Help Desire HD Signal Reception Worse Than Other Smartphones?

[cmr068]

Hi All,

I did a search but I couldnt find a thread for this so sorry if it has been repeated, if I missed it just point me in the right direction please but here it goes..

I recently got myself a Desire HD on Telus HSDPA in Canada and have noticed the reception has been very poor on my phone. I am constantly having no signal or signal worse than -110 dBm. I have placed my phone next to a BB Torch 9800 on the same network and saw that I had -95 dBm and the torch had -80 dBm. That is a huge difference.

How does the signal strength on this phone compare to other phones in your experience? (This is my first HSDPA phone, I migrated from a CDMA Storm 2)

Is there anyway that I can tweak some settings to better the reception other than forcing it to GSM.

I am trying to decide whether to keep this phone and the reception quality will be a factor.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[hoganalley]

I've had my HD since Thursday night and I've had 0 problems with reception. It's actually better than my last phone. I am also on Telus. I was having issues with my old phone not getting phone calls and not receiving emails but since I have this phone everything is good.

Are you too far away from a Telus tower?

 

[cmr068]

I don't think it has to do with being too far from a tower because the torch was able to get great signal. And if it is a tower problem then that is abismal because I am in the center of a large city.

 

[hoganalley]

building structure? Perhaps the signal is not cleanly getting through....although if it was good with the Torch then the same rules would apply.......

Mine's been great on all phone calls I've received.

 

[tobyjuggler]

Before I got my DHD, I had an N97, which never had any reception in my living room. My DHD has perfect reception in the location and on the same network, so it has been a much needed improvement for me.

 

[ventovr6]

Is the battery cover on snugly just I remember reading some where that part of it is a aerial not sure if its for gsm or wcdma mind sorry my memory is not better .

 

[codral]

Mines started getting really really bad reception in the last 3 weeks, just gotten worse and worse.. dunno what it is, haven't dropped it, suspect a dodgy antenna or something

 

[cmr068]

I tried the battery cover, I made sure the contacts were connection to the cover. I also did this on the sim card cover. I have rebooted the phone, pulled the sim card and cleaned the contacts, tried it with and without a case. Nothing seemed to help. I noticed that if i lay the phone on the desk it will get much better signal than when i pick it up. Once i pick it up it immediately drops a couple of bars.

I am not sure if the weak signal is something I can live with. Also, I have noticed that when i use the phone, on 15% brightness, playing angry birds and surfing the net i have battery draws of 25% an hour or more. When i check battery stats the display is taking 78%. This may be a deal breaker too because i want to be able to use the phone without having to constantly worry about charging it.

Since i get no reception im feeling like i may as well go back to my storm 2 on EV-DO. Its a heck of a lot slower but atleast it comes through. I have another week to decide before the return policy is up so we will see.

 

[El Presidente]

This may be a deal breaker too because i want to be able to use the phone without having to constantly worry about charging it.

Can't comment on the reception issue, but if you're looking for a handset you don't want to worry about charging, then this isn't the phone for you. You'll need to charge everyday on average - heavy use, light use you could get 36- hours from it?

That's not just this handset either, that's just smart phones in general.

 

[xvlvx]

reception problem! I'm on the orange network and I receive missed called messages like crazy.. i asked my mates and they say your phone comes off after 5 tries does it patch thru.. i called orange and thwy say it might be cause the network in my area is acting up... i also sometimes get insert sim card errors.! but then put blue tack near the sim to hold it in place.

 

[Jaxtrax]

Hey all,
I run a small company near Montreal Quebec and have 8 phones for the staff here.
I changed over from Rogers to Telus a week ago for a number of reasons and was unsure if I wanted to keep using BlackBerrys (Torch and Bold models) or go for the Desire HD.
So I made a deal with my Telus dealer and I have been trying all three of them out for a week already.
Now before I go any further, I understand that you cannot compare apples and oranges, so I won't.

The phones are great in their own way but the Desire HD really has my heart as the screen totally rocks!
But in the end, if you miss a call or can't go on the net because you do not have reception, then what is the point of the phone right?

As it is now, the Desire HD doesn't come close to the Blackberry's reception.
Damn!

The fact that the Desire HD chews up battery life like crazy can by resolved by getting some back up battery packs off of eBay.
I am presently in my basement with both phones in front of me and have no signal at all with the Desire HD abut I have full reception with the BB models!

So clearly this has nothing to do with how far I am from a tower or building structure as both units are compared side by side.

At first I thought that the phone was defective and traded it for a new one yesterday.

No change.

I have a few more days to try and find a solution but it doesn't look good.
If anyone finds a solution to boost its signal, it will be greatly appreciated!