Help droid 3 on uk networks

[ronnie_rotten]

hey all, first post and already begging for help. bad start.

just got my mitts on a droid 3 global (xt862) and i'm having trouble getting started! don't seem to be able to pick up any signal on the uk three network. are their frequencies just not supported by the xt862? i put a virgin network sim card in and that picked up a 3g signal.
i like three cos their tariffs are good on payg, so i'd ideally stick with them. of course, if it aint do-able, i'll have to switch.

thanks in advance

 

[ronnie_rotten]

...also...

wifi doesn't seem to work at all. there are 6 detectable networks on my xoom, but the droid just says error in the wifi settings when i try to turn it on. ideas?

 

[doogald]

First, I don't know all that much, but will reply with what I do know.

The XT862 is sim locked to support only the Vodafone SIM that Verizon ships with the phone. It needs to be unlocked in order to work with other SIMs. Do you know of the phone was ever unlocked?

This site lists the various frequencies supported by the XT862: DROID 3 Android Smartphone by Motorola - Thin QWERTY Dual Core Phone - - Motorola Mobility LLC. USA

WCDMA 850/1900/2100, CDMA 800/1900, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 10.2 Mbps (Category 9/10), CDMA EV-DO Release A, EDGE Class 12, GPRS Class 12, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps

You can probably ignore the CDMA specs...

In settings->wireless & networks, Mobile network settings, do you have network mode set to GSM/UMTS?

For WiFi, in settings->wireless & networks->WiFi settings. Menu->advanced on that screen, what is Regulatory domain set to? US uses 11 channels, and that should be the default on the XT862; I think Europe is 13 channels.

 

[ronnie_rotten]

the phone has been unlocked to work with t-mobile and at&t, and non usa gsm networks. currently working (with poor signal) on virgin (carried by orange) sim card.
uk 3g networks use 1800 and 2100, and 2g are 850 and 2100 (i think...)

set to gsm/utms

wifi advance menu shows adhoc settings (11 channels to choose from), wifi sleep options and mac address (unavailable)
changing the above doesn't seem to do much...

 

[ronnie_rotten]

no sign of any regulatory settings....

 

[doogald]

the phone has been unlocked to work with t-mobile and at&t, and non usa gsm networks. currently working (with poor signal) on virgin (carried by orange) sim card.
uk 3g networks use 1800 and 2100, and 2g are 850 and 2100 (i think...)

set to gsm/utms

IIRC, the signal indicator is deliberately set to show few bars. You can see signal at settings->about phone->status

wifi advance menu shows adhoc settings (11 channels to choose from), wifi sleep options and mac address (unavailable)
changing the above doesn't seem to do much...

My advanced menu shows:

Regulatory domain (you can set to 11, 13, or 14 channels)
Peer to peer (Adhoc) channel - for (obviously) setting p2p WiFi connections
WiFi Sleep Policy
MAC Address (mine shows the MAC address of my WiFi adapter)

Then there is a section for IP settings

If you are not seeing a MAC address, then something is wrong. (I see the MAC address even with WiFi turned off.)

On my phone, settings->about phone->Baseband version is set to N_03.18.32P. What is yours?

Is your phone rooted?

 

[ronnie_rotten]

morning all. i slept baaaadly last night....!

ok, i've got the same baseband settings as you, the phone is new from devices now, the listing on ebay said somthing like 'we've obtained root for this device allowing download of 3rd party apps' so rooted, i guess?

system version is 5.6.890.xt862.verizon.us
kernel 2.6.35.7-g790a33c w30471@il93lnxdroid42#1
build 5.5.1_84_d3g-55

my advanced menu i the same, only without a line for regulatory domain, and the mac address field is greyed out and reads 'unavailable', and i can't change it...

so.....er.....

 

[ronnie_rotten]

ok. spent the day fiddling, and some success. i just needed to manually enter apn settings, and at least i can use it!

i'm suspecting that this phone is a refurb, now. my guess is it was returned for the faulty wifi radio, and then sent out to the first sap from the uk who ordered one!
i've entered the #766......something 'secret' code and looked at some of the phone details, it says the phone was built in august 2011, lists the phone number of the device (different to the sim that's in it) etc... all a bit suspect.
i cant get the rpn menu up though, to see if there's a refurb listed there. any help with that would be great.
'devices now' are going to get a firmly worded email about all this... =D