Database Users

Should I let the poor reception issue put me off buying one?

Hi all,
I am thinking of ordering teh Xperia from mobiles or o2 direct, having already placed an order for hte HD but o2 are taking a ****ing age getting it "approved" or delaying it for whatever reason.
Question is - although i like the look of the xperia i've heard a bad things about the reception and as I'll be using the xperia as a business phone *calls and synching outlook contacts/calendar etc. will the poor reception prove too much of a problem? I woudl only be getting the phone on the o2 network.

I use Vodafone, and I came from using a N95 to an X1 and have noticed a downgrade in signal strength.
I suppose it depends on where you live, if u have had reception problems previous then going to a X1 might be the same maybe worse.
I am absolutely loving this device. It’s taking some time to get used to, but WOW I have all but praises for this phone (apart from the signal strength of course).
My advice would be to get the phone over the internet or telesales. At lease then you should have 14 days to evaluate the phone (that’s what Vodafone UK do – I’m on the 4th day in now)
What I can say, is that the bars on the phone are a bit deceptive, and when it has none/1 bar, I can still make a perfectly good phone call.

smurkej said:
Hi all,
I am thinking of ordering teh Xperia from mobiles or o2 direct, having already placed an order for hte HD but o2 are taking a ****ing age getting it "approved" or delaying it for whatever reason.
Question is - although i like the look of the xperia i've heard a bad things about the reception and as I'll be using the xperia as a business phone *calls and synching outlook contacts/calendar etc. will the poor reception prove too much of a problem? I woudl only be getting the phone on the o2 network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on Orange UK and get FULL signal strength at home and 3 bars when out and about. I think that's pretty much what I expect from any phone. I really think it all depends on the network and your location, NOT the phone. O2 PAYG sim more or less the same.
Don't let other users experiences put you off. It really is a great phone!

It can still depend on the phone, but then on each separate unit.

sir.chunk said:
I use Vodafone, and I came from using a N95 to an X1 and have noticed a downgrade in signal strength.
I suppose it depends on where you live, if u have had reception problems previous then going to a X1 might be the same maybe worse.
I am absolutely loving this device. It’s taking some time to get used to, but WOW I have all but praises for this phone (apart from the signal strength of course).
My advice would be to get the phone over the internet or telesales. At lease then you should have 14 days to evaluate the phone (that’s what Vodafone UK do – I’m on the 4th day in now)
What I can say, is that the bars on the phone are a bit deceptive, and when it has none/1 bar, I can still make a perfectly good phone call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this. Its an amazing phone, try it for 14 days and see if the signal will be a problem. It will get better, with radio upgrades and this rumoured antenna upgrade, but for now the signal is passable for me.

Pyrojester said:
I second this. Its an amazing phone, try it for 14 days and see if the signal will be a problem. It will get better, with radio upgrades and this rumoured antenna upgrade, but for now the signal is passable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rumoured antenna upgrade
Tell me.

xmoo said:
rumoured antenna upgrade
Tell me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn I can't seem tofind it. It was just a rumor from another user for an antenna upgrade in January 2009 that SE were going to do.
Probably just wishful thinking.

I too have been rather put off by all the negative comments re: poor reception. Although my X1, now 5 day old, only shows 3 bars of reception most of the time, the actual call quality is fine - its just that I've become very aware of any deterioration in sound quality after reading the negative posts.
I'd echo what everyone else has said, try it for yourself & see what its like....just ignore what the phone says its reception is!
It seems this isn't an unknown problem with some other HTC devices and is often improved with a firmware upgrade (at the slight expense of battery life)
Paul

I have no reception Issues I have X1i and X1a in USA

I almost always have GSM, but 3g is sketchy. If you compare it to a nokia E90 with the same sim in, its always 2 bars less.

3G only and no problems with the reception. Most of the time 1 bar less than my old HTC Trinity, which had very, very nice reception.

i've been on to carphonewarehouse today and they say my lack of 3G is the xperia. when I stand next to a colleague with an iphone, they have full 3G and I'm stuck with crappy Edge! I've got a week to decide but at the moment it looks like the xperia is going back.
I suspect those people with good 3G don't live in the UK.

I get really good HSPDA (on Vodafone UK) whilst at work and it's not too bad whilst at home but I prefer to have 2g with Wifi.

I dont see a problem with reception compared to other phones using the same sim, it's hanging onto the signal that's more of an issue. It can go from 2 to no signal fairly quickly without moving the handset.
Comparing number of bars across different makes of phone is not sensible as one manufacturer may use more bars to show the same strength of signal.

Pyrojester said:
Damn I can't seem tofind it. It was just a rumor from another user for an antenna upgrade in January 2009 that SE were going to do.
Probably just wishful thinking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was it this post?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2908167&postcount=4

xxnoelziexx said:
reception is poor on the x1 my work ordered 150 units which all went back. SE said they will have a new revision Jan09 a rom upgrade will not fix this issue. They need to revise the antenna. I sent my phone back today as at work it could not hold a 3g signal were my HTC Diamond PRO does both on the same network.
The X1 is a good phone but 2 problems for me it is not a keeper the bad keyboard
and reception issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah this is the one.

surprising people are having so many problems with poor reception, i had full reception at home, on my sony ericsson p1i and with my x1i i still get full signal and hsdpa. Still get more or less full signal when i'm not at home. I'm on O2 UK

Picasosz said:
I have no reception Issues I have X1i and X1a in USA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what part of the usa if u dont mind me asking. im considering getting a X1

XPERIA X1 SIGNAL RECEPTION: Cool, OK, so-so or crap ??

Many users have complaint about poor (weak) signal reception...
But others (as me) are getting full bars and excelent coverage
Please vote and tell the world your Xperience

Mine seems to be okay. My completely subjective opinion is that it's not quite as good as my old Motorola Q9h Global, but it is about as good as my Nokia E71-2.

Considering that I live in zone 1 of one of the worlds major capitals the signal is crap ! ... in terms of reception DEFINITELY the worse phone I ever had (this is Vodafone / London)

Amanox said:
Considering that I live in zone 1 of one of the worlds major capitals the signal is crap ! ... in terms of reception DEFINITELY the worse phone I ever had (this is Vodafone / London)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested another carrier ??
Testd another phone ??
Xperia is crap ??
or Vodafone is crap ??
This is exactly what we expect to find with this poll

I have no problem whatsoever with signal reception anywhere in the city, almost alway full bar.
in buildings (basement, any floor upwards) i got either 2 bars or 3 bars AND HSDPA.
i live in Jakarta, Indonesia btw...

Well.. I'm from Telcel Mexico, and I've been testing several radios (stock, xperia's 1.10.25. I dont remember) and the latest from the blackstone.. I've something to say... My Motorola MPx220 has better reception... even my girlfriends LG's Shine has reception in some places I dont
I'm hopping that Sony Ericcson can solve this.. (believe me.. it's really a shame that my girlfriend makes fun of my SUPER POWERFUL phone's crap reception..)

The signal on my X1i is fine, although i can see that the bars fluctuate a lot depending on the location i have never had any dropped calls. I assume that the measurement system on the X1i is far more accurate than i.e. a Nokia where it shows always a full signal until you dial a call and then it drops down a few bars to its actual reading.

I would say the signal is as strong as with the Nokia N95 and the SE w900i before. I cannot complain.

Don't mind your X1.. blame your operator for the signal!

2008 I had 4 phones all using Vodafone UK.... W960i, W880i, W890i and the X1, going round the same places the signal strength is on par with the w960i for me and better than the w880i and w890i... So that is comparing against 3 other Sony phones....

In the Central US with T-Mobile reception is just fine. = to my w850i

For me the X1 works much better than Tytn and Kaiser. I know than Tele2 (Swedish operator) have done som uppgrading. 2G / 3G switching works great now. Before the upgrade it was bad.

Had my x1 a week, currently it's getting the same if not slightly better signal than other HTC/SE phones in our house. Our town has poor reception in most areas but my x1 has been no different from other phones so far.

Well i know there were concerns about using T-mobile UK with the X1 but i've not really had any problems. I used to have the w580i and i'd say that was worse than the xperia. My house isn't particulary great for signal and i have two/three bars. So yeah...no issue here!

No problems at all here -London on Vodafone

I think we should separate X1i and X1a pole. Look at my reception on X1a with AT&T 3G. I paid $30 for internet

damskie said:
Don't mind your X1.. blame your operator for the signal!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Location: My home address
Operator: O2
Phone: HTC Hermes = connects to HSDPA in every room - never loose signal
Phone: HTC Polaris = connects to HSDPA in every room - never loose signal
Phone: Xperia = Connects to GPRS in most rooms, very occassionaly HSDPA - looses signal regularly
I have tried 3 Xperias all with the same result.
You want me to blame my operator?
When the Xperia is close to a base-station/transmitter there are no signal problems. As soon as the environment gets slightly tricky, it can't cope, unlike my older HTC phones as demonstrated above.
At work, I don't have a problem with any of my phones including the Xperia; I have a base-station on the roof of my office building

randy_c said:
I think we should separate X1i and X1a pole. Look at my reception on X1a with AT&T 3G. I paid $30 for internet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both X1a & X1i
My reception on X1a with TIGO 3.5G 850MHz is always HSDPA FULL BARS (urban)
I pay half that for 3,600 kbps internet
Still wanna blame the Xperia ??
That's not fair (for the phone)

I ve been with vodafone for the past years at the same address and all other phones get better signal ... however, the main problem is that the Xperia keeps dropping the signal for no reason. to give an exampe ..
Phone lies on my desk with 2 bars reception... when I reach for the phone to write a message or make a phone call, chances are that just by picking it up, e.g. moving it for a couple of inches, the phone will drop the signal .. then I ll have to wait for a minute till it picks it up again - as soon as it does it is back up to 2 bars and I can start making the phone call.
this is however only in areas where the signal is generally weaker e.g. where u would normally not get more than 2 bars anyway (like where I live - although I get full reception on my nokias with the same sim card).
If you are somewhere with good reception then there is no problem
hope that helps

Amanox said:
I ve been with vodafone for the past years at the same address and all other phones get better signal ... however, the main problem is that the Xperia keeps dropping the signal for no reason. to give an exampe ..
Phone lies on my desk with 2 bars reception... when I reach for the phone to write a message or make a phone call, chances are that just by picking it up, e.g. moving it for a couple of inches, the phone will drop the signal .. then I ll have to wait for a minute till it picks it up again - as soon as it does it is back up to 2 bars and I can start making the phone call.
this is however only in areas where the signal is generally weaker e.g. where u would normally not get more than 2 bars anyway (like where I live - although I get full reception on my nokias with the same sim card).
If you are somewhere with good reception then there is no problem
hope that helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I get that as well.

Dell Streak Reception problem

My first Streak lost reception in every 2-5 minutes, the complete service not just 3G. I got a new sim but same issue. Side of the streak my friends HD or HD2 has a stable 3G or H. I get and exchnage and the new one is different, this get a reception in every 5 minutes only GPRS or EDGE. So try exhange again. DO you guys had any reception problem. I am in Wimbledon Park, in Wimbledon i dont have any problem.

Over on MoDaCo, there were people yesterday having problems in London, and one guy specifically in Wimbledon. Up north, everything if A-OK!

that was me, just i am curious about others opinion, this phone definetly worst than the other in same place same simcard so this is phone issue.

qq67 said:
that was me, just i am curious about others opinion, this phone definetly worst than the other in same place same simcard so this is phone issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to some other people it's happened on some other android phones. But yeah, definitely a problem that needs to be looked at by Dell or O2.

I lose signal constantly when on 3G/H always dipping in and out, doesn't seem to pick up 3G very often either even in high strength signal areas. Wifi reception is also a lot weaker than my hero. Worth taking back as hardware deficient or do you think mendable by future radio/software upgrade?

I dont know exactly what the procedure is if I get a new one and has a same issue. I already asked carphonewarehouse can i get an other brand but they said i cant, even if the 5th one is faulty or just doesnt work in my flat. I just cant imagine what happens after 4th or 5th faulty phone if i can swap to other model. The exact question is what happens if Streak has an construction problem? Will I spend my weekends in carphonewarehouse to get an exchange? Ridicoluos. the problem is I love Streak but I seriously started to think to get Desire or HD2

I Hope this is not a sign of things to come with the reception issue,will we be getting teething problems ?

qq67 said:
I dont know exactly what the procedure is if I get a new one and has a same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can ignore them mate.
Quote the consumer protection act at them if the phone consistently fails to connect. "not fit for purpose"
If they still fail to replace/refund your money, then go straight to a solicitor and go to the small claims court, easy peasy.

I've noticed 2 issues with my streaks' reception.
1) At my house, where I typically get excellent 'H' reception on my HTC WIMO phones, the streak regularly losses all reception, depending on where it is. Moving it by as little as 30cm in a room can make the difference between full signal and no signal. Seems to be an issue with full strength signal. In work, where I get a weaker 'H' signal, I get no drop outs.
2) The WIFI reception always seems weak, steady, but weak. Haven't really had chance to test this outside of my house, so maybe my router setup.
I was wondering where the antennas are, cos maybe I'm "holding it wrong"
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

I noticed this 30cm too.
Between me and the keyboard reception zero never 3G or H 30 cm left never lose reception and 50% of the time is H or 3G, sometime i lost the reception middle of conversation if i am not watching where i am
Yesterday we made a Big O2 Reception Party. 3Winmo 2 Iphone 2 Android and the result is this problems definetly comes from O2. The streak maybe more sensitive for sh.t O2 recption than other phones. that is it. this is my 3rd Streak and i cant beleive all 3 was faulty, or it has a big construction error.

Going straight to voicemail
My dell streak has similar signal issues but another problem. Whenever my closest friend calls me, most of the time he is redirected to voicemail straight away! Though, other people are able to call me.

I've got mine on T-mobile and I get the same coverage as my colleague running a T-mobile Desire - 1-2 bars of HSDPA coverage; my X10 would sometimes drop to GPRS in the same location, something that hasn't happened with the Streak yet...
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

i get great reception on tmobile in hampshire. H/3g 2/4 bars
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk

@flumps
Is the Modaco ROM better than the Dell ROM? Any screenshots?

hey guys, just an observation. When I was using my phone with 3g OFF I was losing reception really often, but when I have 3g on it seems to be much more stable. I know this doesnt fix what most of you are seeing, but thought I would share.

CodeCruiser said:
@flumps
Is the Modaco ROM better than the Dell ROM? Any screenshots?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nothing to screenshot bud. it looks and feels the same as stock rom but a little snappier. its good for a first attempt @ streak rom but nothing flashy about it at this point in time.
back on top. i stand corrected, i have had a issue with reception without even knowing it. i blamed the cut outs on my using task manager and killing something i shouldnt but that doesnt seem to be the case. it knocks completely out randomly and says "no sim card"

I am quite happy with the Dell ROM except that I hate to see Amazon MP3 store app and TouchDown app running everytime I open task manager(even though I kill these). Now TouchDown is a paid app and for some reason Dell thought each and every user of Streak would pay for it so the app must remain installed on device. I know I can root the device and get rid of these apps but that would void warranty(I think).

I was having connection loss issues until I removed the task manager, now it's fine. I think the streak is happier without one.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

My streak has been stuck on 'g' for the past couple of days, up until then i've had a decent hsdpa connection all over town and in work. Called o2 today and they say that there's been no change in coverage. No idea what the issue might be.

if you have a task killer killing sim toolkit then it will kill reception till it restarts.
There does look like an issue with H connection and the streak, I haven't worked out what it is.
IF someone can get steady H access (and has drop outs) and has their streak rooted can you run Dmesg via adb shell to see what feedout there is about it?

HTC HD 2 - Drops signal completely when held!

Just got my HD2 on Vodafone.
Signal is fine when the phone is stationary, but when I hold it.. it drops from 4 bars to either 1 or none.
I have:
- Disabled data/3g/hspda etc.
- Tried many different radio's up until 2.12.50.02_2 (which is an improvement but it still happens)
- Updated ROM to latest Energy Series.
Am I right in thinking the phone is faulty?... or is this common?
Thanks

Hehe, this is ridiculous. I believe HD2 has one of the best signal reception among the smartphones. My signal has always been great so I believe your phone is faulty. My 2c. Let's hear the others.

kashinoda said:
Just got my HD2 on Vodafone.
Signal is fine when the phone is stationary, but when I hold it.. it drops from 4 bars to either 1 or none.
I have:
- Disabled data/3g/hspda etc.
- Tried many different radio's up until 2.12.50.02_2 (which is an improvement but it still happens)
- Updated ROM to latest Energy Series.
Am I right in thinking the phone is faulty?... or is this common?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is normal, our big heads are blocking the signal, but seriously, the "bars" are misleading, thanks to all those Cingular commercials , it really takes good signal quality to get a good connection, not good signal strength ...
So if the bars are dropping, and you cannot use the phone then that is a problem, but if the bars drop , and the phone/data/whatever works fine, then it is not really an issue ...
Just as an example, when I am at the college here, I have only one bar, but I am on hsdpa, and get like 2 meg of data, wish it was hsdpa+ but that is a diff story, and the phone works fine with only 1 bar, now inversely , people on VZ where I am at have 3 bars and their data is sooooo slow, and they drop calls ...
p.s. if it is dropping to none, check your area make sure they are not upgrading the towers, it is happening a lot and often here in the US in some areas ....

kashinoda said:
Just got my HD2 on Vodafone.
Signal is fine when the phone is stationary, but when I hold it.. it drops from 4 bars to either 1 or none.
I have:
- Disabled data/3g/hspda etc.
- Tried many different radio's up until 2.12.50.02_2 (which is an improvement but it still happens)
- Updated ROM to latest Energy Series.
Am I right in thinking the phone is faulty?... or is this common?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you're not just a left-handed iPhone user?

watcher64 said:
That is normal, our big heads are blocking the signal, but seriously, the "bars" are misleading, thanks to all those Cingular commercials , it really takes good signal quality to get a good connection, not good signal strength ...
So if the bars are dropping, and you cannot use the phone then that is a problem, but if the bars drop , and the phone/data/whatever works fine, then it is not really an issue ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's dropping to the point it loses signal, I try to call my mobile from my landline and I get the answering service.
What's really strange is, I just put a T-Mobile sim card in... and when I hold the phone, there's no bar dropping at all.
So in summary.
Vodafone Sim:
Stationary - 4 bars
Holding - drops to the point of no reception
T-Mobile Sim
Stationary - 4 bars
Holding - 4 bars

kashinoda said:
Yeah it's dropping to the point it loses signal, I try to call my mobile from my landline and I get the answering service.
What's really strange is, I just put a T-Mobile sim card in... and when I hold the phone, there's no bar dropping at all.
So in summary.
Vodafone Sim:
Stationary - 4 bars
Holding - drops to the point of no reception
T-Mobile Sim
Stationary - 4 bars
Holding - 4 bars
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different Freq's , so the tmo signal is just stronger where you are ....
is it a TMOUS HD2 ?
If it is , they do not support the same freq's as the EU models, for other providers ....

watcher64 said:
Different Freq's , so the tmo signal is just stronger where you are ....
is it a TMOUS HD2 ?
If it is , they do not support the same freq's as the EU models, for other providers ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's not the US one.
So.. combination of hardware fault and weak signal?

wrong forum. this should be posted at the iphone4 forums.
the HD2 had to be one if the best reception phone and i am sure many agrees.

Just phoned up Vodafone to see if any problems, and they said there are no faults in the area at all. They said it was probably the handset but I explained that I had tried with a T-Mobile and Orange sim with no such problems.
They then said they'll send me out a new Vodafone sim card as they suspect that could be the issue. And that could take up to 5 working days... taking me out of my 7-day cancellation period, so naturally I said no thanks.
Going to head into my town center and pick up a Vodafone sim from the £1 shop... if I still have that problem I'm cancelling as I can find the same deal on Orange.
Question...
Has any one experienced a sim card being at fault for bad/dropping connections??? Seems complete rubbish to me, especially seeing as the sim is new...

ive seen a few vodafone users saying that .50 radios are no good for use with vodafone.....
id try a .51 radio and let it settle in for a few days......

conantroutman said:
ive seen a few vodafone users saying that .50 radios are no good for use with vodafone.....
id try a .51 radio and let it settle in for a few days......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO NO NO NO NO ...
It is a TMOUS phone , do not flash a .51 radio to it ....
Will most likely brick it ...!!!

conantroutman said:
ive seen a few vodafone users saying that .50 radios are no good for use with vodafone.....
id try a .51 radio and let it settle in for a few days......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I changed back to stock rom from Voda, then upgraded the radio to 2.09.51.03 last night.
Still manged to have it lose signal completely whilst the phone was in my hand writing a text.

kashinoda said:
No it's not the US one.
So.. combination of hardware fault and weak signal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its an eu model.....
.51 radio should be ok.....

kashinoda said:
I changed back to stock rom from Voda, then upgraded the radio to 2.09.51.03 last night.
Still manged to have it lose signal completely whilst the phone was in my hand writing a text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's weird.... vodafone do seem to be generally piss poor for signal...despite their claims of being one of the best.
Id still suggest letting that radio settle in for 48 hours our so.

conantroutman said:
that's weird.... vodafone do seem to be generally piss poor for signal...despite their claims of being one of the best.
Id still suggest letting that radio settle in for 48 hours our so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to change to 2.07.51.05 / 2.09.51.03 and leave it for a bit then... are there any higher .51 radios?
Thinking I'm going to end up canceling contract, if .51 works it's going to restrict me from using certain roms .

Sorry about my earlier post, I could have sworn, it was said earlier that it was a US model ...
Wow ,screwed the pooch on that one ...

Xperia play reception problem ...

Hey everyone and tnx for reading this.
I am experiencing some reception problems with my play today.
Just started to happen today.
Here is wat happens. Out of no where (and i really mean out of nowhere!) the phone has no more reception or connection to 3G or wats so ever. Ithe icons show a diff story. The reception level is full and then internet is showing 3G as normal. But i think they hang. Cuz when i use data the 3G icon changes to H.
anyways this has happened over 10-15 times during the past ten hrs or so. My friends are saying ur phone was off or out of service and im at home where i always have perfect reception.
I didnt install or remove any app.
I didnt play with settings.
I try putting it in and out of flight mode. Sometime it worked. Not everytime tho.
I tried restartung the phone. Reinserting sim and batt. Also tried searching for network manually. But i keep losing reception. Any idea?
Thanks
Sent from my R800a using XDA App

Who is your provider? Sorry still getting used to all the providers.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

mamallica said:
Hey everyone and tnx for reading this.
I am experiencing some reception problems with my play today.
Just started to happen today.
Here is wat happens. Out of no where (and i really mean out of nowhere!) the phone has no more reception or connection to 3G or wats so ever. Ithe icons show a diff story. The reception level is full and then internet is showing 3G as normal. But i think they hang. Cuz when i use data the 3G icon changes to H.
anyways this has happened over 10-15 times during the past ten hrs or so. My friends are saying ur phone was off or out of service and im at home where i always have perfect reception.
I didnt install or remove any app.
I didnt play with settings.
I try putting it in and out of flight mode. Sometime it worked. Not everytime tho.
I tried restartung the phone. Reinserting sim and batt. Also tried searching for network manually. But i keep losing reception. Any idea?
Thanks
Sent from my R800a using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
G is slow speed.
E is medium speed.
H is broadband speed.
Go to wireless and networks to change to GSM only (permanently slow but better reception) or WCDMA only (permanently fast but probably worse reception based on how developed your carriers communication infrastructure is).

Legato525 said:
Who is your provider? Sorry still getting used to all the providers.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its rogers. Im in canada. Its not the network. I have been with them for years and i have had the Xperia play for over a month now. Never ever had a problem with reception. In fact its amazing.
As a matter of the fact u kno this is the problem from my phone. Which is most lijely software since i had my friend sitting next to me with his Bb he is also with rogers. He was fine bue wen he tried calling me mine said its out of service. Also i couldnt make a call to him. A few mins later everything got fixed and again it got messed up. As i said at all time the reception bar is full! But its not real since i jave no rec.
Any ideas?
Sent from my R800a using XDA App

dsswoosh said:
G is slow speed.
E is medium speed.
H is broadband speed.
Go to wireless and networks to change to GSM only (permanently slow but better reception) or WCDMA only (permanently fast but probably worse reception based on how developed your carriers communication infrastructure is).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tnx for ur advice. But i have had this phone for a month and i have been with rogers for yrs. So this is something happening now. Most likely software based.
I will however try wat u said
Sent from my R800a using XDA App

mamallica said:
Tnx for ur advice. But i have had this phone for a month and i have been with rogers for yrs. So this is something happening now. Most likely software based.
I will however try wat u said
Sent from my R800a using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GSM and WCDMA work differently and independantly. Your old Rogers phone probably worked using GSM.
WCDMA is not as well supported and could be considerably worse reception even though it is with the same carrier.
Go GSM only and note if the reception is better.

dsswoosh said:
GSM and WCDMA work differently and independantly. Your old Rogers phone probably worked using GSM.
WCDMA is not as well supported and could be considerably worse reception even though it is with the same carrier.
Go GSM only and note if the reception is better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand what you are saying. but as I said I have had this phone for a month and it worked perfectly. amazing reception and super fast data transfer. but its beeen 1-2 days that I am approaching such problem.
so its a software problem....

mamallica said:
I understand what you are saying. but as I said I have had this phone for a month and it worked perfectly. amazing reception and super fast data transfer. but its beeen 1-2 days that I am approaching such problem.
so its a software problem....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ye i understand. I'm just trying to throw some idea in the air to help you. I can understand how much of a frustrating problem it could be.
Lets' clarify -
1) You bought Xperia Play, worked perfect
2) After a month, your phone shows a good signal, but when friends telephone you it goes to answer machine as if you had 0 signal?
3) Basically all reception is lost and you have no signal, but sometimes it shows you do, even though you dont.
Here's some things to try -
1) Put your sim card in another phone and note the behaviour. Does it stay a strong signal? If yes, then it has got to be the Xperia Play at fault.
2) Put another sim card into your Xperia Play. Does it stay a strong signal? If yes, then it is actually your network provider at fault. If no, then the phone is at fault.
3) Try resetting the whole phone to default. Does the problem persist? If yes, then it is a hardware fault. If no, then problem solved.

dsswoosh said:
Ye i understand. I'm just trying to throw some idea in the air to help you. I can understand how much of a frustrating problem it could be.
Lets' clarify -
1) You bought Xperia Play, worked perfect
2) After a month, your phone shows a good signal, but when friends telephone you it goes to answer machine as if you had 0 signal?
3) Basically all reception is lost and you have no signal, but sometimes it shows you do, even though you dont.
Here's some things to try -
1) Put your sim card in another phone and note the behaviour. Does it stay a strong signal? If yes, then it has got to be the Xperia Play at fault.
2) Put another sim card into your Xperia Play. Does it stay a strong signal? If yes, then it is actually your network provider at fault. If no, then the phone is at fault.
3) Try resetting the whole phone to default. Does the problem persist? If yes, then it is a hardware fault. If no, then problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot. I did restart it to factory defult yesterday! didnt help! I even reinstalled the whole software using SEUS. nothing is changed.
I know the service provider is fine since my friend sitting next to me had perfect signal. he is also using the same network as i do.
now I am jus waiting for my brother to come home. he has the arc. same network. im gonna double check the sim cards and if its the phone i will send it for repair!

I am having the same problem with mine and reception, I don't know if 85dbm is supposed to be good but I am used to having full bars in my house. I only get about 2 now.

Reception for me is terrible. Used to be a lot better on my crappy old samsung gravity.
Drops to zero bars constantly, and often says no service when inside the house.
My wifi stops working the second I'm out the front door too. Wifi works fine across the street for all my other devices, including a laptop and a samsung captivate.
This leads me to believe the radio transmitter is a defective design. I'll be calling my provider tomorrow.
Edit: wifi doesn't work now at all.
The phone's wifi icon shows it as connected, but theres no transfer of data, router doesn't see the device as logged in.
Some google searches have revealed this to be a common defect. I for one am not pleased.
Sent from my R800a

Just holding the device lowers signal!!!!
I know that sounds like crap but in the instruction manual it says not to cover the back fo the phone as it affects the signal.
No two ways around it, the phone has issues. I have taken it to carphone warephone and shown them it going from 4 bars to 1/0 bars just buy holding it. As it is over 14 days I am screwed. Whats worse it tha that had stop selling the phone to new customers as it has so many issues.
If you look at your battery life, then click on it you get the graph which shows signal. On mine were it say awake / screen on. i.e. you are holding it, the colour goes from bright green to dull green in perfect unison.
I am currently on my 2nd phone, the first one had 5 different faults. I now have 4 batteries due having to use moxier mail as the stock mail is sh1t. unhappy times

nelly_boy said:
I know that sounds like crap but in the instruction manual it says not to cover the back fo the phone as it affects the signal.
No two ways around it, the phone has issues. I have taken it to carphone warephone and shown them it going from 4 bars to 1/0 bars just buy holding it. As it is over 14 days I am screwed. Whats worse it tha that had stop selling the phone to new customers as it has so many issues.
If you look at your battery life, then click on it you get the graph which shows signal. On mine were it say awake / screen on. i.e. you are holding it, the colour goes from bright green to dull green in perfect unison.
I am currently on my 2nd phone, the first one had 5 different faults. I now have 4 batteries due having to use moxier mail as the stock mail is sh1t. unhappy times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4 bars for me.
Cover the back with my hand.......yep still 4 bars.
If the phone was bad I would of had a **** load of problems too right?
Phone has worked perfect for me in the 2 months I have owned it.

nelly_boy said:
No two ways around it, the phone has issues. I have taken it to carphone warephone and shown them it going from 4 bars to 1/0 bars just buy holding it. As it is over 14 days I am screwed. Whats worse it tha that had stop selling the phone to new customers as it has so many issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just take it back.. Demand they fix it or give you a new one... Itll still be under warranty
Sent from my LT15i using XDA App

Hi guys!
I'm sorry to hear about your problems with Xperia PLAY.
I would suggest that you try some things before considering leaving it into your retailers for a check by a service technician.
Double check that the problem is not caused by an old SIM card. Old SIM's and new phones can sometimes cause troubles. So please try with a later SIM card if possible.
If that doesn't make any difference you could reinstall the phone software or update to Android 2.3.3 which is under launch right now. When the update becomes available for your device differs from market to market and is also depending on operator customization.
BR
Johan
Sony Ericsson

Johan-SEAnswers said:
Hi guys!
I'm sorry to hear about your problems with Xperia PLAY.
I would suggest that you try some things before considering leaving it into your retailers for a check by a service technician.
Double check that the problem is not caused by an old SIM card. Old SIM's and new phones can sometimes cause troubles. So please try with a later SIM card if possible.
If that doesn't make any difference you could reinstall the phone software or update to Android 2.3.3 which is under launch right now. When the update becomes available for your device differs from market to market and is also depending on operator customization.
BR
Johan
Sony Ericsson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a warning, if you unlocked Bootloader ! using FOTA or SEUS very likely will result in a non-usable handset (bricked) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Johan-SEAnswers said:
Hi guys!
I'm sorry to hear about your problems with Xperia PLAY.
I would suggest that you try some things before considering leaving it into your retailers for a check by a service technician.
Double check that the problem is not caused by an old SIM card. Old SIM's and new phones can sometimes cause troubles. So please try with a later SIM card if possible.
If that doesn't make any difference you could reinstall the phone software or update to Android 2.3.3 which is under launch right now. When the update becomes available for your device differs from market to market and is also depending on operator customization.
BR
Johan
Sony Ericsson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did all that. Except the update. Actually I just realized its the network. All my frind have the problem. Rogers confirmed. Play has a nice reception. It was the network! Thanks for all ur help.
Sent from my R800a using XDA App

captain67 said:
Reception for me is terrible. Used to be a lot better on my crappy old samsung gravity.
Drops to zero bars constantly, and often says no service when inside the house.
My wifi stops working the second I'm out the front door too. Wifi works fine across the street for all my other devices, including a laptop and a samsung captivate.
This leads me to believe the radio transmitter is a defective design. I'll be calling my provider tomorrow.
Edit: wifi doesn't work now at all.
The phone's wifi icon shows it as connected, but theres no transfer of data, router doesn't see the device as logged in.
Some google searches have revealed this to be a common defect. I for one am not pleased.
Sent from my R800a
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was having trouble with that also.
I changed my router to 802.11G only. I have devices that do not support n so i went with G. it took a day or two but but it fixed it.
to get it working when it does that you have to disconnect and then reconnect.