Guest abdo_imseeh Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Hey guys, 2 of my friends and I have the c500 with the latest firmwares and we have noticed that it takes one hell of a time to connect to the carrier (orange) when say coming out of the tube or after a tunnel on a train!!! We're becoming very frustrated. Sometimes it takes about 3-5mins to finish the "Searching..." and finally connected to Orange :lol: Is it a carrier problem (I doubt it as my MPx200 seems fine with it) or just hardware problem!? Is there a solution? Has anyone noticed this?! Another thing I've noticed compared to my MPx200 was that when down the tube the MPx200 used to go to "No Service" with the (/) sign on the reception bars. The C500 keeps saying "seaching..." but never "No service"! Can anyone suggest a solution or just point out if this is a common issue? Thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zahgurin Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Hey guys, 2 of my friends and I have the c500 with the latest firmwares and we have noticed that it takes one hell of a time to connect to the carrier (orange) when say coming out of the tube or after a tunnel on a train!!! We're becoming very frustrated. Sometimes it takes about 3-5mins to finish the "Searching..." and finally connected to Orange :( Is it a carrier problem (I doubt it as my MPx200 seems fine with it) or just hardware problem!? Is there a solution? Has anyone noticed this?! Another thing I've noticed compared to my MPx200 was that when down the tube the MPx200 used to go to "No Service" with the (/) sign on the reception bars. The C500 keeps saying "seaching..." but never "No service"! Can anyone suggest a solution or just point out if this is a common issue? Thank you very much! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi You are not alone. A wait of around five minutes seems to be pretty standard for me too when leaving the tube. What makes this particularly frustrating is that this is the time when most people want to use there phone ("ello, what pub are you in?" etc). Instead you are left wandering the streets for five minutes waiting for reception. I'll post here if I find any way around it. Regards, Si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest celica1.8st Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 have you tried switching it off, just before the end of your journey, then switching it on as you are getting off the train? It should find the signal pretty quickly then. Also could be that all the cells are used up by everyone elses phones as they all lock on to the transmitter??? :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abdo_imseeh Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 (edited) Well I have kinda found a way around it: going to flight mode when inside the tube and back to Radio mode when out. But doing that all the time is just unacceptable and still takes some time! I've been using my MPx200 in the last couple of days (my c500 is buggered and needs repair! :S!) and I get signals even while going up escalators or lifts in the underground, no wait at all!! It's just sooo frustrating! I'll keep you posted if I find any solution to this. thanks for the feedback PS: celica1.8st, it doesn't just happen when coming out of one tube station, it happens anywhere and everywhere. So the suggestion about cells being used up is porb not true (altho it does somehow make sense, well to me :S altho I'm totally technically clueless about that sort of thing!) Edited February 22, 2005 by abdo_imseeh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jbrare Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Mine looses the Orange signal quite a lot too. It's normally when the phone has sat idle for a short time. I can go to it, pick it up and the screen will say "Searching". This is in places where other Orange phones are working fine! When it does pick up the signal I get quite a few missed call alerts and texts. Weird! I'm Used to the quirkyness of this platform and hate to say it but I don't really mind. Loved my SPV Canery, Loved my SPV E200 and I love my C500 JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abdo_imseeh Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 Well my friend (nicola bless her!) found a solution to this problem ;) YAY Here it goes: If you go to Networks under Phone in the Settings, and change the "Network selection to "Manual" it seems that the problem gets solved and u get connection to Orange when available quickly... I've tested it when coming out of the tube and the c500 now is as good as an MPx200 or any other nokia phone. Also tested with tunnels on trains. It connects as soon as u come out of a tunnel. Altho it says manual, connecting to Orange is automatic unless when there is NO orange network coverage but say there is O2 or T-mobile or whatever... In which case u're presented with a menu to connect to the other available networks (not possible anyway). Once there's Orange coverage it connects to Orange and exists the menu. Oh and now you get the "No Service" rather than "Searching..." when down the tube :D YAY I hope this helps. And I think this is a solution to one of the most annoying bugs in the phone :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bronksy Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 Also.. I have found that if you go to networks, then preferred networks... Wait for the list to appear, and remove all the ticks from the pre-loaded networks. Click done and wait. This seems to also help a little. Perhaps the phone tries to see if your network is on the list before it locks onto a signal and without them there seems quicker? I'll give the manual thingie a go and let you all know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abdo_imseeh Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 Hey guys, Been retesting and I found that altho it's a lot better, it still takes a long time to find the network using the work around I (or more like my friend) suggested... I'm gonna try do what bronksy suggested and report back. Hopefully every little helps :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bronksy Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 Well i tried the 'Manual' thing, and that seemed to be worse than before. I think deleting the 'preferred' networks list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tudor Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 This must be the trick Orange did to increase the battery life... well, not Orange, but HTC. Can people using iMate SP3 that they have the same problem? As far as I know, when you lose the network signal, the phone increases the power level while searching for a base station, in order to be able to find even a remote one. This means that the battery would die very fast if there were no network signal. Probably HTC arranged that Typhoon takes long breaks between attempts to connect, in order to save battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest martin Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 When you lose signal, the phone still knows it's last serving cell and neighbouring frequencies so will search for these at set intervals. Eventually it will scan ALL frequencies in the GSM 900/1800 bands looking for networks and strongest service cells. You can do a full scan manually by using 'Select a Network'. This should only take about 30 seconds :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tudor Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 When you lose signal, the phone still knows it's last serving cell and neighbouring frequencies so will search for these at set intervals. Eventually it will scan ALL frequencies in the GSM 900/1800 bands looking for networks. You can do a full scan manually by using 'Select a Network'. This should only take about 30 seconds :D <{POST_SNAPBACK}> When you get out of the tube, you're not in the same cell, nor in any of the neighbouring cells. Well, this is the case if you don't have GSM coverage while in the tube - some do have. As you say, it does search at set intervals, and what I was thinking is that HTC did a trick to make these intervals wider, so they save battery. Maybe it searches a couple of times at short intervals, then, if unsuccessful, wait more before scanning again. If this would be the case, it would take longer to find a network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tudor Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 [...] looking for networks and strongest service cells. [...] <{POST_SNAPBACK}> So, the scan is just passive? The phone does not transmit anything while searching? I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the protocols used by GSM, maybe you could explain a bit if you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest martin Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 If I remember right the length of time between seaches do increase but I think the phone should still try a search when attempting to make a call. I'm trying to remember how the phone accesses the network again as it's a been while since I last thought about it :D In the (cell) downlink there is a Frequency Correction channel (pure sine wave), Syncronisation channel and BCCH (Broadcast channel). The mobile tunes it's frequency to the FCCH and then recieves information from the SCH and BCCH. I'd have to confirm but I think it's all downlink when scanning frequencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tudor Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 I've just had a look in a book ("Wireless Networks" by P. Nicopolitidis et. al.) and here's the sequence of steps: Event 1: The MS locks onto the strongest frequency channel and then finds the FCCH. Event 2: The MS locates the SCH and obtains synchronization and timing information. Event 3: The MS locates the BCCH and reads system values such as LAC. Event 4: The MS uses the RACH to request a SDCCH. The BS grants his request via the AGCH. Event 5: The MS possibly initiates a location update in order to inform the network of its new position. The MS knows its previous position by storing the previous LAC in its memory. Event 6: The authentication procedure for the MS starts. Event 7: After successful authentication, the network informs the MS that traffic will be encrypted. Event 8: The HLR and VLRs are updated and the MS is ready to receive a call. It seems to be a passive search, but this still requires power, so it seems sensible to postpone the next scan as much as possible to save battery. Glossary for those who are not familiar with the terms: MS - Mobile Station FCCH - Frequency Correction Channel SCH - Synchronization Channel BCCH - Broadcast Control Channel RACH - Random Access Channel SDCCH - Stand-alone Dedicated Control Channels BS - Base Station AGCH - Access Grant Channel LAC - Location Area Code HLR - Home Location Register VLR - Visitor Location Register Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest martin Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 Yeah thats the full procedure for a VLR attach after which you operator name appears on the phone. A similar procedure happens for a GPRS attach where the G appears on your phone :D It probably is a good idea to set radio off when going out of coverage for any length of time so at least the phone is not spending time searching for a signal. You can then just use the 'Select a Network' option to do a full scan when back in coverage. I don't think there is any easier way to do it :?: You would probably use a lot more battery with things like LAC updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pharma79 Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 I had similar problem with my reception on IMATE SP3 . I most of the time had full bars but couldnt send / receive calls and my friend got out of reach message most of time. It has improved signifiantly by the 1.5.33.11 rom & i have no complains yet .However i dont travel much in tunnels and dont know if this is the case with your phones . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mkent_barbados Posted March 11, 2005 Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 Well, I had/have an SP3i North American version that had no problems like this. The joystick went balls up so sent it to iMate in Dubai, they replaced the main board and now the damn phone works maybe 5 minutes out of an hour (also lost WMP10, came back with v. 9 on it). But the real problem is I can't connect to my network. Every now and then it shows connected, but then goes back to "searching", or "denied, searching". Even when I do a manual search my network doesn't show up, which is confusing! Under preferred networks I added mine manually, but it hasnt help. Very frustrating. Not even sure if I got back a 850,1800,1900 phone instead of a 900,1800,1900 phone--but shouldnt matter as I have another 1900 phone that works fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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