SE Responds to Signal Strength Problem - XPERIA X1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey guys ... I was just reading on the SE X1 blog (http://sonyericssonxperiax1.blogspot.com) something about cool X1 accessories and was very surprised when I read this:
"Other accessories include things to boost the phones use, like memory cards, an easily applicator chip to boost signal strength, car chargers to keep your Xperia working while travelling, and many others..."
Now I know that I m one among many here that think that x1 signal strength is very poor .. has anybody heard about this chip before and where can I get it, how much does it cost, how effective is it and how do you use it?
regards

I don't think that blog is official, and I highly doubt those "chips" actually work.

reception on the phone is poor. driving, building, walking... you never know when it's gonna go. pain the jane.

Those signal chips have been around for almost a decade. They don't work but don't take my word for it. Go to ebay and order yourself one.

well .. this blog isn't official ..
plus , i haven't ever faced a poor signal since i've been usin my X1

3aZoOoF said:
well .. this blog isn't official ..
plus , i haven't ever faced a poor signal since i've been usin my X1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u will, i have fall signal whilst writing a text and by the time i have finished its trying to find a signal, even though i have not moved. im hoping that the r3 firmware improves this in some way, maybe release a new radio for the x1

I have any X1a on ATT and the signal sux. What's really weird I noticed is that the call is never handed off either (3G to E). Instead, it drops the call completely and then goes to Edge.

elee888 said:
I have any X1a on ATT and the signal sux. What's really weird I noticed is that the call is never handed off either (3G to E). Instead, it drops the call completely and then goes to Edge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard complaints about this with the iPhone 3G too. Probably an AT&T thing rather than the X1 in particular.
I'm on T-Mobile (so EDGE only), and it's been as reliable as any other phone I've had (aside from T-Mobile coverage sucking in general).

Ganondolf said:
u will, i have fall signal whilst writing a text and by the time i have finished its trying to find a signal, even though i have not moved. im hoping that the r3 firmware improves this in some way, maybe release a new radio for the x1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, the signal strenght problem only affects some countries (UK, some part of USA, ...). It much depends on the operator infrastructure.

Here in Netherlands i dont have any problems with signal on 3g i can browse every where i want

[email protected] said:
As far as I know, the signal strenght problem only affects some countries (UK, some part of USA, ...). It much depends on the operator infrastructure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am in the uk, but my old sony w960i never had a problem. sony has already said that the signal is weaker due to the metal housing of the handset but there is a signal booster in the handset that comes on if it looses signal but sony says if drains more battery

I've the same problems too. I have to switch off the 3G/WCDMA to get the strong signal..btw, I'm from Indonesia..

yeah the signal is bad all my old SE phones had no problems but x1.....

Reception is fine here in Austria too.
And please, stay away from these chips. Only thing they do is stealing your money out of your pocket.

Chaosstorm said:
Here in Netherlands i dont have any problems with signal on 3g i can browse every where i want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is not with browsing... you barely notice a drop in the speed or change from 2.5G to 3G.
The problem is when calls drop or everyone else around you seems to get reception and you're still tapping 'please resend message'.
Might seem like a small problem to some but I'm doing around 2000 minutes a month and it get's on your nerves.
I like the phone so am looking for a fix / update.
Cheers,
DrSpain

Same in Belgium... No problem with the signal Strenght, often I am in HSDPA mode

tricky42 said:
I've heard complaints about this with the iPhone 3G too. Probably an AT&T thing rather than the X1 in particular.
I'm on T-Mobile (so EDGE only), and it's been as reliable as any other phone I've had (aside from T-Mobile coverage sucking in general).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This really seems to be an AT&T Problem. My X1 hands over 3G (actually 3.5) and Edge quite well during calls. I have here a low 3G signal, but good Edge signal. 3G is prefered so I´ve an handover quite often.

I'm on Vodafone in the UK and while my colleagues on the same Network have a signal using other phones, my X1 invariably does not. I usually have to go to the other side of the office to get a signal. Hope new firmware can sort the problem out.

Darkwolfde said:
This really seems to be an AT&T Problem. My X1 hands over 3G (actually 3.5) and Edge quite well during calls. I have here a low 3G signal, but good Edge signal. 3G is prefered so I´ve an handover quite often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got ATT/X1A in NYC and have no problem unless I'm in some basement. Perhaps the OP has limited himself by selecting a particular band and/or network type? I know if I purposely select WCDMA my 3G will drop because it's pretty spotty out here. Call quality is perfect if I have them both on Auto.

New firmware isn't going to fix it. It's a hardware issue caused by the build of the device, structure and materials used etc - they are blocking the signal slightly.

Related

Diamond and UMTS is working fine? (Or worse than Cruise?)

Hello I bought the Diamond yesterday, I'm very satisfied except for the UMTS signal.
I already have a Touch Cruise (it didn't work in UMTS so HTC repaired it on warranty and now it works like a charm).
In the last 48 hours I had Diamond and Cruise one next to the other, and Diamond has always 2 lines less:
* when Cruise is in HSDPA with 4 lines, Diamond is in HSDPA with 2 lines
* when Cruise is in HSDPA with 2 lines, Diamond is in GSM.
Is this normal?
Many thanks in advance.
J.
Everyone has it i have also a TC and indeed, its shows always 2 lines more then the TD.
Same here my htc diamond has always two lines less than my htc kaiser.
The diamond has really a poor UMTS signal reception. I hope they will be able to boost it with a new ROM.
Same here
before with TC i got 2 lines 3G now non
Thanks for your feedback!
So it seems to be a common problem.
Today I checked during all the day, moving from a city to another city, half the time the Cruise had more lines, half the time they had the same.
Other feedbacks? Thanks
same problem here in austria. before i had full signal with my sony erricson t650i, now with the touch diamond i only have the half signal strength...
Well, it doesnt give many bars, but it works like hell here.
When using it as a modem (I often do on the road) I get speeds upto 150kb/s for browsing and emailing and that is just perfect for everything.
My 3G Reception is also VERY Bad.....
I´m using the latest Radio ROM 1.00.25.03.
Because of this weak 3G Recepion the Diamond changes to GSM very often, this eats the Battery up in about 6-8 Hours.....Even if I don´t play around much and the 3G Coverage here is excellent.....
Diamond: 1-2 Bars
Nokia E51: Always full Bars (-87dBm and up)
Hopefully Reception will be better with a new Radio ROM.
If it´s an Antenna issue.........DAMN!!!
I never had a Mobile with THAT bad 3G Reception.
BtW: GSM Reception is fair to good.... could be better also....
Poor 3G signal
That's right,
I have also very poor 3g signal, even though I live in the city area. I have also missed incoming/outgoing calls because the poor 3G signal.
That's not nice
same prob here (big city)
switched manually to gsm not to loose calls
Are you sure this is just 3G and not worse reception in general (ie due to smaller antenna in Diamond)?
in gsm mode i never experienced any trouble with calls.
in auto mode diamond switches to 3g (half signal strength), but one can't call me
wcg-tom said:
in auto mode diamond switches to 3G (half signal strength), but one can't call me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh, this sounds even worse. Having a bad reception is one thing but showing a "fake reception" is a complete different level of bug.
Just to ensure that I did not get you wrong: You see a 3G reception (e.g. 2 or 3 bars) but the phone does not receive incoming calls and the caller is redirected to your mailbox instead?
foo said:
Uh, this sounds even worse. Having a bad reception is one thing but showing a "fake reception" is a complete different level of bug.
Just to ensure that I did not get you wrong: You see a 3G reception (e.g. 2 or 3 bars) but the phone does not receive incoming calls and the caller is redirected to your mailbox instead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, got me right.
in my case it's not the mailbox, just a message ("not available" or something like that) because of my settings, but that's petty.
thats why i manually switched to gsm. for using 3g (internet) i have to swith this back again.
annoying!
wcg-tom said:
in gsm mode i never experienced any trouble with calls.
in auto mode diamond switches to 3g (half signal strength), but one can't call me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should not happen, even when I have the minimum bars in 3G or H others can call me.
When you have full bars in 3G does it work?
same here, although i found that switching off umts and just using plain 3g solved the issues.
jwalker said:
This should not happen, even when I have the minimum bars in 3G or H others can call me.
When you have full bars in 3G does it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. when it's stable at full bars or even H, i can use it.
but i deacivated 3g anyway because of powersaving. only using it for web access.
there's a tool for switching 3g in comm manager easily, now i'm happy so far.
So, is it phone or is it just peace of s***?
Hi All
Do you have any fresh idea could it(lousy 3g signal) be hardware or software related issue?
The globe is full of small 3g phones without that kind of problem. That's why I really hope this issue could be fixed with the new ROM radio version...???
I hope I'm right, because if the pain is hardware related, we all have bought pretty expencive peace of crap -not the phone. It is not acceptable if the incoming / outgoing calls are missed!
Same problem, poor 3G reception .
Cruise was far better for receiving 3G signal.
Hope it is software only....

UK T-mobile Users - feedback on reception and poll

Could all UK T-mobile users provde feedback on how they are finding the reception on the T-mobile network? As an ex-Kaiser user, I'm finding reception is quite poor, the Diamond usually showing a couple of bars less than the Kaiser. Additionally, HSDPA performance is poor and intermittent.
Mine shipped with 25.03 and I am not impressed with the signal or data at all. I am finding it is dropping calls where my Vario II was fine.
The battery usage is quite high too so I am recharging at the moment and I think I will take the radio to 25.05 tonight....Not sure whether I should try another OS ROM.. seems too many to choose at the moment
Cheers
Aidan
I have tried all of them and now on 25.11 which seems to hold a 3g signal longer but not very strong (2bars ish) better than 25.06 but not a huge difference. I am prob thinking of moving back to 25.06 because it got more better signal for gps purposes, as i said not a huge difference in phone signal.
In all honesty Im what dissappointed i couldnt get a strong 3g signal on motorway. Oh well just wait for the next new radio to test

(Poll) What's your opinion on 3g?

As far as making and receiving phone calls, do you use 3g? Any phone I've ever seen that uses 3g absolutely sucks. My dad's phone, my mom's phone, my girlfriend's phone, my phone. What happens is the call either doesn't go through. If you listen to the dial tone it has a small click right before each tone, if I hear that, it mean's the call isn't going through.
My mom and girlfriend have gone through replacements on their phone, but the 3g still sucks. I've even noticed they don't get that great of reception.
Even on my Tilt, if I switch to 3G i only have 2 bars and apparently people have complained of calling me but I never received the call. Now with Edge, I have full bars, and no one ever complains about the call not going through.
So what's your guy's take on 3g?
Similar to what you've experienced. I generally leave mine turned off the majority of the time, since I have the WiFi running when I'm at home anyway. I turn it on only when I need to browse the web or something when I'm out and about.
Not to mention the immense battery drain that 3G demands. My battery life is dramatically better on Edge as opposed to 3G.
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G) can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
Chainfire said:
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G), plus the Touch HD, Omnia and i780 can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't experience network issues as bad as the OP seems to have, but I've always had terrible battery life on my Tilt and my iPhone, my two most recent 3G devices. My 8525 was actually very good on the battery with 3G running all day long, never had a problem getting through the day.
Maybe the intermittent GPS usage on the latter two? I don't know.
Chainfire said:
Your provider needs to update/fix their network. This is not a device issue, it's a network issue. Proper 3G (well, 3.5G / HSPA, not just UMTS per se) should also use less power than GSM / EDGE for transfers... (in watt/kbps, though)
I know for a fact that all devices in my signature (that support 3G) can work perfectly with 3G on a proper network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should go in and ask them about it, just to see what they say. Ask them why the new and greatest 3g is worse than edge. I have AT&T, I live in Washington, and I live right by a Cell tower too (only a 2 or 3 blocks away from it).
I woudln't mind using it for data but the fees here are prohibitive for private use. We use it on our work phones for data and it works well on Telstra.
mikeeey said:
I should go in and ask them about it, just to see what they say. Ask them why the new and greatest 3g is worse than edge. I have AT&T, I live in Washington, and I live right by a Cell tower too (only a 2 or 3 blocks away from it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They'll probably say it ain't so Thing is, when 3G first got rolled out here, we had much the same issues. The big providers here spent some $$$ to replace "faulty" hardware at the towers, and voila, the problem disappeared (2 years ago?). Seems many 3G networks around the world have similar issues to the ones you described in the opening post. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the 3G cell-tower hardware manufacturers - probably the cheapest and hence most used - makes some really crappy equipment. I could almost imagine that manufacturer is Qualcomm
In all seriousness though, all I know for sure is we had these issues here too, and they fixed them by fixing the towers. (Though of course there is some difference between different devices and how well they do 3G)
From talking to some guys at work Telstra's 3G network has been pretty much flawless for them asides from cost issues associated with Telstra.
I live in indonesia and never have any problem with 3G,. , the only problem is, its expensive,. lol,.
I am in NZ
No problems with 3G whatsoever. Have Imate JasJar - loving every second of it.
New Jersey, USA
3G has always seem pretty good around here in New Jersey with AT&T, but I'm 25 minutes from New York, so imagine how many towers they have on the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut). Very rare to lose 3G reception (exept on the iPhone 3G that everybody complains about losing it often). But important to mention also is that Kearny, town where my sister lives, I lose reception a 100%, my phone's reception just dies, and when I switch it to GSM instead of 3G...voila. Full signal strenght.
wow.. the results turned out quite different than I imagined.
Obviously it's just in my area that 3G sucks. I really wish they would fix this, considering that every phone released now is 3G...and you think someone would notice... well, I'm sure if I wait long enough people will start to notice, but who knows,
I can't remember the last time I had problems with 3G. though I remember before Cingular got bought by AT&T and they were just rolling out there 3G, I used to have problems then, I guess it was due to them configuring/re-configuring the towers. I think the engineers were just going by what the manual said, which weren't the best settings for each area.
I'm on 3G all day everyday on the hour and it's good. even when I'm in the basement and have 1 bar I still receive all my calls and I can make calls. though on this 1 bar I sometimes have to repeat myself every 1.5 minute, but I don't complain about that because it's 1 bar and I'm in the basement. at my friend's apartment I'm the only one that get signal, nothing else work there, not T-Mobile, not sprint, not verizon, not alltel, not vergin nothing else only AT&T works and I get 3 bars of 3G there. I always laugh because he has to leave his phone by the window and use his blue tooth.
I honestly don't think you're by a 3G tower because you should be getting way more than 3 bars. also ask them about the issue you're having AT&T is a good company they will listen to you. call them and open a ticket (before this they will have you go through the basic steps, restarting by removing the battery, etc) tell them you've done that multiple times and yet you have the same issue so it must be a network issue. have them escalate the ticket (they will send an engineer out and he/she will call you, they will work on the towers around your area). don't forget to be polite, no one likes a hot head.
in roughly mid year last year I was only getting edge at my job even though it is a 3G area. at home inside my house had full bars, so I called them up and they worked with me. the engineer stayed in my area roughly 2 weeks to deal with the issue. after that I've had 2 bars of 3G in doors at my job.

Xperia and Rogers 3G Issue

Well for the longest time I've had 3G activated on my phone but I've always connected to Edge. As of late my phone has been connecting to Rogers 3G. Sometimes it's stable, most of the time it's not. Connecting to 3G usually causes my phone and data connection to reset, usually back to G or Edge, and at times even causes my phone to soft reset randomly. Just wondering what's the deal with this and if I should just turn off 3G completely.
Maybe it's something you need to call your Roger's rep about? I'm on Rogers and I get 3G very consitsantly. I've had no issues so far. I dunno could it be the rom you're using?
its most likely a software issue. Try doing a hard-reset or try a different rom. Its either that or the 3G reception in your area isn't good. Try using 3G data with a different phone to see if its the network or your phone thats causing the problem
You guys are both using the X1 right? Cause I remember for the longest time Rogers didn't broadcast the proper 3G bandwidth for the Xperia... I dunno if that's changed since the X1 came out on Rogers
are you living in like a small town type of place or areas of the city where they don't really have that many or any signal towers? because that may be part of the reason why you go into edge a lot of times.
I think reception has always been a big issue with sony ericsson phones .
I lived in calgary, and when I drive up to general N.W. areas that are higher up in sea levels (such as edgemont (a phone reception killer location because a few years ago because they never had any reception towers up there) and parts of country hills) I get terrible reception.
my w810i, z610i, and my x1 has crap reception when I get to those areas from time to time.
anyways, hopefully you'll get it all figured out soon.
3G to edge to No connection
Hi I was about to open a new thread for it, then I saw yours. At least you are getting a 3G network. Mine just keep looking for it, then it finds 3G then Edge the H (I dont even know what that is) then there is nothing!!!!! Then it restarts again..........
Anybody any idea?
thanks in advance
Haha funny thing is, I actually live in Calgary and I only get 3G when I drive up North. I live in the South and I only get Edge but when I drive up to the University or am at the University in the NW, I get 3G. And yeah I've gotten H a few times too
Dehvee said:
You guys are both using the X1 right? Cause I remember for the longest time Rogers didn't broadcast the proper 3G bandwidth for the Xperia... I dunno if that's changed since the X1 came out on Rogers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im using the X1a from Rogers, so it does have the 3G bands. Im pretty much on 3G all the time and in some circumstances i get 3G+, which is probably a result of Rogers' enhanced 3G network
if im not mistaken "H" stand for HSPA......which is probably the same as me getting 3G+, guess it depends on the ROM being used.
If your using the X1i......then it could explain your spotty 3G reception
In any case, if your phone is restarting then try a hard-reset

Signal strength bars fluctuating

Hi guys, I just got my Incredible S yesterday, and I absolutely love this phone!! The only problem so far is the fluctuating signal bars. I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed here, but it seems to me that when I hold the phone...my signal gets weaker. When I put the phone on down..the signal gets stronger. Does a rubber or silicone case help as far as limiting signal interference?
Are you talking wifi signal or 3g signal?
mrHD2 said:
Are you talking wifi signal or 3g signal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm talking about 3G/H. It's such a shame. I really liked this phone, but designing the antenna on the battery cover is a huge flaw. What were they thinking?!!??
I also have the signal strength fluctuations. I have tried everything: changing the SIM card, changing operators (Swisscom and Sunrise), changing settings GSM alone, WCDMA alone, and GSM/WCDMA auto, and soft reset. The only thing I have not yet tried is a hard reset.
I wonder if somebody else has the same problem? The consequence of this problem is that often times the quality of the calls is lousy and/or the calls are dropped.
Please help me..
Have to say, my signal level is dreadful compared to my bog standard Nokia mobile phone in low signal areas, I get no signal on my Inc S while 2 or sometimes 3 bars on my Nokia. It's really spoiling an otherwise brilliant device. One thing I was wondering is if changing radio from the 22_M to the 27_M might help, anybody know what the difference between them is ?
and, data does not work over 50% of the time on gprs, but fine on hsdpa/3g/edge, don't know if that's also down to poor signal reception ?
I had the same problem with my IS. when the internet connaction GSM/WCDMA auto i had many unexeptable call ends. I put the internet connection to GSM only and every thing is ok. Acording to info i have the problem is in some operaters new software when the network type changes the telefone cannot change it normaly.
After visiting other fora, I have a crucial question to ask: is the reception problem (fluctuating bars, dropped calls, WiFi disconnecting) a generalised problem, or, rather, is my phone faulty, and therefore should I have it repaired?
HTC update the radio module immediately....
atn_chargers said:
Hi guys, I just got my Incredible S yesterday, and I absolutely love this phone!! The only problem so far is the fluctuating signal bars. I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed here, but it seems to me that when I hold the phone...my signal gets weaker. When I put the phone on down..the signal gets stronger. Does a rubber or silicone case help as far as limiting signal interference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also believe that the desire s has this same problem they are similarly designed devices now running with very similar software.
even though at times signal can be great without moving it can drop to nothing and I'll lose all signal, which I believe has caused me miss several calls as they've gone to voicemail rather than ring on the phone.
I'm hoping that an upgrade to the phones radio will fix/improve this over time (the optimistic outlook)
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
signal
its the antenna design =Fail , put it flat on a desk and dont hold it and watch your signal go up pick it up and its like an hour glass going down
I am now arriving at the conclusion that sound quality and dropped calls (and bars fluctuating) can be explained by a connection problem when using GSM/WCDMA Auto. The problem disappears when using GSM Auto. Any views?
Same here, but it is better on "wcdma only" either. I'm suspectinig it has issues only when switching between wcdma and gsm

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