Help Antenna Issues? Anybody Else have them?

[darkspork]

I'm getting so fed up with this phone I'm ready to give up. The problem I'm having with my Moment (other than the variety of stability issues) is unstable/unreliable reception. Let me explain:

Whenever I'm driving through an area with good coverage and using Pandora my reception switches to 1xrtt and I can't get it to switch back to EVDO unless I place the phone in Airplane mode, then take it back out of Airplane mode. I also have the issue when sitting stagnant and trying to use data (for Pandora, using the browser, Facebook, etc.). I had this problem with my last Moment too, and my wife doesn't seem to be having the same problem with her Palm Pre (although she does get the "too many cards" error).

The reason I'm ready to give up is I spoke with a Sprint representative on their website and inquired about the $10 premium data fee. Apparently, if I'm sent a replacement (even if it's a Moment) I will be charged the $10/month premium data fee. So why bother?

Is anybody else having these reception issues with their Moment? I tried rooting and ultimately grew tired of it (Radioactive Froyo 2.0pre3); I had the same issues and revert to the most current stock ROM (runs about the same). Has anybody who had these issues remedied them? I'm thinking of buying an Evo Shift...

 

[pastafarian]

The Moment has very well documented radio issues, commonly known as "cdma lockup". Many if not most units suffer from it in one form or another. I had 4 Moments and the best of them would only lockup after a wifi session. I don't know if any software solution exists, I've never seen one. Samsung released a late update that was supposed to address the radio issues. From what I understand, it turned out to be a cya effort to avoid any legal issues from loss of 911 connectivity. There's also many reports that it doesn't work at all. My wife also had a Pre and was all too happy to replace it with an Epic. Poor build quality and awful battery life were her most common complaints. She's relatively happy with the Epic except for having to suffer with a semi working gps while waiting for a 4-5 month delayed froyo update that only happened 6 days ago and is now on hold. Personally, I'm done with Samsung's lack of support. If you do make a switch, the slide looks like a good choice. I'm very happy with my Evo.

 

[darkspork]

Do you think I would suffer less issues with the HTC Evo Shift? The closest 4G coverage area is 500 miles away, but I don't care if I can't use that feature if I can get a more stable EVDO connection. Sprint says I am eligible for a partial upgrade in June, but I may just pay out of pocket for it I come across a decent deal. I like the Android interface but this phone has made it a real drag.

 

[pastafarian]

I don't own a shift, but all indications are it's a solid phone. I can tell you that the Evo is light years better than the Moment. I would hang out a bit in the Shift section to see if there are any major issues. I'm fed up with Samsung's lousy support, from the Moments never fixed radio issues and bassakwards take-it-to-the-shop updates to a 2.2 update for the Epic that's buggy after being ~5 months(!!!) late. Our Epic has the Evo beat in virtually every spec, yet the Evo is the superior device (IMO). The difference? Samsung support.

 

[edp]

Do you think I would suffer less issues with the HTC Evo Shift? The closest 4G coverage area is 500 miles away, but I don't care if I can't use that feature if I can get a more stable EVDO connection. Sprint says I am eligible for a partial upgrade in June, but I may just pay out of pocket for it I come across a decent deal. I like the Android interface but this phone has made it a real drag.

i just recently went from the moment to the shift and i have to tell you, its a night and day difference. the shift is such a superior phone in every way, i can't even begin to explain. i even really like sense, even though i thought it would just cause the phone to lag. but the phone is powerful enough to make sense a very pleasant experience, and imo, it makes android more enjoyable.

 

[240phil]

yeah, there really isn't any way to totally avoid data lock.
you can root it and install a rom like radioactive. That can help majorly since it frees up a lot of space getting rid of all of the things that try to use the connection.
I did that and had a lot of luck with it. downloaded 20 plus apps while tethering and had no problems. But, a few days later, it locked up on me and I had to restart the phone. It is better than it was, but not 100% fixed.
You can also attempt to take the phone apart and clean the antennas.
this is difficult and highly risky, but those that have have been brave enough to do it, have reported great results.