my eris is driving me banana sandwhich!

[jreed2560]

Alright guys. As much as I hate it I think I'm finally ready to give up. I absolutely love what my eris can do. Its what it can't that really drives me crazy. My phone (2nd brand new phone, had it replaced a month ago for the same issue) cannot hold a signal. At home it reads two bars, but when I make a call half the time it drops, and half the time my wife can't hear me, but I can hear her. Same at my daughters school. Same on my way home from work. Its always that I can hear the other person, they just can't hear me. I have always gotten great signal with verizon at these places. I could count on one hand the amount of dropped calls I've had in the ten years since I've been with VZW. I bet I've had 30 dropped calls in two months with the Eris. I'm on an employee account so I have to do everything through the phone. They are rude and of no help. They did offer the moto droid at full retail less 25%. Anybody got any suggestions? I hate sounding like a whinny baby but this is driving me banana sandwhich!

 

[Frisco]

Alright guys. As much as I hate it I think I'm finally ready to give up. I absolutely love what my eris can do. Its what it can't that really drives me crazy. My phone (2nd brand new phone, had it replaced a month ago for the same issue) cannot hold a signal. At home it reads two bars, but when I make a call half the time it drops, and half the time my wife can't hear me, but I can hear her. Same at my daughters school. Same on my way home from work. Its always that I can hear the other person, they just can't hear me. I have always gotten great signal with verizon at these places. I'm on an employee account so I have to do everything through the phone. They are rude and of no help. They did offer the moto droid at full retail less 25%. Anybody got any suggestions? I hate sounding like a whinny baby but this is driving me banana sandwhich!

No, you don't sound like a whiner; that's a legitimate issue, coverage and reception on your device.

Are you certain it boils down to the device and not actual coverage in your area?

I haven't seen much in here about problems with the Eris picking up a signal; maybe it's been reported here and I've just not seen it.

Maybe you're on a fringe area?

 

[gimpydingo]

Mmmmmm banana sandwiches....

Strange issue. I alive right on the edge of a dead zone in NorCal due to the mountain road heading to the silocon valley. Usually have 1 bar or less at home, but still able to call with no issues. Must be a banana lovin gremlin.

 

[Frisco]

"Strange issue. I alive right on the edge of a dead zone in NorCal due to the mountain road heading to the silocon valley. Usually have 1 bar or less at home, but still able to call with no issues."


I was going to say something similar about the bars in Eris; actual signal strength seems to be much more than what the bars indicate. That's one reason this person's posted concerns seem strange to me.

No bars at all in the basement of a big hospital here in town and I still can send and receive calls and texts.

 

[jreed2560]

I used to work as a tech for VZW, so I've done all the basic trouble shooting, My wife has an EV3, and I had the LG Dare before, and never had an issue with reception. I've lived at my current address for over a year (never dropped a call before the eris) and I've lived in this area my entire life. I could understand it dropping a call or two at my house its outside of the city a little, or on my way to work as it is rural. But in the middle of town, at my daughters school, in an open area with nothing to hinder the signal. I drop calls. This is my second device that was brand new and not a refurb. I just can't blame it on a defect. I have to believe the radio is weak. I will not have them send me a refurbished phone. I've escilated the issue with my wife's supervisor and will see where that gets me if anywhere. If not I guess I'm just stuck with this issue untill July. Like I said, I love what this phone CAN do.

 

[jreed2560]

"Strange issue. I alive right on the edge of a dead zone in NorCal due to the mountain road heading to the silocon valley. Usually have 1 bar or less at home, but still able to call with no issues."


I was going to say something similar about the bars in Eris; actual signal strength seems to be much more than what the bars indicate. That's one reason this person's posted concerns seem strange to me.

No bars at all in the basement of a big hospital here in town and I still can send and receive calls and texts.

Yeah thats the strange part. It shows signal, yet still drops the call. 2nd phone same issue

 

[carmendiva]

Hmmm..

I've had issues with my Eris(that range from Signal to lag) and such...

Since then I brought an extended network box from verizon(if you're having issues in your home with signal instead of buying a full retail droid at 25% off) buy it...mine was only 200 bucks. it greatly enhanced my coverage so i dont drop calls anymore

As far areas like your daughter's school, I really don't what else to suggest

I really hate the eris(I hate palm pre and droid more) but it's the lesser of 3 evils...and im going to stick it out till the nexus one or htc incredible comes to Verizon

 

[jreed2560]

ahh I don't hate it. I actually love it. Its just that kinda love that you know is bad for you, and always comes back to bite you in the ass in the end.

 

[carmendiva]

ahh I don't hate it. I actually love it. Its just that kinda love that you know is bad for you, and always comes back to bite you in the ass in the end.

Well I actually shouldn't say I hate it...I would love all touch screen phone but I wish it had the droid's speed without having to sacrifice the eris look and feel

two things that make me hate it
is the fact that

1. Android is WAY TOO fragmented(I feel smart since my friend taught me this lolz)
2. It lags and its slow(Although the palm pre is slow as well)

 

[smittythepig]

my eris gives me ALL SORTS of call problems, one of which is dropped calls even with a full signal. but i often find that i can't hear others but they can hear me. but most of the time the call quality is lacking on both ends, parts of conversations get chopped off, and all sorts of other weirdness. it's beyond irritating. it's making me dislike the phone very much unfortunately. it can't do the most basic function well. don't know if my problems are caused by the same thing as yours (whatever it is) but i can relate. i want to take it in but i don't want a refurb either.

 

[jkmasi]

I live in a small town and travel through a rural area to get to work everyday. There are not a ton of Verizon towers in my area - the signal is weak on my route and at my office. A little over a year ago, I upgraded from an LG flip phone (don't remember which model, but it was the nicest one when I bought it) to a Blackberry Curve. I mainly did it because my LG was dropping calls all of the time. My BB never dropped a call, except if I went into this one area where there was literally no service. Great! I got spoiled.

Before Christmas this year, I got an HTC Touch Pro 2. It dropped calls and I got no reception in my office - the same place that I could talk on my BB with little trouble. It dropped calls on my route to work - again no trouble with my BB. So I returned the TP2 and got the Eris. So far, a few dropped calls on my route to work and if I have a connection there, or in my office, sometimes people can't hear me. SOooo - not as bad as the TP2, but no where near as solid as the BB.

I decided I could live with it for now.... because it's a fun phone. I have a landline in my office, but if I couldn't use the Eris reliably at home, I would have to get something else.

Is it HTC radios? Will OS upgrade make any difference, if and when we get one? If it's a hardware issue, I think it won't matter. Esthetically, I like HTC handsets, but I might have to look elsewhere next fall. Or, (yawn) I might have to go back to a Blackberry. BTW, I had a Droid briefly before the TP2. Hated almost everything about it, but call quality seemed excellent.

 

[rick311]

can you still get 3G in those areas?

 

[jkmasi]

In my office, my Eris switches back and forth from 1x to 3g unless I go outside. Then I get 3g. I'm not sure when I'm driving.... because I can't see the stupid 3g/1x indicator without my reading glasses, and I can't wear my reading glasses while driving!

 

[Bswartz95]

I've never had a problem with dropped calls or sending a text, but there are areas where other phones pull a stronger signal than my Eris. There's no question the OP has a point.

My friends who have Env's or Blackberry's pull more bars than me (in some areas). I've pinpointed this to be the cause of serious battery issues (in the battery thread it's been discussed). Fortunately, most of the places I use my phone, this isn't an issue.

I feel your frustration though.

 

[jreed2560]

I live in a small town and travel through a rural area to get to work everyday. There are not a ton of Verizon towers in my area - the signal is weak on my route and at my office. A little over a year ago, I upgraded from an LG flip phone (don't remember which model, but it was the nicest one when I bought it) to a Blackberry Curve. I mainly did it because my LG was dropping calls all of the time. My BB never dropped a call, except if I went into this one area where there was literally no service. Great! I got spoiled.

Before Christmas this year, I got an HTC Touch Pro 2. It dropped calls and I got no reception in my office - the same place that I could talk on my BB with little trouble. It dropped calls on my route to work - again no trouble with my BB. So I returned the TP2 and got the Eris. So far, a few dropped calls on my route to work and if I have a connection there, or in my office, sometimes people can't hear me. SOooo - not as bad as the TP2, but no where near as solid as the BB.

I decided I could live with it for now.... because it's a fun phone. I have a landline in my office, but if I couldn't use the Eris reliably at home, I would have to get something else.

Is it HTC radios? Will OS upgrade make any difference, if and when we get one? If it's a hardware issue, I think it won't matter. Esthetically, I like HTC handsets, but I might have to look elsewhere next fall. Or, (yawn) I might have to go back to a Blackberry. BTW, I had a Droid briefly before the TP2. Hated almost everything about it, but call quality seemed excellent.

I definitely think its the HTC radio. Several people on here have done side by side comparisons with the Eris and Droid with the Eris consistently having a weaker signal. So I'm not looking for it to change with any OS upgrade.

 

[jreed2560]

Thats another thing. I never lose 3g signal. I can browse the web, market, anything. I just can't hold a conversation. Even right now. I was just talking to my wife. Dropped the call 3 times. phone is showing 2 bars

 

[ericDylan]

i live about 20-30 minutes north of atlanta and at my highschool there is a t-mobile tower pretty close so all of my tmo friends have 4 bars all over school and everybody else except verizon has pretty bad service but even the verizon people dont have bars in alot of areas but i am happy to say that i do except in the weight room ... as a result my experience with reception and radio strength has been great. fwiw i get 3g all those places also

 

[jreed2560]

Thanks for all your comments guys. Makes me feel like I'm not alone. I don't really want to get into a coverage debate or a discussion about where I do or don't get service. Like I've stated, acording to my phone, I have service or bars. I just keep dropping calls. Btw I spoke to a customer support rep for employee accounts and was told that "absolutely no way" would I be allowed to switch to a different phone. I escalated the situation further and was told to call back a speak to someone else. I'm really disappointed big red isn't helping me out here. I don't know what I expected. I guess a little empathy on her part? My mistake I guess huh?

 

[rick311]

if you still get 3G coverage then there is something wrong with the voice part of your signal. this happened to me the 1st day i got it connected. i was browsing 3G all day, but couldnt send a text or make or receive a call. i called verizon and they told me (the following day) that there was a problem with some of their towers.

could you use any other verizon phone to make calls in those areas?

 

[jreed2560]

yes. we have other non smartphones on the account and they all work fine in those areas.

 

[A User Name]

Same deal here. I'm in NY, close to NYC and all the boroughs, and the most bars I get are 2. I just switched from a Blackberry last week, but when I had the BB, I ALWAYS had full reception/bars while at home, driving around town, etc.

I definitely think it's the device that's not receiving a full signal and wish there was something we could do about it! However, I haven't had any dropped calls, just a few "hello? helllllo? anywhere there??" when someone calls me.

Oh well...

 

[smacky]

"Strange issue. I alive right on the edge of a dead zone in NorCal due to the mountain road heading to the silocon valley. Usually have 1 bar or less at home, but still able to call with no issues."


I was going to say something similar about the bars in Eris; actual signal strength seems to be much more than what the bars indicate. That's one reason this person's posted concerns seem strange to me.

No bars at all in the basement of a big hospital here in town and I still can send and receive calls and texts.

You a doctor or something?

 

[Frisco]

You a doctor or something?

Or something.

 

[Lucidot]

Or something.

I'm guessing Proctologist.

Must be since he comes here everyday to be surrounded by a$$holes like us.
(For you sensitive types, that was a joke. Hence the smiley)

 

[Lucidot]

I have noticed that the signal strength on mine seems sporadic at best. Granted I am looking at the bars on the phone and apparently from reading all of the other posts that is not a very reliable indicator of your actual signal strength.

I think I've dropped 1 or 2 calls since I've had the Eris.

When did you get your initial Eris and how long have you had the replacement?