N900 reception woes

[liranuna]

My N900 constantly switches connection to 2.5G when in areas where 3G/3.5G reception is fully available.

To solve this, I normally set 3G using the wonderful phone-mode widget.

However this isn't optimal - when the 3G conneciton is truly missing, the N900 will simply drop the connection in this mode - including cellular voice (not just data).

Anyone experiencing anything similar? How can I debug this? How can I try and solve this?

I tried pure reflesh - including eMMC and that yields same results.

[James_Littler]

check that network mode is set to dual under settings - phone, i missed that one and thought i had no 3G

[cfh11]

I am having a similar issue - do you have autodisconnect installed by any chance?

[Flandry]

Related to http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=56463?

Something's not right with the telephony/cell network code in Maemo.

[stlpaul]

Yep, same here. Cellular constantly changes between 2G/3G, disappears entirely. My Wifi is the same way, too. There are several bugs about these issues but no clear cause or fix.

[cfh11]

Related to http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=56463?

Something's not right with the telephony/cell network code in Maemo.

Indeed. For some reason the 2g/3g switch affects cell signal as well. My 3g signal seems to be generally alot stronger than 2g. Also, dual mode does not seem to function very well.

I installed a new version of autodisconnect right after pr 1.2 so I am not really sure which is the culprit here. Also, the bug in my signature which annoys the s*** out of me.

[stlpaul]

In my case I've never used autodisconnect at all.

[Grant]

I get poor 2g and 3g reception in general with my n900 on t-mobile US, even in areas that supposedly have full 3g coverage. I can pull out my old nokia flip phone and see full signal strength in an area where my n900 only registers one or two bars of signal. At home, these one or two bars of signal quickly drop to no signal at all if I pick the phone up off my desk or table. This is the same issue I had with my e71, and I think it is *partially* due to the placement of the cellular antenna in the bottom of the phone in both models. I had to hold my e71 with just two or three fingers on the sides of the top half of the phone in order to not drop calls at home. I can't even do this with my n900. Just picking it up at all when at home kills the signal reception completely. I eventually just resorted to using a bluetooth headset when at home and leaving my phone on the table. For instance, right now I am at work near downtown St. Louis, MO (well populated urban area, good 3g coverage). I have just unlocked my phone as it is sitting on my desk. It appears that the phone is receiving a full strength 3G signal. I am now picking up the phone in one handed portrait orientation and opening the phone application. In the time it takes me to select a contact and press dial, my signal strength has dropped from full 3G to hovering between one and two bars of 2G.

[FreeThinker]

I get poor 2g and 3g reception in general with my n900 on t-mobile US, even in areas that supposedly have full 3g coverage. I can pull out my old nokia flip phone and see full signal strength in an area where my n900 only registers one or two bars of signal. At home, these one or two bars of signal quickly drop to no signal at all if I pick the phone up off my desk or table. This is the same issue I had with my e71, and I think it is *partially* due to the placement of the cellular antenna in the bottom of the phone in both models. I had to hold my e71 with just two or three fingers on the sides of the top half of the phone in order to not drop calls at home. I can't even do this with my n900. Just picking it up at all when at home kills the signal reception completely. I eventually just resorted to using a bluetooth headset when at home and leaving my phone on the table. For instance, right now I am at work near downtown St. Louis, MO (well populated urban area, good 3g coverage). I have just unlocked my phone as it is sitting on my desk. It appears that the phone is receiving a full strength 3G signal. I am now picking up the phone in one handed portrait orientation and opening the phone application. In the time it takes me to select a contact and press dial, my signal strength has dropped from full 3G to hovering between one and two bars of 2G.

I've been getting these exact symptoms since about late August. Before then I was getting decent 3G reception at my house in suburban Las Vegas. But since then I've noticed that I almost lose my signal completely if I hold my phone on the right side. If I leave it on a table, or hold it from the left side, I don't lose any signal.

Interestingly enough, as a test I swapped out SIM cards with my brother (he uses AT&T) and we did the touch test. We could of course only get EDGE, but the signal stayed at a solid five bars and didn't drop at all.

Another thing I've noticed is that I don't seem to have this problem if I'm in an area with really strong coverage. I was around the Strip a couple of weeks ago, and I got a full five bars of 3G. I didn't lose one bar, and it didn't switch to 2G once, no matter how I held the phone.

EDIT: And I don't have autodisconnect

[mgcnew]

I am not an expert but I suspect when you choose "dual" network that may cause the problem (it may be the software). At my home there are many networks, some 3G and some only GSM. Only the international networks (ROAMING - HIGH FEE) are available as 3G where I live. (However most networks are available in 3G and GSM in the urban area where I work 16Km away).
I have set my phone to manual choice of network. I noticed that when the N900 was set to DUAL network sometimes there was no signal despite the fact that there was a very good GSM or 3G signal for my home network in that area.

I have since went into Phone Settings // Network Mode //
and selected GSM ( i.e I will manually switch between 2G and 3G and not let the phone search or decide for me) .Where I live I can only receive 2G or GSM reception and I see no reason why I should not just leave it on this as default. There is the option of receiving 3G network from a network 9 or 10 miles away ..... that network is part of the same company that owns the network I am on yet they charge 3 EURO for each megabite of data downloaded..... For that reason I think I will not be and cannot use automatic roaming on my phone.

[TomJ]

My N900 constantly switches connection to 2.5G when in areas where 3G/3.5G reception is fully available.

To solve this, I normally set 3G using the wonderful phone-mode widget.

However this isn't optimal - when the 3G conneciton is truly missing, the N900 will simply drop the connection in this mode - including cellular voice (not just data).

Anyone experiencing anything similar? How can I debug this? How can I try and solve this?

I tried pure reflesh - including eMMC and that yields same results.

Not a solution, but a workaround - when the signal drops, use the widget to swap to 2G, then back to 3G. It should reconnect to 3G pretty quickly.