Guest Cowie Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 (edited) Hi, I have a problem: my Vario II freezes, seemingly at random. The green LED continues to flash (so the handset looks like it's working) but none of the buttons will 'wake' it and people calling my number get a recorded message saying that they have dialled an incorrect number (I didn't believe people when they first told me this, so the next time that it froze I tried calling myself from another phone and got the "incorrect number" message)! On a blind hunch I set the handset to use GSM only and did not have a single issue in eight days, so it would seem to be a UMTS isue. I contacted T-Mobile who replaced the handset with a brand new replacement as they said that the handset was obviously faulty. Unfortunately, the new replacement exhibits the same fault. I therefore called T-Mobile again yesterday and after an hour of being transferred I was told by various people: "There is no problem with the handset. If you go out of a 3G area you cannot expect to make and receive calls." "There is a problem with this handset that we're looking to fix." "There is a service issue in your area" "There is no service issue in your area" "There is no fault with either the handset or the network" If I hadn't paid extra for a 3G handset and extra again for HSDPA I would simply set it to GSM and live with it. I'm a bit miffed that T-Mobile have so many conflicting views on the subject however! Is anyone else experiencing the same issue? Cowie Edited May 1, 2007 by Cowie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cowie Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 Update: It just froze again. Called T-Mobile and they are now saying that it is a coverage issue. Apparently it is normal for the handset to lock when in a poor 3G coverage area. I explained that I get 5 bars, excellent download speeds and no problems with voice. They said that this was not possible as my postcode shows the area as being variable coverage. I explained that I was on top of a hill in clear line of site to two of their masts (both UMTS) and both close enough for a good signal. They said that the signal quality was variable and could drop in my area. I explained that the issue with the handset were all over my area (Sheffield) and they replied that if I was in the centre of London with the same issues, then they would investigate but as it stands, it is simply poor coverage (even in the centre of Sheffield)!!!! Their solution? Force it to use GSM until the 3G coverage is better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prosody Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 5 bars!! Wow. Wish I could get that many... I can only get 4. :D Although as of late I've been using GPRS mostly in the few weeks I used HSDPA any lock ups were to do with software I was running. Never got one when surfing or streaming. The only reason I use GPRS now is that the battery drain isn't worth the speed whilest just browsing. :) Hope you find a solution. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cowie Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 5 bars!! Wow. Wish I could get that many... I can only get 4. :D Ok, so it only goes up to 4..... but you know what I mean :) I was concerned that the lock-ups might be software related so when I got the new handset I held off from installing anything until I was sure that it wasn't a problem application. T-Mobile are now saying that they want me to record the postcodes I'm in when the handset locks and report back to them when I've got five or more different postcodes :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 I have had the exact same issue on my Vario II... I live in the Centre of London, and have full strong 3G coverage where I live. I might as well give T-Mobile a call tomorrow to see whats going on. My boss called me on Friday and was annoyed with the 'incorrect number' message. I didnt know that when my phone was unresponsive it wasnt taking calls or at the minimum letting them go through to voice mail. very annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marzbar Posted January 15, 2007 Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 My boss called me on Friday and was annoyed with the 'incorrect number' message. I didnt know that when my phone was unresponsive it wasnt taking calls or at the minimum letting them go through to voice mail. My vario II produces the same result in that it goes offline, but it doesn't freeze - everything seems normal. The first I know of the problem is either when I try to call out or someone rings me on my landline to let me know my mobile is offline. Cycling the phone connection in the comm manager does solve this for me. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cowie Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 My vario II produces the same result in that it goes offline, but it doesn't freeze - everything seems normal. The first I know of the problem is either when I try to call out or someone rings me on my landline to let me know my mobile is offline. Cycling the phone connection in the comm manager does solve this for me. Geoff To be honest, mine hasn't locked up since my last call to T-Mobile (coincidence?) which is remarkable but I still get people telling me that they've tried calling but keep getting an incorrect number message. This is all the more problematic as I often re-direct my office phone to my mobile when I'm out and about which can lead to some confusion when people think they've either dialled incorrectly or that I've gone out of business. T-Mobile report that there's absolutely nothing wrong with their network or the handset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pd.ryder Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 I've not encountered this problem (yet) but I've only had my VII about a week. Watch this space... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sabrowse Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 To be honest, mine hasn't locked up since my last call to T-Mobile (coincidence?) which is remarkable but I still get people telling me that they've tried calling but keep getting an incorrect number message. This is all the more problematic as I often re-direct my office phone to my mobile when I'm out and about which can lead to some confusion when people think they've either dialled incorrectly or that I've gone out of business. T-Mobile report that there's absolutely nothing wrong with their network or the handset. I've just answered a post on another tread with what looks like the same problem as you are all having on this thread. My phone 'appears' to be in good health, flashing its little green light, but when I try to turn on the screen it does nothing, so I have to soft reset. I also forward my office phone to the Vario II and am very concerned by this lack of forwarding to the voicemail when this locking up occurs, and now I think of it a customer said they got a wrong number message when trying me one day, which must be the same problem. Next time it hangs I'll call it to see what happens. I live in Bath and have a 4 bar 3G signal. If others are having the same problem perhaps I'll switch to GPRS only and see if it cures the almost daily hangs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pd.ryder Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 I've just answered a post on another tread with what looks like the same problem as you are all having on this thread. My phone 'appears' to be in good health, flashing its little green light, but when I try to turn on the screen it does nothing, so I have to soft reset. I also forward my office phone to the Vario II and am very concerned by this lack of forwarding to the voicemail when this locking up occurs, and now I think of it a customer said they got a wrong number message when trying me one day, which must be the same problem. Next time it hangs I'll call it to see what happens. I live in Bath and have a 4 bar 3G signal. If others are having the same problem perhaps I'll switch to GPRS only and see if it cures the almost daily hangs. My Vario II is doing exactly this. If I call it from the landline it sounds as though its ringing but actually does not respond. I've had to reset it 15 times in 4 days (I've been counting :) ) T have diagnosed a fault and are replacing it at the shop as I'm still within my first 28 days. If others are having the same fault, I fear this is not good news and I'm concerned the replacement will behave in a similar way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr Who Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 My Vario II is doing exactly this. If I call it from the landline it sounds as though its ringing but actually does not respond. I've had to reset it 15 times in 4 days (I've been counting :) ) T have diagnosed a fault and are replacing it at the shop as I'm still within my first 28 days. If others are having the same fault, I fear this is not good news and I'm concerned the replacement will behave in a similar way. I have had a reappearance of the fault that although my phone appears to be on I cannot receive calls. I get a missed call text about 30 minutes after the call. When I try and phone back I can't initially place a call, the phone rings the number and just goes 'ding' after about a minute. This normally happens three times, after which I can place a call normally. There was a thread detailing this but I can't seem to find it at the moment. IIRC it only happens to TMob users and was thought to be a network issue, but I am not sure if resolution was found. It has happened to me before then went away with no action taken, although turning the phone service off and on in comms manager seems to cure it when it is happening, but at the end of last week I was unable to receive or make a call almost constantly whilst at work, which was very frustrating. It didn't seem to be a problem elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spiderboy Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 I have exactly the same problem and it is driving me insane. The phone looks like it is on, lights are flashing but it is as dead as Jade Goody's career. This is now my 3rd VII exchange from t-mob and all 3 have had exactly the same problem, so I doubt that it is software. I am starting to dread the day I moved form the very stable Vario I. Does anyone have any solutions or fixes for this other than what is in the thread already? Is this just a t-mob issue or are the orange guys seeing this on the m3100 as well? Good phone but this anoying habit makes it a dud in my eyes. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pd.ryder Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 I finally managed to get to the T-Mob shop today and I now have the brand new replacement. All's I can do is keep my fingers and toes crossed in the hope that the fault does not reoccur. I've installed exactly the same software - all propriatry stuff - no registry hacks or DIY cabs. Watch this space... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pd.ryder Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 I've got the same problem this morning - complete freeze when on Standby. I did notice last evening 3G had disappeared and I was stuck with GSM. This, it seems, was due to maintenance on the transmitter and it was back up this morning. This got me thinking. This freezing seems to occur whenever the device is in Standby mode and there's a change to the carrier - either loss of signal (and lets face it, on T that happens a lot) or auto-swap between GSM and 3G. This would have to have happened last night / early this morning when the 3G came back up. I've been on to T this morning to try to get the issue escalated to Tech Support. Eventually, once the guy had exhausted all his options, he was happy to do this for me. The Tech Support chap did acknowledge there was a freezing issue with the VII, but hadn't been aware of the GSM/3G connection. When he denied all knowledge of others having a similar issue, I pointed him to this thread :) but I don't suppose he'll take a look. He did state he will monitor this problem and will call me back tomorrow to see if this still occurs now I've switched to GSM only, avoiding the auto-switch. @spiderboy (and others) - get on to Tech Support and make THEM aware there are plenty others having this problem, rather than the regular guys on Customer Care. It might encourage them to look a bit more closely. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr Who Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 I actually don't let my Vario II enter standby - I always leave the screen powered on with no backlight on. I always preferred that option on my C500 than the blank screen on the C550 so I have gone back to it. However, I too think the problem I have with not being able to temporarily make or receive signals is related to the transmitter (it only seems to happen at work) and also to 3G/GSM/No signal. It seems to trigger when I go through a tunnel on the way to work and if I enter the deep recesses of my building where I tend to get weak or no signal, particularly with the phone in my pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pd.ryder Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 I actually don't let my Vario II enter standby... [snip] I don't suppose you fancy letting it go into Standby? Just to see what happens, especially in dodgey signal areas like you have at work... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr Who Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 I don't suppose you fancy letting it go into Standby? Just to see what happens, especially in dodgey signal areas like you have at work... :) I will give it a try tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marzbar Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 He did state he will monitor this problem and will call me back tomorrow to see if this still occurs now I've switched to GSM only, avoiding the auto-switch. I switched to GSM-only because I found a separate issue - when using emoze push email on 3g the heartbeat repeatedly disconnects and reconnects - bringing my standby battery life down to around 4 hours. Since then I've not experienced any crashes. Could be a coincidence, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pd.ryder Posted January 31, 2007 Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 I switched to GSM-only because I found a separate issue - when using emoze push email on 3g the heartbeat repeatedly disconnects and reconnects - bringing my standby battery life down to around 4 hours. Since then I've not experienced any crashes. Could be a coincidence, I suppose. It could a coincidence, be but it would point to further 'issues' with the VII and 3G :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cowie Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 It could a coincidence, be but it would point to further 'issues' with the VII and 3G :) In the run up to Christmas when I was having lock up after lock up I managed to prevent the problem by switching to GSM only. Then when I switched back to using 3G (just before Christmas) all was well....... until last Sunday when it locked twice within an hour, then again this morning (I missed a number of calls). Then once it's reset it seems to have a problem making calls and will just show the dialling screen for a long time before going "ding ding ding" and either dumping me back to the home screen or showing the call as disconnected. It's a bit pants having a 3G phone (and HSDPA enabled) and not being able to use it without significant hassle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr Who Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 I don't suppose you fancy letting it go into Standby? Just to see what happens, especially in dodgey signal areas like you have at work... :) I did give it a try yesterday but the problem wasn't present yesterday. I am sure what I am seeing is a network problem, maybe even not enough capacity where I am in central london? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest proindigo Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 (edited) T-mob have confirmed that there is an issue on the 3g netwrok (at least in my area) switched to gsm only and it works great.. interestingly enough i still seem to get hsdpa speeds... maybe because of the options I chose...gsm top one and 900+1800 and umts 2100 for bottom option someone else care to confirm.... my signal quality has also gone up from 2 bars to full! Edited February 2, 2007 by proindigo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spiderboy Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 T-mob have confirmed that there is an issue on the 3g netwrok (at least in my area) switched to gsm only and it works great.. interestingly enough i still seem to get hsdpa speeds... maybe because of the options I chose...gsm top one and 900+1800 and umts 2100 for bottom option someone else care to confirm.... my signal quality has also gone up from 2 bars to full! I am still having problems and have just about had enough of this phone. I have spoken to TMob tech support and they would not confirm a network error and said the phone is faulty and they will replace it, that will be the 4th one now. It seems like a much deeper rooted software issue. proindigo I have done what you suggested but straight after I made the change the phone froze up again and I had to reset. :) I now have the "G" sign but as u suggest it is on very fast speeds when browsing. I will keep these settings for a while and see how it goes. It does seem redundant though to have a 3G phone and not be able to use 3G capabilities in my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KingCathcart Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 I'm based in London and also have both the freezing problem and the problems with not always being able to make calls on 3G. I found that the freezing problem can be avoided if I remember to put the phone into standby when I've finished, but this is not ideal. Has anyone tried using the unlocking program that also upgrades the radio. Could this fix the issue? I havn't tried this yet may do next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pd.ryder Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Has anyone tried using the unlocking program that also upgrades the radio. Could this fix the issue? I havn't tried this yet may do next weekend. Sounds interesting... Got a link to save me an extensive search? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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