[Breny]

I've had my Droid now for 1 week. Love the device BUT the phone reception in my house is just horrible. I am getting one to no bars and dropping calls left and right.

What should I do? Is there a better phone that gets a better signal in places like I live? My area is rural, country, woods, lakes.......

I thought I found a phone I would be satisfied with keeping awhile and now using the phone is getting to be horrible

What about the New Incredible...would that be a better reception phone? Or please suggest which one I should try. I beleive I can only return 1 phone once and I have 30 days correct?

[o4liberty]

Have you tried to update roaming by dialing *228 option 2.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[BzB]

it looks like you had a tour before, was the signal strength pretty much the same? if so, then there's not much you can probably do aside from trying to update the roaming prl per the above post. if still no improvement after that then changing phones isn't gonna help.

the incredible is also rumored to have lower signal strength than the droid so you definitely wouldn't be better off switching.

if you're desperate your best bet might be switching to a carrier like t-mo that allows calling over wifi via uma. i think att offers it too, but not sure.

also might want to see when/if skype mobil is released for vzw phones.

[Breny]

Have you tried to update roaming by dialing *228 option 2.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

HI, thanks for answering, yes I've done it like 3 times now. Did not help.

[Breny]

it looks like you had a tour before, was the signal strength pretty much the same? if so, then there's not much you can probably do aside from trying to update the roaming prl per the above post. if still no improvement after that then changing phones isn't gonna help.

the incredible is also rumored to have lower signal strength than the droid so you definitely wouldn't be better off switching.

if you're desperate your best bet might be switching to a carrier like t-mo that allows calling over wifi via uma. i think att offers it too, but not sure.

also might want to see when/if skype mobil is released for vzw phones.

Can you explain to me how this works or point me to a link...the calling over wi-fi via uma? If ATT offers that I could get the iphone and use wifi and have a clear signal?

[xliderider]

Last resort is to get a Network Extender:

Enter your location

This will allow you to use your cellphone at home, over your broadband connection. It works for up to 5 phones at once, but it doesn't work for data (EvDO) coverage, just 1x voice. You will see dramatic difference in the indicated signal strength though (5 bars) while in your home.

EDIT: For data and web browsing, use WiFi (Marketplace downloads, etc.)

[Breny]

Last resort is to get a Network Extender:

Enter your location

This will allow you to use your cellphone at home, over your broadband connection. It works for up to 5 phones at once, but it doesn't work for data (EvDO) coverage, just 1x voice. You will see dramatic difference in the indicated signal strength though (5 bars) while in your home.

EDIT: For data and web browsing, use WiFi (Marketplace downloads, etc.)

Thanks I just checked it out and was excited, however it says this:
A minimum broadband speed of 300 Kbps is required. The Network Extender is not recommended for use with EVDO or satellite broadband service.

I can only get dial up here or satellite, which I have. I have Wildblues highest package.

[Johnly]

The Motorola droid is known for a good antenna. You may want to try a signal booster, it has been around for awhile, and they are cheap. Hear is a link to one for a 100 cents
Antenna Booster Cell Phone Signal Booster and Wave Scrambler
I am not sure if they even work at all. Maybe some one else has experience with these?dunno

[xliderider]

Breny, check your Baseband version in Settings, About phone. Make sure you are on the latest version that ends with 03P. If you have the old baseband. Version that ends with 01P, you will want to be sure to update to the latest 2.1 ota update that will give you the latest baseband (radio file).

[Breny]

Baseband version says c_01.3E.03P

[Breny]

Was talking with another Droid user and he thinks maybe I got a defective phone? since my BB worked in my house and didn't drop as many calls, the Droid sshould be better?

When I go into town I get all bars. But not in my home. With my BB I still only had 1 bar but didn't drop the same call 3 times like I did today.

[xliderider]

If I were you, I would call Verizon and talk to a technical specialist about your reception problems. Maybe you can still use he network extender on your satellite broadband service? Ask them if you can try the network extender out and return it, perhaps within 30 days, if it doesn't work out for you. It's worth a shot.

[xliderider]

Was talking with another Droid user and he thinks maybe I got a defective phone? since my BB worked in my house and didn't drop as many calls, the Droid sshould be better?

When I go into town I get all bars. But not in my home. With my BB I still only had 1 bar but didn't drop the same call 3 times like I did today.

Possible, but check something first. Under Settings, About phone. Look for your signal strength in dBm, it is a negative number. The larger the negative number, the weaker the signal is. -90 dBm is a lot worse than -85 dBm, etc. I live in a crappy signal area as well, and my signal is usually at -86 to -89 dBm. My wife's HTC Eris gets -89 to -91 dBm and drops calls all the time.

[xliderider]

FYI, we both exchanged our phones once already, and all four phones have had the same signal strength. Exchanging your phone wont necessarily improve your situation, and I don't recommend getting the HTC Incredible because it probably wont perform better than your Motorola droid, it will probably be worse.

[Breny]

Possible, but check something first. Under Settings, About phone. Look for your signal strength in dBm, it is a negative number. The larger the negative number, the weaker the signal is. -90 dBm is a lot worse than -85 dBm, etc. I live in a crappy signal area as well, and my signal is usually at -86 to -89 dBm. My wife's HTC Eris gets -89 to -91 dBm and drops calls all the time.

Signal strength shows -102 dBm, then -101, then -100 and back and forth

[xliderider]

Yeah, that is really weak signal. I'm surprised your Tour didn't have problems. You should call Verizon anyway. Maybe there is something going in with their towers near you that is causing the signal to be so bad now when it wasn't si bad when you were using the BB.

[blackngray70]

Have you tried rebooting? I have had alot of connectivity issues ever since the broadband update and I've found that a reboot seems to fix the issue for awhile.

[Johnly]

CB rulzzzzzzzz

[Breny]

Have you tried rebooting? I have had alot of connectivity issues ever since the broadband update and I've found that a reboot seems to fix the issue for awhile.

No I have not. do I just pull the battery to reboot? I've only had the phone 1 week.

[PJnc284]

For the droid all you do is hold the power button and choose power off. Then hold the power button to boot back up. You'll rarely, if ever, find yourself needing to do a battery pull. Best thing of all is that it doesn't take 5 min to boot either.