[outsidecenter]

Hi -

I recently replaced my Motorola Q with a Blackberry 8830 WE (Verizon is the carrier). We live in an area surrounded by hills and experience poor reception at our home. To remedy this, a few years ago I purchased a Wilson Electronics wireless amplifier with a Yagi antenna. With this setup, our reception improved substantially. I went from a db of -95 to -110 to a db of -55 to -80 with a couple of different LG phones and the Motorola Q. However, with the 8830, I cannot get a signal greater than -100. I have tried placing the exterior antenna in different locations and playing with the network settings on the phone to no avail. My wife's phone, an LG 8350 gets 4 bars and a db of in -70 range. If I turn the amplifier off, her signal immediately goes to -90 or worse. Visitors also have no problem sending or receiving calls with their phones.

Any idea why the 8830 would not work with this setup while other Verizon CDMA phones work well? I have called Wilson and they were unable to help me.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated -

Tim

[Ivanhead]

I hope someone can help you. For $500 the damn amp should work. Good idea ditching the Q, I did the same thing. Tired of it freezing up. So the smaller the db the better the signal?

[outsidecenter]

Hi, yes, sort of - dB is a negative number. The higher the value (i.e., the lower the negative value), the better. For example, -60 is much better than -100. On the 8830, if you press and hold 'alt' and then type 'nmll' it will show you the strength of your signal numerically, rather than the bars. On the 8830, that value never registers higher than -80 (which is an optimal signal).

The Q was an inferior device. However, the 8830 could do my taxes, solve world hunger, and put a man on Mars and it wouldn't matter to me if it doesn't work at home ;-)

It just seems really odd that other Verizon phones work well, but the 8830 does not.

[JRSCCivic98]

However, the 8830 could do my taxes, solve world hunger, and put a man on Mars and it wouldn't matter to me if it doesn't work at home ;-)

It does all that, but GPS is still crippled. BOOOOOOOOYAAAAAA!

[michaelnewmex]

I'm a newbie to this B-berry stuff so I'm spending a ridiculous amount of time looking at websites/forums trying to learn as much as I can, as quickly as possible so I can actually do something besides make calls

I also have the same signal issue due to a remote, rural location. I have a Cyfre CA819 Amp (direct connect, not wireless) that I previously used with my other phone. The amp has done wonders for signal strength so as a general rule of thumb, they are worth the investment if you got the "doh!" I work in oil/gas drilling, often in remote locations. Data and voice comms are critical to our ops. I have often worked in locations where they have had the Wilson wireless system installed in our living/working quarters and they have always worked great for at least 90% of the phones and air/data cards.

This is a long way of getting around to saying that I just received a new, top of the line antenna for my amp and an antenna adapter for my 8830. Got it all set up and so far I can't see any improvement in my signal strength. The guy at MaximumSignal who sold me my amp and this new antenna and B-Berry adapter told me I should contact RIM to find out where exactly the internal antenna is located so that I can put the adapter right over that spot. The adapter is an "induction antenna" with no actual direct connection. Most phones have an RF out port to plug a direct connect antenna but not the B-Berry. The guy at MaximumSignal told me we need to give RIM "sh**" and lobby for them to start putting RF out ports on their devices. I can't imagine it would make any diff. Those of us with these kind of issues are undoubtedly a small minority.

What I think is really interesting is that the Wilson wireless doesn't help either. As I mentioned, I've used those systems many times. They don't require a direct connection to your device. This (combined with my current experience) leads me to believe the 8830 has something in it's design that is interfering somehow with the signal boost you would normally see. BTW, I plugged my old phone into the amp to verify it was functioning and my signal immediately went from 0-1 bars to 2-3 bars...so all's good with the equipment.

Anyway, there's my input FWIW...I'm going to head over to the MaxSig forum and see if any of the electronics/radio geeks have any suggestions or if I can find more info. I'll certainly update my post if I find anything useful.

[jc34]

Hmmm... this sounds like you do not have an up todate PRL in the phone. If your wife's phone is doing ok and she is with the same carrier that you are with then you should not be seeing any problems. This phone has a great transciever. Not sure how your carrier updates the PRL, mine is by dialing *228. Do this in your home territory for your carrier. There will be some voice prompting so listen in and follow the instructions.

[michaelnewmex]

I don't know what a PRL is, or how it pertains to signal reception...whatever it is it might very well be an issue. You might provide some explanation/info for those of us who aren't up to speed on the B-Berry alphabet soup.

However, the problem was not that one phone got good reception and the 8830 did not. The problem described was that both of our 8830's did not show any benefit from using a signal amplifier whereas other phones are showing a clear and obvious signal boost from the amp.

In fact, I'm very impressed with my 8830 reception. I'm in a marginal area and I've never been able to use my Kyocera here at home w/o the amp. My 8830 consistently gets 2 bars (I haven't actually checked the numerical value, planning on checking that later today) and I can have good, clear conversations. However, I don't see any boost in the signal with my amp. I started wondering last night if they have some kind of heavy, band specific shielding built in or something since 2 phones using 2 different amp systems don't appear to provide any benefit?

I'm still digging for more info. I may just have to submit a question to RIM tech support and see if they are willing to help.

In my case, I was hoping the amp would give me enough boost to get EVDO access so I could get my B-Berry on the net while I'm home. Which brings up another issue: As I stated, I'm a newbie at this...trying to get up to speed so the answer may be simple and obvious. Does anyone know if/how I can get my 8830 (no WiFi) on the net through my PC?

Thanks for listening...I feel soooo much better!

[bmtbandit]

PRL is a general cell term. It stands for Priority Roaming list. Typically this should be updated periodiclly to ensure the most recent tower information. With Verizon, and I believe Alltel you dial *228, and select the option to update roaming capabilities.

[camattin]

In my case, I was hoping the amp would give me enough boost to get EVDO access so I could get my B-Berry on the net while I'm home. Which brings up another issue: As I stated, I'm a newbie at this...trying to get up to speed so the answer may be simple and obvious. Does anyone know if/how I can get my 8830 (no WiFi) on the net through my PC?

On this note... you don't need EVDO signal to access the net. If your display shows 1X, you are connected to the BB servers w/o EVDO. You'll be able to surf, email, etc., just at the slower, non-EVDO speeds.

What do you have on your display? 1x/1X/1xev/1XEV?

[michaelnewmex]

Hmmm....Ok, I have 2-3 bars with my signal strength indicator showing 1x. Anytime I try to open an application that needs net access, I get the following msg./screen: "There is insufficient network coverage to process your request. Please try again later."

I'll confess I haven't spent any time digging around on the Alltel site where they have their 8830 info. Just figured the darn thing ought to work when I turn it on and I have signal. Is there something I need to download/install via desktop mgr. to get rolling here?

Another issue I have Alltel tech support working on is that I can't receive calls when my phone is on this network where I live. If I turn the phone off, it will go to my voice mail box but if it's on and you dial the number...you get nothing. The line just "sits" there, no noise or anything and after a minute or so, you get that "beep, beep, beep" tone that indicates your call didn't go through. I can call out fine and have received calls on other networks and my other Alltel phone received calls ok. Go figger.

Anyway, since I'm just trying to learn this new toy...all advice, suggestions, donations, etc. are gratefully accepted!

Thanks guys!!

-Mike

[kch50428]

Does anyone know if/how I can get my 8830 (no WiFi) on the net through my PC?

Pony-up for the $10/month tethering feature, and then have the Alltel folks tell you where to download their BB8830 specific version of Quicklink Mobile.

[michaelnewmex]

I got no issue with the 10 bones/mo if it means I can actually make some progress here. I'm getting ready to start an offshore rotation...being out for 4-6 wks. at a stretch and I'm fairly certain Alltel won't be giving me network access out there! But internet access is a job requirement with the kind of stuff we do out there.

So just to be clear, the tethering will let my BB link to the net through my PC?

I suspect I'm going to be on the learning curve for awhile!

THx!

-Mike

[camattin]

Hmmm....Ok, I have 2-3 bars with my signal strength indicator showing 1x. Anytime I try to open an application that needs net access, I get the following msg./screen: "There is insufficient network coverage to process your request. Please try again later."

The 1x means you have no connection to BIS/BES and also you have no EVDO coverage. Have you started the a battery pull? Or just turning the radio off/on and see if it'll establish a connection?

Has Alltel confirmed your phone is provisioned properly with a blackberry plan?

I'll confess I haven't spent any time digging around on the Alltel site where they have their 8830 info. Just figured the darn thing ought to work when I turn it on and I have signal. Is there something I need to download/install via desktop mgr. to get rolling here?

Another issue I have Alltel tech support working on is that I can't receive calls when my phone is on this network where I live. If I turn the phone off, it will go to my voice mail box but if it's on and you dial the number...you get nothing. The line just "sits" there, no noise or anything and after a minute or so, you get that "beep, beep, beep" tone that indicates your call didn't go through. I can call out fine and have received calls on other networks and my other Alltel phone received calls ok. Go figger.

Anyway, since I'm just trying to learn this new toy...all advice, suggestions, donations, etc. are gratefully accepted!

Thanks guys!!

-Mike

That sounds like your phone isn't provisioned properly at all. It's time for you to get on the phone with Alltel's blackberry support folks.

[michaelnewmex]

Yeah, I've already been through 2 rounds of tech support on this issue of not receiving calls and have pulled the battery, cycled on/off, etc. The first girl I talked to gave up fairly quickly and issued a service ticket for advanced tech support and told me I would have to wait 12-72 hrs for a call back. The really funny part is that she was going to use my cell number for a call back # before I pointed out that we had a little "issue" to resolve first! It was late at night and I didn't have the brain cells or energy to really push it too far.

After waiting a couple of days and not getting a call back, I called again and got some dude named "Cornell" who just insulted my intelligence by claiming a) there was no supervisor I could talk to and b) there wasn't any way to escalate the service ticket. I found out, of course, in my next tech support call that both of those things were not true and you wouldn't believe the B.S. this cust. service rep tried to lay on me when I called to get a service credit for the week, at that point that my phone had been unable to receive calls. She refused to acknowledge that Alltel might have any responsibility or financial liability for the service I was paying for but not receiving and when I asked to speak to a supv., she said her supv. had just left for the day and that I couldn't speak to him. It was clear I wasn't going to make any progress with her and she was going to transfer me to "retention" for another acct. issue I had. I told her that was fine and that I would just keep calling back until I talked to someone that would help me. After sitting on hold for about ten minutes, she got back on the line and told me her supv. had been "just getting ready to leave" and authorized a $20 service credit! She had to add that he had told her I probably wouldn't even get that if I I talked to him and that I really didn't have any justification to be complaining since my service issue had been for less than a month...so far.

I'm going to be doing some writing to pass this little experience on to Alltel management.

One bright spot: I spoke to a young woman a couple of days ago with Alltel BB tech support continuing to try and resolve this issue and she was 100% polite, courteous, helpful and did everything she knew to do, consulted with other techs and apologized several times for the time this was taking before she issued a service ticket and told me she was putting a note on my account for customer service to make an "adjustment" when it was eventually resolved. NOTE to MGRS. and CSR's: This is how you build customer loyalty and support!

She also noted that she could not find any record of a service ticket generated during my first conversation/attempt.

I have a flight to catch tomorrow but I'm trying to gear myself up for another go 'round with tech support!

Apologies for my long winded posts...blessed/cursed with an English teacher for a mother!

Thanks, as always, for advice/suggestions.

-Mike

[camattin]

It sounds like you're talking about Sprint CS instead of Alltel CS!

If you're within your first 30 days, simply threaten to take your business elsewhere. Is there any reason you need to stick with Alltel vs another CDMA carrier?