Database Users

lousy 3g and the o2 exec

Have just upgraded to an o2 exec and want to experiment with video calling .
there is no 3g signal, it always comes up 'no signal at present' even though the signal has 3 - 4 bars on it. I'm with o2 and unhappy with the service I phone tech support and they tried to tell me to move to another part of the house ....this may have been helpful if I lived in the eiffel tower but i LIVE IN THE uk.
Im beginning to think that the whole o2 3g network is substandard
Any ideas?
4arm

Look at the little square icon next to the signal strength indicator - is it a 'G' or 'U'?
A 'G' indicates normal GPRS signal while a 'U' indicates UMTS (3g) service is available.

It's normally G and very very occassionaly turns to a u?

OK, when it shows a 'U' you can make video calls. When it's a 'G' only normal calls can be made.

G being GPRS and U being UTMS which is 3G. I think you can video call via wifi but I've not tested this yet.

I doubt whether the o2 coverage is bad, otherwise why would hutchinson three use them as a carrier for their network, seeing as they are a 3G company? The signal strength bars IIRC dont bear any relation to the 3G strength.

Tim 45 said:
I doubt whether the o2 coverage is bad, otherwise why would hutchinson three use them as a carrier for their network, seeing as they are a 3G company? The signal strength bars IIRC dont bear any relation to the 3G strength.
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LOL you have the wrong end of the stick m8, Hutch "3" 3G is a pure 3G network (the biggest in the UK) with around 80% coverage. The network is wholey owned by hutch, however if your unlucky to wander out of coverage (into that last 20 %) then it will switch to O2 2G Gprs (no video calls) just so you can at least make voice calls / emergency calls. O2's 3G network has much less coverage than "3"'s but it's ok because it can seamlessly transfer to it's own 2G network if necessary

I am of the understanding that O2's 3g network is not the best in terms of coverage (voda and 3 are afaik). Interesting what is said above about 3 and O2 both being hutchingson compaines and sharing infrasturecture - can anyone verfiy?

they are 2 very diffrent companies, 3 just have a deal with O2, they pay O2 to allow "3" customers to use O2's network when "3"s is unavailable

Ward said:
G being GPRS and U being UTMS which is 3G. I think you can video call via wifi but I've not tested this yet.
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That would be funky, but don't see how it ould be possible.
I too only get a UMTS signal in Belfast (which is supposed to be a strong 3G area) when I'm upstairs...
They need to pull the finger out if they want video calling to be the norm.

O2 3G around London is okay, not as good as T-mobile of Vodafone from my experience. Using a O2 data card I can get the higher 384kbps download speed, and it really is quick.
Video calls on O2 are part of the normal call allowance, so if can get it to work it wont be as expensive as on "3".

No i thought 3 used the O2 masts and technology, i cant remember where i heard it though.. Of course i could be very much mistaken

Problem with the quality of UMTS reception (signal weakness)

Hi all,
I have got mine since last Friday and I am wiondering if you get the same problem as I do...
The UMTS reception is very hasardous once you are inside a house or behind a single window. Opening the window, I get three bars and once closed, no reception anymore. Did anyone experience the same kind of problem ?
Is it a general signal weakness problem ?
Do you know if HCT is awre of the problem and if this could be corrected using software ?
Thx for your help !

Re: Problem with the quality of UMTS reception (signal weakn
lionoche said:
I have got mine since last Friday and I am wiondering if you get the same problem as I do...
The UMTS reception is very hasardous once you are inside a house or behind a single window. Opening the window, I get three bars and once closed, no reception anymore. Did anyone experience the same kind of problem ?
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what about different 3G phones? are you able to get good reception inside the house with them? it may not necessary be Hermes/TyTN fault..

Thx for your reply...
As soon as I get outside, I get full power for the 3G network.
I tried it at another place and get the same results... I also found other complaints here:
http://forum.mypdacafe.com/viewtopic.php?t=10308&start=15
"It has been reported that the UMTS (3G) reception of the MDA Vario II (HTC Hermes) is not strong enough. As reported in the German CONNECT magazine, they had problems connecting to UMTS networks, especially in areas where the signal was weak.
Let's hope that this problem can be fixed with a simple software update, otherwise this could spell trouble for HTC. The problem should be the same across the board for the other brand names of the Hermes.
I hope Dopod is aware of this issue and get it solved before launching their model in Malaysia or anywhere else. "
What about your reception inside a building ???
I am concerned because the signal is nothing but weak in my area !

I live in London (zone 3) and I'm getting the same thing. Inside my flat reception alternates between no UTMS or 1 bar - even though standard GSM signal is full strength.

I found an explanation. The building where my office is located has special protection... Sadly, it blocks only UMTS signal, GPRS and GSM are not affected. Maybe someone can help us to understand why UMTS seems to be so sensitive to this protection ??
You may try another building and see if the problem occures. For me at least, it doesn't
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Lio

This could be a typical situation as UMTS generally runs at 1900MHZ and above in Europe/Asia. The higher the frequency, the worse the building penetration. The only fix is very high density tower distribution. I had a lot of issues with GSM 1900MHZ in USA too. Once Cingular lit up the 850mhz band my building problems went away.
I was wondering if this would be a UMTS issue....

yah.. it does seem that UMTS signals are definite weaker in general.. but i guess it is still developing/rolling out in most countries so let's give it a little time eh?.. really hope it gets fixed soon tho!

hi People! i have the same problem with UMTS with my Hermes: im my flat my nokia phone can discover all the italian network (tim, vodafone, H3G and Wind) but my pda can only discover vodafone and tim. i changed radio roms but the problem remain. if i go outside, the signal can be discovered and fixed. the sad thing is that the same phone (htc hermes) of my girlfriend works in my flat perfectly! i have got the same radio rom version. do you know a way to "extract" radio rom from my girl phone and put it on mine? thanks...

ndrgrc said:
hi People! i have the same problem with UMTS with my Hermes: im my flat my nokia phone can discover all the italian network (tim, vodafone, H3G and Wind) but my pda can only discover vodafone and tim. i changed radio roms but the problem remain. if i go outside, the signal can be discovered and fixed. the sad thing is that the same phone (htc hermes) of my girlfriend works in my flat perfectly! i have got the same radio rom version. do you know a way to "extract" radio rom from my girl phone and put it on mine? thanks...
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I got the same, i think the diamond is a bad umts reception phone!! tried so much here...

cingular 8525 poor gsm signal / reception

i live in Greece and i recently bought a cingular 8525 through ebay. the device is in great condition but i have very poor gsm signal. i live in an area with great reception of my provider, my nokia used to have 3 to 4 bars with 4 bars as maximum, but the cingular had at most 2 bars... i tried several roms and several radios from 147 to 154.30.something but with no result. i tried auto band, manual band, everything but it still has no reception or very poor, as i said the most 2 bars. my provider is also 3g gsm 900/1800, the sim card is brand new.
if you need more info please tell me.
if you have any idea or plain advise i will be greatfull.
thank you.

Less number of reception bar on the today screen doesn't mean that you have poor reception. Are you getting call drop or slow data connection? That should be your concern. Becuase with 6.1 roms sometimes I see a cross on data connection even though actual data flow is normal. You can also try "FieldTest". And see what is reception strength. It can be downloaded from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=274269

I don't use rom 6.1. I use pandoranaked 3.60 and radio 1.48.10. I have no reception. I can't receive text messages nor calls. Is it possible the phone is bricked? How can I easily see for myself? Because I am rather confused from what I have read on the sites.

noone else another oppinion about my problem? any other advise? something to look for?

Radio Recommendations T-Mobile UK

Hi All,
Just got my new TouchHD on T-Mobile in the UK, experiencing poor reception. Can just about get a signal in the house if it's not too windy outside !
Anyway, the latest firmware is on the device (Radio 1.13.25.24) and was wondering if this is the best radio FW to use, or if anyone has experienced improved radio reception with another radio FW on T-Mobile UK. Even a small amount of improvement will be enough !
Thanks
DS

dude, unfortunately t-mobile in the UK is pretty crap. my phone (and partners whose is a sony-erriconson) is often out of signal when other freinds on other networks have coverage of several bars. this is not even out in the wop-wops but occurs in towns and cities. my workmate sites along side me and has full reception on three, where as I can't get enough signal for text messages - he even has HSDPA and I can't get a basic signal.
t-mobile is crap, thats about the summary of it. i've rung them about it, and they always say its my fault blahdeblah but the truth is, when I'm calling from a phone on another network (i have a couple of prepay sims for this reason now) from the same spot i know its not me!!

Can a Canadian SGS be put to 2G?

I heard that sometimes switching to 2G has given some people better reception in certain areas. Can I do this on my Samsung Vibrant (Bell Mobility)? I don't see the option in the menu

The Bell Galaxy S unfortunately cannot be put into 2g mode on Bell's network, and here is why:
Bell's current 3g/HSDPA network uses GSM cell technology, enabling SIM devices such as the Galaxy S and IPhone to work on it's network. Prior to launching this network Bell used a CDMA network similar to Verizon and Sprint in the states. Bell launched their new GSM network in order to be able to get the newest phones and stay competitive with Rogers. Because Bell's 1g and 2g networks are CDMA based they are not compatible with the GSM radio chip in the Galaxy S. This is why newer Bell phones have SIM cards but older ones do not.
If the option to use 2g networks were there (and it was in my original Bell Galaxy i7500) you would completely disconnect from the cellular network if you enabled it. The option is available on Rogers Android phones and does work as Rogers has a 1g/2g GSM network that the phone can fall back on.
This isn't much of a problem in urban centres (and most places in Southern Ontario) as Bell's 3G network is quite large and reliable. You may run into trouble in rural areas where Bell may not have upgraded their towers to broadcast the new network. I believe in these areas the phone goes into roaming and utilizes Rogers 1g/2g network.
Hope this clears up the issue for you

Nirvana388 said:
The Bell Galaxy S unfortunately cannot be put into 2g mode on Bell's network, and here is why:
Bell's current 3g/HSDPA network uses GSM cell technology, enabling SIM devices such as the Galaxy S and IPhone to work on it's network. Prior to launching this network Bell used a CDMA network similar to Verizon and Sprint in the states. Bell launched their new GSM network in order to be able to get the newest phones and stay competitive with Rogers. Because Bell's 1g and 2g networks are CDMA based they are not compatible with the GSM radio chip in the Galaxy S. This is why newer Bell phones have SIM cards but older ones do not.
If the option to use 2g networks were there (and it was in my original Bell Galaxy i7500) you would completely disconnect from the cellular network if you enabled it. The option is available on Rogers Android phones and does work as Rogers has a 1g/2g GSM network that the phone can fall back on.
This isn't much of a problem in urban centres (and most places in Southern Ontario) as Bell's 3G network is quite large and reliable. You may run into trouble in rural areas where Bell may not have upgraded their towers to broadcast the new network. I believe in these areas the phone goes into roaming and utilizes Rogers 1g/2g network.
Hope this clears up the issue for you
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Wow...thanks for the great info! Weird thing is, the ONLY place i have ever had any problem is at my work (a university in lower mainland). Is there anything I can do? Seems like most calls go straight to voicemail. Thanks for the great info again!

Unfortunately some buildings are just great at blocking signal due to their construction or design, I know a lot of University campus buildings are designed to block cell reception to prevent phones from being used in class. My workplace building is particularly bad at blocking cell reception. On my old bell phone which was on their cmda network I got no reception at my desk. On my galaxy S with their new network I get anywhere from 1-5 bars but never lose service. If you're in a building that does block signal, there's unfortunately not a lot you can do outside of holding the phone in a location where it gets the best signal.

it will automatically switch between G, 2G and 3G
as long as you are close enough to a window

Nirvana388 said:
Unfortunately some buildings are just great at blocking signal due to their construction or design, I know a lot of University campus buildings are designed to block cell reception to prevent phones from being used in class. My workplace building is particularly bad at blocking cell reception. On my old bell phone which was on their cmda network I got no reception at my desk. On my galaxy S with their new network I get anywhere from 1-5 bars but never lose service. If you're in a building that does block signal, there's unfortunately not a lot you can do outside of holding the phone in a location where it gets the best signal.
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I would of thought it was the building too....but my co-workers get full reception. No static, no dropped calls, crystal clear reception. Could it be a Bell dead spot?

Singhman said:
I would of thought it was the building too....but my co-workers get full reception. No static, no dropped calls, crystal clear reception. Could it be a Bell dead spot?
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very possible
some areas have towers from Fido/Rogers, other areas have towers from Bell
in areas where you get all 3 towers (signal crash)
and you get sporadically excellent signal to almost no signal for data even if you are standing outside or near a window.
if you drive a bit further away then everything is back to normal