Help Stupid question about signals, 3G, G, etc

[AceMathias]

I've downloaded the speedtest.net app from Ookla, which measures your ping, download and upload speeds. It then remembers them too, so you have a log of best (and worst speeds).
Its free so give it a go

 

[ianb11]

Ian,

OK, I've had a bit more of a poke around and, while I don't have a solution, I do seem to have made it a smidge better.

I reset the 'phoen to factory settings, and it seems that the best setting for the APN is to set the APN as 'orangeinternet' and the MCC and MNC to 234 and 33 respectively. This is the settings given on the Orange website.

What has helped is to set the "Network Mode" to 'WDCMA only'. (Settings > Wireless and Networks > Mobile networks > Network Mode.) This seems to hold the 'phone on 'H' for as long as possible, during which time I get a tolerable download speed (around 120Meg or so, from where I am sitting now.) Not a patch on good broadband, as it is meant to be, but it works.

When it shows '3G' it occasionally seems to get a small amount of data. But it's painfully slow and very intermittant. It's not that it doesn't work at all, but it's not far off ...

However, beware. From what I can tell, this setting will use a lot of power and your battery life will suffer accordingly.

There is clearly a problem with the service provided by Orange, and I have yet to hear back from their 'Technical Team'. If I still haven't heard anything by the end of the afternoon I'll eMail them and ask what they are doing about it. (eMail isn't great, but it's better than talking to their call centre.)

I'll keep you posted.


Oli.

Oli,

My MMC & MNC are set that already. I've checked my settings with those on the Orange website & they are fine. I haven't changed them anyway since I got the phone so can't see any reason why they should be wrong.

I messed around with my phone as well today & the problem I have in setting the Network Mode to WDCMA only is that when 3G doesn't work (most of the time) I change it back to GSM only cos I figure that's better than nothing.

Even when I set it to WDCMA only H was hardly ever available. 3G worked when it felt like it.

I also found that a couple of times when I rang my number it went straight to Voicemail. Not sure whether that is anything to do with the 3G or not.

This was all when I had full signal.

Day off work tomorrow so Orange are gonna get both barrels

 

[Mubble]

I also found that a couple of times when I rang my number it went straight to Voicemail. Not sure whether that is anything to do with the 3G or not.

This was all when I had full signal.

Day off work tomorrow so Orange are gonna get both barrels

I get this all the time.

 

[ianb11]

I get this all the time.

I don't get why though?

 

[riki1kenobi]

I don't get why though?

If there isnt a strong enough signal to connect the call the divert will kick in and put the call straight to voicemail. Only way to stop it would be to turn off voicemail divert, but then the other person would just get the annoying woman telling them the call cannot be connected blah de blah.....

In the lounge at my GF's there is NO signal on any of the networks So NO calls can be connected, in or out! I swear the house was built on top of the hellmouth

It doesnt bother me too much as I get free voicemail.....but it is annoying at times having to wander around the house trying to make a call. Must look like a fool waving the phone in the air trying to get a signal though!

 

[ianb11]

If there isnt a strong enough signal to connect the call the divert will kick in and put the call straight to voicemail. Only way to stop it would be to turn off voicemail divert, but then the other person would just get the annoying woman telling them the call cannot be connected blah de blah.....

In the lounge at my GF's there is NO signal on any of the networks So NO calls can be connected, in or out! I swear the house was built on top of the hellmouth

It doesnt bother me too much as I get free voicemail.....but it is annoying at times having to wander around the house trying to make a call. Must look like a fool waving the phone in the air trying to get a signal though!

The thing is though I had 4 bars (full) signal & the 3G icon was showing & it still went to Voicemail?

Tried it again a minute later & it was fine?

 

[Mubble]

Yep, same here. I've been playing with my phone, seen full reception, and suddenly got a text through telling me I've missed a call, or suddenly get a 'new voicemail' notification. No idea why the call didn't come through.

I only get this when at home though. Don't recall getting it when out and about, so must be reception related.

Maybe the signal strength displayed on screen isn't always a true account of what reception the phone actually has?

 

[riki1kenobi]

I look at the signal and wifi bars thing as a bit of smoke and mirrors tbh.....

If you stop and think about it, the signal gets beamed out by the tower, your phones antenna picks it up and then the phone management tells you it is a good reception at that time. However, by the time it tells you this the actual reception could have dropped off but the phone still shows a good reception!

In all probability, the signal will have dropped/not been strong enough at the time the call was coming through hence why it never connected!

Remember the signal issue that Apple tried to cover up and was later forced to admit that the phone was literally programmed to lie about the level of the signal, maybe HTC have done something similar in these phones? Or maybe the radio in your ROM is simply not strong enough for the area you live! This was a massive issue when I used to dev ROMs back in the day.....I would have thought they would have figured it out by now though......Maybe (IF you are rooted) you can try flashing a different radio and see IF this helps with the signal/dropped calls issue

Also, another thing most people dont understand (me included till I read about it ) is the role certain equipment inside/outside the house can play in preventing you getting a good signal.

These range from microwave interference, radio interference, other wireless equipment, sockets, TV's, wiring etc inside the house - to street lighting, satelite dishes, proximity to underground pipes, TV masts etc etc all outside the house.....Which have been known to have an effect!

Vodafone seem to understand this as they have released a signal booster for their network that plugs into your BB to boost the signal! Although to charge customers

 

[Jason71]

Yep, same here. I've been playing with my phone, seen full reception, and suddenly got a text through telling me I've missed a call, or suddenly get a 'new voicemail' notification. No idea why the call didn't come through.

I only get this when at home though. Don't recall getting it when out and about, so must be reception related.

Maybe the signal strength displayed on screen isn't always a true account of what reception the phone actually has?

I think there is a pretty simple explanation for the missed call issue. The Desire ( like most phones) has only 1 2G radio. If you have no 3G coverage so the data connection is using GPRS then any time the connection is actually in use (either by you browsing/downloading or even apps using it in the background) the phone cannot receive calls. There are a few threads on it. happens to me at work all the time where 3G is sparse.

 

[ianb11]

I think there is a pretty simple explanation for the missed call issue. The Desire ( like most phones) has only 1 2G radio. If you have no 3G coverage so the data connection is using GPRS then any time the connection is actually in use (either by you browsing/downloading or even apps using it in the background) the phone cannot receive calls. There are a few threads on it. happens to me at work all the time where 3G is sparse.

Sounds like a good explanation.

It's still ridiculous though. I don't expect perfect 3G all the time - some of the time would be good for a start.

 

[Mubble]

Ok, that makes sense.

I would try reducing my app update frequency, to try and reduce the amount of time it's syncing data, so it can focus on receiving calls, but my apps all update every 4 hours. I guess it's an issue with random data being received which might be stopping calls from connecting when I've not got 3G reception.

 

[ianb11]

Just emailed Orange cos can't be bothered trying to explain to the offshore call centre so will see what they say & report back.

 

[zcacogp]

All valid points. And I like the one about there only being one 2G radio in the 'phone. But this is surely daft; it means you have a 'phone which can only do one thing at once, and if it is doing anything data-related then it cannot connect a call. Like the olden days, when if you were using your dial-up modem at home and someone called you, they couldn't get through. Please tell me we have made some progress from there ...

The signal bars lagging reality is a possibility, but how fast does the processor work in a Desire? Any lag between fluctuation in signal and display on screen should be measured in milliseconds.

And both of the above arguments are proved invalid by the fact that my 'phone can sit on the desk in front of me, doing nothing (locked), supposedly on a 3G signal, and I can recieve text messages telling me I have missed calls from people. There is no contention on the use of the 2G radio nor is there a fluctuation in signal as the 'phone (and presumably the transmission mast) are both stationary. OK, there could be other factors - large metal objects moving 'round in the vicinity, but the signal here isn't poor. 3/4 bars. And steady.

As it is, I still haven't had a call back from the Orange 'Technical Team', despite it being rather more than the promised 72 hours since they were meant to. So ... both barrels, did you say?


Oli.

 

[zcacogp]

OK. Talked to Orange. Ended up with a UK helpdesk this time, with a very helpful lady called Bridie.

She said that she could see I should have had my issue referred to the Technical Team, but no such referral had been made. And she apologised.

She asked a number of questions about the 'phone, and told me that I should have good data speeds on the 'phone, on 3G, at the postcode I am at currently. Which I don't ... so she told me the 'phone is faulty, gave me a fault code and told me to return it to Carphone Warehouse (where I bought it from.)

I have called Carphone Warehouse, who said the same - bring the 'phone in and they will look at it, and send it off for repair if necessary. Whether I get a stand-in phone while it is repaired remains to be seen.

I'll keep this thread updated.


Oli.

 

[ianb11]

OK. Talked to Orange. Ended up with a UK helpdesk this time, with a very helpful lady called Bridie.

She said that she could see I should have had my issue referred to the Technical Team, but no such referral had been made. And she apologised.

She asked a number of questions about the 'phone, and told me that I should have good data speeds on the 'phone, on 3G, at the postcode I am at currently. Which I don't ... so she told me the 'phone is faulty, gave me a fault code and told me to return it to Carphone Warehouse (where I bought it from.)

I have called Carphone Warehouse, who said the same - bring the 'phone in and they will look at it, and send it off for repair if necessary. Whether I get a stand-in phone while it is repaired remains to be seen.

I'll keep this thread updated.


Oli.

TBH Oli I don't think that's good enough mate.

It's clearly not a faulty handset otherwise everyone that's posted on this & other threads would have a faulty handset too.

If they say that to me if & when they do get back to me I'll be telling them it isn't my handset, it's their network coverage.

 

[SUroot]

Are any of you unbranded? It probably is network but it could be their branded software too. I'd never get an orange branded handset again after what they did to the HTC Hero

 

[ianb11]

Are any of you unbranded? It probably is network but it could be their branded software too. I'd never get an orange branded handset again after what they did to the HTC Hero

Mine's unbranded mate.

I'm no expert but I just can't see how the handset is at fault when I can travel the 5 miles back home & get perfect H signal all the time (when I don't need it cos I use wifi)!!!

 

[SUroot]

I just don't trust orange and software. Its not hardware, thats for sure. But if anything it would have been their branded software. Since you instantly ruled that out, that's that

 

[ianb11]

I just don't trust orange and software. Its not hardware, thats for sure. But if anything it would have been their branded software. Since you instantly ruled that out, that's that

Which is why it really annoys me that they tell Oli it's hardware.

I don't wanna let them make me change my handset cos I know it's not faulty but not sure how far I'll get with them if I don't.

 

[SUroot]

Which is why it really annoys me that they tell Oli it's hardware.

I don't wanna let them make me change my handset cos I know it's not faulty but not sure how far I'll get with them if I don't.

Can you ask them to keep it in condition sent to them for a few days until you can prove its not the handset and get them to send it back to you? Doubt that will work, but worth a try.

Could you say you have tried your sim in other desires and its exatcly the same?

 

[ianb11]

Can you ask them to keep it in condition sent to them for a few days until you can prove its not the handset and get them to send it back to you? Doubt that will work, but worth a try.

Could you say you have tried your sim in other desires and its exatcly the same?

Yeah I guess it's worth a go.

I can't say that I have tried my SIM in another phone but 2 colleagues have a Desire & a Wildfire on T Mobile & O2 respectively & they don't face half the issues I do.

I can't try my SIM in the T Mobile Desire either cos it's locked

 

[SUroot]

I meant Lie

 

[ianb11]

I meant Lie

I can do that

 

[zcacogp]

Ian,

I'm with you - I don't think it's really good enough either. I don't think it's hardware, BUT to some extent I am happy to play along with it. I want a 100% reliable and fast data connection whenever I get 3G signal (which, to be fair, is most of the time - particularly in London) and I am happy to go to some lengths to get it.

If Orange say it's hardware, I'm happy to be without my 'phone for a couple of weeks (hopefully, at worst), as I then get Carphone Warehouse to tell me, categorically, that the hardware is NOT at fault. If, once the 'phone is back with me, there is no improvement then it is very clearly, cut-and-dried, Orange's signal that is at fault. And if we end up there then I will be merciless in pursuing them.

Two things to consider.

1. I should have tried another type of SIM in my 'phone to see what the score is there. (I did try my wife's work O2 SIM in it but couldn't find a 3G signal at all, and trying the reverse - my Orange SIM in her O2 'phone - didn't work as her handset was locked to O2.)

2. There is still the possibility that we are wrong and that it is the hardware at fault. Let's not ignore that. Does everyone on Orange really get very little data on their 3G connections in London? If this is the case then there will be thousands, if not millions of people affected.

I'll keep this thread updated with progress. As it is, I am now without my Desire, and have been lent an unbelievably naff Alcatel bargain-basement thing instead. Tiny, very light, immensely cheap-feeling and I quite like it! No chance of it getting pinched, I don't care if it gets broken and it's a nice red colour ...


Oli.

 

[ianb11]

It will be interesting to see what they come up with Oli.

The other thing to note is that it isn't just people who live in London who have posted problems up.

Interesting what you say about the hardware issue though never thought of it like that.

Orange have left me a message today saying they are unable to discuss technical queries by email so guess I'm gonna have to ring the call centre which should be an experience!