Irritated by 3G <-> UMA/EDGE dropped calls

[dvaskelis]

I live in Chicago, actually in the city near downtown, and have T-Mobile USA service. At home, EDGE and 3G don't work great throughout my home, specifically my kitchen. So, I keep UMA on at home and it works.

At work, I'm in a tall building and if I'm not near a window, I get no EDGE or 3G signal. UMA works there as well. (All the carriers have issues in our building, so T-Mobile is not alone. We keep a Verizon femtocell in the office!)

If I keep my BlackBerry 9700 set in 2G network mode, then handoffs between EDGE and UMA and back are essentially flawless. I very rarely drop a call, perhaps once a month.

If I put it in 3G & 2G mode, I drop about a dozen calls a day. Walking around my house. Sitting in my office (near a window). Driving down the expressway.

Everything seems to point to both 3G-to-UMA/UMA-to-3G handovers and 3G-to-EDGE/EDGE-to-3G handovers are crap. They just don't work reliably. It's dropped call after dropped call.

Everyone I know with T-Mobile 3G/UMA BlackBerry 9700s has the same problem. I've tried other carriers' operating systems, I've tried the official T-Mobile releases (on v5.0.0.714 right now) and it really never makes a difference. This long after T-Mobile's 3G rollout, is it that hard to get this to work? AT&T devices seem to be ok with 3G/EDGE handover, why does T-Mobile have so many problems with this?

[Artemis68]

It seems to be a device issue, honestly. Not so much T-Mobile's service. When I'm in a 3G area, it stinks. Can't stand it. If I call on 3G, it often drops or drops down to GSM and stays that way for a bit after I hang up. I guess the Bold (T-Mobile one) just doesn't like 3G? I have no clue.

I know this isn't much help but I wanted to let you know you're not alone in this!

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[Artemis68]

BTW, T-Mo's 3G network rocks on other devices. My bf has a Vibrant and he loves it. He gets strong 3G signal in his house, never drops a call, and it holds on strong.

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[48593039584729]

If he's on the official release firmware for the Vibrant, his bars are extremely inaccurate (they read lower than they should) so, that's really good.. anyway.

3G to EDGE is near perfect for me. Never dropped a call during this transition. It's a UMA and 3G problem.

[Artemis68]

Originally Posted by 48593039584729

If he's on the official release firmware for the Vibrant, his bars are extremely inaccurate (they read lower than they should) so, that's really good.. anyway.

3G to EDGE is near perfect for me. Never dropped a call during this transition. It's a UMA and 3G problem.

Oh yeah, I didn't even bother to mention that. His Vibrant ALWAYS shows like 1-2 bars for 3G in his home but he gets perfect 3G because it's always fast and it NEVER ever drops, no matter where he is. I read about the inaccurate bar issue and he said he doesn't care as long as his 3G is good, which it is.

I guess UMA and 3G just don't pay well together on the Bold. I haven't played with another 3G/UMA phone so I can't say if this is a device issue or 3G/UMA don't get along period.

[K Bear]

Originally Posted by Artemis68

Oh yeah, I didn't even bother to mention that. His Vibrant ALWAYS shows like 1-2 bars for 3G in his home but he gets perfect 3G because it's always fast and it NEVER ever drops, no matter where he is. I read about the inaccurate bar issue and he said he doesn't care as long as his 3G is good, which it is.

I guess UMA and 3G just don't pay well together on the Bold. I haven't played with another 3G/UMA phone so I can't say if this is a device issue or 3G/UMA don't get along period.

RIM dropped the ball when they released the 9700. They've yet to completely fix the problem. No clue if this has been fixed with the 9780.

[BoldtotheMax]

Mine is set to 3G to 2G and when I am home on UMA it works great, which is the only place I use UMA...

I will say my 3G didn't work to well when on stock .330, but since upgrading to .714 it works much better, so maybe that is why?

But, you said you are on .714...hummm, I don't know.

Maybe it is the security settings?

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[frenchy99]

I have the exact same issue however I replaced my sim to a new one which is slimmer and resolved the issue!

[Artemis68]

I have a newer SIM card in my Bold that I had to get when my other one died on me. I still have the problem though, so I don't think it's SIM related. Glad your problem got resolved, frenchy.

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[wing2299]

Originally Posted by Artemis68

I have a newer SIM card in my Bold that I had to get when my other one died on me. I still have the problem though, so I don't think it's SIM related. Glad your problem got resolved, frenchy.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Recently talked to a TMO rep they admitted that since they are upgrading the cell towers signal old sim cards may have drop calls and they offer me free to replace my sim card. Give it a try.