Reception issue

[dekathari]

I recently bought a new Cingular Treo 650 from the craigslist. I am having a reception issue at my home and office. Even though the phone shows 3 bars but I am not able to receive or make any call. If I go outside, I am able to make a call.

If I try the same SIM in my other phone, there is no issue with making calls.

I am suspecting it to be a radio/antenna issue, because of which it has issues with the reception with a relatively weak signal. As per Cingular the phone is out of warranty so I am out of luck there. Anybody else had similar issues?

Would buying a signal booster help in this case?

Thanks
Dave

[plunker]

I have heard that those stick on boosters do not work. I would talk to cingular about a repair quote. I had a problem with my treo (mic) and sprint fixed the treo for $35.00.

[Shady]

I recently bought a new Cingular Treo 650 from the craigslist. I am having a reception issue at my home and office. Even though the phone shows 3 bars but I am not able to receive or make any call. If I go outside, I am able to make a call.

If I try the same SIM in my other phone, there is no issue with making calls.

I am suspecting it to be a radio/antenna issue, because of which it has issues with the reception with a relatively weak signal. As per Cingular the phone is out of warranty so I am out of luck there. Anybody else had similar issues?

Would buying a signal booster help in this case?

Thanks
Dave

I have the exact same issue. I have 5 Cingular lines. At my house, the Treo performs very badly. My other phones all work great. I went through 3 new Treos and all had same issue. But until Nokia, Motorola, or SE make a Palm OS phone, no choices.

[stevetaz]

I have crappy reception at home too. However, I have had service with the old AT&T, Verizon, TracPhone and now Sprint and every one have been poor. In our area it is a lack of towers because everyone wants better service, but no one wants the towers in their backyard (NIMBY). It also hasn't mattered which phones I have. It is the service area ...Not the phone! At least by me anyway.

I only get approximately 50% of the calls and the balance automatically go to voice mail even though I am not on the phone, it is on, etc. The funniest thing is that on one side of the house I am connected to Sprint, but on the other side I am Roaming!!!

The data services do work much better than the voice systems so at least I can still get the email and surf the web, but not if I am Roaming!!!

Just venting, sorry...

[Lazerus39]

I too have the same crappy reception problem with my 650 but everywhere I can't get a signal, the Verizon folks get max reception. I can't receive calls at work because of the reception issue and any time I go into a building no reception. I am so PO right now, I am ready to cancel my Cingular contract and eat the early termination fees to go to Verizon for service. Has anyone heard of an alternative?

[plunker]

No alternative but area networks vary in quality of signal and signal range. Besure that whatever carrier you select will work for you in the places you need it most.

I roam at work but I am stuck by my work phone anyway. I do have free roaming minutes with my plan with sprint.

[Lazerus39]

Plunker,

Thanks for the note. I am going to switch to Verizon because I miss well over half my calls. Going with Verizon, what smart phones do I have a choice of? Which, for Verizon, are the best?

Best Regards,
Lazerus

[plunker]

Sprint lists their phones on their web site, maybe verizon does too. I wonder if cnet or a site has ratings for different smart phones? My treo seems to get the same range as my previous cell phones.

[Shady]

Plunker,

Thanks for the note. I am going to switch to Verizon because I miss well over half my calls. Going with Verizon, what smart phones do I have a choice of? Which, for Verizon, are the best?

Best Regards,
Lazerus

Verizon also has the 650. Make sure you try out the Verizon before you sign up. I personally regret switching to Cingular from Verizon but it totally depends on where you use it. If there were only a way to combine both coverage areas into one.

[Lazerus39]

After talking to the cell phone coordinator at my company, he says because they have Verizon repeaters in all company buildings, he suggested Verizon to solve my reception problems. The area I live in is suppose to be getting more cingular towers but right now doesn't have very many. I attribute my reception issue to these two issues. Nevertheless, I am really frusterated and really don't want to sit another year with this kind of reception problem and Cingular won't help me.