C500 Reception Quality

[Guest osberaza]

I bought my unlocked Audiovox SMT 5600 through Ebay. It would not work in Spain, so I flashed the ROM to the french one and voila, now it works.

But I am finding the reception is very poor. I spend most of my time driving around, and I´ve noticed that the phone keeps losing signal in places where previously I had no problems.

I also find the GPRS icon is not too reliable, but that´s another story ...

Let me know your experience. Thanks

Edited May 13, 2005 by osberaza

[Guest bluesmudge]

Wrapping it in foil will sort that one out ;) - lol ;)

[Guest Paraklas]

I bought my unlocked Audiovox SMT 5600 through Ebay. It would not work in Spain, so I flashed the ROM to the french one and voila, now it works.

If I understand correctly, you bought a GSM 850MHz USA Version phone and flashed it to a Euro firmware that supports the 900MHz band?

If that's the case, it is quite possible that your phone "shows" the 900MHz band but actually works on 850MHz, and is picking the 900MHz signal in places where it's strong.

[Guest Confucious]

If that's the case, it is quite possible that your phone  "shows" the 900MHz band but actually works on 850MHz, and is picking the 900MHz signal in places where it's strong.

This is almost certainly the case - despite what people say there are hardware differences but there is overlap at the edges.

Get a phone that supports 900 and your problems will disappear ;)

[Guest bluesmudge]

This is almost certainly the case - despite what people say there are hardware differences but there is overlap at the edges.

Get a phone that supports 900 and your problems will disappear ;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i still think foil is the answer

[Guest Confucious]

i still think foil is the answer

For the phone or the owner? ;)

[Guest bluesmudge]

For the phone or the owner? ;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Both . . . because wrapping yourself in foil stops the outsiders reading your thoughts . . . they're after me you know, they hide in my desk . . . . they wait for me to have a good idea then they beam it back to the one they call 'the master'

[Guest Confucious]

;) ;) :P

[Guest osberaza]

If I understand correctly, you bought a GSM 850MHz USA Version phone and flashed it to a Euro firmware that supports the 900MHz band?

If that's the case, it is quite possible that your phone  "shows" the 900MHz band but actually works on 850MHz, and is picking the 900MHz signal in places where it's strong.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So there is no way I can force it to work on the 900 MHz freq ... in my old E200 I had a menu where I could setup and select the band manually. But that setting does not exist in this one.

that means this phone is a tri band but really it wont work when you take it abroad... I do not understand ...

[Guest Paraklas]

So there is no way I can force it to work on the 900 MHz freq ... in my old E200 I had a menu where I could setup and select the band manually. But that setting does not exist in this one.

that means this phone is a tri band but really it wont work when you take it abroad... I do not understand ...

No there is no way to force it. Just sell it back on ebay and get one with European specifications.

There are two types of tri-band phones on the market.

First, you have the ones that are made for use in United States and some other countries. These phones operate on the 850 - 1800 - 1900 MHz GSM bands.

The rest of the tri-band phones are made mainly for use in Europe and Asia and work on 900 - 1800 -1900 MHz bands.

If you need a phone that works all over the world, get a Motorola MPX220 which is a quad-band phone, this means it works in 850 - 900 - 1800 - 1900 MHz GSM Bands

[Guest bluesmudge]

I think the key to all this stuff is not to buy phones from ebay which arn't designed for your country.

[Guest Paraklas]

I believe the key is to ask about specific specifications first on ebay before hiting "buy now!" so that you avoid unpleasant situations after. I bought all these phones you see below with no problem at all and all of them were from USA (I live in EU).. ;):);)

[Guest cold_fire]

I bought my unlocked Audiovox SMT 5600 through Ebay. It would not work in Spain, so I flashed the ROM to the french one and voila, now it works.

But I am finding the reception is very poor. I spend most of my time driving around, and I´ve noticed that the phone keeps losing signal in places where previously I had no problems.

I also find the GPRS icon is not too reliable, but that´s another story ...

Let me know your experience. Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My C500 does not seem to have signal problems ,only those that are caused by the network .I had other phones b4 this and the signal strength was almost the same .

[Guest Anarchist2204]

if its movistar your with then they dont use 2 bands they opperate on 1900mhz at the moment and are in the process of bidding for a 900mhz license to use with the umts bearer, this is against vodaphone, have you asked your network to look at your local bts sites, as pcm failures or newly errected buildings with heavy sheilding can be a factor.

[Guest Toyota-F1.com]

I've had the C500 for a few days now, and the reception, it seems to lose it every now and then, and generally seems low, but I don't think it really loses reception, but can't really backup that comment.

;)

Pleased with it so far :D transferred on the stuff from my SPV3.