Help Mobile Internet - Doesn't work all the time

[cgburmie]

Hi there,
I am new to the Smartphone world and finally after much debate brought the Desire S. I absolutely love it.
I am on the 3 network and chose them as they have the best coverage. However I mostly use it with wifi while at home or work. When I go off the grid, i.e. away from wifi, I seem to have trouble connecting up to 3G.
I have seen other forums noting that the original Desire had issues with this and would not allow connection to 3G after using wifi.
Does the Desire S have the same problems? Does anyone else have these connectivity issues?
Is there something that I am not doing correctly as a newbie? I have checked my APN settings and they match 3's settings from the guide on their website.
Any help would be appreciated.
Regards,
Cole

 

[jimeller]

Hi there,
I am new to the Smartphone world and finally after much debate brought the Desire S. I absolutely love it.
I am on the 3 network and chose them as they have the best coverage. However I mostly use it with wifi while at home or work. When I go off the grid, i.e. away from wifi, I seem to have trouble connecting up to 3G.
I have seen other forums noting that the original Desire had issues with this and would not allow connection to 3G after using wifi.
Does the Desire S have the same problems? Does anyone else have these connectivity issues?
Is there something that I am not doing correctly as a newbie? I have checked my APN settings and they match 3's settings from the guide on their website.
Any help would be appreciated.
Regards,
Cole

When you say it doesn't work, do you mean the little icons in the top right don't show?? Is data enabled via the drop down menu notification settings??

 

[notebook]

As jimeller says, your APN settings could be fine, but if 'Mobile data' is switched off then you're not going to connect to the internet at all this way. Menu > Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile network (make sure it's checked).

Depending on your circumstances, you may also want your mobile data connection to be on all the time. Menu > Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile networks > and check 'Enable always-on mobile data'

Remember that mobile data connections are generally, whatever provider you have, much, much slower than standard broadband and are also prone to very heavy traffic at particular times of the day which often results in connectivity problems.

 

[cgburmie]

Sorry should have made that slightly clearer.

Yes I am connected with wifi switched off. I only have it set up so that I switch it on when I need it rather than always on as it says it will drain the battery if left on always? I don't have anything syncing unless I require it though so probably should just leave it on all the time? I guess it might be lagging a while as it tries to re-establish a connection with the mobile data provider.

I get the little icons, H with the arrows. Usually the up arrow is the only one that will become solid white when I am trying to access a webpage. I assume that means I am trying to upload? Sometimes the 3G replaces the H but rarely.

I might just need to get used to the slowness as you mention notebook.

Thanks anyway.

 

[marvin123]

Sorry should have made that slightly clearer.

Yes I am connected with wifi switched off. I only have it set up so that I switch it on when I need it rather than always on as it says it will drain the battery if left on always? I don't have anything syncing unless I require it though so probably should just leave it on all the time? I guess it might be lagging a while as it tries to re-establish a connection with the mobile data provider.

I get the little icons, H with the arrows. Usually the up arrow is the only one that will become solid white when I am trying to access a webpage. I assume that means I am trying to upload? Sometimes the 3G replaces the H but rarely.

I might just need to get used to the slowness as you mention notebook.

Thanks anyway.

If I want to be assured of a reasonabley good connection I go in to 'Settings' and change from 'GSM/WCDAM auto' to 'WCDMA only'. However, I switch back to the first position afterwards, otherwise I get a lousy phone signal out and about and that is what I need my HTC for, after all!

 

[ison_machine]

Sorry should have made that slightly clearer.

Yes I am connected with wifi switched off. I only have it set up so that I switch it on when I need it rather than always on as it says it will drain the battery if left on always? I don't have anything syncing unless I require it though so probably should just leave it on all the time? I guess it might be lagging a while as it tries to re-establish a connection with the mobile data provider.

I get the little icons, H with the arrows. Usually the up arrow is the only one that will become solid white when I am trying to access a webpage. I assume that means I am trying to upload? Sometimes the 3G replaces the H but rarely.

I might just need to get used to the slowness as you mention notebook.

Thanks anyway.

I believe there is no problem with the phone since it is technically connected to the network. However, special settings might be needed to be downloaded from your services provider. Try to contact your service provider.

about the speed of the network, it may vary on different location and time since it is a mobile broadband, congestion to the network can be considered.

 

[cgburmie]

Well as an update the last few days have been brilliant with connection so not quite sure what was happening previously. Will just see how I get on. Thanks for your assistance anyway.

Now I just need to customize and work out all the awesome things that I know can be done with this phone but I am not there yet!