webOS Hardware

[#1]

Ok this is just ridiculous. My signal bars on the Pre jump around pretty much at random, although inside any building I've gone into they stop at 0 and stay there. This makes the phone unusable indoors. My previous phone, HTC Mogul, had no such issues.

Please tell me this is a software issue, and not antenna on the Pre... I can't keep this phone if I can't use it as a phone for the most part of my day...

Post relates to: Pre p100eww (Sprint)

[#2]

Hi.. Welcome to the Palm forums.  This is most likely, 98%, a provisioning issue.  Any cell communicates with a cell tower based on the programing in the carriers network or the provisioning.  What you need to do is contact Sprint and have them totally remove your provisioning and rebuild it from scratch.  Once this has been done you should be fine.

[#3]

Try downloading the newest update for the phone - 1.0.3 - then report back to us! 

WyreNut

[#4]

I've noticed the signal isn't as great as with some of my other phones, but it is survivable whereas my other phones themselves were not survivable *cough* instinct *cough*

[#5]

Im having the same problem as you! In my house, where with my centro I had at least 3 or 4 bars all the time, I have 0-2 bars all the time. My calls are dropped frequently.

If you have any luck with the provisioning thing that someone suggested, please let us know!

[#6]

Ok, after 1.03 upgrade the signal bars appear to be a bit more stable. However, there's another issue I have forgotten to mention, which might be related and which has not improved.

So I actually got two Pres -- one for me one for my wife. My Pre doesn't have this issue, my wife's does. Basically the voice on her Pre comes out muffled -- when she  calls me (or anyone else) it's impossible to understand what she's saying. It's as if she's speaking into a cardboard box. 

Is this a known issue? Did she just happen upon a defective Pre?  I mean I know people talk about communication issues in a marriage... but this is a whole different ballgame.

P.S. Just updated to Sprint Network Settings 1.5 (so what are "Sprint Network Settings", in more technological parlance?) and the muffling issue may be gone. At least tried one test call that worked. However, as the issue was somewhat intermittent to begin with I remain skeptical.

Message Edited by partnerinflight on 06-20-2009 01:32 PM

[#7]

I'm in what Sprint calls Good and Best (depending which address I use home or work) coverage guide for both voice and data. But at work I'm roaming maybe 90% of the time which sucks since its just 1x speeds. Every now and a again it will switch to EVDO full bars mind you but then in a minute it swaps back to roam 1x or no data roam both 5 bars.

This occurs inside my office or outside for that matter. And other people in my office (not too many) have sprint phones and they are never in roam mode.

Even at home its starting to roam for me  :-(
 
I did install 1.03 but didn't help not that I was excpecting it too since that feature or lacking feature wasn't covered.

Updated info - I had my Pre replaced as a Sprint store since it failed some sort of RF test?  Same issue occurs on the replacement phone (which also failed the test as did all of the stores demo units; but did not fail other sprint phones?)

Me and my wife (her's does the same thing but not as bad as mine) really like our Pre's but will be forced to go back to AT&T and the iPhone if this isn't addressed before our 30 day trial is up....

Thanks hope to hear some info please :-)

[#8]

Have you tried checking your rssi values? This is done by typing ##33284# into the phone app. Scroll down to "rssi value". I am told this is essentially your signal strength, and -95 or above is a decent signal. Please note that all of these values are negative, so 130 is an awful signal. I'd suggest comparing your Pre's value to another phone in the same place at the same time. My Pre is consistently 10 to 15 less than my other phones.

I called Sprint about this issue, and unfortunately spoke with a CS rep who knew less about phones than I did. She did, however, give me one useful piece of information: The Pre is only having signal issues in some parts of the country. I know that most networks use different frequencies in different areas, so this leads me to believe that it only has trouble with certain frequencies. Is anyone not having signal issues? It'd be nice if we could isolate the frequency causing the issue, if that is in fact the cause. Does everyone's Pre say "CDMA 1900MHz" under RF mode?

Although I am in love with the idea of this phone (a stylish PDA with a touchscreen and potential for cool apps), I am beginning to wonder if it's time to return it. My home already has an abnormally low signal, and I'm not sure I can deal with this. As it is, I can only use the phone on the top floor. I actually sat in a parking lot the other day trying to access Youtube, and couldn't because I had no service. This is, of course, in addition to the fact that the more productive apps (task list and calendar) suck. As a result, this is essentially an instinct with a keyboard.

Just my 2 cents...

--Chris

[#9]

Looks like about -115 in my house, which seems to translate into 2 bars. That's on the first phone. Second phone is -118-120, which translates into 0 bars. Weird.

This is on 1900mhz. What about you guys?

[#10]

checked atchecked at my house this morning full evdo on sprint and was at -93; at the office in the parking lot was about the same (went down to -101 a few times) in the office up to arround -80 at evdo.  Both also on 1900MHz band.  In the office and in the parking lot it now started to cycle through roam, no signal to full evdo on sprint - when it does this it also goes from 800Mhz to 1900Mhz and RSI is around -90 to -80 range.