Reception. How's yours? Moan, moan, moan.

[MartinS]

I have an unlocked Orange HTC Hero running on O2 and it seems fine.

 

[FADviral]

I have an unlocked Orange HTC Hero running on O2 and it seems fine.

How far are you from your nearest cellphone mast?

 

[hatch]

Sorry for the title...

So far I have ahd my Hero for 2 weeks and switched from Orange and got it on a new contract with Vodafone. Now, having read everyone else's comments on the Hero I think I am in the minority when I say that I have almost faultless HSDPA & 3G reception all the time.

one of the reasons I switched from Orangen was that inside my flat...no signal...outside the front door (about 1/2 a foot's distance from inside) and signal. By stark contrast I get HSDPA signal in the house and i'm not living in London.

Sorry if this sounds like i'm crowing a bit but just so you all know there is a better side to the Hero's reception, just evidently not on Orange and not on T-Mobile (god knows why you'd go T-Mobile anyway).

 

[FADviral]

I'm with neither. I'm with 3.

Also, having owned a bunch of Nokia smartphoens over the past three years, I can say that this compete loss of signal, and dumping calls to the answerphone is a new one on me.

I'm wondering if low battery has anything to do with it (mine has been running low this afternoon).

Or perhaps a busy processor (if the phone is busy processing other data).

Interesting to me that this problem disappeared for a few days, only to return. :/

 

[mcmonkiez]

I've had pretty crappy reception in my flat with my

How's your reception?

EDIT: I should say that my Parents postcode according to Orange has "Excellent" 3g coverage.

for some reason i am getting sometime really good signal and some time really poor.

i only get G or H I have never seen 3G on my HTC hero since i got this phone?

is this normal?

 

[MartinS]

How far are you from your nearest cellphone mast?

It's not that close, any phone I have with O2 in this location gives around half power on the signal bar and the Hero is no different.

 

[FADviral]

HTC have just told me to book my handset in for a repair, despite me linking to this and other threads as evidence of a general firmware or hardware problem.

There is no way I'm having a seven day old handset repaired, so the retailer is exchanging it for a new one. (Should be here Thursday... provided Royal Mail ain't on strike... which isn't looking hopeful. :/)

Based on comments here, I have zero confidence in a replacement being any different, and reluctant as I am to part with this otherwise amazing handset, I will certainly be getting a refund unless the reception issue is resolved.

(As an aside, HTC have the most shocking online technical support system I've ever encountered. They kept bouncing the same solution at me for a keyboard issue, even though I told them again and again that it wasn't satisfactory.)

 

[FADviral]

It's not that close, any phone I have with O2 in this location gives around half power on the signal bar and the Hero is no different.

I'm 0.5 miles from my nearest, although it's at a lower elevation. There's another on approx. the same level about 0.75 miles in the other direction. It's been dropping calls again today - the retailer even being diverted to answerphone when they called to arrange a replacement. Last night I unlocked it only to see a huge message with a picture of the sim card warning me that there was no signal, while two others handsets in the room are showing full reception.

 

[herobadreception]

There are 5 android devices in this house - 3xG1, 1xMagic and 1xHero
The Hero has terrible reception and is unbranded offline handset, the other phones have absolutely no issue with reception
On the Hero, calls go straight to voicemail and frequently get No Signal message

This has to be either a software issue (fixed with a radio update from HTC) or a hardware limitation (in that other people mention a small and inadequate antenna)

WE NEED AN OFFICIAL RESPONSE FROM HTC - continued lack of response on this issue will ruin my already tainted opinion of HTC(previous owner an HTC Touch Cruise)

HTC - PULL YOUR FINGER OUT!!!

 

[mcmonkiez]

There is 100% something wrong ethic HTC firmware. And ithink we get update soon. ??? When don't know lol

 

[spurs4life]

I am on my second handset (first replaced for bad reception) and this one is still awful. I am missing calls even when the phone shows full signal.

I talked to Orange about this at the weekend and their techincal support told me that they have had no other reports of issues with poor signal.

I asked about the possibiilty of a firmware upgrade when HTC release it and he said that it would only be pushed out if enough people needed it and at present he did not see they did!

He also said that I need to bear in mind that 3g is an emerging technology (you could not make this up), and when I mentioned about other people complaining on sites, all he said was I am sure they are, but we have not heard anything.

Well I have reopened my case with Orange last night and am now waiting for a call back, as yesterday I could not make calls to a BT Landline even though the handset was showing full signal!

As far as I am concerned if they dont do something about this they will have to cancel the contract. I dont mind the fact that the phone has bugs, but if I cant make and receive phone calls (when other orange users around me can) then the device is not fit for purpose.

Its a real shame all this because apart from the problem with reception I think this phone is superb!

 

[FADviral]

Couldn't agree more Spurs. I really, really, hope this is a firmware issue. It has struck me that mine tends to drop incoming calls when the screen is blanked and it's locked (clearly your mileage varies). The problem also seems more evident after I've been running apps, so it's possible I suppose that apps remaining in memory and hogging resources ain't leaving it with enough processing power to quickly respond to incoming calls.

I'm clutching at straws obviously. It just seems ominous to me that HTC have acknowledged they'll work on the SenseUI lag that people complain about (usually because they have a lot of apps or widgets running), but absolutely nothing about the reception issues. I wonder if they know this is a hardware issue they can do nothing about?

 

[spurs4life]

I wonder if they know this is a hardware issue they can do nothing about?

I am hoping I have just been unlucky with the replacement I have had and there are faulty batches around.

What really got me about the response from Orange, was that this was obviously not a handset fault because you are on your second one.

Lets hope they replace it again and I get one which was delivered from the factory on a different day!

 

[FADviral]

What really got me about the response from Orange, was that this was obviously not a handset fault because you are on your second one.

Yeah. It's more than likely a problem with the handset (or batches of them) in general, so I don't see why you should be on your own.

I'm surprised HTC told me to book mine in for repair, given what they already know about this. And now people are saying they put a thinner antenna in the Hero to keep the form factor slim. It's not looking good. :/

PS. Mine just dumped another call to answerphone as I was typing this. Reception is wavering between one and two bars.

 

[spurs4life]

Did HTC acknowledge it was a known issue with some of the Handsets then when you spoke to them?

 

[hatch]

I am hoping I have just been unlucky with the replacement I have had and there are faulty batches around.

What really got me about the response from Orange, was that this was obviously not a handset fault because you are on your second one.

Lets hope they replace it again and I get one which was delivered from the factory on a different day!

Orange will keep replacing your handset so don't worry. If you have 5 with the SAME FAULT, you are entitled to another handset of your choice. This is an Orange policy.

If you've only had the phone a short time and are not getting the service you paid for and Orange refuse to do anything about it, you can also cancel your contract. (Standard consumer rights info)

Hope that helps

 

[FADviral]

Did HTC acknowledge it was a known issue with some of the Handsets then when you spoke to them?

No, they reckon my individual handset is faulty, despite evidence to the contrary. I've lost count of the number of people who have said replacements were exactly the same, so this is clearly a widespread - rather than isolated - issue.

 

[MJJ]

It clearly seems to be a problem with the quality of the antennae.
Our orange signal is poor, we need to keep phones near windows to get a reliable signal. I got the G2 Touch from T-Mobile (Hero with a different name) and found it could get no signal downstairs, upstairs, hanging out the window or even wandering about outside. Worse than any phone any one has visited us with.
It had to go back which is a shame as I loved everything about it other than the fact I couldn't use it as a phone.
Upgrading software and replacing SIMS will not manage to fully compensate for such poor engineering.
I'm now waiting for a good android phone with good reception.

 

[dukeuk76]

Hey guys,
First post here, be gentle please.

I have a HTC Hero from Orange, got it on tuesday. The signal is okish for 3G/Hsdpa around 2 bar mark, But excellent for 2G 4 bars.
Im not getting any dropped calls/missed sms etc.

Very pleased with it.

 

[james]

Just like to add that I've got an unlocked Hero on Orange, had it about 1-2 weeks now with no signal problems at all.

 

[trick202]

I think a frirmware update could easily be the answer.

I used to mess around with different FW updates on the iPhone and some were better than others for signal. May not just be an antenna issue.
It's also worth noting that the signal meter on your phone is just a graphical representation. I remember YEARS back I had a SEK600 (I think) and the signal used to fly all over the place on that, but didn't drop calls. Nokias on the same network displayed better signal, but that was all it was: DISPLAYING better signal.

I am waiting new SIM card for my hero. I am still hopeful that I won't have to insert it into somewhere on Orange's anatomy. Signal is choppy (3G, H, G etc) - but my problem is that it won't send or receive data - just calls and texts (no MMS, email, browser etc).
HTC have been at this quite a long time now. They know how to build a handset. I'm hoping a firmware update is in the building soon.

 

[hutie1983]

i think there is something wrong with the reception.

 

[chrisjenx]

The only real way to test if its firmware is by someone changing there Rom to an unlocked version. I would do this but I'm waiting to try the firmware update from HTC next week or 2.

I did use an unlock code on my phone and ill do some more testing with other sim's later.

I can understand getting worse signal than other phones. As all phones are built differently. But the discrepancies are massive between two phones and that doesn't seem right.

The last update for other Android phones improved signal a bit so it is possible for a firmware patch to improve signal.

 

[Artaq]

I have also seen a rather low (one bar) signal bar on mine compared to another phone I have sitting right next to it, both on the same network T-Mobile . However the call quailty is no different on any of the phones. I still get a good internet connection with it also. If feels like the hero just does not show the signal very well on the handset.

 

[axelfro]

Hello,
my phone is free for all SIMs. I'm using it in the Hi3G network in Sweden. Must say that it's like going back to the time when the 3G network was built.
My previous phones has worked well SE P1i, Nokia E65, SE600 before those the coverage in Sweden was bad.
This morning the phone didn't wake me up. Why? because it was set to automatic time update. With no coverage the phone goes to GMT, which means 1 hour off my local time. So not only won't I get the incoming calls it refuses to wake me up in time.

I feel that I should be able to expect a "PHONE" at the price I was charged.