Phone with best signal/reception?

VonLuck

I am looking for a new phone to replace my old Samsung U800. I only have it a year but I hate it, mainly due to the awful signal I get with it among other things.

I live in the countryside and I find it very difficult to get a signal with my current phone. For some reason, even if I get signal bars on my phone, I have to wait for, I think it's the EDGE symbol to appear before I can send a text.

I always have to leave my phone in one position at all times to send/recieve texts otherwise they went send or come through.

My other family members don't have as big a problem with their phones, and can send and receive texts anywhere in the house, so I have decided to change phones.

I am not looking for anything too fancy, just a simple phone, preferably Nokia, that can get a good signal in the country.

Can anyone in poor reception areas recommend a phone?

Thanks.

Pablod

Hi VonLuck,

I think you should be looking for best signal by Network provider and not by phone,

Most new phones out now will have good signal and will more than likely be 3G compatible,

So, i'd suggest to ask around and look at your options on the networks available in your area

P.S - I recenlty changed from Vodafone to 3, and my reception is brilliant, I can now get 3G in my house where I couldn't get it before

Hope this helps,
Pablo

blueser

Pablod wrote: »

Hi VonLuck,

I think you should be looking for best signal by Network provider and not by phone,

Most new phones out now will have good signal and will more than likely be 3G compatible,

So, i'd suggest to ask around and look at your options on the networks available in your area

P.S - I recenlty changed from Vodafone to 3, and my reception is brilliant, I can now get 3G in my house where I couldn't get it before

Hope this helps,
Pablo

Agreed. I can't see that the make of phone would have anything other than a negligible effect on the signal strength. I'd have thought that you could buy the most technologically advanced (and most expensive!) handset on the market, but if you live in a reception "blackspot", you're not going to get a decent signal.

drunkmonkey

the u800 is a 3G phone, do a manual network seach inside the house and see what networks appear, you'll know then which netwoks are best for home..

VonLuck

Well I was always led to believe that networks share the same mobile phone mast.

I tried going in to set my network manually on my phone and in some rooms I get meteor, in others vodaphone and sometimes o2!

You mentioned 3G there. What bearing does that have on my signal? I thought that was just for using the internet? The U800 uses EDGE, whatever that is, and it seems that I must have EDGE availability before sending texts, even if I have a signal.

Whenever I say this to anyone they don't seem to know what I am talking about...

Walkman

3g is for faster data but also carries voice and text. The main operators use 3g now with 3 using 3g only. The reason drunkmonkey said to try doing a network search is you might pick up 3 3G, Vodafone 2G/3G, O2 2G/3G and Meteor 2G/3G. This will give you a full list of networks available although it doesn't mean you'll have decent coverage with any of them. Try the networks coverage maps on their respective web sites

FergalBoards.ie

This is a very tough question to answer.

Of course different phones can make a significant difference.

There are a few problems in evaluating this.

In the old analog days, it was a simple function of the radio circuit and to a lesser extent cell handoff efficiency (changing from base to base).

These days it depends on the radio circuit, the efficiency of the cell handoff, the efficiency of the battery, as a matter of fact I was going to list about five more factors, but even mentioning them would take vast amounts of explanation.

So a phone that appears excellent in one circumstance, may be very poor in another.

A complicating factor that has been highlighted in the US is that the phone's firmware may also contain instructions that help the network manage connections more efficiently, but that may not be in you, the consumer's, interests.

Of course, I'm sure our lovely Irish networks don't do things like that, just mentioning it as an aside.

Globally, though, an unbranded Motorola V3xx seems to win the respect of everyone on the reception count. By unbranded, I mean, Motorola's software, not a network modification.

Under most circumstances, people have consistently noted good performance from this phone.

This phone is technically obsolete, although it should still be possible to locate one relatively easy.

A more difficult to get phone is the Motorola Tundra. This is what the US military use for precisely the reason of good reception. It's GSM and 3G, because unlike the US mainstream, the US military use those standards.

No sooner have I opened my mouth then I'm sure loads of people are going to post I'm wrong, how the networks don't control call drops and how all phones are the same.

So I give up in advance. I'm wrong and the US military are wrong, so don't even bother posting to tell me how wrong I am

blaz

VonLuck wrote: »

You mentioned 3G there. What bearing does that have on my signal? I thought that was just for using the internet? The U800 uses EDGE, whatever that is, and it seems that I must have EDGE availability before sending texts, even if I have a signal.

Phone calls can be made over 3G (UMTS) or plain simple GSM. 3G has shorter reach in Europe because of the higher frequency (2100 MHz) as compared to GSM (900 MHz and 1800 Mhz), so a phone can often show a good 3G signal, but as soon as you make a call it will switch over to GSM because the signal is better. Some phone firmware has bugs and switching between 3G and GSM (which should happen seamlessly in miliseconds) is buggy and drops calls. Try to disable 3G completely in the settings of your phone.

Regarding having to have EDGE to send texts, that sounds very strange, you don't need EDGE to send texts. I have never used a Samsung phone, but on Nokias and Sony Ericssons there is a setting "Use packet data" for texts, where you tell it to use GPRS/EDGE/UMTS to send texts instead of the usual way of sending them inside the GSM signalling channel. That setting is optional though, i.e. if packet data (EDGE in your case) is not available, it should automatically fall back to the standard way of sending texts. Nevertheless, you might want to check that setting, if you can find it.

FergalBoards.ie

blaz wrote: »

Phone calls can be made over 3G (UMTS) or plain simple GSM. 3G has shorter reach in Europe because of the higher frequency (2100 MHz) as compared to GSM (900 MHz and 1800 Mhz), so a phone can often show a good 3G signal, but as soon as you make a call it will switch over to GSM because the signal is better. Some phone firmware has bugs and switching between 3G and GSM (which should happen seamlessly in miliseconds) is buggy and drops calls. Try to disable 3G completely in the settings of your phone.

Regarding having to have EDGE to send texts, that sounds very strange, you don't need EDGE to send texts. I have never used a Samsung phone, but on Nokias and Sony Ericssons there is a setting "Use packet data" for texts, where you tell it to use GPRS/EDGE/UMTS to send texts instead of the usual way of sending them inside the GSM signalling channel. That setting is optional though, i.e. if packet data (EDGE in your case) is not available, it should automatically fall back to the standard way of sending texts. Nevertheless, you might want to check that setting, if you can find it.

Brilliant contribution Blaz, I would just like to slightly pick you up on one point.
Ideally, the answer is not to switch to 2G only, thus limiting your options, particularly if the 2G network is pretty full in the area you live. The answer is to pick a phone that doesn't have the bug.

Think about it, it has to make sense.
It's one of the reasons cellphones do make an enormous difference in reception quality.

Of course if you're married to a phone with the bug through some extortionate contract, then the answer is, of course, to use 2G only.

blaz

FergalBoards.ie wrote: »

Brilliant contribution Blaz, I would just like to slightly pick you up on one point.
Ideally, the answer is not to switch to 2G only, thus limiting your options, particularly if the 2G network is pretty full in the area you live. The answer is to pick a phone that doesn't have the bug.

Think about it, it has to make sense.
It's one of the reasons cellphones do make an enormous difference in reception quality.

Of course if you're married to a phone with the bug through some extortionate contract, then the answer is, of course, to use 2G only.

Fergal, I fully agree with you. What I wanted to say and might not be obvious from my post is that the OP should try disabling 3G to see if it makes a difference. If it does, then a simple firmware upgrade might fix it. In fact, a firmware upgrade is always a good thing to do before coming to any sort of conclusion regarding a phone's performance.

VonLuck

I'm unsure of what settings I should be using on my phone. I never see a 3G symbol pop up anytime, so I presume it's not active. Plus I'm not in a 3G area - terrible signal anyways when I tried 3G broadband.

It's very weird though. Sometimes I don't have any bars for a signal, but I have the EDGE symbol, and I'm able to send texts.

By the way, does anyone know wheter not having a signal when someone sends you a text affects when you get it? I remember sometimes if I didnt have a signal and someone texted me, I would get it about 6 hours later, even if I had good reception before then!

blaz

VonLuck wrote: »

It's very weird though. Sometimes I don't have any bars for a signal, but I have the EDGE symbol, and I'm able to send texts.

Probably you do have signal, but a very low signal, that's why you see the EDGE symbol.

By the way, does anyone know wheter not having a signal when someone sends you a text affects when you get it? I remember sometimes if I didnt have a signal and someone texted me, I would get it about 6 hours later, even if I had good reception before then!

Texts work somewhat like email. When somebody sends you a text, your operator's message center will try to deliver it to you immediately. If you are unreachable at that time, it will queue the message and resend later. How much later depends on the configuration of the message center. If you are unlucky enough, you might not have signal when the message center resends, so it can take hours (like in your example). If you are even more unlucky, the text might timeout and never get delivered.

My suggestions:

• upgrade the firmware on your phone, there might be important improvements in it - a firmware upgrade can't boost the signal, but it can improve cell handoff, which might help if you are in a weak signal area between two mobile cells, as you will be constantly switching between them
• get a prepay SIM from another operator and see if the situation is better with them (what operator are you on? is your phone unlocked?)
• replace your phone with the same make/model as any of your family members who doesn't have issues have, that's the safest choice because you know their phones work fine in your location. Oh, and I presume you are using the same operator as you family members?

FergalBoards.ie

Without going into long explanations:

If you are expecting important texts, and your signal is variable, it helps if you make a phonecall, to a number you know you're not harassing for one ring. Often, for example, I phone a business out of hours, for one ring.

This makes the network "aware" of you again and can trigger receiving a message.

Also depending on how "dumb" your phone's software is...once it has detected you are in an EDGE area it may keep showing the symbol for much longer than you have reception. It depends on how "joined up" the EDGE detection is with the signal detection.

In theory, EDGE should have nothing to do with your text ability, but again this all depends on the quality of your phone's software and how it's configured and stuff like this.

On a phone with efficient firmware, sending a text will happen even if a parked truck suddenly deflects the signal in your direction. That's an extreme, but I have seen that happen.

Tombones

I see there is a lot of information in the posts above. Not what I need though.


Basically I would like to make a list of phone models (as voted by the average joe phone user)that have a good signal.

ardmacha

All phones are not the same. I had a Sony Ericsson W380 which was appalling and replaced it with a SE W595 which is fine, signal wise. It is hard to find a website comparision of signal strength, lots of sites talking about themes or coloured covers or other irrelevancies. I did find one, maybe an Austrian site, but have lost the link. If someone turns up a good site I suggest we put it in the sticky.

Tombones

Funnily enough, I have a sony ericsson w595 and it has crap reception. I downloaded the update today and its still crap.

Tom Dunne

Tombones wrote: »

Basically I would like to make a list of phone models (as voted by the average joe phone user)that have a good signal.

But there are way too many variables - phone make, model, firmware, operator, distance from cell tower, 2G, 3G.

All you could really get are people's opinions.

niallkkk

Pablod wrote: »

Hi VonLuck,

I think you should be looking for best signal by Network provider and not by phone,

Most new phones out now will have good signal and will more than likely be 3G compatible,

So, i'd suggest to ask around and look at your options on the networks available in your area

P.S - I recenlty changed from Vodafone to 3, and my reception is brilliant, I can now get 3G in my house where I couldn't get it before

Hope this helps,
Pablo

trust me the phone is a huge matter for signal.

i have a n8 and its a gr8 phone but crap reception.

i have full coverage on my nokia E63 anywhere in ireland.best phone for coverage but just a few yrears outdated

evolutionqy7

Pick up a 2nd hand Nokia E51. Might not be a very advanced phone but it had a damn good reception. I had to use one when my phone went away a couple of weeks ago. I had 3G in the whole of my house (im with meteor) where as iPhone, HTC, Samsung even the newer Nokia Smartphones struggle to pick something decent up. Had to run to the windows all the time.
Same in my gf's house. She has even worse coverage, but with the E51 I had 3G in the house...

So I dont know what has happened but the quality of the receivers on newer phones seems to be nowhere near as good as what it used to be.