[jck50]

I switched from the 8830 and althought I love the size and OS of the Curve I am having reception issues both inside and out. Is anyone else having this problem? I want to a VZ store and they said all the settings are correct!
Thanks

[John Yester]

If it;s a big problem have them change it out at the store.... Maybe a bad antenna..
Mine I get 3-4 bars inside and out...

[kcorrales]

I'm also havin some issues usually in the afternoon. My phone will ring and when I answer I can't hear the other person but they hear me. Then I try to call them and its the same issue and I hear no ringing tone. I have to turn my phone off and take the battery out for it to work again.

[JRSCCivic98]

Dropped calls.

[Sufinsil]

Mine doing great. 5 bars in a small city center in rural ND. 1X speeds only but everything works great, like typing this post from it.

[John Yester]

I'm also havin some issues usually in the afternoon. My phone will ring and when I answer I can't hear the other person but they hear me. Then I try to call them and its the same issue and I hear no ringing tone. I have to turn my phone off and take the battery out for it to work again.

This is a known problem with MMS, after viewing it will not allow speaker to work. we are currently working with RIM to try and get problem isolated and fixed.......


Check out my post talking about 8330 voice problems...

[John Yester]

here is the thread.

http://forums.crackberry.com/f52/sol...ur-data-36133/

[JRSCCivic98]

I have lost all respect for the people that supposedly "test" these phones prior to release. They must be non-tech people testing the phones. On each new release the public people such as us (that actually know what we're doing) find some kind of bug or nother within a few days/weeks of the public release.

Someone needs to get fired.

[jagolden]

I switched from the 8830 and although I love the size and OS of the Curve I am having reception issues both inside and out.
Thanks

The reception on this phone is not great. My previous phone was a Motorlola E815. I've had 3+ years of zero dropped calls and land line quality - no exaggeration. I may be spoiled but my expectations are not unreasonable. The fact that a phone has performed so well proves that it's possible to achieve that level of performance.

Anyway, the Curve has been a disappointment. I've been having good and bad days since I got it. At first I thought it was the individual unit because it showed a lower signal (as indicated by the dBw reading) than others in the VZW store. But, I've since been back and my 8330 was equal or better than the display models and according to the tech, its performing normally. (I'm in Middlesex County, NJ - an area with great coverage.)

I've had two days without problems - full bars and -80 to -83 dBw signal, but starting yesterday evening, I noticed the signal degrading by ~15 dBw for no apparent reason. I was home all day so there was no location variable. I fired up the Moto 815 in field test mode so I could see the actual dBw readings. Its signal strength was 15 - 20 dBw stronger and showed far less fluctuation than the 8330.

The 8330 signal strength ranges from -80 dBw (the highest I think the scale on this unit goes) to -109 dBw. There seems to be no rhyme or reason. A rainy day will cost you 20 dB, moving 10 feet, 10 dB. Normally fluctuations wouldn't be a big deal. However, with the 8330 it doesn't seem to take a big drop in signal strength to adversely affect call quality. So it does matter, especially when you get to areas that don't have great coverage to begin with.

I really don't know what to think. I'm going to be down in one of my fringe areas today and I'll bring both phones to see how the 8330 does. I have a feeling that I'll be rolling back my NE2 and returning the Curve. I'm not trashing BB and am not going to get into an arguments over how good it is or isn't (although I'm starting to see some people complaining as the wow factor wears thin.) If it works for you, great.

When its good its very, very good. The call quality is every bit as good as the 815. The problem seems to be that its not a consistent performer. I like all the smart phone features but my absolute priority is that it needs to function well as a phone first. My experience shows it to be only a so-so performer.

[csiguy1]

I just ordered a Zboost signal booster for my office. My phone works fine everywhere but my office so the Zboost signal booster should do the trick.

[trevgriff]

I have had the Curve 8330 for a few days after upgrading from the 8830 and have experienced no differences as far as reception. For me the 8830 had been my favorite phone of all time coming from; Motorola StarTac, Motorola push to talk, Treo 700w, Treo 700wx, HTC xv6800. Well in the few days of having the Curve it has become my favorite, of course additional time will tell but so far so good.

[xAndyx]

there has been a lot of press about signal boosters lately. i'm over the frustration of poor signal. it doesn't seem to matter what phone i have or carrier i am using. NY Times wrote about zBoost last week so I think I'm going to buy one of their units. The review was pretty good and it is suppose to help with data card and signal strength. i'm pretty excited...davidlw let me know how yours works out for you.

[briankeith513]

The reception on my 8330 is better than any other phone that I've used for any company. I love everything about this phone, but one thing that is terrible is this, I noticed that after dropping my curve on a hard surface of rocks and gravel, I got a small scratch. I want it to be scratch proof lol

[socal]

I have better reception in my office on my new curve than I did with my Moto Q for two years.

I'd like to hear your comments on that signal booster.

[M.J.H.]

I have zero reception issues, not sure what is with some of the Curves, though.

[blonddnyc]

I had a curve with att and I experienced those signal problems you spoke of. I would drop calls all the time, hit dead zones where my past vz phone would never drop out, and I would call people and I could hear them fine but they couldn't hear me, or said I sounded as if I was underwater lol

I got so fed up with att in such a short time (I was only with them for 2 monthas) that as soon as vz released the curve I switched back and I couldn't be happier.

Not only is their coverage in the nj/nyc area the best, but I never have dropped calls, no dead zones, AND full service in the train tunnel into and out of penn station!! Att never had that!!

Overall I think the curve on vz is the best out right now - same phone but on att was nothing but problems for me... And don't even get me started on iphone (the reason I left vz in the first place) they shouldn't even be allowed to call that thing a "phone"

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jagolden]

As posted earlier in the thread, I was out in the middle of the woods of NW NJ (Waywayanda State Park area) this weekend - truly a fringe area due to vegetation cover, topography, and antenna density - and it was raining at times. I really was happy with the Curve's performance. Signal strength was never below 2 - 3 bars and even at 2 bars people remarked that it sounded like a land line. The Curve was pretty much seeing the same signal strength as the Moto E815. The next challenges are coastal sailing and the canyons of midtown Manhattan.

I really have to suspect a network issue here at home. (I live close enough to my office to be in the same cell). Call quality has always been good, although the signal strength as read in dBw was fluctuating widely. It wouldn't be a big deal except that I was in "evaluation mode" with the new phone. That now seems to be resolved. Signal is now solid, even in the elevator and stairwell core at my office.

Some observations/speculation on the Curve:
- Four bars usually means a signal strength of > -80 dBw
- Three bars usually means <-80 and >-100 dBw
- The top end of the signal strength reading display seems to be -80 dBw, although I suspect its really seeing a higher signal strength
- The signal strength display updates at a higher update rate than I'm used to seeing.
- Compared to one of Verizon's all-time reception champs - the E815, signal strength was shown as lower in "good coverage" areas but equivalent in fringe areas. But, I do think the Curve's indicated signal strength seems to be biased low - at least on the higher end.

Bottom line is that it passed the test.

[slines]

I have no problem with mine works great

[asylvia]

no issues on mine

[shawnluke]

This is a known problem with MMS, after viewing it will not allow speaker to work. we are currently working with RIM to try and get problem isolated and fixed.......


Check out my post talking about 8330 voice problems...

Is this a known issue with Verizon or just here on the forum because they have had to swap me 3 curves already, with this issue in the past week.

I know what MMS messages are and I haven't received One since I got my curve. So not sure what is going on here!

[Arninetyes]

Yeah, I've had a Curve from Verizon for about 2 weeks. Reception is at least as good as my last phone. Email is incredible - or, SOP for a BlackBerry.

Problems? Yeah. Two:

1) If I view an MMS file, sometimes I lose the speaker and hear nothing at all. This means I can call, people can hear me, but I hear nothing, not even the phone ringing. A hard reboot fixes it. Weird. Needs to be repaired.

2) I can send and receive multimedia email attachments, no problem. I can send MMS messages, no problem. But, I cannot receive any MMS messages. It just doesn't happen.

I just spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with a tech trying to work it out. He's now started a "ticket" and is working with Blackberry for a fix.

If they fix it, I'll post what they did here, because I noticed other Verizon users have had similar problems.

[shawnluke]

Yeah, I've had a Curve from Verizon for about 2 weeks. Reception is at least as good as my last phone. Email is incredible - or, SOP for a BlackBerry.

Problems? Yeah. Two:

1) If I view an MMS file, sometimes I lose the speaker and hear nothing at all. This means I can call, people can hear me, but I hear nothing, not even the phone ringing. A hard reboot fixes it. Weird. Needs to be repaired.

2) I can send and receive multimedia email attachments, no problem. I can send MMS messages, no problem. But, I cannot receive any MMS messages. It just doesn't happen.

I just spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with a tech trying to work it out. He's now started a "ticket" and is working with Blackberry for a fix.

If they fix it, I'll post what they did here, because I noticed other Verizon users have had similar problems.

Thank you for the heads up

[Arninetyes]

2) I can send and receive multimedia email attachments, no problem. I can send MMS messages, no problem. But, I cannot receive any MMS messages. It just doesn't happen.

If they fix it, I'll post what they did here, because I noticed other Verizon users have had similar problems.

Okay, I spent more time with Verizon techs about the MMS problem. Their ultimate solution was the nuclear option - they had me back up my personal data on the phone, wipe the handset, then start over again.

It worked. MMS send AND receive worked fine - for about one day. Then it went back to the same-old same-old - no MMS receive.

So, I tinkered, and believe I found the problem. Bluetooth seems to interfere with MMS reception. If I have my Powerbook linked by Bluetooth, there is no MMS reception. Period. If I delete the Powerbook and just use the handsfree (a Plantronics 510), it works for a while, then just stops. If I turn off the Bluetooth - MAGIC!! MMS is now receivable.

Previous Curve models (8300, 8310, 8320) don't seem to have this problem. So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Verizon's implementation of the their crippled Bluetooth (which prevents Bluetooth file transfers) is somehow interfering with MMS message transfers.

I'm going to inform the tech I worked with and see if Verizon cares enough about their customers to fix this.

Meanwhile - is there any way to unlock Verizon's Bluetooth?

[jenmcgee79]

I have Verizon.curve and get 3-4 bars on avg dbw range from 90-82 I live in very rural area and my calls sound great. I did get a defective curve when I first ordered it (browser and camera didn't work right)-on my second and it works great!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[mikells43]

I have had the curve since the tues after memorial day(or labor day wtf ever day is the first of summer). and its been great. normally im a pickey ocd mofo when it comes to something going wrong. **** i get vzw to send me a new phone even when mines not broken. but i have not with this phone. it works great.

i am coming from a pearl. and the pearl was great too, just too small for me and i hated the kboard. people tell me that i sound like im on a landline. no stadic, no anything.

for dude with bad phone, i think you need to take it to the store or call 611, tell them your issue. they will fedex 2 day you a phone and a label for you to ship your broken one back to them. they have done it many many times with me . that way you dont have to leave your house and spend 4 bucks a gallon forr their mess up.