Fido/Rogers reception problems

Is anyone else finding their fido phone spending alot more time looking for a network since the buy-out by Rogers? I am finding my battery is dying alot faster these days because of the amount of time the phone spend searching for a network.

I would like to know that my daughter and I are not alone (same phones, same area). We are in the pitt meadows area.

Greg

I don't have the problem you are facing but I did experience my SE T310 switched to Rogers automatically when I visited some remote area. Not sure if your phone can change the Network searching mode to manual or not but my T310 can. If you have problem to find out if your Siemens phone has manual Network searching mode or not, tell me what model that you have.

My phone is just an ugly little white thing that was included with the package I got (as is my daughters) It rings, I answer it....that is all I need.

In my original post my complaint is the network searching my phone does. This is something that did NOT happen before FIDO sold out.

Rogers was my first provider, I was with them for about 4 years and had 3 phones with them, (mine, my son and my daughter). I switched all of them over because FIDO was a good deal and Rogers did not want to offer anything for my staying with them. At that time my phones were getting old and their packages sucked.

Seems like now I am back in the same boat and I am not sure who to go to next. I am happy that I only have a short time left on my contract with FIDO/Rogers.

Lastly, I don't have a complaint against the Seimens phone. It has been a good unit the whole time, the annoyance is that my battery meter can be good for 2-4 days sometimes and barely make it through a single day other times. I use the phone about the same amount everyday and have throughout. Stressing that it is only since the takeover that my battery has been acting up and not consistently. I have to say that I am a little disturbed that no-one else is noticing this.

Greg

Is it a Siemens A65? If yes, you have to deactivate both Auto Network and Fast Search in Menu - Setup - Network. When they are activated, it will frequently search for the best network automatically and that may explain why it uses up the battery so quickly. You should also set Fido as the Preferred network in the network setup as well. You may also consider calling Fido and see if they can disable your phone from roaming to Rogers at all but then you won't have the advantage of using Rogers when you visit a place where Fido reception is much weaker than Rogers.

I hda a fido and the receptio was bad and my battery suddenly get bigger

If the battery suddenly get bigger in size, it is no good. It usually means the pressure inside the battey is too high probably caused by sudden raise of temperature inside. You should immediately stop using the phone and remove the battery. If your phone is still under warranty, return it to Fido and have them fix it. It could be a safety issue.

Fido has gone to the dogs

It has always been poor service but a cheap price,but now it is getting more expensive
and I have the same problems that you have. And my bill is increasing each month. It has gotten a little better since buying a unlocked phone, not as many dropped calles.
But it still sucks.

In terms of reception, you probably will get a better result if you go for phones that has 850MHz after the merge of Rogers and Fido network. However that will mean another $5 increase in your bill to add the Expanded Network option in order get the advantage of the combined network. The quality of the phone itself will also affect the reception, so it is always good to consult your friends' comment before you get your next phone.

I complained about the Fido reception. This took several tries over a few weeks. I only have so much time to stay on hold and 30 minutes is my limit.

I was unpleasant with the technician when she tried to blame me for failing to report the problem sooner. She told me to change the network and then offered me a $5 refund for each of my household cellphones. Pretty generous eh? I pointed out that my so called "contract" ended in November and that I would not renew. She put me through to a handler who I yelled at for a while and got the offer increased to $20 per phone.

Lesson: Yell until you get what and ask for the supervisor. Every Fido user should demand a refund $20 per cellphone.

p.s. After 4 weeks of difficulties started and a week after the above telephone call, Rogers sent me a voicemail message telling me that there are network changes required. These bastards obvoisly started shutting down receptors on the Fido network and waited for the clients to call them!

Len

Just thought i would comment on my experience

SInce Rogers and Fido merged, I've actually had better reception, due to the fact that the you get to use the Rogers network(and the extended one for 5/month extra). I did have problems for one day when they were doing the switching over of the network and i was pretty pissed off that they didn't tell me and I'm pretty sure any other customers that they were going to do this. But since that day, I haven't had any problems. As for the phones, I think that js1662 might be right in saying the 850 band would help, since the Rogers network uses this. In general the phone seletion in Canada is just stupid and that is why I bought a real phone that is almost 2 years old and STILL better than any crappy phone the cell phone companies sell. I have a sharp gx30, which is a quad band phone, and i would recommend fido users get a phone that has both the 850 and 1900 band ranges.

I and others are having huge problems with City Fido Vancouver even with manually selecting the Rogers network.

http://cellphoneforums.net/t184671.html

I need someone to help me, Im new at this whole cell phone thing, all i want to know is if fido is a good service provider, my dad as his phone with fido but ever the new expanded network thing, its been having problems finding a network, everybody keeps telling me fido is the best, best reception, best rates, and low prices, so far Im all mixed up in this. I was looking at the LG1400, going with the $25/month Unl. Incoming calls, can anyone help out there, id raelly appreciate it. Thanx.

Since the merger of Rogers and Fido, there is less competition between the companies as you will notice that Fido has just recently increased their charge for roaming service. It used to be very low compared to Rogers. As for the network name, I think it is OK to see Rogers displayed on the phone. My phone does the same thing and it probably is due to old SIM card used. See my last post on the following thread:

http://cellphoneforums.net/t185779.html

Regarding the Expanded Network thing, according to Fido, you only need them when you are outside the Fido covered area. That usually refer to the rural area. I think as long as you stay in the city most of the time, you probably don't need the Expanded Network. You can still enjoy the expanded network when you are travelling to the rural area by paying the roaming charge. If you don't do that often, you may find that it is cheaper to pay the roaming charge than the $5 monthly charge.

As for reception, as long as your phone has 850/1900, you should have the best reception and there shouldn't be any difference between Fido/Rogers as they are now sharing the same base stations. However, there is always some performance difference among models to models so you should talk to your friends and hear their comments. Recently, I heard that quality for LG, Motorola and Siemens are not that great. I personnally prefer Nokia or Samsung. As I said, you better listen to more comments from your friends. I recently got the Nokia 6020 and I am happy with it so far. However unlike LG1400, 6020 is not clam shell type.

One advantage of using Fido is that they charge by seconds instead of minutes.

u must have a phone w/ 850...if u do not the recepting will suck ass. the a56 has the 850 band. 850 lower frequency+sent out at 2 wats instead of the 1900's 1 wat.

My Siemens A62 died just about a month ago due the Rogers/Fido service changes. It is a 900Mhz phone and does not work in Montreal anymore. I had a few of their service reps tell me straight out that the phone will no longer work locally, but had to fight Fido for almost a month to get them to replace the phone. Apparent a new LG-1300 is in the mail - I will believe it when I see it.

As you might be able to tell, I can't wait until my contract is up with these clowns - amazing how they will obsolete your phone without telling you and deny giving you a replacement when the original phone you purchased from them no longer works because THEY changed the signal. And for this privilege I have had to pay for my phone the last 4+ weeks without being able to use it. Now that's customer service!