning a Chocolate or some other Nokia/SonyEricsson 'fashion accessory'.
Cheers

Menneisyys said:
Surely not - the problems you've listed (particularly the stale e-mail accounts) are not MS-related problems but because of stale WinCE database entries.
Next time DO run SKTools 3 to clean up the mail databases instead of hard resetting your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do I have to use 3rd-party tools to fix such a problem? Where is the KB article about it, either on Microsoft's or HTC's or on my provider's website?

goestoeleven said:
Furthermore, it's a very bad a idea to send a device in for service that still has data on it. You should have wiped it before sending anyway...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before repair, my device had the "Does not reliably detect SIM card" problem, that clearly discouraged me to put any data on it.
As requested by my service provider, I sent in the device hard-reset, without SIMcard, SDcard, battery, or stylus. I even removed the screen protector.
So all that's lost now (EMail accounts, passwords, WiFi, and what not), has been set completely new AFTER repair.

aquanaut88 said:
If you view a PPC Phone as a primary data storage/communications center, then you're in for a disappointment. On the other hand, if you use it as an extension of your personal computer, then not only will you have a very productive device but you'll keep your sanity.
[...]
Don't have to, but it's prudent to sync the device at least once a day. In the event you lose the device, it's stolen, or you're forced to hard reset, because it's just a 'copy' of your outlook system, it's no big loss.
All that said -- I'd recommend this device to anyone with at least some technical savvy. Without this, they could never appreciate truly the first quad-band gsm/tri-band UMTS, BT2.0, WiFi G, PPC Phone with both a useable keyboard AND a real scroll wheel and would be better off owning a Chocolate or some other Nokia/SonyEricsson 'fashion accessory'.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciated the great feature list of the TyTN by putting more than 400 bucks on the table and commited to an additional data plan as well as another 24 months of mediocre network coverage and service.
As I said, I planned to use it for developing pocket pc applications and little helpers to make my life easier.
I use it as an extension to my laptop, it is connected to it via USB most of the time, to charge and sync.
But feel like I could demand that it reliably keeps my data until I sync again.
If I have to always carry my laptop around to get that reliability, then it would have been way cheaper to go with a UMTS modem card instead.
If something is only useful to technologically savvy geeks, without reliability for the Joe Public every-day user, then I consider it a toy. Maybe a great, feature-overbearing, remarkably innovative toy, but nevertheless, something to play with, not to rely on.
Unfortunately, beside the technical problems that could be overcome by updates and repairs, it's a systematic issue that support is split across Microsoft, HTC and my provider.
As I said, it's terrible hard to figure out if a problem is caused by my fault, inappropriate settings, too little or too much tweaking, mediocre network coverage, hardware faults or software problems.
I wouldn't mind hard-resetting the device every day, if there was something resembling a simple backup _out-of-the-box_.
By backup I mean settings, including personalization, network connections, email accounts, sms/mms, custom ringtones, etc.
And that's exactly what I'm into finding to buy or writing myself.

Finally, again
Hang, bang, gone. "No GSM" again.
This time not recovering.
The new thing this time: My service provider E-Plus doesn't accept it for repair.
I should quit my day job so I can fully concentrate on the struggle with this heap of crap.

HB_TyTN said:
In fact, it's a 400 bucks piece of utterly unreliable, useless crap.
Since I got my device back from "repair", it's been a mixed experience. Most things work, some make me cringe in despair.
Today is a bad-TyTN day and I'm really, really <expletive/>.
After the repair, I thought my "No GSM" problems were gone. But today, the first time I really couldn't do without it, it crashed a couple of minutes after I unplugged it from the USB-ActiveSync 4.5 link and told me again "No GSM".
And of course, the result being:
- All POP3 accounts lost, and now I lost all emails and have to use different account names to set them up again
- Network connections credentials lost, even built-in. No I can, again, connected by other means, go figure out how to set these up or,
- finally, hard-reset the device, which is a pain in the neck because I have no out-of-the-box backup.
I'm not even running any third-party software on the device for fear of introducing non-linearities. I did not even install the brand-new TomTom 6, also since nobody seems to be able to sell a sufficiently large MicroSD card at this time.
Who's to blame for my bad experience?
Did I do something wrong? Setting the lock-timeout to 2 hours instead of 12, so it locked during the ActiveSync session?
Did HTC screw up so it would reset some "protected storage" when the GSM card is not detected for some magical reason?
Does Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU2 just have too much bugs to be reliable?
Does my provider E-Plus Germany suck for confusing the device with poor, unreliable UMTS coverage and internet connection problems?
It's a mixture of all these things, I guess. There are too many moving parts, most of which aren't sufficiently documented by Microsoft, or kept up-to-date software-wise by HTC and the service providers.
Examples:
- Messaging that unrecoverably screws up my POP3 accounts and there is no documentation in the SDK about the setup to fix it myself.
- The worthless MediaPlayer, that abandons it's meta-data when the storage card is released.
- The HTC phone software that at times wouldn't let me hang up on occasions, or doesn't start, or keeps using a bad UMTS connection even if GPRS is available and good.
I thought the TyTN would make a great every-day device for a phone and a software development platform for new-class applications.
So far, it's been one of the greatest time-wasters I've ever acquired.
Just like any other toy.
Useless crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the first BIG complaint i have heard about the product.. Second, wow, what did you do to it that it had to end-up in repairs? (fiddler??) Third, if it does give this much problems, then there was something wrong with it from the start, but you didnt take it back an did not insist on a swop?
Look at this app, install it and see if your gsm still is disabled?
Also check your settings again to make sure all is set to the right ones! Else you got a big problem or just dono how the thing works(just saying this coz 80% of all problems are caused by the user him/herself!! See it everyday then they blame me!).. RTFM
Or it could be a virus!! hahah That would be funny!!
OH, your rom version!! Wow dude!! Update the thing!! ROM Version: 1.18.257.2; ROM Date: 05/30/06
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Hermes_Upgrades

HB_TyTN said:
Hang, bang, gone. "No GSM" again.
This time not recovering.
The new thing this time: My service provider E-Plus doesn't accept it for repair.
I should quit my day job so I can fully concentrate on the struggle with this heap of crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as testing purpose: superCID it and try to flash with HTC South African 1.35 Rom

The ROM update worked for me. It took a lot of work to get mine running how it should after that, 3rd party software, reg settings, and I must admit it runs beautifully now. But when it came out of the box it was bloody awful, wouldn't turn on, take 5 seconds to hang up, freeze etc.
One word ... iPhone, hmm.

Hallo HB_TyTN
Like you I am on the E-Plus network (at Hannover), and use a O2-branded Tytn, same firmware. However, I never experienced problems like you, and like us others got used to occasional soft reset requirements, mainly related to the 3rd party Today items I use.
Now that HTC is in the retail market by itself it is certainly not wise to buy their wares over service providers (unless like you one buys on contract), since HTC for machines bought with them will go to greater efforts to repair or exchange machines. Eplus will not repair your Tytn, but usually just send you another "refurbished" one from the same batch they got from HTC.
For the moment you seem stuck with E-Plus, and you can attempt to pressure them into proper service according to German law. Another possibility is in fact to try the South African ROM, and see if it improves your machine. Third option is to beg HTC for direct repair, maybe with confirmation from E-Plus that they cannot help you, and send the machine directly to a HTC repair centre. If you send in your machine, please mail a copy of your attached letter to Fred Liu, HTC COO office, 23 Hsin Hua Rd., Taoyuan 330, Taiwan, R. O. C.
He is the COO of HTC and the top boss of HTC Europe. Coming to Germany soon, he will not want to make enemies here ))

Now after 10 hours it booted just fine and I'm just rapiconfigging back my email accounts and networks.
Reestablishing Bluetooth pairings and TomTom actvation is still manual.
I'm not fiddling. First time it failed right out-of-the-box. After repair #1 I only installed SKTools and TomTom Navigator 6.
ROM upgrade is no option, E-Plus/Brightpoint have not published an update. So there would be no way back.
Last repair the device wasn't switched (same S/N, IMEI, ROM version), so I guess they couldn't repro the problem (that would also explain their refusal to repair it again).
Next time I'll rush to an E-Plus shop as soon as it happens.

lol < well this sucks. cant use less than 10chars.. > lol

My first experiences with the TyTn also were disappointing. It took me weeks to get it more or less useable, and even now some things are not as convenient as they were on my Symbian phone. Here are the things that bother me (some are solved by 3rd party applications, others are not):
General:
- onscreen keyboard pops up even when one is using the hardware keyboard
- no way to backup all the settings
- often hard to navigate when not wanting to use the stylus
- only one language for text entry (word completion and transcriber)
- no data counter (gprs traffic)
- wordcompletion intervenes too much (when I type a Dutch word "wel", after typing the space after the word it changes it to we'll, no way to prevent this)
- wordcompletion only shows one possible next word (no way to scroll between different candidates)
- any setting that is slightly more advanced or deviates from tradition is either hard to set or impossible
Messaging:
- no way to specify the imap-root folder
- not possible to switch SMTP servers (even the from field cannot be chosen when sending a mail, nor can mails be moved from one outbox to another) (other mail clients I tried have problems with my VPN)
- cumbersome downloading (headers only: one has to open a mail and then choose to download it, then click send/receive; why not download it when this is chosen? or even when it is openend?)
- many notifications for sms (sent notification in messaging client, sent notification from network, receipt notification) when sending messages (and one cannot mark them as "read" from the todayscreen)
- applications are not very well integrated (e.g. file explorer cannot send a file via bluetooth)
Calendar:
- always opens on day view, would like to change this to month view (but is not possible)
- day view should be scrolled down to show the start of the day (e.g. 8.00 at the top of the screen), now I have to scroll from 00.00 down before I can see stuff)
- cumbersome entry of time (esp. when entering times that deviate from the time slots)
Phone:
- no support for different call profiles (where a profile is essentially a call filter)
- when one contact has multiple numbers, the phone application only shows the last used one
Network:
- when you add a VPN server, then delete it, you can't add one with the same name (even though it has been deleted)
- wifi starts detecting all networks, and does not necessarily start with the networks one has been connected to in the past
Bluetooth:
- limited profiles
- sometimes counterintuitive
ActiveSync:
- sees the device as new every now and then (causing it to say it conflicts); I have to delete the device on my PC and let it find it all over again
Programs folder:
- is alphabetically, would be nice if one could order this to his own liking
Alarm:
- no snooze function
- unnatural way of entering time and repeat options
File explorer
- no way to view extensions of files
I've learned to live with some of these problems, but I would have expected Windows mobile to be a more mature system. I had to choose a WM5 device (so I new I had to compromise), due to the fact that I wanted to run some specific application (PocketFMS), but didn't anticipate I had to compensate this much. (of course, no of my issues is purely HTC related, but will be present on all WM5 devices)
In total, I personally consider Symbian (Series 60) to be more efficient, better customisable (one is less forced to do things one way) and (never thought I'd say this) more stable.
Jörg

hmmm.... the fact that I'm listening to mannheim steamroller over A2DP at Las Vegas airport while typing this reply on my TyTN is evidence of my disagreement with the OP. This device has done incredibly well at CES. unbelievable functionality in tough tradeshow conditions. i'm really happy with this little gizmo!

Nevermind, I really love it, too. Otherwise I wouldn't spend so much time with it.
But posting in a stable network environment (I'm on home WLAN right now) is not really a proof.
Try this when moving in a crowded area with weak 3G coverage, say on the subway. Add sensitive hardware and a mediocre provider and things go south.

It's unfortunate your having so many of these problems - my Hermes has been excellent! I haven't had any of the issues you listed. In fact, mine has only locked up once, and that was today (and I use it religiously). I've had it hard reset on it's own, but that was caused by Hackmaster. You should definitely try a ROM upgrade, if you haven't already.

At CES, I was using my TyTN on Cingular's network with 110,000 other geeks (kudos to Cingular btw... coverage was great!). Even so, my device was handing off between GSM and UMTS constantly and Cingular experienced at least one major data network meltdown that I could detect. Perhaps it was the combination of 1.35 & the 1.20 radio that made mine work so well.
The worst problem I had was A2DP, but after the first day I found out it was because so many other people had bluetooth going that there were simply not enough available frequencies to support A2DP's high bandwidth demands. All the vendors were bemoaning the fact that their A2DP stuff "just wasn't working right"....

HERMES WORST NIGHTMARE - "the cell phone death trap"

I recently moved into a new ‘cell phone death trap’ apartment (apt).
I’ve seen my phone connect, I’m guessing; connect to four different cell towers from my apt. I’ve sat and watched it go from 2 bar E, disconnect, to 1 bar G, disconnect, to no bars 3G, disconnect, and so on….
But here’s the clincher…
Sometimes it will also connect to a full strength edge network, but it indicates it’s roaming by the Triangle icon. Now if I’m on that ‘Triangle” network, my phone works great, meaning I actually can make and receive calls!
But, I’m guessing again, because it shows it is roaming; it also does not like to stay connected to this network. Actually it prefers to switch itself back onto a weak edge network without any signal.
My phone battery doesn’t last more than five hours, NOT TALKING, just in standby because it is constantly switching towers.
At this point I want to throw my Hermes out a window! But I know that wont do any good, because anyone else who come to my apt and has AT&T/Cingular gets the same results.
So here’s my question:
“Can I force my phone to stay on a particular cell tower?”
If so, I love you….

you should re-post over in this thread Daniel's software might be able to solve your problem (or Daniel might have other ideas).

thank you for the suggestion. i tried that and he said, "Sorry nop. It isnt the pourpose of cmp or bs...."

I don't think you can force to a specific tower but you can force to a particular provider:
START/SETTINGS/PHONE/NETWORK/MANUAL
and also select whether you want to force GSM/WCDMA and the GSM/UNTS band:
START/SETTINGS/PHONE/BAND
Maybe by going this route you can lock onto a reasonable signal.
2 other alternatives... Sell the appartment... Buy a landline and donate the Hermes to me
taze said:
I recently moved into a new ‘cell phone death trap’ apartment (apt).
I’ve seen my phone connect, I’m guessing; connect to four different cell towers from my apt. I’ve sat and watched it go from 2 bar E, disconnect, to 1 bar G, disconnect, to no bars 3G, disconnect, and so on….
But here’s the clincher…
Sometimes it will also connect to a full strength edge network, but it indicates it’s roaming by the Triangle icon. Now if I’m on that ‘Triangle” network, my phone works great, meaning I actually can make and receive calls!
But, I’m guessing again, because it shows it is roaming; it also does not like to stay connected to this network. Actually it prefers to switch itself back onto a weak edge network without any signal.
My phone battery doesn’t last more than five hours, NOT TALKING, just in standby because it is constantly switching towers.
At this point I want to throw my Hermes out a window! But I know that wont do any good, because anyone else who come to my apt and has AT&T/Cingular gets the same results.
So here’s my question:
“Can I force my phone to stay on a particular cell tower?”
If so, I love you….
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Are you able to change networks?
Are you able to ask your service provider the location of the towers and if they're planning either any upgrades or any more in the area?
If not you may wish to consider the first point, changing service providers.
I know what a pain it can be to have little or no service when needed. Personally, here in the UK, I'm on Orange. Where I lived in Wales it was either Orange or Vodafone that has a decent signal. When I'm out and about with work those are the two popular towers with o2 creeping up and some others too, but for the most part those are the strongest.
I don't, I'm sorry, have any better advice for you. Apart from leave your Hermes on charge when you're home near a window (safely) and carry a bluetooth earpeice around instead Good Luck with your Valiant Quest

ach2 said:
I don't think you can force to a specific tower but you can force to a particular provider:
START/SETTINGS/PHONE/NETWORK/MANUAL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i went to that tab and all i have is a Find Network button, which does nothing...no manual option
ach2 said:
and also select whether you want to force GSM/WCDMA and the GSM/UNTS band:
START/SETTINGS/PHONE/BAND
Maybe by going this route you can lock onto a reasonable signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried this method as well and it does not help. apparently both the good and the band networks all fall under GSM(900+1800)+UMTS(2100). The other two band options never find a network.
ach2 said:
2 other alternatives... Sell the apartment... Buy a landline and donate the Hermes to me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll consider it....thank you for your suggestions, I REALLY APPERCIATE ANYONES (constructive) FEEDBACK.

Elwyn M3100 said:
Are you able to change networks?
Are you able to ask your service provider the location of the towers and if they're planning either any upgrades or any more in the area?
If not you may wish to consider the first point, changing service providers.
I know what a pain it can be to have little or no service when needed. Personally, here in the UK, I'm on Orange. Where I lived in Wales it was either Orange or Vodafone that has a decent signal. When I'm out and about with work those are the two popular towers with o2 creeping up and some others too, but for the most part those are the strongest.
I don't, I'm sorry, have any better advice for you. Apart from leave your Hermes on charge when you're home near a window (safely) and carry a bluetooth earpeice around instead. Good Luck with your Valiant Quest
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your suggestions. Unfortuantly im locked in a 2yr contract, thats how ****ty american cell phone companies do things. Plus, the better providers in the area dont use SIM cards (ie. Sprint/Verizon), so that would mean bye bye Hermes.
Ill will go by the Cingular store and ask about the possible service upgrade, but those fools dont really know whats what, thats why im on xda-dev!
I like the bluetooth idea, ill try find a "sweet spot" in the apt and try that method. Thanks again!

"I have dream..."
My idea just seems possible, however i cant program so who am i too.....
The idea of having blocked cell id numbers. If i could FieldTest or somehow extract the cell ids from the towers i dont want, then create a file that the phone checks against before joining a tower.....
I dont know, just a dream i suppose...

In both cases (roaming and not) are you registered in same operator?

If you're having a difficult time maintaining solid cellular reception, you might want to consider buying an external antenna. Refer to my post here regarding an antenna that can be purchased from Radio Shack. The antenna is now on clearance for $20 and the pigtail is $10. This may or may not help depending upon your location in relation to the towers, but if you try it out, let me know how it works.
Cheers

Yeah, I'm on an 18 month contract... But I'm about 8 months in now
You might even be able to get bluetooth repeaters once you find your, ahem, sweet spot

danielherrero said:
In both cases (roaming and not) are you registered in same operator?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i believe so. the only reason i think it's roaming is because of the Triangle icon. But my SIM is only authorized for one operator, Cingular.
is there a better way to check?
Thank you very much Daniel!

Lancealot said:
If you're having a difficult time maintaining solid cellular reception, you might want to consider buying an external antenna. Refer to my post here regarding an antenna that can be purchased from Radio Shack. The antenna is now on clearance for $20 and the pigtail is $10. This may or may not help depending upon your location in relation to the towers, but if you try it out, let me know how it works.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would be willing to try those products but i believe they're now fully discontinued. Either of those item numbers from your post no longer exsist.

No problem
taze said:
i would be willing to try those products but i believe they're now fully discontinued. Either of those item numbers from your post no longer exsist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call your closest Radio Shack and ask if they have either of those catalog numbers in stock. Worst case scenario is that they won't, however they can check the districts perpetual stock and see how many are available, and if you ask nicely, they can have the antenna and pigtail shipped to their store so you don't have to run all over creation just to get it.
...An even worst case scenario would be if you didn't live in the US or didn't have any Radio Shacks close by.. however I might know of someone who could use their employee discount to cover shipping costs Let me know if you have any questions.

weinson said:
you should re-post over in this thread Daniel's software might be able to solve your problem (or Daniel might have other ideas).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Taze,
I would also recommend that you try one of Daniel's applications - he is working on Comm Manager Pro but I think that Bandswitch will probably help you. I find similar problems to those you describe at work here in the UK with T-Mobile and my battery would often run low even during a day at work. The problem appears to have been caused by the Vario II (Hermes) spending all day jumping back and forward between networks whilst hunting for the best signal. Although the Bandswitch application (very small footprint) will not increase the signal you may find that forcing the phone to operate in a particular band helps - this is very easily achieved via the Bandswitch interface rather than going into settings each time. I now regularly switch to GSM each day when I get to work and it has solved my battery run-down issue completely!
Comm Manager Pro does much the same and more. It allows you to define a location (according to Cell ID and LAC Code) from which you can set the CMP application to (amongst other functions) switch to a particular band - or even turn the phone off).
Given what you have said this may not help but I would certainly give it a go. Good luck.
Regards

tony.wheeler said:
Taze,
I would also recommend that you try one of Daniel's applications - he is working on Comm Manager Pro but I think that Bandswitch will probably help you. I find similar problems to those you describe at work here in the UK with T-Mobile and my battery would often run low even during a day at work. The problem appears to have been caused by the Vario II (Hermes) spending all day jumping back and forward between networks whilst hunting for the best signal. Although the Bandswitch application (very small footprint) will not increase the signal you may find that forcing the phone to operate in a particular band helps - this is very easily achieved via the Bandswitch interface rather than going into settings each time. I now regularly switch to GSM each day when I get to work and it has solved my battery run-down issue completely!
Comm Manager Pro does much the same and more. It allows you to define a location (according to Cell ID and LAC Code) from which you can set the CMP application to (amongst other functions) switch to a particular band - or even turn the phone off).
Given what you have said this may not help but I would certainly give it a go. Good luck.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im going to try bandswitch today and see how it works. thank you for the suggestion!
i wish daniel could add the feature of blocked, preferred, of locked Cell ID's. that would be worth a good amount of money to me....

Hi.
I would like to help you.... I can detect cells and lac but I cant force radio hardware to attach on a particular cell. This a task for Radio ROM. The only posibility (maybe) would be if the operator names are diferent. Could you go to settings a search for operators? Maybe your operator has different name in roaming than non roaming. In that case It would be easy to help you....

Oooo if FieldTest were a controllable application....
Ok what I’ve discovered so far after watching FieldTest for about an hour.
The Good Connection -
LAC 0020
MNC/MCC 31017
NCELL INFO1 700-80 dbm <---- (at least four out of six NCELL maintain a steady 700-80dbm, often all six NCELL)
NCELL INFO2 700-80 dbm
NCELL INFO3 700-80 dbm
NCELL INFO4 700-80 dbm
NCELL INFO5 700-80 dbm
NCELL INFO6 700-80 dbm
BAND 2CS
CHANNEL 1:CCCH (stays, doesn’t change)
The Bad Connection
LAC d6ef
MNC/MCC 31380
NCELL INFO1 140-100 dbm
NCELL INFO2 140-100 dbm <---- (i get two NCELL at the most 140 each, rarely four NCELL, never more)
NCELL INFO3 0
NCELL INFO4 0
NCELL INFO5 0
NCELL INFO6 0
BAND 3:850 (once I saw it switch to PCS on this same MNC)
CHANNEL 1:CCCH/0:BCCH/255<UNKNOWN> (switches between these quite frequently)
So what I’ve interpreted from all that is.
Well I’ve confirmed my ****ty connection. Even though the phone often shows two bars, I can’t make or receive calls. Based on the NCELL db numbers and the constant channel changing, that **** just don’t work.
Most importantly, the phone is always trying to switch to the highest possible band. Because PCS is a lower band than GSM 850, my phone won’t stay on the PCS connection.
O yes, another discovery is, in WM6, if you are connected to a PCS band network, it displays the Triangle icon as if you are roaming but in fact it is not roaming.
So Daniel since you seem to be the best chance for a better life [for my Hermes]:
I need a way to force band selection beyond just GSM and UMTS.
I tried BandSwitch and it does not work for me because all my available connections fall under GSM.
And even beyond that I’d like to be able to force MNC’s, as I believe they are the specific network number.
Or can I block a LAC?
In settings, I only have one operator, Cingular, “Home of the most dropped calls.”

Hi.
I undestand perfectly your frustration and I will try to do what I can althought It doesnt seem easy thing because there isnt any(known) api to manage Radio Rom. Fieldtest is OEM dependent and I imagine It only works for only one manufacturer of radio hardware chip.
Ok, first try. If you start radio phone 10 times....
1) how many times your phone register to roaming (and wished) network?
2) If registed to roaming network, how much time (aprox) stays on it before register to bad cells?.
Why? well ,CMP executes actions when you enter on some place (compound by cells and lacs). You could create a place with your hated cells and then associate the action "reset radio" when registed to those cells (or lacs). In this way if your device falls into bad cells it would be resetted (only radio, not phone) until registed to good cells...
Only an idea....
Dani

If you can determine the direction of the "bad" towers, try lining your walls with lead sheets to block their signals and letting you connect to a prefered tower.

HD2 phones missing calls and hanging up mid-call

Hi all,
I work in a company who have just dished out over 100 HD2 phones to their staff... we're on call and are having some problems with the handsets missing calls and dropping calls mid-call, and I just want to know if we're alone in this, or if it's a common problem, or better, if anyone knows of a solution!
We use Orange (UK) as our carrier, the phones are NOT orange branded....
When we get a missed call, we can be in an area with good coverage (3G or otherwise, it doesn't seem to matter). The person calling us gets a ringing tone as normal, but the phone doesn't seem to do anything (ie, no indication that it's getting a call coming in). Once the caller has given up (or been directed to answerphone) we do seem to get a message telling us that we've had a missed call, but this is a text message, not a windows mobile message, and can be upto 4 hours later!
We've also had situations where an HD2 has rung and we've picked it up after one ring to be informed that the caller was about to hang up as it'd been ringing at their end for over a minute!
The other issue we have is with the phones dropping calls mid-call both when taking or making a call... The phone handset shows good signal even when it drops the call... At first we thought it was people touching the hangup button on the screen with their cheek, but I've now witnessed the phones do this when held away from the caller's face and even when it's been on speaker phone waaaaayyyyy away from anything that could touch the screen or buttons...
Oh, and we're running software version 1.66.405.2 on all of the phones, and it appears that the problems are occurring on many (if not all) of the phones... They're all running BsB Tweaks and have all been setup in exactly the same way...
Anybody got any ideas? They seem to be a lovely device for everything else, it just seems that the actual telephone side seems a bit flakey...

lol... every problem you just described was happening to our company when we were using the Orange network in the UK.
We left Orange exactly one year ago after almost going legal with them due to their extremely shoddy service plus underhand and downright illegal activities with our account.
To cut a long story short...
When we took out our contract we bought every line as sim only and Orange gave us a hardware fund to buy our handsets as and when we needed them.
Turns out though... every time we bought an offline handset they were putting it through as an upgrade! This obviously increased the length of contract for the each connection in every purchase. The very definition of an upgrade in Orange's own terms of service (at that time, they may have changed it now) did NOT include buying a handset for a SIM only connection.
On top of this we had the exact same network/service problems you describe with ALL of our handsets (including the non winmo ones), plus many other other issues with their network/service.... missed calls not actually ringing the device.... text messages delivered late and voicemail notifications sometimes up to 6 days late. Dont even get me started on the dropped calls.
When it came down to the month we were supposed to be out of contract Orange told us that we were still in contract and we owed them £70,000 plus the full price of all of our handsets if we wanted to leave!!!!
Well... we told them they were talking rubbish and after a lengthy process going back and fourth with their legal department they eventually admitted defeat. They didnt have a leg to stand on really so Orange didnt get a penny and we kept all of our hardware.
Apologies for the lengthy post there i was trying to keep it short and keep my post in context. What i am trying to say is...
In my opinion your issues are more than likely down to the Orange network then anything else... but they will REFUSE to admit a problem. They also will not support your handset if you didnt buy it directly from them.

ian.hennam said:
Hi all,
I work in a company who have just dished out over 100 HD2 phones to their staff... we're on call and are having some problems with the handsets missing calls and dropping calls mid-call, and I just want to know if we're alone in this, or if it's a common problem, or better, if anyone knows of a solution!
We use Orange (UK) as our carrier, the phones are NOT orange branded....
When we get a missed call, we can be in an area with good coverage (3G or otherwise, it doesn't seem to matter). The person calling us gets a ringing tone as normal, but the phone doesn't seem to do anything (ie, no indication that it's getting a call coming in). Once the caller has given up (or been directed to answerphone) we do seem to get a message telling us that we've had a missed call, but this is a text message, not a windows mobile message, and can be upto 4 hours later!
We've also had situations where an HD2 has rung and we've picked it up after one ring to be informed that the caller was about to hang up as it'd been ringing at their end for over a minute!
The other issue we have is with the phones dropping calls mid-call both when taking or making a call... The phone handset shows good signal even when it drops the call... At first we thought it was people touching the hangup button on the screen with their cheek, but I've now witnessed the phones do this when held away from the caller's face and even when it's been on speaker phone waaaaayyyyy away from anything that could touch the screen or buttons...
Oh, and we're running software version 1.66.405.2 on all of the phones, and it appears that the problems are occurring on many (if not all) of the phones... They're all running BsB Tweaks and have all been setup in exactly the same way...
Anybody got any ideas? They seem to be a lovely device for everything else, it just seems that the actual telephone side seems a bit flakey...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having the exact same problem here so it can't be a carrier problem. This issue goes hand in hand with the switching of bands problem reported in another thread. The only solution as of right now seems to be turning off 3G network-capabilities completely until we get a radio that functions as it should. Would you mind contacting HTC? I think that a company threatening to sell their devices due to bad support on their part might make them do something about it. Us regular consumers they just ignore.

Toss3 said:
Having the exact same problem here so it can't be a carrier problem. This issue goes hand in hand with the switching of bands problem reported in another thread. The only solution as of right now seems to be turning off 3G network-capabilities completely until we get a radio that functions as it should. Would you mind contacting HTC? I think that a company threatening to sell their devices due to bad support on their part might make them do something about it. Us regular consumers they just ignore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
imo... its definately a network issue....Which carrier are you using?
i have HD2's on Vodafone and T-Mobile (both UK) and do not have any of the issues i had previously with Orange (didnt have HD2's at that time though so maybe its just unbranded HD2's on Orange?)

Audio Oblivion said:
imo... its definately a network issue....Which carrier are you using?
i have HD2's on Vodafone and T-Mobile (both UK) and do not have any of the issues i had previously with Orange (didnt have HD2's at that time though so maybe its just unbranded HD2's on Orange?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same carrier I used on my Touch HD and had no problems with(Saunalahti). Going to try the new 2.09 radio and see if that solves my issues.

Toss3 said:
The same carrier I used on my Touch HD and had no problems with(Saunalahti). Going to try the new 2.09 radio and see if that solves my issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which country?
It would be helpful to actually post some details!
Like i said above... it could be the HD2 on your particular network that has an issue.
I really dont think its a handset problem as if it was literally everyone with an HD2 would be going legal!
Ive been using HD2's since Novemeber 2009 and havent encountered any of the problems described in this thread.

Audio Oblivion said:
Which country?
It would be helpful to actually post some details!
Like i said above... it could be the HD2 on your particular network that has an issue.
I really dont think its a handset problem as if it was literally everyone with and HD2 would be going legal!
Ive been using HD2's since Novemeber 2009 and havent encountered any of the problems described in this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My HD2 is switching networks and dropping calls whenever it feels like it. Currently using HSDPA only with GSM + UMTS. I'm guessing my problem is more related to the switching of bands than anything else. Why it would loose its connection from one second to the next is beyond me, but this is a known problem.

Toss3 said:
My HD2 is switching networks and dropping calls whenever it feels like it. Currently using HSDPA only with GSM + UMTS. I'm guessing my problem is more related to the switching of bands than anything else. Why it would loose its connection from one second to the next is beyond me, but this is a known problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a slightly different issue to the OP. Your problem does indeed sound like it is down to band switching. There are a few threads on these forums about this as you already know.

Audio Oblivion said:
Thats a slightly different issue to the OP. Your problem does indeed sound like it is down to band switching. There are a few threads on these forums about this as you already know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, but I think the underlying problem is still the same - I've had plenty of calls dropped even when having full bars. Could be a carrier problem, but due to the amount of people having similar issues I'd say it's a hardware/software problem.

Toss3 said:
I know, but I think the underlying problem is still the same - I've had plenty of calls dropped even when having full bars. Could be a carrier problem, but due to the amount of people having similar issues I'd say it's a hardware/software problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with the band switching issue im unsure... i dont have the problem on any HD2 so i cant possibly comment what the cause could be.
But the OP in this thread has other issues unrelated to to the band switching problem... voicemail notifications delivered late... calls being missed due to phone not even ringing etc... these are NOT related to dropped calls caused by band switching. Im 99.99% sure they are network problems having seen the exact same issues on the exact same network myself.

Audio Oblivion said:
with the band switching issue im unsure... i dont have the problem on any HD2 so i cant possibly comment what the cause could be.
But the OP in this thread has other issues unrelated to to the band switching problem... voicemail notifications delivered late... calls being missed due to phone not even ringing etc... these are NOT related to dropped calls caused by band switching. Im 99.99% sure they are network problems having seen the exact same issues on the exact same network myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're probably right and as a user of the same network you probably know better than I. Was just trying to be helpful.

Toss3 said:
You're probably right and as a user of the same network you probably know better than I. Was just trying to be helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe he has both problems? shoddy network service AND the band switching issue?
who knows as he hasnt posted back?!

What's interesting though is that we've previously had HTC Touch Diamond 2s, Touch Pros, iPhones (although only a couple) and standard Nokia boggo handsets with the same provider (Orange UK) with no problems.... It's only the HD2s that seem to be affected by these problems...
I'm not sure if it's a band switching issue... is this where it drops from 3G to GSM (or the HDthingy half way between!)? I have noticed the phone drop from full 3G to the H symbol at times for no apparent reason...

ian.hennam said:
What's interesting though is that we've previously had HTC Touch Diamond 2s, Touch Pros, iPhones (although only a couple) and standard Nokia boggo handsets with the same provider (Orange UK) with no problems.... It's only the HD2s that seem to be affected by these problems...
I'm not sure if it's a band switching issue... is this where it drops from 3G to GSM (or the HDthingy half way between!)? I have noticed the phone drop from full 3G to the H symbol at times for no apparent reason...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
er... you do know that H is faster then 3G right?
Its goes like this: HSPA>3G>GPRS>No data/only GSM
I assumed that you knew this if you were supposed to be supporting mobiles for your company.
If you have only 1 bar of HSDPA/HSUPA it is still faster then 4 bars of 3G.
Also... i sort of got at this in a previous post but the Orange network does not like it if you use handsets on their network that are not bought directly from Orange themselves. Your story is oh so familiar to me.
What i would suggest you try with one or two handsets is flashing them with an official Orange ROM for HD2. This firmware must be floating about somewhere as i do believe Orange have the HD2 on their books.

I don't support the phones, I just set 'em up and give 'em out... I'm a broadcast engineer who supports IT and Radio broadcast studios, not mobile telephones... as I said in my original post, I am on call with an HD2, which is a company phone and is dropping/missing calls... I just came on here to see if it's a known problem with HD2s, and if there's a solution, or if it's likely to be something with the network (Orange) which we may be able to jump up and down about and get them to resolve...
I had remembered it the wrong way around with HSPA and 3G, so thank you for clearing that up for me...
Is the band switching issue when it swaps between each then?

nobody else got any ideas?

*tumbleweed passes....*

I'm having similar issues on AT&T in the US. My callers get a fast busy after my phone rings a couple of times. It does not forward to voicemail. I have to force the phone to GSM then call the person back. UNACCEPTABLE.
Sometimes they get "all circuits are busy" message too.
Did you ever geta solution? My 3 year old x7500 is a better phone than this HD2 is at this point.

They probably won't tell you what equipment they have in your area (due to security reasons) but if they have Motorola based cellsites, then you're going to get these issues as the radio equipment struggles to pass from GSM to 3G and back again.

You are not alone........
I don't think this problem is necessarily restricted to Orange; my company had the same problem when rolling out un-branded Touch Pro devices to our users....and we're on the O2 network in the UK.
Our users experienced exactly the same symptoms - calls dropping, unable to answer calls before the other end hung up, etc...
It wasn't until we installed a ROM update from HTC on all the handsets that the problems....um, lessened...they got better but were still present at a much lower level than before.
I think that one poster has already suggested trying a different radio (i.e. the bit that actually handles the calls/band switching etc.), which is separate to the software (version 1.66.xxx in your case). There may be an HTC ROM update on their site - these usually include software and radio updates in one. You can find your current radio version by going to Settings | About Phone | Software Information - it's listed as "Radio Version" (and the latest is somewhere around 2.10.xxx - taken from a T-Mobile US HD2 I think).
When networks brand the HTC handsets, they also test the various radio ROM's on their networks, before loading a (suitably bloated) software ROM and known-working radio ROM onto the devices before shipping. This, in most cases, is something you can try loading on your unbranded devices - not so here, since Orange never released the HD2 in the UK (ok, don't shoot me - they did release it in very small quantities on their business tariff before pulling it due to "issues found in testing"), so they sure as **** didn't release an updated ROM for the device.
Your best bet, if you can't find an HTC ROM update later than 1.66 (which I don't think there is...yet), is to get involved with this forum in the Leo section. Learn about flashing a new HSPL and then try some other radio ROMs to see if any of them solve your particular problem. You'll have to devote a day to reading/learning before you get down and dirty with a handset....unless you have a few of these £500quid beasties you don't mind turning into paperweights!! Only trouble with this route is, once you've found a radio that works on Orange (and doesn't rinse your battery in two hours!), you're gonna have to repeat the HSPL/radio update process on 100 handsets, then re-install/re-configure each and every one.
Not a very inviting prospect (we "only" had 45 handsets to do!), but the end justifies the means. The HD2 is a marvellous handset - I know, I've got one (on T-Mobile UK ) and I wouldn't be without it.
Keep posting any questions/thoughts.....we'll be here to offer our "useful insights" and "helpful suggestions" as long as you can take it!!!
Good luck!!!
Mark.

How Many People Are Having MAJOR PROBLEMS with DATA on T-Mobile HD2(Stock Rom)

Because this is F'ing ridiculous. I'm soon going to be on my 3rd HD2(T-Mobile is shipping me a new one tomorrow) the previous 2 just kept dropping my data connection. After about 3 hours of LESS of use my data would go out and only way to fix this is by doing a soft reset which is absolutely ridicules considering the damn thing just came out not less then 3 weeks ago. Am I just having bad luck or is there really an issue here that either T-Mobile or HTC need to address ASAP?!
UPDATE
ok now im starting to think it was T-Mobiles network not being able to handle all the new data over there lines or what not. Its been a full 2 days and I'm getting great data coverage. I'm getting my replacement HD2 tomorrow via UPS since I called T-Mobile and told them about the problem they said they would send me a new one. What should I do now. Its such a pain to have to set up my phone the way I like it but then again I dont want to risk having another data problem.

vampsandbats said:
Because this is F'ing ridiculous. I'm soon going to be on my 3rd HD2(T-Mobile is shipping me a new one tomorrow) the previous 2 just kept dropping my data connection. After about 3 hours of LESS of use my data would go out and only way to fix this is by doing a soft reset which is absolutely ridicules considering the damn thing just came out not less then 3 weeks ago. Am I just having bad luck or is there really an issue here that either T-Mobile or HTC need to address ASAP?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, you are having some bad luck!
My phone is perfect. Well, it could use a keyboard, but otherwise...

same problem
I am have same problem..t-mobile 3g sucks i guess

It appears to be a common problems with HD2 users on the other side.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=614119&highlight=connection

I was on the phone with T-mobile a few hours ago for an hour because my data connection would randomly drop. When I try to click it to turn it on, it would make me start a new data connection, wtf?
If I turn my phoen off and back on, it wouldn't even connect, with anything. The guy at T-mobile made me do a hard reset. My connection is fine now, but this was a hassle. I also notice Im not getting any better 3G service (as he said he update my network with better coverage).

I have the same problem with my phone. I have to constantly turn the data off and back on to get connection.

Both of my phones are doing it. They were both replaced recently too. Wish I could vote twice.

same here even if i have a full 3g bar data wont stay stable

No issues here.

been reading and stuff and more than half of the people with an HD2 have this BUT THERE IS A FIX search for it just like I DID
if you can't find it ill just post the cab latter when I got nothing bette to do.... haha lol

tuppaacc said:
been reading and stuff and more than half of the people with an HD2 have this BUT THERE IS A FIX search for it just like I DID
if you can't find it ill just post the cab latter when I got nothing bette to do.... haha lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great for you if you have a problem lol...I didn't when I was on stock. Glad to be on Elegancia now...pretty good s***.

No issues here. Bayarea.

The other day, I was in the Dade County Fair in Miami and my cell phone completely lost all connection (not just data, but cell signal as well). It would randomly come up again for a few seconds before dropping. I soft/hard reset, took the battery out for a few minutes... nothing seemed to work, so I called TMO USA the day after to see if maybe I was in the middle of an outage, but nothing and the guy from tech support couldn't help either... I had better service with MetroPCS....
The data connection dropping happens the moment I set foot in my home. It switches out of 3G and the phone starts displaying Edge, which is a lie because there is no network connection at that time (try to update weather and it simply spits out a connection error). I'm gonna try to flash something else and see if that works (I am on stock right now). If I cannot get this solved by the end of this week. I am switching to Sprint and getting myself a TP2 (since I need SIM card capability in my phone).
I did notice one strange thing though. I used CleanRAM (level 3 option) at one point at home when I was with the faulty Edge, and it switched back to full 3G. So, at this point, I am starting to believe that TMO put something in the stock rom that either hinders, or makes the connection lousy...
I guess I put away my ORD for as long as I could with this phone

To put it lightly, T-Mobile plan sucks in my area, I had to switch to AT&T ever since then I havent lost any data connections.

Although I just moved to EnergyROM the other day since I just like that ROM since I used to use it on my Touch Pro. I never had data issues with the Stock ROM. Only time I had a data issue is when there was an outtage in my area and then even the phone didn't work.

I could not get my data connection to stay on more than a few minutes at a time until I loaded up HD2Tweaks. Since then, it's been running perfectly.

It's odd...however, if your phone's only problem is just switching between Edge and 3G try setting the phone to only run on 3G...under Settings->Wireless Controls->Phone->Baseband->WCDMA...
If your phone is cutting out...that sucks lol...not a whole lot I can think of except for the fact that the laws of physics apply in this case...the higher a frequency is, the farther it travels with less energy but the less it penetrates the environment around it. This is in part caused by higher frequency waves becoming extremely tiny, with over 1900mhz having waves that are smaller than a drop of water.
AT&T 3G uses 850mhz and 1900mhz for their 3G. Its lower frequencies don't travel as far, but they have more towers to make up for coverage area and the signal will penetrate.
T-Mobile 3G is 1700mhz/2100mhz meaning that the slightly higher range, while seemingly insignificant, when coupled with less towers, will cause the far end of the signal range to have too great a degradation of power, and not enough penetration to be viable.
Along with this is the fact that many government agencies still operate on the frequencies that T-Mobile purchased, due to not having a backup for their systems. Enough power generated within a frequency range will raise the noise floor enough that your phone's signal will get cut off. Sounds crazy, but it does happen quite often. You ever hear static on your radio? Analog is great in that you can lose data and still function. So government radio's are perfectly okay with a little bit of background noise.
However, signals that broadcast an analog translation of a 1's and 0's, function like a digital connection. When packets of information are lost in significant quantities, or in this case they are known are "frames", your phone cuts out.
Signal interference is becoming more and more of a problem in the cellular world. Satellite communications have had to deal with this problem for years. Only now are enough cell phones being packed into a single area for the noise floor to rise in significant quantities.
Just my $.02
~Jasecloud4

for those who fix the problem can you post how you guys did it. i tried changing data to just 3g didn't work changing to voicestream it didnt work

I'm using HD2 since 25 march. Stock room. So far no problems.
Chicago & east sub.

No problems here... Ever...
Louisville, KY