3G signal strength / 3G symbol displayed on phone

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w2krules

486 posts

Ultimate Geek

#175195 2-Nov-2008 05:36

Well, I've "debranded". It's pretty simple once you know what to do, but it took a while to find all of the info on the Internet. And it's a bit scary after you upgrade your phone and it tells you that the restart failed and to contact your retailer!

But I now have a UMTS only option, and the phone works perfectly everywhere in our house.

I have called Vodafone many times this year to try and sort out the problems I've had with voice calls when at home. Of course, no one suggested "debranding" the phone but I don't know if they realise how close they came to losing a customer.

I look forward to the day when they have upgraded their network to 3G. And now there is a deadline for this thanks to Telecom.

I was a geek before the word was invented!

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jesseycy

294 posts

Ultimate Geek

#176546 7-Nov-2008 10:04

On that note... Can someone confirm, that Sony Ericssons (newer current ones anyway), do not have this "3G Only" option? I have a W850i, and it's either "GSM Only", or "GSM/3G"....

Loftus

140 posts

Master Geek

#176789 8-Nov-2008 09:47

w2krules: But I now have a UMTS only option, and the phone works perfectly everywhere in our house.

I hope someone from Voda is reading this thread, as it sounds like they need to tweak the 3G->2G handoff settings in their network. I'm really pleased you had success with your de-branding, but in my opinion no customer should have to "hack" their phone just to overcome non-ideal network settings.

wonderferret

138 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#176798 8-Nov-2008 10:39

My Sony Ericsson C702 only has a GSM / 3G-GSM option but if you use Phone Explorer 1.7 there is an option to set the phone to 3g only.

GSM is a P.I.T.A for me as I live in the Auckland CBD at the top of Symonds St but I always seem to get a 2G cell in Westgate or te Atatu which is about 10km away line of sight and very seldom get an Auckland CBD cell.

w2krules

486 posts

Ultimate Geek

#176863 8-Nov-2008 22:04

wonderferret: My Sony Ericsson C702 only has a GSM / 3G-GSM option but if you use Phone Explorer 1.7 there is an option to set the phone to 3g only.

GSM is a P.I.T.A for me as I live in the Auckland CBD at the top of Symonds St but I always seem to get a 2G cell in Westgate or te Atatu which is about 10km away line of sight and very seldom get an Auckland CBD cell.

Exactly my problem. We live 500m from Royal Oak, but my phone NEVER connects to it. 5 bars of 3G coverage, and HSDPA (3.5G) for data, but couldn't make a voice call. Sometimes wouldn't even connect to Voicemail. But perfect voice calls now.

I was a geek before the word was invented!

w2krules

486 posts

Ultimate Geek

#176864 8-Nov-2008 22:06

Loftus:
w2krules: But I now have a UMTS only option, and the phone works perfectly everywhere in our house.

I hope someone from Voda is reading this thread, as it sounds like they need to tweak the 3G->2G handoff settings in their network. I'm really pleased you had success with your de-branding, but in my opinion no customer should have to "hack" their phone just to overcome non-ideal network settings.

I agree totally. The only reason I've put up with this is I can't roam overseas with Telecom at the moment. But take note Vodafone, if Telecom have a superior network this time next year, you'll lose a customer.

I was a geek before the word was invented!

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