"No Service"... then 3 bars?

John E. wrote:

> As far as I can tell, orientation doesn't seem to make a
> difference. It *is* possible that moving the phone does cause
> better reception, and that this takes several seconds to
> register and for the display to update the signal strength
> indicator. But I have no way to know this. As far as my
> experience has shown me, there is not connection between phone
> orientation and signal strength.

The phone will have an algorithm when in a no-signal condition,
to check progressively less frequently (up to a point). This
is to conserve battery, because scanning for an acceptable
network is more "energy intensive" then simply camping on the
strongest cell (and periodically monitoring a fixed number of
neighbouring cells) of an already-registered (and visible)
network.

For this to be the explanation, you'd need to be in an area of
marginal reception where the position of the handset is fairly
crucial.

There could be a number of factors working together against you,
such as some firmware algorithm only marginally adapting to
unusual local conditions. How does the phone behave elsewhere?

John

---

› See More: "No Service"... then 3 bars?

[email protected] wrote:

> I'm using a Nokia 6820 in mid town Manhattan - which should be
> cell heaven - and getting a slightly different behavior. If
> I'm in and out of a no-signal zone (like the subway), the
> phone will not re-acquire a signal. Yesterday I stood in the
> middle of Rockerfeller center looking at zero bars for 20
> minutes - well I was doing other things also....
>
> A techie at Verizon advised me to reboot the phone when this
> happens - turn it off, remove the battery and SIM, wait a few
> seconds then put it back togeather and turn it on. This does
> work - BUT THERE'S GOTTA BE A BETTER WAY!

I had a Motorola cd928 which would get itself into a state
sometimes where it would never find a signal again, not even in
days, until physically switched off and on again.

This was clearly a bug, but Motorola would never respond to my
queries about the problem, or a firmware upgrade.

It's really a question of experimenting to find the minimal
steps that will jolt it back to life quickly. Perhaps a
"network search" or "choose new network" (but selecting the
existing one) from the networks menu might be easiest if that
works, especially if you can set that up on a key or user menu
(I'm not familiar with that phone).

On some phones, you can set the automatic network search speed
to fast or slow. Fast search should reduce this problem at the
expense of battery life.

Doesn't a simple switch off/on fix it? If not, I'd call it a
bug.

John

On 12 Dec 2006 14:26:53 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>I'm jumping in here 'cause you seem to actually know something about
>these things work .
>
>I'm using a Nokia 6820 in mid town Manhattan - which should be cell
>heaven - and getting a slightly different behavior. If I'm in and out
>of a no-signal zone (like the subway), the phone will not re-acquire a
>signal. Yesterday I stood in the middle of Rockerfeller center looking
>at zero bars for 20 minutes - well I was doing other things also....
>
>A techie at Verizon advised me to reboot the phone when this happens -
>turn it off, remove the battery and SIM, wait a few seconds then put it
>back togeather and turn it on. This does work - BUT THERE'S GOTTA BE A
>BETTER WAY!
>
>Any ideas??
>
>BC
Probably not. Looking for a BTS is fairly hard on a battery, so when
you take the phone into an area without service, it tries a few times
quickly to locate another BTS. After that, it may be 10-20 minutes
before it decides to look again. It is a way of saving battery power.


I used to see that problem in rural Australia. I'd drive right by a
tower, and still see 'no service'. Power the phone off, power it back
on, BINGO!

matt weber wrote:

> I used to see that problem in rural Australia. I'd drive
> right by a tower, and still see 'no service'. Power the phone
> off, power it back on, BINGO!

I can certainly confirm the extreme manifestation of that
behaviour when the reason for the "no service" is an initial
contact with the BTS at greater than 35 km. In the absence of
another BTS, some phones don't try the TA-fail BTS again in the
time it takes to drive the 70 km across its usable range.

I've assumed that this is a result of firmware that's designed
for more populous locations.

John

My nokia 6256 has been rebooting for no apperent reason when I unplug it
from the charger and close the lid. It's happened like 2 times in the
last 2 days.
--
"Egun On, Lagunak" (Basque for g'day Mates)
Pete Nalda
--
"Egun On, Lagunak" (Basque for g'day Mates)
Pete Nalda
--
"Egun On, Lagunak" (Basque for g'day Mates)
Pete Nalda

On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:23:31 -0800, John E. <[email protected]> wrote this
with the utmost thought:

>Thus spake [email protected]:
>
>> Does your problem happen inside and out or just inside your home?
>
>Both.
>
>My office is near the front of my house, with a door leading to the porch. My
>desk, where the phone is always kept when at home, is near the glass-paned
>door. When I get impatient with "no service" and want to place a call
>immediately, I open the door and walk onto the porch. I've never experienced
>this as being helpful (although I continue to do it...); only after several
>seconds -- maybe minutes -- will service return. Inside or outside, it
>doesn't seem to matter.

As John Henderson wrote, the 'phone will reduce the attempts it makes to get
a signal to conserve battery life, hence the variable times before you get a
signal. To prove it's your service rather than the 'phone can you use a SIM
from a network using perhaps 850MHz to see if the problem remains or goes
away? Or, just try your SIM in someone else's 'phone who doesn't lose
signal within the house to see if your 'phone holds signal as well?

How about and dependant on the weather, sitting outside with the 'phone at a
location where you've just ended a call and seeing if the 'phone loses
signal?

On 12 Dec 2006 14:26:53 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>A techie at Verizon advised me to reboot the phone when this happens -
>turn it off, remove the battery and SIM, wait a few seconds then put it
>back togeather and turn it on. This does work - BUT THERE'S GOTTA BE A
>BETTER WAY!

There should be, but.......

On my Palm Treo 650 (GSM) I have the same issue, and I have to do a
power off/on routine, especially when roaming overseas and trying to
acquire a carrier for the first time.

In fact Palm recommend this if there is a problem obtaining a carrier
after turning the phone on, whether roaming or not. Power off again,
then on.

So much for modern technology!
--
Regards,

John Phillips
Sydney, Australia

John E. wrote:
> Otherwise known as hijacking a thread.
>
> If you aren't commenting on the original poster's question, don't dilute the
> discussion -- go start your own topic. It's easy to do.
>

Ooops - won't happen again.

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 20:03:57 +1100, John Phillips
<[email protected]> wrote:
: On 12 Dec 2006 14:26:53 -0800, [email protected] wrote:
:
: >A techie at Verizon advised me to reboot the phone when this happens -
: >turn it off, remove the battery and SIM, wait a few seconds then put it
: >back togeather and turn it on. This does work - BUT THERE'S GOTTA BE A
: >BETTER WAY!
:
: There should be, but.......
:
: On my Palm Treo 650 (GSM) I have the same issue, and I have to do a
: power off/on routine, especially when roaming overseas and trying to
: acquire a carrier for the first time.
:
: In fact Palm recommend this if there is a problem obtaining a carrier
: after turning the phone on, whether roaming or not. Power off again,
: then on.
:
: So much for modern technology!

For something as programmable as a Treo, why couldn't somebody write a
"Re-acquire Signal" application and assign it to a seldom-used button? There
has to be a piece of code already in the OS to perform that operation.

On 12 Dec 2006 14:26:53 -0800, [email protected] wrote:
: I'm jumping in here 'cause you seem to actually know something about
: these things work .
:
: I'm using a Nokia 6820 in mid town Manhattan - which should be cell
: heaven - and getting a slightly different behavior. If I'm in and out
: of a no-signal zone (like the subway), the phone will not re-acquire a
: signal. Yesterday I stood in the middle of Rockerfeller center looking
: at zero bars for 20 minutes - well I was doing other things also....
:
: A techie at Verizon advised me to reboot the phone when this happens -
: turn it off, remove the battery and SIM, wait a few seconds then put it
: back togeather and turn it on. This does work - BUT THERE'S GOTTA BE A
: BETTER WAY!
:
: Any ideas??

What's a SIM doing in a Verizon phone?

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