Hi All,
I wonder if someone can help me. I am having an issue with call quality with a number of users on O2 (UK) and can't seem to resolve it.
In a specific area (about 20 meters radius) all incoming and outgoing calls have very poor outgoing call quality, the person on the other end of the line describes the experience as "being underwater" or "robot voice" and if it's particularly bad every other word is cut out. My users can hear the other person perfectly with no distortion.
This issue is happening on a number of different handsets, SIM's and phone numbers.
I have complained to O2 who have provided a femtocell "Boostbox" which doesn't seem to have helped at all. All my users have always had 4 bar full signal strength, with or without the boostbox.
If my users walk out onto the car park the signal clears up and all is well (although this is no good for business!).
I've come to the conclusion that it must be something interfering with cell phone quality as this issue only started a few months ago.
My question is do my symptoms sound like interference or something else (an overburdened cell tower?), and if it is interference, how can I track down whats causing it and save my users a lot of headaches.
Thanks for any help
Gordon
Related
My wife now all the time is saying: "Your new phone is crap". By new phone she means the (Wallaby) XDA I have asquired (mainly for navigation purposes in my car) recently.
It was replacing an Ericsson SH888. I always had excellent communication quality even in regions with weak signal strength.
Now (with the same SIM card) running E-Plus from the XDA I'm having much worse communication quality. Dropouts, opposite side doesn't hear me and such.
Can anyone explain why it is so?
Hi Krischu.
I've read posts on this forum in the past regarding poor reception (often fixed with radio stack upgrades), on the Wallaby.
People have also complained about poor sound quality & poor mic pickup too, but I never had either of these problems.
Some qualifying questions;
Which provider are you with?
What ROM & Radio Stack versions are you running?
Have you ever changed the ROM?
Is the device new, or purchased 2nd-hand?
To your knowledge, has the device ever been dropped?
Does your voice sound better (to the other person) if you use the head-phones?
Are you satisfied with the sound YOU hear?
What exactly is the problem with your voice, according to your wife? Muffled, distorted, or dropping-out?
Does the service-indicator icon show low service when you have this problem? Or does it just happen all the time?
How exactly are you using it for navigation? Serial cable to GPS? If so, do your issues only arise when the gps is running (ie. interference)?
That's probably enough questions for now.
Codenix.
Codenix said:
Hi Krischu.
I've read posts on this forum in the past regarding poor reception (often fixed with radio stack upgrades), on the Wallaby.
People have also complained about poor sound quality & poor mic pickup too, but I never had either of these problems.
Some qualifying questions;
Which provider are you with?
What ROM & Radio Stack versions are you running?
Have you ever changed the ROM?
Is the device new, or purchased 2nd-hand?
To your knowledge, has the device ever been dropped?
Does your voice sound better (to the other person) if you use the head-phones?
Are you satisfied with the sound YOU hear?
What exactly is the problem with your voice, according to your wife? Muffled, distorted, or dropping-out?
Does the service-indicator icon show low service when you have this problem? Or does it just happen all the time?
How exactly are you using it for navigation? Serial cable to GPS? If so, do your issues only arise when the gps is running (ie. interference)?
That's probably enough questions for now.
Codenix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a used XDA (T-Mobile MDA I, 32 MB) which had been flashed and unbranded.
My provider is E-Plus (Germany).
G32S54
R3.16.00
4.01.19
It happened to me once that it fell to ground. But the weak communication was with the old main board as well as with another one (I swapped main boards recently, so I don't think it's a hardware problem or faulty board)
Yes, the weak communication (drop outs - interrupted speech) mainly happens when the signal strength is low.
But that's the point - the SH888 (Ericsson) was able to smoothen out these situations, when signal strength is low.
Hey guys,
i have a strange possibly simcard defect issue (tried the simcard in several mobil phones):
I could hear the person i called very clear and fine ... but he hears me like a robot.
The signal strength is fine, so i doubt thats the issue.
What could this be related if not due to the signal strength? ... (i am on a village so no GSM/WCDA problem since only GSM is availlable).
Thx for help
Greets
Tomatoe
As far as I know, it is not related to simcard and the signal strength - if it was about the signal, you would not be able to hear each other well or the voice would be skippy.
What I could think of is if the microphone is not working properly, or the receiving end is having issues with his/her speaker. Could also be something to do with codecs or something similar - I haven't researched those areas enough to tell for sure.
I would say its the micro phone, did you get it wet maybe?.
Hi guys. I've got a saga to describe for those of you who are interested, but I'll try to keep it brief. I think it really boils down to one or two simple issues.
I've had Verizon phones for a long time, in Central Illinois. Probably about 10 years now. Rarely had problems with dropped calls. My previous phone was a Droid 1 ... worked great, very rarely (as I recall) had dropped calls.
Then in January 2012, as the Droid was killing me with general Android lag and unresponsiveness (but voice was still fine), I upgraded to a Galaxy Nexus. Loved it for Android performance. For the first 3 or 4 months I had it, I don't recall it giving me any undue trouble .. dropped calls were minimal if any, I think.
Then sometime around April or May, started getting a ridiculous number of dropped calls. Mostly at my home, throughout the day, but not just there, I've also experienced them a mile or two away from my house. The neighbor hood is fairly wooded, but that's never been a problem before.
Additionally, my wife has a "feature phone" (non-smartphone) also with Verizon and very rarely if ever has dropped call problems.
The topography at my house is along a river, we're right near a high bluff overlooking the river, with line of sight (besides the trees, of which there are not a ton, really) for at least a mile or so across the river. I think we're possibly within range of several cell towers.
I notice at most points when I'm in my house, using some apps that help you track signal strength and show you the cell tower ids, that I'm mostly one just two different ones, both of which seem to be maybe about 1 mile away. Also, if I'm walking up one flight of stairs, I pretty reliably see that same app showing the phone switching among possibly as many as 4 or 5 towers, in the space of about 5 or 10 seconds!
I suspect this may be caused by the topography in my area.
I also suspect that most of my dropped calls *may* have something to do with being in range of so many towers, or with the phone switching too frequently (or unnecessarily, really) among the towers, while I'm on the call, if this is possible (I have very little technical knowledge of cell phone radio technology -- hence this post).
Now, I've done a fair amount of research and talked to Verizon customer support about this at length. They've actually been very patient and good with me, but we still haven't arrived at the solution.
I originally thought the problem my be the Galaxy Nexus, but after getting a warranty replacement on that one, and even getting to try a Droid RAZR and then finally the GS3, I'm seeing virtually the exact same behavior on all of the phones. The symptoms do *not* seem to be directly related to signal strength exactly. I get usually about 50 - 60% of the total bars (maybe 3/5 or 4/5) in most parts of the house, yet *still* get these persistent drops.
Verizon's final best solution for me, basically, was to use a Network Extender. Despite my misgivings towards this, I have acquired one and it does seem to solve the problem for me, when I'm home, and when I'm in range of the device (its range seems pretty good in my house). One big problem with it though, ridiculously, is it seems that whenever it's on, my wife's Verizon phone starts dropping calls (and it never does otherwise). So there's a Catch-22 there, added to the fact that I'd rather not have to be running a Net Extender *and* the fact that I still see other drops when taking a walk or driving at least a mile or two from my house.
So, for those of you still with me, I'm wondering if
a) my theory about excessive switching, etc., is plausible, or if you have another one based on the facts I've outlined
b) if doing something like flashing an alternate radio ROM (I barely even knew there were separate ROMs for the radio -- I've done some rooting before of Android, but not the radio) might give me some more control or better performance. It'd be great if there were a setting somewhere where I could tell the phone to be less willing to switch towers or to give a higher preference to one tower, at least while in a certain GPS area (I know, I'm sure it's a reach).
Anyway, looking for a little education into why your opinions are of what may be causing this and if I have any remedies available that are feasible and may actually help.
Thank you for your attention and expertise.
I have read through the FAQs and seen several posts from users of other phones and other networks with the same issue, but there has not been an answer to be found.
I've experienced this issue with 4 different ROMs now, so it's not ROM-based. I've tried 3 different radios, so it's not likely modem-based.
The issue is that I will get voicemail notifications for calls I miss, but I'm sitting at my desk with my phone and it didn't ring, nor is there a missed call indication. 5 minutes later, someone else might call me and the call comes through fine. It appears to be purely random. People who call me sometimes get through, sometimes not. It's not the same person who can't get through, or the same network.
Does anyone have an idea what is happening?
dontezuma said:
I have read through the FAQs and seen several posts from users of other phones and other networks with the same issue, but there has not been an answer to be found.
I've experienced this issue with 4 different ROMs now, so it's not ROM-based. I've tried 3 different radios, so it's not likely modem-based.
The issue is that I will get voicemail notifications for calls I miss, but I'm sitting at my desk with my phone and it didn't ring, nor is there a missed call indication. 5 minutes later, someone else might call me and the call comes through fine. It appears to be purely random. People who call me sometimes get through, sometimes not. It's not the same person who can't get through, or the same network.
Does anyone have an idea what is happening?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your description definitely sounds familiar. There are times when the phone was under clothing or left on vibrate, then there are those back to back instances where you notice because the first call went straight to voicemail and the next one gets through.
Ideas? Maybe not, but there may be some clues worth considering. Every wireless carrier I've used suffers dead spots where you are 99% guaranteed to have your call drop in progress driving by.
Locally (NJ) AT&T has 2 on the westbound "covered roadway" leading to the skyway. My point is I've observed where they won't affect my passenger's TMobile calls. Oddly, when I experience this there, the call has usually gone on uninterrupted through the Holland Tunnel. Must be an infrastructure quirk.
The drive by carrier dead zone is a fixed location call deterrent. An expert could probably say how much each example is based on tower locations versus radio interference. I guess a similar scenario might be possible wherein the call recipient is stationary, like at your desk, and some moving interference breaks a fragile tower connection. I have to say it seems a lot less prevalent with SR vs. previous smartphones and with my current ROM / Modem vs. former ones.
pc103 said:
Your description definitely sounds familiar. There are times when the phone was under clothing or left on vibrate, then there are those back to back instances where you notice because the first call went straight to voicemail and the next one gets through.
Ideas? Maybe not, but there may be some clues worth considering. Every wireless carrier I've used suffers dead spots where you are 99% guaranteed to have your call drop in progress driving by.
Locally (NJ) AT&T has 2 on the westbound "covered roadway" leading to the skyway. My point is I've observed where they won't affect my passenger's TMobile calls. Oddly, when I experience this there, the call has usually gone on uninterrupted through the Holland Tunnel. Must be an infrastructure quirk.
The drive by carrier dead zone is a fixed location call deterrent. An expert could probably say how much each example is based on tower locations versus radio interference. I guess a similar scenario might be possible wherein the call recipient is stationary, like at your desk, and some moving interference breaks a fragile tower connection. I have to say it seems a lot less prevalent with SR vs. previous smartphones and with my current ROM / Modem vs. former ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. No, this is definitely chronic and not related to dead spots. I have my phone with me at my desk, 3 or 4 bars, no issues. Just doesn't come in. It's been really bad since moving to the JB ROMs. It pretty much never happened without explanation (dead zone, etc.) when I was on ICS and earlier. :/
One other performance problem that my Captivate had resembled this.
When I complained to Customer Service, they did some kind of remote (non-destructive) "reset" of my account. That corrected the random call drops I had reported then.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
pc103 said:
One other performance problem that my Captivate had resembled this.
When I complained to Customer Service, they did some kind of remote (non-destructive) "reset" of my account. That corrected the random call drops I had reported then.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you dropping calls midstream, or not receiving calls? My problem is with not receiving calls when I'm somewhere I usually do and at times when my cell service looks fine (adequate bars).
dontezuma said:
Were you dropping calls midstream, or not receiving calls? My problem is with not receiving calls when I'm somewhere I usually do and at times when my cell service looks fine (adequate bars).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that you mention, I recall it was a mix. Bars were good, some calls were silently missed, others FCd the phone app while ringing in, forcing reboot. Good, stable calls surrounded the (<5%) failed ones. AT&T's account reset corrected both issues. Stock ROM back then was Éclair or Froyo.
So my wife and I both have the same cell provider and I notice that, when driving, there are certain areas where my call quality will drop to the point where I can't hear the caller or it's cutting off, but will come back after driving a little longer. My wife doesn't have this issue with her phone. I tried doing a settings reset on the phone but that didn't seem to help. Our provider can't help either, saying that you'll lose some call quality when switching towers but it's only been happening for the past few weeks and I've had this phone for over a year.
I'm thinking about doing a full wipe and installing a custom ROM to see if that fixes it. The model # is SM-G920R4.
Any ideas otherwise?