Same here my reception is actually much better than my G1. i have been lucky with reboots etc as well. Partially I guess becaise I know what I am doing visa vi extras etc, but I also think I lucked out on the hardware as well.
Knock on wood, I have installed many apps on my first N900 with no reboot or other issues. The second N900 reboots randomly and I have not installed apps on it.
I used my sons sim to compare the G1 and N900 in same areas (son watching the bars of course, and not me- most of the time). The N900 loses signal where I get one bar or even two with the G1 and when it loses signal, it will take too long to reacquire a signal. By "too long", I mean the G1 has signal in the areas and the N900 does normally in the area (coming from the other direction where no signal was lost).
The only thing it could be, I guess, is the N900 radio does not like the network set-up where I live. Why two N900's with the same reception issue?
Both work great and pick up signal well in medium or better areas. The one bar areas are the killer. The only other thing is the main control was the G1 for most area tests. Maybe my G1 has a super-duper hyper sensitive radio- It is rooted, you know
Joking of course, since that would have nothing to do with the radio signal. I am using the official HTC radio for the G1 BTW.
The first thing I noticed when I started using the n900 on at&t (no 3G) is now weak the EDGE connection is, I have almost full bars for reception but the n900 is having problems holding the edge connection, keep dropping out very regularly.
Never ever had this issue on the E71 in the same location when I switched it to Edge. I hope its a software issue not a hardware issue as its strange the voice signal is strong but the data is not.
For all having great reception in low signal areas- cool! I am not though, but here is my plan.
The G1 has better phone functions I like for now anyways: Voice search, Shazaam, Shopsavvy, (IMO) better map app and way better game emulators (for now only, I hope). Also has MMS for pictures, so handy to have, since my family uses this function a lot.
The N900 is a great media and web device, so will be my second device and be a very pocket-able device to cover those functions.
My intentions were to have a true "all in one", but the N900 covers netbook & media function and is way easier to put in a pocket than a netbook or my Archos 5. Android devices are weaker in regards to web and media. N900 too good to return as a result.
Still would like to know why I have had two N900's with same results, but no point in dwelling anymore than already have.
I don't know. Theres alot of stinky stuff out there, but the N900 is not. I guess I am fed up reading about people complaining about the N900 and feeling sorry for themselves.
Regarding the N900 i have found one truth: if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. I have a rebooting N900 too (as do many others), but togegther with Nokia we managed to find a workaround until the problem is fixed.
I'm in a pretty weak 2g area (no 3g) for the holidays now and my coverage has been bad enough that I just turn it off. I don't have anything to compare it to, but will try to get a friend of mine with an iPhone to come compare. Anyone who actually lives here is on verizon or us celllular
I concur about the excellent 3G radio. I suspect that - as 3G networks proliferate - 2G radio performance has been downgraded. This is of little cosolation if there is no decent 3G in your area...
I am in the UK, and find the reception is nowhere near as good as I got with my Nokia N82. I understand most US carrier networks are on different frequencies to the ones we have over here, so perhaps the phone performs better on some carrier networks than others because the antennas are setup better for one frequency rather than another?
As I understand it the US uses 850 and 1900 MHz band, whereas the rest of the world uses 900 and 1800 MHz. Maybe it would be worth finding out if the better performing networks are on a particular frequency, then changing provider might help!?