SX66, MDA III GSM Signal Strength

[espressoe]

I have a Cingular SX66 which I'm trying to use on T-Mobile and I'm having problems due to poor signal stength. Before I start a call, I'll have 4 bars and once I start the call, the signal strength will fluctuate and I'll lose entire words of conversations (and the other person complains of the same thing).

I have tried both the SX66 and the HP6315 with similar results, although the HP6315 fairs much better with only occasional drop-outs.

As a comparision, I used the exact same SIM card in an Ericsson T610 and haven't had a single problem.

I'm returning the SX66 today and will probably sell the HP6315. . . unless anyone has some ideas.

SX66 Software Versions
-----------------------------------
ROM: 1.20.10 WWE 10/08/04
Radio: 1.02.10
Protocol: 1337.35
Extended ROM: 1.20.115 WWE

[mierwins]

I would be curious to know why this is happening to you. I have been unhappy w/ my H6315 and just listed it on eBay in favor of getting an SX66. I've read there are a few updates for the SX66 that update the radio stack and Bluetooth. My biggest complaint about the H6315 was the lack of updates in about 6 months. Bluetooth sucks on it and the device has lots of software problems.

If the SX66 doesn't perform any better on T-mo then maybe I'll go back to the original PocketPC Phone.

[espressoe]

Yes, I agree with the HP6315. T-Mobile is suppose to come out with a patch for "everything" according to the rep I talked to after escalating the issue with T-Mobile. I'll believe it when I see it.

As for the SX66, there is a new radio version from December, but I was unable to install it because the SX66 has a different country code, etc, so the IMate-PDA2k stuff didn't work.

The 802.11b signal strength on the SX66 was quite low. My HP6315 shows excellent strength, my laptop excellent, but the SX66 was showing poor signal strenth. It still worked, but I wonder if they sacrificed the antenna's for looks.

As for the software, speed, and looks, the SX66 is everything that I would have dreamed for and aside from the voice quality, I loved it.

I have a friend that has the original MDA with T-Mobile and doesn't have a single problem.

I may end up waiting for the next version of PDA phones... I don't see any reason why they can't get the signal strength to be the same as the Sony-Ericsson T610 which has an internal antenna as well.

[Raptor]

I have a Cingular SX66 which I'm trying to use on T-Mobile and I'm having problems due to poor signal stength

Just curios, but what were the results on the same device on the Cingular network. Depending on the location and the dates that this happend several other things come into play. Different network (Cingular vs TMobile), Possibly different bands (some Cingular locations are still in the 850 band). Even in the locations that are in the 850 range if the old AT&T Wireless (now Cingular) band was 1900, then that would be a better comparison.

[espressoe]

You are right, it would be a more fair comparison of Cingular if I used their network, but I do not intending to use Cingular, so I wanted to compare it to how I would be using it. In North America, the fequencies used are 850 and 1900 MHz. In Europe, they use 900 / 1800 MHz.

For people that only use AT&T / Cingular service, the phone may be acceptable on the 850 MHz band. I did not test this fequency, as I feel that it should perform well on all bands, especially since I am comparing it to 2 other phones that are tri-band / quad-band phones. I don't have Cingular service and didn't feel like paying approx. $65 to test it when I would have to pay T-Mobile $200 to break my contract due to the HP6315 fiasco.

Does anybody have test results for the SX66 on the Cingular network?

The other comparison that I wanted to make was using the identical SIM card (and hence the identical tower and parameters) on each of the phones. I then sat at my desk at home and left a message on my voicemail. I then walked to a window where I could see the tower off in the distance and placed another call to voicemail and left a message. I repeated this for each phone 3 times over 3 days inbetween looking for additional information on how to improve signal strength.

In addition, I talked about 2 hours on each phone and asked the person I called how the voice sounded. With the SX66, I received a lot of "what did you say?" and I noticed entire sentences dropped out of the conversation.

With the HP6315, I received about 1/4 as many of the "what did you say" and I had words that were garbled, but not missing entirely.

With the Sony-Ericsson T610 (also integral antenna), I received absolutely no "waht did you say" and I never had a single word garbled. I was even able to take the phone into the basement, into the garage, and even lay down in bed with the phone between my head and the pillow without a problem.

Hope that helps clarify what I was testing and how to interpret my results. From what I've seen, people in heavily populated areas don't have any problems with either the HP6315 or the SX66. Unfortunately, I live on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, and they typically place towers here at quite a distance since there isn't much to get in the way.

[espressoe]

New update!

I went through all of my voice recordings tonight and realized that the voice quality was typically excellent for the first 30 minutes of calling and then it started to cut in a out or garble voice. The garbling consists of a single word every 2 or 3 sentences all the way to 5 seconds of garbled voice. The transmission side seems to be worse than the reception side.

So, it's actually starting to look like it might be a thermal issue. That could potentially explain why some people don't have a problem at all (they are close the tower and aren't transmitting at high power and/or they don't have long conversations).

To verify this, I called a friend tonight and talked to him for 36 minutes. I told him at the beginning that I was doing a voice-quality test so that he would report any problems. Every 5 minutes, I would ask him how the voice quality was. Everything was excellent and the signal strength was at 4 bars all the way up to about 30 minutes. At that point, the signal strength started going wild and the garbling continued.

I finished the call with him and left a voicemail and the voicemail was perfectly clear for about 30 seconds and then it was garbled as well.

I let the phone sit for 1 hour and then left another voice message that didn't have any problems.

[mierwins]

Have others had problems with heat? Maybe you got a bad unit?

That's one problem I thought of is that if I buy this at a Cingular store for $650 w/ no plan unlocked and have a problem with it, will they be willing to exchange it or will they only do it if I'm a Cingular customer. I would hate to get stuck with another $650 paperweight.

Keep us posted on what you do with regard to getting it swapped out from either Siemens or Cingular.

[Anonymous]

I just went ahead and returned it since Cingular doesn't even have support on the device, yet... Their image is a couple of months behind I-Mate's images, too, and I was unable to burn in the I-Mate image due to the country code problems.

If I get one of these, I'll get the PDA2k instead. I'm currently thinking I'll just hold out for the XDA IV that should have both 3G UMTS and GSM as that phone should be current for quite a few years and it will have a 480x640 screen :)))