[Q] Bad Desire HD signal / call quality - General Questions and Answers

I just bought a new HTC Desire HD, which I haven't rooted and is running the latest version of HTC Sense for Android 2.2.
my problem is that even though I am sitting still and my phone hasn't moved for an hour or more, and it says it has full reception, when my G/F tries to call me, half the time she gets through voicemail as if my phone was out of reception. When she does get through she can hardly hear me like I'm in a really low reception area.
I have also noticed it having worse reception than my HTC Magic used to in the same areas (on the same network) although I admit my observation method hasn't been at all scientific.
Has anyone else experienced this with the Desire HD? Is there anything I can try to improve the situation?
Thanks,
Robin.

Related

[Q] HTC Sensation rubbish reception

Is anyone else having reception issues with the HTC sensation I had previous HTC and have all suffered from this problem I thought by now they would have sorted this issue out.
Also I have used the camera a few times and the phone just turns off.
My signal is full. Someone mentioned in another threat he replaced sim card and problem solved.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
Sounds like a faulty unit to me.
I have same problem - in my room it tends to go from 1 bar to full all the time - downstairs its goes from on to off all the time, rather annoying !
Got a brand new sim card so cant being that, but so many people
have complained about it cant be one fault handset - its just
faulty design maybe??
This is my second unit and I have tried 3 different sim cards no change. This is what made me take back the original HTC Desire. Looks like this is going back all previous phones I would get 3G in my home and work now I am getting gprs or Edge in the same locations.
I have missed a few calls tonight because of the handset reception goes to none.
just popped my t-mobile sim in it and it seems fine -
it bounces up and down but by 1 bar maximum!
Got my brothers sony play on vodafone - hes getting 4 bars when im getting 0-3 bars.
So maybe it some kind of interaction between vodafone signal and this phone???
said it before will add again i get poor reception (gprs) with vodafone sim but great/better with t-mobile sim. Gonna request new sim. put sim in my desire and get the same response. must be the sim. i also think a new radio update would fix the reception problems. if HTC unlocked the bootloader we'd know for sure.
Mines been playing up signal wise, ive just taken the sim out and put it back in and its working alot better. Weird.
Interesting. I'm a new Voda customer and I have appauling reception now where I had a good one with O2. However signal goes on and off all the time.
My phone also reboots if I take more than a couple of photos.
All sounds like software to me but I'm going to try a new handset and if that fails maybe change to Samsung, not happy with HTC pushing out such poor software on a cutting edge phone, who tested it???
Yeap, rubbish reception. Keeps coming and going even in the same location!
Awful!!!!!
Just to throw in my experience with it;
I'm getting identical performance to what I got on my Nexus One (also on Vodafone obviously, you can't compare signal on one carrier against another and blame it on the phone...)
1-2 bars of HSPA in my home in Bristol
3-4 bars of HSPA in my home in Cardiff
3-4 bars of Edge in my friend's house in Cardiff
Signal on the train journey Bristol-Cardiff also the same. HSPA through Newport, Edge/GPRS through a lot of the fields and nothingness. I do the journey a lot so I know the sections where I can load up a new article or webpage
So far it is identical to what I've been getting for the last year and a half with the N1. I know there were signal issues with the N1 when it was released but those were solved with updates from Google and more stuff in custom roms. I honestly don't have any experience of any issue affecting the Sensation's signal.
I was with T-Mobile when I had my Desire, and now I've moved to Vodafone for my Sensation. Reception with Vodafone is better everwhere that I've been so far, and I see the "H" connection symbol more frequently. However, I do get the "rising and falling signal bars for no particular reason" problem that others are seeing, but it's no worse than I experienced for the 14 months that I had my Desire.
I called Vodafone earlier about the numerous issues with the Sensation, this being one of them. Apparently there have been some reception issues in and around London in the last few days (they tracked my calling location when I called them, stalkers) but should now be resolved. I seriously doubt this is the issue as I had no reception while the phone was sat next to an unmentionable other device on Vodafone which had full signal.
They told me to take it into a store to discuss the issues before returning it within the 7 day period, which I will do at lunch time, but I have zero expectations for this!
mine has been fine tbh, more or less always 3 or 4 bar. does drop for no reason sometimes... but not often at all. only problem i have had so far is the wifi not working properly sometimes
Yet another phone that can do everything except phone calls?
Average/mediocre signal would be a huge drawback. I will wait for some more feedback, otherwise I will opt for another device, even though I have never had any doubts until this issue arose.
ok - been testing at work as we are a vodafone buisness company and have about
200 htc trophy sitting in our cupboard.
got one out with my sim card, a old vodafone one and brand new vodafone one.
Walked round the whole building phone to phone and the
htc sensation was actually stable reception, better then the htc trophy. (though only a bar difference)
There i have conclude my issue are where i live the reception.
(Though im going to do more testing at home tonight with my pro sony play)
I was curious, vodafone do a signal boost, but its £50 for those under £40 month contract.
Has anyone had any success with getting the price down on these?
I would happily pay £20 for one if i knew it would give me full signal around my house.
Im so happy with the phone i dont want to return it !
I'll post later about my tests
I politely said to the nice lady in the Vodafone shop I didn't want to buy a sure signal as a new customer and that I was on a high contract. I paid £20 but its taken off my 1st payment so got it for free. If it supposed to get perfect signal in your home and they check before you sign up then its only fair.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
Ps I get perfect signal with the thing. Using it now to post. Pity it I can't use it at work.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
Phone is now in the process of being returned to Vodafone. Great phone let down by poor reception :-( The lady on the phone said they have had a few returns of late for the same reason so I know im not the only one. Looks like it will be back to my old phone till I find something that takes me fancy.
From other reports (lots) the phone signal is unreliable and I dont think its just a network issue. I can watch mine go from full to nothing and back up again without moving or touching it. I have the camera->reboot issue on mine too that others are reporting so I think there's a bad batch. I'm replacing my handset today with little hope of it being different. I also know someone with a Sure Signal (£20 in store) who has had no problems at all. I'm on a 40/pcm deal so going to push for one for free for the hassle of going back to the shop but I get the same signal issue pretty much everywhere, including central London earlier this week.
Very disappointing start with Vodafone and with my 7th or 8th HTC phone. I really wish I'd kept my Desire now until this model had been out for a few months, lesson learned.

[Q] Weak Wifi anyone?

Getting weak Wifi-signal on a friends One S, attached are screenshots from Wifi Analyzer comparing reception with ye olde Desire running Sandvolds ICS. The One S consistently is quite a bit worse off by ~20 dBm and sees far fewer networks at any given location. Another old Desire running stock gingerbread also outperforms the One S.
Thoughts anyone who upgraded to the One S? How is your Wifi compared to old phone?
My One S gets 5-10 dBm worse than my Xperia X10 on CM7
frdd said:
Thoughts anyone who upgraded to the One S? How is your Wifi compared to old phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Comparing my old Desire (AMOLED, CM7) to my One S the signal strengths are about the same.
But whereas they are stable on the One S they oscillate on the Desire, and the One S is more sensitive, means it shows more different signals in shorter time. The Desire doesn't show them at all or at least less signals, maybe due to the oscillation.
Oh good gosh.
The sensation had the grip of death.
The amaze has a WiFi problem now so does the HTC One S.
The hell HTC? Fix the WiFi issue.
Had my one s for a day now. Been at the same locations around my home as my old desire. It shows far better WiFi reception than the desire both when it was running runnymede and leedroid gb with different kernels.
No WiFi trouble at all.
My sensation was appalling for signal (wifi, 2g/3g) i complained to my provider and thats why i now have the One S.
I must admit, Its not perfect but its a whole lot better. Only had it working a few days so cant be 100% sure, But im getting signals is places i couldnt with the Sensation..
Im happy i can use it as a phone, I would have like it to be alot better but thats life i guess.
It works so i cant complain.
No issues for me... WiFi reception is just as good as the old Desire had. Didn't test it with any apps, but I can get reception everywhere in the house and even outside the front door, which I think the Desire couldn't.
Good thing its not a very common problem so far, maybe HTC spilled some of the micro arc oxidation stuff on the antennas of this One S then It has problems connecting and speeds are bad where multiple other devices work fine. Please keep the anecdotes coming!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA
No wifi issues here. At least as much signal as my old Desire
i can't complain about my wifi. Even though i get 5-10 dBm worse signal compared to my Xperia X10 i can still connect everywhere inside of the house as well as on the street ~15 meters away from my house. I also get much better speeds with my One S. We have a 30/30 mb/s connection but my Xperia could only use 10-15. The One S on the other hand gets 30/30 every time
The phone in first post is on its way to HTC to be fixed or replaced. Attached screenshots of firmware and radio versions in case someone needs it
My One S wifi signal is around 10 to 12 dBm weaker than my Motorola Defy+ but it still works very well so no issue. Mobile data signal is a good 16dBm and more, weaker (as mentioned elsewhere on this forum) than the Defy+ which is somewhat of a problem. Contacted HTC but awaiting a response.
I have weaker WiFi only when the router is in distance. My incredible s could get one or two bars so does one s, but it can not connect to anything.
When near the router, they all work very well mo problem.
From WiFi analyser the signal strength are similar.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
When in my room, i always loose wifi connection when a finger is over the thing you can take off to insert sim. i noticed it because i always loose wifi connection when holding it in landscape
can only compare to iphone 3G which was a little better in keeping connection and had no specific grip of death.
I came here to ask this same question. I don't get a full wifi signal when I'm literally right next to my router. You can forget about it just 20 feet down the hall. really poor. Much worse than on my G2. And I only get edge speeds at my house. Really, I get edge speeds in my den where the tv is but i get 4g in other parts of the house.
This is soooooooo upsetting!!!! Am having wifi issues too. My phone randomly jumps on and off my Wifi while I'm in my room. Mean time my laptop's @ 90% to 100% signal.
I am actually getting much better wifi (using rooted stock) than I did with my HTC glacier running CM7.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using xda premium
frdd said:
Getting weak Wifi-signal on a friends One S, attached are screenshots from Wifi Analyzer comparing reception with ye olde Desire running Sandvolds ICS. The One S consistently is quite a bit worse off by ~20 dBm and sees far fewer networks at any given location. Another old Desire running stock gingerbread also outperforms the One S.
Thoughts anyone who upgraded to the One S? How is your Wifi compared to old phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure that your SIM access cover is snapped in place.
It happened to me with the WiFi signal - The phone was losing signal, and had low signal 1 foot away from the router.
I 'pinched' the top-right corner of the access cover (thumb on the glass, index finger on the back cover) - I heard a 'click' and suddenly my WiFi was at full strength. I believe that the WiFi antenna is not connected unless it snaps together.
I haven't had any WiFi issues other than low signal at moderate distances from the access point. Once I turned on Best WiFi Performance in the phone's settings though, even that minor issue went away. Couldn't be happier with the WiFi performance, especially after all the WiFi issues the NS4G had.
Check to see that best wifi performance is checked in advanced settings. Not knowing any better, I turned this ON when I first got my phone. A few days later I decided to turn it off to see if it helped battery life. With it off, I got the constant signal drop that someone else mentioned. My son got a One S at the same time I did. He was complaining about occasional reboots. There was a thread on the T-Mobile support site that pointed to a wifi issue. I had him turn best wifi performance ON, and his reboots went away.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U

[Q] Very bad reception signal

I had an HTC Desire and 3 weeks ago I switched to HTC One S from Orange Spain. I use the phone at the same places I used the Desire and the signal is much worst and I often loose reception signal totally for a few long minutes.
Also, even when I have strong signal in 3G or HDSPA, internet is slow or works by bursts (loading a web page it works fast then stops for a while then loads again).
Are there other people suffering this problem?
I have written to HTC on this problem and the chipping but they don't answer me.
see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1616350
and some more here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1588345

[Q] Cell reception - What's your experience?

Hello One-S users!
I recently got myself an unbranded One-S here in the Netherlands. I came from the LG 2x that I've had since the day it was available. Been experimenting a lot with different ROM's and BB, with different results across the board. Overall though the 2x has been a very nice phone to have and use, albeit not with the stock ROM's. Reception has been very good, probably the best of all the phones I've owned.
And now there's the new One-s... I've been using it for a few days so I won't go into details on battery life, user experience and all that stuff that needs a few days before making any useful conclusion. Except for reception!
I live in a particular area where there's very bad signal and only two towers in the whole area. The One-S seems to really struggle to get AND keep connection to the network. Actually, when used indoors (at home) it is impossible to get any signal at all, whereas the 2x and my girlfriends iPhone4 have no problems at all. Not great reception, with breakups during calls, but at least the work. The One-S doesn't. I've been seeing this behavior outdoors at other locations as well, around where I work I have had no reception issue's with the 2x, the One-S shows really spotty reception.
I'm on the latest OTA which is 1.78.401.2
What's your take on this, do you have any reception issue's?
involver said:
Hello One-S users!
I recently got myself an unbranded One-S here in the Netherlands. I came from the LG 2x that I've had since the day it was available. Been experimenting a lot with different ROM's and BB, with different results across the board. Overall though the 2x has been a very nice phone to have and use, albeit not with the stock ROM's. Reception has been very good, probably the best of all the phones I've owned.
And now there's the new One-s... I've been using it for a few days so I won't go into details on battery life, user experience and all that stuff that needs a few days before making any useful conclusion. Except for reception!
I live in a particular area where there's very bad signal and only two towers in the whole area. The One-S seems to really struggle to get AND keep connection to the network. Actually, when used indoors (at home) it is impossible to get any signal at all, whereas the 2x and my girlfriends iPhone4 have no problems at all. Not great reception, with breakups during calls, but at least the work. The One-S doesn't. I've been seeing this behavior outdoors at other locations as well, around where I work I have had no reception issue's with the 2x, the One-S shows really spotty reception.
I'm on the latest OTA which is 1.78.401.2
What's your take on this, do you have any reception issue's?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a T-mobile branded One S (Gradient Blue) and the reception was horrible, so glad I got myself another GS2 (t989)
I'm experiencing same issues of reception on an unbranded EU phone with 1.78. 1.53 was worst!
I tend to have signal but no data, I tend to have signal in the notification bar but no actual signal.
I have many issues which weren't here in my old desire!
MicroSIM was replaced twice with no real help - It's the phone to blame...
Poor reception
I also have same problem. I am in pakistan using Telenor and phone is Tmobile UK unlocked.
It may work to disallow some energy-saving settings(of the ril) in the build.prop, however it brings risk to do so:
You have to know how to tweak the file, and get ready to re-flash the ROM/RUU in case of half-brick caused by bad tweaks.
involver said:
Hello One-S users!
I recently got myself an unbranded One-S here in the Netherlands. I came from the LG 2x that I've had since the day it was available. Been experimenting a lot with different ROM's and BB, with different results across the board. Overall though the 2x has been a very nice phone to have and use, albeit not with the stock ROM's. Reception has been very good, probably the best of all the phones I've owned.
And now there's the new One-s... I've been using it for a few days so I won't go into details on battery life, user experience and all that stuff that needs a few days before making any useful conclusion. Except for reception!
I live in a particular area where there's very bad signal and only two towers in the whole area. The One-S seems to really struggle to get AND keep connection to the network. Actually, when used indoors (at home) it is impossible to get any signal at all, whereas the 2x and my girlfriends iPhone4 have no problems at all. Not great reception, with breakups during calls, but at least the work. The One-S doesn't. I've been seeing this behavior outdoors at other locations as well, around where I work I have had no reception issue's with the 2x, the One-S shows really spotty reception.
I'm on the latest OTA which is 1.78.401.2
What's your take on this, do you have any reception issue's?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks! It is a great phone. Reception has been flawless for me. I have a TMOUSA-branded One S.
the worst reception ever...
well I lied a bit - as most of the time I'm getting no reception at all;/
sometimes around 60-70% of the time with no signal (when I click the cell stats in battery meter) and often when picked out of the pocket the phone is showing NO SIGNAL warning for one second...
Unlocked HTC One S, UK version, ceramic black, bought beginning of April
I had this problem from the start, but was hard to prove to get a new phone replacement, as when it does have good reception when signal coverage is great - with 10MBit/s download 3G speed which was amazing compared to my Desire Z (max 4MBit on 3G). The problem is, signal reception fluctuates a lot to a point of loosing it...
Wifi is affected as well, for example after a fresh reboot the Wi-Fi is at full speed, but give it an hour of mobile usage and it is at half of its performance. Wi-Fi isn't that critical (although I do not have signal in my garden where my Desire Z or iPad doesnt have any problem with my home wifi!) but the weak radio is!
I wasn't scared so much as I thought an update will come, and it did, so I have updated radio to 0.16 (1.78 RUU) from 0.15 (1.53 RUU) in a hope things will improve, and they did for 1 day - then I realized it was a placebo effect what I'm seeing.
In network stats I am mostly on -97 to -107 db in signal strength with 0-5 ASU, and when I have -93db I can celebrate! (which is considered pretty weak on my other android phones)
Researching this problem led me to believe it might be a software bug as well, as it varies - when you're doing a phone call, signal strength is simply stronger, you're out of a sudden see more ASUs and are say on -92db. As long as you hang the call, you're at -101 db again, soon after you can loose the signal when you're in placed with weaker coverage (park, too many in London).
Then I have places where I am absolutely unable to make a call, and the other day I do have 2 bars there and I am able to call without a problem.
Then the other day I can try 10 times and no chance - no signal, immediately rejected from a call app, can't even call voicemail.
The top icon notification is 'mad' most of the time - showing full strength from time to time only to fall to 1 bar (or no bar) on 80% of the time.
I would welcome some idea how to prove this thing to a seller to get a replacement, but as I said, if One S sees 20+ more ASUs (city coverage is great), you don't notice this thing and it can work flawlessly.
My conclusion is that HTC One S has only problem when the signal coverage becomes weak and it can't properly get hold of it like other phones do (Samsung Galaxy S Plus, for example, is ten times zillion million better than this - having much stronger signal when covered with pillows closed in a stainless steel box ;-)
Should we start writing the serial numbers here so we can see which batch of HTC One S phones is bad?
P.S. The USA T-Mobile update 1.83 is promising some fix to signal fluctuation - I don't know it this would help european version, even if it would not fluctuate, it would still be weak.
P.P.S. Switching ON the 'best wifi performance' haven't made a single difference for me, neither for radio strength nor in wifi. The only difference was big hit on battery life.
I know exactly what you mean - had it the same!!!
Apparently there is a solution which is not hardware related:
There are network providers that doesn't support the signal fast dormancy as this phone tries to use. As a result, the phone disconnects from the service provider and tries to reconnect which takes several minutes.
In order to solve that until HTC will do it (if at all), you need to root your phone, get into build.prop file and then change the line ro.ril.fast.dormancy.rule=... to be ro.ril.fast.dormancy.rule=#.
This is thanks to jh787!
It seems to help me.
I'm in the Netherlands too, with an unbranded device and facing same troubles. Got my device lately with 1.78.401.2 preinstalled.
The reception is compared to my HTC Incredible S really bad.
I becomes irritated too by the FM Tuner recepetion. If you're moving on bccycle, car, train or bus the volume is getting up and down, up and down. And lot of areas I can't listen at all to the radio stations I could with the Incredible S
don't want to root just yet...
orenfl said:
I know exactly what you mean - had it the same!!!
Apparently there is a solution which is not hardware related:
There are network providers that doesn't support the signal fast dormancy as this phone tries to use. As a result, the phone disconnects from the service provider and tries to reconnect which takes several minutes.
In order to solve that until HTC will do it (if at all), you need to root your phone, get into build.prop file and then change the line ro.ril.fast.dormancy.rule=... to be ro.ril.fast.dormancy.rule=#.
This is thanks to jh787!
It seems to help me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, you probably mean the thread mentioned by jh787 at the bottom here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26923454
- it might fix the issue, the problem is I've tried 2 different mobile providers with same results and today I bought O2 PAYG microSIM to try the best (signal wise) London mobile provider to see if the fast dormancy is the problem. I don't want to root the phone yet as if it won't help the warranty is void. I'll report later.
- there's another tip in that thread
jh787 said:
also changing the following line to look as shown solved my no network issues when i was in areas of weak reception
ro.ril.disable.power.collapse = 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have root yet, but just checked /system/build.prop file using Solid Explorer and I have this value already properly set as others have mentioned (1.78) but the phone still has weaker signal when idle and stronger when having a phone call.
Code:
# For HSDPA low throughput
ro.ril.disable.power.collapse = 1
As I understand this should be '#' instead of 1
Code:
ro.ril.fast.dormancy.rule=1
comparing to jh787 build.prop I am no wiser, as he's still at older 1.53 OTA and seems like T-Mobile branded phone.
I'm already on 1.78, checked his 2 comments and also found that the power collapse is 1 already. The fast dormancy I did change to # and believe me, after 6 weeks of screaming on the phone to be a phone, other than a great looking mobile computer, I'm using it flawlessly as a phone too!
Root is reversible via RUU and for me needed until HTC will provide an update which will either disable the fast dormancy or enable a switch to control it...
Ive had 2 One S's since launch and both of them have had appalling signal issues, Im on Vodafone UK and believe its their network at fault.
But i see here a range of providers and still crappy signal. I was thinking of cancelling my Vodafone contract and taking out a new one with another provider, As i really like HTC..... But after reading this thread im having doubts !
Im beginning to think the safe option would be to leave HTC and Go back to Samsung, And try to get the S3 !
azzledazzle said:
Ive had 2 One S's since launch and both of them have had appalling signal issues, Im on Vodafone UK and believe its their network at fault.
But i see here a range of providers and still crappy signal. I was thinking of cancelling my Vodafone contract and taking out a new one with another provider, As i really like HTC..... But after reading this thread im having doubts !
Im beginning to think the safe option would be to leave HTC and Go back to Samsung, And try to get the S3 !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you rooted already?
If so, try the build.prop change I mentioned before...
Im rooted, Ive ran every custom ROM, Ive flashed every radio, Ive done everything possible, Nothing works.
Ill give the build.prop edit a try later. not expecting much tho.
azzledazzle said:
Im rooted, Ive ran every custom ROM, Ive flashed every radio, Ive done everything possible, Nothing works.
Ill give the build.prop edit a try later. not expecting much tho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give it a try - it worth it!
For me it solved 6 weeks of frustration w/o one shrink visit
change the line ro.ril.fast.dormancy.rule=... to be ro.ril.fast.dormancy.rule=#.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So at the end i have .rule=1 do i change that 1 to a # or put the # after the 1 ?
azzledazzle said:
So at the end i have .rule=1 do i change that 1 to a # or put the # after the 1 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Replace the 1 by #
azzledazzle said:
So at the end i have .rule=1 do i change that 1 to a # or put the # after the 1 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any news?
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
Hasnt made any difference
azzledazzle said:
Hasnt made any difference
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? disappointing!!!
Then you probably got something else then - is the same carrier different phone have better than you on same locations?

[Q] Really bad reception ?

Hello, I bought the HTC S ONE, but I have a big concern as I receive the phone in his hand he picks up more.
I wonder if that can come from my radio card or if HTC really misplaced its antenna
I had a HTC desire is before I have not kind of problem.
your first sentence doesn't make sense to me
are you saying if you hold phone, reception decreases?
you should clarify yourself again.
to my experience, One-S's signal reception is very strong, both on cell radio and wifi. it never cut-off in the lift which my previous Motorola Atrix used disconnected always. Wifi is also very strong.
excuse my bad English, when I took the phone loses the network.

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