Motorola defy on 2degrees network?

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Davejones2

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#78215 1-Mar-2011 10:19

Hi there, sorry to bother anyone.

Tried to replace my trusty e71 at the very end of last year. Using sim-only payg 2 degrees simcard.

I ordered a Motorola defy from clove technology at the end of December, which unfortunately had a problem with the screen. I returned it (at my own cost!) and then received another. I then found that I could not get any 3G reception at all with the 2degrees sim inserted (I hadn't tried sim in the previous phone unfortunately because I immediately recognised it was faulty and sent it straight back).

I tried absolutely everything I could to fault find the problem. Switching to 2g only and then turning the phone off and on would result in normal 2g reception. Switching to automatic or 3G only would loose reception entirely. Trying to select the network manually resulted in an error message about the simcard being unable to connect to the network, unless it was in 2g only mode.

I tried every network-mode option in the hidden menu to no avail. 3G reception on every other phone in the house was perfect. I tried 2 other 2degrees simcards which produced the same problem. I contacted 2degrees tech support, who, although very nice and polite were entirely useless, understandably.

What I thought was odd, and why I felt there was a chance that it was a phone rather than network compatibility issue, was that the phone could not switch back to the 2g mode on automatic despite not being able to get any 3G reception. It just stayed on emergency calls only mode.

I therefore returned the phone (again at my own cost), and rather inevitably clove are now unable to reproduce the issue!

So my question is- does anyone know if the defy works on 2 degrees in NZ?!

Many thanks.

Thoughts to all in Chch.

2degreesCare

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2degrees

#444392 1-Mar-2011 11:34

Hi there

This is, allegedly being launched by TNZ soon, so will only work on their XT frequencies - 850/2100Mhz.

I assume you're outside our 3G canopy and roaming on Vodafone's network. As the phone is quad band it will pick only up the 900Mhz (2G) but not the 2100Mhz (3G) signal.

If you go into an area where there is 2100Mhz you should get it working on 3G.

Hope this helps.

^POB

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Davejones2

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#444402 1-Mar-2011 12:45

Thanks for the reply,

Forgive me, but I still don't understand!

Tech spec wise for the uk Motorola defy, supports the following frequencies, as per Motorola website:

Wcdma (I.e. 3G) = 900 and 2100

Gsm (I.e. 2g) = 850 / 900 1800 and 1900

2degress network, as per wikipaedia and others:

Wcdma (utms) = 2100

Gsm = 900 and 1800

Then roaming onto vodafone, same frequencies but added utms 900 frequency as well.

I was using the phone in both christchurch and the sumner area, both of which should have 2 degrees native 3G reception according to coverage map. Regardless of that, I fail to see the incompatibility between my phone and either network!

I can, however, see a problem running xt as the utms 850 frequency is not supported. I had this problem with my uk e71 and thus transferred to 2 degrees!

What do you reckon? Am I missing something really simple here?

nakedmolerat

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#444405 1-Mar-2011 12:57

I have motorola defy bought from clove. It works fine as clove sell defy that runs on wcdma 900/2100. Have you set the 2degrees APN?

timmyh

188 posts

Master Geek

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#444408 1-Mar-2011 13:02

Is there any chance that the "Use only 2G networks" check box is selected? In Mobile Network Settings.

And is data working on 2G?

2degreesCare

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2degrees

#444410 1-Mar-2011 13:04

Davejones2: Thanks for the reply,

Forgive me, but I still don't understand!

Tech spec wise for the uk Motorola defy, supports the following frequencies, as per Motorola website:

Wcdma (I.e. 3G) = 900 and 2100

Gsm (I.e. 2g) = 850 / 900 1800 and 1900

2degress network, as per wikipaedia and others:

Wcdma (utms) = 2100

Gsm = 900 and 1800

Then roaming onto vodafone, same frequencies but added utms 900 frequency as well.

I was using the phone in both christchurch and the sumner area, both of which should have 2 degrees native 3G reception according to coverage map. Regardless of that, I fail to see the incompatibility between my phone and either network!

I can, however, see a problem running xt as the utms 850 frequency is not supported. I had this problem with my uk e71 and thus transferred to 2 degrees!

What do you reckon? Am I missing something really simple here?

Hi

Can you PM me your 2D number and address. There was an issue with the Motorola Milestone with some of our SIMs which may the problem here.

Cheers
^POB

Davejones2

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#444413 1-Mar-2011 13:07

Thanks again for reply.

So you have a defy running on 2 degrees, nice to know that it's possible!

Regarding the apn, to be honest it's not really relevant as i'm talking about getting on the actual 3G network itself, not a lack of a data connection. However, I did set up the apn, and when I got the phone working in 2g only mode, the gsm data transfer was fine.

I'm still left wondering if it was a faulty phone issue or if there could be something else preventing it from connecting to the 3 g network,

I can't think of anything!

Many thanks!

Davejones2

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#444440 1-Mar-2011 13:40

Thanks for further replies, pm sent.

This is very useful as i'm currently awaiting replying to clove as to whether or not I ask them to send another one!

Re 2g only, as per original post, I tried all the possible settings including those in hidden android service menu. Could only ever get 2g reception if 2g only set, and even then it was only after I turned the phone on and off after switching from automatic.

And before anyone asks, yes I did try a factory reset. Twice!

Thanks again.

jillies

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#468947 13-May-2011 22:48

Hi, I'm experiencing the same problem and have found this post on geekzone so I'm going to go to 2degrees tomorrow and hopefully be up & running

Received a new Motorola Defy today and popped in my old 2° SIM card and got messages such as "No Service" and "Emergency calls only" etc. I temporarily fixed this problem by choosing "Use 2G Only". However, everytime I turned 3G back on the service would be lost again and I'd have to switch it back to 2G and restart the phone. And yes I'm in the Christchurch coverage area.

A search on the net found some others with this problem, including an older locked thread in here which did not seem to conclude with a working solution.

In the Motorola forums someone suggested that using a micro SIM card solved their problems, so I went down to the 2° store and was able to swap my SIM details onto a new mirco SIM card for free which has solved the 3G problem. Yay!

2degreesCare

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#469030 14-May-2011 11:15

Thanks for posting. We're aware of this issue and speaking with our SIM vendors. ^POB

suminornufin

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#471828 21-May-2011 08:25

I bought this phone from TNZ and are using it on 2degrees and it works great!! I get 3G and H in some places

freitasm

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#471831 21-May-2011 08:51

Just to clarify (and not directly related to the problem), the Telecom NZ Defy will work fine on 2degrees. It may not get 3G where you fallback to the Vodafone network and there's only 900 MHz WCDMA available, but that's it.

The UK version is even better because it would get 3G on Vodafone as well... But then you lose the ability to move to Telecom if you ever need/want because you will not have the 850 MHz WCDMA band.

It comes down to your plans really...

My technology disclosure

n4

959 posts

Ultimate Geek

#472836 23-May-2011 10:29

Note I believe that 2degrees will be using WCDMA 900MHz in the near future (alongside WCDMA 2100MHz) which means that a handset without 900MHz 3G support will not be able to get broadband data in some areas where it is only available on 900MHz. So XT handsets will not be be ideal if broadband data is important to you (but will still be fine in areas with good 2100Mhz coverage).

Samsung Note20 Ultra, on 2degrees

Hibino

166 posts

Master Geek

#472884 23-May-2011 11:42

You can go to XDA and download the baseband of Defy to swith between 850-2100 or 900-2100