Vodafone V1240 & Signal Strength

[Guest SriIyer]

I bought a Vodafone V1240 and using it in USA - with Cingular Wireless. I have a Audiovox SMT5600 that my wife is using and the signal strength in that is surely more than my new V1240. There are some places where my wife's phone works but not mine. We both are with Cingular.

I was thinking of flashing i-mate sp5's firmware or Qtek's - Any thoughts?

TIA

Sri