Help Data problems with HTC Desire on Orange

[punky]

Having really inconsistent data access on my unrooted HTC Desire/Orange.

Normally either 4 things happen:

1. The phone constantly flicks between 3G and H.
2. The phone will just hang in 3G/H
3. The phone says there is no data connection.
4. Reluctant to use G when 3G appears to be unavailable.

At first I thought it was my phone but really it only happens in certain places which indicates a signal issue. This is North London though, not countryside.

However sometimes rebooting the phone or reconnecting the data works, which indicates a phone problem. However reconnecting the mobile can take a very long time which indicates a signal problem.

Then the other day I was playing with other SIMs when mine just would not connect. My friend's Virgin Mobile worked fine. Then I tried a spare Orange SIM card and it went straight into G and stayed there. I think it could be a 2G SIM card. The SIM card appeared to get a higher signal strength as well. Could my SIM really cause a difference?

It might be an app, but if is it will be hard to track down.

Changing my phone will be a hassle i'm sure so only want to do this in the last resort. I can't seem to nail the problem down. Does anyone else have data problems with their Desire on Orange? Especially in London?

MTIA

 

[Longfellow78]

i have the exact same problem in every way. I am pretty sure this is a known issue and has been widely reported for the Nexus one and HTC desire.
Apparently google have acknowledged it and stated that they would fix it with a radio reception update, HTC I dont think have acknolwedged it. The problem is made worse when holding ur phone, as the aerial is at the back on the bottom, right where your hand is. If you go to settgings, about phone, and look at the signal strength, you will see this wildly fluctuate, low DbM is good, high ASU is good.
HTC told me to send the phone back to orange for a replacement as they think its faulty which I think is cr*p. Hopefully the new android 2.2 coming out will fix the problem but im not confident. amazing phone, rubbish design.... there have been reports of people changing the radio version and fixing their phones. but i dont know for sure if that works.
good luck

 

[FelixofMars]

By any chance did you install the stock ROM? I have read that people using the stock HTC ROM after goldcard get this issue.

 

[Longfellow78]

Hello,
I am using the stock ROM as provided by Orange UK. I think Vodaphone customers got an update which was supposed to fix poor data (radio reception) I have build 1.15.61.10.

It also has bluetooth problems cutting in and out, and also will often drop calls when connected via HSDPA, but wont receive data in 3g mode, even with good signal strength. It's very annoying. Am about to ring orange support as they didnt reply to my email

 

[punky]

Mine is stock sim free model. Never rooted or used a gold card. I gave up that when jailbreaking my iPhone kept causing other problems.

Thanks for the tip longfellow I will look into the radio upgrade. It's so frustrating but a relief its not just me though.

Also do you how high and low ASU/db should be figure wise?

 

[Longfellow78]

Hi,
I think that one figure is an equivalent to the other, so ASU is easier to understand. I think a minimum ASU that would be ok would be 10+, mine regularly stays at 6-8 and drops to 0 when i hold my hand around the back of the phone. If this happens it will switch to GSM. Have just been on phone to orange and they say my phone is faulty and will replace it. although i dont think it is, as its happening to so many people. i think its either a design flaw that the reception is weak (altho this is strange as older htc phones dont have this like the G1) and is made worse by aerial positioning, OR more likely its a software bug, as there are many reports of people chaning the radio on a rooted phone and fixing it, altho other people say this made no difference. google actually stated that they were aware of it and working on a fix, but that was a couple of months back, and the Nexus 1 has priority anyway. Personally I would call ur provider and complain and say whats happening, so they have a log of the problem, to set yourself up for a future replacement, and then wait for Froyo official to come out and fixes the problem. you could always root, update to froyo, try new radio version, if it does work, switch back to official, and send for replacement or get a new phone model. GL

 

[dave_024]

I had problems with my desire dropping connection all the time on orange aswell done a few searches on the forums and found a sollution thats worked for me
Dial *#*#4636#*#*
Sellect phone information and scroll all the way down to the bottom
Select the set preffered network type and change to GSM auto (prl)
This has cured all my problems and ive been running it like this for over a month and dont worry you still get hsdpa aswell or 3g+ as orange now call it
Hope this helps
Dave

 

[Longfellow78]

Hey, i didnt know about this menu, i have gone into it and seen the settings. tried what you said and although it didnt work for me, it seems there are some settings to play with. i will look into it. cheers!

 

[nx1977]

Also do you how high and low ASU/db should be figure wise?

If -95 dBm or lower then your in a poor signal area according to most sites.

 

[punky]

Cheers for posts guys.

Oddly enough it seems a lot better since I put my SIM back in. I went through one of the blackspots and got a signal. Went to another and didn't, but moved 20' away and got H again. Reseating the SIM couldn't have fixed it surely? Might be worth a go. Although I think its just coincidence.

Thanks again guys.

 

[sanojmaj]

Having really inconsistent data access on my unrooted HTC Desire/Orange.

Normally either 4 things happen:

1. The phone constantly flicks between 3G and H.
2. The phone will just hang in 3G/H
3. The phone says there is no data connection.
4. Reluctant to use G when 3G appears to be unavailable.

At first I thought it was my phone but really it only happens in certain places which indicates a signal issue. This is North London though, not countryside.

However sometimes rebooting the phone or reconnecting the data works, which indicates a phone problem. However reconnecting the mobile can take a very long time which indicates a signal problem.

Then the other day I was playing with other SIMs when mine just would not connect. My friend's Virgin Mobile worked fine. Then I tried a spare Orange SIM card and it went straight into G and stayed there. I think it could be a 2G SIM card. The SIM card appeared to get a higher signal strength as well. Could my SIM really cause a difference?

It might be an app, but if is it will be hard to track down.

Changing my phone will be a hassle i'm sure so only want to do this in the last resort. I can't seem to nail the problem down. Does anyone else have data problems with their Desire on Orange? Especially in London?

MTIA

Hi ,

I had the same issue with the HTC desire on orange contract. so they replaced it with another HTC desire, which had the same issue as well.
Reading through some of the forums, looks like this is a generic problem with the HTC desire. It was very frustrating for me as it would not load any data even though it showed good 3g/3g+ coverage.

I spoke to HTC about it and they gave some temporary fix, which never worked. i believe this is a hardware issue(which could be a poor antenna/receiver) and a firmware update may not solve this.I tried several other fixes mentioned on various forums, none of them worked.

It is such a shame that this otherwise wonderful phone has a serious annoying problem with its 3g connectivity.

regards
sam

 

[punky]

Cheers Sam.

As frustrating as it is, at least i'm not alone which is something I suppose. As you and longfellowsay don't replace the handset it saves me that agro. Have to try and hope it gets fixed.

I think the problem is with HTC phones is that release so many of them, so quickly they just don't test them enough. Hence why we end up with so many faults. This isn't my only fault but certainly the most pressing.

 

[dunbad]

I very much doubt this will help, but here goes anyway.
I had this problem on my desire. Would happen 2 or 3 times a day, was driving me nuts along with many others. I done that gsm auto prl thingy and also I changed my wifi settings at the same time. Go settings, wifi etc, them when in wifi press the menu button. Go advanced wifi settings, then sleep policy, then change it to time out after 15 mins. This apparently stops the wifi connection sticking somehow preventing data transfer even if wifi is turned off at the time? It also helps battery anyway as after 15 mins of sleep, wifi turns off. Anyway I done the above and it worked well for me. It doesn't work for everyone but most people it does. Now I still lose my connection, but only like once a fortnight or 3 weeks, which isn't too bad. There isn't any hint as to what causes it or when it will do it, but I done plenty of searching on this and I read a thread from a guy who appeared to know what he was talking about. He claimed that he could force the issue everytime, by doing something in his email (can't remember what but I'll check and get back to you), my issue was fixed at that point so didn't pay too much attention. But is not network connected soley as all the networks do it.
Just had a quick look, it was I believe, view labels, in his gmail account. You get there by pressing menu in gmail. May have been specific to his device though.

 

[Longfellow78]

Update.

So I have been in touch with HTC and Orange. Orange said my handset was faulty, and have sent me a new one. HTC said that Froyo was coming out very very soon, and this should fix the radio problem.

However. The new phone orange sent me.... well it still loses a signal strength a lot when i put my hand around the back (which i HOPE will be fixed with froyo) however....... before when the signal strength dropped below about 10asu 3g didn't work at all for data. Also GSM never worked for data. Now however, the signal strength is actually slightly worse on my new handset. BUT get this, 3g works perfectly for ASU signal strength all the way down to about 2 or 3. So even tho I usually have 1 or 2 bars when before i had 3 or 4 on 3g, the problem is actually fixed on 3g. Very weird. I am happier, and am getting a leather flip case to protect the phone from interferenace from my hand. But the new handset has significantly improved the problem, despite actually looking on the surface to have worse reception. I'd say everyone should wait for Froyo, hopefully by end of june, and if no improvement get a new phone!
Good luck everyone.

 

[Longfellow78]

Update 2.
New phone and the problem is BACK.
Data was working fine over 3g, and then all of a sudden it went dead again, despite good reception, and not installing any news apps since it was working. Data transfer is 0.00 to 0.15kb/s, when a couple of hours ago 3g data was up to 20kb/s. Now it says "there is no data connection" despite 3-4 bars and the 3g symbol in taskbar.
Something is seriously wrong!

 

[punky]

Cheers dude. I think it saves us having to send ours back. Just have to wait for Froyo and hope

 

[taliskerten]

QUOTE= Longfellow78;
" I'd say everyone should wait for Froyo, hopefully by end of june!"

I hate to be a naysayer Longfellow but I suspect those fools (myself included!) who have an Orange Handset will have to wait until June 2011 for Froyo. I remember how bobbins they were at releasing my old N95 symbian updates, it was literally months and months before they released the firmware for their branded phones...

I really hope they'll prove me wrong (sigh)

 

[Longfellow78]

Bloke from HTC told me that Froyo was coming very soon (he said this on two seperate emails) although he could be blowing smoke. I don't know if it is orange who alter the software from HTC, or if HTC do it for orange.
have been messing with the settings all day and apart from once when 3g came back again, its still dead. I think it is a software issue, maybe something to do with apps screwing up the APN.
Has anyone tried uninstalling all their apps? (but not hard resetting?)

 

[tcrifasi]

Just wanted to say that I have had my unbranded HTC Desire with an Orange contract for almost 2 months now and not a single problem with reception. I live in West London and travel around UK as a consultant and NEVER had any of the reception problems you guys have been facing.

Really happy with my phone.

 

[Caspa]

Just wanted to say that I have had my unbranded HTC Desire with an Orange contract for almost 2 months now and not a single problem with reception. I live in West London and travel around UK as a consultant and NEVER had any of the reception problems you guys have been facing.

Really happy with my phone.

Could you let me know what radio you are running? (Menu>About phone>Software information>Baseband version)

I have an Orange handset but am running the generic HTC ROM and I have the same issues in certain areas... I live in West London also and work in the City so travel all around the square mile for meetings...

Some days are worse than others but its the same issue of great signal, but no data flow... This tends to be on 3G and when it jumps to H it works again... Also have the issue of data dropping out totally and taking ages to reconnect...

The problems are intermittent so I think it may have something to do with network traffic/congestion (as well as software etc)...

There has been an update from HTC which includes a new radio, but if like me you have an Orange branded handset, it locks the phone requiring an unlock code from sites such as 'htcunlock' (generic handsets are fine)...

Interested to know whether you have the latest radio installed tcrifasi, as if you do and have no problems then that could be the fix...

 

[punky]

Caspa - Just read on XDA developers that if you enable airplane mode and then disable it, the data works again. This sort of figures as a reboot tends to fix it and disabling the radio (airplane mode) is like a quick restart.

Do you know where to find this radio update from HTC? I can only find HTC Sync updates? MTIA.

Also there's a big thread on XDA developers which seems similar. The OP is on T-Mobile so it doesn't look like an Orange problem.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=656192

 

[jimmy-fix-it]

Hi,

not that I want to confuse the issue, but I had some very similar issues in the last couple of months of my Orange contract with my Touch HD. It was one of the reasons I left Orange and went to Vodafone.

I even got to the point that I couldn't make an outgoing call despite the signal strength showing 3+ bars and I thought my HD was broke, just when I was going to sell it, as well! I reverted to an old handset for a week or so while sorting out what phone to get next (HTC Desire). As a last chance after reading on a forum about a number of users having problems with the Orange network, I put my orange sim back in the HD and Voila! All was back up and running again.

So the moral of my story is don't rule out Orange Network problems in your area, they certainly caught me out.

Jimmy

 

[punky]

OK I have read through the thread and there's no firm fix yet. But the list of fixes that had some affect is

1. Using the *#*# 4636 #*#* to set GSM auto (PRL)

2. Toggling airplane mode

3. Rebooting

4. Hard reset.

5. Updating the baseband to 1.19.161.5 (but this may only be a Vodafone update). Also no easy way to force this.

It seems to happen on any network around the world. Only connection is the phone. Apparently the HD2 also suffers from this. Numerous people have contacted HTC and had various replies ranging from "do a hard reset" to "we have passed this on to our engineers" to "there is a fix coming".

Ugh.

 

[Caspa]

Caspa - Just read on XDA developers that if you enable airplane mode and then disable it, the data works again. This sort of figures as a reboot tends to fix it and disabling the radio (airplane mode) is like a quick restart.

Do you know where to find this radio update from HTC? I can only find HTC Sync updates? MTIA.

Also there's a big thread on XDA developers which seems similar. The OP is on T-Mobile so it doesn't look like an Orange problem.

Data connection problem on my HTC Desire - xda-developers

The fixes currently spoken about are intermittent themselves, the reboot and airplane ones can sometimes result in no data at all.. It just sits connecting for ages...

Updates from HTC are done OTA, but you'll need to wait for the Orange ROM update - you can manually check by going to Settings>About phone>System software update but it auto checks anyway... There's one available for me as I'm running the generic ROM, but I know it includes a newer radio that locks the handset as detailed above.

Otherwise the only way to update the radio is to root, you can then install a new radio via an update.zip...

 

[tcrifasi]

Baseband version is 32.30.00.28U_4.05.00.11